Chapter 146 The Goddess' Inspection

Two days later, inside Raven 12345's "Inverted Hanging Kingdom."

Hao Ren and Vivian didn't go home after leaving the Dream Plane, but came directly to this place. Accompanying them was Leah, who entered the surface world in the form of a mass projection.

Rarely, Raven 12345 received the three of them with a fairly normal procedure—the divine kingdom didn't explode, the temple garden didn't catch fire, and the goddess was waiting for her visitors in a gazebo in the temple garden. To be honest, it was as if this female psychopath had been replaced...

Various strange plants, whose names were unknown, formed lush flower walls, circling around the gazebo. Arcane servants brought freshly brewed black tea to the guests, along with exquisite refreshments. Hao Ren glanced at the teacup; on the slightly rippling surface, he occasionally saw starlight-like glimmers.

Seated across the round table was Raven 12345, a calm expression on her face. She picked up her teacup, looked at Hao Ren, and smiled slightly, "What's with that expression?"

Hao Ren stared at his female superior sitting across from him: "What the... Goddess, you weren't replaced, were you? This style isn't right! Is a higher-up about to do a spot check?"

"Can't you say something nice?" Raven 12345 glanced at Hao Ren. "Is that how this goddess usually impresses you?"

Hao Ren thought about it carefully and nodded sincerely: "You summed it up quite well."

"Get lost, is that how you talk to your superiors?" Raven 12345 rolled her eyes, then put down her teacup. "Occasionally, I have to show a bit of my temperament and demeanor as the supreme administrative god of this universe, because I already know what you're here to say today. If I'm not mistaken... the war in the Dream Plane isn't far off, is it?"

Hao Ren was genuinely surprised: "How did you know?!"

"The Dream Plane and the surface world are intertwined. Even if I can't enter, I can still sense the changes happening 'over there'," Raven 12345 smiled. "And recently, I've been paying attention to the balance and evolution of the two worlds. I've seen the stability of the Dream Plane begin to fluctuate regularly, and the Wall of Reality is constantly seeping polluting information. How could I not guess that the Lord of Madness is about to break free?"

Listening to her deliberately understated tone, Hao Ren finally understood why this goddess was acting so ethereal today—she'd finally done something serious, observing the changes in the Dream Plane, and then heard that he had something to report, so she deliberately prepared this scene to put on a good show.

But Hao Ren didn't expose her. Instead, he nodded in agreement: "That's right. If there are no accidents, the decisive battle will be a month from now. But I'm here today to tell you about something else... we've finally found out the true identity of the person who killed the god back then."

A hint of surprise appeared on Raven 12345's face, and she quickly picked up her teacup to hide her surprise: "Oh? I remember that was a guy who was completely erased by divine punishment, right? What's there to report about that?"

Hao Ren took a breath, and after confirming that Raven 12345 had taken a sip of tea, he pointed at himself: "It was me in my previous life."

"Pfft—"

Serves you right for pretending!

Raven 12345 spat out tea at least three meters away. The image she had painstakingly maintained was ruined in an instant. She threw the teacup aside and stood up abruptly, staring at Hao Ren: "You did that on purpose, didn't you!"

Immediately after, she asked: "What do you mean by that? What do you mean, you did it in your previous life?"

Vivian seemed even more surprised than Raven 12345. She stared blankly at Hao Ren and Leah, and it took her a while to react: "Ah—was that what you two were stammering about at the Creation Engine?"

Hao Ren sighed and said with a wry smile: "Where do I even begin to explain this... Actually, I haven't recovered any memories from my previous life or anything. Maybe those memories were really blasted into ashes by that divine punishment. I saw the complete illusion in the Golden Disc..."

Then, he told everything he had experienced at the Creation Engine factory—this was the first time he had told anyone these truths since leaving that place. And for several seconds after he finished speaking, Raven 12345 and Vivian were still stunned.

Finally, Raven 12345 finally made a sound: "...Are you sure you're not just coming to tease me because you're feeling stressed before the war?"

"Stop messing around. If I really wanted to tease someone, I'd rather argue with Lily than come to you," Hao Ren rubbed his forehead. "These things are all true. This Creation Goddess next to me can testify."

"I testify," Leah immediately raised her hand. "I was watching too, and it was in first person—he stabbed me again."

Vivian looked at Hao Ren with a strange expression: "So... you assassinated Leah in your previous life, and then you saved her in this life... No, I'm a little confused, I need to sort things out."

As the "victim," Leah took the initiative to comfort her: "Vivian, don't take it too hard. There were a lot of hidden circumstances in that incident back then. If we're not mistaken, Hao Ren's sword was actually at my instruction."

Vivian, who was still confused, subconsciously replied: "We already knew that. You were behind the Godslayer War..."

