“Elise, come here.”
The gentle and familiar will reached her, a call Elise knew by heart.
At that moment, Elise was connected to the giant auxiliary brain via her tentacles, monitoring the movements of the entire colony. Sensing Lin Miao’s summons, she immediately looked up.
Through the cracks in the ceiling, the light from the fluorescent lamps fell precisely upon her. This was a layout she had specifically arranged so that Lin Miao’s gaze and warmth, cast down from the heavens, would envelop her alone.
Elise immediately activated the spider legs growing from her back, nimbly climbing through the cracks in the ceiling and heading straight for the top of the terrarium.
Once she landed inside the terrarium—decorated with green plants and water vessels—she retracted her spider legs. She naturally knelt on one knee, looking up toward the sky with pious devotion.
Even though the Great Devourers had a bizarre origin and an unknown lineage, every individual observed strict etiquette and followed the rules learned from various sources when facing Lin Miao. This was their most sincere loyalty to the one they followed.
In the sky, a giant hand slowly descended, entering Elise’s field of vision.
Their long time together had allowed her to understand all his patterns, and her heart couldn't help but throb slightly.
If Lin Miao extended a fingertip, it was a signal for her to come forward and nuzzle him affectionately.
If his palm held an object, it meant he was preparing to give her a gift. This time, it was clearly the latter.
The giant hand slowly closed into a fist before gradually opening in front of her. Three exquisite objects rested quietly in his palm.
“This is...”
Elise looked at the items in his palm, tilting her head in confusion.
These were not the rations distributed daily, nor were they rare magic stones or treasures from the world. They were three delicate crowns.
In Lin Miao's eyes, these crowns were small and dainty—mere plastic products easily crafted using a 3D printer. However, the power contained within them had long since stripped away their mundane nature.
Elise’s body couldn't help but tremble. Within these seemingly ordinary plastic crowns, pure divine power was sealed, making them unique holy treasures in the world.
As long as Lin Miao’s divine power did not dissipate, these crowns would be eternal and immortal. They could continuously pour divine power into the wearer, creating supreme miracles.
Lin Miao looked at the agitated Elise, thinking to himself that a gift of this level was just right for now.
He recalled that after these small crowns were finished, he had spent considerable effort injecting his own divine power into them.
Although Lin Miao had become a god halfway and his foundation was not entirely stable, his Divine Status had already risen to the mid-to-high tiers thanks to the rapid development of the Great Devourer race. He had steadily entered the ranks of Mainstay Deities, with strength far exceeding the average level of a Mid-Tier Deity.
He had also completely mastered the use of the Transcendent Divine Status within him.
Although this infusion of divine power had consumed a massive amount of interference force, it was of little consequence to him.
As a god, Lin Miao had almost no complicated affairs to deal with on a daily basis. He lived a leisurely and comfortable life, a stark contrast to Hestia, who was constantly running herself ragged.
Hestia had no time to rest, traveling everywhere to bestow divine grace and spread her divine power to protect all living beings.
Years had passed in the blink of an eye, yet Lin Miao remained as he always was—an ordinary person on his home planet, Earth. In his daily life, there was absolutely no need to use even a fraction of his divine power.
His surplus power was perfectly suited for crafting gifts for his confidants.
“Only the Queens within the colony are qualified to wear these. They are symbols of the proxy authority I bestow upon you, as well as an exclusive boost of divine power.”
Lin Miao reached out with two fingers, carefully picking up the largest and most ornately decorated of the three crowns, and gently placed it on Elise’s head.
This crown radiated invisible waves of divine power, its majesty so awe-inspiring that lower-tier beings felt deep reverence and dared not harbor any thoughts of coveting it.
“This is... mine...”
The sudden honor made Elise’s mind tremble, leaving her at a loss for a moment.
Even though her intellect had long since matured, she was still as inexperienced as a child who had just left infancy when it came to expressing emotions and self-reflection.
The moment the crown touched her head, the cells throughout Elise’s body underwent a quiet mutation. The crown instantly fused with her body.
The plastic crown, which originally had a simple gilded luster, was slowly covered by a layer of dense, pitch-black exoskeleton. It acted like layers of armor, meticulously guarding this supreme treasure.
“It belongs only to me... no one else can take it...”
Elise’s eyes sparkled. She raised her hand to gently touch the black crown that had fused with her head, murmuring softly to herself.
This was an exclusive holy relic specially gifted by the supreme god to her, his close kin and daughter. No one in the world could covet or steal it.
Lin Miao quietly looked down at Elise. Seeing her carefully put away the other two crowns meant for her sisters, he felt a surge of emotion.
