My mom is waiting for treatment, and you're summoning me to be a hero?

"How many people did Gao Yang actually kill back then?"

No one answered the questions asked during the trial.

The God of War slowly lowered the Soul Battle Axe, his rugged face unusually expressionless.

Mianmian nestled on Lin Mo's shoulder, the half-eaten biscuit fragment from her mouth falling out. She looked down at the biscuit but didn't pick it up again.

Yin Xue took a deep breath: "How many people are there on the mainland?"

This question surprised the judge.

Yin Xue said with a serious expression, "There are countless sweet spirits here. After they die, Lin Mo will absorb a part of their souls, and the rest will become new sweet spirits. With so many islands, the number of souls must be hundreds of millions."

Lin Mo also spoke calmly: "Such a large-scale massacre could not have gone unrecorded, and there aren't that many people on the mainland that Gao Yang killed. There's something fishy about this."

After saying that, Lin Mo raised his hand and pulled a soul from the black sword.

It was a middle-aged man dressed in coarse cloth, his face indistinct and his figure thin.

When it was pulled out of the black sword, it was still a dazed, blue ball of light that could only mutter "new friend" and "candy".

Lin Mo probed a wisp of spiritual power into the core of his soul, forcibly reactivating his consciousness, which had been suppressed by the Sweet Food Law for countless years.

The ball of light trembled violently a few times, and its blurry outline gradually solidified, with facial features emerging from the halo.

He was a man around forty years old, with calloused hands and deep wrinkles etched around his eyes.

He opened his eyes blankly, and froze the moment he saw Lin Mo.

Then his eyes suddenly reddened, turning into two trembling halos of light emanating from the unique, ghostly blue glow of a soul.

Then his knees buckled and he knelt directly on the cake ruins, his forehead hitting the sugar-covered stone slab heavily. His voice was hoarse and trembling, each word as if it were being forced out from the depths of his throat.

"Your Majesty! You're back! Thank goodness—I knew you'd come to save us!"

Lin Mo frowned.

His Majesty?

This identity of mine only exists on the continent outside the rift.

This is the first area I've ever set foot in. How could this soul, which should have entered the rift three thousand years ago, possibly know me?

He suppressed his doubts and spoke in a calm, factual tone.

"Have you seen me before?"

The middle-aged man nodded frantically, then looked up, his tear-streaked face filled with the ecstasy and excitement of surviving a disaster.

"Of course we know! You are the first emperor of the human empire! Just like in the portrait! The black robe with gold trim, the black sword, and Princess Mianmian on your shoulder. The Imperial Household Department paints your portrait every year, and every one of us humans remembers it! But you suddenly disappeared five hundred years ago, and we have waited generation after generation until you finally returned! Your Majesty, please save us..."

Lin Mo did not answer.

He released the soul and then reached into the black sword and pulled out another one.

This is an old farmer dressed in coarse linen clothes, from the year 612 of the Imperial Calendar.

He stared blankly at Lin Mo for a long time, then knelt down tremblingly and said that the human empire no longer existed in his time.

It wasn't destroyed by external enemies; Lin Mo's statue suddenly shattered one night, and everyone said it was a sign of Lin Mo's demise.

The empire, having lost its emperor, disintegrated in less than a century. Various races re-established their own territories, monsters returned to the wastelands, and humanity retreated back to its original few cities.

But he still recognized Lin Mo's face.

Because every child must learn to recognize a face before they can read.

That was their former emperor, the one who liberated humanity from the rule of the Papacy.

He established the human empire, and he gave humanity its most glorious period of history.

The third soul was a fat man dressed in a merchant's silk robe, who was terrified when he regained consciousness.

He claimed to be a merchant from the Holy Kingdom of the High Tower.

He had never heard of things like "Human Empire," "Hero," or "Demon King," and he had no memory of adventurers with extraordinary powers.

The fourth one is a scholar.

In his memory, the world was suddenly destroyed, and the human empire existed for only three short years.

Lin Mo had heard of it, but it seemed that he was thrown into the crack by the gods and never came back.

Yin Xue floated beside Lin Mo, and stopped speaking from the third soul onwards.

She listened quietly, her scarlet eyes churning with extremely complex emotions.

The goddess of judgment stood at the edge of the ruins, her gray eyes sweeping over each of the souls, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

The God of War leaned on his battle axe and remained silent.

Mianmian nestled on Lin Mo's shoulder, her eight eyes staring blankly at the weeping souls, crumbs of biscuit falling silently from her mouth.

Lin Mo released the last veil of his soul, stood up, and spoke in a calm voice that was still stating the facts, but every word seemed to be ground out from the depths of ice.

"These souls came from different times and spaces; Gao Yang killed them in the future and in another world."

He paused, then looked up at the hazy void above him, and at the distant airspace where countless floating islands of sweets still drifted.

Looking further into the distance, at the floating islands that are forever shrouded in gray mist.

Cracks finally appeared in the eternally calm gray eyes of the Goddess of Judgment.

Her fingers trembled slightly, and her voice was very low, but she couldn't hide the trembling in every word.

"To directly harvest the souls of specific races across timelines and spaces—this is no ordinary application of laws. Simultaneously mastering two fundamental laws of the world, his power..."

Lin Mo remained silent for a long time after hearing these words.

The eerie green flames on the cake ruins have gradually died out, the Caramel River still flows silently in the distance, and the remains of the Cookie City Walls drift slowly in the void.

He sheathed the black sword and turned to walk towards the manta ray.

Yin Xue flew to his side and asked in a low voice, "Where are we going?"

Lin Mo did not turn around.

His voice was soft, but every word landed steadily in everyone's ears.

"Keep killing. How many people Gao Yang has killed is none of my business. All I have to do now is kill until Ren'ai comes out, until there is not a single Sweet Floating Island left in the entire uppermost airspace."