At this moment, Lind was deep in the Sea of Consciousness, already pushing the pollution out of the War God’s Divine Kingdom.
On the Ancient Battlefield of the War God’s Divine Kingdom, not a trace of sludge could even be seen, and the appearance of this Ancient Battlefield was gradually beginning to change. From the initially lead-yellow sky, the blood-soaked earth, filled with the smell of rust, and hills made from corpses, it was slowly transforming into a massive arena.
Even the sky began to gradually clear up to a deep blue, and the wails from the battlefield were slowly turning into the sounds of drums in the arena.
“The corruption is not yet over.”
Alberto stood next to Lind and said, “I can feel that there are still others guiding me from afar; it’s not just the War God, other deities are also suffering from corruption. We have to resolve them one by one.”
Lind nodded, “Let’s take a vehicle. Although there is no concept of distance between Divine Kingdoms, as long as there is a ‘vehicle’ as a convenient means of transportation in consciousness, we can quickly reach the Divine Kingdoms of other deities.”
Lind, like an experienced player, quickly understood what the deep layers of the Sea of Consciousness were like; here, what mattered was not how things truly were, but how you think they are.
Just as there is no concept of distance between Divine Kingdoms, in human consciousness, Divine Kingdoms are considered very far away. This “distance” means that in the consciousness of these soldiers, any faraway place can be reached by “vehicle”, be it a train or a transport vehicle; as long as in their minds, taking this “vehicle” can quickly reach other Divine Kingdoms, it is indeed possible.
As if sensing what Lind was thinking, after the grenade launcher dealt with the persisting pollution, it was surprising that trains began to appear around these soldiers.
On these trains were many weapons; not only weapons but even the wheels were fitted with spikes, embodying a sort of wasteland punk style. With these trains, not to mention the pollutants, even if the Demon God Offspring came, they would still feel the impact.
Lind looked up in astonishment at the War God beside him, and the War God, with its massive physique, nodded. This was the War God’s masterpiece and could be considered a gift for Lind and the others.
However, Lind’s surprise was not with this; under the influence of the “I think” power, the corrosion on the War God was actually cleansed completely.
This also provided Lind with a deeper understanding of the essence of these deities and the deep layers of the Sea of Consciousness; perhaps the mystery lay in the mystery’s surface, and the Sea of Consciousness was truly only related to human consciousness, possibly even more idealistic than Lind had imagined.
“I haven’t been on a train in your country yet, so this time let me take a bit of a shine.”
Looking at the wasteland-style train, Alberto seemed eager to try.
“Our train doesn’t look like this… never mind, you go ahead first and free the Nature God of the Elves.”
Although Lind’s commanding tone understandably displeased Cassius, who stood next to Alberto, Alberto nodded and naturally accepted Lind’s orders, while also asking, “Will this allow the real world to return to normal?”
“The impact won’t be that quick; just like after the War God was corrupted, it wasn’t until the War God’s projection descended into the real world that the spiritual plague fully erupted. Now I estimate we can only restore those fanatics to normal through the influence of the War God.”
Lind turned to look at the gigantic War God, whose flesh and blood were rapidly regrowing, indicating that the War God was gradually accepting normal faith power.
“There is still a heavy burden and a long way to go; we must continue to work hard.”
“Yes, the road is indeed winding; however, we will eventually achieve victory.”
After saying this, Alberto stopped looking back and stepped onto the train with the soldiers.
Once everyone had left, Lind turned back to look at the War God, his gaze as if he were trying to completely see through the essence of the War God.
“I am a fan of ‘Mad X Curse’.”
The War God’s voice, filled with majesty, or rather, divine revelation, echoed in Lind’s mind.
“……”
Lind was somewhat speechless; he didn’t expect the War God’s first words to him would be explaining why the train had to turn out that way. It wouldn’t have been the case that during the cleansing process, the “I think” power had abstracted the War God into something nonsensical, right?
