Chapter 180: Afu Becomes a God, Roger Makes a Move
At this point, we must thank the great powers for their overwhelming support. They provided money and resources, and even helped gather people. What a noble spirit of internationalism!
Currently, the entire Eternal Night World has around 500 million virtual space users, with a very high active user rate. On this particular night, the number of simultaneous online users exceeded 100 million. On Earth, such data would definitely be questioned for being inflated, as the difficulty of increasing registered users and simultaneous active users is vastly different. However, the virtual space has no competitors for entertainment in the Eternal Night World, and its irreplaceable stimulation has gradually cultivated a steadily growing base of dependent users.
The Dreadnought Space, currently used by the empire, is still manageable. It has daily time limits on actual online hours, internal transaction rules, and requires purchases for stimulation in daily life and even more stringent age, frequency, and additional conditions for sexual stimulation to prevent user addiction. Simultaneously, Dreadnought Space also serves functions like learning and information dissemination, requiring users to ensure sufficient usage time for learning programs beyond pure entertainment. This is somewhat like mandatory online classes, but with stricter monitoring, no opportunities for slacking, and relevant tests to verify absorption effectiveness. Only upon meeting course standards can daily entertainment time be unlocked. The good news is that the empire’s preparation for these courses is meticulous, featuring the best teachers and ensuring recording and absorption effectiveness, unlike some terrible teachers on Earth who just read from slides. Learners can also rate the courses, and if a teacher receives a certain number of negative reviews or consistently low test scores, they must be replaced. The Minister of Education of the empire has pledged to reduce the illiteracy rate among the empire’s youth and middle-aged population to below 20% within three years, with Dreadnought Space being a key tool for this. Unlike teachers on Earth who have the security of permanent positions, can slack off easily, fail to deliver substantial content in classes, and profit from extracurricular tutoring, teachers in the empire cannot. Every popular science course and skill enhancement course is meticulously prepared and personally reviewed by the Empress of Eternal Night, who hopes to genuinely improve the cultural level of the empire’s people. With these layers of restrictions, while Dreadnought Space remains epochally interesting, it also possesses tormenting aspects, thus its addictiveness is not as strong.
The Blissful Mirage, however, is a different story. It exists solely for the great powers to control their people, with its functions customized for the Terra Kingdom, providing unbridled, crudely produced sensory stimulation. During enjoyment, users are fed nutritionally sufficient but extremely unpalatable nutrient meals, mass-produced with special ingredients, making their cost much lower than normal food—this is also one of the Terra Kingdom’s largest export commodities. In this environment, users in the great powers are far more dependent on the Blissful Mirage than the people of the empire; many live only for the hope of escaping their lives by entering the Blissful Mirage during their arduous labor. The heavy production, forced maintenance of healthy bodies, and then the false satisfaction of life’s stimulation make the people of the great powers appear as diligent laboring machines, with a significant increase in productivity. However, in the long run, their creativity and combat capabilities will greatly diminish, and their entire cognitive ability will suffer immense damage. Furthermore, dependence on the Blissful Mirage significantly reduces the satisfaction derived from having faith in the gods. The divine doctrines promise believers a beautiful future, but in the present, life remains miserable despite their devout prayers. In the Blissful Mirage, however, they can instantly possess delicious food, luxurious houses, and beautiful women, and even slaughter powerful monsters, fulfilling all their fantasies. In comparison, what are the gods? Is it as fun as the Blissful Mirage? Some churches have begun to oppose the widespread use of the Blissful Mirage, but they have been met with collective opposition from the nobles. Many former devout believers are unwilling to give up using the Blissful Mirage, leaving the churches in a rather awkward predicament. The rulers they supported have now discovered how incredibly simple it is to manage the once troublesome population through the Blissful Mirage, greatly reducing various investments. How could they possibly give up such a useful tool? The imperial and divine powers, which were never meant to be compatible, facing internal divisions over the Blissful Mirage and a reduced external threat from the Azurevine Empire, their contradictions have suddenly surfaced, entering a stage of clandestine struggle. Cases of fanatical believers destroying Blissful Mirage transmission nodes, thereby instigating conflict between the lower classes and the church, are increasing. For those struggling people, life is already hard enough; the Blissful Mirage is their last solace, and they will fight anyone who tries to take it away! The consumption of nutrient meals has generally improved their physique and increased their combat power. The Blissful Mirage was originally a poisoned chalice prepared by the Azurevine Empire for the great powers. Roger has always been wary of the side effects of mental stimulation and has always limited the empire’s citizens’ access to consumption-based internet. However, the great powers, having not experienced similar problems, merely saw a dramatic decrease in their ruling costs and a boost in productivity after entrusting labor to virtual space; they grasped this as a life-saving straw. If the effectiveness of increasing slaves’ work enthusiasm declines, their first reaction is to hope the Terra Kingdom will accelerate research on the next generation of totem bracelets to bring about more realistic sensory stimulation. Therefore, despite resistance from the church, the number of active users of the Blissful Mirage in various countries continued to surge during the night hours.
