Chapter 630

Chapter 630: Public Trial of the Traitor, Lady Xidi!

“Snap—!”

“Sizzle—!”

Trilobite listened to the “yellow mud shell” crackling in the “flames,” watching its surface slowly crack.

He licked his lips.

“This should taste even better!”

“The yellow mud shell spreads heat evenly.”

“Those leaves give off a nice scent too—high heat lets the flavor soak deep into the meat.”

“This isn’t just slapping meat into flames for slapdash burning. It’s proper cooking!”

“But…”

Though the “yellow mud shell” had cracked, the meat still needed time.

Trilobite rested his chin on the ground, soaking up the “flames’” warmth while staring idly.

“Ah…”

“So dull.”

“Wish I had something to do.”

Just as he wished for sleep, a pillow arrived.

【A customer consultation request. Accept?】

“Oh!”

Trilobite snapped alert.

Adjusting body structures and guiding evolution for ancient creatures thrilled him.

Every bone, every muscle strand, those gorgeous air sacs and guts—all pulsed with anatomical elegance.

His task? To sculpt that beauty: extending it, refining flaws, transforming it through the system’s aid. Like an artist.

“No!”

“I am the artist!”

“The artist wielding the ‘Nature Chisel’!”

“Now… which raw stone awaits my touch today…”

He rubbed his hands like flies.

But…

“Huh. Not a ‘raw stone’ after all.”

“Just an old customer’s vitality transformation request…”

"It seemed my little shop attracted many repeat customers."

This time, Trilobite’s client was the "Giant Kunpeng Pterosaur," modeled after the "Grasping Kunpeng Pterosaur."

They represented a transitional species between Beak Dragons and pterosaurs.

Thus, the client’s next request became straightforward.

“Grow—larger—!”

Beak Dragons were characterized by their long tails and diverse, well-developed teeth.

In truth, there was another trait—none belonged to exceptionally large species…

At least, no Beak Dragon could truly be called "giant."

The "Giant Kunpeng Pterosaur" Trilobite engineered already surpassed most Beak Dragons in size, potentially ranking as the largest known.

A Beak Dragon capable of snatching humans mid-flight, like those in "Jurassic World," simply couldn’t exist.

Unlike the petite Beak Dragons, short-tailed or nearly tailless pterosaurs expanded dramatically in size; eventually, even the Wind God Pterosaur emerged, boasting a 12-meter wingspan and standing as tall as a giraffe!

During the Cretaceous, when pterosaurs ruled the skies, their diversity persisted. Yet their gradual retreat from smaller ecological niches to Birds remained undeniable.

However…

Diverging from mainstream views, Trilobite believed pterosaurs losing small niches had little to do with the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

After all, the "anti-birds"—expert fliers that displaced pterosaurs from small niches—also perished entirely.

Nearly all skilled flying Birds vanished by the Cretaceous’s close…

Size truly wasn’t the deciding factor.

Conversely, "Ground Chickens," resembling partridges but with poorer Flying Capability, survived. They later underwent evolutionary radiation in the Cenozoic, reclaiming the skies.

This proved survival during catastrophes like the end-Cretaceous demanded more than "small ecological niches"—terrestrial habits were crucial.

Ground-dwelling allowed reliance on the "brown ecosystem," avoiding over-dependence on the "green ecosystem" until recovery.

For pterosaurs—born to fly, sacrificing all else—doom was inevitable regardless of size or niche occupation.

Unless some small pterosaur group abandoned flight for a terrestrial life…

"So, what upgrade suits you…"

This modification posed little challenge.

The Kunpeng Pterosaur already bridged Beak Dragons and pterosaurs; their tails had shortened significantly, and their forelimb-to-hindlimb membrane narrowed—all optimizing flight and ground mobility.

By steadfastly following this path and moderately increasing size, evolving the "client" into a pterosaur felt natural.

The real question was…

*Which* pterosaur?

"The Chaos Energy provided fell short."

"Still, I’ll upgrade you into the most iconic pterosaur in popular culture!"

—-

The Chaos Council reconvened for a full assembly.

But this time, it was different from the other meetings.

This was a trial!

However, if it were just an ordinary trial, such a big display wouldn’t have been necessary; for a regular councilor’s punishment, if that fellow had no backing, the First Demon God could decide it himself.

