Chapter 1671: The Right Way to Build Strength
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Perhaps not many of them were aware of the greatest threat posed by the confluence of the goddess of annihilation and the Mad Lord until the goddess of creation mentioned it. But after she spoke about it, everyone on the scene felt their heartbeats skip a beat.
Hao Ren, on the other hand, was one of the few who were not shocked. In fact, he had been aware of it from the start, but he never mentioned it directly on the battlefield because of morale concerns. Now, he sighed and said, “Well, that’s the worst part…”
The entire time, all of the Mad Lord’s activities had depended on instinct. Although it was so powerful that it could almost sweep the whole universe, this defect predestinated that all its behaviors followed a regular pattern. Therefore, there was room to formulate a plan against this regularity. Ancient people in the dark and chaotic times relied on the regular pattern to avoid disaster, and the goddess of creation used it to defeat and seal the Mad Lord. But now, a rule-breaker had appeared.
The goddess of annihilation apparently had a high level of intelligence. When she entered the dark abyss and fully grasped the power there, it meant that the Mad Lord had finally begun to think.
A monster that could think was the scariest one.
“All of a sudden it feels like what we achieved today is nothing to speak of compared to this terrible situation. Even if we weaken the power of the Mad Lord in total, its breakthrough in ‘the ability to think’ is enough to offset these losses,” said Y’zaks.
“I would almost have thought it was a deliberate plan if I hadn’t known that the Mad Lord was doing everything unconsciously,” Nangong Sanba said, shrugging his shoulders. “It first polluted the goddess of creation to create a powerful intellectual identity, then it let us attack that identity to retrieve and devour her. Finally, it took the opportunity to gain the ability to think… Damn.”
“It’s no use thinking about it. We couldn’t have done better then.” Hao Ren glanced at Nangong Sanba and said, “In a place totally isolated from the outside world, what we can do is very limited. In such a situation, we could still hit the enemy hard and retreat safely, which is better than watching the goddess of annihilation run away without doing anything. Now the Mad Lord is intelligence + 1, but at that time, its intellect and strength might be both + 1.”
Nangong Sanba thought for a moment, nodded and said, “You’re right.”
The goddess of creation went on, “The evil goddess and the Mad Lord will not merge immediately. It takes a process. My hunch is that it will take at least a few months. And even if they merge, they won’t ‘fit’ too well. After all, After all, the power of the Mad Lord is incompatible with its sense of reason, so the situation is not so bad.”
“Then why don’t we break into that cage now?” Lily, with her rough and simple ideas, raised her hand and said, “now that they both get hurt, let’s do it…”
Hao Ren rolled his eyes and asked, “Can you beat them?”
Lily mumbled and fell silent.
Hao Ren certainly knew that this was the best time to attack the lair of the Mad Lord. The goddess of annihilation should not be able to take care of herself at the moment, and the Mad Lord could not think properly as well, but the key was that even if they went in, they could not beat them!
Thinking of this, he could not help but glance at the goddess of creation.
Yes, the opportunity to solve the problem was actually here, the strongest among them. Although she had been badly subdued in previous battles, it was simply a loss of strength due to poor sleep. If the goddess could be restored to her prime in these few months… Everything would be solved.
And this was exactly what Hao Ren and Raven 12345 agreed on before.
The goddess of creation had no idea what was going on in Hao Ren’s mind, but she knew what she had to do. “Well, we do not have to worry, I have a plan that can completely get rid of the Mad Lord…”
“If you’re talking about your self-destructing plan, then don’t mention it,” Hao Ren interrupted directly. “The plan is certainly not right. Of course, I admire your sacrifice and determination. But have you thought about it? It’s almost like gambling! You sacrifice yourself to kill the Mad Lord, but are you sure it works? Your plan has gone through many twists and turns, so the chances of the Mad Lord surviving after your death are very high. When that happens, your only hope will be gone. Not to mention the flaws in the Weaves of Destiny…”
“Do you have a better way? You have said before that the gods on your side cannot come to your aid because of the Wall of Reality…”
“We have a plan that will quickly restore you to your prime and even further strengthen you. Don’t worry, I can assure you that the plan is safe and ethical. It’s just a further boost to your… potential,” Hao Ren explained.