This Coronation Ceremony for the Supreme Queen of the colony was simple and modest, yet the weight it carried far surpassed ten thousand grand ceremonies.
In this exclusive sacred ground, Elise had officially received Lin Miao’s recognition, holding the supreme proof of her status.
Only a few worker ants responsible for serving her were by her side, so the scene was not particularly grand.
However, the now flourishing Great Devourer colony possessed a foundation that surpassed everyone's imagination.
The entire colony was connected through the Hive Mind. Every individual's sights, perceptions, and combat experiences could be shared in real-time. The distance of heaven and earth could not block their connection.
On the front lines, the tragic slaughter had not yet ceased. Within the nests, new combat forces were constantly being bred to expand the race's military strength.
Meanwhile, those Great Devourer individuals who did not need to rush to the battlefield all knelt piously toward the sky.
Bipedal individuals knelt on their knees, while creatures of other forms pressed their heads to the ground in prostration.
Hundreds of millions of members—and if the countless worker ants were included, the number exceeded a billion—performed the same unified action at the same moment.
This shocking scene filled the otherworld races residing in occupied territories like Terra and Cadia with terror and bewilderment.
Usually, the Great Devourers performed their respective duties and stayed within their roles, rarely showing the Hive Mind acting as one. This state of absolute unity and uniformity carried a cold, solemn aura born of instinct that struck fear into people's hearts.
“What on earth happened? Why are they suddenly acting like this?”
“If we just stay still, we won't get into trouble, right?”
In the eyes of the onlookers, the Great Devourers had lost the vibrant aura of living beings and instead resembled cold, precisely operating machines. This extreme unity instilled a deep sense of awe, causing their fear to gradually dissipate.
Most of these otherworld people were survivors who had luckily escaped the fires of the Great Devourers' wars. Others were captives who had surrendered voluntarily or been forced into submission.
Over time, they had grown accustomed to living under the Great Devourers and integrating into their order.
Now, the faith-based power established by Celia was spreading rapidly. The people felt increasingly uneasy and could only follow suit, kneeling in worship.
“Everyone, get down immediately!”
Count Merlin shouted sternly. The panicked crowd quickly pressed themselves to the ground, following the Great Devourers in worshipping the sky.
“Captain, what kind of phenomenon is this?”
“There's no other way. Their eyes are everywhere; we have nowhere to hide!”
Adian hurriedly spoke to warn them. His crew and subordinates all followed orders, prostrating themselves on the ground, not daring to move.
By now, the Great Devourers had firmly occupied three entire worlds. With billions of individuals acting with one heart and mind, no other coronation ceremony in the myriad worlds could compare to this magnificent, silent event.
“Has even our path of gathering faith fallen behind?”
Yuno slowly stood up, looking at the military base ahead that was still billowing thick smoke, her expression complex.
Through the Hive Mind, the Great Devourer race could perceive movements in all directions and hear all kinds of news from the world.
The holy authority Hestia relied on was born from the faith of countless living beings, but now, phenomena of divine power leakage were frequently appearing everywhere.
The Great Devourers' massive invasion of various territories had already exposed that the Goddess of Light was stretched too thin to protect all her domains.
Even though the Church of the Goddess of Light represented a higher-tier sacred civilization, and even without the Goddess personally intervening, they still possessed enough strength to resist foreign invasions and hold their ground until now.
But such resistance ultimately had its limits. Once Hestia could no longer look after her territories, the mental conviction in people's hearts would be the first to collapse—a process far faster than the depletion of supplies or the loss of troops.
Over time, many believers inevitably harbored doubts or even resentment, gradually ceasing to believe in the Goddess. Hestia and all her followers were doing everything in their power to prevent this situation.
The Empyrean Star Guard was the most elite combat group under the Church of the Goddess of Light.
At this moment, members of the guard clad in Holy Light Winged Armor were rushing to the battlefield to provide reinforcements.
Seeing her former comrades-in-arms appear, a playful smile curled on Yuno’s lips.
When she first joined the Empyrean Star Guard, her original intention was simply to be able to fight and kill to her heart's content. As for whether the opponent was the Goddess’s enemy, she had never cared.
She was full of curiosity about what these people, whose minds were unified by faith, would look like when their convictions completely collapsed.
What she found even more laughable was that the Empyrean Star Guard had deployed all its elite combat forces here to hold the line, actively abandoning many other Pioneering Zones that were on the verge of falling and where morale was crumbling. This act of drinking poison to quench thirst was truly the height of foolishness.
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