Chapter 234 Chapter 228 The Power of Myth and Lies
A venomous curse was corroding the bodies of mortals, causing countless to fall.
A few days later.
“The Fourth Regiment is ready!”
“At ease! Stand tall! Comrades, the time has come for us to be tested by the Party and the people! Forward!”
The newly relocated succubus tapped on the keyboard: “More people are volunteering to die, let’s see how many this time?”
…
…
“Every time it’s about killing one to save thousands, who has the right to decide which one to kill?”
“Exactly, I saw so many online retailers suffering due to the internet ban…”
“Our company is too.”
“Why have there been no demon lords in other countries? Let me be blunt: the flower of evil is blooming…”
“Look at Sub-Saharan Africa, people are dying every day, they are on the brink of starvation, living day to day, yet there isn’t even a single demon lord. What does that explain? 996 is fiercer than wars…”
“How painful is modern corporate life? Just look at Wan Ziqi and you’ll understand. What kind of pain has to be endured to summon a demon lord?”
“Everyone be careful of women; look at our women…”
“China excels at solving problems that aren’t even present in other countries.”
Ji Ma glanced through the comments on the screen. She had changed her hideout fourteen times and had unknowingly developed a habit of going online to see the wails of many netizens.
Thinking back to a few months ago, Wan Ziqi was the public enemy condemned by the internet.
She scoffed, saying, “Stupid mortals.”
Sure enough, just as she predicted, the carefully concocted lies she crafted were quickly welcomed by the numerous netizens. The so-called truth was unimportant; what mattered was the emotions.
They harbor resentment, and the lies they weave become the most convenient tools for their emotional outbursts. The foolish thing is that, while they vent their emotions, they often believe them to be true, with every insignificant mortal contributing a bit of the power of lies for her.
Ji Ma playfully tucked a strand of hair behind her ear: “I’m so clever.”
“Master, your smile is so beautiful,” a nameless cute girl beside her said with a smile.
“This is how it is; I leverage human nature—people usually only blame others and, after carefully observing online comments…”
The cute girl listened attentively.
But Ji Ma closed her mouth, as she realized that this mortal in front of her definitely wouldn’t understand what she was saying. Moreover, if she told her, when it came time to run away, she’d definitely inform the Chinese authorities.
“Ah, forget it.” Ji Ma shut her mouth and began to reminisce about her time working in George’s harem, where they would all summarize their experiences after each battle.
They were all extraordinary beings, needing no explanation to appreciate one another’s excellence.
She looked at the cute girl, who flashed a sweet smile at Ji Ma. The girl took good care of herself. It seemed that after being born, God placed her in a container, unharmed by the outside world.
Her skin was so white that the veins underneath were visible.
But… Ji Ma recalled Eve Frostleaf’s skin and couldn’t help but think back to the sensation of licking her skin.
Compared to Eve Frostleaf, this girl seemed like dead pigskin. There were even visible pores, and hair was still growing; she couldn’t help but think back to Jenna, who radiated a faint glow.
Like a guy’s flawless fantasy of women in puberty.
She also remembered the times they all engaged in a free-for-all in bed, their sweat, expressions, and taut muscles… how wonderful.
And him…
“How pathetic.” Ji Ma bit her tongue: “Still thinking about going back to be in a human’s harem, he’s no longer of any use to me.”
But back then, it felt really good.
Ji Ma’s tail twitched.
“Master, what are you saying?”
“General language.” Ji Ma muttered, “When quality is lacking, quantity compensates; I miss it now, but I haven’t achieved success yet.”
That’s right, I have a bright future. Once I succeed, with seventy billion humans serving me, it means all my sexual fantasies and all my desires will be fulfilled.
Isn’t that better than staying in a broken alien world, working hard while facing an eternal chosen one whom I can never defeat?
Thinking of this, Ji Ma felt a little better. She ruffled the cute girl’s hair, and the girl smiled at her.
Such little hair, even less than George’s, not to mention mine.
Ji Ma couldn’t help but recall Eve Frostleaf’s abundant hair, much more than this girl. When she mistreated her, pulling her silver hair and tugging her pointed ears, it was really a lot of fun.
Her hand stopped.
“Master?”
“Let’s go, let’s go.” Ji Ma waved her hand: “Go write your graduation project well.”
“But I—”
“This is an order. I command you to pursue a PhD, or I won’t see you again.”
“Yes, Master.”
The cute girl left.
Ji Ma placed her legs on the table, leaned back in her computer chair, and used her tail to scroll through the mouse wheel, browsing the screen and looking at various speculations on Zhihu.
Aside from complaining online, venting emotions, and spreading anxiety, some people were analyzing Ji Ma’s intentions and methods.
After reading several highly upvoted responses, Ji Ma felt much better.
Because those responses depicted her as a strategic mastermind who never misses, and based on the replies, even the master of deceit couldn’t have done it better.
As she browsed, she came across America.
When she had just returned to her homeland to understand society online, she had thought that America was the name of some female star.
Now she realized that America was a country across the ocean, powerful, very powerful.
