Humans are a species skilled in making tools. When they need a weapon, they don't need to sharpen their teeth and claws; they just need to make the simplest spear and stone axe.
The same principle applies to the Old Deus. The combined computational power of all the Ex-machina far surpassed that of their creator, Holou. For Holou, creating the Ex-machina was much simpler than self-modification.
And now, under Su Mo's continuous optimization, the computational power and algorithms of the Ex-machina had been iterated multiple times, quickly increasing by several orders of magnitude.
With Holou's assistance, Su Mo modified all the Ex-machina, greatly enhancing their computational capabilities while also ensuring they could adapt to the magical energy of the Campione! world.
Thus, an evolved torrent of steel was born.
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In the Campione! world, the Divine Realm.
A torrent of steel that blotted out the sun appeared in the sky above the Greek Divine Realm. Over ten thousand Ex-machina had appeared in this new and unfamiliar world.
Sensing such a terrifying and unfamiliar presence, the pitch-black giant dragon that coiled around the entire Greek Divine Realm, completely protecting Mount Olympus, opened its eyes vigilantly, warily observing the aura of these uninvited guests.
The aura of the steel torrent before her was so terrifying it shook her.
Even though she was now the Primordial Mother Goddess, Gaia, possessing the power to easily destroy continents and overturn the surface of the earth, she couldn't help but feel a palpitation in her heart.
If her intuition was not wrong, then among the more than ten thousand individuals in the steel torrent before her, even the weakest possessed the combat power of a chief god.
The stronger ones among them could even pose a threat to her current self.
This was an extremely frightening matter. One had to know that in a normal divine realm, there were usually no more than a hundred chief god-level beings, and gods in her state were even rarer.
The number before her was over ten thousand. Even in a head-on battle, this terrifying mechanical army was enough to sweep through the entire Divine Realm. Even in her Primordial Mother Goddess state, she was no match for this legion.
What was even more terrifying was that this steel torrent did not seem to be the main force. After arriving in the sky above the Greek Divine Realm, they had directly left the central position empty, as if welcoming someone of higher status.
Noticing this, the black dragon protected Mount Olympus, which had been frozen into a giant ice cream cone.
Although she didn't know whose power this force from another world was, Su Mo had given her a task before he left: to properly seal the remains of the gods. No matter what, the mission could not fail.
Just as Athena was preparing to hide and contact her master, over a thousand pure white Flügel descended into the center of the Ex-machina legion. They had geometric halos above their heads, and their wings grew uniquely from their lower backs.
Seeing this familiar appearance, the black dragon coiled around Mount Olympus froze for a moment, realizing something. She raised her head high and looked toward the center of the Flügel legion.
Sure enough, at the very core, she saw an incredibly familiar figure and felt a reassuring aura.
The Flügel Jibril, a young goddess with a different aura, the strange Ex-machina, and…
"Master!"
The black dragon, over several kilometers long, suddenly let out a joyful cry. With a slight flap of her wings, she flew directly toward the center, surrounded by the Flügel.
Seeing this behemoth suddenly approach their great Master God, the Ex-machina instantly locked onto her movements, their attack technique, Apocrypha: Dragon Roar, ready to fire. The Flügel also cast cold gazes, ready for Heaven's Strike at any moment.
If it were an attacker, they would probably be crushed to dust in an instant by the two legions.
However, at Su Mo's command, they halted their actions. And the giant black dragon, as if completely unaware of the terrifying aura of the two legions, flew toward Su Mo's position without slowing down in the slightest.
When locked on by both the Ex-machina and Flügel legions, she had no intention of defending or counter-attacking. Instead, she just adjusted her size.
By the time she reached Su Mo, the black dragon, symbolizing the Primordial Mother Goddess, had completely transformed into a silver-haired loli who looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old.
That was the appearance of this goddess when they had first met.
"Master, you're back!"
She had originally intended to use her momentum to throw herself into Su Mo's arms, but after seeing the unfamiliar young goddess hiding behind Su Mo, affectionately holding his hand, the goddess hesitated for a rare moment and stopped half a step in front of him.
She had never had such an intimate contact before. The always proud goddess, for some reason, became a little timid.
Su Mo paid no mind to this small gesture. Before Athena could even collect herself, he had already stepped forward and patted the silver-haired goddess on the head.
