"No matter what, this bet is far too serious." Ishtar was also taken aback by the price of losing: "What if you win? Will He commit suicide if He wins?"
“No, if I win, He can’t care about the lives of Leviathan and Samael, and then directly confront me in the end.” Shi Yin shook her head: “His size is different from the other Seven Deadly Sins. Once He intervenes in your battle, it will be very difficult for you to turn the tide.”
"Even so, isn't this incredibly unfair to you?" Ishtar frowned deeply after hearing this: "If you lose, you die; if you win, why shouldn't He die?"
"And how can you be sure He will keep the bet?"
“I never expected Him to keep the bet; my purpose was simply to buy you time to resolve the situation.” Shi Yin said calmly, “I forced him to accept the bet so that He could seize the opportunity while I was speaking and launch a sneak attack.”
"My power and that of arrogance are not too far apart. If we were to really fight, it would easily destroy the Earth. The only way to keep Him from interfering in the rest of the matter is to injure Him. Directly hurting me at close range is the simplest method," Shi Yin explained.
"Fine, you're right no matter what," Ishtar said helplessly. "But since you're already here, please come and sit in my little garden."
"A small garden? What small garden?" Changning asked curiously.
"It's the only normal little garden among all the strange, overgrown plants," Ishtar said with a smile. "It's my sister's favorite and most precious place."
When they arrived at the destination, Changning finally understood why Ishtar said it was the most precious place.
The grass was lush and green, and the plants covered the ground, but unlike the rampant plants of today, a single blade of grass was 1.5 meters tall, with clearly visible veins that looked eerie. Even the flowers that usually looked delicate were now covered in clearly visible pollen and stamens, making people afraid to get close.
Here, tiny wildflowers dot the lawn like stars, and the flowing spring water doesn't feel cool and refreshing, but rather gives off a sense of warmth.
The surrounding trees were all normal, and in the center of the circle of green trees, a huge maple tree stood out like a burning torch, fiery and full of life.
"So beautiful!" Changning's eyes lit up.
She hadn't seen a normal landscape in a long time, and even before the plants grew wildly, she had never seen anything so beautiful.
Every flower, every blade of grass, and every tree is meticulously designed, yet there are no excessive traces of artificial placement; it is natural yet impeccably beautiful.
"Has Sister Ishtar been guarding this little garden all along?" Changning asked, skipping and jumping around in the garden.
Ishtar led Shiyin to the maple tree, where there was an exquisite little tea table and a small cart with desserts. Behind the tree was a well-maintained swing, which Changning jumped on and had a great time.
At this moment, it feels like going back to before the apocalypse.
“Yes, this is my favorite place.” Ishtar poured a cup of tea for the two of them, and thinking that Changning might not like drinking green tea, she also poured a glass of juice.
“On the way here, I instructed my men to prepare small cakes and macarons, ten of each flavor,” Ishtar said with a smile.
This quantity sounds like it was specifically prepared for Changning.
"The plants here haven't mutated," Shi Yin said, slightly surprised.
She remembered that the plants in this little garden used to grow wildly and uncontrollably.
Every time I pass by Lulan, I can see this huge maple tree in the center of the small garden, soaring into the sky. It has almost become a symbol of Lulan after the apocalypse.
In every corner of Lulan, one can see the fiery red branches at a glance.
In this life, how come this little garden was completely unaffected?
“I suppressed the mutation of these plants,” Ishtar explained with a smile. “I’ve been looking for ways to keep the small garden normal. This time I did it a little earlier, suppressing their growth from the beginning, which allowed me to suppress the mutated genes ahead of time.”
Ishtar smiled and plucked a small flower, handing it to Shi Yin.
“I don’t like the way it looks after the mutation. Even though it’s become a landmark plant of Lulan after towering into the clouds, even though it’s been reported on by major news outlets around the world, I still don’t like it at all.” Ishtar took a deep breath: “It’s like my sister has mutated into a zombie. It’s so annoying.”
Shi Yin held the flower without saying a word.
The petals on the flower are indeed exactly the same as before the apocalypse, except for the withered stamens, which show that the flower seems to have withered before.
Or perhaps, this flower's blooming period is inherently short, and the fact that it has survived until now without withering is due to the coverage of Ishtar energy.
Ishtar's power not only suppressed the growth of the plants in this small garden, but also gave the garden vitality with its own power.
but……
There seems to be a problem with this.
Changning jumped off the swing, came to the dining table, took a bite of a macaron, and her eyes lit up.
Ishtar's macarons aren't the typical, overly sweet desserts from a bakery, only good for photo ops. They're the result of Ishtar's meticulous research and development.
Even Shi Yin, who doesn't like sweets, gave it a good review, saying it's a truly high-end dessert that looks, smells, and tastes amazing.
"So delicious, so delicious, this is delicious too!" From the first bite, Changning kept praising it. After eating a few bites of macarons, she moved on to the small cakes on the table.
At first, I could still utter the words "delicious," but later the praise gradually turned into "wow," "wow," and "mmm," and in the end, even these exclamations disappeared, leaving only the frantic chewing sounds.
"Eat slowly, be careful not to choke." Ishtar gently patted Changning's back, looking at Changning with tender eyes: "When I lost my sister, she was about your age."
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