Athena knew that Zod harbored significant secrets, making him inscrutable to her.
Moreover, she had a strong premonition that he might grow to an unimaginable height in the future, and becoming his enemy would be the most unwise course of action.
Therefore, given that Zod wanted to know the details, she stated directly, "Mr. Zod, since you already know about this, there's nothing for me to hide!"
"That's right, King of the Gods Zeus did fall in battle with Ares."
"After the ancient war, Ares experienced an unprecedented power that war brought him."
"To possess this power long-term, he began to deliberately stir up strife in the mortal world, plunging them into endless war and slaughter."
"At that time, Zeus dispatched the Amazon warriors to quell the wars among humans."
"But he didn't expect that Ares was no longer content with drawing power from human conflicts and began to incite discord between gods and mortals."
"For this, Zeus banished him from Olympus, but he directly led his apostles to wage war against the Olympian Gods, and thus the God War erupted."
"In that war, many demigods and even gods fell, and nearly half of our twelve main gods also perished. In the end, it was King of the Gods Zeus who engaged him in a decisive battle."
"However, even Zeus could not fully defeat Ares, who had regained strength from the war; both sides suffered varying degrees of severe injuries."
"Ultimately, Ares escaped, and the God War ended, but Zeus also discovered that he had sustained irreversible severe injuries and could only choose reincarnation."
"However, before his reincarnation, Zeus told us that he had left a weapon on Paradise Island capable of destroying Ares."
At this point, Athena paused, then gave Zod a look and a slight wink.
Zod immediately understood what this meant and subtly glanced at Queen Hera.
The god-slaying weapon that could defeat Ares was, of course, Wonder Woman Diana.
Although Zeus could use a grand excuse to say that Diana was a weapon he left to deal with Ares, in reality, no matter how you put it, she was his illegitimate daughter born from him and a mortal he created.
Queen Hera equally detested every such existence.
But she was also helpless; who could blame Zeus, a cosmic-level philanderer who was either sowing his seed or on his way to do so, resulting in a multitude of illegitimate children.
Seeing that Zod understood her meaning, Athena continued, "After the civil war caused by Ares, we also decided to leave Earth and enter this current dimension."
"Actually, we could have simply ignored the mortals' lives and deaths; even if Darkseid invaded again, it wouldn't have much to do with us."
"But after all, humans once believed in the Gods, and we also didn't want to see Earth, the birthplace of the Gods, fall into the hands of the dark tyrant."
"Therefore, our invitation to you this time is merely to form an alliance, hoping to jointly resist Darkseid in the future."
Although Athena spoke righteously and made the Gods sound as if they had a deep affection for Earth, Zod was not fooled by her.
He said meaningfully, "Goddess of Wisdom, I'm afraid you've omitted one point: Darkseid's goal in invading Earth is not merely conquest, is it?"
"The anti-life equation fragments, the power he has always pursued, are hidden on Earth. This is the real reason he wants to invade Earth, and this is what you fear, isn't it?"
Hearing that Zod had so easily revealed such a shocking secret, the Gods' expressions were somewhat astonished.
Hermes asked curiously, "You even know this? What else do you know?"
"I also know that the Omega Effect Darkseid currently possesses has some special connection to the anti-life equation. When he descends upon Earth again, he will easily be able to control the power of the anti-life equation."
At these words, several Gods could no longer sit still, and Athena, with a grave expression, said, "Mr. Zod, is what you say true?"
"I have no need to lie to you, nor do I have the inclination."
Athena instinctively felt that Zod was not lying, so she seized the opportunity to speak, "Since Mr. Zod understands the power of this dark tyrant better than we do, will you agree to an alliance?"
"I imagine, given Mr. Zod's character, he wouldn't sit idly by as his newly re-established home is invaded again, would he?"
To this, Zod showed an noncommittal attitude.
Then he changed his tone and made a request, "Resisting Darkseid together is naturally no problem, but right now I need some things. Since we are all allies, I believe you all should be generous enough to provide them!"
"What do you need?"
"I need some special metals or divine artifacts to forge a divine weapon of my own. For example, amazon metal is quite good, and I believe with Olympus's heritage, you shouldn't be stingy!"
Zod said this because he genuinely wanted to forge his fated weapon!
After all, for cultivators, a fated weapon is part of their combat power, and it accounts for no small proportion.
Generally, cultivators can begin forging their fated weapons after breaking through the Life Spring.
But Zod was about to ascend to the Immortal Platform, and the artifact he currently refined was still only woven from divine patterns, with no physical form. As soon as it flew out of the Bitter Sea, it would soon revert to divine patterns.
It wasn't that he didn't want to forge his fated weapon, but that he lacked suitable materials; ordinary metals simply didn't catch his eye.
And in this world, he couldn't acquire the immortal gold and divine materials from the *Shrouding the Heavens* world.
However, this world was not without alternatives. For example, the Tenth Metal—Element X, the Ninth Metal—Nth Metal, and the Eighth Metal—amazon metal, used by the cosmic forgers to create the universe.
These already existed as creations on Earth, but they also involved various entanglements.
For instance, the Tenth Metal: the mother box, an Apokolips divine artifact left over from the ancient war, contained this metal.
However, since the mother box had already been forged by the New Gods of Apokolips, and it was connected to the New Gods' source of power, it generally could not be destroyed.
Unless one possessed the strength to kill Darkseid and destroy Apokolips, the possibility of refining the mother box was low, so it was not considered.
As for the Ninth Metal, it originally belonged to the Thanagarian Empire, but there were also forged items on Earth, such as the maces of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Doctor Fate's helmet, and a series of other items.
However, he was currently unsure whether Hawkman and Hawkgirl had successfully reincarnated. Their hammers had deep connections to themselves, and finding them would require some effort.
As for Doctor Fate's helmet, that thing was a symbol of the Lords of Order's agent. This race was deeply rooted in the magical domain, and for now, there was no need to provoke such a powerful enemy for Krypton.
And amazon metal, this was the metal the Olympian Gods used to forge divine artifacts. For example, Diana's Bracelets of Submission and Apollo's Sun Blade were both forged from this metal.
Therefore, with no other options for the time being, he could only settle for amazon metal as a substitute, knowing that there would be opportunities to upgrade it later.
At this moment, regarding Zod's request, the Gods exchanged glances, communicating secretly.
But Apollo snorted coldly and closed his eyes again.
Then, the God of Fire spoke, "Mr. Zod, if you wish to forge a divine artifact, I might be able to offer some assistance."
After all, he was the God of Fire and Forging, and many of the famous divine artifacts in the hands of the Gods were made by him.
His voice, unlike his appearance, lacked the arrogance of Apollo, which significantly improved Zod's impression of him.
So, Zod replied in an equally polite tone, "Thank you for your kindness, Lord God of Fire, but my divine artifact is somewhat special and can only be forged by myself."
The God of Fire showed no unusual emotion at Zod's refusal, merely nodding in understanding.
A moment later, Athena asked, "Mr. Zod, how much metal do you need?"
Zod thought for a moment, then threw the question back, "At least enough to forge a qualified divine artifact."
Athena looked at the God of Fire, who informed her through a special telepathic message.
"I accept this condition on behalf of Olympus, but I also need Mr. Zod to agree to one condition of mine."
"Please state it!"
"I hope Mr. Zod will train Diana for us. Her potential surpasses ours, and she will become a more powerful War Goddess than Ares in the future."
Hearing this request, Zod only hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
At worst, he could beat her up casually during her sparring sessions with Fiora; it wasn't something worth worrying about anyway.
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