Clockwork Bride

Page 252

"It's alright, they only withstood the aftershocks. Mortals may be confused, but the gods see clearly. They all know that if you had directly blasted the true fire of the sun at the citizens of New Asia, the children of the peacock would not have been able to withstand it."

Mira said calmly,

"Besides, they are very pragmatic and have already handed over Adam Smith's legacy, which shows their submission to the bodhisattva and demonstrates that they are still part of the group. Although this submission requires an exchange of benefits, how many people in the group are not like that, besides us?"

"Besides, as Hayden said, New Yatu, which was bombed into ruins, was of little value anyway. Let them take it if they want it."

That seemed to make sense, so Fudo Myoo nodded.

"This box,"

However, perhaps because of those distracting thoughts, he still glanced down at the box that had already been handed to Mira.

"The sealed box created by Adam Smith and his wife cannot be easily opened; it would require at least twice the energy of a supreme god to break it. Will the Bodhisattva handle this matter personally?"

"Of course not. But as long as I transfer the Bodhisattva's power to you as before, temporarily strengthening you to the level of a main god, you should be able to open this box in fifteen to twenty-five days."

Mira said this with an air of self-evident certainty.

“Bodhisattvas have more important things to do. We all know that.”

Yes, everyone in Mithra's senior team knew that the most venerable Bodhisattva had more important matters to attend to. Because Mithra's boundless love, compassion, and supreme wisdom were so profound, he didn't need self-righteous fools challenging his theories and decisions. Nor did he have the time to explain things in detail to his team. In any case, his people didn't need to doubt him; they just needed to trust him.

I believe that everything Mithra Bodhisattva did was for a greater benefit.

297: Damn it, I can't stand it!

There is night, and there is morning.

This is the second day. The first rays of dawn, the pre-sunrise light, have barely illuminated the sky.

But the mages who flew out of New Sprout City have already mobilized all their resources to remedy the damage done to the entire Evergreen State.

The entire Evergreen Continent suffered severe damage from the aftermath of the battle at the level of a main god. New Sprout City, however, was protected by a powerful barrier, two minor gods, the Tree of Life, and even two or three other major gods secretly assisting from outside. Therefore, the aftermath of the battle did not harm the interior of New Sprout City… but the situation was quite different in other parts of Evergreen Continent.

The metropolis of New Seattle is now a ruin. As for the other smaller cities in Evergreen State, they are now ravaged as if by a nuclear explosion. Their city barriers are simply no match for the aftershocks of a battle between gods. The ruined cities, buildings, and facilities can be repaired, but the countless lives lost are not so easily recovered.

Whether those who died were originally very poor, from moderately well-off families, or even unfortunate members of the Protoss... they were essentially still commoners. Unfortunate commoners.

[Ms. Karen, last night, the preliminary death toll in Evergreen State reached three million. The number of those seriously injured exceeds five million.]

On the internal communication channel, Alastor gave a dry report.

Ms. Abigail and I will do everything we can to save those who can still be saved, but we hope you can stay in central command to prevent any further unforeseen events.

The central hub is, of course, New Sprout City. Although New Sprout City itself wasn't destroyed, it's facing numerous problems. First, the entire Changqing Prefecture now has over ten million more disaster victims. With all the city's buildings destroyed, they're struggling to even get food and water for today. All of this depends on New Sprout City for support and management.

Angela's Tree of Life can provide an astonishing amount of energy, enough to sustain over ten million disaster victims without food or water. However, this life energy doesn't automatically travel to various parts of Evergreen State; it must be distributed through various means. Given the size of New Sprout City, managing and distributing this energy is already extremely difficult.

That's why Karen now has to be in charge at the central command. Because she's the only genius in this team. Only Karen possesses god-like, multi-threaded, high-speed processing capabilities, surpassing even supercomputers. Only she has the ability to coordinate and manage the current chaotic situation in Evergreen State.

Fortunately, this incident wasn't entirely fruitless. With Adam and Lilith dead, the hundreds of thousands of Brain Gods they had created were immediately without an owner. Although these Brain Gods were a resource, Mithra Bodhisattva didn't seem very interested in them, taking less than half back as research samples.

The remaining 500,000 Brain Gods became part of Hayden's inheritance. They seemed willing to accept Hayden as their new master, obediently following his orders, and now obeying Karen's commands. Evergreen State was in dire need of rescue manpower, so Karen put these 500,000 Brain Gods to use, which proved extremely helpful.

…However, these are all things for the future.

There are still some things that are not completely finished today.

After returning from New Jersey, Hayden went to his room to rest.

I want to be alone for a while.

He told the others that he hoped they would not disturb him for the time being.

No one blamed Hayden for staying indoors during this crucial time. Everyone on the team understood that Hayden had faced and borne more pressure in New Seattle than the rest of them. He was at the heart of the magical ritual and diplomatic negotiations that had just saved everyone.

Alastor, Abigail, Pania… everyone understood, so they wouldn't urge Hayden to do anything. Incidentally, Pania still only has a head. Her divine body was shattered by the power of a supreme god, and repairing it is difficult; no one has the time for that right now.

However, Karen was somewhat different from her companions.

