Chapter Forty-Two: Keisha, I Want Wings

Chapter Forty-Two: Keisha, I Want Wings

This time, Yunyang didn’t need to speak; Keisha had already answered.

“No, gods are not omniscient or omnipotent. Gods are merely the architects of civilization’s order, while the King of Gods is the architect of the cosmic order.” Her voice carried an indescribable arrogance and pride.

“Even if what you say is true, please abide by our civilization’s order while you are here,” the Edenite said, a hint of deference in his tone.

“I’ll consider it,” Keisha replied, her words layered with ambiguity.

It was a curious thing: the Edenites spoke in their mother tongue, while Keisha spoke the formal dialect of the Divine River language family. Yet, both seemed to understand each other perfectly. This was undoubtedly Keisha’s doing; after all, this Edenite appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary person, not even a super soldier.

After a conversation that Yunyang found thoroughly perplexing, he and Keisha were invited aboard the flagship of this escort fleet. On the way, Yunyang learned some translation abilities from Keisha. In the awe-stricken gaze of the Edenite diplomat, Keisha pressed a softly glowing orb of light into Yunyang’s head, and suddenly he could communicate freely.

For the first time, the Edenite felt that gods truly existed. Yet, as a staunch atheist and materialist, he suppressed the thought, insisting that these humanoid beings were simply powerful extraterrestrials.

The flagship itself was a no-nonsense warship, built for battle, with not a single luxury. Everything that could be bolted down was bolted down. There was no artificial gravity; only centrifugal force provided weight. Still, it was impressive—after all, not every planetary civilization was watched over by divine civilizations.

By Earth’s current standards, its cutting-edge technology far surpassed that of Eden, but its fundamental science lagged hopelessly behind. Edenites could already travel vast distances for mining.

Yunyang and Keisha followed the Edenite who had first met them into the flagship’s command room, where a middle-aged man in deep blue military uniform stood with hands clasped behind his back. Upon their arrival, he brought his left hand’s four fingers together and placed them over his right chest, a gesture of utmost respect unique to the Edenites—rarely seen in the known universe.

Most known lifeforms in the universe have their hearts on the left, so many civilizations use the right hand over the left chest as a gesture of highest honor.

After observing for a while, Yunyang understood the nature of Edenite civilization: it had just entered the post-nuclear era, a fledgling spacefaring society. Having survived nuclear trials or planetary catastrophe, they rebuilt on the ruins and established a unified global government.

To a super soldier like Yunyang, they posed no threat. If he wished, he could devastate their civilization and escape unscathed.

With this confidence, Yunyang relaxed. With no threat to his life, he could simply be himself.

He stepped forward to shake the Edenite captain’s hand, signaling the highest courtesy of his own civilization.

They shared a dinner, though it was nothing but space rations—not unpleasant, but certainly not delicious. Dehydrated vegetables could hardly be anything else.

After three days aboard the vessel, Keisha suddenly sought Yunyang out, announcing that her Wings of Time and Space were reconstructed and asking if he wished to depart.

Yunyang considered briefly and agreed; he intended to visit the Garden of Eden planet before leaving.

Over these days, Yunyang and Keisha had talked. According to Keisha, this was the fringe of the known universe. If the Angel Nebula was the center, this place was forty-five million light-years from it, and, most unfortunately, Earth was directly opposite the nebula, twenty million light-years away.

In other words, returning to Earth would require crossing sixty-five million light-years—a figure so staggering it seemed unreal. Keisha explained that her Order of Justice could only spread through a universe less than one hundred million light-years in diameter, and most of that wasn’t under direct control, merely included in the known universe.

This place was one of those outside her practical reach; it didn’t even hold faith in angels. Keisha had read the Edenites’ hidden information and found their beliefs strictly materialist, with no trace of divine worship.

Even when Yunyang and Keisha declared themselves gods upon arrival, the Edenites stubbornly insisted they were merely powerful extraterrestrials, not omniscient or omnipotent deities.

Such extreme materialism had fueled their civilization’s rapid technological advancement. In less than ten thousand years, they had risen from ruins to become a spacefaring society.

“Queen Keisha, could you give me a pair of wings? Like the ones Ge Xiaolun has,” Yunyang, having grown familiar with Keisha over these days, no longer felt awe for the King of Gods, though he still had requests.

