Hearing that, a strong light of unwillingness shed across the teenage Charles'' eyes. "I don''t know what your goal is, but my goal is to never let others trample me again. I''ve had enough of that over these years.


    "I don''t want others controlling my fate, and I hate being treated like an ant.


    "Those pieces of garbage can destroy us all with a mere wave of their hand, but if we don''t raise even the slightest bit of resistance against them, then we''re better off dead."


    Charles felt a bit emotional upon hearing such words from another version of himself. "I hate to say this, but the Foundation is really good at judging people."


    "What? Are you trying to say that you don''t want to do that?" the teenage Charles asked, his eyes revealing a hint of mockery.


    "Of course, I want to do that, but my concerns are far more grounded than that. My first goal is to ensure our survival under their influence.


    "There''s danger everywhere, whether in the Subterranean Sea or on the surface world. However, there are people I care about here, and I want to protect them all."


    "I''m sure you didn''te from that faraway ce just to tell me all this. Tell me your solution. I want to know if we''re thinking about the same thing," the teenage Charles said. He sat in a chair and ced his feet on the table before him.


    Charles had nothing to hide before the teenage Charles."When I assimted Pede''s corpse, I discovered an issue. I''ve be much stronger after that assimtion, but I still have no chance of winning against 004 and 005, let alone against 003 or 002 in the Core. Even bing a true god is not going to work; the gap between us and them is just too big.


    "At the time, I started thinking about other ways. After much thought, I realized that I was not alone. There are many Charleses with the same goal as me."


    This was the solution that Charles had found. Since the other gods could coborate with their counterparts from other nes, why couldn''t he do the same?


    If one God Charles couldn''t aplish anything substantial, what about two?


    What about ten?


    What about ten thousand God Charleses?


    "<em>Hmm...</em>" The teenage Charles narrowed his eyes slightly and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I have a better solution—I devour you now and take over your power. I would then have the power of two Charleses. I think this is a better solution than your request for a coboration."


    Sparkle''s slender legs quivered, and a dazzling white light engulfed them all. She wanted to teleport her father away from this dangerous ce.


    In response, Charles waved his hand, and the white light abruptly bent before falling to the floor as if it were a silk thread.


    "Calm down, my good daughter. He''s just trying to scare us. If he were to devour me, his humanity would disappear instantly. He''d be simr to the deep sea gods of the Subterranean Sea. I don''t think he wants to see that happen."


    The teenage Charles revealed a look of disdain upon seeing that Charles wasn''t intimidated even in the slightest. Then, he asked, "You don''t believe that I can stay human and obtain that immense power at the same time?"


    Charles pulled Sparkle''s hand and sat down.


    He then remarked in a low voice, "You and I both know that''s impossible. Humanity and divinity are inherently contradictory. To be divine, one must abandon one''s humanity."


    Just then, Charles became a bit bewildered as he asked, "I don''t remember being someone the type to joke around. This ne is indeed very different from the ne where I came from. You made me feel like I''m talking to Richard."


    "Stop the nonsense, and let''s talk about business. If we use your solution, then the two of us won''t be enough. We need to find a way to go to the other nes and find more Charleses to coborate with us."


    Hearing that, Charles was silent for a moment before replying, "Yes, that''s right. But before we do that, we need to figure out if an existence like God Fhtagn is unique or if there are as many God Fhtagn as there are nes."


    A deafening silence engulfed the room.


    The Foundation''s logs had described the power of 003, and they had also witnessed it in that trench. God Fhtagn''s awakening alone could easily destroy everything.


    If they made a move against God Fhtagn, and it turned out that there was more than one of Him, the consequences would be imaginable


    "Have you seen that god who managed to devour a Charles? I''m talking about that god with a myriad of blood-red eyes. He''s coborating with his other selves from other nes. I''m thinking that perhaps Fhtagn is doing the same.


    All they knew about Fhtagn was that He was exceptionally powerful—that was all.


    The teenage Charles seemed a bit troubled. "If we want to deal with Fhtagn, we must learn more about Him. If we want to know more about Him, then I''m afraid we''ll have to follow the Foundation''s old path."


    "What does the Foundation know about Fhtagn? Perhaps we should search those ruins and see whether there''s anything relevant."


    "Don''t bother. I''ve been there, and those guys werepletely useless. Their records were utterly useless. If one were to rely on the mountain, the mountain would fall; if one were to rely on a river, the river would dry up[1]. I guess we can only rely on ourselves at this point."


    The corner of Charles'' mouth curled up slightly. He reached out with his right hand toward the teenage Charles. "All things are difficult at first; no matter what happens, I''m willing to pay the price for it. Are you willing to work with me? If you do, you''re likely to die, or you might suffer a fate more terrifying than death."


    "If I were afraid of death, would I still be Charles?" the teenage Charles asked before pping Charles'' hand.


    Their arms instantly transformed into a lump of flesh and blood, and the bloody tissues on their arms wriggled. The two were exchanging flesh and blood that carried information about themselves, so they were quickly learning everything there was to know about each other.


    "She''s your daughter? What entity gave birth to her? That appearance of hers is quite special," the teenage Charles instantly saw through Sparkle''s disguise, and he could see a cluster of fluorescent green tentacles beneath her gorgeous figure.


    "I''m not sure…." Charles'' eyes revealed a hint of confusion as he muttered, "I forgot."


    The teenage Charles wasn''t surprised at all, as missing a chunk of memories was just a trivial matter for them.


    "It''s a good thing that you forgot here. I actually regret marrying my wife. Whether it''s bing a god or failing and dying, both oues are just bad for her."


    "<em>Oh?</em>" Charles was surprised that the teenage Charles actually had a wife.


    "What''s your wife''s name? Is it Anna?" Charles asked, thinking that perhaps he''d find clues about the missing Anna from his memories on this ne.


    "I don''t know any Anna. My wife is Margaret, the Governor of the Isle of Whereto. Wait, did you not marry her on your ne? She''s such a good girl, though."


    "Forget it. Anyway, do you still remember Lily, the little girl who became a mouse? She''s human now, and she''s on your ind. Take good care of her for me in your spare time."


    "No problem, my coborator."


    1. An idiom about how one should always be self-reliant ?