I, the Rock King Emperor with 21 billion in power, have joined the chat group.

"Besides wanting to meet you, the reason I came here is to ask you to inform people in other countries of the world so that they can prepare themselves mentally."

"Preparations?" Pope Dustin VIXI paused for a moment, then asked, "Your Excellency? What kind of preparations?"

"You don't need to know yet, after all, I haven't finished all the preparations. Things will probably happen around the first day of next month, which is the first day of next year, after the demon race and the human race are completely separated."

"At that time, I will inform you of everything through the [Word of God]."

Seemingly noticing the wavering look in Pope Dustin VIXI's eyes, Zhongli added, "Rest assured, in terms of general rationality, I am not an evil god, but a righteous god who protects the people and the country. Compared to the evil god D, I will pay more attention to the safety of the human race."

Having said that, Pope Dustin VIXI fell silent.

He looked at Zhongli, about to say something more, when suddenly he felt a ripple-like change in front of him. The existence that had been so conspicuous just moments before simply vanished before his eyes.

----Is this teleportation magic?

The moment the idea flashed through his mind, he immediately dismissed it.

He sensed that this was a power far more powerful than teleportation magic, and perhaps it wasn't even part of the skill system.

Several minutes after Zhongli and Spider-Man left, he slowly exhaled a long breath and called up the many high-ranking officials of the Holy Aleus Papal States who were kneeling on the ground.

Even as he stood up, those Papal States officials, whom he considered extremely foolish, were still in a daze.

Even the incredibly foolish finance minister, whom she had just specifically mentioned to Zhongli, was still around him, wiping the sweat and grease from his thick forehead with a special silk handkerchief while asking him questions.

"Your Holiness, that must have been the deity behind our Divine Word Cult, right?"

---What an incredibly foolish fellow! Doesn't he know that the voice behind the Divine Word cult he believes in is a female deity?

---No, even this stupid guy in front of me should know this kind of thing.

---Could it be that this guy is actually testing me?

---Testing whether the deity of the Divine Word Sect has changed.

After pondering for a long time, the Pope still wore a barely perceptible, fake smile.

“Your Excellency Bishop Graller, even you should know that the Divine Word of our Divine Word Church was brought by a kind goddess. If your barren brain still remembers this, if you still have some of the theological knowledge that belongs to bishops, you shouldn’t be asking me this question.”

"Sorry, sorry."

The greasy fat man quickly took two steps back and bowed deeply to Pope Dustin VIXI before him: "I will definitely increase my theological knowledge after I return, please rest assured, Your Majesty. However, there is still one thing I don't quite understand, that is, what is the relationship between the deity before us and our God of Word? Why did this great being descend before us so easily, merely glance at us, and then leave like that?"

"As the Pope, do you know any other inside information?"

Bishop Graeme pressed on relentlessly.

Dustin 61 certainly knew the inside story, after all, the being known as [Rock Dragon Zhongli] had explained everything to him completely, but he had no desire to say anything more to this foolish and power-hungry being in front of him.

“Your Excellency Archbishop Graley, watch your words and actions. Even if I know some other inside information, it is only information that the Pope can know. I know that you are eager to inherit my papacy because of my old age. After my death and before Dustin VIXX comes of age, you will get what you want.”

"But now, you have no right to do so."

After saying this, Dustin VIXI left the city walls without looking back and headed towards the Papal Palace inside the city—he had many other things to do, such as informing other countries of the news of the divine descent, and also the news that the human and demon races would be locked in a life-or-death struggle in ten years.

He's getting old, and these kinds of jobs are very energy-consuming.

Chapter 40 The Game: Opening (1)

A world with a skill system.

Eluro's Labyrinth.

Spider-Zi listlessly gnawed on the freshly roasted earthworm meat, while Zhongli sat on the stone throne beside her.

The senior Zhongli in front of us has been sitting here for about ten days.

To be honest, this period of time was the most comfortable time Spider-Man had ever experienced in the Eluro Maze.

Although occasionally there are creatures like earth dragons that try to challenge her but are blasted away by her, she spends most of her time leisurely and carefree.

There was no crisis of being killed by monsters—she herself was one of the strongest monsters, and at the same time, there was a blue stone table that Senior Zhongli had casually planted, like the all-purpose dining table in Doraemon—not only did she not have to worry about food, but she could also freely choose food from various worlds to eat and drink at will; most importantly, there were no more enemies who wanted to scheme against her—the fairy chieftain was dead, the queen spider monster who attacked her was also killed, the oldest divine beast demon prince had also reconciled with her, and now even the pope of the Divine Word Church, the strongest church in human society, was an ally.

----I just don't know how long it will be before Senior Zhongli wakes up.

Spider's eight spider eyes were fixed on the thin and composed figure of Zhong Li, while its human body looked at the fruit it had brought from outside the great maze.

Crunch, crunch!

Humans seem to have a better sense of taste to appreciate the sweetness of fruit, which makes the spiders happier as they eat.

She never imagined that one day she would be able to eat fruit and dragon meat while happily singing in the Great Labyrinth of Airo.

Thinking about it now, I realize how tough it was for me to eat those incredibly unpalatable poisonous frog, snake, and wasp meat back then.

Glug~~~!

After swallowing the last bite of grilled earthworm meat, Spider patted his belly and happily let out a burp.

She was about to go back to the bluestone table with its unlimited desserts to get some snacks and tea when a thought suddenly struck her.

Then he quickly raised his head and looked at Zhongli, who was sitting on the stone throne.

