Canary raised her head, gazing towards the sky at the center of Little Garden.
Although she couldn't see anything, she knew that at the center of Little Garden, the core region that only single-digit beings could set foot in was now completely engulfed by a pitch-black storm.
The center of this god-made universe, structured like a Baumkuchen, now had a black hole that almost no one could stop.
Now, this black hole was continuously expanding, devouring everything in its path. Single-digits, double-digits, triple-digits... Before long, it would consume all of Little Garden and bring destruction to the infinite multiverses connected to it.
Sensing this catastrophic future, she wasn't filled with constant dread like the divine host, nor did she have a stress reaction out of fear like certain other beings.
After learning about the divine host's current situation from Indra, she slowly withdrew her gaze, swept it across the billions of gods before her, and then asked him.
"Even if you're fleeing a disaster, there's no need to block the gate of our little Arcadia, is there? Besides, some of you don't exactly have the attitude of refugees."
After that sarcastic remark, Canary asked, feigning ignorance.
"So, why exactly are all of you here? Could you give this little lady a unified answer?"
Hearing this, the gods who had been stopped by Indra earlier all frowned.
They all realized Canary was asking this question intentionally.
Why are we clinging to you? Don't you know? This vixen just said it herself, that the End Emptiness was related to them. Is she trying to use this opportunity to get a hold over them?
But before they could voice their dissatisfaction, Indra quickly slapped his own head and asked with a booming voice and a forced smile.
"We heard that you, Canary, are on very good terms with Lord Su Mo. We just wanted to come and ask, what exactly is going on with the End Emptiness?"
The same words, when spoken by other gods, would be filled with condescending pressure. But coming from Indra's mouth, the tone was much softer, even faintly suggesting he saw himself as an inferior.
"Indra, you..."
Canary shook her head. She had wanted to say the divine host wasn't worth him acting like this, but in the end, she didn't say it out loud.
Although she often called Indra a useless god worse than trash, what Canary left unsaid was that in her eyes, the vast majority of deities didn't even qualify as useless gods—they were nothing but decadent parasites.
She naturally understood that Indra was humbling himself before her for the future of the divine host. But the fact that such a massive divine host still needed Indra to negotiate for them, and that they hadn't even reached an internal consensus, made her feel it was somewhat a waste of his effort.
However, whether it was worth it or not was for him to decide. So in the end, she said nothing more and simply asked in a business-like tone.
"If this has nothing to do with Lord Su Mo, what do you plan to do? And if it does have something to do with Lord Su Mo, then what?"
"If it's unrelated, then we are here to tip off Lord Su Mo, to remind him to prepare early! After all, the End Emptiness is no ordinary Demon Lord. Even Lord Su Mo cannot afford to underestimate it."
Indra answered swiftly, as if he had already prepared the script.
"And if it is related to Lord Su Mo... we'd like to ask what kind of big game that lord is playing, and if he could let us in on it?"
With an attitude calculated to be completely inoffensive, Indra stated the divine host's request.
The last sentence sounded like a joke at first, but upon hearing it, Canary showed a slightly surprised expression.
"Let you in on it? You mean, you're willing to submit to Lord Su Mo?"
She directly called out his underlying meaning, asking in surprise.
"I thought that after the subjugation of the Absolute Evil Demon Lord, you all intended to become Lord Su Mo's sworn enemies. I didn't expect you to be able to swallow your pride."
Canary's surprise did not seem feigned.
During the subjugation of the Absolute Evil Demon Lord, some divine pantheons had sided with Su Mo. Even the World-Honored One himself, along with the vast majority of the divine host, had held the attitude that if Su Mo was willing to rule Little Garden with the divine cosmology, they would support and submit to him.
Even the Buddha, the World-Honored One, the de facto leader of the billions of gods, was willing to give up his position to Su Mo.
At that time, had Su Mo agreed, he would have become the true and legitimate master of Little Garden.
But at the time, Su Mo did not accept their request. Not only that, but he also showed a preference for the human-side paradigm over the divine-side paradigm.
This act of refusing to use the divine cosmology was equivalent to uprooting the very foundation of all gods.
Even those gods who, regardless of the consequences, were willing to go all-in and stand by Su Mo simply because he had the courage to face humanity's final trial, hesitated on the spot upon hearing this.
They felt Su Mo was very likely to cause the destruction of Little Garden, let alone the other gods.
If they could have defeated Su Mo, they probably would have treated him as a Demon Lord even more malevolent than Humanity's Final Trial right then and there.
Under these circumstances, while the relationship between the billions of gods and Su Mo couldn't be called one of sworn enemies—the divine host lacked the qualifications in both power and status—it could be described as a complete lack of interaction, born from the divine host's one-sided fear.
It had been less than a few months, yet the divine host's attitude had changed so quickly?
Canary couldn't help but emphasize her reminder.
"You haven't forgotten what Lord Su Mo said, have you?"
The weak submitting to the strong is the way of the world, but submitting to a powerful being who has already declared his intention to uproot your very foundation is not common sense.
"A wise man submits to circumstances! Besides, our divine host isn't entirely composed of arrogant fools who can't see their own place. There are always some who don't mind much whether they stand above human history or not."
"Furthermore, with the End Emptiness upon us, in the face of this ultimate Demon Lord, if we don't choose to trust the only one who might be able to subjugate it, who else can we trust?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the main gods of the Greek pantheon exchanged glances and then all took a step forward.
Garuda of the Buddhist faction, Nezha of the Daoist faction, and other primordial gods and buddhas who had stood with Su Mo during the battle against the Absolute Evil Demon Lord also took a step forward, showing their support for Indra's words.
Perhaps it was due to their own pride, perhaps because the divine host was too deeply bound to human history, or perhaps it was out of personal admiration.
But regardless, they now showed a unified stance: they were willing to support Su Mo's reformation of Little Garden's future, and willing to support Su Mo in defeating the End Emptiness in his own way.
Seeing the judgment of these gods, especially the familiar faces of her teachers among them, Canary showed a hint of relief and gratification.
"A fine resolution!"
She clapped her hands in praise, then looked at the vast majority of the others who seemed tempted but hadn't moved, and added.
"However, just how many of you actually think that way?"