The Divine Net was truly vast.
Naturally, the deities affiliated with it were not few in number.
Thousands, no, tens of thousands... perhaps even more.
The Divine Net's position was just that transcendent.
The creator of this system, which Lin Miao knew as the Divine Net, had once declared an intention to build an order encompassing all deities in the universe, and the current state of the Divine Net was fully worthy of such a declaration.
[God of Folly: Have you heard what that goddess has been spreading around lately? She says a new Outer God has appeared.]
[White Dawn: The ones causing trouble right now are already enough of a headache, and now there's a new one? How absurd.]
[God of Folly: It's not like this is anything new. Rather than that, let's talk about the newly emerged competition zone...]
Thus, Lin Miao had not let a single day pass without keeping an eye on the Divine Net forum, checking the progress of the all-out war between him and Hestia.
Lin Miao was somewhat worried that those deities might unite because of this and launch an attack on the Great Devourer.
However, the reaction of the Divine Net's deities was not as intense as he had anticipated.
Evidently, while dealing with the all-out invasion of the Great Devourer, the Goddess Hestia was trying to expose the existence of the Great Devourer on the Divine Net forum to rally support.
Hestia defined Lin Miao as an Outer God, labeled the Great Devourer as an Outer God's servant, and accused Lin Miao of being the root of chaos disrupting the order of the Divine Net.
Thanks to this, she had gained some support and even recruited some mercenaries, achieving some results, but the situation was not nearly as dire as Lin Miao had feared.
For them, attacks by Outer Gods were a common occurrence, viewed as unavoidable natural disasters like typhoons or earthquakes.
They paid lip service to standing united to protect the order and combat the Outer Gods, but frankly, if their unity were really that easy to achieve, the Outer Gods would have been wiped out long before Lin Miao even appeared.
Those close deities who could have provided actual assistance to the goddess had already been pinned down by Lin Miao.
In Kalamanda, the disputed territory where the Great Devourer had intentionally attacked to disrupt the balance, two factions were already at war.
The more intense the war became, the less likely the Goddess of Light's friends were to help her.
Watching the Goddess of Light Association fighting desperately, and Hestia running around the deity forum, busy day and night, Lin Miao smiled with confidence.
The planets where the Great Devourer had completely seized the initiative were being developed one by one.
Once those places were fully developed, the massive energy released would quickly be converted into his forces, sweeping through the enemy's remaining territories.
[God of Order: Dragon Nation's Awakened company, Iron Raven, is now up for sale.]
This was only natural; seeing the critical state of the war, Hestia had halted almost all of her external activities.
Right now, those in her territory who could not receive her help and were dying or retreating in defeat were everywhere.
No matter how arrogant a goddess she was, she could not afford to look outward under such circumstances.
[God of Order: If there are no further bids, Iron Raven will be sold to the Supreme Will of the All-Devouring Hive.]
Hestia had sold it to the operators at a low price, and Lin Miao had acquired the Dragon Nation's Awakened enterprise, Iron Raven.
Thanks to his loyal and capable servants, Lin Miao's territory was constantly expanding, and his wallet grew heavier as a result.
The underground resources buried on the planets, or the magic stones synthesized through special methods, would have their origins completely obscured with just a bit of simple processing.
Although Lin Miao was also covetous of the assets Hestia had extended abroad, he judged that the time was not yet ripe.
After handling all the behind-the-scenes work, Lin Miao contacted the boss, Bai Zhantang, and the Awakened captain, Ye Yunshang, instructing them to absorb Iron Raven.
This was far more than a simple merger on paper.
He intended to fully integrate Ye Yunshang into the colony that revered her as its queen, making her a loyal subordinate who could never betray him.
After issuing the command, Lin Miao opened his screen to watch Ye Yunshang and Bai Zhantang set things in motion.
“That lord has spoken. Iron Raven belongs to us now. Go take them over and absorb them into the colony.”
“H-How is this possible...”
“Former Captain Ding Sanshi, do you understand the will of that Great One now?”
Those who had once kidnapped Lin Qiye on Hestia's orders and brainwashed him through some method collapsed to the ground in shock upon seeing Ye Yunshang walk in so confidently.
There was no need to resort to physical force like they did when they kidnapped Lin Qiye.
Ding Sanshi and the Awakened of Iron Raven became Lin Miao's servants through proper procedures according to the "order."
The process of Ye Yunshang forcibly integrating them into the colony by manifesting the hive mind faced no obstacles whatsoever.
They got what they deserved and would be demoted to the lowest-level positions, but since they had become part of the colony, they were now considered Lin Miao's companions.
