Chapter 155: The Problem

"Gods are not omnipotent. They cannot create natural disasters entirely at will; rather, certain catalysts and preconditions are required."

Kael answered, knowing full well what the black dragon was worrying about.

The Xia Nation frequently defined natural disasters as force majeure. As the name implied, their capacity to resist natural disasters was actually not very strong, and could even be described as extremely fragile.

Consequently, they were inevitably deeply concerned that if they fell out with deities and were subsequently punished by them with natural disasters, the Xia Nation would undoubtedly suffer catastrophic losses.

"From this perspective, our material realm is actually much better off than their Earth side. The vast majority of natural disasters do not arrive out of nowhere without warning; there are usually certain precursors, and they might even be interrupted."

"Putting it that way, can I assume... if a deity wishes to destroy a mortal kingdom, it isn't actually all that easy?"

Hearing this, Huang Ze felt a surge of encouragement in his heart.

He had always been somewhat apprehensive that those deities would cast aside all principles of martial virtue, openly abuse their authority, and use their divine powers to manufacture natural disasters against the Xia Nation. Under such circumstances, the Xia Nation's situation would undoubtedly become extremely dangerous and difficult.

"It is not that easy, but neither is it that difficult."

Kael replied with a calm expression, "After all, compared to natural disasters, man-made calamities are often far more terrifying in their destructiveness."

"Historically, powerful empires with populations exceeding tens of millions often failed to last many years when targeted by deities. Conversely, small tribes with total populations of only a few thousand, or even a few hundred, frequently stood tall and unshaken when defying gods."

"The situation of the Xia Nation is very unique. It possesses a population of over a billion, and its people are generally well-educated, with relatively free thoughts and speech..."

"Naturally, this leads to the difficulty of unifying people's thoughts and consensus... When confronting deities, a large population is not necessarily an advantage, and can easily become a breakthrough point instead!"

***

There was truth to this!

Huang Ze deeply agreed. Sometimes, man-made disasters were indeed far more terrifying than natural ones. Natural disasters only destroyed the physical bodies of mortals; as long as the spirit remained unbroken, there were ample opportunities to make a comeback.

What man-made calamities destroyed, however, was easily the entire civilization of humankind. Once the wrong path was taken, the descent into damnation was often irreversible.

"...Tell me about your Lord!"

Huang Ze continued to probe, "What is His name, what year did He join... Ah, no, what year was He promoted to the God of Light? How is His romantic life, and what are His interpersonal relationships with other deities? Do you see Him often, and do you frequently witness Him taking action?"

***

Kael looked at the black dragon with a bizarre expression, not only because these questions already constituted blasphemy against her Lord, but also because the black dragon could discuss a deity so blatantly and flippantly. Was it truly not afraid of divine sanctions?

"...No."

Kael bypassed the preceding questions and replied directly, "Although my Lord rather enjoys being in the public eye and frequently displays a certain approachability, in reality, He does not have much contact with us."

"Even the archangels closest to Him rarely get to gaze upon His true visage or listen to His teachings."

"As for taking action... aside from some divine wars in the early days, the conflicts between deities nowadays are not nearly as sharp as they used to be. The vast majority of disputes are handed over to subordinate angels to resolve, and They rarely descend personally..."

"Do you think your Lord could withstand a fifty-megaton nuclear warhead?"

The black dragon's questions grew increasingly outrageous.

***

Kael's face darkened. Even though she was no longer the angel of absolute loyalty to the God of Light that she once was, she still felt a lingering displeasure regarding the black dragon's inquiry.

"...I suppose not."

After a long silence, Kael gave her answer. "Deities are not indestructible; otherwise, so many deities would not have fallen throughout history."

"Moreover, I have perused some physics texts and am well aware of how terrifying a fifty-megaton nuclear warhead is. Its core temperature can even reach hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius. That is definitely something no deity could endure!"

"Are you that certain?"

"Of course. The strength of a deity lies in their divine authority and priesthood. Once they leave their field of expertise or their comfort zone, they might not even be much stronger than you dragons!"

Kael answered with absolute conviction.

"Very good!"

The black dragon's gaze finally softened somewhat—not merely because of the information Kael had divulged, but because an angel dared to utter such words.

This indicated that her sense of awe toward the deities had thinned considerably, marking a highly successful ideological transformation!

"If the Xia Nation goes to war with your Heaven's Mount, assuming the God of Light is not permitted to personally intervene, what do you think the Xia Nation's chances of winning are?"

***

Hearing this question, Kael's face finally turned pitch black, and she said coldly, "I refuse to answer that question!"

"Why won't you answer?"

The black dragon expressed some dissatisfaction, "I was merely asking you to hypothesize, why take it so seriously?"

No matter what, Kael refused to make any response. It seemed she still held some emotional attachment to that place called Heaven's Mount.

Seeing that Kael remained tight-lipped, the black dragon had no choice but to change the subject. "You angels, what kind of creatures are you precisely?"

"Do you also experience physiological cycles, aging, illness, and death, as well as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness?"

***

Kael frowned. She fundamentally disliked answering the black dragon's questions, feeling they were far too erratic and bizarre.

Yet, bound by the oath she had taken, failing to answer would leave her deeply unsettled. Thus, she could only reply in a muffled voice: "We angels are perfect beings and do not possess physiological cycles."

"As for aging, illness, and death... I cannot say they are entirely nonexistent, but they are clearly far less pronounced than in other creatures."

"Regarding joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness... the emotional systems of angels are rather solemn, and our reactions in those respects are somewhat sluggish."

"I heard that you angels are hermaphroditic. Is that true?"

The black dragon eyed Kael's nearly flawless physique, unable to suppress its curiosity.

"You!"

Kael turned furious, her psychological defenses successfully breached once more. She instinctively assumed that the Xia Nation must have discussed this matter with the black dragon.

When she had previously fallen into the hands of the Xia people, she might not have been studied inside and out, but her external physical characteristics had certainly been thoroughly observed. They might even have photographed or recorded her for the benefit of subsequent researchers.

It was fortunate that angels lacked physiological cycles and did not periodically release eggs; otherwise, the Xia people might well have arranged artificial insemination for her!