Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1254 Don't ask, the answer is a two-way journey
"Mount Huan Shi..."

Faced with Lyon's question, the old ox pondered for a moment, then, seemingly out of nowhere, a cigarette appeared between his lips. He slowly began to speak, puffing out smoke with a melancholy expression:

"I do not know."

"..."

No... why are you acting so high and mighty when you know nothing?
"Because although I don't know why she wants you to go to the Ring Mountain, I can roughly guess why your son wants you to take me with you."

After glancing at the somewhat speechless Leon, the old ox, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, snorted arrogantly:
"When I was carrying the hope of your human lineage to escape, I was caught up and killed by the Four Pillar Gods. My body was nailed to the mountainside of Huan Shi Mountain. If you take me there, you will have both body and soul. In addition, with the No. 3 [Life] Source in your possession, you can perfectly revive me with just a little rubbing."

"With my speed—enough to carry an entire holy land and a large number of humans while leaving the Four Pillar Gods in the dust—even if Fu weren't busy absorbing the Root and instead spent her time with a group of Pillar Gods waiting for you on the summit of Huan Shi Mountain, I could still bring you back. Your son is trying to find you some insurance."

I need to find an insurance policy... which means if I go to the Ring of Time, there's a very high chance I'll be ambushed by Frederica. So, conversely, does that mean I've confirmed her whereabouts?
After listening to the old ox's analysis, Leon pondered for a moment, then his eyes gleamed as he spoke:

"If that's the case, then if I notify the Lord of the Graveyard in advance to prepare, and then stuff Ivangeline, the Third Elder, and the Pure White Mother into your mouth and take them all with me, is it possible that things could turn out differently..."

"Impossible, don't even think about it."

As a cobbled-together cow assembled by Lyon himself, the old ox, who knew Lyon's "habits" quite well, rolled its eyes upon hearing this and immediately began to shake its head vigorously.

"She probably has a Star Realm Source in her hands. Unless she is caught off guard, she can basically retreat whenever she wants. There's no way to stop her. Also, how do you know this isn't another trap she's setting?"
The Lord of All Spirits' explanation has many flaws. If she's deliberately spreading false information to lure you into bringing people to her place, then isn't that... um... what was that idiom Fu mentioned again?

"Adjust..."

"Yes, move the cattle away from the pen!"

After nodding vigorously at his head, the old ox sighed and said:
"She's had this habit since she was a child. She always liked to use tricks to lure me out of the cowshed, and then secretly go and rummage through the fruit I had hidden in the haystack. What if she's planning to do the same thing this time, and then take you to Huan Shi Mountain to secretly take over the real world?"

"..."

Indeed... we cannot rule out this possibility...

After rubbing his temples, Leon, whose head was throbbing from thinking, sighed and sat down on the haystack, frowning as he said:
"So, do you think I should go or not?"

"What's the use of my opinion? It depends on your own perspective."

After leisurely exhaling a smoke ring, the old ox lit a cigarette for his newly acquainted smoking buddy, the sheep-headed one, and asked in a slow and deliberate manner:
"What are your plans? Do you want to go or not?"

"As for me... I naturally want to go there."

After thinking for a moment, Lyon replied:
“If this trip were truly life-threatening, my son would have reminded me. He didn’t tell me not to go to the Ring Mountain, but specifically reminded me to bring you. That means that in the future he envisions, this trip wouldn’t be fatal.”

While we can't be entirely certain about the future, this information is still a good reference... Besides, Director Armando and Director Aries are still in the Ring of Time Mountains; we can't leave them unattended. Furthermore, I need Director Aries's secret techniques, so the risk is worth taking.”

After explaining his thoughts, Leon looked at the old ox, whose face was completely obscured by thick smoke, and said earnestly:

"But there's something I need to make clear to you first. The child asked me to take you with me because he meant I would be safe if you went, but he didn't guarantee you'd come back safely. So this trip is also risky for you. If you don't want to go..."

"Go! Why don't you go?"