She was certainly aware of Hayden's current emotional state and stress. But... well, she was a little worried.

I was worried about Hayden, but also about other things.

Fortunately, Karen was a financial whiz with exceptional multitasking abilities, so she could simultaneously oversee the central operations, managing millions of dollars worth of relief efforts across the state, and run to Hayden's room. Angela was calmly standing guard at the door, but she didn't stop Karen.

Hayden was alone in his bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed in the center of the room. Surprisingly, he looked calm. If Hayden had truly been grieving, it wasn't evident from his expression. There were no traces of tears on his face. Hayden seemed to have his emotions under control.

"What is it? I said I wanted to be alone for a while."

He spoke in a somber tone, but he didn't seem angry.

Karen was momentarily at a loss for words. She hadn't planned this before entering the room, and she was clearly not in her best condition.

So after a moment of surprise, Karen said, "I want to know what you're thinking about when you're all alone in your room. Are you complaining?"

Karen knew very well that Hayden always valued human life. She also knew how important Professor Albion was to Hayden as an elder and mentor. So Karen had expected Hayden to be particularly sad, perhaps even to lose control or fall into depression—but she hadn't anticipated that Hayden would be like this.

"Me? I'm thinking about what to do next."

Hayden answered in a monotonous tone.

"Ever since I saw [Reincarnation], I've been thinking about how to fight Mitra. But the more I think about it, the more helpless I feel."

He said it dryly.

"Karen, do you know what Adam's crushing defeat today means?"

What did Adam's crushing defeat mean? Karen certainly knew. In some ways, her reaction was even smarter than Hayden's—Adam had displayed double the fighting power of a supreme god today, yet he was carelessly dismissed by Mithra Bodhisattva and died a miserable death.

Mithra Bodhisattva didn't even need to personally intervene; he simply used Samsara and Fudo Myoo to decisively defeat Adam and Lilith. From that moment on, Hayden realized that Mithra Bodhisattva's "power" had indeed reached a pinnacle that no one else could attain.

How to defeat Mithra Bodhisattva? By leveling up and farming? But Mithra also levels up and farms. He spends his days hiding on the moon, quietly developing new technologies, even developing the great magic of the new era, [Reincarnation], which can dominate eternity, and even enabling Fudo Myoo to defeat a god-level being.

“Mithra Bodhisattva’s thinking speed is faster than ours, his technology is more advanced than ours, and he has far more resources than us. Moreover, he is likely to be able to upgrade his farming skills faster than us—which is actually quite normal.”

Hayden couldn't help but chuckle self-deprecatingly at this point.

"The strong get stronger and the weak get weaker, the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, that's capitalism. The strongest are more likely to accumulate advantages and have a greater chance to become stronger. Basically, it's impossible for us to fight Mitra by farming and upgrading."

“Professor Albion was dragged into this and then chose to sacrifice himself for us. I know he must have felt he had no regrets, that it was for our sake and the future of the world. But Karen, can you see the future now? Can you see the road ahead? Before he died, the professor bestowed upon me the wisdom to predict the future, but I—”

Hayden's voice already betrayed his weariness.

"I've just gone from a stupid student to a stupid expert. I have no wisdom. I still can't see any bright future."

Faced with an insurmountable wall, his mental energy was exhausted, because a person's mental strength is also limited.

Back in New Jersey, when facing Fudo Myoo, Hayden was able to maintain his composure. But now, his despondency and sorrow surged forth uncontrollably: "Karen, what should I do?"

Anyone could tell how frustrated Hayden was.

So, can Karen understand Hayden's feelings right now? Of course she can. And she doesn't think Hayden's frustration, sadness, and loss are foolish.

"You want to ask me? Then this is my answer."

So Karen walked over and punched Hayden hard, knocking him off the bed. Now it was Hayden's turn to be bewildered: "Huh?"

But Karen's eyes had become incredibly serious and earnest.

"Hayden, you're not even as good as Adam now. That kid was willing to risk his life to fight Mitra for his selfish lust for power, and you're just discouraged because you saw how strong Mitra was?"

Adam never really wanted to fight Mitra; he was simply dragged into it by Lilith's love. But now that both he and Lilith are dead, the whole world will likely believe that Adam jumped into this gamble himself. Only Hayden senses something is wrong, but he can no longer confirm it.

“Yes, Mitra may be the strongest, but he hasn’t truly ruled the world in the last four hundred years. He was the strongest, not invincible. His military strength and resources far surpass ours. But Hayden,”

Karen continued, her eyes burning like green flames.

“Last night you led us to victory against him once. You spearheaded the rescue of us, and at least ten million people of Evergreen State, from the brink of death, defeating Mitra once. You used Adam’s broken box to exchange for the entire New Yatu and take over the city, that’s a victory. You let us escape the troubles of those legacies as soon as possible, that’s also a victory. You didn’t even expose Angela, all of that is a victory!”

“We will gather even more strength afterward. What makes you think we can’t defeat him again? It’s true that Mithra is stronger than us now, with more resources and power. But my human dignity does not allow me to fear anything that is not wiser than me; and from what I’ve observed so far, your wisdom is by no means inferior to Mithra’s!”

