HAGLTP Chapter 72

The deity issued a reprimand, and the atmosphere in the temple became oppressive, mirroring His mood.

Mo Yi stood beneath the divine throne, looking up at the long-missed figure. He had once traveled alongside this being, traversing one completely different world after another.

But it had been far too long since he had seen this familiar figure with his own eyes.

Time had passed so long that he could only sift through fragments of the past from the corners of his memory, savoring them again and again.

“Mm?” The deity, with a hint of thin anger, raised an eyebrow in a human-like manner.

His servant was actually daydreaming at such a moment.

The deity lowered His gaze to observe His only servant. Then He keenly noticed that His servant seemed somewhat different from before.

In His memory, this servant was intelligent, inexperienced, and reckless, praying to Him with a persistent, solitary courage. He could perfectly play any role, yet he would easily become shy in front of Him.

Whenever He discovered this, He would always maliciously tread on the other’s bottom line, enjoying the flustered expression on His servant’s face, only to find that the other’s bottom line kept lowering, to the point where it could almost tolerate all of His actions.

Of course, Lu did not think there was anything wrong with such concessions; after all, he was a loyal servant, and accepting all of the deity’s gifts was only natural.

But now, His servant appeared much steadier, even able to daydream openly in the face of His anger.

This change reminded the deity of a certain world He had once experienced. In that world, parents shared a consensus—if a child wasn’t punished for three days, they would climb the walls.

The deity narrowed His eyes dangerously: “It seems your courage has grown.”

Noticing the unusual atmosphere in the air, Mo Yi calmly knelt down: “I apologize for my transgression, my only deity.”

Even in this humble posture, he still exuded a sense of indifference, like a bamboo that would not be broken by wind and rain.

“Come here.” The deity’s tone revealed no emotion.

Mo Yi stood up, step by step ascending the steps, walking toward the throne, each step almost identical in distance, his footsteps neither hurried nor slow, then respectfully standing beside the throne. From etiquette to demeanor, there was not a trace of error to be found.

Lu looked at his calm demeanor and felt inexplicably irritated.

Today, Mo Yi wore the shirt and vest that He had first seen him in as Xiao Lu, the tie impeccably tied, looking as elegant and refined as he had on that day.

Thinking of that “first meeting,” the deity became even more displeased.

He raised His hand, grasping Mo Yi’s tie, forcing him to lower his head and meet His gaze, bringing their distance close enough to hear each other’s breath.

If it were the old Mo Yi, he would have already fallen into a flustered panic by now.

But now, he simply met those deep green, inhuman eyes with calmness, a faint nostalgia and indulgence in his gaze.

That different feeling became even more pronounced.

The deity realized that something unexpected seemed to have happened to His servant.

He had successfully awakened in the role of the actor, and Mo Yi had smoothly become an observer, following His will to provide guidance. On the surface, the plan seemed to be going well, so the only possible unexpected event could only be—

“What did you experience after being captured as a traitor?”

Mo Yi smiled, his voice sounding gentle: “You can directly read my memories. Everything I have experienced will not be hidden from you.”

Since the servant had said so, the deity unceremoniously extended His hand, his fingertip pointing to Mo Yi’s forehead.

According to His plan, Mo Yi’s meddling in several worlds had been detected by the main system.

As He had previously speculated, the main system indeed could not bear to directly erase Mo Yi, but instead punished him by making him a system observer.

However, it was not rational enough to completely ignore the anger brought about by betrayal, and the level of anger exceeded Lu’s original expectations.

Endless fiery hells, boundless icy seas, a void world… the pain on the body and the torment of the spirit overlapped repeatedly, each time pushing Mo Yi to the brink of collapse.

These were the tortures that Mo Yi had once used to intimidate Xiao Lu in the guise of Mr. A; he had experienced them all firsthand.

The main system did not notice the mark imprinted on Mo Yi’s soul by the deity. When the punishment left it feeling satisfied, Mo Yi began his long career as an observer.

He was forced to watch one world after another be destroyed before his eyes, unable to stop it, and even had to eliminate the hidden seeds of rebellion for the main system.

He heard the wails of the world’s inhabitants.

He heard the curses of the actors directed at him.

He heard the despair and helplessness of worlds on the brink of destruction.

He even learned that those sub-systems residing in the actors were originally the inhabitants of the fast-travel worlds; they had been forcibly assimilated by the system, their self-awareness erased, becoming tools for its conquest of worlds.

If he had once been merely a pawn being used, now he felt more like an accomplice.

Mo Yi felt disgusted with such a self, even feeling nauseous when alone, but he had to endure.

At first, the main system kept a close watch on him, but as time passed, Mo Yi no longer acted out of line, and the monitoring directed at him gradually relaxed.

