“That’s reasonable enough, but the cult and government system you built cost Catherine her family. That’s completely unreasonable.”

Lin Ye didn’t think there was anything wrong with the Leader establishing a cult system. If what he said was true, maintaining such a stable state was already quite an achievement.

“That was a necessary sacrifice—a normal population loss required to sustain the cult. It’s pretty much like a natural disaster. You could say she was just unlucky. Do you want an apology?”

The Leader replied nonchalantly.

“No, I don’t. Because I will never forgive you.”

Catherine couldn’t put her own pain above all of humanity. That answer was her final act of defiance.

“Do you need me to deal with him? I’ll clear out every single cult base, and then handle the problem with the evil deity. I am a god, you know. Remember that wish you made before? As long as you pray to me, I’ll solve all your problems.”

Lin Ye smiled as he looked at Catherine.

“If you truly can deal with those evil deities, I can atone for my sins by committing suicide. Just let me witness that moment before I die.”

The Leader spoke with utter indifference.

Lin Ye calmly gazed at Catherine. The truth was, he wasn’t sure he could solve the evil deity problem either—after all, his true body wasn’t here.

But occasionally, he wanted to do things he wasn’t certain about. That was what made it interesting.

“…I don’t know what to do either. But if you truly are willing to listen to my request, then I hope you can change this world—so that no more families like mine ever appear. I hope every family can let children feel safe, and that marriage is no longer forced.”

Catherine bowed her head and prayed solemnly to the deity, speaking the thoughts deep in her heart.

As for the Leader’s life or death—that was far too heavy a burden for her. It wasn’t something she should be considering.

“Sorry, unless you want me to completely take over this Plane, I can’t do what you’re asking. After all, that’s your own business. Shifting that responsibility onto a deity would be downright rude.”

Even if Lin Ye could solve the evil deity problem, he couldn’t make every marriage stable. He had never even been in a relationship with a woman—the first Consciousness he created was a female version of himself. This kind of wish was just asking too much of him.

Lin Ye felt an instinctive aversion to marriage. He had no desire to suppress that instinct, because it was an essential part of who he was.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I thought every wish could come true!”

Catherine quickly apologized, but she didn’t stop to think whether her apology was even appropriate.

The Leader, sitting next to Lin Ye, glanced at him uneasily. A very bad feeling crept over him.

“…Since you’ve said that much, I’ll grant your wish. A deity is all-powerful, and so am I.”

Lin Ye had never been married, but he fully understood the essence of marriage. To keep a marriage stable, all he had to do was ensure love never faded.

When it came down to it, love was just an emotional change influenced by the mind and hormones. He could easily create a spiritual parasite that maintained love, keeping families stable and letting children feel safe forever.

“I’ll make you all love each other… until death do you part.”

Everyone would die happy.

Lin Ye smiled as he made his promise.

“Ah… are you a little angry?”

Catherine asked cautiously.

“Of course not. I never get angry… and even if I did, I’d get my revenge immediately.”

Lin Ye set down his utensils and pushed the remaining dishes across the table to the other side.

The Leader sitting next to Lin Ye let out a sigh. It had been a long time since he’d felt like he was stuck with such useless allies. After all, as a cult leader, he needed to turn his allies into sacrificial offerings—the worse they were, the better.

“Let’s go. To your cult headquarters. You’ve been researching for all these years—you must have come up with something useful, right? Don’t tell me you don’t even know where that evil deity’s true body is.”

Lin Ye stood up and stretched. This was the first time he was going to fight a deity. Even though its state was clearly abnormal—probably with some issues—a deity was still a deity. It was far above his level, and not something he could just casually provoke.

If this weren’t an Exploration Mission issued by the System, he wouldn’t even dare to casually check the situation.

“Do you need to bring these people along? I can prepare anything else you need.”

Before coming to negotiate, the Leader had been closely monitoring Lin Ye’s movements. He needed to figure out what this suddenly appearing deity was all about.

If Lin Ye hadn’t been constantly protecting the surrounding civilians, the Leader wouldn’t have come to negotiate with him so openly.

“No need. There should be plenty of cultists at the headquarters, right? Just hand those over to me to deal with. After the evil deity is taken care of, they’ll be useless anyway.”

Lin Ye wasn’t about to drag these civilians into a fight with a deity. The cultists were another matter.

Just as they treated ordinary people as sacrificial offerings, Lin Ye could treat them as expendable resources. That was true fairness.

“Fine. But there are also some spiritual energy users and researchers at the headquarters who know the truth. They’re normal people who’ve dedicated themselves to humanity’s survival. Please show them mercy.”

The Leader didn’t care about the cultists’ lives at all. If he didn’t need them as sacrifices, he would have cleaned out the trash long ago.

“I’ll make my own judgment.”

Lin Ye glanced at the red wooden chest resting on Catherine’s legs. He had sensed that destroying the chest would trigger something bad. Even touching it with his Alienated Body gave him that feeling. This situation was likely related to the evil deity.

“I’m coming too. You’ve had me holding onto your true body all this time—there must be a reason, right?”

Catherine stood up, clutching the red wooden chest. A half-eaten piece of bread was still clamped between her teeth.

“Mm. I might need your help dealing with the evil deity. But I really can’t guarantee your safety in the coming battle. Are you sure you want to come?”

The Leader opened a portal. Lin Ye sent an Alienated Body through it to check the situation on the other side.

“Mm. Please let me walk this last stretch with you. I’m willing to accept any outcome.”

Catherine patted her little sister’s head and followed Lin Ye through the portal.

On the other side of the portal was a courtyard filled with colorful flowers. Beyond the courtyard lay the massive cult headquarters.

“Through our research on deity power, we found the spatial coordinates of the deity’s true body. I’ve sent people through teleportation to those coordinates many times, but they all vanished.”

Reaching those coordinates required establishing a permanent portal. That portal was located beneath the courtyard.

This courtyard was the core of the cult headquarters—a forbidden zone. Only those in the know could approach this place.