Even if He had support from within the Core Council of Chaos or externally, a limited discussion and deal within the Core Council would have sufficed to reach a consensus on the punishment.

But the target of this trial wasn’t ordinary.

She was the Fourth Seat of the Chaos Council, a powerful demon god who had stood against Barbatos for many years—known as the “Wise Demon God” Lady Xidi, who held the titles “Colorful White Robe” and “Thousand Chess Players”!

When a core councilor faced judgment, the commotion was bound to be huge!

And Barbatos intended to escalate the situation.

After all, punishing political enemies could greatly establish his authority; the bigger the uproar, the more prestige the First Demon God gained. He could also pull up the carrot and drag out the mud with it.

This “mud” referred to the nominal second-in-command of the Core Council of Chaos, the Thirteenth Seat, known as the “Master of the Authority of the Void,” Gimmerly.

She and Lady Xidi came from the same source and were often seen as “sisters.”

And Gimmerly truly seemed like a sister who admired and supported her older sister, backing Lady Xidi without hesitation in all major matters.

Such genuine friendship, with little ties to interests, was extremely rare in the scheming Chaos Council.

For this reason, Barbatos was convinced that Gimmerly must have been involved in the collusion with the Giant God!

That day, he aimed to take both sisters down together!

The First Demon God glanced at his side, where Gimmerly’s prepared seat remained empty.

“During the trial of Lady Xidi, Gimmerly was inexplicably absent.”

“Ha ha…”

“Just that alone made her explanation impossible!”

By then, the trial had entered the latter half.

The details of Lady Xidi’s crimes had been fully recounted.

“Wait a minute…”

Morax rubbed his forehead, seeming to have a headache.

“Let’s sort out the situation.”

“The Outer Predator discovered Lady Xidi colluding with the Giant God and was ambushed by Lady Xidi’s new subordinates while reporting back; only one of the two Outer Predators barely escaped.”

“The Outer Predator · Fang Tribe that stayed there drew in the Giant Spirit Dragon God, causing a conflict between them and Lady Xidi, and separated them so they couldn’t assist each other.”

“Nearby, Barbatos launched a magical surprise attack, heavily injuring Lady Xidi, who had been split from the Giant God.”

“Then, the wounded Lady Xidi was ambushed by another core councilor who learned of the news, Magaxia, and was brought here…”

“Was that the whole story?”

Barbatos, sitting in the highest seat, nodded in satisfaction.

“Thank you, Mr. Morax, for clarifying the logical sequence so clearly and accurately highlighting the roles played by the loyal deities in suppressing the rebellion and catching the traitor.”

“Earlier, their back-and-forth had been quite chaotic.”

The Chaos Demon God’s selfish traits were fully exposed in this trial.

Except for the long-standing core councilor Barbatos, who might have stated things "as they truly were" out of scorn, almost all the demon gods, including Barbatos’s close aide Magaxia, spun the story to help themselves.

They all rushed to grab whatever gains they could.

Still, this was perfectly normal.

If the selfish Chaos Demon God ever turned selfless and cared only for the chaos plan, Barbatos would start doubting them.

"Now, everything is clear."

"So, Lady Xidi, do you have anything to say?"

Barbatos gazed smugly at Lady Xidi, locked in a magic cage with shackles on her wrists and ankles.

She still wore that long dress made of shifting light.

Her face stayed cold, showing no fear.

It was like this trial, where she was the "star," meant nothing to her.

"I have nothing to say."

Her voice was utterly calm, as if welcoming an end she had long expected.

To the First Demon God, this calmness felt like a huge insult and slap in the face.

"This traitor!"

"Facing death, she still acts unbothered!"

"You must know exactly how this ends, right?"

Barbatos stared at Lady Xidi, his eyes glinting with malice; he had already planned how to handle this "thousand-year foe."

He would make her suffer every shame in the world before wiping out her soul, turning her to dust!

For a god who had fought him so long, Barbatos had no thought of "brainwashing" her for his use; he wasn’t that bold or sure of himself.

But Lady Xidi’s answer to this fate was…

"First Demon God…"

*Snap!*

With a light tug, she broke her magic cuffs and chains like they were plastic.

"You didn’t really think I…"

"Would just sit here and die, did you?"

*Snap!*

She gave a soft finger-snap, and the magic cage burst apart!