"Damn it..."
Having escaped from Fu Xuan, Miss Qingque walked alone down a corridor, rubbing her bloated, sore, and somewhat overstuffed belly. She bit her lip, feeling thoroughly annoyed.
She had wanted to teach a certain someone a lesson, but ended up getting flipped over and dominated instead. The memory of being utterly powerless still filled her with immense shame and anger. I was supposed to crush him!
You useless thing! You surrendered the moment you saw that bastard, didn't you!
Miss Qingque unhesitatingly pushed the blame for her defeat onto her own body. After all, she was certain her willpower was quite firm. It was her body that wasn't up to snuff. It had charged in with great bravado, only to start drooling after a few rounds, dragging her down with it until her mind went blank and she could only babble incoherently... Her legs were still weak even now!
Sob... Does this mean little old me will never be able to defeat that bastard in my entire life?
Her resolve wavered. Miss Qingque felt disheartened by her bleak future... No! Have some confidence! Qingque, you have to believe in yourself!
If once isn't enough, then do it twice! As long as you persevere with the patience of the foolish old man who moved mountains, you'll eventually get your revenge on that someone!
The flames of battle flickered in her eyes... Well, how should I put this... It was a bit embarrassing, but it actually felt pretty good...
Light and floaty, as if she was about to fly... It felt even better than playing Celestial Jade...
Hmm, it wouldn't be so bad to practice with that guy once in a while... Just for training, of course!
As she thought this, a reminiscent Miss Qingque subconsciously licked her lips. Perhaps because she had tasted something she had never tasted before, the current Miss Qingque, though she looked the same as before, had undergone a fundamental change in her demeanor.
"...Hmm?"
Qingque's brow suddenly furrowed.
She could feel that, at some point, the air had become strange... More importantly, although the path she was taking was relatively less crowded, there were usually a few pedestrians. But now, everyone had vanished without a trace, leaving only the exquisitely dressed woman standing not far away, looking like a noblewoman.
She could keenly sense that the other party's intentions were not friendly.
"Miss Qingque... Polka Kakamond, at your service."
...Polka Kakamond?
For Qingque, the name was certainly not unfamiliar. Not only were members of the Genius Society world-renowned figures in the universe, but as a diviner of the Divination Commission, the successor Marshal of the Xianzhou, and the acting general, it was impossible for her to be ignorant of such an important and ruthless character.
The one who ended Emperor Rupert's anti-organic war, suspected of killing several members of the Genius Society, and had once destroyed all her portraits across the universe so that no one knew her true face. According to the Alliance's internal speculation, this genius likely had a need to remain unknown. Although she wasn't listed as a major enemy in the Xianzhou's records, she was classified as a person to be highly vigilant of.
Regardless, the infamous Lord of Silence appearing before her was definitely not a good sign.
"Successor Marshal of the Xianzhou, as decided by the Alliance. For the future of the universe, please disappear for a while."
"...So your target is Glamoth."
Hearing this, Qingque instantly understood the other woman's intentions.
"Hmm?"
"The Alliance has nothing worthy of a genius like you. To make a move on me at such a time... your target can only be the Glamoth Empire."
"I don't know why, but it's not too late to give up now. Your plot will not succeed."
"That Marshal picked a good successor, but... do you know what a genius truly is?" Polka Kakamond praised her, then responded to the warning with a calm, smiling question.
Someone born with talent? While that explanation wasn't wrong, it was undoubtedly a very shallow view. A so-called genius is not just defined by their innate talent, but also by their undying devotion and obsession with their chosen subject.
Someone who could be dissuaded by a few words was not a genius, but a fool.
As the embodiment of Nous's concept of limited omniscience, Polka Kakamond would not allow knowledge to exceed its defined boundaries and lead the future to an unknowable destruction. Therefore, she would do everything in her power to prevent it, to practice what she believed in. This had nothing to do with good or evil, but was purely because of this conviction.
"I thank you for your reminder, but I must correct you—I will not fail."
"At this very moment, the combined forces of the Denizens of Abundance and the remnants of the Antimatter Legion, pushed to their limits by Glamoth and the Alliance, are causing chaos within the Xianzhou—and this is merely the opening act I have prepared for Glamoth."
"And next, is a tribute from another genius, prepared for the magnificent Celestial Empire of Glamoth."
Polka Kakamond spoke calmly, revealing her plan without a care—she didn't mind her plan being known. After all, she was confident that even if it was known, she would inevitably succeed.
Following her gaze, one could see a firework exploding in the starry sky above the venue. In the next moment, the firework transformed into the image of a giant ape, followed by apes descending from the sky.
These comical apes struck ridiculous poses, were dressed like humans, held bananas, and chased each other with laughter, throwing the venue into chaos.
"Son of a gun, these monkeys... It's Dr. Primitive!"
In the venue, Boothill, one of the contestants, flew into a rage at the sight.
Genius Society #64, Dr. Primitive.
He advocated the primitiveness of life, believing that life could only maintain its brilliance in its initial state. Therefore, this insane genius often conducted horrifying and inhumane experiments, regressing the civilization of an entire planet back to primitive apes.
He had a deep-seated grudge with the Galaxy Rangers.
"I didn't expect Dr. Primitive, who's been constantly chased by the Galaxy Rangers, to join the fun too." On the stands, completely unaffected by the chaos, Herta looked at the apes with some surprise.
