Once upon a time there was a greedy snake

Chapter 306 Have you heard of the solar system?

Have you ever heard of the solar system?

"The solar system? Which sun are you talking about?"

This is the first reaction of all beings in the starry sea when they hear this question.

It's not that they're ignorant, but there are just too many suns in the galaxy. Any star system with the sun, or star, at its core can be called a solar system.

However, there is one solar system that stands out as an exception.

"Which solar system? Of course, it's that solar system... Haven't you all heard of it?"

If we're just talking about the solar system, there are indeed many, but if we're talking about "that solar system," there's only one that's been in the discussion recently.

It was a desolate star system located on the edge of a star sea, with hardly any inhabited planets nearby. Calling such an environment a "barren wasteland" would be an understatement—after all, there was no communication, which meant complete isolation, and complete isolation meant that no civilization could be born.

Of course, this is based on the standards of civilization in the Star Sea. If we only consider the standards of the natives, then there might still be so-called civilizations. After all, even monkeys know how to communicate through vocalizations, and apes know how to use tools—but whether it's monkeys or apes, they can only do so much at most.

Monkeys and gorillas spend their entire lives in the forest; they never, and have no chance of, seeing how vast the outside world is.

Of course, nothing is absolute. If they are lucky, even a barren planet with poor mountains and bad waters can develop a real civilization. If they are even luckier, they might actually be able to break through the shackles of the spiritual energy field and travel through the stars.

Even if you manage to do that, it only means you've barely stepped out of your home.

Simply stepping out of one's home is far from true civilization; if one can't even leave their home, they are certainly not civilized at all—so places like this are generally ignored by everyone.

Unless something, a hidden treasure, is buried there.

After all, no one knows how long the Star Sea has existed. Its long history cannot even be calculated with simple numbers. As we all know, over time, there will always be oddballs. There will always be some powerful beings who are bored or simply go crazy and go to some godforsaken places, leaving behind some things or simply dying there.

The legacies of these powerful beings have become objects of fierce competition among all living beings in the Star Sea. After all, both are methods of rapid advancement, and compared to being robbed and hunted down, digging for treasure and inheriting the legacy of one's predecessors is always safer.

But is treasure hunting really safe?

And this is the most widely circulated news recently, about the four infamous evil gods in the Star Sea: the God of Tyranny, the God of Desire, the God of Destruction, and the God of Mystery. Although these four evil gods are not yet universally known in the Star Sea, mentioning them still evokes a barrage of curses.

But often, being criticized is also a symbol of strength.

After all, being criticized at least shows that its massive existence has attracted enough attention. If one couldn't even handle being criticized, then one would truly be just another face in the crowd.

However, right now, these four evil gods can't even afford to be scolded, because they've all been trapped in that barbaric solar system.

Although these four evil gods, with their power, should not have been trapped in such a place under any circumstances, according to their worshippers, they were indeed physically dead.

And that's why this news has spread so widely.

In such a remote and desolate star system, even if only one of the four evil gods went, they could easily occupy it. Not to mention that all four of them went at once, so it was even less likely that anything would go wrong. But in this most unlikely situation, news came that all four gods had died. How could such a thing be possible?

As a result, those rumors began to circulate widely.

Rumors suggest that the four gods died because they attacked each other, which is the most plausible guess. If the four evil gods used this star system as a battlefield, they could indeed have all died there. There are even rumors that the four evil gods had already started fighting before they even reached that planet, with their demonic armies covering at least three planets, clearly indicating that they were going to fight to the death.

However, some sources refute this speculation. These sources come from followers of the Four Gods, who claim that the Four Gods have reached an agreement to jointly develop the planet. Although this so-called development is actually just occupation, if such an agreement truly exists, the Four Gods will indeed cease their infighting.

Moreover, even if the four gods really did fight amongst themselves, there should at least be a winner.

But now, all four gods have died in that star system...

"Let's stay away from that area in the future."

This is the instinctive reaction of all living beings in the starry sea.

As long as it is a living thing, it will always seek advantage and avoid harm. After all, those who do not know how to seek advantage and avoid harm have long since died. Since you know there is danger there, you can simply not go. It is just a wild and desolate area. Even if there is some secret treasure, there is no need to risk your life to explore it.

However, the starry sea is so vast that there will always be some beings who don't value their own lives.

"After all, my life has already been dedicated to the god of courage."

A wolf-headed warrior carrying a greatsword gazed at the distant starry sky, his eyes filled with unwavering determination.

The wolf-headed swordsman was named Gekala. He was one of the chosen champions under the God of Courage, who was also the God of Tyranny. Although he was never the strongest among the God of Courage's subordinates, he was the most loyal to the God of Courage.

