After those words were spoken, Hao Chi completely froze.
Overtime?
His worldview felt like a toy block castle that had been kicked over, its debris scattered everywhere, impossible to rebuild.
His mouth opened and closed several times, but he couldn't squeeze out a single word. Finally, a dry gasp escaped his throat.
A lunatic.
The woman before him was absolutely a lunatic who couldn't be measured by common sense.
High in the sky, the colossal phantom of the White Tiger Celestial God, which blotted out the sun, reflected the tiny figure of the pink-haired girl below in the depths of its massive golden pupils.
Its gaze was no longer one of amusement, nor was it horror.
It was a deeper, more profound inquiry, as if confirming a never-before-seen life form of the same rank as itself.
Of course, a greater emotion was perhaps the weariness after resolving a major problem.
Its massive Divine Body stretched within the clouds, its movements resembling a giant cat waking from sleep, lazy yet majestic.
Then, in front of all the mortals in the canyon who had survived the disaster, it let out a massive yawn that could be described as heaven-and-earth-destroying.
"Ha—Awooo—"
The sound was not loud, yet it contained a certain law-like power that soothed the soul.
The spirits of all the Allied Forces soldiers felt as if they had been gently stroked by a warm, large hand. All intense emotions like fervor, shock, and madness were instantly smoothed over, leaving only a bone-deep exhaustion and peace.
Immediately after, the colossal phantom of the God that stood between heaven and earth transformed its entire massive body into a golden streak of light, vanishing decisively at the distant mountaintop.
He went back to his Temple to sleep.
Below, in the dead-silent canyon, the first one to break the silence was Hao Chi.
He flinched, scrambling to his feet with both hands and feet, a twisted smile mixed with awe, fervor, and flattery plastered on his face as he rushed forward on all fours.
"Big Shot! Big Shot Lin!"
He slammed on the brakes two meters away from Lin Qingyue, as if blocked by an invisible wall, not daring to approach a single step closer.
"Do you... do you think you still need a little accessory hanging off your big thigh? I can chant 666, I can warm your bed... bah! The kind who can make the bed and fold the blankets!"
Hao Chi's lips trembled, every word carrying a fawning quiver.
His gaze was incredibly sincere, filled with the self-awareness of an old lapdog.
In his heart, Lin Qingyue was no longer just some powerful expert, but a living faith walking upon the mortal realm.
Hugging a big thigh wasn't shameful; kowtowing to a God was simply the way of heaven.
A few other people dressed similarly to him also gathered around, all bowing their heads, even deliberately slowing their breathing. Their gazes were no different from those admiring a sacred body.
Lin Xiyue stepped forward, the heavy [Blackstone's Protection] shield held horizontally in front of her, silently separating her from everyone else.
She knew this kind of scene all too well.
Lin Qingyue chewed on a milk candy, the sweetness melting on her tongue and replenishing her rapidly depleted energy.
She glanced casually at Hao Chi, too lazy to respond.
Her gaze swept past the crowd, looking toward the end of the canyon, the direction where the phantom of the White Tiger Celestial God had vanished.
That gaze had lingered on her for a long time just now.
It wasn't looking at the "Sam" mecha, nor was it looking at the "Propagation" Authority.
It was looking at her, Lin Qingyue herself.
As if observing some rare specimen, filled with scrutiny and curiosity.
Interesting.
"Alright, stop playing the loyal dog here."
Lin Qingyue clapped her hands, pulling everyone's attention back.
She glanced at Robot No. 055, whose neck was still emitting blue smoke from a calculation overload.
Its command circuits had recovered, and it was methodically gathering the remaining forces with a cold electronic voice, redeploying the defensive line.
Bringing a hint of fragile order to this dead-silent canyon.
"Obstacles cleared, work's done."
She gave her teammates a hand signal:
"Let's go. Let's see what game that Big Cat wants to play with us."
"Based on previous experience, the Four Celestial Gods should be relatively friendly toward us 'foreign heroes'."
Big Cat?
Hao Chi and his team members couldn't process it for a moment.
Then, they remembered the God who had just yawned and gone back to its nest to sleep.
Calling the White Tiger Celestial God of the West, the one who wields the Geng-Metal Slaughter, a "Big Cat"?
Hao Chi's knees buckled, and he almost knelt on the spot.
This big shot's thought process was truly beyond what ordinary mortals could keep up with.
"Friendly?"
Su Wan's gaze swept across the empty Grand Canyon and the thick layer of purple crystalline dust on the ground, which had once been hundreds of thousands of insect soldiers, and the corner of her mouth couldn't help but twitch.
She felt that the White Tiger Celestial God's attitude toward Lin Qingyue was less "friendly" and more "relieved."
Relieved that this one hadn't come to tear down His temple.
Xia Lian silently turned off the recording function on her phone, which was already hot enough to fry an egg.
Any second recorded today would be enough for her to brag about for a lifetime.
She looked at Lin Qingyue's back, the figure wearing an oversized priest's robe and walking a bit unsteadily due to hypoglycemia.
The thought in her heart, "Her dating standards meet everything except gender," had become clearer and more dangerous after the baptism of the "divine miracle" just now.
One-key clearing the map or something like that...
It was simply so cool it was against the rules.
Xia Lian felt her cheeks starting to burn again and quickly lowered her head, pretending to organize her bow and arrows.
Lin Xiyue gripped her shield tightly.
Though her body was exhausted, her mind was extremely excited.
Staying by her sister's side, she always witnessed miracles.
This wasn't a movie special effect, this was reality.
She looked at Su Wan, her eyes carrying a question.
Su Wan took a deep breath of the cold air, yet she couldn't suppress the wild pounding of her heart.
She realized more deeply that The Family's so-called "elite education" was nothing more than ridiculous, fancy-looking but useless skills before true power.
A glint of understanding flashed in her eyes, and she nodded to Lin Xiyue.
"Let's go. After seeing such style, the so-called God should shed that layer of feigned mysticism."
Lin Qingyue said no more and strode toward the temple.
Lin Xiyue immediately followed, vigilantly guarding her sister's side.
Su Wan and Xia Lian also quickened their pace to catch up, the figures of the four-person team stretching long in the empty canyon.
Hao Chi stood dazed on the spot, watching their departing backs, his mouth open for a long time before he finally slapped his thigh hard.
"What are you still standing there for! The Big Shot is taking us to meet a high-level NPC to trigger a hidden plot! Catch up!"
The group immediately set out.
Behind them, Robot No. 055's cold electronic voice still echoed, commanding the Allied Forces to rebuild the fortress.
"Attention all units, the threat has been neutralized, survival rate adjusted to 100%. First-level combat alert lifted. Engineering units begin constructing a temporary fortress..."
There was no joy of surviving a catastrophe in its voice, only the same efficiency and coldness as always.
It was as if what had just ended here was merely an ordinary battle.
But in the eyes of those Allied Forces soldiers, the backs of each member of the slowly departing small team were all gilded with a layer of divine radiance.
They were witnesses.
Witnesses to a divine miracle that could not be described in words.