It must be admitted that Karen possessed a domineering presence that Hayden could not match. She wasn't just unwilling to admit defeat; she saw every possibility as an opportunity. For her, escaping death from Mithra was a battle of wits.

After all, Karen has always been a resilient person; the greater the pressure, the stronger she becomes, and the more she maintains her will to resist in the face of immense pressure. Survival is hope. No matter how painful or desperate she has been, it is precisely because she never gave up that she is where she is today.

However, choosing to fight does not guarantee victory. Even if victory is achieved, it often comes at a cost.

"In this battle, we lost Professor Albion. I can't imagine how many more will be lost in the next battle. Next time it could be our other friends... or even you and me."

Hayden opened his mouth, attempting to argue.

“If it were just me dying, that would be fine. To be honest, I’m not that afraid of death. But the possibility that more than just me might be sacrificed—I really don’t want that to happen again.”

In truth, this was the source of all Hayden's pain and frustration. More than any fear of failure, he simply wanted to save people, even everyone. Stripped of any prophetic aura, Hayden's greatest wish remained unchanged: to save lives. His ideals were far more ordinary than Karen's…

……Is it really?

Karen shook her head and sighed, "You always say I'm domineering, but you're actually more domineering than me."

"what?"

Hayden did not understand what Karen meant.

But wanting to save everyone, wanting to avoid sacrificing anyone in battle—that's the kind of thinking only the most greedy person in the world would have, the ultimate form of domineering. Even Kallen would be ashamed of herself in the face of such domineering power.

...and that's why Karen always believed that Hayden's potential for dominance was no less than hers.

"Professor Albion has sacrificed himself, but he left us with his century-long accumulation of wisdom, which enabled us to achieve a victory last night."

She reached out, cupped Hayden's face in her hands, and gazed deeply into his eyes.

"He burned himself, blasting a small hole in Mithra's tower. Although it may not change the tide of history for the time being, we have inherited the professor's flame."

"Even if our comrades die in the future, or even if we die ourselves, as long as this spark can be ignited and passed on, the death will not be meaningless. Even if we are eliminated before the end of this dark age, someone will take our place, and then someone else will take their place and continue the fight."

"So I must fight, we must fight. Because I believe darkness can be broken. Even if I lose, even if I sacrifice myself, I will make the oppressors think twice, and I will ensure that someone can inherit my flame."

Karen spoke quietly. But her gaze and will were so bright, more dazzling than the midday sun. For this was her faith, the meaning of sacrifice she believed in.

Hayden could absolutely understand the significance of this.

“Even if,” but as she said this, Karen’s face suddenly turned a little red, “even if it’s just to prevent our descendants from suffering this fate, so that our descendants can have a world where they don’t have to cry, we must fight and we must win.”

This topic is getting a bit awkward. Hayden immediately couldn't help but retort, "How dare we, a couple who've been married for almost six months and are still virgins, say something like that?"

However, while Hayden enjoyed making fun of himself, Karen wasn't happy to hear it. Having already punched Hayden onto the bed, she simply straddled his waist.

The elves were all very light, so light that they were almost imperceptible. But at that moment, Hayden couldn't help but feel a herbivore-like state of mind.

"...You...you don't really intend to do this, do you?"

When the time came, Hayden suddenly became hesitant.

"Stop messing around. Neither of us has any experience, and I bet you don't even watch videos. This will only make us both tired and in pain, and we might not even be able to get it in!"

Sigh, this timid virgin in his early thirties is really disappointing!

But unlike him, Karen never disappoints.

"Neither of us has any experience, but that's not a problem."

So she tossed her long hair, blushing but with a smug smile on her lips, and her breath began to exhale a sweet, floral warmth.

"With my god-like physique, even if I slowly research and experiment little by little, I could drain you for three days and three nights without getting tired."

噫

A feeling of impending prey sent a chill down Hayden's spine.

"Hayden, just enjoy yourself."

Judging from Karen's smile, it's not easy to live off this rich woman!

298: This is very embarrassing.

Karen was just joking about squeezing Haiden for three days and three nights. After all, she still had countless matters to attend to in New Sprout City and throughout Evergreen State.

In fact, just three hours later, Karen, who had successfully ended her first time, used magic to clean the jewel-like sweat off her body, looking refreshed.

While some people use cats to describe women, Karen's charisma is clearly not suited to being compared to such a cute creature. Only a apex predator like a lion or tiger can better capture this feeling.

On the other hand, Hayden, who had been fiercely preyed upon by Karen, was now too exhausted to move and lay in bed in a daze.

In fact, men expend more physical energy than women during sexual intercourse, and Karen is a powerful goddess with an incredibly strong physique, capable of shattering the earth's crust with her fists... However, on the other hand, the keen senses of elves are completely different from those of humans, which also enhances the physical pleasure and stimulation during contact... In short, Hayden is actually getting the better deal while pretending to be innocent, as everyone knows.

"Congratulations on ending your virginity. Will you be more confident from now on?"

Although it was her first time as well, Karen still teased Hayden as if it were a prank.

"How could you possibly think that this would make me more confident?"

Hayden responded with a weak, dismissive retort.