Chapter 56: Teacher Ray's Figurine

"Sold to... the River of Styx." Leona replied with a slightly embarrassed expression upon hearing this.

"Oh?" Ge Xiaolun's eyes brightened even further.

"Don't misunderstand!" Seeing this, Leona quickly explained, "Pan Zhen did indeed do this, but he probably didn't mean to intentionally fund your Earth's enemies. The River of Styx paid a heavy price to buy Shendan."

She had to explain this. After all, she was representing Leona (correct context: Leona representing Leiyang) to foster friendly relations with Earth here, yet Pan Zhen was doing business with Earth's enemies. That sounded terrible!

However, the River of Styx had indeed paid in cash. And they were very willing to spend...

"Hey! What are you explaining for?"

Seeing this, Ge Xiaolun simply waved his hand, his smile bright and magnanimous: "Who your Leiyang does business with is Leiyang's freedom, just as whatever we do on Earth is our own freedom. It's all for the interests of our respective civilizations. The fact that you are willing to tell me about this is already quite good."

Shendan had been sold! And sold to the River of Styx! What a joyous occasion this was! Why should he mind?

"Do you really not mind?" Leona looked at him with a mix of caution and curiosity. To be honest, Ge Xiaolun's reaction exceeded her expectations. After all, trading with an ally's enemy state could hardly be considered a good thing for the ally. Yet looking at Ge Xiaolun's smile, why was it so brilliant?

"I really don't mind."

Ge Xiaolun looked at her earnestly and added, "To be honest, it's just that I don't have Death God Karthus's contact information, otherwise I'd even want to do some business with him."

Why on earth would he mind? Thank goodness he had previously thought Shendan would most likely be locked up in Leiyang forever, and he hadn't even daydreamed about this adorable creature ever being released. Now that he heard such a valuable commodity had flowed back into the market, he was overjoyed...

After all, under the laws of cosmic warfare and the consensus of the myriad civilizations across the heavens, this big darling was one of the rare entities with zero human rights. As long as the River of Styx wasn't careful enough to send it directly into Morgana's embrace, wouldn't he still get a chance to handle it?

You take a turn, I take a turn, and everyone takes a turn—wouldn't the GDP of this Super God universe soar?

"Ah? You even want to do business with Death God Karthus?" Leona was shocked by his words. "But the civilization under his command is trying to invade your Earth!"

She looked at Ge Xiaolun in sheer disbelief, with a look that suggested her worldview was shattering. A supreme god of an invaded civilization actually wanted to trade with the supreme god of the invading civilization?

"Why not?"

Yet Ge Xiaolun looked at her unconcernedly and said lightly, "In business, having multiple channels is crucial... Having a single channel is fatal. To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that the River of Styx civilization's invasion of the Milky Way is so hard to untangle, if any other civilization had invaded Earth instead, perhaps I, the Power of the Galaxy, could have directly negotiated with their supreme god, and this war would have ended early. As the supreme god of a civilization, for the interests of the civilization and one's compatriots, how can one be locked down by such simple factional frameworks?"

This could be considered a rare moment where he spoke from the heart, especially since he and Leona had now reached a strategic alliance.

There was no need for him to say anything more. For instance, if he and Leiyang hadn't actually reached a deal last time, he might well have figured out a way to find Death God Karthus's contact information, or even the contact information of Morgana, and the angels' contact information which he already had.

Although none of the three might be willing to trade with him directly, as long as he changed his approach, he could still get what he wanted.

Moreover, his words now were not without substance. If he didn't know the fearless-of-death characteristics of the River of Styx civilization, if he didn't know Death God Karthus's ultimate goal, and if he didn't also need this war to help Earth rise, he really could go talk to Karthus... After all, what was the Power of the Galaxy supposed to be?

"This..." Leona stared at him in a daze. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.

Yet Ge Xiaolun's few words genuinely made her feel as though her worldview built over the past twenty-odd years was about to be subverted. After all, even as the supreme god of Leiyang, everything she had been taught for over two decades was about upholding justice and eliminating evil, spreading the light, and dispelling the darkness...

"The way you talk right now is a lot like Pan Zhen." She couldn't help frowning, a look of confusion in her eyes.

She truly unconsciously linked the two together; although Pan Zhen possessed more utilitarianism and ambition, while Ge Xiaolun was straightforward and unrestrained, certain traits in the way they spoke were genuinely alike.

"Is that so?" Ge Xiaolun chuckled and shook his head. "Then I am honored."

"But what Pan Zhen taught me was how to sit on the fence and use this war to brazenly swallow up your Earth's interests," Leona couldn't help asking back. "Aren't you afraid that by talking to me like this, you'll teach me to become just like you?"

"That would be even better." Yet Ge Xiaolun looked at her indifferently. "If you learn to be like us, Pan Zhen might even delegate more power to you... Once you grasp more resources and authority, we can cooperate on a broader scale."

"What if I just sit on the fence too?" Leona pursued curiously, refusing to let go.

"What does you sitting on the ground have to do with me?" Ge Xiaolun looked at her amusedly. "You're just a channel for me, not the foundation of my existence. Besides, the known universe doesn't just have one Leiyang."

Leona paused at those words, pondered for a moment, and then nodded with a sudden realization.