"It's not surprising. Glamoth's creed shares similarities with the Alliance and the Galaxy Rangers. Therefore, Dr. Primitive, who has committed numerous crimes, is undoubtedly one of Glamoth's greatest enemies."
"And for Dr. Primitive... the same is true."
Ruan Mei's cool voice sounded.
If the Galaxy Rangers were merely objects of amusement for Dr. Primitive, like "toys" to play with when he was bored, then the existence of Glamoth was enough to make him lose sleep.
The former were still limited by various reasons and couldn't really do anything to Dr. Primitive, only able to settle scores after the fact with no real results. But with Glamoth, not only would the Iron Cavalry relentlessly hunt Dr. Primitive, the entire imperial machine would pour its efforts into reversing the crimes he had committed.
The result was that planets that had theoretically lost all meaning after being regressed by Dr. Primitive were directly freed from the "Sleepy Banana Monkey" memetic virus after being incorporated by Glamoth. Even those that were completely unsalvageable would be restored by Glamoth through every possible means.
In fact, part of her cooperation with Glamoth involved assisting them with research in this area.
One could say.
The emergence of Glamoth had directly bankrupted Dr. Primitive's hard work, sending his ideals to hell.
For a genius, this was more painful than death.
After all, for an intelligent being, life was insignificant; what mattered was the meaning created by life.
And Glamoth had rendered Dr. Primitive's efforts meaningless.
"In this aspect alone, he hates the existence of Glamoth even more than I do," Polka Kakamond said softly, looking at the rampaging Sleepy Banana Monkeys.
Geniuses like them would stop at nothing for their research.
But Glamoth had directly blocked Dr. Primitive's path forward. For any genius, this was a blood feud that would never end.
"But don't get me wrong, I haven't formed any cooperation with Dr. Primitive."
For the confident her, even without the help of another genius, an Emanator of Erudition, Polka was confident she could achieve her goal. After all, she was already far ahead of her peers. From this perspective, the involvement of another of her kind would only add uncertainty, making things more complicated and difficult to control.
But... that didn't matter.
Whether other geniuses were involved or not, as long as she brought them all into her "Omniscience Domain," what difference would a few more geniuses make to her in this realm of omniscience?
Something like this could only be called a tacit understanding between geniuses that required no verbal communication.
"Alright, successor Marshal of the Xianzhou, please rest for a while now."
"I will make good use of your body."
Although not as skilled in manipulating illusions as a Pathstrider of Elation, nor as adept at specializing in the spiritual realm as a Pathstrider of Harmony, as a Pathstrider of Erudition, a genius of the Genius Society, Polka Kakamond had plenty of ways to temporarily seize control of the body of the successor Marshal before her.
"Ha?"
"You want to use my... body?" To Polka Kakamond's surprise, upon hearing this, the originally cautious and ready-for-battle Miss Qingque actually showed an expression of disbelief and amusement.
"Is there a problem?"
"Pfft..."
Covering her mouth to stifle a laugh, she returned to normal in the next moment. Miss Qingque said with a sincere face, "No, no... go ahead, I won't resist!"
"..."
The strangeness was written all over her face.
Polka Kakamond suddenly suspected there might be a trick.
From a conservative standpoint, she should change her method. Her goal was only to fake the Xianzhou's successor Marshal killing the Empress of Glamoth, so she didn't necessarily have to take control of Qingque's body.
But... the pride of a genius made her cast aside such concerns.
Who am I? The Lord of Silence! Polka Kakamond! The genius of geniuses!
Never mind if it's a trick or not, even if this person is just trying to scare me, so what if it's real? This place is already covered by my Omniscience Domain. Let alone this successor general, even if that Marshal Hua came, I would have her in the palm of my hand!
"Bluffing won't change the outcome."
Polka said coldly, then activated her Omniscience Domain in the next moment.
Her eyes were fixed on Qingque.
The power of the Path of Erudition began to surge.
To Polka's satisfaction, Qingque also possessed the Path of Erudition, which made it easier for her, the throne of Erudition, to seize control of Qingque's body.
However...
...What is this feeling?
The moment she sensed the body, she could feel the contents of the lower abdomen. Her eyes widened. But what was even more unbearable for Polka Kakamond was that, almost instantly, a tidal wave of sensation flooded her limbs, causing her to collapse to the ground.
"Ugh..."
Something's wrong! Completely wrong! Why is this body filled with wrongness from top to bottom!
What made Polka Kakamond break down even more was that she instantly discovered multiple Paths within Qingque's body.
What the hell?
Is she a stamp collector? She's nearly collected all the Path powers! And the source of this Path of Erudition's power... Nous!
While Polka Kakamond's heart was shaken, almost in the next instant, an indescribable sense of rejection filled her entire being.
And the source was merely a single word she had subconsciously uttered after taking control of the body: "Qiao."
Crack!
A sound like shattering glass.
Polka Kakamond's consciousness returned to her own body. She couldn't stop herself from collapsing to the ground, vomiting blood, her body twitching uncontrollably.
And at this moment, one thing was crystal clear.
Just now, in an instant.
Her Omniscience Domain had been completely shattered!
Even more terrifying, her own creation, the Iron Throne—the Perfect Scholar—had also been reduced to pieces in an instant.
She was immersed in a terror she couldn't even react to.
Facing the incredibly pathetic Miss Lord of Silence, Miss Qingque sighed helplessly:
"I told you not to go any further. Now look what's happened."
"Little old me's body has already been played by that bastard into his shape. I let you in, and you actually dared to come in?"