Chapter 374: Chapter 41: The Stellar Gods Prepare, The Giant Serpent God Becomes the Host (Part 2)

At that moment, bathed in sacred radiance, the Seven Gods, who held secondary administrative authority over the True Game, gazed upon the figures seated on thrones amidst a circle of milky-white clouds.

"What more is there to say?"

"Since you are the Deputies of that person and the True Creator, we have no choice but to obey."

"But, I’ll say it again: I do not accept the status you’ve been given!"

"What right do a bunch of mere New Gods with Weak or Medium Divine Power have to become the Creator’s Deputies and even order the likes of us around?"

"This time, once the mission is complete, I myself will report the full implications of this to that personage—and even to the True Creator."

"I only hope that by then, you little upstarts can still be as high and mighty as you are now."

From within the misty clouds of Holy Light, the figure on the largest throne at the very front—the one representing the Sea Race Deities—spoke with undisguised hostility.

In response, the Seven Gods exchanged a look, and then they all laughed.

They didn’t even take the arrogant Sea Race Main God’s words to heart.

’The True Creator?’

’That’s the True Game, and the True Game’s authority was always meant for the Players from Blue Star.’

’The fact that this god still hadn’t figured things out was enough to make Brother Cheng Takes Off and the others burst out laughing.’

"Your Excellency, Main God Ludovico, have you perhaps misunderstood something?"

"We would hardly call what we’re doing ’ordering’ you all around."

"After all, we are all working for His Majesty the Dragon God and the Creator. As for our status as Deputies... hehe. If Your Majesty can convince the Dragon God and the Creator to change their minds, we certainly won’t have any objections."

"Speaking of which, I’m actually rather curious about something."

The one who spoke was Brother Cheng Takes Off. He looked toward the faction of the Human Deities.

"Lady Gwyneth, I wonder, do you share the same thoughts as His Excellency Ludovico?"

Upon hearing this, the Storm Goddess’s expression soured.

After all, she was a Main God. For the God of the Dead, a mere Weak Divine Power, to question her in such a tone made her feel she wasn’t being shown the respect she deserved.

However, she understood the situation clearly.

So, despite her displeasure, she replied indifferently:

"I have nothing in common with that barbarian."

"And you don’t need to test me."

"But, I must admit, if it weren’t for your status as a Deputy, I imagine quite a few of us—both on our side and on the side of those Sea Race barbarians—would be very keen on ’getting to know you’ a little better."

Brother Cheng Takes Off completely dismissed the Storm Goddess’s displeasure.

Instead, he chuckled and said:

"’Get to know me?’ That sounds great."

"After all, everyone here works for my ’big brother.’"

"So, if any of you want to ’get to know me’ someday, why don’t I invite my ’big brother’ to join us?"

As soon as Brother Cheng Takes Off said this, the Storm Goddess’s brow furrowed.

But she said nothing more.

The other deities, for their part, remained silent.

Unlike the recently awakened Main God of Ocean Currents and Tsunamis, most of the deities present had personally witnessed the terror of Lince before.

When faced with him...

’Whether one was a Main God or a Weak Divine Power, it made no difference.’

Therefore, in the eyes of the many deities who knew the score, the Sea Race Main God’s words were nothing more than the ramblings of a meathead and couldn’t be taken seriously.

As for Brother Cheng Takes Off, the God of the Dead, he had managed to stir up a great deal of trouble among the deities over the years yet remained perfectly safe.

This was partly because he controlled secondary authority in the True Game, but it was mostly because all the deities knew his story.

Who was he?

Although this God of the Dead was only a Weak Divine Power, he had been the Dragon God’s contracted partner before the latter’s Ascension to Divinity.

One could consider him a direct subordinate of the Dragon God.

Cursing him out a bit was probably fine; after all, his personality was naturally flashy and provocative.

But if a real fight broke out, that would be a completely different matter.

Furthermore, while he seemed arrogant, he was at least methodical in his actions and had never actively instigated conflict or hostility among the deities.

In the end, even in the Star Empire, with so many deities and a mix of New and Old Gods, the formation of small factions was inevitable.

Not to mention, Lince himself had excluded the Oakland Continent from the Star Empire’s administrative system, designating it an autonomous planet.

But these were not major problems.

After all, Lince existed above all the deities as an absolute ’Dominator’.

Therefore, as long as Lince was around, no major internal problems could ever arise.

As for internal factions, Lince considered them a normal occurrence.

Anywhere with people, with Intelligent Creatures, was bound to have such things happen.

To expect true internal unity, a state of perfect harmony where everyone treated each other with the utmost respect...

...was a fool’s hope.

Besides, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing for everyone in a group or organization to be perfectly amicable.

That wasn’t harmony; it was lifelessness. It was a stagnant pond.

After all, competition creates drive.

Thus, Lince wouldn’t necessarily intervene in their minor squabbles.

As long as they didn’t cause chaos on the planet, Lince would just watch for his own amusement, even if they were at each other’s throats.

Such were the benefits and confidence that came with absolute power.

"Hmph! An upstart reveling in his moment of glory!"

The Sea Race Main God was not a complete fool.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have just been talking tough without taking real action.

"An honest villain is better than a hypocrite!"

"Alright, I see no one has any further objections!"

"Then it’s settled. But let me be blunt: I must remind you all that if you don’t give this your all, I won’t hesitate to make things difficult for you."