“I feel like throwing up.”
Ye Yunshang snapped back to her senses. The first thing she felt was a strange power surging through her entire body.
Fortunately, she managed to keep it down.
Slowly opening her eyes, she realized she was lying on a bench and abruptly sat up.
“Do you believe me now?”
Lin Miao was sitting right in front of her.
Completely unable to defy his will, Ye Yunshang nodded, her entire body trembling.
Thank goodness she didn't lose her mind.
Seeing that Ye Yunshang was alright, Lin Miao breathed a silent sigh of relief.
This had been an experimental gamble into the unknown.
But fortunately, she seemed to have adapted well to the newly bestowed ability.
“It seems so. My head feels a bit strange right now... urgh...”
It was as if a pair of dusty glasses had suddenly been wiped clean; her senses had become sharper and clearer than ever before.
Ye Yunshang stumbled and, unable to hold it in any longer, finally threw up.
But vomiting was only the beginning.
Although it was significantly weaker than the original version, no one knew what kind of changes a hive mind implanted into a human body would trigger.
“Ahhhhh!!!”
Two days after the hive mind transplantation, in a corner of the training grounds.
With bloodshot eyes, Ye Yunshang clutched her disheveled long hair, screaming in agony as dark magic power erupted from her.
Unable to control the power, her clothes were shredded to pieces, and the ground and walls cracked in all directions.
Dozens of swords levitated in the air, flying about freely as if they possessed a will of their own.
Ye Yunshang was already skilled with swords. Combining her trait with her talent has awakened a new power.
Sitting alone in his home, Lin Miao quietly watched Ye Yunshang's awakening through a screen.
Seeing her in pain, Lin Miao felt a spark of excitement.
This was by no means as simple as merely controlling multiple swords at once.
How she combined and utilized this power would yield entirely different results.
“How were the test results? Can she pass the advancement exam?”
“Tier 4 is definitely not a problem, but what on earth is this...”
Hearing Lin Miao's words, Bai Zhantang stammered.
Rather than the power Ye Yunshang displayed, it was Lin Miao's nonchalant attitude that sent shivers down his spine.
As expected, not just anyone can be a proxy of a deity.
Unaware that Lin Miao was currently watching over a world where the lives and deaths of hundreds of millions hung in the balance, Bai Zhantang could only suppress the fear in his heart.
Bai Zhantang massaged his throbbing temples and looked at Lin Miao beside him. “Proxy, her voice is echoing in my head right now. She's telling me to bring her water quickly. Did she awaken telepathy?”
Lin Miao's expression remained calm, his tone devoid of any emotion. “You'll get used to it in time. Thank you for your hard work. The mission remains unchanged: continue to acquire more magic stones. By any means necessary, of course.”
A human colony... or perhaps an Awakened colony?
Looking at the faction that would center around Ye Yunshang in the future, Lin Miao calmly issued his command.
Though it sounded like a casual remark, it was a divine decree.
As his servants, they would never dare to disobey.
【Elise has sensed the existence of another self and is highly dissatisfied】
“You really are something.”
Hanging up the phone, Lin Miao looked at Elise on the screen and couldn't help but chuckle.
Strictly speaking, the "Awakened colony" Lin Miao created by extracting Elise's traits was not under the control of Elise's hive mind.
However, they both revered Lin Miao as their god, and Elise, who had been bestowed a True Name, was far closer to him.
Moreover, Elise, who had awakened her self-awareness, was more familiar with the hive mind than anyone else.
That was why she could vaguely sense Ye Yunshang's existence.
【Elise feels insecure. She believes the Great One is dissatisfied with her achievements and is thus continuously creating new offspring】
“This is necessary, so it can't be helped.”
Lin Miao clicked his tongue helplessly.
But feeling that Lin Miao's attention was being stolen by someone else, Elise grew anxious and began to accelerate her movements.
She immediately reorganized her forces and marched toward the southern part of the Empire.
In the south, the elves were leading their forces, marching northward while purifying the lands contaminated by the ant colony.
Having purged the servants loyal to other deities within the Empire with Calian's assistance and occupied the northern and southern regions, the ant colony's next target of conquest was the elves.
“It seems the remaining ones are only going to get tougher.”
Initially, all the deities had entered the competition to vie for new territories and vast numbers of servants.
But as time passed, competitors who suffered losses or gave up early fell one after another, leaving only the truly powerful in this world.
From this perspective, the southern elven faction, which they would clash with later than the Lucadia Empire, was a much more formidable opponent.
And the scenes unfolding before Lin Miao's eyes confirmed this.
◆◆◆
“I heard the human mages were completely wiped out. Humans are truly insane.”
News of the Empire's defeat and collapse at the hands of the Great Devourer spread rapidly.
This was especially true for the servants ruled by the deities, who learned of this immediately from their respective gods.
However, there was something peculiar about the fall of the Empire.
To be precise, the entire Empire had not been destroyed, nor had there been a massacre of tens of millions; only those loyal to the deity Astaroth had been precisely eliminated.
Most of the Empire's citizens were utterly bewildered as they watched the Great Devourers completely ignore them.
The Great Devourers did not seize their lands, slaughter their livestock, or murder innocents. After winning the war, they never harmed them again.
In fact, Emperor Calian, who had reached an agreement through negotiations with Celia, claimed this as his own achievement and warned the public:
“The Great Devourers have already driven away those who fell as servants of the evil god. They will no longer harm anyone, so do not actively provoke them.”
“That little emperor has completely lost his mind too. To actually sell out his country to monsters and use his citizens as sacrifices. How utterly wicked.”
“That wicked emperor will surely keep feeding his own subjects to those monsters in the future. It seems we must go and save the humans of the Lucadia Empire.”
It was easy to imagine how this situation appeared to the surrounding factions, especially those servants who served the deities.
Upon hearing the news, the southern elves sneered, mocking the remaining citizens of the Lucadia Empire while condemning Calian.
“According to our intelligence, after pacifying the interior of the Empire and destroying their defensive lines, those monsters are now marching south on a massive scale. Their target is us.”
“How arrogant and foolish!”
At the same time, the elves were already well aware of the ant colony's blatant movements.
Watching his enraged kinsmen in the meeting room, Guardian Virgil's lips curled into a faint smile.
“This day was bound to come anyway. Whether it be those monsters or the human Empire... to let our great empire cover the entire world, we will trample them all underfoot sooner or later.”
He stood up and gazed at the scenery outside the window.
The southern part of the Empire, which had once been left in ruins by the ant colony, had now mostly recovered.
This was the result of their purification and reclamation efforts, utilizing various fertilizers like the corpses of the ant colony, combined with the labor of a vast number of slaves.
The Elven God has already awakened our true power. Victory is ours!
He recalled the not-so-distant past of his three-hundred-year-long life.
On that day, he and his comrades had executed the rigid, narrow-minded elders, proclaiming the true power and mission of the elves.
Unifying the Great Forest, expanding their influence to the surrounding areas, and continuously achieving victories had only made this belief of his firmer.
“Lord Guardian, the enemy forces are approaching our position on a massive scale.”
“We have waited a long time for this moment. Welcome them warmly, and then push all the way up. We shall turn the entire human Empire into our territory!”
Upon receiving news of the Great Devourers' approach, he issued his orders and personally picked up his bow.
This was not a traditional bow crafted from sacred divine wood, but one intricately engraved with complex mechanical gears and runes.
Rate on N.U.
