The human leader...

This was not some honor, nor a title she gave herself, but in a sense the fulfillment of everyone’s expectations, the respect these people bestowed upon her.

Because every person here owed her a debt of gratitude, and it was a life-debt!

If it weren’t for Xie Antong risking her life to save them earlier, trying to leave more embers for this world, not a single person in this room would have survived!

The Sun and Lu Ce were not here, and almost everyone present had survived only because of Pleasure!

Perfect Life was an exception. Although in the end he did break through his inner demons and win the game, if Xie Antong hadn’t dragged him into Sin’s game...

chances are he would have been tortured to death by Despair.

So, in this room right now, Xie Antong was the lifesaver of every one of them.

Even if her strength might not be the greatest, people still, somewhat unconsciously, began to look to her for leadership.

The Grand Elder sitting in a nearby chair was also a bit surprised as he looked at the scene before him.

In the previous era, humanity had never produced a true leader. Even though he himself was among the strongest, relations with the Illuminati had been very tense.

This generation’s Sin completely outclassed his peers in strength, yet it seemed impossible for that power to unite people; it burned out before it could gather everyone to one side.

Unexpectedly, in the end it was her. Well, Blank’s abilities strangely resembled his own, so if necessary he could still help elevate her further...

When Xie Antong voluntarily broke the silence, everyone courteously gave face and spoke up in turn:

“This victory was thanks to your help.”

“If it weren’t for you, I would be dead.”

“I didn’t have a chance before, thank you for stepping in!”

“Thank you for your sacrifice...”

Once someone started, it turned into something like a gratitude session, everyone sincerely offering thanks for dozens of seconds.

After the noisy voices gradually subsided, Xie Antong didn’t bother with much small talk. Her gaze was a little cold, and she spoke very directly:

“This is what I should have done. It’s a pity I couldn’t save more people, because you need to live, and some deaths must be meaningful.”

“I hope you will remember what was said today, and later fight for the survival of humanity.”

Hearing this, everyone froze for a moment but then actually felt a bit more relieved. At a life-or-death moment, such matter-of-fact words were comforting.

Yet when Xie Antong said these words, deep worry flickered in her eyes.

When she chose whom to save, she considered not only strength but also character.

She did not save those who saw the game as a one-time opportunity, those who treated it as a springboard to instantly rise in power.

In other words, the people before her were basically those who had seen through the game and the gods’ essence, and were willing to use their lives as human shields for humanity.

But that was only for now...

She knew that nominally these people were all apostles of gods, each carrying divine power inside them that they could not fully control!

Because of Lu Ce, she was among the earliest in this world to come into contact with divine power, and she understood how that force eroded the mind and will!

You would unconsciously begin to shift toward that direction.

If the gods still intended to kill them outright, that would be one thing, but if after enduring such despair the gods tried to bribe or flip them...

then it would be far worse.

“All right, I’ll be straightforward. That we survived this time was due in large part to luck. Next time, we still face the risk of total annihilation.”

“So now I urgently called everyone together because I want to tell you something.”

Xie Antong’s calm words made the space oppressive.

“However, I discovered some issues in the last game round that may need to be made public. Perhaps this is even good news.”

She then began to repeat roughly what she had probed in the game about the objects of fear the gods had.

She had briefly mentioned this during the game because she feared she might die, but she hadn’t expected to be able to say it aloud now.

“......”

“I speculate the gods’ power is constantly growing, but they must keep growing! If they stop, it could be extremely dangerous for them.”

“According to the intelligence from Agony earlier, their time is already limited, so our time...may also be short!”

When Xie Antong finished, she waited quietly for everyone to laugh at her.

The reason she called this a ‘possible’ good thing was that the gods might already be approaching some critical point. If humanity could hold on, the gods themselves might collapse!

But precisely because of that, the next game likely would not be far off, and the gods would certainly strike hard.

To the crowd, this message was basically equivalent to saying the next game meant they would be sentenced to death!

Apart from the two who weren’t here now, none of them had much confidence.

In the silence, someone seemed unable to take the pressure and awkwardly asked:

“The method you used in this game...will it work next time?”

Xie Antong shook her head.

“That situation cannot be relied upon; it depended entirely on Pleasure’s mood. You can’t expect that.”

“Everyone, survive! Do whatever it takes to stay alive. As long as any of us remain, the game will not trigger worldwide, and we can drag the gods toward dissolution.”

“So you might need to raise your strength quickly. I have a method that can let you try to absorb that portion of power within your bodies.”

As she spoke, she suddenly realized someone had returned.

“Wait a moment. I’ll bring back someone more suitable.”

Everyone’s full attention was on her, so the sentence came as a surprise.

The next second she vanished from the basement out of thin air!

After about ten seconds she reappeared, but this time she was holding someone else.

— Sin.

Lu Ce wore his mask, radiant with flowing light. He had just finished a meeting with the Arbitrator and was pulled into this gathering by Xie Antong.

He knew why he had been summoned. He glanced around without greeting anyone, and then grinned slyly:

“Everyone, do you want to become a god?”