Sure enough, the deity who made the bet with the evil god D has opened his eyes.

A faint light flickered in those eyes, devoid of any human emotion; an aura of ruthless divinity permeated the area.

Supreme and all-powerful, devoid of emotion and enlightenment.

The spider was almost instantly captivated by those eyes, and unconsciously wanted to bow down and prostrate itself before the owner of those eyes.

But the next instant, those eyes closed, which greatly diminished the spider's desire to prostrate itself in worship.

Zhongli, sitting on the rock throne, stretched out his body and looked at the pure white spider girl in front of him, nodding slightly.

"There's finally some progress."

After saying this, he stepped down from the throne and sat down at the bluestone table.

A cup of tea and two plates of snacks naturally appeared on the bluestone table.

Zhongli took a sip of tea and a couple of bites of pastry.

The pure white spider girl then stepped forward and asked curiously, "Senior Zhongli, have you figured out how to win this [War Game]?"

"I'm about 50% confident." Zhongli was not exaggerating; he spoke the truth: "Although I'm very confident in the special ability I designed, no one knows whether we can win until the actual war begins."

"Moreover, I have even higher standards for winning."

"Harsh?" Spider repeated, somewhat puzzled.

“Naturally, I want to achieve a complete victory in the war against the evil god D.” Zhongli said matter-of-factly. “In my plan, I not only want to completely defeat her, but also want to minimize the damage to humans and demons.”

“That can’t be right,” Spider couldn’t help but retort. “After all, the condition for victory or defeat is the complete annihilation of a race.”

“But in war, there is also the concept of surrender.” Zhongli took a sip of tea and replied softly, “According to general truth, if the gap between the two sides is too large, then the war will be fought in the form of surrender.”

"So, Senior Zhongli, are you confident that you can completely defeat the Evil God D?" Spider nodded knowingly.

“No, I already said,” Zhongli shook his head. “I’m only 50% sure.”

After saying this, Zhongli gently tapped the bluestone table in front of him, and an exceptionally clear three-dimensional image appeared in the air above the table.

Spider glanced at it twice, pondered for a moment, and then looked at Zhongli: "Is this the border between the demon race and the human race?"

“Yes.” Zhongli nodded slightly: “Today is January 1st of the new year. According to the bet between me and Evil God D, this war game has already begun. And the signal that it started is naturally… L. Hmm… Look, it’s already here.”

Spider-Man followed Zhongli's gaze and saw layers of darkness, like an abyss, suddenly appear on the entire holographic image.

This darkness appeared out of thin air, instantly occupying all the border areas between the demon and human territories. Then, in the next second, this darkness soared into the sky, transforming into massive, dark barriers that stretched between heaven and earth, dividing the entire world apart.

The territories of humans and demons were thus simply and brutally divided by the power of the gods.

"It's begun," Zhongli murmured to himself.

Then he raised one of his arms and plunged it into the invisible void, from which he pulled out a strange ball of light.

The spider stared with great interest at the radiant mass before it.

Seeing her expression, Zhongli explained naturally, "This is what I obtained by recompiling the entire skill system over the past ten days."

"Spider, you should know why I came into this world."

"Hmm? It seems that Senior Zhongli is very interested in the skill system, which is why you wanted to come to this world." Spider thought for a moment and then knew the correct answer.

“Well… actually, I’ve already achieved most of my goals.” Zhongli’s gaze was intense. “But if I leave like this, I’ll always feel uneasy.”

"Mortals in this world, though like floating dust, have many admirable qualities. To kill and exploit the souls of the people of this world simply because they are interesting is wrong, even if it is for the sake of atonement."

Zhongli toyed with the teacup in his hand.

"Let me sever this tragic chain of love between gods and greedy humans, created by the people of this planet."

"Spider, consider this the final step of our pact. I will give you a peaceful and tranquil planet, free from war."

Chapter 41 The Game: Opening (2)

The Papal States of Saint Areus, capital city, papal palace.

High-ranking officials from numerous human nations sat in the hall, their expressions grim as they watched Dustin VIXI, the Pope of the Divine Word Cult, approach them.

Both the kings of the Kingdom of Anareto and the Empire of Lingujanto wore grim expressions.

In particular, the king of the Lian Gu Zhan Tuo Empire, known as the Sword Emperor, stared intently, his expression furious.

Dustin 61, this elderly man who was already quite frail, appeared rather relaxed as he sat down.

"Sword Emperor, please calm down."

He said gently.

"Hmph! My empire borders the demon race. If what Your Holiness says is true, then my empire will probably have much less military funding in the future. Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"Good news?" The King of the Kingdom of Anareto looked serious. "How could this be good news? Sword Emperor, haven't you heard? Ten years from now, humanity will have a final battle with the demons until one side is completely annihilated."

"Given the current power balance between humans and demons, even if one side wins, the other side will certainly suffer heavy losses, and the other side will face annihilation."

After saying this, the king of the Kingdom of Anareto sighed, "Don't the gods have any pity for us at all?"

The Sword Emperor sneered, "So-called gods are nothing more than powerful beings who can toy with all of us mortals. There's no need to be overly reverent towards them. They merely regard us as toys. Otherwise, why would they make such a bet?"

"I used to think that the previous generation's hero and demon king joined forces to wield the blade of rebellion against the gods, but they were just bewitched by the fairy chieftain, Podimas Paphinas. But now, looking at this bet, I'm afraid that the god is indeed, as Podimas Paphinas said, the culprit who caused the conflict between humans and demons."

"They must be sitting high in the sky all the time, taking pleasure in our battles and deaths."