Chapter 1462
Chapter 1462 - 1458: Lethal Threat
1,552 words
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8 min read
"Religion? Someone is reaching into my domain?"
Lu Ping’an was quite surprised, even somewhat unable to comprehend.
At his stage, "religion" was essentially a tool, a scope of influence, a form of property for high-tier professionals to validate their "Rule" and find anchors for their faith.
He was strategizing; he was tinting this world in his own colors... but from another perspective, he was also building his own "Temple" and Earthly Divine Kingdom.
Only those who had experienced modern society could understand what Lu Ping’an’s half-year of settling meant.
He was rebuilding the industrial chains of this world, integrating fragmented technologies, light industries, and small crafts into a functioning society.
Light industry, equipment manufacturing, heavy industry, electrical networks, hydroelectric power, he was reconstructing a modern society.
If the capital was about administratively building a nation, his area was where the real substantive rebuilding of a country was taking place.
At the same time, it was also about showcasing his "Ideals" through mortals, elevating his "Trading" methods.
Once the societal components were formed, when their interactions and operations built up the systems of the nation, Lu Ping’an’s "Trading" would perhaps become the circulation of "social order."
In some sense, Lu Ping’an didn’t need traditional churches; merely the act of "Trading" alone was the practice of his ideals.
His "Trading Land" and the derived commercial systems were the extensions of his "Rules" and "Ideals."
And multiple sets of rules, self-contained "rule groups," were the threshold for the eighth-tier ... Lu Ping’an never stopped, but it seemed his path required mortals to walk it for him.
And at this time, it seemed something was trying to encroach on his territory, stealing the faith of his subjects?
"I heard about it meow. But it seems to be a primitive religion worshiping the ’Tree of Light’ meow." Hearing this name, Lu Ping’an felt something subtle.
"Is there someone behind the curtain?"
"No meow, the prototype seems to be just about worshipping the tree and making wishes for extraordinary power meow."
"...This means the faith behind the scenes should be directed at me..."
"No, it’s directed at the tree meow, the Lamp Tree meow, it is considered the source of ’wishes’ meow," Meow shook her head, denying Lu Ping’an’s speculation.
Hearing this, Lu Ping’an couldn’t help but laugh and cry.
As Lu Ping’an’s most trusted retainer, Meow also served as his true guard and chief intelligence officer.
In everyday life, she reviewed all intelligence, so she naturally understood this kind of message... In fact, Meow’s performance was often better than Lu Ping’an expected.
What surprised Lu Ping’an now was that he originally thought it was interference from some Big Shots, but he didn’t expect it to be so-called "natural faith."
In fact, since Lu Ping’an was indeed "working hard", other Big Shots were quite friendly toward him, and he was curious as to which one had suddenly crossed the line.
"Should I ignore it or prohibit it meow?"
Since Lu Ping’an had asked, intelligence Meow naturally inquired about how to handle it.
"...Handle it a bit, guide it, guide their faith towards the God of Redemption, proclaim the Lamp Tree as the Lighthouse of the God of Redemption, able to guide them to power that can protect themselves."
During this period, Guan Xinxian’s Redemption Church/Chamber of Commerce’s doctrine was also being compiled; since there was an opportunity, Lu naturally wanted to fuel the fire.
What would happen if he didn’t guide it?
"Nothing would happen, only when faith is directed can it interact reciprocally," Big Cat affirmed confidently.
During this period, everyone was rapidly advancing... and the last time he saw Guan Xinxian, Lu Ping’an felt that he couldn’t see through him anymore.
Now, Lu Ping’an was still adding as many human anchors as possible to avoid him becoming a complete "mechanical god" when Ascension time arrived.
Having dealt with this sudden increase in work, he continued his date... browsing the shops.
"Is this a God Statue?"
In a small accessories shop, Lu Ping’an looked at some decorations of the Lamp Tree.
Honestly, they were much more refined than expected, not only mimicking the pattern of the Lamp Tree but also creating a glowing pattern like the Sun, and at the very top, an image of the "Sun" was creatively drawn.
And when Lu Ping’an used his Spirit Vision to observe it, he indeed saw the "Will" within it.
