Chapter 35: The Value of a God is Immeasurable

Western Hemisphere time, 6:00 AM.

The top player, Michael, was awakened by a phone call from Sariel: "Hahahaha! I succeeded!"

Michael was incredulous: "Video!"

"Just sent it to you!"

Michael saw the wailing mermaid in the cage on the ship’s deck and frowned: "She will summon sea monsters to save her. It’s too early to call it a success."

Sariel laughed arrogantly: "That’s exactly what I want! I hired the *Silver Queen*, and the twenty Armstrong Cyclone Magic Cannons across her two decks are enough to blast any sea monster that dares to come here to die. It’ll just be a chance to farm material drops to cover the military expenses of this battle!"

"Summoning sea monsters will drain her power and cause her to drop in rank. Your high-difficulty design will become meaningless."

Sariel chuckled: "I’ve investigated all the nearby sea monsters; the loss from a rank drop is well within my tolerance!"

Michael asked again: "What about NPC interference?"

Sariel sneered: "None yet. If one really is that strong, I’m prepared to let the *Silver Queen* go down with it. We’ll just buy the heavily damaged *Silver Queen* back at a bargain price later! The losses from the mermaid will be covered regardless."

Michael laughed in surprise: "You’ve thought of everything! Good luck, then!"

After ending the call, his butler immediately reported: "Sir, the curfew in Iron City has been lifted, and the city lockdown plan has been canceled. That person, Da Chun, was publicly exiled to Plague Island for reporting the plague..."

The moment Michael thought about how much had happened while he was asleep, he became very dissatisfied with his research progress—according to the brain-computer interface design, even when he slept, a part of his soul and consciousness should have been uploaded to the game world. This would mean he would never truly sleep, effectively granting him half a lifetime more than others.

Michael asked: "What is the situation with Plague Island?"

The butler replied: "I’ve checked. It was designed as a quarantine virus repository. In the plot background, it became an abandoned, uninhabited island for exiling plague patients. Theoretically, there are no quest events there. However, once left to the system's automated operation, there is always the possibility of it generating its own plot modules."

Michael’s brow twitched: "An uninhabited island? Who is directing this event?"

The butler said: "There are five NPCs related to the city lockdown authority, but three are attending the banquet. The only ones left could be the Lord of Iron City or the star mage Fafna. A portion of Fafna’s soul is detained in the Empire’s Hall of Valor. Would you be interested in investigating?"

Michael said: "Those five star mages are important samples of worship-oriented personalities and vital samples for consciousness separation technology. There is no need to disturb her for such a trivial matter. Let her grow freely."

"Understood. Additionally, the Shrine team has successfully reached the water dungeon at the bottom of the prison."

Michael smiled: "Excellent. I’d like to see how they break through the Hell Messenger's defense line!"

...

Shrine Headquarters.

The Third Red-Name Legion attacked the Count’s mansion and refused to execute the Lord’s epidemic prevention orders, committing numerous riots and grave crimes, finally succeeding in getting themselves thrown into the water dungeon at the lowest level of the prison.

The team cheered.

The Young Master also breathed a sigh of relief: "Find the key clues immediately!"

Soon, a team member dug something up at the bottom platform of the elevator: "Young Master, we’ve unearthed a magic circle!"

The Young Master was satisfied: "Just as I thought. The money wasn’t spent in vain."

"Young Master, we’ve found six collapsed tunnels."

"Split into six groups, clear the rubble, and find the six magic stones."

"Copy that."

While they were moving the rubble, an anomaly occurred, startling a flock of bats!

A member cried out: "Dammit! The bat dust is poisonous!"

The more guards there were, the more it proved the magic stones were here.

The Young Master was indifferent: "Keep moving stones after you respawn!"

Before long, another member exclaimed: "Stealth crystal bats! Extremely high physical resistance!"

The Young Master smiled: "The guards are quite strong. The other Red-Name legions will need to riot harder!"

As long as there were enough people, even if one person’s life could only move one stone, they could still ignore the guards and get the magic stones.

Although progress here was going smoothly, the repayment plan of the Maritime Chamber of Commerce’s chairman, Yugaomaru Yato, was not going well: "Reporting to the Young Master, Count Ramirhan refuses to see me!"

The Young Master’s brow tightened: "Did you state your purpose?"

"I did, but he just won't see me."

The Young Master knew where the problem lay; either their reputation wasn't high enough, or piling fish barrels against the wall had angered the Count, or he simply didn't want to redeem the dancer.

The "Paparazzi Immortal" spoke up: "Young Master, we could try a risky move. Admit that our Chamber of Commerce was the one who piled the fish barrels against the wall to provoke and anger him!"

The Young Master was stunned: "Wouldn't that make him even less likely to see us?"

The Paparazzi Immortal asked: "If you were the Count, would you see us or not?"

The Young Master said in a deep voice: "If it were me, I’d drag them to my face and beat them up!"

The Paparazzi Immortal said: "That’s why the weight of friendliness and hostility is different. If we are friendly with the Count, our Chamber of Commerce isn't even fit to lick his boots. If we are hostile, we can face him immediately!"