"Well done."
Although it was just a simple guard mission, Athena's proactive sealing of the Greek Divine Realm to prevent its instability from affecting other realms was a great contribution. It would be very convenient for Su Mo's future actions.
"I was only relying on the power you granted me."
Athena shook her head, not taking any credit, but it was clear that the expression on her face had brightened considerably.
If Hestia were here, she would definitely snark about how easy this goddess was to please. Becoming so devoted just because he took a single step forward—how could she possibly lead the Earth Mother Goddess faction like that?
Unfortunately for that line of thought, Athena didn't care. After receiving Su Mo's praise and proactive gesture, she immediately cast her earlier disappointment aside and looked curiously at the young goddess who was still clinging to the corner of his clothes.
The Goddess of Wisdom and the God of Doubt looked at each other.
One's gaze was profound, the other's was blank.
"Question: Are you also the Master God's pet?" Holou spoke first, her eyes full of curiosity as she looked at Athena.
"Pet?"
Hearing this term, the silver-haired goddess looked back at Su Mo in shock.
Does Master like this kind of roleplay?
With that thought in mind, she immediately nodded. "That's right, yes!"
This time, it was Su Mo and Jibril's turn to be confused. They exchanged a glance, wondering when this great goddess had become a pet. Even if it was out of jealousy, there was no need to lower her own status, was there?
Apparently, Athena thought it was necessary.
And then, she was dumbfounded.
"Inference: Since we are both the Master God's pets, we should have a sisterly relationship!" Holou tilted her head, and after reaching this conclusion, she took Athena's hand with her other hand.
"Question: Do you want to be the younger sister?"
Learning that she was also Su Mo's pet, Holou's affection for her immediately increased significantly. Although it was far from the level she felt for her Master God, the relationship of "sisters" could help her establish her own position, especially in this unfamiliar world.
"I do not!" After a few seconds of bewilderment, Athena refused on the spot.
She had thought this was some new favorite, which was why she had specifically transformed into a similar loli form, but she hadn't expected the person before her to actually be a child?
"Understood. Then you are the older sister. I am Holou. The Master God said I am the God of Doubt. You can just call me Holou. That's the name the Master God gave me." Holou introduced herself matter-of-factly.
"I am Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom… wait, why are we sisters?" The silver-haired goddess still hadn't understood her worldview.
Holou, at this moment, was captivated by the first half of her answer, her eyes lighting up.
"Confirmation: The Goddess of Wisdom must possess the answers I seek. Considering the conditions, pets have an obligation to get along harmoniously. Hypothesis: you can answer Holou's questions."
"Question one: I want to know what is a heart. The Master God's answer is too complicated for Holou to understand right now."
"Question two…"
The natural enemy of scheming; when the most empty-headed goddess met the Goddess of Wisdom, it immediately turned into a curious child's classroom.
Although it was nowhere near as eager as when she had been pestering Su Mo, it was clear that Athena was somewhat bewildered by Holou's barrage of questions. It wasn't that she couldn't answer these questions, but that she struggled to comprehend how things had developed to this point.
But the statement about pets getting along harmoniously seemed to make sense. Thus, after some hesitation, Athena gradually fell into Holou's sea-of-questions tactic, the two of them asking and answering questions in a way that truly resembled two harmonious pets.
Su Mo never obstructed such natural interaction. After letting the two goddesses foster their relationship, he turned back to the Flügel and immediately noticed Jibril, who had transformed into a child.
"What are you doing?" he asked in confusion.
Jibril was clearly still at her peak; she hadn't used Heaven's Strike. Why had she taken on the regressed form?
"This is the Great Master's-Attention-Getting Operation!" the childlike Jibril proudly puffed out her chest.
"Although it's copying Athena's tactics, it's certainly effective on Master. This is probably the legendary Beauty Trap!"
"…" Su Mo was at a loss for words.
"Guhehe, Jii-chan in this state is really cute. Can I give you a hug, big sister?" Azriel, at the side, immediately fell for it.
"No!" Jibril said decisively.
"Why not… Although I expected this result, I still feel sad to be rejected by Jii-chan, meow!" Azriel immediately drooped.
A moment later, she perked up and looked at Su Mo with pleading eyes.
"By the way, Lord Su Mo, what did you bring us here to do, meow?"