Clockwork Bride

Page 292

"...Mr. Hayden, I didn't know what I wanted to do in the future."

She suddenly said in telepathic communication,

But now I realize I really like this... and I want to continue learning it.

Hayden didn't react for a moment: "Which one? The Dream Flower?"

"No, that's not it. I meant this feeling. Sowing life, nurturing its growth, feeling its life, changing the original environment as a result." After her initial complaint, Amu stroked the stems of the Dream Flower City, caressing the sprouting and growing life, a hint of longing on her face. "I think this... is pretty good."

Ah this

Hayden could only scratch his head: "Then let Karen teach you in Newbud after things are settled here."

As soon as he finished speaking, he inwardly cried out in dismay: "Am I really going to have to adopt a daughter from outside? My own child isn't even born yet! Karen will definitely be unhappy if she finds out!"

That's not necessarily true. But let's not dwell on that for now.

The battle was over, but what the gods saw was not Miktikashiva's victory, but Kallen's. The future Earth Emperor had indeed defeated Smoke Mirror. There was nothing wrong with that—if this hadn't originally been Miktikashiva's duel.

A minor Micket clone, 499 enhanced humans, and the literally overflowing "Dream Flower" technology defeated the 500-clone Micket army created by the Smoke Mirror.

Whose credit is this?

The situation had become somewhat awkward. A deathly silence enveloped all the seats in the circular ceremonial hall, indicating that every god and messenger now fully understood what this meant.

"Um,"

The avatar of Guanyin Bodhisattva said that she was the highest-ranking deity present at the ceremony, and that Mithra Bodhisattva hadn't sent anyone. She stood up from her chair in the private room and nodded: "I must say, this is really... quite interesting."

Then Guanyin Bodhisattva left.

The emanations of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and Manjushri Bodhisattva also followed Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva away. Their steps were eerily synchronized.

Then, even more Mitra Group gods and their messengers followed them out of the ritual site. Soon, all the Mitra Group gods except for Karen had left. They left the ritual site and were then teleported home.

As Smoke Mirror watched their departing figures, a hint of regret flickered in his eyes: "Sigh, why did they just run away like that?"

Yes, where did all the gods of the Mitra Group go?

Even many of the remaining gods are now somewhat confused about the situation.

The emcee, Peeling Skin, glanced at the live broadcast, then at the departing Mitra Group representative, and then at the smoke-filled mirror on the stage. He hesitated before saying, "The chairman's forces have not yet lost their fighting capacity; the duel is not over..."

"No need. I concede." Smoke Mirror waved his hand, interrupting Skinner. "You're all stuck together in tree sap, and insisting you haven't lost is just being stubborn. You're only embarrassing me... Oh, not entirely. You've embarrassed my precious daughter too, haven't you?"

He turned to look at Mickett on the platform and grinned again.

However, what mattered now was no longer Mickett's reaction—in fact, she didn't react much at all. What mattered was that everyone was stunned by Smoke Mirror's clean and decisive surrender.

This is a smokescreen, the most cunning, vicious, and untrustworthy god in South America! Surely He's not completely helpless in this situation? Why would He just give up so easily instead of continuing to find reasons and opportunities to turn things around? This throne of the supreme god, this position of chairman of the group—once given up, everything is over. While He might not die, taking it back will be extremely difficult.

How could He give up like that?!

But after a moment of stunned silence, the Skinner shouted out the result: "Chairman Smoke Mirror concedes defeat. The victor is—His Excellency Miktikashiva!"

Then the applause began, but it was only sporadic, not the kind of simultaneous, enthusiastic clapping, and there was no cheering from the audience. Most of the applause came from South American God, less from the Mars Group and Wotan Company, and the representatives from the Mitra Group had already left.

So what exactly is going on next?

Even though she was in a bad mood, Micket still closed her eyes and thought for a moment before looking at Smoke Mirror again and coldly asking, "Let's throw our pride to the wind. Smoke Mirror, when are you going to transfer the company's main god authority to me? Are you just planning to make excuses to delay?"

