All the dwarves powered up their cultivation to the max. At that moment, the entire gigantic and luxurious building started to shake. Mistie widened her eyes, realizing they were surrounded by cultivators as powerful as she was. There was no way to escape.
"HOW DARE YOU!" she roared, and all her power exploded from her small body.
The dwarves snorted, their eyes burning with rage. "You’ll pay for trying to deceive us!"
It lasted a second, and everyone was ready to attack. But before the order could be given, the red-haired dwarf woman raised a hand, signaling the dwarves to stop.
Silence fell, and the dwarves were confused and surprised. The woman moved, slowly walking towards the whale, her eyes fixed on him.
Alm and Bruno internally grunted, feeling something about her. Around the red-haired dwarf’s neck, hidden under her clothes, was a necklace with something that vibrated as if it was directly connected to them.
When she reached the whale, the dwarf put her hand inside the collar of her light armor and took out the necklace with the small stone. The stone vibrated and pulsed like it was about to explode. All the dwarves around saw it, and it was like they were struck by lightning, leaving them stunned.
She took the stone off the necklace and placed it in her palm. Magically, the stone floated by itself and moved towards the whale.
Her eyes and those of all the dwarves trembled. In seconds, the synchronized sound of all the dwarves dropping to the ground was heard. They all knelt as if they were in front of something unbelievable and inconceivable.
The dwarf woman clenched her fists and spoke in a trembling tone. "Welcome, sir. We’ve been waiting for you... for a long time."
"Hm?" The whale snorted and grabbed the stone. Immediately, something flowed from within it, like it was a key to something that completed him.
Alm and Bruno felt time stop. Then, the stone moved away from them and a small shadow appeared. It was an old dwarf holding a rustic hammer. He stared at the whale with surprised eyes and then spoke.
"How strange... you seem incomplete."
"Are you the Forge God?" The whale asked, but they both already knew the answer within themselves.
"Indeed, I was called that in the past," he replied calmly. "We don’t have much time; this is just a remnant of my soul and will. Why are you not complete?"
"If you say I’m incomplete... hmm... then you probably know I’m an emissary of Heaven’s Will, right?" The whale spoke calmly and saw the dwarf nod. "I’m different from the others; Heaven’s Will didn’t give me complete knowledge of its Dao. It divided everything into levels and makes me do things for it in exchange for more."
"I see... well, for you to live in her universe and not get caught, the methods must be different." The dwarf nodded and put his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Well, this is unexpected, but I think it won’t compromise anything."
The whale snorted. "What do you intend? Explain yourself, I don’t work for free."
"Of course, neither do I. First off, I’m already dead," he responded lightly.
Alm and Bruno nodded. Deities were mortals who managed to complete their own Dao and were given the title of Gods. A few, thanks to some unknown factor, reached the immortal realms and lived forever, like the Devil God they encountered. This was rare, and all mortal Gods eventually died, but their Dao remained eternal, always being remembered. This was the dream of all mortals seeking divinity.
He continued. "I was born in this universe just like that greedy woman. We were born in the same generation, and I watched her slowly ascend. But eventually, my time was coming, and I couldn’t accept the things she was doing. So, I planned something secretly."
"The God of Merchants was the only dominant force in trade across the universe. So, I created another parallel merchant group, the Worshippers of the God of Wealth, and the Gray Sky Commerce. This god doesn’t exist, but I used my influence and powers to make everyone believe in his existence. His purpose was to gain wealth through means the God of Merchants didn’t allow, and by doing so, secretly destroy the competition. But this destruction was also part of the plan."
Alm and Bruno listened, surprised. This kind of competition didn’t exist in other universes. That’s why the people of the Larimar market preferred to burn a lot of resources to build something secure and ensure they did business with the disciples of the Forge God, who were them.
The dwarf continued calmly: "The basis of my actions was because I had seen some missionaries, and they were all stupid and arrogant. None of them wanted to learn my Dao. Everyone I tried to help when I was still alive said that forging was something external and not part of their own power. If they needed good weapons, they could take them by force with their own power."
"So, I understood that the missionary who chose this path would be someone special. And the one who could live in this universe using my Dao would be someone who could go far and possibly defeat her. My Dao wasn’t made for myself; I create things, and my children are for the world. I don’t sell my creations, only my disciples do because they need to live. Everything I made, I gave to someone I deemed worthy and in need of power."
Alm and Bruno nodded, feeling a bit odd. They chose this Dao because it was something they could use to sell and gain resources. If they had the option to buy something that greatly increased their power, they would’ve chosen that. But since the system only gave them scraps, they had to rise gradually. In the end, they were kind of using this Dao to strengthen their allies, which wasn’t too far from the dwarf’s ideal.
The dwarf quickly continued, sensing his time was running out: "My plans were simple. There is a galaxy in this universe called Cyan Hammer. There, the dwarves are dominant, and the laws of its center are highly appreciated by the queen. The dwarves have never fallen because of this, and the God of Merchants will always be worshipped."
"The parallel commerce was created to precisely attack the worshippers of the God of Merchants. The reason you will discover easily. But, with my hammer that I left for you, it will be easy to destroy them. I did everything so that the missionary could defeat them, and thus, the dwarves would worship you. And with your power as a missionary, you will free them from that woman’s grasp."
"It was something to trick my own race into trusting the missionary. But they have many things that will be useful to you. The Larimar market, which is very strong in the galaxy, is just one of them," he said seriously. "The second is that, after destroying the worshippers of the God of Wealth, you will gain everything the Gray Sky Commerce accumulated under my orders. They destroyed the worshippers of the God of Merchants to steal the divinity coming from this god’s Dao in his followers."
As soon as he finished, his image began to fade quickly. He spoke seriously, looking into the whale’s eyes: "This is something that should be impossible to find these days... that woman must have taken everything for herself. Is the payment for helping my race enough?"
The whale listened in silence. It seemed good enough; they just nodded positively, and the dwarf smiled contentedly and said:
"Great. There’s also one more thing... I recorded that you would be my reincarnation. And my hammer is the treasure of my family, passed down to its descendants. I... thought only a dwarf would be interested in my Dao..."
His image disappeared completely, and only his last words were heard before everything ended: "Anyway, you have to be in the family to receive my hammer. Some dwarf woman from my royal family should be at least minimally agreeable to you, right?"
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