Chapter 444

Chapter 444: The Clever Plan of Killing Three Birds with One Stone!

“Whew——!”

“It finally quieted down.”

Disguised as a middle-aged gentleman, Barbatos massaged his temples, looking thoroughly vexed.

Compared to the incessant buzzing of insects in the Chaos Council, the roaring beasts in the Core Council of Chaos gave Barbatos a worse headache.

Moreover, the situation lately was far from encouraging.

The "Abyss" faction of Endless Ether had stood Barbatos up—taking rewards without delivering results, instead plunging into civil war. Rumor had it they were faring poorly…

Ultimately, this led to Guxin’s downfall.

Not that Barbatos had expected Guxin to defeat the Giant God anyway.

Though the Vast Dragon God, hired at great cost from the Primal Wilderness, failed to wound the Giant God and drained resources, swapping the "insufficiently loyal" Guxin for the "utterly loyal" Magaxia was still…

Trading external defeat for internal stability…

No loss at all.

The collapse of the City of White Heat sent shockwaves far and wide.

But the silver lining was that the City of White Heat belonged to Gimmerly, drastically depleting the resources she could muster.

Even better…

*Hmph. Under the guise of repairing the Subspace trunk and aiding reconstruction, I’ll trap those three loose cannons—Gimmerly, Sotiko, and Amon—in the ruins of the City of White Heat.*

*As long as they stay put and don’t stir trouble.*

Yet the First Demon God still felt uneasy.

He immediately summoned subordinate officials and ordered, "Erect a barrier around the City of White Heat’s ruins immediately."

"Spare no expense—build a formation strong enough to cage those troublemakers!"

"Use the strategic-grade barrier spell ‘Eight-Point Barrier.’"

The "Eight-Point Barrier" was a potent spell that severed all contact between inside and outside for extended periods.

It functioned as house arrest—deities within couldn’t escape—while also serving as protection, barring entry to any outside deities.

"If core councilors inquire, declare this essential for safeguarding the Fantasy Tree of Subspace’s swift restoration! It ensures they focus fully on repairs!"

As attendants bowed and withdrew to execute commands, Barbatos gleefully slapped his thigh, leaning back triumphantly.

*That’s what I call strategy!*

"Perfect! Three headaches vanished from sight!"

"Rootless and reliant on me, Magaxia serves as the stabilizing force, while Amon, Gimmerly, and Sotiko are destabilizers."

"Add Baimeng, whom I’ve subdued…"

"With forces balanced this way…"

"Well, over half our internal troubles are resolved."

"Killing three birds with one stone."

“Since there were no more concerns now.”

“Then, I could focus my energy on the front line, on the Giant God.”

Baal’s thinking was brutally simple, even his reasoning—since all problems, including core councilors falling one after another, Bubble Worlds growing increasingly troublesome, and the Ether Dragons and Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons shifting from neutral to hostile, had started occurring after that so-called "Giant God" appeared.

Then the Giant God was almost certainly the culprit!

The root of everything, the "source of all evil," was the Giant God!

By concentrating forces to eliminate the Giant God, all would be well!

As for the aftermath…

Merely mopping up.

“Currently, those I can fully trust possess loyalty as unwavering as the sun…”

“Magaxia, Baimeng, and Barbatos.”

“Less reliable forces acting for self-interest but unlikely to collude with the Giant God include Morax, Malbasi, and Vashak.”

“Completely untrustworthy is…”

“Xidi!”

“Yet now, those requiring constant vigilance have dropped from four to one!”

“She shouldn’t stir up trouble!”

With personnel perfectly arranged, Baal finally turned to strategizing the Giant God’s demise.

“Group Chaos’ core councilors into three units!”

“Magaxia and Malbasi as one team.”

“Barbatos and Vashak as another.”

“Morax and Baimeng as the third.”

“The Giant God’s power means core councilors risk defeat and death in solo combat.”

“Thus pair reliable deities with unreliable ones—mutual oversight and support prevents them being picked off individually.”

“Recruit mobile subordinate officials and summon all agile councilors to scout widely. Avoid prolonged fights; report the Giant God’s location immediately!”

“The three core teams will advance in a pincer formation, layer by layer. Once locating the Giant God, surround and slay Him together!”

“But the current issue is…”

“Where exactly is the Giant God!?”

Since Guxin’s fall, He’d vanished from the coast, wandering off somewhere.

“Based on His movement patterns…”

“He seems an ‘ether-aligned’ deity!”

“Lately, His activity near the Ether Sea far exceeds that in the Chaos Swamp’s depths.”

“He must be scheming at the border.”

“Search in that direction!”

"Right!"

"I could take the opportunity to eliminate some unreliable factors."

Barbatos suddenly thought of a way to deal with his old rival—Lady Xidi, the actual second-in-command of the Chaotic Forces.

"Why not arrange for her to be stationed at the border next to the Primal Wilderness!"

"Although I had allowed the ‘Pan-Spirit Deities’ and the ‘Vast Dragon Clan’ to enter and exit the border freely to attack the Giant God, I was sure Lady Xidi wouldn’t listen to my orders."

"Let her deal with those fellows!"

"Hmph, what if that woman had strong magic power and a Divine Body?"

"The Pan-Spirit Deities and the Vast Dragon Gods were not so easy to handle!"

"Let them play their games."

—-

About a week after the Chaotic Forces launched a full attack on the Giant God…

"Splash… splash…"

Trilobite stepped onto the "water" and reached the edge of the "swamp."

"Boom—!"

Thunder rolled in the sky, heavy rain poured down, covering the big saber-toothed Bopolong in thick mist.

"Hmm…"

Trilobite poked at the ground, dry on top but very dry just below.

"It was clear this had been dry land at the swamp’s edge."

"It was usually dusty and got little rain all year."

Trilobite remembered days digging fossils during research in the Great Northwest Gobi Desert.

But now, as the world changed to a wetter "version," rain had slowly moistened the top "soil."

If this kept up, the whole land would turn wet.

The dry desert with few plants would become green with ferns, or even a tall forest.

And the low spots…

"Could turn into swamps and lakes!"

"It must be great for fungi to grow!"

"Wetness draws lots of insects; I recalled many Diptera, like mosquitoes, need water for their young, so this might be a memory of Earth’s wet times."

"So…"

Trilobite looked at the endless rain and muttered, "Welcome to the Carnian period."

"Though there are too many creatures here not from the Carnian."

"Like Ediacara’s Carpet, giant fungi from the Carboniferous, Devonian Toothfish, and Ordovician hornstones!"

"Then, let’s do the test."

Saying this, Trilobite turned and walked back into the wet swamp.

"You’re it!"

"Hey—!"

The blood-red jaws moved softly, carefully pulling up a young scalebark tree.

This time, Trilobite was careful not to hurt the roots; his sharp teeth only scraped the bark a bit, and some spit and blood from his mouth mixed into the cut.

"Let’s go planting trees!"

Trilobite headed for a nearby low spot.

His sharp nose had already smelled standing water.

But when Trilobite got to the edge and looked down, he froze.

"Oh my…"

"This… is bad luck!"

He suddenly saw a raised dorsal fin, lots of chirping, and…

"Roar—!"

An angry, pained roar echoed.