That's a huge amount of information that was suddenly released.
Fortunately, Hayden is no longer surprised by what has happened; on the contrary, he has come to a clearer understanding.
Remiel, the feathered serpent god, was the first god-king to descend upon South America, establishing a nation, creating culture, and developing various magical systems.
The Smoke Mirror is an ecosystem created by Remiel.
Although Mickett claims she wasn't created by Smoke Mirror, everyone witnessed how Smoke Mirror manipulated her, and Smoke Mirror calls her "daughter" all the time. Hayden has ample reason to suspect she might indeed have been created by Smoke Mirror. She is a South American artificial underworld system.
When Angela last visited, she said to Quetzalcoatl, “The culture of the country you created is very particular about sacrifice. Everything has a price. Your choice is to sacrifice one life to protect tens of thousands of lives, and to sacrifice a living person to make the sun shine throughout the year. Grain, crops, and favorable weather all require sacrifice as a price.”
Sacrifice is not a primitive concept. Ancient people used blood magic involving sacrifice, but modern people's economic-driven thinking is still bound by the same principle. Because everyone is essentially calculating the value of human life. In blood sacrifice magic, the value of human life might even exceed that of capitalism, enabling mortal magic to leap into realms typically only attainable by great mages or gods.
This shows that Remiel truly loved humanity and valued human life, to the point that he was able to invent a blood sacrifice magic system that made human life exceptionally precious, and build a vast, orderly, and generally well-fed empire with very few sacrifices. In feudal times, this was indeed a remarkable achievement.
However, with the arrival of the new era, the old technologies, cultures, and national systems have ultimately become useless and even a hindrance... Although the Smoke Mirror Company still uses blood sacrifice magic, modern blood sacrifice magic has become even more vile due to its abuse, even worse than the technology of other large companies.
...And no matter how you try to embellish it, sacrificing living people is always a sin.
Everything has a price. If even normal capitalist industrial magic can create contradictions and cause karmic obstacles, then what price must be paid for the thousands of years of prosperity built on blood sacrifice magic?
Angela probably saw through the conflict here long ago, which is why she said those things earlier.
"No wonder my [Resurrection] and Kallen's [Dream Flower] couldn't break through the Smoke Mirror. It's not that they were ineffective, but rather that they were too large and too numerous, and there simply wasn't enough time to [Resurrect] them all or [Convert] them all."
Hayden rubbed his temples; he was starting to get a headache.
"Damn it, how could the sins accumulated by the Aztecs over thousands of years be dealt with all at once!"
The millennia-long prosperity built on the sacrifice of blood-sacrificing magic and life will inevitably be swallowed up by the tsunami of blood-sacrificing undead. This is the way of nature.
Fighting the Smoke Mirror is what Hayden and his group must do now. No one expected the Smoke Mirror to be such a colossal being. It is not only a "natural system" of South America, but it also utilizes the laws of the universe. However, this explanation does indeed account for many current situations. For example, the Smoke Mirror now holds the reins of Mickett's power; even if the Underworld Sun were to devour all life in South America, it wouldn't harm it—it would simply be a matter of transferring power from one hand to the other.
For example, why can't Smoke Mirror surrender to Mithra? Because if Mithra truly unified the world and used "reincarnation" to govern life and death, the consciousness that makes up Smoke Mirror would obviously have nothing left, at least not in its current state. Smoke Mirror and Mikket have always faced the same dilemma.
"There is absolutely no compromise between Smoke Mirror and Mitra... unless, unless Smoke Mirror's 'compromise' is to leave. To devour the entire ecosystem of South America and then take it away from Earth!"
Muttering to himself, Hayden organized his thoughts, gaining a clearer understanding of the situation before him.
"No wonder the Mitra Group teleported away before they could eat people in the smoke-filled sealed environment. They probably had some dirty deal in the works... Now, outside the seal, outside South America, something else terrible is probably happening too!"
