GA: Chapter 140: The Will of a Civilization's Chief God Is the Label of That Civilization
Devourment was, without question, an extraordinarily powerful ability.
In the process of acquiring another's power, it could shed a portion of that power's inherent weaknesses — which was precisely why neither creature feared seawater.
Whether they would manage to surprise him in the future remained to be seen.
With devourment as the foundation, vibration and darkness were only the beginning.
Bai Xuan and Tenshi Zixin had gone. But Qin Tian, Huo Yu, and Chen Bing found themselves standing in a state of mild bewilderment.
If their guess was right, that angel must have been someone from another world.
The great platform capable of connecting the myriad worlds — something Bai Xuan had mentioned in passing before.
But since none of them had ever truly witnessed it, even with the world changed as dramatically as it had — even with Devil Fruits, Imperial Arms, and armor all appearing in reality — a sliver of doubt had persisted in some people's hearts. A quiet suspicion that perhaps no such platform truly existed.
That perhaps all of it was simply the ability of [Authority of Nature].
But honestly, what difference did that make?
If all of it truly were the power of [Authority of Nature], wouldn't that only make Bai Xuan's ability sound more terrifying?
If Bai Xuan knew what they were thinking, he'd probably be thoroughly speechless.
Did he need a lie like that to make himself seem more capable?
After communicating with Earth's consciousness and learning that his future as the chief god of Earth's civilization was all but certain, he had long since lost any inclination to deceive others.
A civilization's chief god — their attitude and character tended to define the direction of the civilization they governed. Their subjective will became the label by which that civilization was known.
In the eyes of other civilizations, Bai Xuan's will would become Earth civilization's label.
Just as Sacred Kesha's justice had become the label of righteousness worn by the angel civilization. Just as Morgana's malice and corruption had become the label of evil worn by the demon civilization.
So Bai Xuan had no desire to approach others with lies. He didn't stoop to dishonesty.
When faced with difficult questions, he could choose to answer honestly — or choose not to answer at all. But he would not choose deception.
He didn't fully understand why Earth had entrusted him with something as significant as [Authority of Nature], or why its attitude toward him was so warm and close. But since he had received this treatment, he would give everything he had to guide Earth's civilization toward becoming stronger.
Qin Tian and Chen Bing both turned their gaze to Huo Yu.
If anyone in Huaxia knew who that person was, it would be her. She'd had more contact with Bai Xuan after the spiritual revival than anyone else.
"Don't look at me like that — I'm not going to know anything about an angel, how could I possibly — wait, hold on."
"Actually, I think I might."
Huo Yu had been about to brush off the expectant looks they were giving her, but stopped herself. Thinking about it — she genuinely might know.
Early on, when Bai Xuan had asked her to gather figurines he was planning to materialize, the list had included angels — specifically, the Three Queens of the angel civilization from the Honkai universe.
And afterward she'd gotten curious and asked Bai Xuan about the angel civilization from that world, because by that point she already knew these weren't just fictional settings — these worlds were real.
Of course she'd been curious.
What Bai Xuan had told her at the time was—
"The most powerful warriors in the known Honkai universe — and at the same time, a group of the most beautiful angels."
"They fight for love. They fight for justice. And they do so without ever looking back."
"They have the most beautiful faces and forms, kind hearts, ageless appearances, and endless lives — and they never flatter the powerful or chase after fame and gain. They see through to the truest love the world holds, and they are willing to descend for that love, swearing to protect it — even if the person they love is poor, unremarkable, someone whose life is going badly."
"In humanity's most beautiful hopes — if every civilization held a wish like this, then surely one of them would have realized it. That civilization is the angels."
Huo Yu recited Bai Xuan's words from memory, one by one. He hadn't even seemed to think he was praising them — he'd been describing objective facts.
The most beautiful faces and forms. Kind hearts. Ageless appearances. Endless lives. Never flattering the powerful or chasing fame.
Fighting for love and justice without looking back.
Descending for love, regardless of the other person's status or circumstance.
Creatures this beautiful could probably only exist in the realm of imagination.
By contrast — even without the spiritual revival, humanity had never been short of things that ran contrary to every ideal. The internet had always been full of arguments and noise; people seemed ready to slap each other over a stray dog's existence.
Funnily enough, after the spiritual revival, that sort of noise had quieted considerably.
"Things from other worlds aren't something we can get involved in. What we should be focusing on is what's right in front of us."
Huo Yu shook her head and turned back to the mutated killer whale and mutated giant octopus.
"One thing we can confirm — after seeing Bai Xuan, the mutated killer whale almost certainly isn't going to stab us in the back."
Even now, with Bai Xuan gone, the two mutated sea creatures were still frozen in a daze, their bodies trembling involuntarily.
"So. Let's continue."
Huo Yu looked at the other two.
"Wrap it up."
Qin Tian gave a single nod, a flicker of fire passing through his eyes.
When Bai Xuan returned to the villa with Tenshi Zixin, the first thing that greeted them was the sight of two Pikachu chasing each other around in circles.
The familiar, adorable sight — if not for an angel's dignity, Zixin would have scooped them up for a pat on the spot.
The angel civilization had also purchased Pokémon. But for reasons that probably had something to do with them being impossibly cute, neither Sacred Kesha nor Celestial Base King Hexi had thought to send any of them off for research.
Which meant that Tenshi Zixin, who spent most of her time in laboratories, had rarely had the chance to interact with them.
She could have chosen to keep one with her — but imagining a Pokémon spending long periods of time alone waiting in a lab had been enough to make her give up on the idea.
"Bai Xuan, you're back?"
"Is this a guest?"
Doraemon, who had been in the middle of a game, heard the sound of the door and came out from the room — and then came face to face with Tenshi Zixin.
Doraemon wasn't a Pokémon. But those perfectly round proportions, the seamless blend of cat and tanuki, the blue-and-white coloring — there was an undeniably unique sort of charm to the combination. In some people's eyes it rivaled even Pokémon in appeal. At least, that was how Bai Xuan saw it.
Tenshi Zixin's gaze, which had been lingering on the Pikachu, shifted to Doraemon — and the fondness in it was plain to see.
But after looking for a few seconds, a puzzled expression crossed her face.
She drifted closer without quite meaning to and began inspecting Doraemon from different angles.
"Please don't stare like that — it's embarrassing."
Doraemon took a couple of instinctive steps backward. It was a cat-type robot, and its sense of aesthetics leaned more toward the feline — but being studied this intently by Tenshi Zixin was still enough to make it a little flustered.
"How strange."
Tenshi Zixin seemed not to hear Doraemon's words, tilting her head to one side.
Unless she was seeing incorrectly, this adorable blue-and-white cat was a robot — its body composed of technology across various tiers of advancement.
Some of that technology was even more advanced than what the angel civilization had. Though at least it was recognizable as technology.
But something about it was deeply strange.
...
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