Chapter 201: Hiring

Through Aphrodite's neurotic muttering, Hephestus guessed that the reason for forging weapons and armor was to equip the various champions and God‑chosen under the True God.

Whenever Aphrodite mentions the God‑chosen, she displays extreme jealousy.

Four hundred years passed, and Hephestus believed it could no longer rebuild the Day of Heaven; yet its sister Artemis led the OriginalBody and Astate to suddenly descend, and, like a hot knife through butter, they exterminated the already fallen gods.

Hephestus stops his narration here.

Sitting in the lounge, Sui Bian finally understood the plight of the Greek gods in this world and gained more insight into the otherworld.

First, in the otherworld, low‑level demons like the blood demon Greifen are countless.

Even low‑level demons are only second to war gods such as Ares.

A casual whisper from a high‑level demon can cause the chief deity Aphrodite to fall swiftly.

Clearly, Aphrodite never received the high‑level demons' "blessing" to become the so‑called God‑chosen.

Through the "True God's contest with other deities," Sui Bian judges that the number of high‑level demons is also considerable, and they are in competition, even hostility, with each other.

As for the objects of the contest…

He need not guess; he knows they are the various intelligent species scattered throughout the real universe, and their numbers far surpass those of humanity.

Seventy‑billion humans sound innumerable, ever more abundant.

But in the cosmos, seventy‑billion are like a single grain of sand on a beach—hard to notice; the high‑level demons may not even have registered humanity's existence, as it is utterly insignificant and unworthy of attention.

Thus the low‑level demons that cannot contend with the high‑level ones focus their gaze on seeking the scarce, weak species.

That explains why Earth, ten thousand years ago, was frequently harassed by low‑level demons.

Finally, regarding the "True God" Aphrodite mentioned, Sui Bian thinks it is not one of the four peddlers, but the otherworld must contain beings similar to the four peddlers, perhaps even more "peddlers".

He thought of this.

Sitting on the sofa watching the holographic screen, Sui Bian merely shrugged, his face still showing little emotion.

However, recalling Hephestus's words that Zeus led a great army of Greek gods deep into the otherworld to exterminate the demons, even Sui Bian involuntarily bowed his head slightly, a wave of respect arising from his heart.

Regardless of Zeus's "divine artifact" or any despicable deeds, the king of the gods still acted, leading his forces into the otherworld, sparing Earth for ten thousand years from rampant low‑level demon erosion.

Even on that alone, he is worthy of admiration.

At this moment.

On the screen, Hephestus happened to voice his confusion over losing his divine power to Artemis, who smiled and comforted him:

"Perhaps it was Aphrodite's final frenzy before death, employing some evil spell that stole all your divine power, but in the end she still perished at the hands of the two OriginalBodies."

"Alright, stop agonizing; at least you can still continue your favorite forging, can't you?"

Having received this explanation, Hephestus no longer lingered in confusion or doubt; the simple‑hearted smith god evidently believed his sister's words.

"Oh?"

Sui Bian, who also heard Artemis's words, raised his left eyebrow lightly.

When facing non‑human species, he is always too lazy to explain anything.

If they are willing to cooperate and are courteous, he will provide a certain "wage" as reward; if not?

Kill.

Explanation? Possible, but unnecessary.

Watching Artemis still conversing on the screen, Sui Bian muttered to himself: 'It seems this hunting goddess has calmly accepted the fact.'

In truth, he has been releasing Spiritual Energy, covertly influencing Artemis's thoughts, gradually assimilating her fully into Umbrella.

Yet only eight days have passed since his awakening, so such a mental shift cannot happen so fast, but Artemis "helped" him explain, freeing Hephestus from further doubt.

Thus it is clear the hunting goddess already knows that he, who has been behind the scenes, has plundered everything.

"Very perceptive," Sui Bian remarked.

Immediately, he rose from the sofa and, together with the two silent AIs, walked toward the lounge exit.

Just upon reaching the corridor outside the lounge, he saw the "two mountains" walking toward him.

It was Leon, still wearing power armor but without his helmet, and Shengjilesi.

"Father." the two OriginalBodies said together.

Shengjilesi still wore a sunny smile, while Leon's expression was cold, forming a stark contrast with his youngest brother.

"Hmm." Sui Bian replied lightly: "Come with me."

"Alright."

During this, Sui Bian also said to the White Queen: "Send someone to escort those two Greek gods to a spacious conference room."

"Very well, sir," the White Queen replied.

They then proceeded to the second floor of the research center, and after a short while arrived at the conference room where the two Greek gods were seated.

Seeing Sui Bian and his party enter, Artemis, out of courtesy, rose from her seat.

And Hephestus, who had lost both legs and could only sit in a wheelchair, rolled his chair to Sui Bian's side and thanked him sincerely:

"Thank you and your extraordinary offspring for coming to the rescue."

"No need to thank me." Sui Bian said, raising his left hand to pat Leon's power armor, and to Hephestus:

"My purpose in seeking you is to have you forge exclusive armor and weapons for my sons."

"Heh, rest assured, even if you don't ask, as a reward I will gladly forge them for your extraordinary offspring."

Hephestus laughed, saying that the smith god had already been well‑prepared mentally, having received the information from his sister.

Upon hearing this, Sui Bian nodded at the smith god.

Then he turned to Artemis standing nearby and said, "I need you to produce enough Moon‑Round Water to purify the demons' corruption."

"No problem." Artemis replied without hesitation.

Because demons are the common enemy of all living beings, and as a huntress and also a goddess of nature and purification, Artemis naturally has no objection.

But it still has one point to clarify: "I wonder… how will you deal with those six brave soldiers?"

"We Umbrella have the most advanced biotechnology." Sui Bian answered off-topic.

?

Artemis didn't quite understand.

And Sui Bian, ignoring the other's reaction, continued: "The company will let them regain their missing limbs; after all, I need a special team— they, and you, all meet the standards to join this team."

Of course, your God of Crafts elder brother will also receive brand‑new legs, as a welcome gift for the company hiring him."

(End of chapter)