After shaking its head and emerging from the smoke, the old ox grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth, and chuckled arrogantly:
"Although it's not bad as it is now, the physical body created from the Dream Source isn't very good. It's still a bit inferior to my original one. Why not take the chance to be completely resurrected?"

"it is good."

After listening to the old ox's words, Lyon nodded slightly and then took a deep breath.

"Let's go then!"

"Now? So soon?"

"Yes, the sooner the better!"

Looking up towards the Holy Spirit Realm and sensing the aura of the Lord of All Spirits, Leon first used the source of his dreams to "create" another version of himself, then immediately mounted the bull's back.

"Right now, the Lord of All Spirits is still waiting for a reply. Even if there's an ambush at Huan Shi Mountain, they won't be too vigilant. If we set off immediately, we might be able to catch them off guard!"

……

"His!"

Here it comes again!

After shuddering uncontrollably, and feeling as if its soul had been electrocuted, the thrush immediately sprang up from its chair, shoving aside the astonished pillar gods beside it, and rushed out the door without looking back.

"and many more!"

"Lord Crow?"

"Ouch! What are you doing?"

What are you doing? Running away!!!

Recalling the giant pacifier that fell from the sky half a year ago, and the "Footsteps of the God of Food" that were already close at the door before she fled in panic, Tsurugi immediately completed the preliminary warm-up of her [Disaster Avoidance].

The thrush, its body already filled with fear, instantly lost its stable form, transforming into a cloud of smoke capable of traversing countless worlds in an instant, rushing towards a "safe zone" beyond several planes. Unfortunately...

"Don't worry."

A pale hand reached into the escaping smoke, and with a deft tug, the thrush, which had mostly dispersed, miraculously solidified again, staggering as it was pulled back from the smoke, knocking over a chair beside it with a thud. "I...I just..."

"It's okay, I understand."

He smiled at the raven, whose expression was full of panic and whose words were somewhat incoherent, then reached out and pulled his Frederica back, saying gently with an understanding look:
"Your truth is based on [fear]. When you discover that the source of fear is approaching you, you will naturally be dominated by fear. This is normal."

"call……"

Seeing that Frederica, who had managed to break through [Disaster Avoidance], had no intention of pursuing his "desertion in the face of battle," the raven breathed a sigh of relief. Then, under the strange gazes of the other true gods, he bowed awkwardly and said:
"Thank you... thank you for your understanding. I... I was just... sorry."

"It's okay. I've already said it, this is a normal reaction, you don't need to apologize for it."

With calm eyes fixed on the "flames" dancing on the thrush's body, and sensing that it was just one step away from transcending and truly becoming a "source race," Frederica couldn't help but smile expectantly. Then, she waved her hand to flip the chair that the thrush had knocked over, signaling him to go back and sit down.

Once the thrush, which kept trembling, returned to its original position and settled down to the left of the main seat amidst the complex gazes of the true gods and pillar gods, Frederica, who was in the main seat, clapped her hands twice to attract the attention of the gods, and then spoke with a smile:

"Alright, that was just a trivial little incident. Now, let's get down to business... The reason I returned to Jushen Island to open the hall and forcibly brought all of you back is because I have a new task for you to do."

"Swish"

Before Frederica's words had even finished, all the true gods in the hall, except for the thrush who was still trying to calm its heartbeat, immediately stood up and bowed their heads respectfully to Frederica, who was in the main seat.

"I will obey your..."

"Alright, alright, let's skip these."

After waving her hand to interrupt the pledge of loyalty from the gods, Frederica, who seemed to be in a very good mood, first glanced at the raven struggling to its feet beside her, then raised her hands and pressed them down, signaling the gods to sit down again, and said with a smile:

“There’s a troublesome guy who’s about to cause trouble at Huan Shi Mountain, and I happen to have things to do and can’t deal with him, so I’m planning to move the entire [Ju Shen Yu] to the top of Huan Shi Mountain and ask you guys to help me hold him off for now. Any questions?”

The troublesome fellows... those who even the "Father" calls troublesome must be other remnants of the Root, right? And then there's the thrush that suddenly "acted up"...

