After Me, the Deluge!

The artifact spirits stood in two rows. Though they ranged from young to old, male and female, their attire was uniform: tailored black uniforms, white cuffs turned back, the corner of a handkerchief peeking from each breast pocket, and a ribbon rosette pinned to the chest. Following Karen inside, Vic had the fleeting impression of stepping into a newly opened café. And indeed, what the artifact spirits were "wearing" today—or rather, what they had deliberately manifested—was the waiter's uniform of a certain café in York City. Luoya herself wore this attire on normal days. Back then, after escaping those remnants of Light, Karen had washed up in a café, changed into a waiter's uniform, and only then gone to the sausage factory Qihe secretly operated to meet Luoya. Luoya had never forgotten the sweetness of their first meeting, and the young girl had stubbornly held onto that endearing sentiment ever since. Though Luoya had not been in the containment space for long, she had already risen to become the undisputed big sister here. She owed it entirely to her unique ability to communicate with Karen. "Brother Karen!" Skipping and bouncing over, Luoya threw her arms around him. Aside from the chill of her body and its lack of warmth, she was virtually indistinguishable from a living person. Karen was about to pat Luoya's head, but seeing Little Kanna beside him already pouting, he changed his mind and patted Luoya's back instead to show his warmth. "Brother Karen, you're amazing! That thing actually shut its eye just because you arrived. Don't worry, Brother Karen—every artifact spirit here to welcome you is a trustworthy member we hand-picked!" "Members?" "Yes, members! Our membership screening is very strict!" "Mm, good." "We don't play with anyone who wavers or is just a useless good-for-nothing. They've all been forced into slumber right now, and after you leave, we'll check their memories one by one to make sure everything's been wiped clean." Listening to her, Karen nodded with a smile. Why did this sound like a prison gang? Yet Karen genuinely believed in the "loyalty" Luoya spoke of. These artifact spirits all desperately craved freedom, spending endless time researching and attempting prison breaks to achieve it. And at present, Karen was the only one who could offer them hope. They had no reason to betray him or blow the whistle; the reward for doing so might be nothing more than a transfer from a general prison cell to a private, high-security one. Under Luoya's swift briefing, Karen gained a general understanding of the situation. Not counting Luoya herself, there were 107 known member spirits. The Church of Order's wealth of assets was truly immense. And this was after weeding out the wavering and the useless; moreover, this was merely a "general holding cell" of the containment space. Furthermore, an even more complete, potent, and higher-ranking batch of divine artifacts was consecrated upon the stars of the Temple of Order, beyond the reach of the containment space. From this, one could see just how maniacal the God of Order's slaughter of the divine realm had been at the end of the previous era. Had he not slain so many deities, he could never have accumulated so much dropped equipment. With time pressing, Karen merely exchanged brief pleasantries with the enthusiastic crowd. Then, Karen turned to Luoya. "I plan to lease you on a long-term contract." This was Karen's promise to her. Back when they first parted, Luoya had said she would wait until Karen rose high enough in rank to lease her out. "How many divine artifacts can Brother Karen lease right now?" "For a long-term lease, only one." "Then don't lease me. I'm already by your side, Brother Karen." After all, Karen still had the Laks copper coin on him. Luoya opened her arms wide and giggled. "Besides, I'd hate to leave everyone." With her staying here, Karen could continue drawing on the power and wisdom of these artifact spirits, just as when he had asked them to revise his surgical plan. If she left, Karen's connection to this place would be severed... Everyone's hopes would be dashed, and betrayals that had once been impossible might well begin to emerge. "Brother Karen, if it's a long-term lease, you can choose between these two: the God of Starlight's divine artifact, the [Guardian's Shield], or the Berserk Giant God's divine artifact, the [Axe of Sharpness]. Jimosi, Awar, step forward!" Immediately, a frail girl and a burly man stepped out and dropped to one knee before Karen. "Brother Karen, Jimosi and Awar's performance ratings have been underestimated. Hehe, to stay here, they deliberately concealed their strength and falsified their reports during every major inspection. So picking one of these two for a long-term lease is your best bet!" One defensive divine artifact, one offensive divine artifact—truly the most practical choices. Moreover, it took an insider to recognize quality. Since Luoya strongly recommended them, the power of these two divine artifacts was bound to exceed their official tier; leasing either long-term was guaranteed to be a bargain. In truth, high-ranking figures within the church—the individuals qualified to lease divine artifacts—were rarely willing to lease those possessing artifact spirits. Artifact spirits were notoriously hard to control, prone to causing all manner of