The Goddess of Sky’s expression changed as She warred with Herself. The promise of revenge was compelling, but She couldn’t willingly give up freedom and autonomy.

For an indecisive person who hesitated over both minor and major decisions and still retained a naivety stemming from inexperience to succeed, they had to earn their promotions through the back door. Since the Goddess of Sky had not opted for the alternative way, she was eliminated.

That pleased Wayne. The goddess had the temperament of a leader but the fate of a lackey. If he just trained Her into accepting reality, She would make a decent servant.

“I’ve made my promise. Take your time to think about it. I won’t push you, or you may regret it and accuse me of forcing the deal on you later.” A deal was only a deal when both parties agreed to enter it. Wayne dropped a clump of white foam with a wave, which morphed into a baby octopus waving its tentacles around once it hit the ground.

Seeing Wayne turn and walk away, the Goddess of Sky walked around the octopus and took two steps toward him. “Lord of the Void, where are you going?”

“Going on a tour in your place. I can’t leave without taking anything...”

He walked fast. Before the Goddess of Sky could respond, he was already inside the palace in the sky. His thoughts extended, taking the form of running currents of white foam. Large webs of tentacles spread along the foam, searching for treasures that piqued the Book of Greed’s interest.

The ultimate end of magic was order, and knowledge was raw power. Raw power could build order and bring authority. The equations naturally dictate that knowledge was the most precious thing in the world.

Wayne combed through the palace, finding the knowledge he wanted in a secret chamber; it might be the Goddess of Sky’s bedchamber, with a pure white statue in the center. It looked smooth and gentle like a piece of fine jade, portraying the goddess with long, cascading hair and a tall, slim, and elegant figure. Her long dress and hair seemed to be dancing in the breeze. There was a solemn and sacred beauty to it.

“What a narcissist,” Wayne muttered.

The Goddess of Sky only had Her thoughts left, so the statue was akin to a coffin where She stored Her thoughts. Wayne glanced at it before turning to the walls around him, rubbing his tentacles together.

Complex runes that looked like indecipherable ancient code covered the walls, differing in size and intersecting to form a mysterious pattern. Each finely crafted rune was powerful in its own right.

The dim, flickering light flowed like liquid, sometimes manifesting winds and other times condensing into lightning. The animate thing formed an esoteric, independent cosmos at quite a large scale.

The world contained all of the knowledge that the Goddess of Sky possessed.

“This is it.” Wayne sent white foam over to replicate the runes, transferring the knowledge to the Book of Greed. Though he didn’t understand the symbols, the Book of Greed came with a translating ability. In an instant, the book sent the two types of Laws into two smaller eyeballs.

Storm! Thunder!

Wayne wasn’t satisfied with staying at the Golden Triangle phase. His tentacles had reached into the obelisks to gain an incredible volume of the four elements in the world of Storm and Thunder, as well as two different Laws.

As many as the four elements carried by the obelisk were the number of Laws. Because the obelisks were so big, and the moment they were released from the Books of Seals, other obelisk holders would notice, the Book of Greed had only eaten a quarter of the full meal from intermittent feedings.

Moreover, Wayne had two obelisks, so it would take much longer for both to be consumed.

The Laws of Storm and Thunder came from two deities, which the Book of Greed compiled and injected into one eye of Storm and one eye of Thunder. That proved the rivalry between gods and the rule that on each evolution path, only the first to reach the peak could claim it. Those who came later would either fall under the mercy of the pioneer or have to replace them as a latecomer. Peaceful coexistence wasn’t an option.

“Technically speaking, the sky is all-encompassing and comes with various possibilities, with a much broader concept. The divine name of Sky is destined to go further than the name of Storm and Thunder. Not only can She control Storm and Thunder, but Sun and Moonlight also fall under Her jurisdiction. Even Darkness...”

Wayne left the secret chamber. The Goddess of Sky might have failed, but the evolution path She once walked on couldn’t have been a mistake. The manipulator of atmosphere had evolved into the sky and competed with the Goddesses of Sun, Moonlight, and Darkness, stealing away every Law related to the sky. In the end, She acquired the name of Sky.

On second thought, though, Darkness would be even more all-encompassing since not only the sky, but also the entire cosmos was included. He couldn’t say which was stronger than the other yet.

There was no right answer in concepts. Everyone could argue for themselves, and in the end, it was about whose power was greater.

Wayne analyzed the information at hand. According to the Goddess of Darkness, Heavenly Father was the most powerful one as of this moment, followed by the Goddess of Nature.

Nature’s scale could be as small as a forest or as big as a planet, or even expanded to encompass the entire universe. If the Goddess of Nature was going down that path, Sky, Darkness, Sun, Moonlight... and even Death would be easy pickings for Her.

