At this moment, the corruption gave the dark elf’s smooth skin a sickly pale luster. Her facial features became increasingly obscured as her skin wrinkled and drooped, and her eyes sank into sunken pits, eerie and foreboding.

Her crooked lips formed a half-smile, revealing ugly teeth. Her alluring figure became covered in swells and dips, and her limbs distorted like they were pulled by an outside force. Her slim fingers now varied in thickness. Some were long and thin like matches, while others were swollen and thick like arms. Her knuckles were also a disorderly mess, some of which were almost breaking apart.

Her jumbled appearance seemed like an overly creative combination of hideous, half-human parts with no beauty to speak of.

Anastasia looked on in shock, at a loss for words. She could not reconcile this ugly humanoid form with the Goddess of Darkness.

Although she had been converted entirely to worshipping Wayne, the many years she spent as the Goddess of Darkness’s follower instilled in her a habitual respect for the goddess. Seeing the form the goddess now took made her faith in Wayne more steadfast.

Wayne could only distort the goddess’s appearance like this, even by pushing himself to the limit. Sensing the gap in their powers, his desire for more power soared once again. If only he were a little stronger.

The big eyeball in the center of the Book of Greed radiated light, drawing the smaller eyeballs around it.

Greed!

The chaotic mess of unrelated information clashed and melded into a clump of pale grey.

“Nice evolution. It seems that you’ve done your best.”

The Goddess of Darkness’s thoughts slowly spoke. Dissatisfied that She was in a position that forced her to look up at the fiendish eye lodged in the universe, She gradually shed the mutation and reverted to Her original appearance, with the black robe covering Her figure.

It would be unwise to overstay Her welcome. She would leave now!

The goddess wasn’t as calm as she appeared to be. She hadn’t expected Wayne to influence Her this much. While Her corrupted thoughts were still mutating, She was in a rush to return to Her Divine Realm to collect precious data.

With a flicker of black light, the Goddess of Darkness vanished...

...Then she reappeared on the other side of the universe.

Looking closer, one could see the Goddess of Darkness stiffen for a moment. Wayne was also surprised. The fiendish eye contracted dramatically. The next second, a guffaw echoed in the universe.

“Kekekeke—”

Although he had failed to corrupt the goddess fully, the evolution had begun. This part of her thoughts was now etched with his evolution sequence. The amount of information he possessed didn’t matter. His evolution was simply more advanced.

Unfortunately for you, my style supersedes yours!

“It seems that you’ve done your best, Goddess!”

Hearing his taunt, the Goddess of Darkness scoffed, planning on teaching him a lesson and stopping the clown from stirring up trouble.

Rip!

The black robe was torn, revealing the elegant figure to the fiendish eye. The Goddess of Darkness raged. This was no longer academic research, but a personal response to open provocation.

She conjured a black orb with infinitely expanding light. Following a swallowing sound, though, the darkness in Her grasp vanished.

What? What happened?

The Goddess of Darkness lost her composure. For a fleeting moment, She, the embodiment of darkness, had lost control of it.

It didn’t make sense! Such pure darkness should’ve taken a long time for Wayne to study and analyze given the strength of his thoughts, let alone for him to take it. Was it because he was turning into an ancient god? Could he really make up for his lack of foundation in such a short time?

“Impossible...”

“It...”

“Doesn’t make sense.”

The Goddess of Darkness murmured. The knowledge She had acquired informed Her disbelief of what had just happened. Stubbornly, She conjured another powerful tide of darkness.

Rumble!

The sweeping sea of white foam devoured the darkness cleanly.

Is there more? Give me more.

The Book of Greed belched in happiness. Through direct communication between thoughts, it had accepted all the knowledge that the goddess gave away, not missing even a drop.

The book’s happiness was also Wayne’s. He quietly rejoiced in the harvest and continued to rile up the goddess to provoke Her competitive nature.

You’re a goddess. You can lose anything but your pride.

Your Holy Maiden is watching you!

The Goddess of Darkness was reluctant to admit defeat, but after a few losses, She realized her mistakes. Standing still with an expressionless face, She admitted that She had been careless. She summoned Her long robe to cover up Her body.

Her dignity wasn’t the point; the point was that the corruption to Her thoughts could not be stopped. Her skin gradually turned grey, spreading through her like cancer cells.

Left unchecked, it would take no more than five months for this part of Her thoughts to become just like Wayne. Such terrifying, corruptive power had to be at the level of an ancient god. Though Wayne was still not fully developed, he... he succeeded!

The Goddess of Darkness was both envious and jealous. She wanted nothing but to send Her thoughts safely back to Her Divine Realm. The material was so precious that She had to study it first thing.

Rip!

Her long black robe was torn apart once more. Her eyes twitched. Under the fiendish eye’s aggressive attention, She couldn’t help but cover Her body up with Her hands.

“Kekekeke—”

“So a goddess cares about modesty. I thought you would be beyond such concern.”

Nonsense. It’s exactly because I’m a goddess that I care. Have you seen any goddess run around buck naked? If there is one, she’ll be an evil god!

