Chapter 112: Chapter 89: Three Brothers

With confusion and anger, Cronus left.

Without attempting to detain him, seated in the Temple of Lops, Laine did not pay attention to the departing avatar of the Divine King. He was just staring at the entrance to the Abyss he had previously conjured, somewhat lost in thought.

Gaining everything from the other party is easily said. But in reality, without the preparatory steps taken over these ten thousand years, even if Cronus had willingly cooperated, it would have been impossible for him to achieve this.

Moreover, the most crucial element was how to make the other party willing to cooperate. When there was no other choice, the Divine King was indeed willing to gamble, provided he could see a hope for the future.

But if every direction was a dead-end, what he would do was something even Laine wasn’t very clear about.

“However, he will agree,”

“If it were not for successfully opening the Spirit Realm back then, this would have been the fallback plan I prepared for myself. Nowadays I have no need for it, with all that I have now, there’s also no need to start over from scratch.”

“Besides, conjectures are just conjectures, just like when I wasn’t certain that I could create the Spirit Realm, in the end, whether it can be successful or not, it’s all up to you.”

Upon reviewing the situation once more, it became fairly clear, yet there were still a few uncertainties.

What kind of feedback the present world will give to Laine’s actions, and whether the Primordial Gods will intervene.

To be on the safe side, he still made the worst-case scenario plans.

“Liana.”

After a long while, coming back to his senses, Laine leaned back in his chair and called out softly.

“I am here, Your Highness.”

The ever-loyal response. Wings tucked behind her, the figure of the Goddess of the Nether Moon quietly appeared.

Looking at his most loyal subordinate, Laine felt a bit of a headache. Liana was good in every way, but she interacted with too few creatures, having an air of viewing all beings in the outside world as mere ants.

“There’s no need to keep an eye on Hypnos anymore. The main body of the third layer of the Spirit Realm has nearly perfected itself and can independently absorb dreams to expand. That is enough. As for the rest, let it be for now.”

“And you, Liana, actually, when you’re not busy, you could visit other places to see, take in the sights of the outside world. It’s not so good to always stay in the Spirit Realm.”

Some confusion arose, the former Liana could understand. But as for the latter, she didn’t see what there was to look at.

What need was there to interact with some insignificant life forms of the outside world?

“…Forget it, there’s no rush for now.”

Shaking his head slightly, to change the mindset of his loyal subordinate was not an overnight task.

“Wait for the next aeon. When new humans are born upon the earth, then you can go and see them.”

“Perhaps you might learn something.”

In front of the entrance to the Abyss.

Within the distorted environment, three deities of differing appearances stood here. Perhaps due to recently eating the Golden Apples, the divine power within them was extremely unstable.

Years had passed since they escaped from Mount of the Gods. Having rescued his five siblings and greatly tarnishing the Divine King’s face, Zeus had undoubtedly proven his strength. Thus, with the God of the Ocean as his witness, he and Metis, who had been supporting him from behind all along, got married, thereby declaring the Ocean God lineage as his support.

After entrusting his three sisters, who were affected by the power of time, to the original goddess of water, Zeus lingered over the ocean for a few more years. That is, until not long ago when he could no longer delay. Prompted by Mother Earth, he and his two brothers came to the Abyss.

Of course, in exchange, Zeus received from Mother Earth a dry branch of the Golden Apple Tree, laden with fruit. The six children of the Divine King shared the fruits, and in the end, perhaps due to some sentiment, Zeus did not keep the remaining branches but gave them to his elder sister Hera.

As a symbol of life and plants, the Golden Apple Tree possessed remarkable regenerative abilities. Even a single branch was sufficient to cultivate a smaller tree. Although it lacked the formidable power of the original, it was still a rare treasure in this world.

So the still-young Hera happily accepted Zeus’s gift and responded with an enthusiastic embrace.

“Is this the Abyss, then? It looks very dangerous.”

Immersed in his thoughts, but the booming voice of Poseidon interrupted him. Zeus glanced at his second brother and said nothing more.

Unlike Hades, this elder brother was as silent as the empty Underworld. Since being rescued by Zeus, he rarely voiced his own opinions, but Poseidon was always full of ideas.

If it weren’t for the fact that their current biggest supporters, the God of the Ocean and his family, disliked him, Zeus thought that the other might not have limited himself to only providing some suggestions.

But there were no ifs in reality, and since the other did nothing over the top except occasionally being overly talkative, Zeus tolerated him for the time being.

“Yes, Poseidon. My authority tells me that on the other side of this Chaos is an existence many times more powerful than the entire Underworld. If we venture too deeply into it, it’s likely we’ll never return.”

Clad in a grey robe, Hades was actually shorter than his two younger brothers. As the god of the Underworld, he could distinctly discern that among the four Primordial Gods shrouding the Underworld, the Abyss was indeed the most terrifying.

Perhaps at the dawn of creation, the Earth and the Abyss were on equal footing, or even the latter might have been slightly stronger. But now, the Earth was merely a part of Order, and its status had been divided by the Sky and the Ocean, while the Abyss seemed to be the main body of Chaos.

If he were to rank the Great Divine Power, then the Earth would be just taking one or two steps across the threshold, the Twin Gods of the Dark Night a bit further, but the Abyss was close to the pinnacle of the Great Divine Power.

“Fortunately, It has no wisdom,” Hades accidentally used a term of reverence for the world, “otherwise no deity would dare approach this place.”

“Of course, Hades, It couldn’t possibly possess wisdom. Just look at our esteemed grandmother. I guess, if the Abyss had been like her, its fate would hardly be any better than hers.”

The future Sea Emperor wholeheartedly agreed. Although it was a bargain, and he had reaped benefits from it, he was still reluctant to search for a few Giants in such a place.

However, unlike the others, Poseidon’s reluctance stemmed more from the idea that ‘everyone looks down on them, so I should too’. As for his personal opinion, he didn’t find the Giants particularly unsightly.

His perception of beauty was always wide-ranging; even Zeus had to concede to him in the quest to ‘discover beauty’.

“Regardless, we have to go in. Zeus, sense where those creatures are?”

Unwilling to linger, the unique laws of this place made Poseidon uncomfortable, so he turned to his brother and urged him.

“Alright, I’ll do my best.”

Nodding, Zeus also had no wish to remain here any longer. He then channeled that unique authority within him and began to delicately sense the surroundings.

Speaking of which, Zeus’s ability to rescue the Giants trapped in the Abyss was thanks to ‘guidance’ from Heavenly Father Uranus.

Although his deity still hung in the sky without any sign of awakening, the curse he had left was still in place. As the first Divine King recognized by the world, his curse that Cronus would be overthrown by his children could, in a sense, be seen as a recognition of Cronus’s offspring.

The ‘heir to the throne’ recognized by the first Divine King—if it wasn’t for the fact that Uranus was no longer the Divine King when he issued the curse—Zeus might have directly obtained a powerful Divine Authority.

But now, this power was reduced to a mere precursor; it could guide Zeus to the beings within the Abyss and allow him to not be affected by his father’s authority, but until Cronus was defeated, it would be of no further use.

“Found them, follow me.”

After a considerable period, Zeus vaguely discerned a direction. He signaled to his elder brothers and then led the way in the disordered void ahead.

“Then let’s go.”

Exchanging a glance with Hades, the future Sea Emperor also stepped forward. No matter how unwilling he was in his heart, since they had taken the Golden Apple from Mother Earth, they had no choice but to proceed.

The things of Gaia could not be taken without consequence, and at least the three of them did not possess the ability to do so.