Chapter 45: Cannon Fodder
Although Douluo Continent had been completely shielded from the God Realm, its connection to the divine domain still existed. Because of this, after deciding to send some disposable pawns to investigate, the Five God Kings wasted no time. They randomly selected a few low ranking divine officials who had no background or backing to serve as scouts.
In the God Realm, divine officials ranked at the lowest level of the divine hierarchy. Above them were Third Class Gods, Second Class Gods, First Class Gods, and finally, the Supreme God Kings. With thousands of divine officials, most of them were just subordinates brought up to the God Realm by higher ranked deities. Their entire existence was meaningless, and they had no chance of ever advancing beyond their current status.
In contrast, those who had ascended through their own cultivation or had inherited divine positions started as Third Class Gods at the very least. With effort, they had a chance to climb higher, making them the backbone of the God Realm.
With a surge of divine power, the Five God Kings opened a spatial channel and sent the selected divine officials down to Douluo Continent.
Meanwhile, on Douluo Continent…
At the exact moment they descended, Ye Cheng received a system notification.
[Ding! Detected five external entities…]
[Scanning… No threat detected.]
[Entities have been placed under surveillance. No need for elimination.]
Hearing the system's response, Ye Cheng immediately pulled up the system interface. With a few quick taps, the full details of the five newcomers appeared before him.
To his surprise, these five were divine officials who had smuggled themselves in from the God Realm. However, because they were too weak, the system didn't classify them as threats and simply placed them under monitoring without activating defensive measures.
When the system arrived six years ago, binding itself to Douluo Continent and integrating its Q&A mechanism into the very fabric of the world, it effectively took control of everything. Nothing, whether visible or invisible, could escape the system's observation.
For that reason, anyone entering this world from an external plane regardless of their origin would be instantly detected. A single scan was enough to reveal everything about them.
"So weak that the system didn't even activate its defenses?"
Ye Cheng smirked.
"If these divine officials were so insignificant that even the system didn't bother to react, then that must mean that the true threat before… was from the God Kings themselves!"
That overwhelming divine force earlier, the one that had triggered the system's self defense protocol was that an attack from the God Kings?
Ye Cheng's lips curled into a mocking grin.
"…What a shame. If only those arrogant God Kings had dared to descend themselves."
He let out a regretful sigh.
If the God Kings had personally entered Douluo Continent, the system would have immediately locked onto them. At that point, he could have done whatever he wanted with them.
In fact, he already had the perfect strategy in mind:
Force the God Kings into a Q&A session.Give them a question that was literally impossible to answer.Make sure they fail.Set their punishment as: "All Divine Power Stripped Away."
With just one round of Q&A, he could render all Five God Kings completely powerless!
A flawless plan!
A perfect kill!
The only problem was that the God Kings were too cowardly to come themselves. Instead, they had sent a few nobodies to scout ahead.
"…What a disappointment," Ye Cheng muttered.
Still, he wasn't too frustrated.
"Should I just wipe these five divine officials out immediately?"
Ye Cheng considered it.
With the system's power, he could instantly erase them no questions asked.
"…No, that would be too obvious."
Killing them immediately would make the God Realm suspicious.
It would confirm to them that the Q&A system wasn't just some random anomaly but actually had a conscious controller behind it.
And if they realized that, they would double down on trying to uncover his identity.
That would be too dangerous.
A better plan…
Instead of killing them outright, Ye Cheng decided to let them stay under the system's surveillance, of course.
That way, he could control what information they received and feed them only what he wanted them to know.
He could mislead them.
He could make them believe that the Q&A system was nothing more than a lost artifact, a wandering divine treasure with no master.
If the God Kings thought the Q&A system had no owner, their defenses would drop.
They might even start plotting to steal it for themselves.
And when the time was right…
He'd bait them into descending.
Once they arrived on Douluo Continent in person…
They'd be completely at his mercy.
Ye Cheng's eyes glowed with excitement.
This plan was much better than simply eliminating those five divine officials.
With them acting as unwitting spies, he could control the God Realm's perception of the Q&A system.
And once the God Kings took the bait…
Game over.
Meanwhile, in the God Realm…
Before sending the five divine officials to Douluo Continent, the Five God Kings each split off a small portion of their divine consciousness and attached it to one of the officials.
Through this divine link, they could observe everything happening on Douluo Continent in real time.
Soon enough, the God Kings witnessed their divine officials successfully descend onto Douluo Continent without facing any resistance.
The five divine officials three men and two women didn't act recklessly upon arrival.
They also didn't openly display their divine powers.
Instead, they blended in, seeking out locals to gather information.
It didn't take long before they discovered the source of the anomaly:
The Q&A System.
A mysterious "Q&A Space."
A place where answering questions could grant rewards or trigger punishments.
Once the Five God Kings reviewed the data transmitted through their divine links…
They fell silent.
The Q&A system was definitely not native to Douluo Continent.
Its capabilities resembled something that only the God Realm should be able to do.
In theory, if the God Realm was willing to spend enough resources, it could replicate the Q&A system's functions.
The problem was
The God Realm had already lost to it.
Despite mustering the full power of the God Realm Core, they had been instantly crushed.
This proved beyond doubt that the Q&A System was fundamentally superior to the God Realm itself.
That realization left them deeply uneasy.
Where had this thing come from?
Why was it here?
What was its purpose?
Could it be trusted?
What was it trying to achieve?
A flood of unanswered questions filled their minds.
"We need more information before we act."
After a brief discussion, the Five God Kings decided to hold back.
For now, their divine officials would remain hidden, continuing to gather intelligence on the Q&A system.
Once they understood its true nature…
Then, and only then
Would they make their move.
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