Spreading Gospel as the God of Bishoujo

Chapter 179 – Contingency Plan

“Oh?”

I suddenly couldn’t feel Sakura’s presence anymore.

I didn’t know how she received my senses, but the connection seemed unstable.

“What happened?”

Mother asked. I looked up at the glass dome and replied, “The connection with Sakura has been cut off. It’s just us again.”

“Ah, well, that’s not bad. At least it’s longer than when Brother Zhú was connected. Heh!”

Mother, who was lying on my chest, turned over, wrapping her arms around my back, and rested her entire body on my chest, looking up at me with admiration.

“Shouldn’t she have heard the key parts of the plan? Otherwise, all my talk would be for nothing~”

Mother herself was the key to the previous Lord Hái’s plan.

With both “sensitivity” and “rationality,” she was, from another perspective, more complete and closer to the original existence than Lord Hái and the Heavenly Path.

Like mixed AB glue, her soul became very stable, which might allow it to maintain its self in the Heavenly Path’s consciousness sea, or even influence the Heavenly Path and use the knowledge left by Lord Hái to close the Heavenly Path core, freeing it from its millennia-long guardianship.

“Mm, I think she did hear it. But why reveal such an important plan to Sakura? Wouldn’t fewer people knowing it be better?”

“My foolish daughter~ Do you think Lord Hái would put everything on me? There’s always a backup plan, and this is no exception.”

I was stunned for a moment, then reacted.

“Hold on! You mean Sakura is the backup plan?”

“Yes~ She’s the aftermath left by Lord Hái.”

“But when Sakura was taken from me, Lord Hái had already sealed themselves with you, right? Did she foresee everything that would happen afterward?”

Even as the emotional half, isn’t it problematic to be so calculating?

“Mmm~ Xiao Kai, have you ever wondered why your trials as a divine apprentice were completely different from those in the past?”

“It’s because Master doesn’t have much time left, so they’re rushing to find a successor, right?”

“Come on, you were rushed, but Xiao Ying studied divine techniques properly under Lord Hái for over a decade. How is that different from your own learning?”

It had been over a decade since Brother Zhú’s failed trial, and saying it was rushed didn’t seem as quick as imagined.

I asked again, “To prevent the abuse of divine techniques?”

“Mm, that’s the surface reason.”

Mother nodded and continued, “But this was Lord Hái’s ‘suggestion’ to the Heavenly Path, sending the apprentice’s soul to the Divine Court to learn before the trials, then fusing them afterward to prevent the divine apprentice from getting lost in power.”

I was surprised. Lord Hái always referred to themselves as remnants and had almost no authority compared to the Heavenly Path.

“So Lord Hái can still influence the Heavenly Path’s decisions?”

“Just a suggestion. Most of the time, the Heavenly Path can’t communicate with anyone, even Lord Hái.”

She buried her face in my chest and spoke with a muffled voice.

“Xiao Ying is a神器 born from the Heavenly Path. Naturally, she has a fragment of the Heavenly Path’s soul. Are you still hoping to stop her disappearance through fusion? That’s unlikely unless this plan succeeds and makes the Heavenly Path retire. Otherwise, once the trials end, she’ll be recovered, just like us now.”

Hey, I’m just collateral damage!

But I hadn’t expected that even the fusion we saw as a lifeline wouldn’t prevent Sakura’s disappearance.

I sighed, “So you knew she would disappear?”

“Oh, did Xiao Ying tell you that too? I originally guessed, and I guess I was right.”

I narrowed my eyes unhappily.

“Mom, you were trying to get information out of me?”

“You’re just easy to read. When you asked me for soul adhesive, I had a hunch.”

Mother laughed and said, “Xiao Kai~ Even though there’s no guarantee, give me more confidence! For my daughters, I can become super strong! Even the Heavenly Path can change!”

She raised a fist she called “super strong” and hit my side, as if aiming for the Heavenly Path.

“You’re not confident yourself but want me to be? Isn’t that contradictory?”

She cupped my cheeks and looked into my eyes.

“Not at all! I love you without reason, and you should trust me without reason too. I won’t let Xiao Ying take this risk. Everything will end here, absolutely…”

Her usual playful nature made her words somewhat touching.

I asked, “Mom, you just wanted to say something cool, right?”

“No way! Haven’t I always been reliable?”

“But you’ve caused trouble.”

“Mmph!”

She pouted childishly and made a bubbling sound.

No matter if she was being cute or not, describing my own mother as childish made me feel conflicted.

“Mom, the current Lord Hái didn’t know about this plan, and she didn’t give her soul to Sakura. How will Sakura become the key to liberate the Heavenly Path?”

