Perhaps Izhaks wasn't the only monarch in his world interested in the cosmos. In any world, there would always be people who looked up at the stars. But Izhaks was definitely one of the most proactive—and decisive.

When he realized that with his own power, or even the power of the entire demon race, it would be difficult to explore the boundaries of the space bubble zone, and that the world's constant wars would seriously interfere with his exploration, he thought that the entire world must be united into one camp. Not for some false righteousness, not for a sacred mission, he had only one goal: to see what the real universe outside the space bubble zone was like.

Unknowingly, he had gone from simply wanting to expand his territory to becoming filled with interest in the universe itself, and feeling extremely disgusted with his mediocre first half of life and the equally mediocre world. It took him hundreds of years to change his thinking, and this was a field that no demon had ever considered before. He summarized his change as follows: "The more I see, the more I realize my ignorance. I am filled with awe for the entire universe, and I can't wait to uncover its secrets—and that requires the power of the entire world."

If it were another race, or the "standard heroes" that appear in religious stories, they would probably choose a righteous slogan when trying to unite the world, using a sacred name to call people to unite, and using diplomacy and justice to achieve this great goal. But Izhaks would not do this. He was a demon, a simple and crude demon king, so he chose a simpler and more crude method:

He decided to overturn the entire world.

And he almost succeeded.

"Righteous slogans and diplomatic rhetoric are weak things," Izhaks spread his hands, viewing his actions from the perspective of a demon, "I may have failed, but I think my initial path was correct. I began to integrate all the races I could rule. I invaded human kingdoms, the forests of elves, and the iron castles of dwarves, and also the territories of other demons, but unlike before, I was no longer fighting to enslave those races. What I needed were subjects: loyal, civilized, intelligent subjects who could understand my ideas. I built a symbiotic city in the demon world, creating a suitable environment for each race to live in, treating them all equally.

"At first, it was very difficult, not because the enemies were strong, but because demons had a hard time understanding the thinking of other races, and it was also difficult to coexist peacefully with other creatures. Even I was no exception: I tried to take care of those alien races, but I found that I could only scare them. So I started learning about the cultures of other races…

"That was a wonderful experience. No demon had ever tried to understand the words 'culture' and 'art.' Maybe I was fundamentally different from other demons. I was deeply fascinated by them and quickly immersed myself in them.

"After absorbing enough culture from various races, I promulgated laws, becoming the first demon king to formulate a complete legal system. I ordered that all races within my kingdom be equal in status, ordering them to live for the same goal, and in addition to that, they enjoyed the highest degree of freedom. I ordered the demons, as the dominant race, to protect those weak but intelligent races to ensure that my scientific research projects could proceed smoothly. I also formulated 'moral codes' based on the consensus of all races' cultures, which all races living within my kingdom had to abide by in order to ensure the order of the entire society.

"Those who violate the above rules will be uniformly sentenced to death."

Hao Ren felt he understood Izhaks's policies even more deeply. Again, he was a demon who practiced saintly standards, but the reverse was also true—he was a saint who took action in a demonic way. He was a tyrant in another sense: a moral tyrant.

Humans would probably never produce such a ruler. Only the unique thought patterns of demons could shape an alternative individual like Izhaks.

"How should I put it… you still took a detour," Hao Ren said cautiously, "Your methods were too crude. Although they were indeed effective, they only worked for demons. Other races are very complex—especially humans…"

"By the time I realized this, my empire was already crumbling," Izhaks said with a wry smile, "Enemies were everywhere, both inside and outside the empire. All the kingdoms in the world were declaring war on me. They gave me a nickname, calling me the 'Mad King,' or the 'Demon King.' The various races outside regarded me as a conspirator who intended to destroy the world, while many races inside began to split for various inexplicable reasons. Some people were still loyal to me, but more people rebelled for some unknown reason. The most deadly thing was still my demon brethren—they couldn't tolerate a 'moral degenerate' like me among the demons. In the beginning, they couldn't beat me, so they kept their distance, but when I was in trouble both internally and externally, they attacked in droves."

Izhaks sighed, his expression suddenly strange: "The most ironic thing is that my old home finally formed an unprecedented united force. Humans, elves, dwarves, dark elves, orcs… unprecedented. Almost all the races in the world united, forming a united force that had never been seen in tens of thousands of years. The alliance of all races that I had always dreamed of was finally established before my eyes—to kill me."

Izhaks picked up the wine bottle and gulped it down.

Hao Ren was infected by this thrilling and magnificent history, and couldn't help but pick up his wine glass. But Izhaks held him down: "Don't bother, just listen to me. With your alcohol tolerance, you'll easily kill yourself…"

"I'm not that bad," Hao Ren smiled, tilted his head and drank the wine, his mouth twitching as he muttered, "It's just that I don't like this stuff, it's not like I can't drink it."

Then he looked up at Izhaks, hesitated for a long time, and finally told the truth: "Actually… I don't know if I should say something."

"Say it," Izhaks grinned, "You don't have to be polite with me."

Hao Ren's advantage was his honesty: "You were a bit of an idiot back then."

Izhaks was stunned, staring blankly for a long time before suddenly bursting into laughter: "Haha… you really are…"

Izhaks laughed so hard that he couldn't catch his breath. The noise was so loud that even the cat upstairs was frightened and jumped out of the second-floor window. Vivian, who was busy stewing the children at the door, shouted, "What are you doing?"

Izhaks waved his hand to stop laughing, and suddenly looked at Hao Ren very seriously: "You're right, I was an idiot, I thought things were too simple. Now that I think about it… I found that integrating the world is really not suitable for a demon to do."

"It has nothing to do with demons, you were too impatient," Hao Ren waved his hand, "You take your time. You can live for ten or eight thousand years like it's nothing, can't you just slowly push it over one country at a time? Anyway, when the older generation dies, the rest will definitely be obedient people, why do you have to overturn the whole world in one breath?"

Izhaks was stunned, tapping his bald head: "It would be great if you were my military advisor. My military advisor is just a clown, good for fighting local wars, but unable to plan the big picture at all. Alas, it's all in the past, what's the point of mentioning it."

Hao Ren asked cautiously: "Then what you said about your daughter…"

He saw that Izhaks's topic had drifted further and further, this war history that had been going on for hundreds of years, so he brought up the original topic.

Izhaks sighed heavily: "She's dead. She fell into the rift with my last demon battalion and my last obsidian city… It happened a year ago. After that, I wandered around aimlessly for a while, then I was caught by other demons, and then I was rescued by a passing Xi Ling Celestial God, and then I came to your place…"

Izhaks's voice became lower and lower, and finally he sighed: "Alas… hundreds of years of glory, great ambitions, now it's all in vain. The world is too big, we are too small… maybe I was really wrong, I really think too much, I can't even protect my own child, and I still want to conquer the entire universe, hey, idiot."

"Bang—"

Outside the window, a firework exploded in the sky, and under the light, thousands of families were reunited.

Hao Ren and Izhaks sat facing each other, and he reached out to pat the latter's shoulder.

But at this moment, a burst of noise suddenly came from outside the door, and Lily's loud voice came in:

"Landlord, landlord! I shot someone down with a cannon!"