Thinking this way, Hayden felt the urgency of the situation even more acutely. They had to quickly defeat the Smoke Mirror and get out to thwart Mitra's plan, or they would truly be in grave danger!
But the Smoke Mirror not only controls the entire South American ecosystem, but also knows how to exploit the karmic debts accumulated over thousands of years of Aztec history, taking advantage of this unshakeable law of nature. How can such an absurd enemy be defeated?!
Mithra could defeat the Smoke Mirror because Mithra was another, stronger, and larger sun, the golden sun of the entire capitalist society. Hayden and Karen, however, did not possess such a massive scale.
What should I do? How can I win?
Hayden was troubled.
However, Quetzalcoatl, who was also, in a sense, the instigator, seemed completely unperturbed. Seeing Hayden's distress, he actually spoke up to advise him: "Chosen child, look at Aztland. Thousands of years of prosperity, yet it is destined to be destroyed due to the accumulation of sins. I cannot stop it either. I can only take the seed of life to another planet and begin a new chapter."
“You said before that you would save the whole earth from the wrath and destruction of the Outer Gods. But now you can’t even save South America, so how can you talk about saving the whole earth? At this point, you might as well take your companions to the border of South America and see if you can work together to dig a hole to escape the barrier—just like I want to escape the earth.”
Admittedly, there's some truth to the Quetzalcoatl analogy. However, Hayden didn't want to choose him.
“You’re right. If I can’t even save South America, how can I save the whole planet?” Hayden shook his head, becoming even more determined. “So I will never back down. Even if I have to go head-to-head with Smoke Mirror and only have a 30% chance of winning, I won’t run away!”
At this point, his quick-thinking mind had already come up with half an idea: "I've got it. The accumulation of the sins and backlash of blood sacrifice magic is mainly based on the artificial underworld, and Micket is, after all, a terminal of the artificial underworld. If I hack into Micket using arcane hacking, I might be able to dismantle most of the power of the Smoke Mirror, and then I can just fight the rest head-on."
Quetzalcoatl shook his head in disagreement. Before He could even speak, Mickett himself twitched his lips with a forced smile: "I don't think this is a feasible idea. Smoke Mirror isn't stupid; He's still monitoring the connection between me and the artificial underworld. If you try to hack into the artificial underworld through me, you'll almost certainly be discovered and retaliated against."
Hayden couldn't help but glare at her: "Miktikahiva, this is your own life, your own people and your own land! I'm trying to help you figure something out, so stop acting like you're giving up!"
“Not at all.” Mickett gave a weak, stiff laugh. “Didn’t you notice, Mr. Hayden? Technically speaking, I won’t die from this. After Smoke Mirror devours all of South America with its artificial underworld, it will only take me, this underworld fusion, to do other things, not destroy me. I’m actually the one here who needs to worry about my life the least.”
...That seems to be true. After the Smoke Mirror swallows up all of South America, it will simply take the artificial underworld and the gene pools of all living beings to Proxima Centauri β to rebuild a new empire. Mikert, of course, won't die.
Hayden was momentarily speechless. After a second, he protested, "So you're willing to be a tool of the smokescreen for all eternity?"
“Whoever controls the present controls the past.” Mickett composed himself and answered calmly, “The Smoke Mirror is indeed the master of the present, just as I am the god of the past. He defeated me with such a scheme, and I admit it was indeed my defeat. I will not die because of this, and since I have already admitted defeat, who can say I am unwilling?”
by
Hayden had no idea why Mickett had suddenly started to give up and play dumb. However, if she didn't cooperate, Hayden was truly helpless!
...Just as Hayden was thinking this, something completely unexpected happened.
"I can say I'm not willing!"
A voice, a voice identical to Mickett's but younger, suddenly rang out from the gate of the secret base! A person forcefully smashed open the gate and rushed to the white pyramid. Hayden turned around—wasn't that Isham?! How did she get here?!
"You've lived for thousands of years, been a great god for thousands of years, become a king and ancestor, you've had your fill of pleasure, so it doesn't matter if you want to lie down and give up."