This was a hard-to-grasp presence, it was not a God Statue imbued with the Divine Power Crystal, it seemed to be just regarded as an object of "faith."
"...Something’s not right."
Looking at this iron statue that seemed ordinary, Lu Ping’an felt something was off.
He turned it over in his hands for a while, but it seemed no different.
It was an interesting "art piece," designed to be expressive, with the emblem of the Sun at the top of the sculpture, resembling the Phoenix from Eastern legends.
"Eye of Truth."
Lu Ping’an looked at it and seemed to see a line extending into the void.
At that moment, Lu Ping’an remembered the "interesting news" he had seen on the Contact Board a couple of days ago.
"Interesting... Boss, how much for these statues? I’ll buy them all. Send them directly to the municipal government office later."
Putting down the statue, Lu Ping’an didn’t hurry to investigate further; since he rarely came out, he naturally wanted to have as much fun as possible.
By midnight, in Lu Ping’an’s room, there lay a pile of dismantled Tree God Statues.
He really dismantled some odd things from them...
"The problem isn’t the tree, but the Sun... no, is it the Phoenix?"
Lu Ping’an remembered, a couple of days ago, some "fantastic discussions" he had seen on the Contact Board.
"Have you encountered it? Something is stealing faith."
"Stealing faith? You don’t mean someone among us, right? That’s a serious accusation; do you have evidence?"
"I do, my statues were painted with the holy pattern of a Three-Headed Dragon..."
"Three-Headed Dragon? That shouldn’t be one of us, right?"
The next day, Lu Ping’an posted his experiences on Lord Xiuyi’s Contact Board.
"I’ve also encountered ’fake statues’; someone is stealing faith..."
This sort of thing is quite hard to notice, as meddling with god statues and holy paintings, which are labor-intensive and generally meaningless... they pretty much only fool mortals.
The "marker" of a professional is countless times more potent than that of a common mortal, and professionals need to connect with deities; if they get no response, they naturally notice a problem.
These bits of stolen faith, weak in effect, are more likely to infuriate the original owners of the statues than to bring any benefit; only a fool would do it.
"I used to do it to annoy Lin Nu..." Big Cat had said.
Well, if there’s existence, even destructive actions have value. Since someone genuinely intends to harm without benefitting themselves, there’s not much to praise.
"I didn’t offend anyone... Besides, this doesn’t matter much to me now, as I wasn’t planning to collect markers or faith."
"It must be the thieves, even if it’s just a little bit of faith, they desperately need it."
Lu Ping’an simply disclosed the facts; he wasn’t the first or last to spot an anomaly.
With multiple instances, many Big Shots started to notice something was wrong. When they began to inspect the god statues in their territories, they naturally discovered more discrepancies.
"We’ve currently found six, including a Three-Headed Dragon, a Phoenix, a canine, a Giant Scorpion, a Long Hand, and a Whale..."
Upon a thorough investigation, they quickly found these widespread instances of "stealing electricity."
"...Is it Ancient Divine Beasts?"
At this time, the Big Shots hadn’t yet realized exactly where the problem lay.
"It must be; during the previous war, many were awakened, some were killed by opponents, and others fell back into slumber."
"Strange, what do they need faith markers for? They are nurtured by nature and don’t need this kind of nutrition."
"Could it be, they are trying to mimic us, evolve through professions to ascend? That path doesn’t seem suited to them; they might become weaker after evolving..."
It was odd, but nobody took it seriously; after all, these Ancient Divine Beasts, summoned by World Consciousness as cannon fodder, were strong but generally not very intelligent, posing limited threats to everyone, more like a natural disaster that could be exploited.
"Just let it be..."
However, high-tier professionals from the Life system often have an inexplicable obsession with super lifeforms. A professional of the eighth-tier or above followed the trail to find the Three-Headed Dragon that was "stealing electricity."
Then, he died.
Everyone was somewhat surprised, and some even mocked him for slipping up in such a simple situation, until Lord Xiuyi brought his last words.
"Personality Fragments! Personality Fragments of the World Consciousness, on those Divine Beasts! It’s trying to ascend to let World Consciousness regain a personality!!"
— End of Chapter 1462 —