trouble, and could even lead to contamination if one wasn't careful. Yet for Karen, this was never an issue. Past experience had already proven that in the face of his hunger addiction, artifact spirits were terrified like quivering quails. What was more, the former masters of the spirits here had mostly been suppressed by the God of Order himself, leaving their psychological scars even deeper. Karen looked at Luoya and asked, "Are you really not going to leave with me?" "I want to," Luoya said with a shy smile. "But I promised everyone that I'd lead them all out together." Little Kanna's expression softened as she looked at Luoya. It seemed this little girl, who looked about her own age, wasn't as wicked as Sister Purr made her out to be. "Aww, you're so cute! So pretty!" Luoya stepped forward to hug Little Kanna. Little Kanna lowered her head in mild shyness. Karen spoke: "Thank you all for your past help; my surgery went very smoothly because of it. Here and now, I promise you all that once the time is ripe and conditions are met, I will grant you freedom. "However, the freedom I offer is not for you to leave here alongside your original divine artifact vessels to live an unconstrained life." Hearing this, the artifact spirits exchanged glances. "Instead, I can provide you with new vessel bodies—such as puppets or flesh-and-blood bodies. You will be able to live freely in the outside world, relieved of your obligation to unconditionally serve and labor for the Church." The artifact spirits' expressions relaxed, and smiles appeared on their faces. In Karen, they saw sincerity and felt his unwillingness to deceive them. Absolute freedom had never existed in this world. Take these divine artifacts: though they looked harmless and polite right now, if a single one slipped out into the world, it could trigger a cataclysm. Karen was promising them relative freedom. Even in this form, such freedom was exceedingly precious—no, it was something virtually impossible to obtain otherwise. A divine artifact stripped of its artifact spirit lost a great deal of its utility. Divine artifacts were not just handy tools for individuals; in fact, the work of many church departments depended on borrowing their power. Transforming an arrangement of unilateral enslavement and exploitation into an equal partnership meant that whenever the relevant Church of Order departments wished to use them in the future, they would have to plead and curry favor. Costs would soar, and efficiency would plummet. Still, as long as it could resolve the catastrophe of the gods' return, Karen was willing to accept the deal. Address the primary contradiction first. Karen pointed at Jimosi, the frail young girl, and said, "I choose her." The God of Starlight's divine artifact—[Guardian's Shield]. As for an offensive divine artifact, Purr and the others were already searching on his behalf and would locate one soon. After all, that was Ankara's blade. Vic nodded. "Rest assured, Minister. I'll arrange it for you. It will be delivered to your office shortly." Earlier in the carriage, Bern had teased that Karen was visiting a market to pick out ingredients; in truth, it was quite similar—they even provided home delivery. Luoya said to Jimosi, "Once you get there, fuse with her and reside inside her body." The "her" Luoya pointed at was Little Kanna. Little Kanna blinked at the small girl, instinctively feeling that Luoya's arrangement was rather like her own Sister Purr guarding against Luoya. Jimosi nodded. "Understood." "Brother Karen, what do you think?" "I think it's a fine arrangement." Having the artifact spirit of the [Guardian's Shield] reside within Little Kanna effectively placed the divine artifact under her control. Her Dragon God Armor was already Karen's strongest line of defense; paired with the [Guardian's Shield], and not forgetting that Karen held maximum authority over the [Scythe of War]—which meant the effect of [Black Prison Castle] was maximized as well—it was safe to say that when facing opponents of the same rank in the future, Karen could practically drink coffee while fighting. It was fortunate Neo had "run away from home." If he were here or learned of this later, he would probably poke Karen in the nose and shout: "Look at that! Look at that! I knew it! I knew it! I bloody well knew it!" Neo had always looked down on Karen's obsession with stacking defenses, dismissing it as curling into a turtle shell. Karen never paid it any mind. Turtles lived a long time, after all. "How can our authority be upgraded further?" Karen asked Vic, knowing full well the answer. Vic intentionally answered in a booming voice, "Once you become the Whip-Wielder and our cohort advances another step, quite a few of us will become eligible for long-term leases on divine artifacts!" This was dangling a short-term Viennese sauce pancake as a pie in the sky for the member spirits present. "There's one more thing." Karen took out a scroll and handed it to Luoya. "Brother Karen, what's this?" "An engineering scheme. I have people on the outside capable of constructing spatial formations. You will evaluate, research, and upgrade the design here. In the near future, I hope we can establish an independent and concealed conduit." "Whoa!" Luoya let out a gasp of admiration, and the eyes of the member spirits around them sparkled with excitement. Their