For gods and their society, face—political capital—is extremely important. But Mikert remained relatively calm. Although she had lost face badly, dwelling on what was already lost was pointless. It was better to quickly acquire what she could.

The throne of the Smoke Mirror Company, the position of chairman—perhaps Karen humiliated her today and stole her "victory," but at least these things are still hers, and they are still very real.

If Smoke Mirror tries to find excuses to delay, many gods are watching, not just the gods of South America, but also many foreign gods who would like to take advantage of Smoke Mirror's misfortune. This circular ritual site is the perfect noose to hang Him.

"Here you go, my dear daughter. Take it."

The Smoke Mirror waved to Mickert. Several beams of light flowed from its hand and landed in Mickert's. Mickert caught them, instinctively examined them immediately, and then froze.

It's all real. The authority of the South American pantheon's god-king, the position of chairman of the Smoke Mirror Company, the system management authority of the holy land of Aztecland—it's all real! He just gave it to her like that!?

This... this victory was far too easy. He was certain that the Smoke Mirror would pull something, yet it didn't. Instead, Mickett felt like he'd punched empty air, making it even more bizarre.

"So, shall we leave it at that? The new king shall ascend the throne?"

Smoke Mirror stood up, stretched his joints, yawned, and said with a smile,

"Should we adjourn the meeting now?"

For a time, no god answered Him.

Until Mercury of the Mars Group also stood up: "No, Smoke Mirror, there's one more thing."

(Mercury, within Mars' group, has always been a god skilled in wisdom, deception, and trickery.)

“You owe me, and many of us gods, debts. Most of the promissory notes you signed for us are due today.” Mercury’s eyes gleamed. “Now that you’ve lost, when do you plan to cash these promissory notes? Are you planning to pay them off in installments?”

Are Mars Group allies of Mickett and Hayden? No. But the god of capital certainly won't let go of the opportunity to kick someone when they're down and take advantage of it to make himself even fatter.

To everyone's surprise, Smoke Mirror laughed when he heard Mercury's words: "When are my debts due today?"

Mercury blinked. "Today. After the sun sets in Aztland."

"Is this Aztland?" Smoke Mirror pointed to the ground, then to the sun overhead. "Is that the sun?"

The sun was still stuck in the sky, motionless.

355: They wiped it all out in seconds!

The sun was still stuck in the sky, motionless.

So the smoke mirror's argument wasn't entirely unreasonable... but Mercury was still stunned.

“Yes, you did indeed nail the sun to the sky, and even to noon.” He looked up at the sun, somewhat puzzled. “However, this is just a word game. Even if we play it as a word game, you can’t keep the sun nailed to the sky forever, nor can you keep moving the sunlight here. That would be very expensive, and besides, you no longer have the authority of a supreme god.”

"How long can you use your divine power to pin the sun down? Hours? Are you planning to make us sit here with you all day?"

Now it wasn't just Mercury; many other companies' divine avatars started chiming in. With the global economy in dire straits and a Great Depression looming, everyone wanted to kick a man when he's down, hoping to grab a bigger slice of Smoke Mirror's flesh.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. If one could take a few bites of this corpse with the smoke-filled mirror, it would be very nourishing for both great and small deities.

However, the Smoke Mirror glanced at these gods who were trying to seize power, clearly not taking them seriously. It then turned to look at the live stream feed suspended in mid-air. The battle on the wasteland was over. But the Smoke Mirror continued to watch.

...It was as if He was not looking at the army, or even the Dream Flower City, but at someone hiding beside the wasteland.

Hayden had a very bad feeling. Was Smoke Mirror watching him? Why?

Fortunately, the smoke-gazing mirror didn't stare at Hayden for long. He quickly turned his head back, stood up, and seemed to be preparing to leave.

But several other gods from different companies had already blocked and surrounded Him.

