Chapter 74 A Must-Happen Event

The data terminal was quickly drawn in by the Godslayer Sword’s marvelous “intelligent mode.” It urged Hao Ren and the sword to connect and converse in various ways several times – including the most direct mind link and the most ordinary verbal exchange. As the series of experiments continued, the terminal became increasingly certain that the sword possessed an intelligence form similar to an “echo chamber.”

The Godslayer Sword’s mind only appeared when someone interacted with it, and its strength increased with the deepening of the “dialogue level.” When Hao Ren engaged in simple conversation with it, the sword behaved like a response machine with only rudimentary artificial intelligence. But when Hao Ren established a mind link, the sword’s responses appeared unusually clever and experienced.

But regardless of its response skills, its mind was undoubtedly the same, only unstable.

“This strange form of intelligence…” Hao Ren said, somewhat curious. “Does it have any special significance?”

The data terminal analyzed very earnestly, “If this were found in any other creature, this unit would only consider it an ordinary scientific discovery. But in the case of the Godslayer Sword, this unit thinks we should focus on its ‘echo chamber’ attribute. How were the Demon Hunters affected? It’s because of the Godslayer Sword’s ‘echo chamber’ effect. Although it doesn’t emit any seductive sounds, it distorts and amplifies anyone’s inner voice—and in most cases, the minds of mortal races have vulnerabilities, and they are the least able to resist the flaws in their own minds. Therefore, this distorted and amplified echo is more terrifying than any form of mind control or suggestion. The Godslayer Sword’s intelligent mode is obviously a weapon… a weapon specifically designed to deal with mortal races, to drive them insane.”

Hao Ren nodded. “I thought of that too, but the ‘whispers’ I heard when I connected with the Godslayer Sword were all jumbled fragments. You’re saying those were echoes of my mind? Is there something wrong with my mental state?”

Hao Ren had been very concerned about this question. He wasn’t afraid that the Godslayer Sword’s “whispers” would have any effect on him, but after learning about the sword’s “echo chamber” attribute, he began to worry about whether something was wrong with his mind. After all, his “inner voice” only bounced back as a jumble of noise after hitting the Godslayer Sword’s echo chamber, which made him suspect that he was a latent psychopath…

“Let someone else try it,” the data terminal suggested simply. “See what kind of ‘echo’ others hear. This sword’s power has weakened too much. Only those who directly touch it can hear the echoes now. Let someone else touch it and see what happens.”

Hao Ren turned to look at Vivian and Roll beside him. “Do you want to try?”

Before Vivian could express her opinion, the cat girl excitedly jumped up. “Yes, yes, yes!! Big cat, can I play with this?”

“It’s not playing,” Hao Ren said sternly, glancing at the silly cat. “It’s an experiment. In a while, you hold this sword. Theoretically, it won’t have a negative effect on you, but you’ll hear a lot of things. Tell me what you hear.”

The silly cat thought for a moment. “So, are there dried fish, meow?”

She’s even bargaining now.

“Okay, okay, dried fish, two packs – provided you’re good.”

“Roll” immediately nodded excitedly, indicating that she would be very, very good, and then grabbed the hilt of the Godslayer Sword.

A trace of daze flashed in the cat girl’s eyes, her mind collided with the “echo chamber,” and a series of whispers began to emerge. Remembering Hao Ren’s instructions, she began to honestly describe the sounds she was hearing: “Want to eat dried fish, want to eat cat food, want to be combed, want Big Cat to scratch my belly, don’t want to take a bath, don’t want to be beaten by Doudou, Big Cat’s teeth grinding is so annoying, can’t scratch Big Cat’s door, but can blame it on Doudou…”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough…” Hao Ren listened with a cold sweat and quickly snatched the Godslayer Sword from the silly cat’s hand. He was now certain that this thing was really effective. Even a simple-minded guy like the silly cat was being urged to reveal her true nature. So, all she thinks about every day is this stuff…

“You try it too.” Hao Ren cautiously handed the Godslayer Sword to Vivian again. Although the sword had previously reacted strongly to Vivian’s “divine blood aura,” it was now harmless and would not cause the same situation.