“Why not… consider America?”
Due to various methods employed by the Chinese authorities, Ji Ma’s efficiency in harvesting magical power online had greatly decreased. Now, half of her magical power sources came from outside China, and a large part of that was from America.
It could be said that when the East doesn’t shine, the West does.
But doesn’t this mean she’s afraid of those mortals, abandoning the magical race’s virtue of not giving up?
These mortals can’t hold out for long.
Ji Ma glanced again at the comments online, resentment seeping through the screen, firmly believing in her judgment.
Half a month later.
Ji Ma searched for “America” on Zhihu, reading lengthy articles with great attention.
“America uses monetary hegemony and military force to harvest the world…”
“Genocide…”
“The country that instigates the most wars in modern times…”
“A technologically advanced and prosperous nation…”
The more Ji Ma read, the more she admired.
“The Twelve Fleet? They must have hijacked a lot of resources; they could definitely support me well.”
Of course, this could also be slander. After all, for mortals, war and pillage are derogatory terms, but Ji Ma felt these were clearly good terms.
Only the weak mortals could stigmatize them.
So Ji Ma decided to search for data; she checked per capita resource consumption, per capita meat consumption, and was shocked to find that they were multiples of China’s figures, even tenfold.
Unable to hold back, Ji Ma began to relearn English, recalling Wan Ziqi’s memories and sounding out English words.
After learning the third word, memories of Wan Ziqi typing on the keyboard rose in her mind.
She threw her phone down in annoyance: “Learn? What the hell, can’t I just find someone to translate later? Hmph, once I win, I can have as many translators as I want.”
She thought, looking around the room: “There will be a palace too.”
Fifteen days later.
Her phone emitted a sound: “Uh Mei Rui Ke.”
“America.” Ji Ma repeated, recalling her earlier hard work typing on the keyboard and searching for solutions online.
“How annoying, why aren’t these people afraid to die?” Ji Ma tossed her phone and pointed at the screen, cursing: “Everyone online is bragging; if I believe them, I might as well eat chilies!”
On the forum, a message floated: “The Chinese government has invited the demon lord for negotiations.”
This statement has been floating for ten days, and online public opinion was boiling—though it boiled every four days on average, everyone was sarcastically saying they would surrender, and the whole nation would become slaves, that they were about to collapse.
Ji Ma thus held out for ten days.
Although she had no real personal danger, her magical power was sufficient, and the curses spreading across the external network caused untold suffering to countless people’s thumbs, providing her with a considerable reserve of magical power.
But this life of running around was truly unpleasant. Without a stable hideout, there was no stable source of maids, nor a happy life.
Ji Ma picked up her phone and dialed the number: “Hello, it’s me. One of the preconditions for negotiation is to publicly announce that I am here by invitation; it’s that simple. I’ll talk once I see the internet flooded with invitations.”
After saying that, Ji Ma tossed her phone away, disappearing into the air, reappearing somewhere far away through her dreams.
Negotiation? She had no intention of negotiating; sooner or later, the other side would yield.
Ji Ma lightly landed on the bed, played around for a bit out of boredom, and soon fell asleep on yet another unfamiliar bed.
In her dreams, she dreamed of a palace in the dreamland.
It stood upon a dreamland made of black and white colors, and from within the palace, a familiar female voice came: “Master! Master! Meow~ Are you here?”
Is it Xiao Li?
At this moment, Ji Ma woke up. As soon as she woke up, she immediately dove back into the dream, only vaguely seeing her dream palace—still not yet formed.
It would probably take until the dreams of the entire Earth were explored before it could take shape.
Could Xiao Li be in the dream palace as well? Has she come too?
Ji Ma couldn’t verify her suspicion right now; flapping her wings, she directly crossed into the reality from the dream realm.
She opened her pink computer, went online, and saw a screen full of invitation messages, all in red, like firecrackers exploding.
There was also a reply box, with no restrictions on any responses, many filled with furious and even sensitive comments, all deleted within a second.
“To find my invited request? Truly creative,” Ji Ma initially thought to mock.
But thinking of Xiao Li, she realized that if she couldn’t stay in the dream palace forever, she couldn’t always take Xiao Li with her either.
“It’s time to talk to the ants.”
Ji Ma typed: “Location, time, you decide. I will come. I can preface my requirements, money, sex, power.”
Once this curse-laden comment was posted, it got lost in a sea of false information; however, one individual cursed and paralyzed in a chair confirmed her presence.
In less than half an hour, location, time, and even a phone number were revealed.
Ji Ma felt the qualitative change in her power of lies and sent another reply: “Account: zxsdqd, let it go live. When the time comes, you can go live at the negotiation location, and I will come.”
More than ten minutes later.
The red words on the webpage changed to: “Okay.”
Ji Ma picked up her phone and deleted the English learning app, saying: “Learning? What the hell.”
Time passed second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.
The agreed time was approaching.
The internet had reverted to a whitelist system.
Ji Ma was quite bored and went to Zhihu to search for articles about herself, enjoying herself until she came across a well-known influencer.