Although the God of Courage may seem a bit tyrannical to others, for Gekala, without the God of Courage's grace, he, as a little dog, would probably have died long ago. Therefore, to repay this kindness, he voluntarily joined the God of Courage's ranks and became the God of Courage's loyal dog.

It is precisely because of this that Gekala was able to establish a mysterious connection with the god of courage.

Despite the various rumors circulating outside, and despite the fact that many warriors who had sworn allegiance to the God of Courage had switched sides, Gekala remained steadfast in his belief that the God of Courage was not dead.

The god of courage is not dead yet; he is going to rescue him.

This was his duty as a loyal dog.

However, Gekala also knew that he couldn't rely on himself alone. Although he did have formidable martial arts skills and his greatsword was rarely matched, he was not considered a true top-tier warrior among the warriors under the God of Courage. He could only be considered average.

But now is not the time for him to go and play the hero all by himself.

In order to rescue the god of courage, he must find some companions.

Chapter 307 On That Planet

Finding companions to explore the desolate star system together is not easy, simply because many cosmic beings are now aware of the dangers of that star system.

Given the Wolf-Headed Swordsman Gekala's network of connections, he certainly couldn't persuade any truly capable individuals to navigate dangerous situations. Those he approached were unwilling to risk their lives—meaning that the adventure to the Savage Star System had already encountered a major crisis before it even began.

Fortunately, Gekala was persistent and courageous enough that, through repeated visits, he managed to find three companions for him.

The first companion was a priest of the God of Life, a large man dressed in very little clothing. Just by looking at the scars all over his body and the stench of decay, one could tell that he was definitely a devout follower of the God of Life. However, this priest, named Nar Corruption, was not as devout as he seemed. What this priest wanted was to inherit the power of the God of Life and even become the new God of Life.

This didn't matter much to Gekala; it was just infighting within the God of Life. As long as it didn't affect his ability to rescue the God of Courage, everything was fine.

The second companion was a mage from the God of Mystery. However, unlike most common spellcasters, mages who worship the God of Mystery tend to lean more and more towards the manipulation of souls—strictly speaking, this path is close to that of a priest, which means that it overlaps to some extent with the identity of Nal Corruption. But there's nothing we can do about it; this is the best mage that Gekkar can find.

Like Nar Corruption, this mage named Sass Illusion also wanted to reclaim the power of the gods, but not just the power of the God of Mystery, but also the power of the other gods.

Faced with such a straightforward declaration, Nar Humility naturally responded in kind.

"It's either me or him."

Nar Hurt immediately ordered the new mage to leave.

Before the team even set off, they were already facing the crisis of disbanding, which immediately made the wolf-headed swordsman Gekala dizzy and confused. For someone who was not good at interpersonal communication, he would rather go and fight a hundred chosen champions with his sword than face such a situation.

Fortunately, the appearance of a third companion solved Gekala's immediate problem.

Ryus Enchantress, an assassin who worships the god of desire, is granted a versatile form by the power of the god, which allows her to carry out any stealth assassination mission—but this ability is only the most insignificant use when it comes to assassination.

The followers of the god of desire are all sophisticated social butterflies. Their understanding and control of the desires of the soul are so profound that they can even unite two originally hostile parties.

Just like it is now.

The priest of the God of Life, Nar Corruption, has begun to be treated like a dog. He even boasted that after becoming the new God of Life, he would definitely marry Ryus Enchantress as his queen. As for Sass Illusion, this stern-faced mage still appears to be neurotic on the surface, but the glances he makes at Ryus Enchantress have already betrayed his true feelings.

"Fine……"

Taking a deep breath, the wolf-headed swordsman Gekala silently recalled those memories of killing, strengthening his will and preventing himself from looking at Ryus Enchantress.

He then led this disorganized team to that wild and desolate star system.

There's not much to say about the journey, since that star system was just too desolate—there was no intelligent life, no ferocious star monsters, and they didn't even see many of the pirate raiders that were common in the star system. The four of them faced only endless void.

Ultimately, nobody wants to come to this remote, star-studded place.

"but……"

Wolf-headed swordsman Gekala felt like something was off.

Excessive silence always signifies danger—this is a lesson learned by Gekkar after years of traversing the cosmos.

To Gekkar's surprise, they did not encounter anything that could be described as dangerous until they landed on the planet.

"This must be it. I can already smell the aura of the god of courage."

As soon as the Star Shuttle, which was used as a means of transportation, landed, Gekala sniffed, and the familiar smell of rust invigorated him.

As for the other three teammates... Gekala no longer cared about them. If he had known the journey would be so easy, he wouldn't have brought these three burdens along.

The first thing to do after landing was to gather information, so Gekala immediately controlled the Star Shuttle to scan the spiritual energy field of the entire planet.

“There are still some life forms building city-states, but this civilization looks rather rudimentary…”

Looking at the investigation report that came out of the Star Shuttle, Gekala was ready to let Ryus Enchantress see if she could gather any information from those mortal city-states.

