...That being said, Hayden understood what Karen truly meant. After Karen's ordeal, although his body was a little tired, his heart felt incredibly light, a sense of peace and tranquility filling his soul.
Karen was indeed adept at instilling confidence in Hayden, and then pulling him forward to continue fighting against the oppression and evil of the world. This must be a form of love. At least both Hayden and Karen recognized and believed in this kind of love. Such love certainly has power.
Sigh, she's such a good woman. No wonder I don't care about those little things like body image anymore.
"I should probably go back and take care of some business. I know you were under a lot of pressure yesterday, but if you want to rest, you can lie down for a while longer."
Karen snapped her fingers, conjuring a suit out of thin air. Then, perhaps suddenly remembering something, she asked thoughtfully, "Speaking of which, Hayden, besides those five hundred thousand Brain Gods, did you really not get anything from Adam at all?"
These words made Hayden rub his temples: "Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"
“Of course, it’s because Adam’s reaction before he died was strange, and I also noticed that you two exchanged some glances.” Karen frowned. “And that box. Everyone knows that box is strange. Adam actually gave up a possible attack that could have killed him and Fudo Myoo, and used his last strength to create a box for you. And you didn’t even touch the box, but deliberately handed it to Fudo Myoo… Did you secretly take the contents of the box beforehand?”
Having just finished their first time together, he immediately and calmly shifted his focus back to work. If Karen were a man, she would definitely be labeled a chauvinist.
Hayden was also somewhat speechless. But there was nothing he could do; that was the kind of wife he had chosen.
“I didn’t touch that box at all, and there was no need for me to. Adam’s wink at the end was actually a hint to me.” So Hayden explained frankly, “I knew at a glance that there was no need to take that box. I guess it was either empty or a bomb of god-level energy. It’ll be quite a sight when Mitra unlocks and opens it on the moon.”
This finally surprised even Karen.
She was astonished, not only because Hayden and Adam had pulled off such a deception, but also because, under those circumstances, they had managed to communicate so smoothly with just a glance!
It's important to understand that there was an Immovable King (Fudō Myō-ō) watching from the scene, and all the gods in the world were observing; clearly, no magical means could encrypt the communication. The video recordings from that time will undoubtedly have been carefully analyzed afterward. Under such circumstances, Adam certainly couldn't make any obvious tactful gestures—besides, Adam and Hayden had already broken off their relationship and shouldn't have had any trust in each other.
However, under those circumstances, Hayden was able to understand Adam's meaning in an instant and believed his hints. He traded a bait box for New Yatu, everything else in Evergreen, and even 500,000 Brain Gods...
"...Why were you able to trust Adam back then?"
What surprised Karen the most was this.
“We all know Adam is a selfish, evil, ruthless, and cruel bastard. He'd do anything and sacrifice anything to win and climb the ladder. How could you believe his final hint?”
Comrade Hayden, are you sober? That's all Karen wants to ask right now.
"Because I am a prophet, because we both used similar tricks—frankly, it's nothing new, just a fancy packaging to fool people," Hayden replied directly. "Because selfishness has its origins and its reasons. Why would Adam harm me when selfishness brings no benefit?"
That's why Adam never actually harmed Hayden. But there's probably a deeper reason why he helped Hayden in the end.
"All Adam ever wanted was to win, to climb to the top. He didn't care about the means to win. This included his stance, as well as a lot of common sense."
Hayden raised his head, his eyes gazing into the distance, as if trying to see through the bedroom walls, through Earth's atmosphere and the dust of space, all the way to the dark vacuum between the stars that no one had ever seen before.
“Karen, just imagine it this way and you’ll understand. Adam was already doomed at that point. But if he wanted to retain even a sliver of a chance to win, he had no choice but to find a way to let me win first. Because death isn’t necessarily the end.”
Karen isn't stupid. Hearing Hayden's words and recalling what she had seen yesterday, she immediately understood.
Death is not necessarily the end, and it may not even allow you to escape the clutches of the God of Capital. The Bodhisattva Mithra has already developed the magic of [Reincarnation].