“Humanity’s new hope! The double-blind results of America’s miracle remedy for curses will be coming out soon. Furthermore, America’s power company has developed artificial intelligence robots that can detect potentially cursed speech to prevent its spread.”
The influencer concluded, “When it’s all done, I will take my leave.”
All comments below were jubilant.
Some questioned, but ten others responded: “He’s a doctor, have you read the literature?”
Of course, there were also professional doubts: “The double-blind results aren’t out yet, how do you know?”
But soon their voices faded, lost in the joyous noise.
Ji Ma curled her lips and commented: “As if you ants have already defeated me, how pathetic you mortals are.”
She didn’t believe that even mortals without magical power could lift her curse.
Shouldn’t there be a red mark on cursed individuals’ faces, to avoid a lot of healthy people claiming they were cursed, casually taking some medicine, and then turning around to say they were cured?
Ji Ma thought this idea was good, so she clapped her hands, used her magic to mark the cursed mortals on America’s side, with a red character on their foreheads saying, “Cursed.”
The agreed negotiation time was fast approaching.
On the Chinese side, they were on high alert.
To show sincerity, the negotiation location was chosen on the grassland, within a ten-kilometer radius with no one holding weapons.
A military vehicle stopped on the plain, the antennae erected, and a negotiation expert descended alone from the vehicle, setting up a table and connecting a screen in the wind.
It was already night; a galaxy stretched across the sky over the plain, with stars shimmering brilliantly.
Amidst the howling night wind, the antenna bent.
The screen flickered and displayed a live broadcast platform, with only one host today, and just one viewer, but the only live broadcast room was dark.
The elderly negotiation expert with gray hair checked the time.
The other side was already three minutes late.
Suddenly, a picture appeared in the live stream, and Ji Ma, dressed in a fire-red gown with golden edges, appeared on screen, holding a spear-axe. Her horns, tail, and wings were all on display without any reserve.
She gazed at the screen.
The desolate grassland became gentle for her.
In the next moment, Ji Ma lifted her foot, walking toward the screen, and a miraculous scene unfolded; she stepped out of the screen and grew larger while doing so—this process was as natural as stepping out of her house.
Ji Ma, barefoot, stepped onto the grass, treading upon the tips; she felt as light as a cloud, the grass merely bent slightly under her weight. Step by step, she advanced, and all the filth of the mortal realm failed to stain the white silk of her foot.
The old negotiation expert smiled: “You are truly beautiful.”
Wearing a black veil, Ji Ma replied: “So old? You might as well send a eunuch.”
The negotiation expert said: “We will not insult comrades who dare to sacrifice.”
“This reclining chair is nice.”
“It’s specially prepared for you,” the old negotiation expert said: “We analyzed your various residences; you are quite a hedonistic demon.”
“Threatening me? Are you implying that my posting machine isn’t that useful anymore because you found its creator based on the original posting machine I left at the scene?”
The old negotiation expert said: “Unity is strength.”
“I am the destroyer of cities; you should be grateful I didn’t use more terrifying abilities.”
Ji Ma settled into the reclining chair, the seat cushion was soft, and thankfully, there wasn’t a horrible plastic smell—it was quite nice. Her mood lifted a bit; she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
The howling wind stopped, and the grass straightened up again. The beverage cabinet prepared by authorities nearby automatically opened, a bottle of chilled cola flew over, and the cap twisted off on its own.
Ji Ma leisurely took a sip of cola: “Very thoughtful of you. Now that you’ve gone this far, you should have added some poison to the drink.”
“No underhanded dealings with clear characters.”
“You’re smart to realize how weak you are,” Ji Ma said: “I’m in a good mood, so I can explain a bit about my abilities. Personally, crossing through screens is one of my other abilities called ‘Mythical Power’. How can I explain it… Old man, have you watched cartoons?”
“I have seen ‘The Monkey King Saves His Mother.'”
“How about ‘Tom and Jerry’?”
“I have an understanding.”
Ji Ma pointed to the earpiece on the negotiation expert’s ear:
“Let 63 experts on your side enlighten you about ‘Tom and Jerry’. In short, anything the protagonists can do there, I can do.”
“Is it illogical, yet appears to conform to common sense?” the old negotiation expert asked: “For example, if a train runs over, does it just turn into a blue cat biscuit?”
Ji Ma smiled slightly, raised her hand towards her horn, her black and shiny horn arched backward long, the stars seeming to hang on it.
She used two fingers to pinch off a brilliant star from the horn, poured herself another cup of cola, and dropped the brilliant star into it: “What I bestow upon you, would you like to drink?”
The old negotiation expert displayed a polite smile, accepting the cola and leisurely said: “I, for health reasons, haven’t had cola for a long time; thank you this time.”
He started to drink slowly, as if savoring tea.
Finally, a voice came through the earpiece: “Astronomical observations across the regions show that the sky is missing a star at the same time!”
The old negotiation expert’s hand gripping the cup finally stiffened.
Ji Ma displayed a toothy grin, her pure white fangs resembling bloodthirsty tusks: “Have you ever drunk a star?”
