Chapter 245

The deathly silence was broken.

Almost the same second her words fell, several figures rose simultaneously from different directions in the circular hall, their movements so synchronized it seemed rehearsed.

They did not shout or wave their arms in agitation; they simply calmly pressed the request-to-speak lights before them or spoke directly through the microphones on their seats.

"My brother!" A hoarse, pain-filled voice suddenly exploded, coming from a man with bloodshot eyes behind the media section, "He died at the hands of those scum in the Divine Punishment Organization! They used him as a sacrificial offering!"

He stared fiercely at Yang Yi, tears rolling down, "Now, I've seen that video... I can't sleep! I keep thinking, the life force drained from my brother before he died... did it, did it also fly to you, just like those alien creatures?! Speak! Did his life also become your 'energy'?!"

This accusation of grief and indignation was like a spark thrown into an oil drum, making the entire hall hum.

Before Yang Yi could react, Lagren Apton, an S-rank Plant-type Awakener from the Nordic delegation, stood up.

He pushed his glasses up his nose, his voice calm: "Chief Yang Yi's counter-question is powerful. But allow me to propose another possibility—perhaps you are conducting a kind of... long-term, more efficient 'farming'."

Meeting Yang Yi's heavy gaze, his tone remained gentle: "A shepherd does not kill all the sheep at once. He protects the flock from other predators, even finds richer pastures for them to promote their reproduction.

"Because his goal is to obtain continuous, stable wool and milk, or at some future moment, acquire more mutton. By promoting alien immigration and caring for the continuation of civilization, are you establishing... a larger, more vast 'pasture'? Just like the pasture in the video, cultivating a stronger, more vigorous 'flock'?"

He did not deny the rationality of her question; instead, he directly twisted her motives.

Finding it too absurd, Yang Yi couldn't help but laugh.

Upon hearing Lagren Apton's statement, the hall erupted in uproar; fear and panic spread through the entire conference hall like an infectious disease.

The delegates closest to Yang Yi involuntarily leaned back, as if that would put more distance between them and her.

At this moment, Ram Edith, a representative of the International Research Organization and a female physicist with gray hair, stood up immediately without waiting for the delegates' reaction, asking in a professional tone:

"From a purely physical perspective, Ms. Yang Yi. Based on our analysis of spatial distortion data remaining from the SSS-level disaster, the minimum energy threshold required to forcibly close a high-dimensional rift of that scale and instability is, conservatively estimated, over three thousand times your maximum output power in your normal S+ Awakener state."

She paused, "Where did this massive energy gap come from? The activation of the 'Otherworld Altar' mentioned in your report lacks verifiable physical evidence. And the only explanation fitting the energy source coincides perfectly with that video—large-scale energy 'supplementation' from external life forms, or rather... 'life source extraction'."

These words were too academic; the people in the hall struggled to digest these technical objective doubts.

Giving people almost no time to think, Hicks Colby, a scholar from a philosophy institute in the Aka Kingdom, stood up and asked: "Ms. Yang Yi, you once mentioned being 'polluted' and in a 'stable controlled state', a very subtle condition. How can we be certain that the 'control' you believe you have is not merely an 'illusion' deliberately created by that 'pollution source' to make you serve it better?"

"Just as a parasitic wasp controls a caterpillar's behavior, the caterpillar believes until death that it is its own will. How do you prove that the one standing here speaking is 'Yang Yi', and not some... other thing disguised with 'Yang Yi's' personality and memories? Are her actions for the future of human civilization? Or for some purpose unknown to us?"

The moment the philosopher Hicks Colby finished speaking, a hurricane swept through the entire conference hall in an instant.

He did not deny Yang Yi's efforts to save humanity; he directly denied Yang Yi's "self-awareness" and "own existence".

A philosophical dilemma regarding "self-perception" is impossible to prove oneself...

Yang Yi's expression returned to calm, though a hint of insight and exhaustion showed in her eyes.

She had already realized these questions thrown out in succession were planned; these people were merely attention-seeking clowns. The true purpose of those pulling the strings behind the scenes was not to prove she was an evil god, but to guide humanity's hatred towards her... and even betrayal.

Even if it were proven she was an evil god, so what? It would merely shift from the anxiety of an evil god about to descend to the fear that an evil god has already descended...

All the efforts he made, all the plans he plotted, were only for her, to push her onto that road of no return!

Immediately, Tension Rodney, a representative from the South American Guiana, added a more vicious guess in a sharp voice:

"The Divine Punishment Organization! Who exactly are they sacrificing to? Who are they truly loyal to?! We always thought they were an independent cult, Vered's claws! But is it possible... they are simply your 'white gloves'?! A target you deliberately set up to attract hatred and fire?!"

"Precisely because enemies so 'heinous' as they exist, you, the 'God on Earth' who 'relentlessly fights' them, can always stand on the moral high ground, cleanly implementing all your plans?! Including... selecting who is qualified to become a 'spark'!"

