"I knew it!!!"

"I knew it! The central AI wouldn’t abandon us! As expected, the AI must be demonstrating its newly developed wormhole technology to the entire Octopus race!"

"..."

Many Octopuses in the Upper Level District stared at the massive Star Gate with bewilderment, but even more of them let out a long sigh of relief.

In any case, the situation wasn’t the worst-case scenario they had envisioned, and that was good enough.

"Wormhole technology?"

"Impossible! That kind of technology should only exist in theory! It’s only been three hundred-odd years. Even for an Intelligent Mechanism lifeform, it should be absolutely impossible to achieve this!"

At this moment, on the ground level, some descendants of the Octopus race’s political leaders from three hundred years ago were hiding in a Bunker, watching the scene unfold in disbelief.

Besides the descendants of corporate elders in the Upper Level District, there were also survivors from the ground-level resistance who knew the truth about the central AI.

Therefore, faced with the bizarre appearance of the wormhole, these Octopuses all wore expressions of utter shock.

And now, within a subterranean military fortress on the ground level, home to the descendants of the resistance, an Octopus standing beside several resistance fighters suddenly spoke in a strange tone:

"Wormhole technology? I guess you could call it that."

"But this wasn’t created by that central AI you’re thinking of."

The moment this Octopus spoke, the others around it turned to look at it, their faces blank with confusion.

"Lutz, what are you talking about?"

"Is what I’m saying so hard to understand?"

"I’m saying, are you guys stupid? You can’t even see it?"

"This so-called wormhole wasn’t created by the AI you think it was. Otherwise, why do you think it has its Starship cannons aimed at the wormhole?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The Octopus spoke as if no one else was there, ignoring the others’ astonishment and their suddenly wary expressions as it continued muttering to itself:

"The only thing I don’t get is, what the hell are our guys on the other side up to?"

"Why didn’t they automatically return our consciousnesses after the recon mission failed? There isn’t even a battle instance. This is really strange!"

"And with things as they are, it really feels like your AI already knows everything. Even the fact that it started broadcasting this globally in advance is suspicious."

As the Octopus was muttering this, it suddenly spoke again in surprise, under the watchful gaze of the other Octopuses who now had their guns trained on it:

"Huh? I can log off voluntarily now?"

"If I log off, I can’t get this temporary game body again? Hmph. This Octopus body is worthless anyway."

This oblivious attitude was, without a doubt, a reflection of the subliminally superior mindset of a ’Player’.

"You! Who the hell are you?!"

"What did you do to Lutz?!"

At this, the Player looked at the armed Octopuses surrounding it and suddenly chuckled. "Alright, don’t be so tense. This body is pretty awkward to use. You can have it back. See you around..."

As the Player’s voice faded, the Octopus surrounded by the others suddenly rolled its eyes back and collapsed bonelessly to the ground.

Seeing this, all the surrounding Octopuses were stunned, staring at one another in confusion.

"Leader, Lutz’s vitals are normal. Scans show he’s not a robot in disguise, the Gene match is perfect, and we can’t detect any Intelligent Mechanism Chip in his brain."

"But... what just happened?"

An Octopus holding some kind of scanning device swept it over the unconscious body, but the results were contrary to everyone’s expectations.

"What in the world is going on?"

"An enemy of the Intelligent Mechanism? The work of an extraterrestrial civilization?"

Recalling everything ’Lutz’ had just said, one of the surrounding Octopuses suddenly ventured this guess.

"None of that matters now. Everyone, look here. I think we’re about to get all the answers."

Suddenly, a vice-leader of the resistance drew everyone’s attention back to the projected video feed.

At that moment, on the feed being forcibly broadcast across the entire Intelligent Mechanism Star by the central AI, the rainbow-colored portal suddenly began to ripple.

As a shimmering membrane seemed to bulge outward, in the next moment, a gigantic being—one that surpassed the comprehension of all Octopuses, including even Intelligent Mechanism Anita—appeared.

It was a terrifying giant deer, its body more than ten thousand meters long.

The giant deer radiated a verdant, divine light. Bathed in its glow, the entire expanse of Space seemed to faintly echo with a whispered song of praise.

And this song of praise was, without a doubt, being sung by the countless transparent, luminous figures that floated around the giant deer’s body.

The sound was not limited by the vacuum of space, transmitting directly into the minds of every living being who laid eyes upon the Deity.

The flesh-and-blood body of the giant deer Deity was over ten kilometers long, at least twice the size of the largest Starship of the Intelligent Mechanism Star.

Not to mention the sacred, luminous figures it generated, or the song of praise that resounded in one’s mind even when just watching through a video feed.

One can only imagine the visual impact of such a being, a lifeform so far beyond the comprehension of the Octopuses, appearing before them!!!

"My God! What in the world is that?!"

"This... this... Are you sure this isn’t a CGI image from the terminal’s AI? How could a creature like this possibly exist in reality?"

"No, could this be one of those... religious-type Deities? The kind our Octopus race worshipped back in the Age of Ignorance? A god?"

"..."

It must be said that in the nascent stages of life and the dawn of intellect, intelligent life will always unconsciously go through a process of nature worship. Therefore, it is inevitable that cultural traditions involving Deities would have a period of prevalence.