Under these circumstances, a single online reward event during a specific period was all Roger needed to achieve his goal of 100 million active users.
Chapter of Imbalance
In a small laboratory, the maintenance team of the magus camp suddenly discovered that the database had disappeared, and the entire website had lost contact. They soon confirmed the reason: Afu was in an extremely unstable state, with his internal energy reactions surging rapidly. They sounded the alarm, and Frankenstein, the Empress of Eternal Night, Roger, and others all rushed to the scene. They couldn’t find a solution for the time being, but Afu didn’t seem to be in mortal danger, which was a small relief. The Empress of Eternal Night, seeing Roger’s thoughtful expression, immediately understood. “Lord Roger, please explain. This must be your arrangement, right?” the Empress of Eternal Night whispered, pinching his arm. At some point, this man had become increasingly mysterious, secretly carrying out operations she couldn’t comprehend. Roger smiled gently, “Everyone, please don’t worry. Afu’s current state is likely due to the virtual space’s online users surpassing 100 million, triggering Afu’s godhood ascension ceremony.” “Godhood ascension?” Everyone looked at Roger with varied expressions. The path to godhood was once an open secret in this universe, but since the rise of the Seven Gods, they had sealed information related to it, leaving only fragments in ancient texts. There had been no successful godhood ascension in many years. Previously, they had considered Afu’s absorption of emotions from the magus camp akin to primal faith, but it was at most at the level of totem worship, very far from godhood ascension. Roger chuckled, “I don’t know the specifics, but Afu has had contact with someone who understood the Seven Gods’ methods of collecting Faith Power. I believe with his intelligence, reverse-engineering the most basic godhood ascension ritual would not be difficult.” “Shana…” the Empress of Eternal Night immediately reacted. Roger sent Afu’s Incarnation to Shana’s side, not just for mutual support, but for a grander scheme. Although he had only obtained the most primitive godhood ascension ritual, meaning no optimization, a very raw and dangerous method that would waste a lot of Faith Power, Roger had prepared 100 million online users for him to ensure Afu’s success and safety with sufficient Faith Power. Now that all conditions were met, Afu’s godhood ascension began and concluded smoothly. Afu woke up. His appearance hadn’t changed, but he raised his small, chubby hand, a silver cross star now appearing on the back of it. Divinity: Freedom. Many senior mages naturally deciphered this information. “Is this the domain Lord Charles chose for him? It seems rather obscure, is there a reason for this?” Frankenstein asked curiously. Logically, Erythrea Magus was the true creator of the virtual space. Afu, as the most powerful Erythrea Magus undergoing godhood ascension, could have become powerful much faster if he had chosen domains like “entertainment” or “enjoyment.” A god is composed of divinity, divinity rank, and divine domain. Divinity is the foundation of becoming a god, the fundamental difference between a god and a mortal. Divine Power is generated by divinity. Divinity rank is the container for divinity, defining its upper limit, and also acts as a supercomputer, assisting in managing the connection between the god and believers. The divine domain is the authority held by a god; they are mutually exclusive and incompatible. Gods in the same or adjacent domains will contend until only one ruler remains. Therefore, the Seven Gods hold different domains and do not wish for new gods to emerge, allowing them to become even more powerful. A divine domain that has good compatibility with oneself and believers, and has enough believers, can greatly accelerate a god’s strengthening. Thus, Afu choosing “Freedom” as his core domain seems quite unrelated. Afu felt uncomfortable under the gazes of so many mages, as if they were about to dissect him, and instinctively hid behind Roger. The empire had never captured a living god, let alone a nascent, complete deity. Naturally, the mages wanted to study and explore him thoroughly… We solemnly promise we will not slice him. Roger patted Afu’s head and looked at the Empress of Eternal Night, “I need only members with Level 1 permission or above in this room.” The Secret Council internally categorizes members by permission levels. The Empress of Eternal Night is the sole Level 0 member, and the advisors are Level 1. According to the Empress’s previous order, Roger is also Level 1, as are some researchers with