"You mean the angels?" She suddenly associated it with something else and continued, "Hey Xiaolun, what do you think the angels will do? Pan Zhen never seemed worried that Leiyang sitting on the fence would be affected by them. Do you think they'll be just like Pan Zhen?"

"Them? Well... I suppose they'd be pretty much the same."

Ge Xiaolun's expression was calm as he said casually, "There is no love without reason, and adults all have their own principles, let alone gods... As long as I don't want to bow my head on behalf of humanity, I certainly can't expect you gods standing on the shore to stoop down and accommodate us; that would be too naive."

In fact, regarding the angels, although they possessed many things he wanted, he basically never banked on pies falling from the sky. Even if he was the Power of the Galaxy, even if he demonstrated sufficient excellence... he even felt that the more exceptional he was, the more conflicted the angels might become. Because in terms of legal theory, he was certainly not an angel.

In all these heavens, which god-level civilization would ever be willing to sit by and watch a civilization with a Void-grade supreme god, a bunch of supreme-grade sub-gods, and a population of over a billion peacefully rise?

Even Leiyang, even the angels, and even his teacher Teacher Ryze, who was a Shenhe person. Sitting on the fence and waiting for him to bow his head and beg for help would already make them considered good people.

"Hmm... I suppose you're right."

Leona nodded in profound agreement. "Still, we and them are always different, aren't we? We engage in fair trade and mutual benefit—you save your civilization, and I reclaim my authority as the supreme god."

She suddenly broke into a bright smile and extended her right hand.

Ge Xiaolun smiled, extended his hand, and shook hers. "Still, you really need to think about what you have. If, when the time comes for me to trade with you, you can't even produce a couple of sets of divine body materials, or equivalent resources and technology, you'll truly be wasting our cooperation."

He possessed omniscient knowledge of the plot, but some things were genuinely hard for him to judge, such as what Leona could actually command. Although to him, if Leona fell short, he could still trade with Leiyang through Leona.

"Don't underestimate me, alright?"

Leona clicked her tongue upon hearing this, and then pulled out something resembling a gemstone necklace. "I just didn't expect it last time, and I wanted to let Pan Zhen see my achievements... Goddess actually has her own private treasury, and my nominal authority in Leiyang isn't small either. Besides, I think I should go talk to my grandfather."

She simply refused to believe it! Her grandfather didn't support her when she was acting out, so would he really refuse to support her when she was finally doing what a supreme god should do?

Ge Xiaolun raised an eyebrow and glanced at the necklace in her hand. "This is..."

A look of pride appeared on Leona's face. "My supreme god's tiger tally."

Ge Xiaolun nodded in understanding. "As long as you're confident."

"Then let's leave it at that for today. I believe that as long as we cooperate sincerely, we can both achieve what we wish." He smiled and then looked back down at his tablet.

Having secured the cooperative relationship with Leona, he could continue wasting time here.

"Tsk tsk, haven't you finished reading yet? I heard Du Qiangwei has already finished reading the copies she got from you." Leona chuckled as she looked at the information on his tablet.

"Can't be helped. Brain processing development levels are different." Ge Xiaolun nodded slightly.

Du Qiangwei had indeed copied the data from him, and he knew she had finished reading it long ago. Du Qiangwei possessed the brain of an advanced civilization; reading ten lines at a glance, let alone ten pages at a glance, was not difficult for her.

However, he only had a human brain, and no matter how hard he tried, it took time.

"If only I had a brain like hers..." A flash of light crossed the depths of his eyes as he sighed softly.

He had naturally known for a long time that his current learning speed was insufficient, and he had long since prepared a solution. That was why he had never bothered to study more difficult knowledge and technology—doing so would be a pure waste of time. It was better to wait until he acquired a stronger brain and advanced technology before studying, which would yield twice the result with half the effort.

It was just a pity that he still couldn't determine whether Angel Yan had left yet, and he really didn't want to act rashly.

"If word still doesn't come, then I'll just have to proactively ask in a few days..." Ge Xiaolun calculated inwardly and shook his head helplessly.

To let that ancient god-slayer live a few more days—he was terribly sorry about that.

"Oh... right Xiaolun, remember to contact your parents. Your three sets of super genes should be completed tomorrow!" Leona suddenly remembered something and reminded Ge Xiaolun.

"Yeah, I know." Ge Xiaolun nodded; he naturally had this matter under control.

"Then I won't disturb you any longer..." Leona patted his shoulder as she spoke, then with a brilliant smile, turned and left. Obviously, for her, the cooperative plan finalized with Ge Xiaolun today left her quite satisfied.

On the lush green grassland, the sun was bright and a gentle breeze blew. In the distance, figure after figure of black-armored warriors ran and leaped, full of vitality.

...

The next day, nine in the morning.

Super God Academy, Dean's Office.

Ge Xiaolun was toying with a silver-haired beauty figurine, sitting on the sofa accompanied by a middle-aged couple in their forties, while Su Xiaoli affectionately looped her arm around the middle-aged woman's arm, both looking together at Ryze, Lianfeng, and the others standing ahead.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, Xiaolun, Teacher only has this one beloved treasure, stop messing around with it!"

Old man Ryze had just summoned several test tubes containing genes, but when he looked back and saw Ge Xiaolun twisting the figurine back and forth, the corners of his mouth twitched violently.