“Really?” The goddess of creation looked at Hao Ren doubtfully.
“I can show them to you after the meeting.” Hao Ren nodded, looking very confident. “You’d be surprised. And think about it, do I have to fool you on such matters?”
The goddess thought about it and agreed–after all, she had nothing to lose.
After this little interlude, the meeting went on and on for hours.
The situation was about to change dramatically, and everything had to change with it. First, Hao Ren readjusted the action plan of the UAV fleet in the Plane of Dreams. Having found the Umbral Realm and having awakened the goddess of creation, the “search and reconnaissance” operation of the UAV fleet was temporarily downgraded and instead devoted its full capacity to expansion and armament. All production lines would then be devoted to producing armed UAVs in preparation for the battle, in addition to the engineering models necessary for the construction of the base.
The Annihilation Lance, the doomsday weapon used to destroy Amantir, proved its worth in combat. Hao Ren had previously ordered the center to focus on analyzing battlefield data collected at the time and trying to build a more stable and powerful Annihilation Lance system. Now, this part of the research was also fruitful. A new ‘Annihilation Lance’, which did not require the main gun crystal from Crapple Research Station and supported multiple launches, had been finalized and would be put into production soon. The new Annihilation Lance used an energy-constrained field instead of the limited main gun crystals, which made it slightly less powerful, but the advantages of multiple firing and mass production make up for this.
On the other hand, surveillance of the Abyssal Dungeon had been given a higher priority. Asurmen would still be monitoring messages from Mad Lord’s lair, and the ancient giants, led by Loken, would work with Asurmen as assistants. Hao Ren assigned the ‘monitoring team’ a set of antennas, the most powerful one in the Crapple Research Station, and set up an independent information processing system to improve work efficiency.
Of course, remote monitoring was not enough. Hao Ren remembered that he had ordered some UAVs to go to the Umbral Realm. Later, in order to prevent the Mad Lord from escaping, this part of the UAVs stopped and built a nest on the outskirts of The Umbral Realm. Now they had been ordered once again to build a huge fire blockade around The Umbral Realm and were preparing to build a huge antenna tower at the same time to assist Asurmen.
In addition, there were changes in the work of the guardian giants, reports of the remaining ecosystem of the Plane of Dreams, arrangements after the return of the goddess of creation… In the end, Hao Ren presided over the meeting while the goddess of creation listened quietly.
After all, she had been asleep for a long time. The disconnection made it impossible for her to arrange any specific work.
After the meeting, everyone went back to their jobs, and those who had participated in the battle went back to rest. Hao Ren also went back to Petrachelys, but when he arrived at the bridge, he saw the goddess of creation standing there, waiting for him.
He was not surprised, as Nolan had been told that the goddess of creation was free to move about the spaceship. And apparently, she was there for the “plan” they had talked about in the meeting.
“Goddess of creation…”
“Just call me Rheia,” the goddess waved her hand and said.
Hao Ren blinked. “Rheia? Isn’t that just your temporary identity in the dream?”
“But my life as Rheia has been the happiest of my life.” Rheia smiled. “My children call me ‘mother’, my followers call me ‘goddess’. I’ve never needed a name, but now… I think I need one.”
“All right, Rheia,” Hao Ren smiled and said.
“You know what I’m here for,” Rheia said, looking into Hao Ren’s eyes. “You said you could build up my strength quickly, and you emphasized that it was safe. Actually, I don’t mind if it’s unsafe. It’s ok to pay a price as long as it works. Can I see it now? The plan you talked about.”
“Sure.” Hao Ren smiled and waved his hand, and a huge box appeared beside him.
The box was filled with textbooks and teaching material…
“Knowledge is powerful, my lady.”