Chapter 1260: Century-long Upheaval (1)
At the Russian Underworld.
On either side of a long corridor in a luxurious white palace were rows of beautiful sculptures and oil paintings. The floor was so clean and bright that it could virtually double as a mirror, and directly above it was a dome roof with intricate reliefs engraved onto it.
The corridor was lined with rows of soldiers clad in full suits of silver armor, wielding spears and swords in a menacing display like rows of statues. Right between the rows of soldiers, Catherine the Great was quickly rushing along the corridor of the hem of her dress in her hands.
Her face was rather thin, and her serious expression was causing her nasol.a.b.i.al folds to be slightly elongated. With her reddish-brown hair and her lavish attire, she was like a n.o.blewoman attending a funeral.
The truth wasn"t far from that.
The underworld emissaries following along behind her didn"t even dare to breathe too loudly, and as she opened a wooden door at the end of the corridor, all of the underworld emissaries inside immediately stood up straight, turning toward this unexpected guest with surprised expressions.
"What? You thought I wouldn"t know just because I wasn"t notified?" Catherine quickly strode over to the head of the round wooden table in the room, and the official who was seated there immediately vacated his seat for her. She was in no mood for any pleasantries, not even bothering to nod in acknowledgment of the official"s gesture. Instead, she took a deep breath and pressed her palms down flat against the surface of the table, sweeping a sharp gaze around the entire room.
This was a luxurious hall with a resplendent crystal chandelier overhead. At this moment, the chandelier had been entirely lit up, making it resemble a galaxy of golden stars.
There were all types of statues placed around the area, as well as oil paintings hanging from the walls. All of the furniture, including the fireplace and the chairs, had gold-plated edges, and it was a scene so lavish that it seemed to belong only in medieval Europa films.
"Peter the Great will be here soon." A cup of black tea was carefully placed in front of her, but she didn"t even take a single glance at it as she said, "Before he gets here, I want to know something: how long has it been since the nameless death of G.o.d was last here?"
No one offered a response.
"Do you still think you can hide this from me?!" She slammed a hand viciously down onto the table. "Maybe you can fool your own subordinates, but don"t forget that I"m a death G.o.d! I can immediately sense it when the nameless G.o.d of death is absent! You"ve stopped me on more than one occasion from seeing the nameless G.o.d of death! Do you think I"m here to seize the throne?! You"re all fools! The core of each underworld is its ruler death G.o.d. They are the only ones capable of using their underworld"s creation-grade divine artifacts! Even if I do seize the throne, I"ll just be kicked off again!"
Catherine and Peter were the only ones who would dare to mention seizing the throne in this conference hall.
An official with a coa.r.s.e, white beard heaved a faint sigh, then said, "It"s already been two months. This is something that"s never happened before."
"What did he say?"
The official hesitated momentarily before replying, "He says that he"s attending an important world conference and is unable to leave. Also, we"ve confirmed that all of the world"s other ruler death G.o.ds are in attendance as well."
"What is being discussed in the conference?" Catherine asked. "What could be so important that the nameless G.o.d of death would abandon his own underworld? What could be so important that he"s not even returning his calls and unable to meet his own subordinates?"
None of the officials replied. Only after a long while did a portly official ask in a low voice, "What do you think?"
The answer had already occurred to everyone, but no one dared to articulate it because it seemed way too far-fetched.
However, Catherine had no such qualms.
"He"s been abducted!" Catherine said with a fierce gaze. "For some reason, all of the underworld"s ruler death G.o.ds have been abducted by someone in Formosa. We have to resolve this problem as quickly as possible! General Menshchikov, please rally up our troops right away. Also, send a message to the Cathayan Underworld demanding the return of our ruler death G.o.d!"
General Menshchikov was a thin middle-aged man with an impeccably groomed mustache. Upon hearing Catherine"s instructions, a wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "I already thought about doing that 10 days ago, but I did some research, and it turns out that the Cathayan Underworld"s new super weapon, Death G.o.d, hasn"t been included into the treaty on the non-proliferation of forbidden arts. On top of that, it seems that negotiations have been terminated."
Catherine was in the process of picking up her teacup, but her hand stiffened in mid-air, following which she slammed her cup back down onto the table in a frustrated manner. "d.a.m.n it!"
Right at this moment, the doors of the conference hall were opened, and a middle-aged Yin spirit in a crisp suit quickly strode into the room. It was clear that he wasn"t expecting Catherine to also be present, and his footsteps drew to a halt as soon as he entered the hall, following which he began to turn back around to leave.
Catherine didn"t even raise her head as she asked in a cold voice, "Is there something you have to hide from me? If I recall correctly, if our ruler death G.o.d has been missing for more than a month, Peter and I have the right to take over his duties during his absence."
