Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1076 My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, and all my deeds are for justice!
Heaven - The Unknowable Land.

The third layer: Beria.

This layer of the world, known as the world of creation, is the first step from the infinite to the finite, the critical point for the materialization of concepts, from which the divine light begins to become perceptible, malleable, and usable.

Here, the infinitely extending primordial light of Eden is no longer a pure flow of information or super-density energy, but manifests itself in the structure as the three fundamental elements of order, virtue, and geometry.

At this moment, a sword-class frigate bearing the insignia of the Mortal Courtyard is traversing the myriad realms to the border of the outer layer of Terra's Aether.

Inside the porthole, Xia Xiu sat quietly in the center of the bridge.

His gaze pierced through the sea of ​​light and clouds, and in the distance, seven rainbow-shaped halos could be seen connecting Belial's various structural sections like a staircase; that was the passage to heaven [the Rainbow Bridge].

The ship docked at the Aether level at depth 5. A [Möbius strip] appeared beneath Xia Xiu's feet, and soon he arrived in front of the aura.

"Eden—activate the Rainbow Bridge to Heaven."

The Rainbow Bridge module has been activated.

[Link established]

After being authorized, guided by the halo, they leaped into it.

In the blink of an eye, he had been teleported to the central logic section of the third layer of Belial—[Tiferritt].

Tifilit was the site where the planetary engines for Heaven were manufactured during the earlier Operation Kick-off. It is also one of Belial's core areas and is a region directly under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Program's STC module.

In short, this is God's creation, a black box manufacturing facility where members of the Council of Resolutions use their authority to create all sorts of technologies that transcend time and even the baseline physics.

This was Xia Xiu's second visit to the Land of Gods, because 0-08 had asked him to bring the Demon King Amund to this place to meet him.

……

……

Tiffilite, sector 8.

When Xia Xiu entered the hall, the surrounding area was already shielded by information shielding and locked by the Mother Lock.

The walls do not exist in a physical form, but are composed of several layers of information light film, covered with unreadable coded text symbols; the ground flows with multidimensional coordinates like a precision astronomical instrument.

0-08 was already there waiting for him.

Unlike the cold, unseen figures he saw at the roundtable, the real decision-maker 0-08, the one who made the key points, appeared surprisingly young.

He looked to be in his early thirties, wearing a black trench coat draped over his shoulders, underneath which was a well-tailored suit of high quality. He stood there, calm and collected, yet seemed to control the entire gravity of the secret room.

His black hair was neatly combed back, and he had a well-groomed short mustache. His deep blue eyes were like a calmly calculating abyss, gleaming with an awe-inspiring, silent light under the light.

Xia Xiu stood in front of him and said softly, "This is the first time I've met you."

0-08 gave a slight smile, a smile devoid of warmth, yet perfectly conveying restrained politeness.

“Each other,” he said, his voice deep and resonant, like the bass keys of a piano striking the heart: “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, Fourth Swordholder.”

Without any unnecessary pleasantries, 0-08 went straight to the point and stated his requirements.

“Abraham.” He stared at Xia Xiu, his tone crisp and clear. “Release that old bastard Armand. I want to see him.”

Xia Xiu simply nodded, raised his hand to summon his lineage terminal, and a silver light slid out from his fingertips, extending like a star mark into an embedded halo interface.

“Eden,” Xia Xiu called out. “Adjust genealogy permissions, release deep memory projection, target number: Amund Katchatrian.”

[Instruction confirmed]

[Calibrating optical domain mapping parameters...]

[Performing deep projection...]

[Completed!]

With a low, resonant notification tone, the air rippled like water, and a figure, both real and ethereal, slowly emerged from the ripples.

The Demon King Amond Katcharian appeared here, dressed in a pure black suit. The silver-white lapel pin on his chest seemed to be engraved with some kind of abandoned divine script. On his left sleeve, there was also a metal nameplate—it was already blurred, but the prefix of the number could still be vaguely discerned: [0-08].

As soon as he appeared, he raised his hand to greet everyone without any hesitation.

“Long time no see, Lehman Hodley.” Armand laughed, his tone full of the unbridled arrogance that he still couldn’t suppress after all the hardships he had endured.

“…Congratulations on taking over from 0-08,” he added, as if teasing the other person about their new role.