But then Am stormed over, yelling angrily at Mickett.
"I haven't lived enough yet, I still have so many things I want to do! Don't drag us down with you!"
359: The Wind of Tomorrow
Hayden and Ismail have both accused Mickett of tanking and giving up.
But to be fair, Mickett's thoughts are actually quite complicated right now.
First of all, she had been having a rather frustrating time lately. Her duel with the main god of the Smoke Mirror was completely dominated by Hayden, and Hayden's extensive use of the [Dream Flower] technique had already put Micket under immense pressure.
Now that he finally won and became the main god, he hasn't even had time to settle into his position before being brutally beaten down by the Smoke Mirror.
This is not over yet.
Having finally been rescued by Hayden's friends, she was then brought to this strange pyramid and confronted with the feathered serpent god she thought was dead. Mikert wasn't truly naive. Having endured all this recent turmoil and overheard Hayden's conversation with the feathered serpent, she at least realized that she was indeed a tool god used by the Smoke Mirror.
Moreover, she wasn't just a tool created by Smoke Mirror; in fact, the entire glorious history of Aztland, spanning thousands of years, was merely a farce orchestrated by Smoke Mirror and Quetzalcoatl. Like a child building with blocks, it could be easily torn down and rebuilt elsewhere.
Perhaps this is the ultimate insult, more terrifying to Rape's spirit, will, and sense of existence than being humiliated by four lesbians for three months.
So what can Micket say now? She can't win a fight, and she won't die anyway, so what can she say besides "You won"?
This is both a spiritual humiliation and a spiritual numbness.
...But all this humiliation and numbness seemed insignificant compared to how Mickett felt upon seeing Isam. Because the moment Mickett saw Isam, he immediately felt extremely annoyed!
"Amu? How did you get here!?"
Hayden was taken aback. Leaving aside the rational aspect, this man still psychologically treated Eminem like a child.
That's why Am was particularly speechless: "Even if I'm a complete novice, I'm still a god! When I saw you flying off in this direction with Miktti Kashiva, do you think I couldn't keep up?"
However, considering that Hayden had brought Mickett here some time ago, Am hadn't really kept up. She had only guessed that Hayden was coming here.
“Mr. Hayden, I haven’t asked you about this yet.” Micket glanced at Am and asked Hayden, “What exactly is this thing? When did you make a clone of me?”
Hayden scratched his head: "I didn't make this. It's the one that the smoke mirror robbed your factory last time. I picked it up."
At this point, Hayden, fearing that Mickett might cause trouble, immediately added, "I've severed her connection to your cloud self and renamed her. She's now my adopted daughter, and she's one of my people."
However, Hayden didn't really need to emphasize this. Mickett knew from the first moment he saw Am that she had absolutely no mental connection with him.
Micket's self is the underworld sun hanging in the clouds, while Am's self resides within her own body—this vast difference in existence inexplicably irritates Micket! Not only that, she also sees that Isam is a god (albeit a blank slate). The thought of Hayden going to such lengths to mold her into a true god only fuels Micket's resentment!
So Mickett coldly replied, "Since you've severed ties with me and joined someone else's camp, what do you have to do with me? Why are you complaining about me?"
Upon hearing this, Am immediately jumped up and yelled, "Of course I have the right to complain! You and Smoke Mirror, those two useless old geezers, have made a mess of South America, enjoyed your own pleasure and then wanted to slack off, leaving us with the mess and the accumulated karma. Why can't I complain?! You've given up, but I'm here to complain on behalf of all the kids in Aztland, all the young people who haven't lived enough and still want a future! Don't drag us down with you!"
Am got more and more worked up as he cursed, and even started saying some really outrageous things: "And you old thing, you're the most useless of the two old things! I've disliked you for a long time! It's because you're more rigid, more stubborn, and less willing to learn and improve than Smoke Mirror that you'll be the God of the Past! You're clearly younger than Smoke Mirror! You old idiot! You incompetent Miktikashiva!"