"It's too much trouble to drag this out any longer, let's settle the accounts now."

Mercury smiled and waved his hand.

"Sol, pull the sun down!"

Sol is the supreme god of the Mars Group, the sun god.

(Some readers might be wondering at this point, isn't Apollo the Roman sun god? However, Apollo is actually the god of light, encompassing the concept of the sun but not limited to it. Therefore, Apollo is one of the principal gods of the Mars group, while Thor is merely a major god.)

Upon hearing Mercury's words, the Invincible Thor smiled and reached up to the sky. He grabbed at the sun overhead, intending to reverse the Smoke Mirror spell and send the sunlight directly down the mountain.

Smoke Mirror is no longer a supreme god. Thor is a great god, and the invincible Thor! Of course he can seize Smoke Mirror's solar magic and reverse it! It's only natural!

...and then Thor, the Invincible, missed.

There was no sun in the sky; he only caught a blurry image, like a projector's illusion.

Upon realizing their grasp had missed, all the gods immediately understood that something was wrong.

But then Smoke Mirror sighed softly, "I was in a good mood today and was thinking of just leaving. But you all are so ungrateful. Foolish things. It seems I have no choice but to kill you all."

These words truly stunned all the gods present. You see, although the gods and representatives of the Mitra Group had all left, there were still over eighty other gods and lesser gods from other companies (not including members of the Smoke Mirror Company), as well as over three hundred different divine messengers and representatives. So many gods attacking together could defeat even a supreme god. And Smoke Mirror was no longer a supreme god.

Has He gone mad? Or is this some kind of trick? What kind of trick could make a great god kill over eighty minor and major gods? Is this just a scare tactic?

That being said, many gods, guided by their strong sixth sense, felt that they had seemingly stepped into a dangerous trap.

In the blink of an eye! Mercury of the Mars Group, Thor the sun god, Quirinus the warrior god, Tyr the military strategist of the Wotan Company—along with several other great gods—made their move simultaneously, unleashing a thunderous strike at the Smoke Mirror!

If this attack lands squarely, whether it's Apollo, Odin, or Guanyin, they'll all be blasted into mush!

Therefore, this attack had absolutely no chance of hitting.

Half a second before the combined attack from the top players hit Smoke Mirror, Smoke Mirror made a gesture in mid-air as if pressing a button. Of course, there was no button there, but the moment he made this gesture, the top players who were attacking him instantly collapsed to the ground, as if their internet cables had been unplugged, and they couldn't move!

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it wasn't just these few powerful figures besieging the Smoke Mirror; in fact, it was all the gods in the circular ritual arena, all the gods who weren't from the Smoke Mirror company—in other words, all the gods who had come in clones instead of their original bodies. Their clones had all gone offline, collapsed, and become incapacitated!

All of this happened in an instant, leaving the remaining gods stunned. A brief silence fell over the ritual site. Immediately afterward, all the gods who had avatars outside of South America, those maintaining spiritual connections (in reality, almost all the remaining gods present), felt their connections to their home countries severed.

"Inside and outside...closed...broken wires." The master of ceremonies, still not fully understanding, stood inside the ceremony hall. "...How is this possible?"

He was shocked and horrified, because the smoke mirror not only sealed off the inside and outside of the circular ceremonial venue, but also isolated the entire interior and exterior space of South America!

Apart from the Mithra Group representative who escaped at the beginning, all the gods who came to observe the ceremony today using their clones are now blocked outside South America! They can't even remotely control their clones!

Smoke Mirror kicked Mercury's disconnected and collapsed clone, grinning: "Did you think I would pointlessly nail the sun to the sky? Now, as long as my sun is still high in the sky, the whole of South America is in a different time and space from the outside world. No one or no god can come in and disturb us."

But the other gods at the smoke mirror company just stared at Him blankly, as if no one thought it was a good idea.

