After hurling a torrent of curses, Hestia vanished completely from the Divine Net.
All connections to Hestia's territories were severed, control over world observation changed hands, and every attempt to open a Stargate was instantly shut down.
If anyone attempted warp reconnaissance, the bizarrely shaped, hibernating Great Devourers would awaken near the orbit and immediately give chase. Consequently, the other deities could only assume that the Goddess of Light Association had been destroyed, and that Hestia had vanished along with her servants.
[God of Mercenaries: So the Goddess of Light has finally met her end? That fast?]
[Goddess of Misfortune: This move was incredibly foolish. No matter what, she was still a high-tier deity; we should have gone to rescue her in the first place.]
[God of War: Ha, she was steamrolled so quickly that even if we wanted to help, we couldn't have. It was purely a lack of capability on her part. I knew it ever since they refused to participate in wars or conflicts in other regions, only showing enthusiasm for expanding their Pioneering Zones. These goddesses, honestly.]
[Lord of Yellow Sands: You brat, you actually dragged all the other goddesses into this as well. You truly are a muscle-brained warmonger...]
Public opinion on the Divine Net forum was roughly split down the middle.
Some deities believed that they should have helped a high-ranking deity like the Goddess of Light, no matter what.
After all, combat power at the level of a high-tier deity was by no means common in the Divine Net, so this was not an entirely groundless argument.
On the other hand, some felt that the Goddess of Light had been defeated far too quickly and easily, making it entirely her own fault, and that the question of whether to help was completely irrelevant.
Their reasoning was that Hestia had not invested in military forces over the past few centuries, focusing solely on finding vacant lands to pioneer or competing in competition zones, and was now merely reaping what she sowed.
[God of Knowledge: In any case, more than just one or two civilizations have been destroyed by Outer Gods, and there are plenty of cases where deities brought about their own ruin due to poor management.]
[God of Mercenaries: Even for a high-tier deity, if she gets blindsided without being prepared, it is purely her own responsibility.]
[Sacred Blood Angel: Is there any point in arguing like this? Most of the Goddess of Light Association's territories have already fallen into the hands of that unidentified Outer God. Are we just going to stand by and watch?]
[Goddess of Mist: Those monsters, what was their name again?]
[God of Mercenaries: The Great Devourer. I don't know if that's the name of the Outer God or the race of its servants, but does it even matter?]
Thus, the conversation naturally shifted to the brand-new Outer God faction that had defeated and destroyed the Goddess of Light Association in such a short span of time.
The deities who had paid no heed to Hestia's earnest, loud warnings to remain vigilant only began to care after she and her faction had fallen.
“...”
Lin Miao confirmed that the name of the Great Devourer was spreading across the entirety of the Divine Net forum.
The impact of this was entirely different from when individuals who had experienced it firsthand, like Hestia, spoke about it.
“Great Devourer” had already become a term used to refer to the Outer Gods from the Outer Universe and their servants, and many deities began to seriously consider and discuss how to stop them.
‘The vigilance level of the deities has spiked, but for now, it's just speculation. After all, it would make no sense if we caused such a massive disturbance and didn't face any pushback.’
Lin Miao was quite satisfied simply because his true identity remained a mystery.
Since the Great Devourer had been unstable from its very inception, his options were limited to begin with, and he judged that this was currently the best path forward.
[God of Folly: So the Goddess of Light has been completely wiped out... along with her servants?]
[God of Knowledge: An Outer God wouldn't show her any mercy; she has likely vanished completely along with her servants.]
[God of Folly: If only we had gotten the news a bit earlier, we might have been able to salvage something.]
[God of Mercenaries: By the way, I've heard some strange rumors. Apparently, there are quite a few survivors in the worlds occupied by those monsters...]
Additionally, there were many rumors circulating about Hestia.
Lin Miao let out a bitter smile as he checked the discussions regarding the Goddess's life and death, as well as the stories of her servants.
This was because, at this very moment, an operation far exceeding all their expectations was underway in full swing.