The doubters continued endlessly, making it impossible for anyone to keep up.

The UN Secretary-General had to strike his gavel, trying to quiet the hall, but unfortunately with little effect.

In the Xia Kingdom delegation seats, Director Zhou and Feng Liancheng behind him had already realized this was a planned siege against Yang Yi.

Director Zhou stood up abruptly, his voice hoarse but firm: "This is groundless conspiracy theory! We oppose these accusations without evidence!"

His words were rudely cut off by the Secretary-General's gavel strike.

"Representative Zhou, does your speech represent the Xia Kingdom? Is the Xia Kingdom willing to guarantee Yang Yi in the name of the state?" Wilder's tone was formulaic, but his eyes quickly swept toward the Aka Kingdom seats.

Director Zhou froze in place; he opened his mouth, but finally slumped back into his seat, his fist clenched tightly.

Feng Liancheng hurriedly reached for the microphone on the table but was held back by the Xia Kingdom's representative to the UN.

Yang Yi's gaze swept over the Xia Kingdom delegation seats; the faint warmth in her heart slowly froze into ice.

A young awakener in the Free Awakener Observer Group, Roskin Quint, suddenly stood up, his face wearing an expression mixed with fear and fanaticism, shouting loudly:

"She's right! She truly is not an evil god!" He pointed at Yang Yi, his finger trembling, "Because the true evil god... is still sleeping! Vered said so in that interrupted communication! Everything they did was to awaken the slumbering Overlord! And you—" His gaze fixed intently on Yang Yi's face as if seeing some terrible truth, "You are that not-yet-fully-awakened 'It'! A naive, even unaware... evil god larva!"

This sentence was like a spark, instantly detonating the entire venue.

Lagren Apton, that S-rank Plant-type Awakener, suddenly jumped up, his gaze upon Yang Yi filled with the fear of having understood everything: "Further! You might not even realize you are an evil god! At the level of your consciousness as 'Yang Yi', you think you are fighting for humanity.

"But deep within your essence, which you do not even know, the instincts belonging to the 'evil god' are driving you to do all this—promoting civilization's development, spreading the population, raising humanity's overall energy level... This is like a farmer tilling diligently, only for the autumn harvest! You are that farmer unknowingly stockpiling the richest provisions for yourself!"

This series of inquiries and accusations, one link following another.

From behavioral logic to physical evidence, from self-perception to moral stance, finally reaching the essence of existence—you might not only be an evil god, you might be an unaware evil god driven by your own instincts.

All your "good deeds" are preparations for the ultimate "evil fruit".

Down below, it was no longer whispering; it was a completely detonated explosion site, with suppressed uproar, gasps, angry low growls, and fearful gasps rising from the crowd.

The delegates could no longer maintain surface calm; the flashlights in the media section flashed wildly, recording every slight change on Yang Yi's face.

Yang Yi stood in place, like all defenses stripped away, standing naked on an ice field.

She had no intention of refuting.

Any defense before these layered, interlocking traps appeared pale and powerless, even... like confirming their guesses.

If she tried to explain with reason, she would fall into the accusation of "disguise"; if she wanted to emphasize her motives, she would fall into the sophistry of a "farmer".

Under the gaze of all, her mind wandered for a moment.

Those claims about "unawareness", "instinct-driven", "sleeping larva" were like cold snakes drilling into the depths of her heart, biting the shadows even she dared not face directly.

The trembling satisfaction when power grew...

The desire for higher efficiency and grander control...

The occasional cold annoyance at the noise of human nature that crossed her mind...

And the "seeds" unconsciously left behind when extracting life sources from alien creatures in the Otherworld...

Could it be...

The power beneath the suppressor began to stir uncontrollably, as if provoked by these words, or perhaps raging in protest.

A surge of heat and suppression pulses radiated from the metal device on her chest; the two forces clashed within her body, bringing dizziness and palpitations.

Her face was pale, her fingertips icy.

As if struck by an invisible heavy fist, she stumbled.

Suddenly, the detection lights on the venue dome shifted from white to red, and a piercing alarm tore through the air.

"Warning! Anomalous dark matter energy fluctuations detected! Energy source—Central Podium!"

Countless high-power dark matter guns automatically activated, aimed at Yang Yi, poised to fire.

Thousands of intersecting red laser beams ignited around Yang Yi, wrapping the entire Central Podium in layers like a spiderweb, trapping it within.

"Activate Level One Suppression Field!" the Secretary-General shouted in panic.

The suppressor on Yang Yi's chest suddenly grew scorching hot; several arcs of blue-white electricity surged from the device's surface, coiling around her neck and limbs like venomous snakes.

She let out a stifled groan and dropped to one knee.

It was not from the suppressor's stimulation, but the "hunger" she had struggled so hard to suppress within her body, suddenly triggered by something, erupted.