Leah became serious and emphasized again: "What I mean is, Hao Ren's 'that sword' was at my instruction."

"Eh?" Vivian finally reacted. "You mean..."

"Hao Ren... I mean, his previous life, was most likely the only 'Godslayer' who participated in the Godslayer War knowing all the facts," Leah nodded slightly. "We found clues and can confirm that his previous life had some kind of tacit understanding with me back then. And another thing we can confirm is that the divine punishment that destroyed the 'Godslayers' was actually just a smokescreen. Its real purpose was the same as Yggdrasil's 'World-Crossing Rune,' which was to send people from the Dream Plane to the surface world..."

Raven 12345 immediately waved her hand to interrupt her: "You don't need to say anymore, I understand—after Hao Ren killed the god, you extracted his soul and threw it to a place with coordinates consistent with those preset by Yggdrasil, which is Earth, right? You two had it all planned from beginning to end."

Hao Ren nodded: "That's the gist of it, but the problem is that we two can't completely confirm this now. Everything can only be deduced."

Vivian looked at Hao Ren up and down with a strange expression: "So what exactly were you two trying to do back then?"

It was Leah who answered her: "Only one thing is certain, and that is that my plans back then were definitely aimed at the same goal, so all the arrangements I made back then must also be able to cooperate with each other or connect with each other, including Yggdrasil and the Dream Plane refugees it carried, including the Final Network and the Final Throne, including the Creation Engine, and including you. And the core of all these plans, or the highest 'node,' is you."

Vivian blinked. Of course, she understood what the other party meant. The identities of "Guide" and "Highest Node of the Final Network" were there, but she still didn't understand what Leah wanted to do: "And then?"

"And then? Then we can be sure that I and the 'Godslayer' put on a show together, and then sent the Godslayer's soul to Earth. This must also be part of this pile of plans, and this plan must also be linked to you—just like all the lines converge on one point, you are the 'point' where all my plans must converge."

Speaking of this, Leah gently tapped her forehead: "But... I don't remember what agreement I had with the 'Godslayer' back then, and I don't remember what my purpose was in sending him to Earth. This part of my memory isn't isolated, but completely annihilated, which means..."

"It means this matter must be kept from that 'Goddess of Annihilation'," Vivian was so smart that she instantly thought of the key. "Because you and the Goddess of Annihilation share memories, so you simply annihilated this memory at the last moment of the Godslayer incident!"

"Therefore, we can speculate that the 'priority' of this matter is higher than all the arrangements you have ever made," Raven 12345 said unhurriedly. "After all, you didn't even hide the Creation Engine, which was used to destroy your whole family, from the Goddess of Annihilation... Ah, that Creation Engine itself is probably just a smokescreen, deliberately shown to the Goddess of Annihilation?"

"It's definitely not a smokescreen," Leah shook her head, "but it's definitely not... everything."

"Interesting... It's really a bit interesting. You guys played a big game back then. It's easy to deceive others, but it takes extraordinary effort to deceive yourself," Raven 12345 stroked her chin, a look of great interest on her face. Her eyes moved back and forth between Hao Ren and Leah, and finally landed on Vivian. "So... you came to me today because I definitely know more about theology than you, and you want me to help you study what role that 'Godslayer' play back then?"

Hao Ren and Leah nodded together.

"Then I do have an idea," Raven 12345 smiled. "But that requires the cooperation of you two, Hao Ren and Vivian."

"I have no problem," Hao Ren nodded, then looked at Vivian, "But you..."

"If you have no problem, then I have no problem," Vivian said indifferently. "Anyway, the goddess won't harm us."

"Then we're all set," Raven 12345 showed a mysterious smile. "I need to examine your souls. If I'm not mistaken, there should be something hidden in your souls, something... that even I was deceived by."

Raven 12345's "examination" didn't require cumbersome rituals and a long time as Hao Ren had imagined. In fact, as soon as the goddess finished speaking, he and Vivian felt a moment of trance. A few seconds later, the trance gradually dissipated, and they saw Raven 12345 looking at them with a strange expression.

"The examination... is over?" Hao Ren said a little incredulously.

"Ah, it's not complicated," Raven 12345 frowned, seeming a little surprised herself. "Strange... I clearly didn't find it before, but why is there now..."

"What's more?" Hao Ren became a little nervous. "Do souls even grow? Is it me or Vivian?"

"It's you. I found a new piece of information in your soul... If I'm not mistaken, it's probably because you came into contact with the 'truths' recorded in the Golden Disc and lifted some kind of seal, and this piece of information can just match Vivian's soul."

Hao Ren couldn't wait to ask: "What is this information used for?"

"Take out your Godslayer Sword," Raven 12345 took a breath. "I'll teach you how to use it—this is the ability you should have originally mastered."