thrill stemmed not only from the "tunnel" itself, but from having something to do again. Last time, when they helped Karen research his surgical plan, they had thrown themselves into it with boundless enthusiasm. What else could they do when life here was so desperately dull? If this conduit could be established, Karen would effectively gain the ability to bypass the containment space and borrow the power of divine artifacts independently. Vic chuckled. "Actually, there's an even simpler way: just place one of your subordinates in charge of the containment space in the future." "Who do you think would be suitable?" "That depends entirely on your will, sir." "It seems you have little interest in the post yourself." "Whatever you command, I will carry it out unconditionally." In truth, what Vic coveted was the position of Whip-Wielder of the Whip of Order. Karen knew this, but it wasn't appropriate to make promises ahead of time. More importantly, Vic had yet to reunite with his mentor, Rasma. When it came to career arrangements of this magnitude, Karen still had to respect the elder's wishes. Time was running short; Karen prepared to leave. Just then, a silver ring of light materialized before Karen. Luoya gasped. "That's a passage leading to a higher containment tier! Brother Karen, it wants to see you." Hierarchy emerged within any collective, and the circle of divine artifacts was no exception. The moment this ring appeared, Karen caught a familiar aura—the Spear of Eternity! Karen still remembered the artifact spirit's name: Michios. The two had interacted once before in the abandoned dormitory building of Order University. Karen had only managed to enter that extraordinary student room from over a thousand years ago thanks to the unique ability Michios had brought. More crucially, Michios seemed to know the reason why the gods had ceased to appear, having dropped hints back then. Karen hadn't fully understood at the time, but looking back now, it was plain that Michios had possessed the mocking mindset of someone who had known the answer all along. After a brief hesitation, Karen stepped into the ring of light. The next moment, he appeared in a subterranean cavern-like space. Thick iron chains stretched from every direction toward the center, firmly binding a spear thrust into an altar. Beneath the spear sat a figure—none other than Michios. "I sensed your arrival. I remember you, just as Ukonga has long held you in his thoughts." Noticing Karen gazing at the chains, Michios let out a self-deprecating chuckle: "It was all the mess those four fellows stirred up in the dormitory over a thousand years ago. Oh, wait, five fellows, heh—after all, you took part as well. Later on, the Church of Order's containment space reinforced my bindings. "When Budalas became High Priest, he even issued an edict deepening my imprisonment by another tier. "Isn't it laughable? From beginning to end, I was entirely innocent. "He was the one who caused trouble, yet in the end, the punishment fell on me. "The High Priests of the Church of Order seem to have always been utterly shameless." Karen asked, "How many of them do you know?" "Over the years, quite a few Order High Priests have visited me, but only three left the deepest impression. One was Tyrannus. In my view, the fact that your Church of Order has stood firm to this day is inseparable from the foundational framework he laid at the very beginning. "Yet in the previous era, Tyrannus was feared not only by the deities of the divine realm; even the subordinate gods of your Order faction dreaded him. "In his eyes, there was only the God of Order; he cared nothing for any other existence. "When the God of Order prepared to punish Ankara, the other subordinate gods didn't dare lift a hand. "Only he was indifferent. He not only personally designed the punishment for Ankara, but even brought along his newly compiled *Light of Order*, spattering Ankara's divine blood upon it so that it shone resplendently." Karen had an epiphany—*Light of Order* had literally, truly shone. "The second who left a deep impression was Budalas. That one possessed tremendous ambition and capability. He came to see me hoping to borrow my power to locate the fall site of the God of Light. "The Church of Light was wiped out during his tenure, and he wanted to permanently excise the sparks of Light so they could never rekindle." "Did he find it, then?" "He did. But due to certain peculiar circumstances, his plan wasn't entirely successful. Instead, it triggered several problems, and it's said that some items belonging to the God of Light were lost to the outside world." "The God of Light... wasn't he barred outside?" "Oh? You know about that already?" "I saw it." Michios rose and bowed to Karen: "Exalted One, please forgive all my past irreverence." "I am not him." "Yet you are walking the same path he walked. Even if an identical bottle holds different wine, to outsiders, it remains the same." "Let's get to the point. I don't have much time." "The vast majority of gods were barred outside this era, but some were not. My Master, Light, and those others were not." "Since they weren't barred outside, why haven't they returned?" "Departing voluntarily is different from being driven out by force. "As for the specific reason, that lies beyond my knowledge. But one thing I know for certain: once this era