“Alright, no more jokes; it’s just that my consciousness rarely awakens, so I’m feeling a bit restless.”
“Aren’t you still joking?”
The War God did not seem like a deity at all, but more like a couch potato immersed in wasteland aesthetics.
Hearing Lind say this, the enormous War God finally ceased to maintain authority and sheepishly scratched the back of his head with one of his six arms.
Looking at the now less formidable War God, Lind immediately asked, “So, what exactly is a god?”
“Is that really important?”
“No, just my personal curiosity.”
The massive figure of the War God then sat down and said, “It’s actually quite simple; do you remember that God of Contracts before? We are actually similar entities.”
The War God began to detail to Lind like an NPC in a game:
“We are a collection of the power of human faith; our forms are all shaped by human faith. If the direction of human faith changes, it draws us towards different powers, and we simultaneously influence the real world through divine revelation. As you have seen, the Sea of Consciousness and the real world affect each other. Moreover, we are the firewall preventing the pollution left by Outer Gods from remaining in human consciousness.”
“Unlike that God of Contracts, we are subject to human consciousness and are not mere beings created purely from faith; just like I’m speaking with you now, I once had my own life; I was also once a living person. This is also the reason why the God of Contracts can never possess true self-awareness like a proper god.”
Gods were originally humans; if some extreme believers heard this, the destructive power would likely not be less than that of a spiritual plague. As for the God of Contracts, it was easier; when the deities were initially created, people from the post-Golden Age genuinely used humans as a foundation, naturally unlike the God of Contracts, which could only manage simple affairs like a rigid AI.
As for 550C, one could only say that there are differences even among AI.
“It’s just that, although we are led by human consciousness, due to being mixed with too much power of faith, our consciousness is merely the base tone. Thus, even before the corruption, I would likely have been unable to converse with you as clearly as I am now.”
Then, the War God began to vent, saying, “Don’t think that I’m a deity now; in the beginning, it was quite painful, continuously accepting the power of faith and constantly feedbacking into the real world, unchanged for thousands of years. The old deer next door is actually fine; its followers are all elves, typically very quiet. Sigh, why did I choose to be the War God? It’s incredibly troublesome; there’s so much negative information coming in, I’m a war god, not a curse god, and in the end, this made me a primary target of those corrupted beings.”
The War God began to express grievances accumulated over millennia, reminding Lind of Alberto, who couldn’t stop talking about An Zhu. The essence of humanity doesn’t deviate much from pigeon and parrot, nor does it have a guiding mother hen.
“Can you choose your position yourself?”
Lind wiped nonexistent sweat away, feeling he was beginning to understand what had happened back then.
“That’s right.”
The War God looked towards the direction where the train had departed and said, “We, just like you, willingly submerged ourselves in the Sea of Consciousness for the sake of humanity’s spiritual world and initiated the God-Making Project. My colleagues and I were the original deities.”
“To be honest, having watched over humanity for so long, I never imagined there would be a day my consciousness would awaken again; although this is because those corruptions wore away the faith power on me, I would prefer not to have awoken at all.”
Lind had roughly understood what gods truly were. Listening to the War God’s tone, he sensed that before becoming a deity, the War God must have been quite young. It was difficult to imagine what feelings these individuals had when they became guardians of humanity for thousands of years and would have to watch over them endlessly—becoming a “god” without an end in sight. And at least from the current state of the War God’s mind, he did not appear to regret it.
Just as Lind was about to ask for specific information about the Golden Age, the War God suddenly paused and said, “Time is short; we need to get back to serious business.”
“So soon?”
“Because I am the War God, and now with the constant conflict in the real world, the faith power I am receiving is tremendous. The real world and the Sea of Consciousness influence each other, and afterwards, I fear I will revert back to how I was, turning back into the War God seen by the world.”
The War God’s voice became increasingly authoritative and divine.
“Old denizens of the past, my followers have made prayers once again; now, it’s time for me to help you.”