The middle-aged Yin spirit turned toward the officials with a helpless expression, and one of them sighed before giving a nod. The middle-aged man immediately extended a relieved bow, then said, "We are receiving a video conference request from the venue where the conference in Formosa is being held, and the conference is being hosted by the ruler death G.o.ds of the four pillars!"
This very same piece of news was received by all of the underworlds.
In the Red Moon Federation, a minister was staring at the secretary standing before him with a surprised expression. "The four pillars sent out a video conference request from Formosa? Are you sure?"
"I"m certain?"
"When is the conference being held?"
"Right now!"
In a palace constructed from snow and ice in the Celtic Underworld, all of the important officials were already a.s.sembled, and an LED slowly descended in front of them.
Similar scenes were unfolding in the supreme conference hall of all of the underworlds, and everyone was waiting for the historic announcement that was about to be made.
Even the most clueless of officials could sense that some ma.s.sive change was about to take place. Every single underworld"s most important officials were gathered in front of each of the screens, looking on with intense, unblinking eyes.
All of the underworlds" ruler death G.o.ds had been missing for a month, and this was something that had never happened before.
It was like the prelude to a tsunami. Even though the waves still hadn"t arrived yet, the overwhelming tension in the air had already reduced all of the underworld emissaries to silence.
A few seconds later, the screens in all of the underworlds" supreme conference halls flickered slightly, following which an image appeared.
It was a live broadcast. All of the underworld emissaries were carefully watching the screen. The footage was being captured from the highest point of a tiered conference hall, and the ruler death G.o.ds of the four pillars were at the very center of the hall, while the rest of the underworld"s ruler death G.o.ds were gathered down below.
Qin Ye was standing in front of a lectern with the ruler death G.o.ds of the other three pillars behind him. Having experienced so much, he wasn"t nervous in the slightest, even though this was a live broadcast being seen by the entire underworld.
There was no turning back now.
The decision had already been made, and it was time to reveal it!
In the face of the countless cameras in front of him, Qin Ye wore a solemn expression as he declared, "I am the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld, Yanluo Qin. Everything that I say from here onward will be the truth. The Heavenly Dao will bear witness to that."
This was an extremely serious way to begin an address, and all of the underworld emissaries were looking on with bated breath.
It seemed that what was about to be announced was something even more serious than they had imagined!
"During this past month, we"ve revealed a piece of information that had previously only been available to the ruler death G.o.ds of the four pillars," Qin Ye said in a serious voice. "In the past, this information has been kept secret from you all to avoid unnecessary panic, but now, its threat has grown to a point where it can no longer be hidden. Thus, all of the underworlds have come together to make an important decision. The agreements have already been signed in the form of Heavenly Dao Contracts, and all of the ruler death G.o.d present have the original copies of the agreements. I hereby declare the official implementation of the Genesis plan. From this day forth, there will be no more national borders and no more visas! All personnel, resources, and technology of all underworlds will be shared with everyone!"
Deathly silence.
Every single underworld emissary who was watching the live broadcast on their screens had been stunned into silence.
This was far too astonishing a revelation, so much so that they were unable to process it!
"How is that possible?!" Several seconds later, Catherine suddenly stood up as she stared at the screen with an incredulous expression. "This is impossible! How could this be? Why would the four pillars be open to this? No matter how you look at it, this is clearly detrimental to them!"
Indeed, with all barriers between nations abolished, the four pillars were undoubtedly going to be worse off.
They were far ahead of the rest of the world and standing far above everyone else. With resources, technology, and personnel shared between all underworlds, they would be giving so much to the rest of the underworld, while the other nations had very little of use that could be offered to the four pillars!
"What?!"
"Are my ears playing tricks on me? That"s what they"ve been discussing over the past month?!"
"This is impossible! Surely there has to be some type of mistake!"
Qin Ye seemed to have antic.i.p.ated the commotion that his announcement would cause, and only after pausing for a full minute did he continue, "From now on, all underworlds will cease to exist. Before we secure the ultimate victory, all that will remain in this world will be the eight alliances, which are the the Asian Alliance, the Southern Alliance, the Middle Eastern Alliance, the Europa Alliance, the Northern Alliance, the Mythic Spirit Alliance, the Southern New Continent Alliance, and the Northern New Continent Alliance. No underworlds will exist in these alliances, and all existing governments will be immediately abolished."
All of the underworld emissaries watching in front of their screens stood up in unison in astonishment.
"How is this possible?!"
"Who proposed this?! Why should we conform to this?!"
"He"s erasing thousands of years of history just like that! They can"t do this!"
"This is coercion! All of the ruler death G.o.ds have been abducted and brainwashed for the past month! Otherwise, there"s no way they would make such a foolish decision!"
The entire underworld had erupted into a raucous frenzy!