“Smoke Mirror, you’ve gone mad!” Rain God Tralock cursed, his voice now filled with disbelief. “You’ve severed the connection between the inside and outside, but all the gods in the world know what you did at the last moment. All the gods in the world will swarm and tear down this barrier, taking it as a declaration of war, and then kill us all and cook us to eat.”

Smoke Mirror waved his hand dismissively: "No, they're busy right now."

...Don't have time right now?

No one understood what Smoke Mirror meant. Now, with everything sealed off, it was impossible to know what was happening outside. But clearly, no god, not even the South American gods, wanted to applaud Smoke Mirror in his current state. Even some gods who had previously supported him seemed quite shocked.

Many South American gods rose from their seats and began to surround the Smoke Mirror from a distance. Most of them were already supporters of Mikkert, but now even some gods who had previously supported the Smoke Mirror joined in.

Smoke Mirror frowned at this. "What? Shouldn't you support your own God-King?"

“You are no longer their God-King.”

Mickett picked up the conversation.

She had already stood up from her private room, feeling the power of the main god she had just acquired, and walked towards the smoke mirror while stepping on the wind.

Even now, Micket still doesn't know why Smoke Mirror suddenly pulled this stunt, but it's actually good news for her. She's just gained the fresh authority and power of a supreme god, and Smoke Mirror has just gone berserk. As long as Micket blasts it down immediately, she can regain her authority.

“Smoke Mirror, we all knew you had some issues, but we never imagined you'd gone this far.” She raised her hand, letting the great power of the Supreme God flow from her palm. “I will try my best to let you die painlessly, but given what I know of you, it will probably be in vain. Any last words?”

Then, they saw Smoke Mirror tilt its head: "Wow, my dear daughter, are you so sure you've got me all figured out?"

He reached out again and made a gesture as if pressing a button in mid-air.

This time, the gods did not feel their divine power disappear.

They were immediately overwhelmed.

The moment the smoke mirror made its move, a force heavier than a mountain and heavier than the sea suddenly shifted onto them, instantly crushing almost every South American god present to the ground!

"This is, well, all my debts, along with the company and the authority of the Supreme God, are inherited by you. You all understand. You'll get used to it after a hundred years, if you're still alive by then."

Smoke Mirror clapped his hands, looking down at the capitalists instantly crushed by enormous debt. He kicked the unlucky rain god hard, then turned to look down at Mickett.

"You're always a step behind me, my dear daughter."

356: Dark Sun

Although the divine society likes Black Smoke Mirror to be the floor god, the weakest god, and a standard unit god, only a true fool would think that a floor god is weak. Even the weakest god is still a god, a supreme deity capable of shaking heaven and earth; they are very strong.

Therefore, Karen never thought that Smoke Mirror was weak. She was always vigilant, regarding Smoke Mirror as the strongest opponent she had ever faced.

...However, even she never expected that the Smoke Mirror could instantly kill more than eighty god clones and all the gods of the Smoke Mirror Company.

When Karen first saw the other gods' smoke mirrors surrounding her and thought a fight might break out, she originally wanted to watch a little longer to see what the smoke mirrors were capable of before making a move.

As a result, the smoke goggles wiped out all those gods instantly.

Even if He definitely used a trick, it was an extremely clever trick, worthy of awe.

In short, the only gods in the circular ritual arena who can still move and fight, besides Smoke Mirror herself, are Kallen, Hela, and Pania. The other gods are either naked, broken clones, or messengers whose connections have been severed (they won't faint, but are now just mortal beings without divine power).

“Mitra really doesn’t consider us one of his own,” Hela said thoughtfully, looking at the now empty Mitra seating area. “He might actually want our original selves to die here. Do you think he’s trying to frame your father?”

Karen remained calm: "Now that things have come to this, he knows we're on different paths. It's no longer just a matter of our father—Pania, didn't you want to go down and fight yourself? Now's your chance."

"what!?"

Pania was stunned. Her last experience fighting a god-level being (actually, she was only hit by the aftershocks of the battle) was far from pleasant!