Vivian carefully placed her hand on the hilt, and immediately a series of loud, booming sounds roared in her mind: “Poor, poor, poor, poor, poor, poor, poor…”

Vivian: “……”

Hao Ren: “What did you hear?”

Vivian was about to cry. “Can’t I not say?”

“Okay, it seems you heard a clear message too,” Hao Ren said, gleaning a lot of information from her expression. He sighed. “Only me, the ‘whispers’ I hear are completely jumbled and fragmented. I can’t really be a latent psychopath, can I…”

“Why not ask Raven 12345?” the data terminal suggested again.

Hao Ren thought about it. He was originally unwilling to bother Goddess with this kind of thing—because maybe that crazy woman would suddenly have a whim and give you a blessing with five thunderbolts, which wouldn’t be fun. But concerning his mental state, he was becoming more and more worried, so he finally dialed the on-call Goddess for help.

Raven 12345 connected the communication quickly this time, and listened patiently to Hao Ren’s description of the situation. After a few seconds of silence, she muttered hesitantly, “…Could I have broken it with one bite back then?”

Hao Ren: “…Sister, don’t do this!”

“Okay, okay, no jokes,” Raven 12345 said in a serious tone. “I just wanted to relax you, because the actual situation is—I don’t know either.”

Hao Ren: “Huh?”

“First of all, I’m omnipotent in this universe, but not in the Dream Plane. Everything involving the Dream Plane, I can observe just as much as you can, so I can’t determine where the problem lies. Secondly, there’s definitely nothing wrong with your mind, because you’re the pope hand-picked by yours truly. You’re carrying a whole dozen of blessings twenty-four hours a day. Even a fool should become awesome under such a pile of blessings. Finally, I suspect the problem lies precisely in that pile of divinity blessings on you.”

Hao Ren continued: “Huh?”

“You’re a demigod, and the Godslayer Sword is at best something on par with you, or even slightly lower. What do you think? The problem probably lies here: the sword’s ‘echo chamber’ power is ultimately a kind of uncontrolled intrusion and interference. Even if it no longer has negative effects, its activation mechanism is still negative, and your divinity will actively help you resist everything negative, so its ‘echo chamber’ power has been blocked by you. That’s the theory.”

Hao Ren hung up the communication with Raven 12345. Vivian and Roll next to him immediately came over with concern. “What’s the reason?” “Where’s the dried fish?”

Okay, it seems they’re not all concerned…

“She said it’s related to my divinity, that I blocked those echoes,” Hao Ren said, feeling much more at ease, his tone relaxed. He waved his hand and casually stuffed two packs of dried fish to “Roll”. “Anyway, let’s not study this matter for now.”

Vivian also breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and then changed the subject. “What I’m very concerned about now is the last sentence the Godslayer Sword mentioned before the Creation Goddess fell. She said ‘It still has to be this way in the end.’ What do you think this means?”

The data terminal said casually from the side, “It means she knew this day was coming, what’s the doubt about that.”

“No, I don’t think it’s that simple,” Hao Ren immediately shook his head. “She said ‘It still *has* to be this way in the end,’ not ‘It still is this way in the end.’ There’s a difference of one word. Adding ‘has’ means that something is not only bound to happen, but also *must* happen. What the Creation Goddess was facing was not only an inevitable ending, but also… a necessary means.”

Vivian was as clever as ice and snow, and immediately received the hint. “This sounds almost like she arranged it herself…”

“That’s the feeling,” Hao Ren said, stroking his chin. “Although it’s a bit arbitrary to say so, this sentence gives the feeling that the Creation Goddess must have had something that must be completed at that time, and in order to complete this matter, she had to choose death. That’s why she said ‘It still has to be this way in the end’ to the murderer at the last moment.”

Vivian widened her eyes. “So, after going around in a circle, our conclusion is: The real mastermind behind the Godslayer incident is – the Creation Goddess herself?!”

Hao Ren thought carefully, but in the end, he shook his head. “No, there’s not enough evidence, and if we reach this conclusion, many things can’t be explained. I tend to think that the Godslayer incident was indeed a conspiracy by a third party, but the Creation Goddess’s identity in this whole incident is definitely not as simple as just a victim. She wasn’t as passive as we imagined, but she must have resisted in her own way, so she actually controlled part of the situation at that time!”