That's not entirely true, because Mickett is indeed a symbiotic entity of the undead, it's not just a matter of personality. But it seems that Eminem has really wanted to scold Mickett for a long time.
After being subjected to a barrage of insults, Micket was initially stunned—she never expected this—before she erupted in fury: "From your physical genes to your personality and memories, everything about you was copied from me, how dare you be so disrespectful to me?!"
Even Hayden couldn't help but cover his face after hearing this: "Em, she's still your mother, isn't she? You can't talk about her like that!"
"That old hag only assembled me according to the genetic blueprint, how can she be considered my parent? Even if I have most of her memories, I am not her child. On the contrary, I took the opportunity to see through her millennia of stupidity and stagnation!" Am scoffed. "Besides, even if I were, it wouldn't matter. It's not uncommon for corrupt old gods to be overthrown and replaced by their own children. Mr. Hayden, didn't you need a terminal to hack into the artificial underworld?"
At this point, Am patted his chest, his eyes gleaming with self-confidence: "Then let me be the one to take over! Today, I will seize the throne from this incompetent old codger and become the new king of the Aztecs!"
"I want to create a new nation that is different from these old fogies, a nation that sows life, not one built on death and sacrifice!"
Wow--
Hayden, Michalt, and even Quetzalcoatl were stunned.
If anyone else heard Am's words, they might question—wasn't Mikket working hard and striving to accumulate more power, wanting to surpass Smoke Mirror and become the new God King? How can he be considered foolish and unambitious?
Hayden understood what Am meant. Even in a positive light, all of Miktikahiva's previous ambitious efforts were merely operating within the existing South American system, order, and structure. Even her method of surpassing the Smoke Mirror was only intended to simultaneously win over Hayden as an outsider and utilize Aztland's traditional rules; she had no real intention of reforming anything.
(This is actually one of the reasons why Hayden didn't trust Mickett and didn't think she could be a lesbian.)
On the other hand, Hayden didn't intend to completely blame Micket, especially after he learned that Micket's personality was actually a core formed from the blood sacrifice of dead souls. Hayden felt even less that Micket was to blame. Ultimately, Micket was just a giant dead person, and it would be somewhat unfair to blame her for being rigid.
The undead have no future. Life constantly gains experience, forming its own independent personality and adapting to changing circumstances. In contrast, the undead merely exist, not truly live. Life implies change, while the undead, though able to exist indefinitely and learn new knowledge, rarely change for the sake of it or appreciate new ideas. With very few exceptions, the undead's way of thinking often remains unchanged for centuries—because learning new knowledge and technology is fundamentally different from learning new ideas.
Even if a person accumulates a wealth of knowledge and experience over a thousand years, the personality of the dead will not change much. Therefore, Hayden would not blame Micket for this.
However, looking at Isam's current state and witnessing the Daughter of Tomorrow denouncing the past of death, Hayden couldn't help but think—perhaps this is why Char Aznable once said that it is not the old who create the new era.
Behold the woman of tomorrow, who was copied from death, yet severed from it, and resurrected from the dead! Having experienced a mortal life in the mortal world (even if that life is currently very short), she now possesses a truly living life, and even dreams for the future and expectations for a new era!
She had transcended Meeker; she was a real, living person. Hayden almost reached out to wipe away tears.
Unfortunately, others might not think the same way; at least Quetzalcoatl did not.
“Nonsense, just childish nonsense.” The giant fallen serpent shook its head, completely dismissing Amu’s words. “Creating a new nation not built on death and sacrifice? Everyone wants to do that, and I want to do that too. I was originally a god who sowed life. But the prosperity of any life comes at a price, and karma and conflicts will continue to accumulate. You are just a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers, talking without understanding the pain, and extremely ignorant, full of confidence in your ignorance.”
At this point, Quetzalcoatl smiled again, not mockingly, but with a deep sense of compassion, regret, and pity: "I was like that a long time ago. You are just too young to understand this. Isam, when you see more of the world and face reality, you will know that even gods cannot rule as they please, but can only accept many facts of the world."