additional contributions. The Empress of Eternal Night agreed to Roger’s request, and soon most of the mages left, leaving fewer than ten. Roger then began his explanation, “This is for the next stage of our plan. Freedom is the true meaning pursued by the virtual space. The characteristics brought by this domain will allow Afu’s faith to spread secretly throughout the Multiverse.” “You want to directly wage a war for faith against the gods? That will kill Afu,” the Empress of Eternal Night shook her head, disagreeing with Roger’s plan. If a war of faith erupted, they could hide behind the scenes, but Afu would bear the brunt of the pressure from the gods. Roger smiled, “No, we won’t be snatching faith. We will merely use the means of divine bestowment to sow the seeds of rebellion in the Multiverse.” Facing puzzled gazes, he said seriously, “We can find potential youths in the Multiverse, not to have them directly believe in Afu, but to have them log into a special virtual space, accept missions, gain rewards, and become stronger at the fastest rate, establishing their own forces.” “I suggest we call this special virtual space—The System.” As he spoke slowly, they all pondered, understanding the intention behind his arrangement. To cultivate powerful individuals who could oppose the gods in more Worlds, and then guide these chosen ones to establish their own forces, fighting to protect their own Worlds. The Eternal Night World would then provide further support as circumstances allowed, or even directly participate. This is also a proxy war, but the scope is not the surrounding region, but distant other Planes, exceeding normal support capabilities. Through the mysticism of the gods, it becomes much simpler. Publicly promoting the harm of faith gods in a certain Plane would not only be ineffective but would also lead to expulsion. Such Worlds are already passively awaiting the judgment of the gods; even if their World turns to nothingness, they would have no power to resist. This is corruption from the top. Worlds with chaotic power structures like the Eternal Night World, which gave birth to a ruler like the Empress of Eternal Night, are extremely rare. True powerhouses transcend the limitations of Planes; it remains uncertain how determined they are to fight for a World to the death. Moreover, how can we be sure that this top tier of powerhouses has not been noticed by the Seven Gods and bought over? As the saying goes, one can know a person’s face but not their heart. The Seven Gods have formidable foundations. Cooperating with them in other Planes and relying on past contact to confirm their trustworthiness is an extremely difficult path. The ruling class has given up. To establish anti-Seven Gods forces in those Worlds, we must start from the bottom, cultivating completely pure souls from the beginning, so that they despise the existence of gods from the outset. However, growth through normal means is too slow. If we want the strong individuals they have chosen to catch up to this battle, it must be at a cheat-like speed. This is the inspiration behind Roger having Afu ascend to godhood and then play the role of the system: Isn’t the system a form of cheating? Facing the gods, they are truly like rats in the sewers, only having opportunities to develop and grow in secret. Secretly cultivating a group of favored children in Planes that might be targeted by the Seven Gods; as long as one of them grows up and establishes a new force, it can create trouble for the Seven Gods’ faction advancing into the Eternal Night World. The longer the final battle is delayed, the more development time the empire will have. This is his previously forgotten plan, now capable of being named the System Child Plan. Of course, it could also be called the Sunfish Plan – to spawn as many as possible, and perhaps even have a few grow up in the end… As long as sufficient time is gained, Roger also has another plan for the Eternal Night World itself: The Nomadic Plane Plan! Through the System Child Plan, they would gain time and gather intelligence on the Seven Gods. If it is confirmed that the enemy is insurmountable, then during this period, the empire will have completely mastered the entire World through various means. They would then immediately reinforce the World, initiate the escape program, and enter the Astral Plane, making it impossible for the Seven Gods to find them. After explaining all his thoughts, Roger looked at the Empress of Eternal Night. His previous arrangements could be classified as experimental projects. The subsequent execution, however, was not. It required the Empress’s decision on whether to invest resources to continue.