The Goddess of Nature might even be aiming for the divine name of ‘Life’. If She succeeded, all deities, including the Heavenly Father, would be knocked down and captured as Her se—Her slaves!

“Wait, is that what subordinate gods are?” Wayne made a strange face. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. He strode out to the courtyard outside the palace. “Goddess of Sky, have you heard of subordinate gods?”

The Goddess of Sky was staring at the baby octopus’s tentacles, still hesitating. She shook her head when She heard the question.

She had been in slumber for so long and became so detached from the outside world that she might as well be a cavewoman.

“How is it? Have you made up your mind? Do you want to be my dog?”

The Goddess of Sky glared at Wayne. She had been close to agreeing to his offer, but the way he put it made Her unwilling. Why would he keep calling Her a dog if he wanted to persuade Her? At least show Her some respect. Wouldn’t it be better to turn on Her after She accepted the evolution?

Wayne had gotten what he wanted, so he didn’t need the Goddess of Sky. The goddess couldn’t even tell him the real history he wanted to know because of how early She had met Her demise. The information She could provide was limited, and so Her appeal was also limited.

He had only been humoring Her, and now he couldn’t even be bothered to do that.

Being used wasn’t the worst scenario, but not being valuable enough to be used was.

“If you haven’t made up your mind, take your time. Again, I won’t force you. If you accept my evolution, my promise stands. Not only will you be reborn, but you will have a world where there is no God of Storm and Thunder.”

Wayne waved at her dismissively, about to take his leave.

“Wait.”

“What now?”

“Can’t you try harder to convince me?” The Goddess of Sky gritted Her teeth. She would say yes if he just tried a little harder.

“Why should I? If you don’t want to do it, you don’t want to. It’s your future, not mine.”

“...”

His careless attitude aggravated Her. An evolution could not be terminated once it began. Couldn’t he take it a little more seriously rather than being this dismissive? He made it seem as if She should be begging him.

“Wait!”

When Wayne didn’t even turn back once, the Goddess of Sky hurriedly called out, “My name’s Seleucia. I’ll seek you out. Remember your promise—”

She gaped in disbelief as the pale ocean retreated without pause, abandoning Her.

He didn’t respect Her at all!

Seleucia cursed inwardly, looking down at the octopus waving its tentacles. She was wavering. She wanted revenge and didn’t want to disappear just like this. She was certain that She would take that final step. However...

It would be beneath Her to volunteer to become someone’s lackey. She hoped that Wayne would force Her to take the step, or She wouldn’t have an excuse when She regretted the decision in the future.

Her gaze met the octopus’s tentacles once more. She decided to wait a little longer, speculating that Wayne had to be hiding somewhere, waiting for Her to accept his evolution. The moment She did, he would come out to mock Her.

Imagining his boastful expression, She grimaced in disgust. She would not take the initiative. She would preserve the last of Her dignity!

***

“So indecisive.”

Wayne followed the spatial rifts back to the underground bastion, sensing the spatial disturbances. To prevent outsiders from intruding into the palace in the sky and giving the Goddess of Sky the false information that the God of Storm and Thunder had died, he filled the cracks with his white foam. Any intruders would have to pay the price of evolution, and similarly, the Goddess of Sky couldn’t come out without evolving!

“Perfect!”

He didn’t care how much longer the Goddess of Sky was going to consider the matter. She had better do it soon, or...

Frankly, given the speed at which he had been evolving, She would become completely dispensable if she took more than three years to make the decision.

Wayne applied layer after layer of foamy seals on the ruins, creating an evil den that would stop any opportunists from spreading fake news. When he returned to the outside world, Kristen had already woken up.

“Let’s go. We’re returning to Londan.” Having completed his business here, Wayne was ready to retrieve the anchor and set sail.

Neither Mona nor Kristen said anything. Here, they could divide Wayne between themselves, but back in Londan, there were too many rivals, and they would each get only a small portion.

Wayne took in their expressions but played ignorant. “What’s wrong, Kristen? If you have something to say, just say it. We’re among friends here.”

Kristen rolled her eyes at him. He knew what she was thinking, but just had to play dumb.

The secretary was much more straightforward. Once her boss had gotten into the right mood, she said, “Boss, since we’re here, why don’t we stay a few days in Dulin?”

“Um...” Wayne seemed troubled. “That won’t be appropriate. I have a lot of work lining up for me!”

Work? Bah, I just don’t want to expose you! x2

“Boss, I still have reports to make, and Kristen needs to do research for her story. We need to stay a few more days.” Mona went up to him and whispered, “As long as you say yes, Kristen and I will be good.”

She whispered so quietly that Kristen turned away and pretended not to hear her.

“I can’t say no to you,” Wayne said. “Let’s return to Dulin. Since you have work, I have no choice but to make compromises.”