However, Amu was not "appreciative." Instead, he glanced at Quetzalcoatl and said, "That's why you old codger got backstabbed by Smoke Mirror. You were His creator. He understood progress better than you, at least he knew how to turn an empire into a company! Unlike you, who just whines about how bad the environment is, and when you lose, you lie on the ground pretending it's the way things are!"
"Let me tell you, Quetzalcoatl! Even a child knows that if you make a mess, you should take responsibility for cleaning it up! You stubborn old man who just wants to escape to two light-years away and start over is the one who can't face reality! You're no different from being dead!"
Oh dear, even Quetzalcoatl has finally been enraged by Amu. For a fleeting moment, a dark glint seemed to flash in his deep eyes, and for a fleeting moment, his scaly mouth opened, revealing fangs: "You brat!"
Fortunately, before He could truly erupt in fury, Hayden reached out and made a gesture in mid-air, using his magic to restrain the already weakened fallen angel and prevent Him from acting recklessly.
“No one can harm someone I protect in front of me,” Hayden said sternly, his tone laced with warning. “And she’s absolutely right. She’s not like you, or Miktikashiva. She’s vibrant and full of life.”
"Moreover, the cost of creating a better new world is not unavoidable. Costs and karma are not absolute, unshakeable laws of balance. They are only part of the problem; you just haven't found a good solution yet."
"Well said! Then go and fight the Smoke Mirror yourselves!" Quetzalcoatl laughed angrily. "Let me see if the chosen ones really have a brilliant solution that doesn't rely on reason!"
Hayden then turned to Amu: "Are you really planning to become the terminal for hacking into the artificial underworld? I must solemnly warn you, this is extremely dangerous. As an individual connected to the collective consciousness of South America, you will inevitably bear immense mental pressure, and you might die."
Normally, Hayden wouldn't even bring up this kind of thing with a child. Unfortunately, this isn't normal.
“If I don’t do it, won’t everyone be very likely to be eaten by the smoke mirror? At least I have something to do!” Amu raised his head. “Besides, I won’t die. Because I still have things to do tomorrow, and a future. People who have a future in their hearts will never be killed by the ghosts of the past.”
Hayden immediately couldn't help but retort, "That's too much of a spiritual approach; it's unreliable."
"Then at least give me a chance to prove it!"
This... is true.
At least, it's worth a try, and besides, we don't really have much time to waste.
So Hayden finally nodded: "Okay, let's give it a try!"
Without further ado, Hayden pulled Eminem up, ready to go back and rejoin the others to begin the hacking operation.
However, before they could take two steps, Mickett suddenly spoke up out of the blue, "Your method won't work."
As she said this, she pointed at Am: "You've severed her connection to my artificial underworld. How do you plan to use her as a stepping stone?"
“Every connection that has ever existed leaves behind a spatial-temporal connection.” Hayden frowned. “I can use this connection to reconnect. This is a fundamental principle of witchcraft.”
"Trying to fight against the smoke mirror from a distance with such a far-fetched connection is tantamount to courting death."
"Micket said coldly."
"I can teach you a solution. But I have one condition."
She seemed to still be angry, but not really angry; her tone and expression were somewhat strange.
Hayden and Amm looked at each other, then Hayden asked first, "What are the conditions? Tell us."
"Take me with you too."
Then, the condition that Mickett stated surprised everyone.
"Whether you're going to hack into the artificial underworld or fight the Smoke Mirror, you'll have to take me with you."
Before Hayden could even speak, Quetzalcoatl, standing beside him, gave a wry smile: "Miktikashiva, you don't really believe this plan can succeed, do you?"
"The Smoke Mirror itself isn't particularly powerful. As for defeating Him by force—well, I believe the chosen child could indeed do that. The messengers of the Outer Gods certainly have that power."
He glanced at Hayden, and Angela, who was leisurely following behind Hayden, and flinched slightly, but immediately raised his huge snake head and said,