“Anyone care to fill me in?” Lilliana turned to the two.

From the start, the three of them should be heading to where Nash went.

It was solely Rex’s intention to take out the Gardeners despite being advised not to.

But it seemed there was more to that intention than simply the thirst for power.

Davina was the first one to realize his intention, as Rex doesn’t seem to mind her killing the Gardener.

Since he didn’t react when she killed a Gardener, he must also be planning on doing that right after Zev complained about luring eight more Godlings their way, before being released from their clutches. Or at least, that’s what it looked like from Lilliana’s perspective.

She was the only one who hadn’t realized what was going on.

“Why don’t you explain to her how you found out?” Rex looked at Davina. “I’m also curious.”

“You’re a werewolf—so it’s true that you’re a slave to anger. But nobody who is a slave to anger would rise as high as you did,” Davina shrugged, almost like she was explaining something simple. “I simply deduce you’re trying to achieve something by devouring Godlings.

“And since you made a deal with Zev, you must’ve decided to trust that he’d deliver. It’s easier now to control him since, based on how he looked and acted when talking about the Gardeners, there was a level of care he had for them. Threatening him with the Gardeners would work.”

For a second, Rex digested what Davina said and couldn’t help but be impressed.

She was able to process all of that in moments and reached the right conclusion.

If she was wrong. If Rex wasn’t planning to use the Gardeners to threaten Zev, then things would go south really quickly. But this only meant she was certain about her deduction to make the leap. Good thing we’re on the same side. Otherwise, things wouldn’t go that smoothly in the Spirit Realm.

‘Though I said that,’ Davina stole a glance at Rex. ‘He grasped how things work faster than I. He has an inclination to believe from the start that the Gardeners are important for Zev, even before asking Zev to explain.’

Just earlier, Rex made a deal with Zev to lure a few Godlings.

He specifically told Zev not to leave his territory, or else the deal would be annulled.

But the sheer fact that Rex asked Zev, a Godling native to this realm, to lure his kind meant that from the very start, Rex already had a suspicion that the Gardeners were important for Zev. Davina only came to realize that when Zev talked about the mass-produced artifacts.

Rex, on the other hand, realized the Gardeners’ importance way before that.

Or at least had a feeling before being certain after asking Zev about the Gardeners.

Had that not been the case, Rex wouldn’t have insinuated making a deal with Zev since he could easily turn on them, turning to attack them with the other Godlings. But since he was too worried about his slaves, he didn’t take that risk.

‘He looked impressed.’ Davina looked at him, nodding at her deduction. ‘But he’s sharper than me.’

“I have the ability to adapt to those I devoured,” Rex nodded as he watched the Gardeners standing across from them passively, not daring to even move an inch. “It’ll be a serious weakness if we can’t sense the energy these Godlings were using, so I need to devour more of them.”

“We…?” Lilliana raised a brow. “What do you mean by we?”

“Sometimes, when I adapt through this ability, the other pack members would also naturally adapt,” Rex lied. He got the useful Sudden Quest that’d share his growth in this particular moment, so Davina and Lilliana would also grow alongside him. “So, yes… You two are going to have the ability to sense the energy in this realm, too.”

Lilliana nodded eagerly.

She hadn’t really thought much when she accepted Rex’s offer to become a Silverstar. But now that she was one, she couldn’t help but feel the rush of excitement that had long gone from her. Growing stronger in the Spirit Realm was tedious and outright boring most of the time.

It takes time. A very long time to even advance a single sub-rank.

However, things are becoming more exciting now that she’s with Rex.

It felt like the sky wasn’t even the limit.

“And is there a reason for asking for ten Godlings? Does it always have to be ten?”

“No, not always. But that’s a good number.”

“One, two, three…” Lilliana turned around and pointed at the Gardeners, counting them from left to right. “There are six of them, including the dead one. Added to the two we killed earlier, you can have eight already, but you didn’t ask Zev only for two.

“Don’t tell me,” She spun—covering her mouth in a fake, teasing surprise, “Are you actually going to spare them because of us?”

“Err…” Rex stood up and turned away. “Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s because these Gardeners have the Curse of the Cavity. I don’t know exactly what that is, so devouring their masters is safer. It’s not like that at all.”

He walked away, deciding to take a look around to see more of the Primordial Meadow.

From behind, Lilliana tugged Davina with her elbow.

“He’s definitely sparing them because of us.”

“Us? Hmph!” Davina crossed her arms. “It’s because of ME. Not you.”

“Sure, sister… Sure,” Lilliana giggled, seeing how cute her sister was acting. “Whatever you say.”

Leaving the sisters to babysit the Gardeners and wait for Zev to return, Rex went to explore the meadow to properly map the surrounding area. He wanted to know how big Zev’s territory was—and whether it was the same for the other Godlings.

Considering the Godlings nearby were at the same divinity as him, it should be fine for him to roam.