The Goddess of Darkness clenched Her teeth. Since Her thoughts could not escape, She put on a smile and attempted conversation. If the sentimental way worked, She would go for it; if it didn’t work, She would talk business. There would always be a workable angle.

Rip!

The fiendish eye in the center of the universe slowly closed. The world became completely dark. Wayne took Anastasia out of the chat room, leaving the Goddess of Darkness in the sealed chamber on Her own.

In the basement, Wayne stood pale in place. Anastasia hurriedly put her dress on and went up to catch his arm, her eyes dark with worry and guilt.

“This isn’t your fault. Don’t dwell on it.”

Wayne pushed her arm away, rejecting the contact.

Anastasia pulled back with a tight expression, not knowing if she should approach or step back. She knew that her faith was doing this for her sake, but she still couldn’t help but be disappointed.

She felt rejected—no, abandoned.

“What a hassle. Give me a hand. Once I’m recovered, I’ll operate on you.” Wayne put a hand on Anastasia’s arm.

Now, Anastasia hesitated.

Wayne rolled his eyes and touched his chest. “The goddess’s thoughts are too powerful. Even though I’ve corrupted Her to establish a hierarchy, I cannot suppress Her...”

He was put in a dilemma. He couldn’t let Her go, of course, but if he didn’t let go, the Goddess of Darkness’s thoughts would leave him weakened for more than half a year. Moreover, he would have to remain merged with the Pale Nest in the meantime.

This was only part of the goddess’s thoughts—perhaps one percent, or even point one or point zero one percent. That proved how terrifyingly powerful the goddess was at Her peak.

Indeed, Thoggua was definitely no match for the goddess. They had been sealed rather than killed only because Thoggua had support.

Support? Wayne’s eyebrows jumped up. He could also be someone with support—the ancient god of the Dragonheart Island, for example.

“If you can’t suppress Her, why don’t you let Her go?” Anastasia said coldly. “The goddess knows your greatest secret. If She tells the other goddesses, you’ll be under greater pressure.”

Wayne’s lips twitched. Anastasia was possessed by the goddess again. He decisively put his arm around her slim waist to pull her into his arms. Then his hand moved down to cup her, pulling her fragile body against him. Their chests pressed together as their eyes met. One pair was cold, while the other was calm.

“Return my thoughts to me, Wayne,” Anastasia ordered. “I appreciate your evolution, so don’t make me use violence. That’ll complicate our partnership.”

Her haughty tone irritated Wayne. Lowering his head to her shoulder and sniffing the slim neck, he said viciously, “Anastasia is innocent, and I don’t want to hurt her. If not for that, I’d make you pay.”

His tentacles spread from beneath his feet, wrapping around Anastasia’s body. He could drag her into his body at any time.

But he couldn’t.

If he took in another part of the Goddess of Darkness’s thoughts, he would be overflowing. Then he would be the cream pie instead.

The Goddess of Darkness maintained her composure because She had the power to back her confidence up. The strong would always have a louder voice and more options. She was already considering how She should tame Wayne.

She only had two subordinate gods. Perhaps She should take in another.

“Wayne, since you refuse to see reason—”

“What? Who do you think I am? You don’t even dare to go after Thoggua, and you’re threatening me?” Wayne scoffed at the pretty face inches from him. “You should know that I’m no regular human now. I have my faith.”

The Goddess of Darkness frowned silently. She suspected that Wayne was using an intimidation tactic, trying to scare Her into inaction with an ancient god’s name.

Indeed, She was scared into inaction.

Even though everyone knew that an ancient god didn’t care about their vassals, even though everyone knew that an ancient god wouldn’t descend, even though everyone knew that an ancient god had no feelings... everyone still hesitated. Case in point, the goddesses had chosen to seal Thoggua after a long discussion.

“If you want to observe my evolution, fine. That’s in line with my faith’s desire to give everyone the possibilities of evolution. But my faith does not care whether the recipient of the evolution can take it.”

Wayne raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m intimidating you? I’ll tell you where my faith is located—it’s Dragonheart Island in Windsor. Their followers call Them the Sea God. You’re strong enough to tell if I’m telling the truth. Just take a look.”

Taking a look at what? To see how powerful the ancient god’s tentacles are?

The Goddess of Darkness scoffed mockingly. She would have to be mad to head to Dragonheart Island. Her thoughts extended, going through multiple spaces to reach the Dragonheart Island’s aerial space...’s distant sky.

She saw the distorted pentagram of the Sea God Order. The main architecture and the statue of the Sea God both resembled the churches of the Heavenly Father in layout and structure, but the order definitely didn’t worship the Heavenly Father.

The Goddess of Darkness fell silent. The statue visibly contained faith that was both owned and free to be claimed. She pushed Wayne away and took two steps back, saying nothing with an icy expression.

The goddess was too prideful to express Her compromise. She hoped that Wayne would realize that and propose a peaceful resolution. Then they could still be allies.

Her research material had become a partner and then an ally. It was a practical decision.

“Do you crave evolution, Goddess?”