As soon as the question broke the silence, the audience hall erupted with voices of spectators. I couldn't make out a single word in this noise, but they clearly found the situation more interesting than a TV-melodrama.
I met the eyes of the Goddess of Bees. Her insect expression told me very little—but I had time to ask Dalmanrach about her.
The Goddess of Bees' hatred for the God of Humanity was no secret, as was its reason—as awful as she was.
She hated him because he was winning! Only a few species not allied with humans had enough influence to even compare, and most of them were parasitizing on humans somehow—like cockroaches or AIDS.
Yes, there was a God of AIDS, alongside the gods of other viruses and bacteria. There really were a *lot* of gods.
What mattered right now, though, was that although the Goddess of Bees hated the very idea of my offer, she wanted to be winning, too. That, and I still had something to use against her.
"Yes, venerable Goddess of Bees! This alliance, surely, would bring a lot of success to both you and the esteemed God of Humanity. Especially if you use this opportunity and vote for activating the 'fast evolution' rule in the world Earth-Omega-0048!"
There was more noise from the audience hall. God of Humanity raised his brows in surprise.
I made the most pleading expression I could.
"Please! After all… everybody can confirm, sure, how *fast* my family's evolution was until now. By pure luck, or something else—I wouldn't know, I'm just a human-bee. Bee-human. Beeman. My life would be so short and pitiful without something like fast evolution… Which I tasted earlier by pure accident, and which let me live until this moment."
"What are you trying to say, foolish mortal!?" the Goddess of Bees hissed.
"I think this is a splendid idea!" The God of Humanity said smugly. "I offered you an alliance before, Goddess of Bees, and you've been stubbornly refusing all this while. Now even your own subjects ask you for one! Just agree, and I will forget all the nonsense we even started this court case with. Then, we can immediately vote for fast evolution rules so that Dick doesn't keep off in a few months of Earth-Omega-0048 time."
I nodded eagerly, then put on a sorrowful face.
"This is the only way for me and my family. Without these rules, my life will be so short that I feel like I have *nothing to lose at all*. Wouldn't it be better to just bury this entire conflict and march forward all together?"
This was a bold lie. Of course, I still had plenty of things to lose. Even if I assumed that my lifespan wouldn't increase again—not just my short-living wife and daughters, but the next generations of my descendants.
But I doubted the Goddess of Bees ever took such things into consideration. Unlike the penalty she will get if I expose her cheating with systems.
She was silent for a while, and I felt the oppressive weight of her stare on me. Measuring how far I would go… But I was a cornered rat, and I met her square on.
Suddenly, she clicked her mandibles gleefully.
"This is how you speak, mortal? How *pitifully* desperate. By the way, did you know that time in this little world moves much slower than in Earth-Omega-0048? Something like an hour here against the day there… Or maybe more—what does it matter?"
I froze in shock with a hanging jaw.
All this time I thought that a day at most will pass until I return—but how many have gone by already? It was impossible to tell in this place! Even my bodily needs felt like an unreliable way to tell.
Several days! Who knew what could happen in a few days?! A *war* could start and end during this time!
'Even Dalmanrach didn't tell me! Fucking hell! Did he think it wasn't important, or was he trying to spare me the gray hair? Fucking fuck over fuck the fuck!'
I pulled on my hair, unable to contain my reaction fully; thankfully, after dropping this bomb on me, the Goddess of Bees turned away.
Although with her massive facetious eyes, I couldn't really tell where she was looking. She was probably still enjoying my suffering inwardly, that bitch...
"I agree to the alliance proposition, God of Humanity. I hope that this marks the end of your *unfounded* offenses with me."
"Finally, you stubborn bee!" The God of Humanity clapped his hands. "Rulekeepers, you can record it—I forgive all of Goddess of Bees' offenses and require no penalties to be placed upon her."
"It has been recorded, God of Humanity," Red Rulekeeper said.
The God of Humanity turned toward me.
"Dick, you are going to be the champion of us *both* on Earth-Omega-0048, so I expect great things from you! Unite both humans and bees by any means necessary, take over the world and rebuild it in your vision, human vision—show that I didn't bother with you for nothing!"
"And of course, we must make sure that our new champion evolves fast enough to not die from old age in a few months. Something like a system will fit him well, I'm sure. Rulekeepers, I enact a vote to activate optional rule 513 on Earth-Omega-0048," the Goddess of Bees said, then turned to me with what felt like a smirk. "It will take a while for all the gods to vote. But not so long that you will die from old age, mortal."
I bowed my head in defeat, but my fists clenched in anger.
'One day… One day I will get to you. Perhaps with Dalmanrach's help…'
What was worse, there was still no guarantee that the vote will pass. In the worst-case scenario, I will be a very short-living champion.
In the best-case scenario, I hoped I will still have the empire to return to by the time voting ends!