It took Rex over half an hour to cross into the neighbouring territory, which was marked by the sudden shift of the trees’ color, and reach its far end. He used the System to tally the distance as he moved, and found that Zev’s territory and this neighbouring Godling’s territory were not anywhere near identical in size.

Zev’s stretched for one hundred miles, while this one barely cleared fifty.

As for the Gardeners, it seems like Zev was on the higher strata.

Rex only found three Gardeners in this territory, which was only half of what Zev had. It became more and more apparent that there was also a class system in this Southern Cavity of the Primordial Meadow, or perhaps in the Primordial Meadow in general.

Arriving on Zev’s territory was quite lucky for them.

Since the Godling in this territory was certainly weaker than Zev, Rex decided to risk it.

He scoured the entire place in search of the Godling.

Not to kill the Godling, but to find where exactly they are living. A garrison at the heart. Or perhaps he’d encounter a road that’d lead him to their settlements, which was the one Nash talked about. As he searched the northern area of the territory, he found an anomaly.

It was easy to find anomalies with the System constantly scanning the area as he moved.

Rex basically has an advanced radar that made things easier.

A mile away, something rose from the landscape—a massive and forbidding structure, built entirely of iron and steel. At its base, surrounding the entire citadel like a moat of color, stretched fields of Baby-blue Periwinkles.

Each flower seemed placed with purpose. Cultivated. Guarded. Watched.

Occasionally, the wall sparkled and bathed the field of flowers with glowing powders.

Just one look at the citadel alone made it clear that it was where the Godling in charge of this particular area lived. And the Gardeners are probably the ones who made the field of flowers from the plucked Baby-blue Periwinkles across the territory.

Rex circled around him like a predator stalking its hunting ground.

He took in the structure, any hidden defensive mechanisms, and even the inhabitants of the citadel.

Surprisingly enough, the citadel wasn’t barren as he thought it would.

People moved inside and out—walking, patrolling, guarding the citadel. All are wearing identical armor. Normal enough. But then he noticed that he felt nothing from them. His senses couldn’t sense any aura coming from these people.

He couldn’t even smell their scents as if they weren’t there at all.

Not to mention, upon a closer look, he realized that they weren’t wearing armor. They were armor.

Initially, he thought that these people were illusions, but this made it clear that they were real.

Summoned creatures if he had to guess.

And when he scanned these people with the System, true enough, the race section stated that they were Iron Golems. From asking further details through the System, he learned that the Iron Golems were all summoned through the Iron Oustification.

But why do the Godlings here need a citadel and protectors?

Considering that the Primordial Meadow was directly under the Overseer of Realms, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Yes, perhaps there are lesser beings who stumbled into this realm, like the case of Nash or even Rex, but that shouldn’t be a problem for the Godling.

Lesser beings are far weaker than they are.

Based on the Godlings he met, all of them were extremely proud.

Rex was quite certain that they wouldn’t create a fortification like this if they were only dealing with those from the lower planes. Even if someone threatened to kill them, he was sure the Godlings would rather die than view lesser beings as an evident threat.

Something more is going on in this realm.

I wonder what could possibly be the threat in the God Realm.

Shaking his head, Rex turned to leave.

His eyes caught something.

“Hmm…” He went down on one knee and looked through the ground. “What is this nexus?”

Right underneath the surface of the ground, Rex could see a faintly glowing nexus of glowing lines. The lines were pulsating with something that he couldn’t sense, which should mean that it was the energy that he couldn’t sense.

He scanned it with the System.

<Scanning…>

<Notice: It’s a collective nexus of networks that originated from the divine core of the area.>

“Divine source?” Rex’s gaze traced the glowing lines as they stretched toward a corner of the territory he’d yet to explore. He scanned his surroundings again—ensuring no one watched. Then, with a casual shrug, he decided to check, “Might as well.”

Rex followed the glowing lines, but they led to another territory.

Unlike the meadow behind him, the land ahead lay barren. Dead trees clawed at the sky like skeletal hands. And something about the territory ahead made him feel uneasy. A weight he couldn’t shake. So, he didn’t cross over.

Not right now.

Just the ominous air was warning enough for him to stop.

Moreover, the glowing lines kept stretching onward, deeper into the dead place.

He wasn’t anywhere close to where they led to, without a doubt.

“I’ll ask Zev about this. Or maybe Nash knew,” Rex turned around and headed back.

Despite the pressure on his back, Zev managed to deliver.

For the next few hours, Rex and the sisters hunted down the Godlings that Zev lured towards his territory through a myriad of approaches. But gathering eight more is simply too hard to do in such a short span of time.

Zev only managed to draw in two more.

That made four Godlings devoured, still more than halfway to completing the Sudden Quest. He wanted to push more, but Davina whispered to him that it’s not good to pressure Zev more than this, as reckless mistakes are bound to happen if he did.

And those mistakes would only bite them later.

So, Rex decided to give him time.

As insurance, the whip would be kept by Rex until he delivered the rest of the Godlings.

Once the matter was cleared, they met up with Nash again.