The brainwashed Lin Qiye was also freed from his brainwashing and returned to the colony. Unbeknownst to them, the size of the human colony centered around Ye Yunshang had grown significantly.
There were nearly a hundred Awakened belonging to it alone.
Unlike the Great Devourer, Earth's humans were a unique colony where all members possessed their own self-awareness, and at this moment, they were evolving step by step in their own way.
“You may have heard from the servants of other deities that our lord naturally wishes to win this competition for Earth and become the master of this massive world.”
“The master of Earth...”
“We will become the ones who represent that lord's will, ruling and managing this world.”
On the day he met with Ye Yunshang, the queen of the colony that had absorbed Iron Raven, Lin Miao revealed his goal to her, as well as the objective they would achieve together.
In the eyes of the Divine Net's deities, Earth was a special world.
It had no deity who could be called its master to protect the land, yet it possessed a massive population of eight billion.
Despite being extremely deficient in concepts of energy similar to magic power, its mechanical civilization, which utilized underground resources, was exceptionally advanced.
In other words, this meant that with just a little instruction in knowledge, they could immediately utilize the incredibly abundant energy that had been accumulated here.
Now that Lin Miao understood the deities' thoughts to some extent, he had to admit it.
This was truly a world that was impossible not to covet.
“Captain Ding Sanshi once said that if the goddess they served obtained this world, she would merge it with the other worlds she leads to widely proclaim her greatness.”
Ye Yunshang appeared quite tense.
“Putting the goddess aside, I'm afraid most deities would do the same. Because this is a place of equal value and resources, and the same goes for the monsters constantly deploying troops... as well as the servants of the Outer Gods.”
Knowing her temperament, Lin Miao smiled as he replied.
Ye Yunshang was a kind person who wanted to use her strength to save people.
She was also a warrior who valued honor.
It was only natural for someone like her to worry.
Ye Yunshang was worried about whether some deity would occupy this world and drag its people into war once again.
She worried whether the god she now followed—namely, Lin Miao—would also covet this world's resources and population like other deities, using them as expendable assets.
“Miss Ye Yunshang, please do not worry. If that lord takes charge of this place, many disasters will not occur again. Those who are bent on going to the battlefield to pursue fame and reward will have their opportunities to fight and make a name for themselves; while the ordinary citizens who only seek a stable life can live in peace and safety, guarding their simple and quiet lives.”
“Proxy, did that lord tell you this himself?”
“...Of course.”
After Lin Miao replied decisively, Ye Yunshang's gaze shifted slightly.
At this moment, before Lin Miao's servants, he was the only one who could directly convey that lord's will.
Up until now, he had never used his power as a deity, such as delivering an oracle, on his servants on Earth.
When a simple phone call sufficed, why waste interference force?
As far as Lin Miao knew, other deities did not necessarily make a point of using divine power on their own home planets either.
Therefore, Lin Miao's words were that lord's instructions, and Ye Yunshang had no choice but to accept them.
My power must become countless times stronger than it is now if I am to rightfully protect this place as the deity of Earth.
Ending his conversation with Ye Yunshang, Lin Miao gazed out at the city's night view and sighed softly.
Order was never entirely fair.
The powerful utilized the order, while the weak were utilized by it.
The so-called elite group of deities, in the end, was not much different from human society.
The strong preyed on the weak.
Whether now or in the future, what he needed was power.
Lin Miao needed power so immense that no one would dare declare war on him.
And the vast majority of this power would likely be the ever-growing Great Devourer.
Lin Miao suddenly imagined the scene of Elise and Ye Yunshang meeting.
Ye Yunshang's colony was another group that was not under the control of the Great Queen, Elise.
Compared to the Great Devourer, which had already spread its nests across multiple planets, Ye Yunshang's colony was barely worth mentioning, but regardless, they were also Lin Miao's servants.
“...”
It seemed more time was needed.
If Elise were to learn of the existence of Ye Yunshang's colony right now, Lin Miao found it difficult to predict what she would do.
Elise might find the colony on Earth incredibly backward, perhaps even inferior to bugs.
Conversely, Elise might also become extremely enraged, attempting to suppress or eliminate them.
Elise had always expressed her desire for Lin Miao's attention and love; anyone who stood in the way, she would wish to ruthlessly execute or bring under her control.
Of course, if Lin Miao issued a strong command, Elise would obey, but he did not like coercive orders.
Lin Miao also hoped that those who were commanded could understand and accept it from the bottom of their hearts as much as possible. He would need to ponder this issue carefully for a while.
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