Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

The question of whether I'm willing to trust Little Bowl is implicitly answered. Since Little Bowl specifically asks it here, it's naturally not without reason.

Having Little Bowl become the Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal, and as the complete Master at that, means that the power dynamics between us will reverse. The once weak Little Bowl will suddenly become an entity far more powerful than I am. Even if she hasn't merged with the Current World Divine Seal and isn't a true Master of the Divine Seal, she can, with a single thought, change the world and become the God of this planet.

It's not about fulfilling me, the one fighting on the front lines, first, but rather fulfilling her, who strategizes behind the scenes. Even though we have an unbreakable bond of trust, the authority of the Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal is so immense that it needs to be reconfirmed here.

Especially since Little Bowl often feels guilty about only being able to stay in the safe rear, she cares even more about this. The childhood "Zhu Jiuxing" was always someone who would risk everything for the important people and resolutely become "Zhu Shi". The current Little Bowl is the same, but she is ultimately different from Zhu Shi, lacking the innate conditions to make the same decisions.

There was once a teacher-student pair who also turned against each other because of the power of the divine seal. The world we live in now, the world I want to save and protect, ultimately originates from a great betrayal.

Knowing all this, I still answered without hesitation, without a moment's doubt, "I trust you."

Little Bowl showed a genuinely happy smile.

"I have some more questions," I said, "For your plan to replace me as the Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal, Tai Sui must have predicted it, right?"

"Yes, since Brother Zhuang Cheng couldn't achieve it, I should replace him — this logic is in itself very simple and easy to think of. Tai Sui would certainly have extremely thorough defenses against this, and we must break through this barrier." Little Bowl showed a deeply pondering expression, "And the biggest challenge right now is... I absolutely can't predict Tai Sui's next move."

"Even you?" I was surprised.

"Yes, I can't decipher what kind of preparations Tai Sui has made in this regard. There's not even a hint of related clues or signs exposed. That is the most terrifying part," Little Bowl said seriously, "From the various behaviors of Tai Sui mentioned by Brother Zhuang Cheng, it seems he has not made any preparations at all... which could mean he likely holds unknown measures beyond our imagination, able to thwart our plan from an unavoidable angle."

Could Tai Sui really be that formidable, that even Little Bowl can't analyze any signs?

It's hard for me to think so. Although Tai Sui now possesses near-omniscient abilities, he has never demonstrated extraordinary ingenuity. In the Old World, he was defeated by his student in the struggle for the divine seal, and in the New World, he suffered a miserable defeat in the battle with Evangelist Master Yan Mo. Even after becoming the Master of the Divine Seal, he couldn't control Divine Light or prevent Xuanming's betrayal. Although his enemies were significant contenders, it indicates his strategic aptitude wasn't strong.

Yet, to say he is foolish enough not to foresee my support for Little Bowl becoming the Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal would be underestimating him. In the Old World, without any supernatural clues, he tracked down long-lost prehistoric civilization relics solely on his wisdom as a scientist, surpassing many in the New World. Clearly, Tai Sui is not outstanding in the art of scheming, but his intelligence is certainly far superior to someone as mediocre as me.

If I had to choose between "Tai Sui's strategy is ahead of Little Bowl in this event" and "Tai Sui is too foolish to predict even what I could easily think of," the former seems more convincing.

Little Bowl also clearly thought so.

"By the way, why did Tai Sui choose you to become a Void Envoy?" I curiously asked, "He clearly knows that after the Divine Son becomes a Void Envoy, he might become the 'soul of the Doomsday Divine Seal' just like himself, right?"

"Tai Sui initially hoped I would become Lady No. 7's teammate," Little Bowl said, "At the time of setting up the number of Void Envoys, Tai Sui couldn't know the specific dynamics of the Post-mortem World because the number of divine seal fragments distributed there was too few. So it's mostly impossible for him to accurately designate specific individuals in the Post-mortem World as Void Envoys.

"His approach might have been to use screening conditions to keep the divine seal fragments away from Liu Shuying, and by similar screening conditions, designate who in the Post-mortem World would become a Void Envoy. Among them, the 'No. 7' spot, while it couldn't directly designate Lady No. 7, could be set with screening conditions that only Lady No. 7 could meet.

"As for the 'No 2' spot, it's just a guess on my part, but Tai Sui probably set the conditions in a rather ambiguous manner, which might have been 'a role that would undoubtedly become Lady No. 7's ally in terms of stance and has the ability to provide significant assistance to her.'

"—That person is me."

Why is it you? This thought occurred to me, and it took a while to realize why.

