Chapter 1800
Chapter 1800 - 1796: Vacation
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"Is the vacation about to end again..."
Staring at the dazzling starry sky, with the scent of barbecue not far away, Lu Ping’an was like a child who didn’t want to go to work, counting how many days of vacation he had left.
Called back, Lu, with a skewer in his mouth, enjoyed the cumin-spiced pork belly he loved.
He chewed with satisfaction, nodding while watching Chris go back to working overtime feeding the cats again... Lu Ping’an’s magic pets along with her two sisters, each were big eaters who couldn’t stop eating.
After Lu Ping’an complained about "you guys feeding the cats" at dinner, there was inexplicably another round of supper tonight. Lu Ping’an tried a few bites himself, which made the cooking Big Cat a bit unhappy.
The problem was that top-level extraordinaries were eating without limit, which was too much for Big Cat, the novice chef, to handle.
Originally, it was supposed to be an extra meal for Lu Ping’an, but with hopeful "kittens" piling up dishes in front of each other, it seemed they would eat until midnight.
"Eat, each of you eating like pigs."
Chris, who looked younger than the "little sisters" on the outside, started a new round of cooking while pushing back the mischievous Eve and the kittens, and inviting Zhi Xi, who was snatching the grill, to rest on the side.
But in Lu’s eyes, as he ate meat skewers and drank cola, Chris, despite complaining, showed a rare pure smile.
A bit further away, "servant" Catherine was wrestling with a table full of paperwork... coming to work overtime in front of the boss might be her last bit of persistence and complaint, which Lu naturally ignored.
𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
By the way, there was also a "universal housework robot" at home; at least the rule-level maid Fang Wen had never complained about the busy chores.
This was a family feast, but no longer a rare sight. Amidst the long war and chaos, Lu Ping’an’s family started having their own "life."
Though each member was a city-destroying nuclear bomb on their own, even the maid and the cleaning robot could burn down a city alone, but here, they were just "ordinary people" finally having a vacation after being tortured by work.
Lu, enjoying barbecue and beer, checked his recent schedule list, and finally, could only sigh.
In such a big environment, from age sixteen, Lu’s life was filled with gunfire and slaughter... war and battle were the main themes, and peaceful days were merely to recuperate and take vacations.
Lu Ping’an couldn’t even remember how many people fell behind on this journey; those who kept up were comrades, and those who didn’t... were former comrades now retired, living leisurely in logistics departments.
At this stage, Lu Ping’an no longer had the option to stop, considering not only the "family members" in front of him but also the friends, company employees, and former comrades relying on him for sustenance, Lu Ping’an needed to uphold this "group."
That’s why Catherine had to work overtime non-stop, and her efforts were meant for not only Lu Ping’an but also the thousands and thousands of fellows aboard this ship.
Of course, Lu was actually an essential part all along.
What he had to do was essentially two things: make crucial decisions at key moments and... get stronger...
"Has the Lady of the Forest quieted down over there?"
"Once you returned, things calmed down on her end. After all, now you’ve been limited in the range of your competition, and large-scale killings of believers aren’t allowed, which makes the competition meaningless."
This time, Big Cat, dressed like a high school girl cooking for the family, mentioned her nemesis with rare calmness.
Lu Ping’an’s "Life Value" had already become thoroughly antagonistic to the "Lady of the Forest," with both sides competing on various fronts, but mostly, it was still about battling for the "circle of faith."
Deities, at least Order Gods, grow most simply in two ways.
One part is connecting with the world, providing the world with its rules while receiving nourishment and feedback from the world... If your world’s rules are well implemented in this world, then while the world’s rules receive buffs, as the provider, connector, you naturally receive feedback.
Most importantly, a deity connected to the world has high stability and can further expand itself without worrying about excessive mutations.
In a sense, it’s like joining a big corporation, gaining stability along with some restrictions.
The other part is doing your own "private work."
"With the Eastern Country backing us, the Lady of the Forest’s counterattack actually doesn’t have much of an impact, only being able to somewhat hinder our expansion... But in reality, we even have people inside the Lady of the Forest."
Taking off the apron, and starting to eat herself, Chris, with a slightly overly mature smile on her youthful cheeks, had indeed let go... as Lu Ping’an’s "Life Value" forces gradually squeezed the Lady of the Forest’s living space.
Mortal powers and believers are the "arms" of deities who can’t directly interfere with the world status of the Divine Kingdom, and at the same time, they can constantly validate the deity’s path, their souls themselves are the deity’s "human anchor point."
For deities, on one side is physical enhancement and on the other is spiritual feedback, and it’s hard to say which is more important.
Especially traditional deities on the Divine Kingdom route, valued this aspect greatly. Originally, Lu Ping’an thought he didn’t need it much himself, but as it developed, he found he was continuously benefiting from it; even just the "Life-points" tax revenue was astronomical.
But compared to the benefits brought by Lu Ping’an’s improving "Holy Scripture," all this was just a fraction.
"I need time, more time to widen the gap with her..."
Although a bit incredible, the current situation was indeed Lu Ping’an on the offense, with the Lady of the Forest on the defense, and seemingly not holding steady.
The reason was actually simple and crude; the Lady of the Forest had a church mechanism of "helping whoever wins"; her direct branches were constantly being replaced, and the branches needed to compete continuously for her favor.
In such situations, she was naturally formidable in favorable winds, with everyone vying for her favor... But the result of being heartless and not issuing year-end bonuses meant loyalty was almost non-existent, and when the tide turned, they ran away quickly.
Especially after confirming that Lu Ping’an and the Lady of the Forest were truly the same source... this hinted at one thing, the high-level life series on this path could try to jump ship.
And then someone actually did... finding that compared to the self-destructive high-level world of the Lady of the Forest, Lu Ping’an’s "Life Courtyard" was overly friendly, just like going from beggar sect to brotherhood.
Naturally, some turned to Lu Ping’an.
This was also why Big Cat said there were people in the Lady of the Forest... As the de facto Mrs. Lu and Vice Sect Hierarch, although she increasingly acted like a "capable housewife" recently, she essentially controlled a power of darkness and high-level connections.
She even provided a professional path.
"A fair two-against-one... it’s indeed much more attractive to professionals than the Lady of the Forest."
Lu Ping’an’s "win-win" and Chris’ "monopolizing" were self-reinforcing cycles of thoughts; for extraordinaries, the dual-paths path they could dual-cultivate was much more beneficial than the Lady of the Forest’s "symbiosis" only.
And professionals are most pragmatic, especially high-tier professionals pursuing immortality.
Higher-level competition has the upper hand, and on lower levels, with the Eastern Country Gang’s bias, Lu Ping’an naturally occupied a vague advantage.
It’s just that even a cornered rabbit will bite, let alone an old deity like the Lady of the Forest, so Lu Ping’an still needed to handle it carefully.
However, this scenario, where a newcomer targets an old deity with the other side able only to respond with low-level terrifying counterattacks, was enough to shock the world.
— End of Chapter 1800 —