Peace and quiet were rare on the bridge aboard the Petrachelys. Perhaps the battle with the goddess of annihilation had consumed so much energy that they had not recovered even after one to two days of rest. Even Lily and Rollie were seated quietly or bent over their chairs, all except for Lil Pea and Noobie. Both of them remained as energetic as ever. One was splashing in the sink while the other was throwing a tantrum over a piece of meat that was hard to bite.

Those two did not expend much energy in the battle, though the little mermaid had almost taken away half of the goddess of annihilation’s life…

Hao Ren turned to look at Vivian and asked, “How does it feel, getting up close and personal with your creator?”

“I have a lot of feelings,” Vivian said with a shallow smile. “But to be honest, none of my mental preparations have worked. The goddess… Rheia, she’s nothing like I thought she would be.”

Hao Ren nodded. “Oh, I didn’t expect her to look like your niece either.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Vivian rolled her eyes. “I mean her character, and her… aura. I thought she was the more serious, more dignified type, but I didn’t expect her to be so approachable. It’s a little rude to put it like that, but it’s really how I feel. But there’s one thing that turned out just as I had expected; she’s really easy to talk to like Raven 12345.”

“Don’t mention her. You won’t find her easy to talk to when her brain fails,” said Hao Ren. “Talking about the goddess of creation’s current character… To be honest, I think it had a lot to do with her failure.”

“Huh?”

“We know her past. It’s impossible for such a character to be soft and gentle, yet? There’s a kind of warm and gentle aura about her, as though she’s lost her fighting spirit. The reason? It goes without saying. It took her millions of years to build an era of order, only for it to be completely flattened in the blink of an eye. After that, her countless plans and schemes were destroyed one by one. What a heavy blow!”

Vivian frowned. “Can the gods be defeated like that?”

“She wasn’t knocked down, or she wouldn’t have followed us out of the Umbral Realm. How comfortable would it be to stay in the dream,” Hao Ren explained, waving his hand. “But she’s not completely unaffected. The will of the gods is strong so that they can remain true to themselves for eons. Nevertheless, the gods also have thoughts and feelings. This is the basis of their ability to understand and love ordinary people, but it also causes them to waver a little sometimes, and that’s the state she’s in now. She seems gentle, unconcerned, and a little over the top. All her plans were destroyed or denied, then we gave her a new plan and she accepted it without question, displaying incredible cooperation… Of course, it was right for her to cooperate. She’s wise enough to know that the plan we’ve given her is better, but she shows a lack of initiative in the process. It was a concern during my discussion with Raven 12345.”

“You don’t think Rheia can get out of this on her own?”

“She can, or she wouldn’t be a goddess. But I don’t know how long it will take her to realize that and make the adjustment. After all, we don’t have much time,” said Hao Ren frankly. “I don’t really doubt her abilities. What I’m afraid of is her lack of motivation. And we don’t have much advantage against the Mad Lord. If Rheia loses her fighting spirit… that’ll even be less advantageous.”

“Has Raven 12345 said anything about how she plans to solve this problem?” Vivian looked worried.

“…She told me to ask the goddess of creation to do more exercises.”

“…Well, now I think Raven 12345 is a bit unreliable too.”

Hao Ren shook his head with a smile and waved at the sink. Lil Pea jumped out of it and fell onto Hao Ren’s hand. The little one was quite heavy. “But then again, she was right to ask me to bring Lil Pea along this time, even though it was because of the prophecy…”

As they chatted, the Petrachelys passed through the gate of Collow. The brilliant starlight of the Surface World once again trickled all over the Petrachelys.

The others went back to rest while Hao Ren, Vivian, Lil Pea, and Noobie were directly teleported to Raven 12345’s “villa in heaven”.

In the fresh-looking (and almost always fresh-looking) office, Raven 12345 listened carefully to Hao Ren’s report on the operation.

After she heard his report, Raven 12345 fell into a rare ten-second silence.

“So… you went head-to-head with the goddess of annihilation, held her back, hurt her badly, and survived at the same time?”

“Strictly speaking, the goddess of annihilation was in a weak state,” Hao Ren stressed. “In the previous God-slaying War, she was also hit by the big explosion. She was badly wounded and fell into a deep slumber as a result. Hence, we’re not sure about her real strength.”

“But she’s also a true god. While she has been weakened, the level of her strength will not truly change. However, the situation won’t be so bad after the two offsets, so Rheia was right,” said Raven 12345. “Regarding your arrangements and decisions, they are reasonable and sensible. It’s the smartest decision not to rush into that Abyssal Dungeon. Until Rheia finishes her studies, you are no match for the Mad Lord. Keeping an eye on the enemy’s lair is the only action you should take for now.”

“Can you use that prophecy crystal?” Hao Ren looked at Raven 12345 with a little anticipation. “Try and see when the Mad Lord won’t be suppressed or when the final battle will break out… so I can tell how much time I have.”

“I told you not to rely on the power of prophecy, don’t you remember?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but there’s a limit to what the prophecy can do in this matter. The Mad Lord is in the Plane of Dreams, and his own strength is close to that of the gods. He now relies on the goddess of annihilation to make himself a surrogate messenger. In this case, any prediction the crystal makes about him will have uncontrollable consequences and may even lead to the destruction of a stable future.”

After he found out that the consequences would be so serious, Hao Ren gave up on the idea. He then mentioned another thing, “There’s one more issue. We talked about it the last time. The goddess of creation’s fighting spirit doesn’t seem so strong…”

Raven 12345 frowned. “She backed out? It shouldn’t—”

“Not really, but obviously she’s much softer than she used to be. It’s like the feeling of settling down after a big storm, but a bit more despondent.”

“Well, it’s not a bad thing. She was too immature before, but becoming despondent is a no-no. You can’t fight a monster like the Mad Lord without an absolute desire to fight.” Raven 12345 shook her head. “Did you educate her with the Meteor Hammer?”

“Are you kidding? Of course not. She’s Vivian’s mother!”

“I knew it.” Raven 12345 gave Hao Ren and Vivian a contemptuous look, then she asked, “Has she started learning?”

“Yes, it’s been going smoothly. Although she was a little frustrated when she found out there was a lot of homework, she’s very interested in the textbooks.”

“Hmm, that’s not a big issue as long as she starts reading the books,” Raven 12345 said with a mysterious smile on her face. “In fact, my superiors have been very concerned about this matter, and Bryndis left some small gifts in the books. Don’t worry, it will definitely work. Mother knows best.”