However, facing his predecessor, Lehman Hodley—the current 0-08—showed no smile. He looked at the former legend, his deep blue eyes seemingly frozen in place, his voice sharp as a blade.

What would it feel like to see a regicide?

Upon hearing this, Armand simply shrugged and replied nonchalantly:
"I'm so relieved, incredibly relieved."

“You little rascal, back then you were just a greenhorn who had to consult the ethics committee repeatedly for nuclear weapons applications. Now look at you, you even have the nuclear weapons code name in your hands—0-08, which is the most senior tactical nuclear control code in the Heavenly Kingdom.”

"I am proud of you," the Demon King Amond congratulated sincerely.

“I fucking want to punch you in the face,” Lehman said coldly, “instead of standing here listening to your nonsense.”

His voice suddenly rose, each word forced out with suppressed rage: "Armond Katchatrian, you damned madman, I still remember you destroying Site 19."

"You ordered Benjamin Kondrati to carry out containment in order to kill a Duke individual with the blood of a True Ancestor. That was Kondrati, the last person who should have been sent on this mission. You knew he would abandon any moral boundaries to destroy the Duke, but you still made him do it."

"And the result? Chaos intervened... You damn madman, that was your original purpose, wasn't it? You knew Kondrati would definitely seek Chaos's help."

"Kondraki released the immortal lizard and ran back to the Fog City."

"You again approved the nuclear explosion site 19 without going through the ethics committee review."

“You personally destroyed our most complete hyperphysical containment node, causing the deaths of thousands of Heavenly Kingdom researchers and a task force.”

"You even... sent Dr. Gear to assassinate Kondrati, who had already been corrupted by Chaos."

His voice lowered, becoming calmer yet more oppressive.

"Your decision has ruined too many people."

The Demon King, however, showed no change in expression. He merely tilted his head slightly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his dark trench coat, his tone calm to the point of being indifferent:
"The result was good."

His words were like a fuse being lit.

Armand raised his head, his eyes filled with unwavering certainty.

"The destruction of one site has led to the complete annihilation of the thirteen vampire clans, a miracle that has occurred only once in a thousand years. It's a worthwhile deal."

He paused and then said:
"As for the Undying Lizard... to be honest, was it ever really contained by us? Rather, it just chose to sleep here for a while. Now that it's gone, it's simply changed its sleeping place, moving from Station 19 back to Fog City."

0-08's eyebrows twitched slightly, suppressing his anger.

"If it were you, you would do the same," Armand said. "Of course, you are more merciful than I am. You wouldn't nuclear bomb the site, maybe you would leave a few labs, and you would put those angels corrupted by chaos under house arrest; you wouldn't let the immortal lizards leave so easily; you would do it more thoroughly."

He shrugged self-deprecatingly. "I admit, I underestimated chaos at the time."

His tone lowered slightly, and his eyes turned somewhat cold:
“I didn’t expect Xin Liezhi to react so quickly. When He realized that I was using Him to kill the Duke, He immediately used the power of Chaos to control Kondraki and counter my plan, releasing all the anomalous containment objects at Site 19 and contaminating all the personnel at Site 19.”

"You know the situation at the time. Since the game was already broken, I could only choose the most correct response."

"Your so-called correct response is to uproot the entire site 19 and leave thousands of KMT personnel dead without a trace?" 0-08 sneered.

“Yes,” Armand looked at him, unyielding, “My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, and all my deeds are for justice!”

0-08 narrowed his eyes, his tone laced with sarcasm:

"Yes, you did avoid a more serious incident, but you also pushed the Kingdom of Heaven, especially the team you led, into deeper chaos. Eden's assessment report made it very clear—you were the biggest variable, you caused systemic instability, and your leadership structure has become structurally loose."

“That’s why,” Armand chuckled softly, his voice low, “our decision-makers were overthrown by the benevolent ruler.”

He raised one hand, pointed his index finger at 0-08, and added with a half-smile:
“We are the army of the Demon King, while you are benevolent rulers who are supported by all the angels.”

The air pressure seemed to drop, and the projection around the spectrum terminal distorted slightly. A fleeting, elusive light flashed deep within 0-08's pupils.

The old demon king did not respond immediately.

He simply lowered his head and remained silent for a moment, his deep, night-like eyes reflecting 0-08's cold and determined face. The air seemed to be thick with tension, yet nothing was ignited.