Adam and Lilith deliberately died yesterday, avoiding being caught by the cycle of reincarnation. But who can guarantee that Mithra Bodhisattva won't develop even more advanced magic tomorrow? Perhaps then He'll even bring back those who are truly dead, keeping them as wage slaves, ruthlessly enslaved, with no chance of ever escaping!
If Mithra Bodhisattva truly unified the world, ruled alone for eternity, and even completely controlled life and death, then even if you were to die completely, you still wouldn't be able to escape his influence!
So, out of selfishness, Adam had to help Hayden as much as possible, gambling that Hayden might one day turn the tables on Mithra, or at least cause her trouble. Moreover, if Hayden did win, he might one day resurrect Adam.
If Hayden were to resurrect the dead, he obviously wouldn't turn anyone into slaves; and if Adam still harbored ambitions to rise again and become emperor, it would be more likely to let Hayden win first.
Adam Smith spent his entire life striving to climb to the top, to control his own destiny. His incredibly lonely life might explain why he wanted to talk to Hayden before he died. But beyond that, a truly intelligent and selfish person also clearly understands how to benefit themselves by treating others kindly.
Because Adam wanted to play again and continue, he chose to bet his last chip on Hayden. Even if the odds of winning were less than one in ten thousand, it was still better than Mitra's zero. This was, of course, a rational but selfish judgment.
"...I can understand that reasoning..."
But Karen still found it unbelievable: "So, if that day ever comes, you really want to resurrect Adam?"
"Actually, I haven't decided yet." Hayden scratched the back of his head. "After all, although Adam didn't betray us, he was an absolute bad guy. Besides, if we're going to resurrect someone, we can't just resurrect him; there are so many people who should be resurrected."
"So who knows when all this will happen? Let's talk about it later."
In any case, with Hayden's current abilities, he definitely can't resurrect Adam and Lilith. Because they willingly chose death with god-level power, even Mithra can't resurrect them. Unless Mithra Bodhisattva one day elevates to a higher level, a realm more powerful than a god-level Bodhisattva.
If Hayden wanted to resurrect Adam, the same logic would apply. He would have to become a much stronger and more omnipotent being than Mithra. Furthermore, if Hayden wanted to resurrect not only Adam, but also everyone he desired—hundreds, millions, trillions, even hundreds of millions…
...Then he would probably have to become the true absolute ruler, the master of all things, before he could end all suffering.
If Hayden ever does reach that point, then he will indeed possess an absolute greed stronger than Adam's and an ultimate dominance more terrifying than Karen's.
"You're going back to direct the disaster relief efforts, right? I need to get up too; I can't stay bedridden forever."
Before he finished speaking, Hayden had already jumped out of bed, used his magic to create a new set of clothes, and then reached out his hand to Karen.
Such a good woman, such a good wife, such a good partner—letting her fight so hard while I sleep soundly in the back is just asking for trouble. I'd be so ashamed I'd die of embarrassment.
So Karen smiled slightly and took Hayden's outstretched hand.
Neither of them had the right to collapse to the ground, wallowing in grief and despair.
Because there is still so much work to be done.
——————————————————————————————
With the Adam incident over, Fudo Myoo and the Vajra Warriors army withdrew, and some other gods began to provide Evergreen with some financial and resource assistance.
This is by no means because the gods of capital have suddenly become compassionate and benevolent (although some of them do occasionally do charity). The reason they are providing some assistance to Evergreen State now is because last night's catastrophe revealed some clues to the gods all over the world.
Last night, Mithra Bodhisattva revealed just the tip of the iceberg of his new power. This tip alone was enough to frighten many gods, for Mithra Bodhisattva is already far too powerful. He might even end this era of numerous capitalist gods vying for power, and rule the world single-handedly.
Clearly, most capitalists wouldn't want to live in a world where Mithra Bodhisattva reigns supreme and monopolizes everything. Even most of the gods and bodhisattvas within the Mithra Group don't actually want that.
Is the era of capitalism coming to an end? Will the world, which has been peaceful for four hundred years, be swept away by war again?