I never heard Sakura mention having a fragment of the Heavenly Path’s soul. If she did, she should have detected it herself.

Mother sat up, spreading her hands, “Well, I don’t know. I’m just a part of Lord Hái’s plan, so I don’t fully understand it.”

I felt she was hiding something.

“But you’re the most crucial part. Now that the previous Lord Hái isn’t here, you’re the only one executing this plan.”

Mother placed her hand on her chest and declared, “That’s right! I’m the final step in the plan, liberating the Heavenly Path and starting the prologue of human destruction. I’m destined to open Pandora’s box!”

She was clearly just trying to look cool.

Seeing my lack of reaction, she punched me in frustration.

“Let’s continue our journey. The White Sun is still far away, and it’ll take over a month to reach the Heavenly Path core. I’m tired of this endless darkness.”

We’ve been here for a month, right?

But reaching the Heavenly Path core means Mother must vanish, and my heart was conflicted.

I sighed, but Mother saw through my thoughts.

“Xiao Kai, are you bored?”

I quickly shook my head.

“It’s only been a while. I can still hold on.”

“Just a bit longer. Once we reach the Heavenly Path core, even if we can’t liberate it, I’ll do my best to get you out… Okay, let’s continue!”

Divine power surged from my joined palms, ignited by the dome’s technique, converted into thrust, and transmitted outside the spatial jewel.

This system, improved by Mother many times, was quite automated. She only needed to adjust direction slightly when off course, maintaining long flights, while I, as a living fuel tank, couldn’t stop.

“I’ll keep preparing. Tell me if you’re tired.”

She returned to her workbench, facing away from me, continuing to refine the complex spell.

Lying on the bed, palm facing the ceiling, I tilted my head and asked, “Mom, what exactly is that?”

“It’s my life-saving straw.”

“I meant, what’s it for?”

The massive spell covered the workbench. Each rune was daunting, yet Mother could modify it for hours.

“I can’t tell you yet. No, I mean I haven’t planned to tell you.”

“Even Lord Hái’s plan was revealed. Why can’t I know the spell’s purpose?”

Mother didn’t turn around, “This is beyond Lord Hái’s plan. It’s my ace in the hole. As for the specific purpose… Well, you’ll know when it’s really needed.”

No, by the time it’s really needed, I won’t see it.

Muttering internally, Mother warned, “Don’t move your hand, don’t slack off. If power decreases, our course will change, and we’ll need to adjust!”

“It’s impossible to operate like a machine!”

“But you’re a goddess now, right?”

“Even if you argue, it won’t make my hand steady…”

“Got it!”

Mother turned around with an unsettling smile, a sign she was up to something.

I remembered this expression. It was when she was about to cause trouble.

“Xiao Kai, you think holding your hand up and controlling divine power is tiring, right?”

With a bad feeling, I demurred, “Actually, it’s not that tiring. At least not physically.”

“Don’t be modest. Your loving mom has a backup plan!”

It seemed more like she just thought of it.

Not directly agreeing, I cautiously asked, “What’s the backup plan?”

“Directly extract divine power into the spell array. I have the perfect tool!”

She brought out a fish tank from the shadow beside the workbench. I recognized it; it was the tool she used to extract my divine power before.

“Didn’t you leave these things in the research institute?”

“Haha, these are my treasures. Why would I leave them behind?”

“So, you’re going to use this fish tank to extract my divine power?”

“No, no~ I wasn’t thinking of extracting yours. Outside, there’s an inexhaustible source of divine power. You don’t need to suffer.”

She found a way to free me from labor, and I breathed a sigh of relief, stopping the divine power emission.

“That sounds good. Doesn’t it create a perpetual motion?”

Mother shook her head, closing one eye to explain.

“Relying on external divine power is hard to achieve perpetual motion. The extraction rate won’t match consumption. I don’t have extra materials to make more devices, so it’ll be a fly-and-rest cycle… Xiao Kai, what do you think?”

The power-depleted jewel vibrated, and we fell onto the flat ground.

“It’s fine. Flying and resting is no problem. I was planning to rest anyway.”

Since it was harmless to me, I naturally agreed.

“Oh! It’s great you agree! But actually, the external divine power concentration will seriously interfere with this device. Like a water pump unable to draw water in a pool.”

Just as I agreed, her argument flipped 540 degrees.

“What do we do?”

“You’ll have to sacrifice a bit! Providing divine power will enable perpetual flight!”

“That’s flip-flopping!”

No.

Saying she’d extract external divine power was just a cover. She had this idea from the start.

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