“Fortunately, they still aren't sure of our true identity and are completely in the dark. Although we considered many options, hasn't our direction already been set? We will take this opportunity to completely conceal whether Hestia is alive or dead, and absorb both her and the servants she commands into our colony.”
Lin Miao had already given Elise clear guidelines.
Whether Hestia was alive or dead was a closely guarded secret from the other deities. It would only be quietly revealed to her servants that the Goddess still existed and had voluntarily cooperated with the colony.
As long as Hestia remained alive, the members of the old church who woke up from the sleep toxin could never abandon her.
As long as Hestia was loyal to the colony, they would inevitably be loyal to the colony as well.
Of course, this disguise could not last forever.
To prevent the other deities from eventually seeing through their disguise, Lin Miao forbade any radical experiments and modifications on Hestia.
This was to prevent other deities from deeming them “an existence more dangerous than an Outer God” and forming a joint coalition army for a large-scale invasion.
Naturally, Hestia's cooperation was paramount in this process. Elise was currently pouring all her efforts into forcibly modifying Hestia into an existence that could only be loyal to the colony, all while preserving her self-awareness and physical appearance.
“Ah, no! Stop!”
The result of this was the experiment currently being conducted inside a special, large cocoon.
Lin Miao casually opened the screen, and hearing the screams coming from within, he couldn't help but frown.
Elise was performing a primitive modification on Hestia, ensuring that even if she reclaimed her godhood, she would never be able to escape this abyss.
The concept of physical modification at the cellular level was something she, having always existed as a noble deity, could never get used to.
Thus, rather than actual pain, it was the terrifying, bizarre sensation of parts of her body being replaced with something else in real-time that made it only natural for Hestia to scream.
Lin Miao asked, “What are you doing now?”
“According to my review of the Great Queen's plans, work is currently underway to turn the Goddess's body into the core of the Sacred Brood Nest.”
The one who responded to Lin Miao was Celia, who had taken the time to sort through Elise's plans and prepare for them in advance.
Through the hive mind, Celia looked at Hestia, whose entire body was covered in slender tentacles that resembled black blood vessels.
With the exoskeleton spear currently impaling her body as the center, she looked like a butterfly trapped in a spider's web.
“First, in order to allow the Goddess's body to accept the control of the hive mind, her original nervous system must be severed and then fused with an external nervous system. This way, the Goddess will no longer be able to control her own body as she pleases.”
The initial step was to seize control of her physical body.
Under such circumstances, a will stronger than the Goddess's own self-awareness had to be exerted, and the massive hive mind, which had already expanded to an extreme degree, was perfectly suited for this role.
“Afterward, biological organs capable of extracting, refining, and reprocessing divine power will be implanted into her body. A modified holy core—the resonance core—will be implanted in place of her heart, extracting power through numerous tentacle conduits that run through and connect her body. The Goddess's unique energy will be converted into a form compatible with a vast amount of psionic energy, allowing her to play the role of a living transformer and amplifier.”
Celia continued to read these horrifying details in a flat tone.
Hestia was completely unable to interfere with this process.
All she could do was maintain her self-awareness and desperately hold on.
All of Hestia's nerves and cells would operate under the colony's control rather than her own, so Hestia would ultimately become a loyal slave who “voluntarily” dedicated her power to the colony.
“Afterward, the completed core will be implanted into the Sacred Brood Nest. It will serve as the core of the super-giant space nest envisioned by the Great Queen.”
The entire giant cocoon in which Hestia was currently trapped would become a heart.
This heart would be installed as a core component in a colossal nest even larger than a mere Sky Island. This giant nest would serve as their strongest weapon in the future, playing a vital role in the upcoming wars.
Lin Miao glanced at the screen, which was now devoid of any screaming.
Hestia struggled, making choking noises, her face filled with terror, yet she could not utter a single sound.
Elise had completely taken control of her entire nervous system and sealed her throat.
Hestia stopped struggling.
At this moment, Hestia's body was as rigid as a stone statue, having completely integrated with the colony.