Such a global political situation is ultimately unpredictable. Many more changes and hardships await us on the road ahead.
However, even if an era of chaos and suffering is about to arrive, we should not overlook the small moments of happiness in life.
...The little happiness mentioned here certainly doesn't refer to Hayden and Karen finally losing their virginity in their thirties. Given their personalities, they would never tell others about such a private matter.
Unfortunately, one of the dolls found out everything immediately.
This terribly helpful Angela often knew things she shouldn't have. Hayden and Karen had barely peeked out of the bedroom when Angela, carrying two glasses of juice, happily blocked the doorway.
"Congratulations, my dear master!"
This is truly, truly embarrassing.
Hayden and Karen felt incredibly embarrassed by the congratulations.
However, Hayden still forced himself to explain, "Angela, there's no need to congratulate me on this, is there? If you make it such a big deal and spread it around, I'll feel ashamed."
However, Angela tilted her head in confusion upon hearing Hayden's words: "I don't understand what you mean. This is indeed a very important matter, and there's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, it's perfectly in line with tradition for me to come and offer my congratulations."
...What exactly is she saying?
"Uh, you mean I need your congratulations for finally getting married?" At this point, Hayden finally realized something was off—could they be talking about something else entirely?
"I'm certainly not congratulating them on this."
Sure enough, Angela shook her head, then happily said again,
"Let me put it more clearly: Master, congratulations on finally having offspring!"
………………
…………
……What?
For probably the first time ever, Hayden and Karen both froze for at least five seconds. When Hayden came to his senses, he instinctively turned to look at Karen's stomach.
Then Karen smacked him on the head: "What nonsense are you thinking! First of all, it's not that fast, and secondly, of course I'm using contraception!"
Karen is a financial tycoon; she has absolute control over all her assets, including her own body. Unless Karen herself wants to get pregnant, no matter how much she tries to fertilize Hayden's body, it will be impossible for him to conceive. Her magic, her divine power, will block Hayden's cells from conceiving.
So it's simply impossible for Angela to come and congratulate them on having a child.
...At least logically speaking, it is impossible.
Unfortunately, what Angela considers normal "reasoning" is often only of "reference value" to her.
So when Karen used her divine sense to probe her body, she discovered that... her divine protection for contraception had been breached.
And naturally, this protection was breached by Hayden's reproductive cells.
But... but theoretically that should be impossible. Karen is a god, while Hayden, at best, is just an ordinary immortal. Karen's cells are at least ten times stronger than Hayden's.
And she got pregnant today after just having the procedure yesterday? How can it be that fast? This is completely illogical!
Unless... unless Angela has done something unreasonable again.
"My master has always had a fondness for very special women, such as vampires, half-dead tengu spirits, and mechanical dolls. Because of this particular preference, he has never married or had children."
As expected, Angela continued her explanation. She even sighed as she spoke, seemingly frustrated by Hayden's lack of ambition.
"So back then I had no choice but to give my master a special blessing. Not just living creatures, but even immortal beings, as long as they are touched by my master's reproductive cells, will become pregnant—today, this blessing has finally taken effect!"
299: Beyond Common Sense
The next day, in the center of New Sprouts City, Hayden's friends gathered together for a meeting again.
Of course, a meeting is necessary. After all, so much has happened in the past two days. Fortunately, the new god is adept at creating multiple entities, and also possesses teleportation magic, so allocating resources and discussing solutions shouldn't be too difficult.
Originally, there was no need for everyone to come back in their true forms for the meeting, but now that all the gods are watching Changqing Prefecture, it would be safest to discuss it inside the barrier of [New Sprout City] for the sake of secrecy.
At the meeting, Abigail and Alastor first reported on their disaster relief efforts throughout Evergreen State the previous day—in reality, it was impossible to resolve the entire disaster situation in Evergreen State in just one day. Fortunately, everyone had so much collective power, and other large companies also sent some aid, so there were always ways to alleviate some of the disaster.
"Fortunately, there is the power of the life network. Although the buildings cannot be repaired immediately, at least the victims can survive as long as they are alive and will not lack nutrition."
Alastor was still somewhat emotional.
