Death… And Me

Chapter 4219: Did I?

Rean actually didn’t know what to do with her. Sure, she caused a lot of problems, killed many, all that. But it is a fact that she was also the reason Soul Gem managed to get to Lisan Universe. Ultimately, they prevented the Werdlem Empire from taking control over absolutely everything.

If we really go deep into it, had she not come, Rean would never have received the system and would have had just a normal life back on Earth until he died of old age. Or maybe Romario would have frozen him in those capsules like he did to Rean’s mother from Earth. Who knows?

”Soul Gem, you brought her here, and you know her better than I do. It is up to you to decide what should be done,” Rean decided to leave it up to Soul Gem.

Soul Gem shrugged. ”I don’t even need to see or hear it to know that Roan is probably calling you naive right now from the Dimensional Realm. That you should have just killed her and that’s it.”

Rean bitterly smiled. Yes, Roan did exactly that just a second ago.

Soul Gem turned to Tuana. ”But I’m grateful to you for allowing me to decide.”

”What?” Tuana noticed Soul Gem’s gaze. ”Are you making me your slave or something? I’d rather die.”

Soul Gem smiled, his attention going back to Rean. ”Do you know a good thing about being a Universe Owner? You also have control over the Chaos Origin Source.”

Rean was puzzled. ”I do know that. But what does that have to do with anything?”

Soul Gem pointed at Tuana. ”Doesn’t she want the Chaos Origin Source so she can return to Turmaloid? Well, how about you connect her to it and make her a guardian of the Chaos Origin Source instead? If it ever gets out of here or is destroyed, she would lose her life.”

”You!” Tuana really did not expect that. ”Are you trying to humiliate me? I told you I’m not going to become anyone’s slave!”

”What slave?” Soul Gem asked back, puzzled. ”You would simply have to protect the Chaos Origin Source and this Universe. Other than that, you would be free to do as you wish.”

”That’s the same shit!” Tuana stood her ground.

Rean was confused, though. ”Soul Gem, that doesn’t seem very wise... You are basically saying she could take control of this Universe one day if we go with what you said. Other than never harming the Universe itself, she would be free to do as she pleases.”

Soul Gem confirmed. ”Precisely, and allowing her the necessary freedom is what we need if we want to get the best of her. I do think she would be a great leader in a general sense. She is truly sharp, knows how to manage gigantic organizations, manage resources, maintain a network of information, place the right spies and whatnot in the right places, and she would definitely expand all of it beyond Lisan. I don’t think you can find anyone better for this kind of job than her.”

”But she...” Rean wanted to say something, until he realised... ”Wait, if she can’t take the Chaos Origin Source away...”

Soul Gem was happy Rean noticed. ”If she can’t do that, she simply doesn’t have any reason to cause trouble. Well, maybe revenge, but Tuana isn’t someone who makes a move for something as ridiculous as that. Have I ever told you why she was banished from the Turmaloid Empire?”

Now, Rean’s attention got piqued. ”That very much interests me.”

Tuana finally lost her patience. ”Shut up! Why are you progressing the conversation without me? Who said I would do that? I’m a Turmaloid Empire Direct Descendant! Who the hell would want to be the leader of a meaningless, tiny Universe in the middle of nowhere? I wouldn’t even be its Owner, just some kind of piece of shit caretaker for you lot!”

Soul Gem put his hands on his back and began to walk around Tuana with a smile. ”Tiny and meaningless, uh? Let me ask you, how many Universes does Turmaloid have where their owners are Real Celestials? Not Celestials who became that with the Root Eggs, but the real deal? Peak Stage Ones and Balance Breakers on top of that? Even better, how many of them have four Universe Owners, all fitting the same description for that one single Universe?”

Tuana felt something wasn’t right as her eyes followed Soul Gem while he walked. ”What are you trying to say?”

Soul Gem continued. ”Turmaloid is indeed quite a big Empire. Now that we are connected to the Garisan Network, it was easy to check Turmaloid’s condition, and Turmaloid is definitely on par with Garisan. However, compared to the Werdlem Empire, for example, let’s be honest, they are still quite the small fry.”

”You aren’t an idiot. You definitely got the reports we passed to our friends when the twins’ group returned. You know everything that has been said and have a good idea of where we stand. I’ll say it straight, realistically speaking, Turmaloid only has two experts who could possibly rival Rean’s group. They are so strong that it wouldn’t be a lie to say Rean, Roan, Celis, and Kentucky could invade a Rank B Universe, where they could utilize their full power, and conquer it. Hell, they have the support of the Primordial Demon Beasts, all ninety-nine of them!”

”Last but not least, the four of them will, without a doubt, get to the Celestial Plane one day. Do you really want to go back to Turmaloid just to be their princess? Is that position really something that great? Sorry for destroying your dream, but even if you go back there and take that position back, you would still never become the Empress for obvious reasons. Here, you could be part of something truly big, a Celestial Plane level of greatness.”

Tuana would be lying if she said those words didn’t shake her a little. ”S-So what? I would still be nothing but a slave, trapped in this shit forever. I might not be mind-controlled or anything like that, but it would be a kind of imprisonment regardless. What would the Celestial Plane have to do with me anyway?”

That was the moment Soul Gem struck deep. ”Who said you will be imprisoned here? I just said that you would be connected to Lisan’s Chaos Origin Source, and if it were ever stolen or destroyed, you would die as a result. I’ve never said you had to stay here, did I?”