Regarding stance, Little Bowl is a steadfast ally of Mazao, while Mazao is in opposition to the Evangelical Institute, not tolerating the human massacre plan, and is an indisputable potential ally of the Tai Sui Army; in terms of ability, Little Bowl's Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena is a top-notch divine skill in the Doomsday Land, valuable enough to match a Great Impermanence in the death-transformed Doomsday Era.

If there's anything negative, it's that Mazao's扫帚 star power would bring countless misfortunes and catastrophes to the Doomsday Land, but for the Tai Sui Army, that's a negligible concern. They were already under fierce pursuit by the Evangelical Institute's human gods and Great Demons, with merely a difference of dying sooner or later. Instead, Mazao had the potential to breakthrough into Great Impermanence level, and Mazao, at that time, could have been the only potential Great Impermanence level combat power that the Tai Sui Army could secure in the Post-mortem World.

As long as the above situations were explained clearly, even the extremely fearful Mazao at that time, worried about bringing calamity to others, might have directly taken Little Bowl to join the Tai Sui Army.

Moreover, even in terms of personal feelings, No. 7 seemed to have long wanted to reconcile with Mazao and rebuild a new friendship.

Unfortunately, all of this was destroyed by the sudden intrusion of "future me"— the Catastrophe Demon.

Then Mazao crossed into the real world and was found by me. Even the Little Bowl left for No. 7 by Tai Sui was "mysteriously" intercepted by me and became part of my side.

I can't help but feel a bit guilty towards No. 7.

While thinking this, Little Bowl seemed to be able to read my mind and gave me a slight smile. For some reason, I felt a bit guilty.

"...What about the issue of Power of Return?" I habitually changed the topic, "You know, I can't use the Power of Return for extended periods. While it's manageable for a few months at a time, the 'End of the Divine Era' plan requires continuous usage for several centuries, perhaps even over a thousand years, depending on the situation. It's not a matter of effort but rather a matter of the soul's essence. The Power of Return is too contradictory to my nature.

"Even with breaks for adjustments, problems will inevitably accumulate. Moreover, if there are too many breaks, the output must be increased during usage to avoid getting surpassed by the Doomsday process during the adjustment periods. This might violate the basic principles of gradual progress, right?

"If we have to resolve this conflict through wishing upon the divine seal, it's not impossible, but..."

Little Bowl continued, "We must make every effort not to make unnecessary wishes to the divine seal, ideally using it purely as a tool to enhance the Power of Return... correct?"

I nodded.

Little Bowl, having thought about this in advance, said, "Then, as long as Sister Mazao uses the Power of Return, enhanced by the complete divine seal, to save the world, it's possible."

"Have Mazao be the Master of the Divine Seal?" I asked.

"No. In the end, Brother Zhuang Cheng must become the absolute controller of the complete divine seal, which is a given. Otherwise, the divine seal cannot maintain its complete state. What I mean is, Brother Zhuang Cheng, as the Master of the Divine Seal, will empower Sister Mazao, and then Sister Mazao will output the enhanced Power of Return." Little Bowl explained.

I understood, "Mazao using the Power of Return doesn't have the obstacle of conflicting with her nature, and as long as the Power of Return is there, even with the passage of millennia, no traces would be left on Mazao..."

"And because it's using the Power of Return at low power, Sister Mazao shouldn't have to fully dedicate herself like a living pillar for several centuries. She should be able to return to normal life while outputting the Power of Return," Little Bowl said, "Radiating her power unconsciously to the outside world — as long as it's Great Impermanence, they can all achieve this, and Sister Mazao, enhanced by the Divine Seal Power, certainly can.

"Even if the currently Great Success Rank Mazao can't make such changes, Brother Zhuang Cheng can directly grant her this state — right?"

"The Power of Manifestation can achieve this," I nodded, "However, the divine seal reads the user's thoughts. When I use the power of the divine seal to enhance Mazao's Power of Return, it might mix some of my unconscious wishes that ultimately get realized in a roundabout way."

"We can't help with that; we'll have to adjust based on the situation at the time," Little Bowl said.

After finalizing each step, we discussed some details of the plan.

The most pressing issue is the matter of Shan Liangyi and the Old Fist God.

If Shan Liangyi cannot be defeated, the "End of the Divine Era" plan would just be a fantasy on paper.

"Brother Zhuang Cheng, you have seen the historical scene of Shan Liangyi fighting with the Old Fist God at full strength, right?" Little Bowl asked seriously, "Tell me — how much chance do you have of winning against Shan Liangyi now?"