"Fortunately, we also built an internal network. Communication among the disaster victims is not a big problem. Many things that we didn't think we would need when we were designing have really been a great help now."
Less than six months ago, during a meeting here, Hayden made the decision to "do everything." His decision at the time left everyone exhausted for the past few months. But thanks to that exhaustion, we are now able to save tens of millions of disaster victims in Changqing Prefecture.
All those efforts were worthwhile.
Professor Albion has sacrificed himself. Everyone feels saddened and grieved by this. It goes without saying that Alastor was the professor's most outstanding successor in the field of information magic. Even Abigail was once an acquaintance and friend of Professor Albion—after all, New Seattle only has a handful of traditional classical magicians who are hundreds of years old.
But now that everyone can truly feel that the professor's sacrifice was not in vain, at least they can feel some comfort in their hearts.
Ultimately, the horror of death lies not in itself, but in the nothingness it symbolizes. If one can believe that the flame of one's life can continue to burn, the feeling of death will no longer be so sad and terrifying.
probably.
Although not everyone is satisfied with the current situation—for example, Pania, who is still only a head, is very unhappy.
After everyone finished reporting and discussing the current disaster relief situation, she couldn't help but complain: "I know everyone is very busy with disaster relief, but could you please help me recover first? Even if that's the case, it will be easier for me to help you!"
Her words weren't entirely without merit. However, Hayden shook his head: "Your divine body reconstruction can't be rushed. This time, we've managed to bring New Seattle, and even the entire Evergreen State, into our hands. This is arguably our second biggest gain in the incident. And you are very suitable to be the new core of New Seattle. So we need to repair New Seattle first before we can build your new divine body at the same time."
Upon hearing this, the two gods nearby also became extremely interested: "Is this a plan to make Pania the guardian deity of Neo-Yatu?"
"The guardian of an international metropolis—that's certainly a position with great potential. If done well, it might even elevate Pania to the level of a god. However, Neo-Yatu has been severely damaged this time. If the city isn't repaired quickly, we might not be able to maintain its status as an international metropolis."
Just as everyone was getting ready to begin their discussion, Hayden interrupted them, saying, "We'll talk about that later. It's also related to what I'm about to say."
What's next?
Different answers flashed through the minds of the three minor gods, but these answers were all related to this incident and their future plans.
Therefore, none of them could have predicted that Hayden would then say:
"Karen is pregnant."
That simple sentence struck everyone's minds like a thunderbolt. For a moment, even the three gods present were completely stunned by it!
A second later, Alastor was the first to react, and he was overjoyed: "Great! This is wonderful! When did this happen? Why didn't you tell us before?"
Alastor was naturally delighted. He had always hoped for a stronger bond between Hayden and Karen. This would not only increase the stability of their team but also balance Karen's power and prevent her from becoming too dominant. And nothing could serve as this bond better than their child.
However, Alastor didn't believe that Kallen, as a great goddess, could become pregnant naturally or accidentally. These days, when gods want to have children, they certainly use reproductive cells to adjust and coordinate the process. For most gods, sex is no longer something done solely for reproduction.
As for Abigail and Panya, their reactions were even more amusing. Panya, who now only had a head left, stared blankly at Hayden's words in a way that was hard to describe. Abigail, though her expression remained unchanged, nearly knocked over her coffee cup.
And what about Karen? As the person involved, her expression was hard to read, conveying a sense of helplessness that was somewhere between a sigh and a shrug.
Anyway, everyone except the two people involved was very surprised.
Their surprise was so great that Hayden had to quickly continue explaining: "It was an accident; we only found out yesterday."
He and Karen only slept together for the first time yesterday... but there's no need to go into details about that.
That being said, since everyone was a god, Hayden's words surprised them even more.
"...You were so caught up in your passion that you forgot to use contraception?" Abigail immediately misunderstood. "But surely you wouldn't forget to use it afterwards?"
Pania was still in a state of confusion: "M-Uncle actually slept with Karen! I thought you two would get married like in those romantic comedy manga and only sleep together in the final chapter! Does this mean... we're about to end!?"