of gods' absence comes to an end, a tremendously lively era will follow. "The gods have been away from this world for too long. Like a man parched for ages, the moment the cell door swings open, he will drink like a madman. "Not just the era overlords of the previous two eras—perhaps even overlords from much older eras will seize this opportunity to return. "Before my Master was lost, she once held me and murmured that this current era was far too lonely; she hoped that other era would arrive soon so things could get properly lively. Only then would it be interesting." The God of Eternity had been the overlord two eras ago. Church historical records designated an entire era in his name, and his falling into the lost state marked that era's end. Only then did the God of Light rise, leading the camp of Light to defeat the camp of Eternity; hence, the previous era was also known as the Era of Light. Logically speaking, the God of Order's ascendancy following the disappearance—or fall—of Light could have inaugurated an Era of Order. The trouble was that after the God of Order asserted supremacy at the end of the previous era, this current era immediately became one where the gods ceased to appear. Even so, given the position established by the Church of Order in this era, especially after defeating the Church of Light, future generations would not be wrong to call this era the Era of Order. In short, Eternity, Light, and Order were the overlords of the three most recent eras, each representing virtually the mightiest deity of their time. Yet according to the spirit of the Spear of Eternity, the coming descent of the gods would bring about the return of overlords from eras far more ancient. Karen asked, "Why would this happen?" He was not asking Michios, but questioning himself. Because this meant the "catastrophe" he and the Church of Order had to face was far more terrifying than anticipated. Michios remarked, "Idealists are worthy of respect, yet excessively idealistic actions often invite even crueler beatings from reality. I hold great admiration for the great God of Order. He truly was magnificent. I believe that even if my Master were to meet him, she would acknowledge him. "Yet his actions were simply too mad—mad beyond understanding, mad beyond imagination, mad to the point of... inevitable failure. "Among artifact spirits, I am one with the most complete faculties and the longest existence. I have studied Order's doctrines, and I have always believed there is a grave flaw within them. "It is not a question of whether this world needs gods. "Heh. "Is it possible... "that gods... "are inherently part of this world? "The faithful of Order scheme to forge a world without gods, "yet you seem to have forgotten to ask: "Does this world... "agree?" Karen said, "Are you asking me?" "Just like you earlier, I was asking myself." Karen shook his head. "Actually, we don't care whether this world agrees." "And so?" "It's simply that there are parts of this world we dislike, yet we aren't willing to sit idly staring blankly at the sky while grumbling about our dislike. "So, we decided to roll up our sleeves... and reshape this world ourselves." Michios fell silent. Then he bowed respectfully once more. "You possess immense breadth of spirit." This time, he did not use an honorific title, signifying that the spirit of the Spear of Eternity was praising Karen himself, not the identity behind him. Immediately after, Michios let out an emotional sigh: "You are worthy of her. Though I don't know whether this was her choice... you and she are truly very alike." Karen asked, "Who is the third High Priest?" Michios smiled. "The current High Priest of the Church of Order—Norton." "Why did he come to see you?" "He is the inheritor of Tyrannus, yet he is even more like Tyrannus than Tyrannus himself. His devotion to the God of Order is practically branded into his bones and steeped into his soul, reaching an unimaginable fervor. "Devotion taken to the extreme can criticize—and even crush—the very object of worship. "He knows a great many things. He does not want the gods to return, including the God of Order. "So please keep your identity well guarded. Do not let him learn who you truly are, or else..." "Or else what?" "He will kill you so that the power you stripped from the God of Order returns, allowing the God of Order to continue suppressing this era." Karen said, "You must also know that the God of Order has grown exhausted. Even without me, such suppression could never last forever." "He knows." "He knows?" "Yes, he knows. I asked him that very same question." "And how did he answer?" "Factoring in the lifespan extension he will gain once he condenses a godhead fragment, he has at most four hundred years left. Even if he sought a method like Ukonga's to preserve his strength in a special state, it would amount to a thousand years at most. "He believes that once the God of Order's power is returned to the God of Order, suppressing this era for another thousand years will be no problem for the god. "And in that millennium, Norton can continue controlling the Church of Order, guarding this world, and staying vigilant against the gods' return." Karen asked, "And what about after that thousand years?" "He replied: "'While I live, I shall ensure this world is clean. "'After I die, "'what care I if the deluge follows?'"