Upon hearing Frederica's words, the gods in the hall exchanged glances for a moment. Then, among the pillar gods at the forefront, one who appeared to be an old man cautiously asked:

"Father, that troublesome fellow you mentioned..."

"Leon is the God of Food who awakened the [Leon's Disaster Avoidance] ability in the raven."

"?!!!"

I'm going to fight the God of Cookery?!?!?!?!
As they gazed at Frederica, who smiled and uttered the name of that "forbidden person," the gods in the hall trembled involuntarily, and fear appeared on the faces of more than 90% of the true gods.

Even though none of the true gods in the hall, except for the thrush, had ever seen the God of Food, this only further illustrates the terrifying danger posed by the God of Food. It's not that no one had encountered the God of Food, but rather that all the true gods who had encountered him were no longer able to come.

Even though the other Root Remnants were also terrifying, it was ultimately just the oppressive feeling brought about by the difference in strength. It was like a tattooed strongman carrying a knife on the street in the middle of the night. Even if you had no grudge against him, you would inevitably tremble when you saw him. However, if you left quickly, you would usually be fine.

The God of Cookery is different. If I had to describe him, he would not only wander the streets with a knife in his hand, but he would also chase after anyone he saw, hacking and slashing them while laughing wildly and licking the blood that splattered on his face. He would continue to chase after them until he killed them and then devoured them completely.

This kind of suppression, which can be described as being at the level of the food chain, coupled with the fact that the survival rate of the only one percent... or rather, only the thrush, is so low, the fear it brings is not even on the same level. It has reached the point where just hearing its name can stop the little god from crying at night.

As for asking everyone to join forces to fight against the God of Cookery... isn't that just playing with our lives?
"father……"

After unconsciously swallowing, the old pillar god, who had just asked the question, gritted his teeth and stepped forward, looking somewhat flustered, and said:

"Logically, we should obey your orders, but we're afraid..."

"Don't worry, I won't send you to your deaths."

After glancing at the fearful faces of the gods, Frederica, who had anticipated this, smiled, then pulled up her left sleeve, removed the old, mixed-color beaded bracelet from her wrist, and gently tapped it on the table in front of her.

As she moved, the fourteen beads on the string of beads, some bright and some dim, lit up one after another, and a large amount of dazzling light and shadow poured out from them, flowing along the wide table with its rugged patterns and toward all the true gods around except for the thrush.

Upon encountering these magnificent lights and shadows of various colors, and experiencing the wondrous sensation of their will being infinitely expanded, almost reaching their very source, the heartbeats of the pillar gods in the hall quickened, and their breathing became rapid as well.

"These are the roots that I haven't had time to absorb yet. I'll temporarily set aside half of them for you to use."

After putting the now-dulled beaded bracelet back on her wrist, Frederica said gently:
"Although Leon is the strongest among the remaining Root survivors, his mastery of the Root is not high, and the Roots he possesses are all incomplete; he has not fully mastered any of them."

That means that as long as you possess a small amount of the same source as him, he will lose the ability to instantly crush and kill you. Even though you are still unlikely to defeat him, as long as you can carefully maneuver against him, it shouldn't be a problem to hold out until I return.

"..."

It seems... I might actually be able to put up a fight with the God of Cookery?

Now that we've become so strong, and we have the same source in our hands, even if we still can't beat the God of Cookery in the end, we should be able to go toe-to-toe with him, right?

Feeling the mysterious and powerful source energy they had just received from the beads, the gods, who had just been demoralized, quickly regained their confidence and pledged to complete the mission.

Because of Frederica's gentle nature, one of the pillar gods even mustered up the courage to ask Frederica's whereabouts, wanting to know how long it would take before she returned to help.

"Don't worry, it'll be quick."

Frederica pulled her left sleeve down to cover the partially visible beaded bracelet on her wrist, then rose from her seat and replied with a smile:
"The avatar I sent to the mortal realm for help the day before yesterday discovered some very interesting things, so I plan to go to the mortal realm and retrieve them while Leon is causing trouble at the Ring Mountain... Good luck to you guys, whether I can finally get what I want depends on how long you can hold him off~"

(End of this chapter)