?Chapter 6468 That's Not Me Veronica learned too much. Her mother... was far more ambitious and extreme than she thought! Certainly, Cynthia Larkinson had never come across as a gentle woman after she came back to life. The ruthless methods she employed to convert her husband's followers into a fanatic empire that solely obeyed her command turned out to be the tip of the iceberg. In order to grow more powerful and defend herself against her enemies, the Oblivion Empress was willing to plunge the entirety of human civilization in the Milky Way into an unprecedented time of war and turmoil. The stabilizing influence of the Big Two would disappear. Entire states might crumble. Violent warlords would rise up and size power by any means necessary, which may include bombing entire populated planets into ruin! If the unholy alliance came into existence and exhibited even the slightest amount of coordination, then the haphazard collection of enemies of the Big Two would only aggravate the damage to society! Veronica could not foresee the amount of innocent people that would lose their lives due to the conspiracy plotted by her mother, but the blood price may very well be triple or quadruple the amount of humans that perished during the dark days of the Age of Conquest! Although her mother was reluctantly right that Veronica needed to put the interests of red humanity and her own family over the interests of original humanity, she still found the Oblivion Plan to be extremely unpleasant, especially after she learned about this latest scheme! She still had trouble coming around the idea of becoming a leader of the Five Scrolls Compact! She had even more trouble imagining her mother taking over the Water Shrine! How the hell would the Compact cultists be able to stomach the return and ascension of one of their traitors and enemies? Cynthia Larkinson had killed a lot of members of the Compact, either directly or indirectly after her actions triggered the incredibly damaging Crown Uprising! More importantly than that, Cynthia had also killed off a lot of 'dark gods' and high-ranking cultivators of the Compact. Those figures had a lot of friends and allies among the other senior leaders of the cult. Could they truly put down their hostility and refrain from attacking the woman that had stolen the chosen symbol of authority of a Sacred Scroll? Her mother remained confident that her plan would work. "Have you forgotten about the truth that I taught you in the past? Might makes right. True cultivators only believe in their own power." Cynthia Larkinson benevolently lectured to her child. "I know the Five Scrolls Compact all too well. Several centuries may have passed since I deserted from it, but its fundamentals should still remain the same. When I was still weak and without enough leverage, the Compact looked down on me and treated me as a traitor, a thief and a murderer. Now that I have become stronger and gained leverage over them, the cult has little choice but to acquiesce to my possession of the crown and make the best out of a bad situation. It is precisely because the members of the Compact understand that might makes right that they will agree to elevate me to the Holy Daughter of the Water Scroll," Her ploy sounded overly optimistic to Veronica, but then again she did not know the Compact as well as her mother. They were all crazy! Veronica could not use her mindset that was largely shaped by living in civilized space to estimate the reactions of these crazy cultists. She was far too different from those that lived more like ancient cultivators. The Cyborg Cat had lost interest in obtaining any further answers from her mother. Every answer provided clarification at a cost. That cost being her sanity! There were times when Veronica felt alienated from her mother, but this instance was by far the worst! The divide in values and beliefs between the two had never been as great as now! If Veronica was being truly honest with herself, she should have tried to make a getaway as soon as she delivered the bones of the primordial human that her mother used to come back to life. The Cyborg Cat would have enjoyed a much more comfortable life if she wandered the Milky Way and collected a lot of inspiration which she could use to design interesting mechs. Instead, she became an unwitting prisoner to her mother, who happened to be one of the craziest, ruthless and murderous individuals in her life! It was too late for Veronica to escape from her crazy mother's clutches. Since that was the case, she may as well accept her new reality and remain compliant. In the interest of suspending any further discussions with her mother, the external incarnation turned her attention to the nearby god pilot. So far, the Beast of Fear had not entirely lived up to his terrible reputation. Veronica knew that this was largely because she and her mother both played extremely vital roles in his quest to destroy the Big Two and turn the Milky Way into a much more conducive growth environment for himself. If the Beast of Fear encountered random people, then he would definitely not present his more amiable side! However, since Veronica was the only provider of Carmine mech designs, the Beast of Fear would naturally withhold his belligerence. They were both on the same side, at least on a superficial level. Whether the Beast of Fear could be counted on in the long term remained questionable. The god pilot's willingness to completely betray and plot the downfall of his own organization was a strong indicator of his trustworthiness, or complete lack of this quality! "Your Divinity, as one of the collaborators of the Oblivion Plan, I would like to ask whether you still take your duty to humanity seriously. Are