Even if her servants were to awaken her again in this state and grant her divine power, she wouldn't be able to use even a fraction of it; she could only dedicate it to the colony once more.
‘This is the end for the defeated.’
Lin Miao stared at the pathetic loser before him, unable to find any amusement in it.
Although he was the one who prevented Elise from spiraling further out of control, in the end, he was also the one who had ordered all of this to happen.
In contrast, Elise looked at her “artwork” and appeared exceptionally pleased, her face beaming with a brilliant smile.
She even clapped her hands, unable to hide the joy in her heart.
Lin Miao's somber expression stood in stark contrast to Elise's pure delight.
“By the way, why did you create a clone? Was it really just for this occasion?”
Lin Miao shifted the subject.
He was referring to Elise's other body—the one currently spearheading the experiments on the Goddess in the secret laboratory.
“An experiment... for more evolved individuals.”
Elise answered his question without reservation.
The body that could currently be considered Elise's true form was still in the original nest inside the terrarium.
In accordance with Lin Miao's orders, Elise had intended to stay there forever without leaving, yet she had still created a new body that looked exactly like her.
Now, the individual operating in front of Hestia could essentially be viewed as a clone.
However, this clone was nothing more than a complete puppet.
Just as in the past, when Elise was still a Queen Ant crawling on the ground and laying eggs from her abdomen, she had instinctively eliminated the possibility of intellectual development from her egg-laying offspring, turning them into mere egg-laying machines.
Self-awareness generated within the colony was something only queen-grade individuals could possess.
Elise had removed the clone's brain, controlling that body using only the hive mind, just as she would control a worker ant.
Even so, Elise's ability to manipulate the hive mind was overwhelmingly superior among all individuals, allowing her to control her clone as perfectly as if it were her own body.
“Pushing the hive mind to its absolute limits... to explore the possibilities of individual development.”
This was also the excuse she used for researching new technologies.
Although it was a clone, Lin Miao recalled how she had directly touched and modified the captured Goddess's body, looking so delighted about it. He felt that there might be more to it, but he did not delve deeper.
“Do as you see fit with that. Elise, now that the experiment is over, it's time to begin the next phase of the plan.”
The experiment to integrate Hestia with the colony was, in fact, only the beginning.
It was time to revive Hestia's godhood, which was now completely under the colony's control.
And to achieve this, the countless servants who had all been anesthetized into a deep sleep needed to wake up.
“We will detoxify them in order and wake them up.”
Standing on the home planet Arcadia, Celia murmured to herself as she looked at Gaia's body, which had taken root completely at the site of the former cathedral and towered majestically into the sky.
The dozens of territories once ruled by the Goddess of Light Association had now fallen into their hands.
Gaia's bodies had also increased to dozens, tuning each world, while the countless anesthetized survivors were transported like cargo by the Great Devourers, sleeping in nests and receiving only the bare minimum of life support.
Celia looked up at Gaia, then turned to the person beside her, who spoke in a fearful voice: “Will they really all wake up again?”
He had been an apprentice soldier who surrendered before being anesthetized—an immature youth.
Thus, instead of being anesthetized, he had become a captive. Even the fatal wounds he received in battle had been treated, and he was now working entirely for the Great Devourer.
“Not only will they wake up, but they might even be able to live ordinary lives in their homelands once more. However, Leonel, you must remember that the peace and order we can reclaim comes with a corresponding price.”
Celia warned him in a cold voice as he became visibly excited upon learning that his parents, whom he thought he would never see again, would be able to wake up.
The reason the Great Devourer—or more precisely, Elise—had approved and executed this absurd plan was purely because calculations showed that these remaining lives would serve as another resource to nourish the colony.
They did not view humans as individuals with independent personalities.
They were merely living organic matter, another resource to be utilized when necessary.
In this strange order where the land, sky, and sea were all controlled by the Great Devourer, the only way to survive, just as Celia herself did, was to constantly prove one's value to the colony.
Rate on N.U.