But at that moment, Nar Hum suddenly spoke up.

"It's not as low-level as you think. There's something the Star Shuttle didn't detect. Look at those places occupied by mortals, the soil beneath their feet, there's clearly the aura of the World Tree in the earth... It's obvious that someone planted the Seed of Creation here, but the World Tree was cut down before it could grow."

Wolf-headed swordsman Gekala had heard of the Seed of Creation, a planetary weapon. Once planted, the destruction of a planet was already on the countdown. But he had never heard of anyone cutting down such a thing; it was too horrifying.

Nar Humility, standing to the side, also had a rather serious expression. Clearly, as a believer in the God of Life, he understood better than Gekkar what this matter meant.

"Be careful, this planet is probably more dangerous than we thought. Don't forget, the Four Gods were trapped here before."

“I know, let’s go and take a look at those native city-states first.”

The thought of the fall of the God of Courage weighed heavily on Gekkar's heart, causing him to suppress his pride.

Relying solely on Ryus Enchantress is probably not enough; he plans to personally lead a team to those human city-states to see what kind of world this is.

To ensure safety, Gekala even had Ryus Enchantress disguise him and the other team members, concealing the aura of the Four Gods on their bodies so that they could look like ordinary civilians.

But it wasn't until they entered the city that Gekala realized he might have been overthinking things.

"This is……"

As soon as he stepped into the city, Gekala felt a familiar presence.

Looking around, one could see that the pedestrians in the city were all more or less covered with the aura of the Four Gods.

Chapter 308 The Ancient Serpent's Trail

As soon as they entered the city, the four members of Gekala's team were already somewhat dazed.

They could confirm that this was indeed a wild planet, but the surrounding atmosphere made them feel as if they had returned to the sea of ​​stars—especially when they saw those burly warriors carrying greatswords or axes walking on the streets, Gekala even felt a faint sense of nostalgia.

After all, when the God of Courage was still alive, these warriors of the God of Courage had gathered beneath his bronze throne, shedding blood and sweat. The clash of those powerful figures was one of the most cherished memories in Gekala's heart.

But at that very moment, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out.

"How come there's a mage tower here?!"

Gazing at the towering buildings radiating spiritual energy in the distance, Sass Huanze was speechless for a moment.

If it were on another planet, Sass Huanze could understand the existence of a mage tower, since those planets weren't so barbaric and people could more or less come into contact with some real civilizations. But right now, seeing a proper mage tower in this place was as shocking to Sass Huanze as seeing a group of gorillas repairing a spaceship.

"It must have been brought to them by the Four Gods."

Nar Hurt scoffed at the wild mage's fuss, then pointed to a spot not far away.

In the direction of Nar's rotten finger, a wounded warrior was pouring a bottle of bright red liquid into his mouth. As the liquid went down, his mangled wounds began to heal rapidly, leaving no trace.

"It's the power of the God of Life. I never expected them to use it like this... But it's also a good thing. Since they've accepted the power of the God of Life, it means I can spread the new sect here."

Feeling the almost omnipresent power from the god of life throughout the city, Nal Corruption laughed.

Although this planet is too wild, if he can gather all these local natives together, he can become a new god—if he can also inherit the power of the god of life in the process…

"Ryuu, I can definitely... oh?"

It was at this moment that Nar Humility suddenly realized that the original four-person team had now dwindled to only three.

The assassin among them, Ryus Enchantress, had long since disappeared.

With the team's only glue gone, Nar Corruption immediately vented his anger on the mage beside him. He felt that it was the mage's overreaction that had scared away the cowardly assassin—of course, he knew this reason was baseless, but it didn't matter; he was just looking for an excuse to pick a fight with Sass Illusion.

Sass-Huanze was not to be outdone. He had long disliked this wild priest. Although he was a worshipper of the God of Mystery, he usually did not confront people directly. But now that trouble had come knocking, he was not one to back down. So, without a word, the two started fighting on the spot. Fireballs and acid flew everywhere, and in just a moment, three shops on the street were destroyed.

"you……"

Wolf-headed swordsman Gekala felt a chill run down his spine; this was exactly what he feared most.

Without knowing anything, the team started fighting amongst themselves, especially in front of so many locals. Who knows what kind of trouble this would cause?

"You...all of you, stop right there!"

Gekkar drew the greatsword from his back.

Wielding his heavy greatsword, Gekkar successfully suppressed his two teammates who were fighting amongst themselves.

Immediately afterwards, the city guards who rushed over subdued the three of them.

Even after being locked in the dungeon, the two teammates continued to curse, but this time, they directed their anger at Gekala—they didn't understand why Gekala wouldn't let them fight back when they were arrested by the guards.

"We could easily have wiped them all out with just a little effort..."