Then, he raised his head, his voice low but clear and powerful:

“Hodley, I know who you are.”

When he said this, there was no sarcasm, no anger, and no frivolity. His tone was as calm as stating a cosmological constant or an unquestionable truth.

"As decision-makers of the Kingdom of Heaven, it is never our place to bring up past grievances."

"By bringing this up... it means you need me to take responsibility for it."

His gaze grew increasingly profound, as if piercing through the structure of time and power, and his tone suddenly shifted:
"So that means... Dr. Benjamin Kondrati, our extreme old friend, is still alive, right?"

Faced with this question, 0-08 did not flinch. He simply stared at the old demon king without moving and calmly replied:
"Yes, he is not dead."

As soon as he finished speaking, Armand's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

0-08 continued, his tone flat, yet every word struck like a hammer blow:

"Not only did he not die... he even went out of his way to find several projects you had participated in in the past."

"Including—the weapon components of the Ophiuchus Protocol, the remaining design of the World Cannon, and the secret jurisdiction project you initiated without authorization."

"The Demon King's army... You are truly remarkable. Not only do you dare to contact and exploit Chaos, but you also dare to exploit the Supreme Divinity."

0-08 slowly took a step closer, his gaze fixed intently on the old demon king:
“Armond Catchatrian, we have discovered your connection with the remnants of the old Mechanic Church—the Maxwellist Church.”

"You assisted them in creating the Dyson Sphere, using the black-box-level holy machinery fusion alchemy module to conduct sealed-level technological experiments, and constructing the entire Ophiuchus Protocol."

Armand raised an eyebrow slightly, and 0-08 continued:

“Dr. Benjamin Kondrati was a key player in this project, and you—along with him—manufactured a crucial component of the agreement.”

The 0-08 sound finally turned cold, like a polar ice wave pressing in:
“I can tell you this bluntly—Dr. Gear did not kill Condraghi.”

"He escaped. Now, he's hiding in the Dyson sphere. Inside that perpetual motion machine you built, the one you call the next test of the divine boundaries."

"And now, the Kingdom of Heaven needs a new miracle worker."

0-08 paused, his tone suddenly shifting to the cold, authoritative pronouncement of a judge:

"We need Dyson spheres, and we also need the Ophiuchus Protocol."

"But before that, we need a stepping stone."

He looked at Armand, his blue eyes flashing like lightning:
"you--"

"You will burn on the foundation of miracles, becoming a sacrifice."

"A new miracle—will continue to advance over the dead soul of you, the demon king."

The sound of 0-08 fell like a hammer striking a drum, resounding and resolute.

Armand stood there quietly, his face expressionless, as if he were not hearing his own verdict, but merely the final chapter of an old poem.

He slowly closed his eyes, those eyes that once made the old era tremble, seemed to have finally extinguished the last bit of burning light.

But the next moment, he slowly opened his eyes.

It was no longer deathly still, nor was it anger.

It was an enigmatic expression—like an old lion in its twilight years seeing a new king, like a general of a fallen kingdom seeing his flag raised again.

Deep within his pupils, a faint flicker of firelight danced.

"Ha..." He chuckled softly, his voice hoarse and slow, yet clearly revealing an irrepressible ecstasy and deep satisfaction.

"Ha ha--"

He repeated it, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seeming to carry a kind of absurd relief. He shook his head, looking at 0-08's cold, indifferent face with a half-smile, and murmured:

"The benevolent ruler of Heaven... has finally learned the language of us demon kings."

This statement was both ironic and a legacy. He laughed out loud, but his laughter was heavy.

Then, he slowly turned his head and looked at Xia Xiu, who had been standing to the side all along—the one who was now the Lord of the Star Realm and a rising star of the Heavenly Kingdom. His gaze was fixed on those golden eyes, as if he were gazing at another version of himself from the depths of time.

Hugh Abraham.

He spoke, his voice carrying a resounding weight:

"Do you see clearly?"

You should do the same in the future.

He was speaking of a predetermined path—if Xia Xiu were to one day rule the entire kingdom of heaven, if he were to sit at the end of the round table—then he would have to get used to this language:

The language of the judge.

The language of sacrifice.

The language of power.

My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror; everything I do is for justice!