Keisha, perhaps relieved of her burdens as King of Gods and Angel Queen, seemed much more relaxed, almost languid.

“If you change that face back for me, I’ll give you wings. Otherwise, forget it.” She sized up Yunyang’s attempts to curry favor with a disdainful snort.

“I can’t help it; it’s not my face, after all. Angel technology is so advanced—can’t you fix it when we get back?”

Yunyang was a little frustrated. Since Keisha had seen herself in that mirror and realized the face wasn’t hers, she had brooded ever since, seizing every chance to complain to Yunyang.

“You must have lusted after our beautiful angel bodies, but since no angel would choose you, you made yourself a substitute—disgusting.”

Keisha uttered these words with perfect calm, then exaggeratedly mimed retching.

Yunyang was stunned. How had he become that kind of person? He didn’t even know—how did Keisha know?

He instinctively denied it: “I didn’t, I’m not, it has nothing to do with me.”

Perhaps out of boredom, Keisha suddenly stood and stretched her waist, nearly making Yunyang’s eyes pop.

His unblinking stare made Keisha uncomfortable. In the past, as King of Gods, no one dared look at her that way in over thirty thousand years; anyone who tried would have been incinerated for desecrating the Queen by the little angels.

“Do you like what you see? Your eyes are about to fall out,” she teased, slightly unsettled but, after thirty millennia, able to handle it.

Reminded, Yunyang felt embarrassed, though he couldn’t help noticing how pale she was—Keisha’s armor was of the revealing variety, exposing anything that could possibly be exposed.

He couldn’t help but look; indeed, when they’d first boarded the ship, even the Edenite soldiers had stared wide-eyed at her.

There was not a single flaw in her beauty, as if she had stepped out of a painting.

Seeing Yunyang turn away in embarrassment, Keisha’s playful spirit stirred. She walked up, placed a hand on his shoulder, and asked, “Do you like it, child?”

“I do.” It was true; she was breathtaking.

“No wonder you made me wear such revealing armor. It’s your preference, isn’t it?” She looked at Yunyang as if he were a pervert.

Yunyang protested at once—the life-sized figure wasn’t his doing; he had merely used it when convenient.

He explained the origins of her current body, and Keisha, the King of Gods, was astonished. What kind of black technology was this? Even cloning couldn’t turn inanimate objects into living beings—let alone collect hidden information and reconstruct consciousness.

At Keisha’s repeated insistence, Yunyang took out his last life-point, deciding to demonstrate his process of upgrading things, hoping Keisha could help him replicate it.

Just as Yunyang was pondering what to upgrade, the ship’s compartments suddenly flashed crimson lights. Before Yunyang and Keisha could react, the Edenite warriors were already at their stations.

Why would a mining expedition need escort ships? The answer was, of course, space pirates. Though the homeworld was unified, many armed factions had not been eradicated.

A large portion, equipped with warships, took to space and became greedy pirates, fleeing whenever the government tried to hunt them down.

The government forces couldn’t sustain prolonged campaigns and would retreat. Afterwards, the pirates would return, raiding cargo ships and taking refined metals, leaving the crew untouched.

But when it came to the Edenite government’s escort forces, they showed no mercy—perhaps venting their frustration at being driven from their homeworld.

Most encounters ended in government victory; only a few ambushed fleets were annihilated by pirates.

As luck would have it, Yunyang and Keisha’s escort fleet was ambushed. Outnumbered three to one, everyone in the flagship’s command room swallowed hard.

“Fire!” With that command, both sides seemed to hear it as a signal. Missiles and beams of laser shot across the void, silent explosions blossoming in space, lending the battlefield a wordless solemnity.

Within three minutes of engagement, warships on both sides began to erupt. Yunyang could hardly bear it—after nearly a week with these warriors, he found the Edenite commander a decent man.

Just as Yunyang reached into the shadow dimension for the Dragon Lance, Keisha caught his raised hand. Yunyang turned to look at her.

Keisha said nothing—just shook her head at him.

“Why?” Yunyang asked, puzzled.

“This is a war among mortals. We are not the gods of their civilization; we should not interfere.” Keisha’s expression was serene.

A flicker of emotion crossed Yunyang’s face, as if he had made up his mind. He hurled the Dragon Lance, and the pirate flagship exploded instantly.