He became familiar with the system step by step, sometimes using the power of the mark to make small moves, then eagerly waiting for the fluctuations from the mark left by his deity.

But the call he had been anticipating never came.

Even after spending ten years, a hundred years in one world, he still felt no trace of the deity’s power.

Mo Yi even nearly began to doubt whether he had been abandoned by the deity.

Did He find his wishes too greedy, thus throwing him to the main system for punishment, and then return to His own world to continue living freely?

Or did He not wish to confront an entire world for a weak human, thus collaborating with the main system?

Helping him would yield no profit.

He was well aware that a servant like him held no real value to the deity.

…

Yet every time a doubt arose, Mo Yi swiftly cut off such dangerous thoughts, continuously weaving reasons for himself to keep waiting.

Over the long passage of time, he gradually became calm and unperturbed, the once intense emotions slowly subsiding, love, hate, joy, and anger transforming into faint embers buried beneath the ashes.

Until he once again felt the fluctuations of divine power.

The embers began to blaze.

The deity withdrew His fingertip from Mo Yi’s forehead, then gently ruffled his hair in response to the hint of regret hidden in his gaze.

Just like before.

Silky strands of hair brushed against His fingertips, the sensation indistinguishable from the memories.

“I’m sorry, I woke up too late; perhaps it’s due to the conflicting powers of the two worlds.”

The usually proud deity rarely apologized and explained the reason to His servant, something He would have never considered in the past.

Unknowingly, the deity’s way of thinking had changed slightly. He thought that His loyal servant had endured so much pain and waiting; He should respond.

“Then,” His servant spoke, “about my previous transgression…”

“Forget it, I am a magnanimous deity.” Lu waved His hand, generously declaring.

If one only looked at the results, His servant had indeed performed excellently, completing the guidance work in a short time.

“Thank you for your tolerance.” Mo Yi smiled, his eyes curving, looking no longer like that mask-like elegance and calmness, nor like the once naive shyness.

This last point made the deity feel somewhat unaccustomed.

“I wonder if I can ask you for a little reward?” The recently forgiven servant began to push his luck.

“A reward?”

Mo Yi nodded with a smile, like a fox plotting mischief: “After all, even the strict main system rewards the actors when they complete their tasks.”

Lu leaned against the throne, resting his chin on one hand, deep in thought.

From his experience as an actor during this time, it was indeed the case. After completing their tasks, the actors not only enjoyed lavish feasts and points but also had independent rest areas and three days off.

And His servant—

The onboarding reward was a beating, no days off throughout the year, no salary, constantly forced to experience strange things, and subjected to the deity’s teasing, as well as being sent undercover in the opposing family for years.

And He saw in Mo Yi’s memories that observers had holidays and independent rest areas, with treatment even better than that of the actors.

In comparison, it seemed that He was worse than the main system…

If He were running a company, it would be like a sweatshop that would make the news, and He would be the heartless boss.

Realizing this, a rare dazed expression appeared on the deity’s face.

Mo Yi leaned down, his smiling face close to the deity: “So, your servant advises you, could you possibly improve the welfare benefits?”

“…What do you want?” Lu finally relented.

Mo Yi respectfully kicked the ball back: “As long as it is granted by you, I will gladly accept.”

As a certain world’s inhabitant said well, the hardest request to satisfy in the world is a casual one.

This left the deity, who had never thought about how to reward his servant, in a dilemma. He had never studied human preferences and did not know what would make his servant happy; this question was perhaps the most challenging He had faced since His birth.

After several rounds of contemplation, He still could not come up with an answer.

Even when deducing possibilities, facing completely unknown content made it impossible to start deducing.

He felt somewhat irritated, even wanting to say: Do you want a slap?

Mo Yi’s eyes sparkled with laughter as he watched the deity’s slight expression of distress due to his request; such a vivid deity was something only he could see, which was truly wonderful.

Unaware that the slap crisis had quietly circled around him and then silently faded away.

After indulging in secretly admiring the deity’s predicament for a while, Mo Yi kindly said, “No rush, we have plenty of time; it’s not too late to grant me a reward later.”

The deity gave him an approving glance; as a loyal servant, understanding how to help His deity out of a predicament at the right moment was a virtue.

Giving rewards was indeed too difficult; it was better to start with simple options.

Lu waved His hand, summoning Ivan, who was trembling in the eerie green mist, and said to the marshmallow-like sub-system light orb: “Lead the way.”

Ivan: “Go… where?”

The deity looked toward a certain direction in the void; because of His personal entry, a gap had already opened within the main system.

“Go settle accounts with your heartless boss.”

Destroying other worlds, coveting His world, bullying His servant, this dog system must pay the price.

Ivan shivered silently.

Its heartless boss was none other than the one before him, right?