you still sincere about protecting them, or will you do nothing if every human in the Milky Way perishes?" The Beast of Fear snarled. "Be careful, little kitty. Just because I am willing to answer you does not mean you can accuse me of betraying my oaths. I am not doing this solely for myself. I am doing this because the complacent cowards at the top are choking off all of the vitality of this galaxy. Humans have become more prosperous than ever, and many of them live completely peaceful lives. While that might sound great, it is terrible for us to cease any effort at strengthening our greatest warriors when we have confirmed the existence of aggressive alien God Kings. All of us will die or become enslaved if god pilots such as myself continue to fool around like we have done in the past 4 centuries. Only by breaking the current power structure and igniting humanity's limitless drive for survival can the Milky Way finally be put back on the right track." It was difficult to argue with the god pilot's logic, not because it was necessarily correct, but because these mule-headed True Gods lived in a reality of their own imagination! What they believed was true might not necessarily conform to reality. This never really mattered to god pilots because their willpower was so damn strong that they had the power to substitute an undesirable reality with a more preferable version! This was how god pilots operated. No matter the adversities, they always overcome their challenges! "What if your projections of the future are too optimistic? What if all the setbacks that humanity suffers go too far? Not only will a lot of people kill each other in way too many needless conflicts, but the aliens on the other side of the galaxy may actually gain a realistic chance of exterminating the human race, or at least push it into a dark age where humans have only clung to a remnant of their former territories." "Good." The Beast of Fear unexpectedly said. "Just as what happened in the Red Ocean, the humans here need a good kick in the rear after basking in their superiority for so long. We cannot thrive unless we have strong threats to fight against. Humans can always fight against each other as we are often our greatest enemies, but it would be better if the aliens can assume their original roles." "You... actually want to make the aliens of this galaxy as powerful and threatening as the ones in the Red Ocean?" "Yes. How else will I and my fellow god pilots be able to find enough enemies to fight against? I am extremely envious of the Evolution Witch and my other peers in the Red Ocean. The crisis over there has sped up their growth like nothing else they have experienced in the Milky Way. They have already surpassed their previous levels and are continuing to make progress every day. Exotic radiation is a large factor in their accelerated growth, but the constant fighting against genocidal aliens is also important. My friends and I can only replicate the latter in this sad excuse of a galaxy, but it is better than nothing. One way or another, the Milky Way shall become the stage of my ascension to the rank of god king pilot." How much suffering would it take to produce such an environment? How much fear did the Beast needed to harvest in order to cultivate all the way to the fourth major cultivation rank? How likely was it that this chaos would cause the situation to grow out of everyone's control and cause a chain reaction that resulted in the extinction of original humanity? "No offense, but it sounds rather questionable that the Milky Way can realistically supply you with the huge amount of energy needed to become a god king pilot." "You make a valid point, but the Milky Way is not as barren as you think. Energy is everywhere. E energy radiation may be absent in this galaxy, but there is still comparable energy inside the brains and minds of every sentient organism. No matter whether they are human or alien, each of them have the capacity to produce fear, and that is all I truly need to further my progress. If it turns out that you are correct, then I can always wait for the Oblivion Gates to improve to the point where living beings can travel through them. I am certain that red humanity will welcome my arrival. Once I have gained a level of power beyond the reach of others, I shall be able to offer protection to both original humanity and red humanity. This is how I shall uphold my vows... not that it matters to me anymore." Veronica felt another chill through her body. "Can you clarify that last part, Your Divinity?" The fearsome and overly tentacled god biomech began to grin wider. "I am the Beast of Fear. What do the oaths, vows, contracts and promises of the former Saint known as Magnus Grgurevi? have to do with a god such as myself?" The powerful being's words had multiple concerning implications! Magnus Grgurevi? was the Beast of Fear's mortal's name. For the god pilot to completely renounce and sever himself from his former human identity implied that he no longer felt the need to abide by his former responsibilities and duties! His words also implied that he did not actually see himself as a god pilot at all. The Beast of Fear only retained one identity, and that was his god biomech! If the power being truly believed in this version of the truth, then he may have actually succeeded in his attempt to weasel his way out of all of his old vows and contracts! This was an extremely dishonorable act, but that mattered little to a personality like the Beast of Fear! Veronica just realized that she had actually been conversing with a 'living mech' all this time. It was just that this one partially matched one of the worst case scenarios of what a living mech could become!