The Young Master’s eyes brightened: "Yugaomaru, try it!"

Soon, a victory report came from Yugaomaru: "Reporting to the Young Master, I succeeded! The Count told me to lick his shoes as an apology!"

The Young Master was overjoyed: "Paparazzi, you are truly the ace of our task force!"

The Paparazzi said solemnly: "You flatter me, Young Master! But this meeting is unconventional and based on negative trust. So, Amy must also act unconventionally. I will persuade her to state in front of the Count that she does not wish to leave the comfortable Count’s mansion."

"Excellent. You handle it!"

...

Past 9:00 PM, Da Chun had slept for over three hours on a bench in the square-dancing plaza, which counted as replenishing his energy for tonight's all-nighter. He then leisurely returned to the internet cafe.

The girl at the counter: "Hello, Mr. Ding."

The various experts greeted him: "Hello, Brother Chun!"

"Brother Chun, just when you went out to eat, the lockdown order was lifted. You’ve performed a great service, Brother Chun."

*Sigh*, I’m already slacking off this much, and you guys are still so fired up...

Da Chun continued to observe the first floor and chat for a while before slowly returning to his private room.

Once the door was closed, Da Chun couldn't help his heart racing. He couldn't wait to log in; he was genuinely afraid that something might have gone wrong during those four hours! Saying he didn't care about dying in the church would be a lie.

Upon logging in, a row of system notifications scrolled across the screen:

—System Notification: Congratulations! Your wisdom is excellent, you have overcome weakness, and your muscle memory has restored Basic Fishing to Level 5...

—System Notification: Congratulations! Your wisdom is excellent; you remained tenacious during the plague-induced weakness and successfully mastered the mechanical principles of the rod combination. Your Module Combination skill has ascended to Advanced Level 1. You have received an achievement reward: Weight Capacity +1, Stamina +1, Leadership +1, Spirit +3. You have received the "Three-Day Newcomer Discount Blessing" achievement reward: Wisdom +1.

—System Notification: You have been infected with an unknown plague transmitted by plague crows. You have once again received the "Whale Power" blessing. Whale Power cannot eliminate the rat plague or crow plague, but your ability to resist plague has increased, and you are immune to 15 points of toxin damage.

—System Notification: Congratulations! You have acquired the possessed evil spirit’s new skill: "Sonic Radar." It can detect surrounding terrain via radar. Using this skill consumes stamina or mana.

...

Not only did nothing go wrong, but he had a major breakthrough!

Crow plague? A new evil spirit skill!? Whale blessing!?

Just then, a joyful whale spout echoed!

Da Chun turned to look, but couldn't see clearly, only a fuzzy black hill near the ship!

Da Chun was excited: "Great, you finally came! I’ve become the island master here, and I desperately need your help!"

The whale spouted high again—System Notification: The whale indicates its willingness to help guard!

Hahahaha, although it can’t come ashore, safety is maxed out!

Ailen’s voice sounded: "Is this whale your friend?"

She finally arrived! Hmph, dancers are the most opportunistic! Are you convinced now?

Da Chun smiled proudly: "As long as you are sincere, you have friends!"

The dancer was indeed quite in awe: "When it came, it blessed you, which woke me up."

Da Chun asked in surprise: "Its blessing has a purifying effect; are you okay?"

The dancer snorted coldly: "You’re the one with the problem; you’ve got another type of plague. I’ve gotten to know it a bit, and it can’t purify your rat plague or crow plague either."

But it can purify your soul, can't it?

Anyway, I’m not afraid of having many illnesses now! Charging up another advanced level while sick added 3 points of Spirit! This clearly made up for the rewards of the primary and intermediate levels, right? This means if I complete all my skills while sick, I’ll probably gain dozens of points in Spirit! Even if I can't become a mage, I’ll be resistant to all kinds of control spells. I might even be more resilient than a Paladin class?

Da Chun immediately asked: "Is this Sonic Radar the bat skill you mastered?"

Ailen also smiled proudly: "This is a demonic skill that has ascended to the level of a demon! Let me show you!"

—System Notification: You have activated the possessed evil spirit skill: Sonic Radar.

The next moment, the familiar infrared night-vision perspective from the sewers reappeared.

Holy crap, this skill came at the right time. Although it can't replace eyes, it’s basically map-hacking!

However, he could only see the movement patterns of various crows and small fish.

Da Chun hurriedly said: "I want to know if there is anyone on the island, if there is any danger! Can you get closer?"

Ailen said in a deep voice: "I don’t feel anyone here. You can circle the island and see."

Fine! So Da Chun started rowing again.

The whale hummed—System Notification: The whale asks if you need help pulling the boat?

I do! But the fishing rod has six hooks!

"Wait for me."

Da Chun immediately reeled in, felt around, and stuffed a hook into the mouth of a large yellow croaker. He then wrapped the line messily to secure the fish and lowered it into the sea: "It’s ready! This way, it won't get hooked!"

The whale bit the yellow croaker and gave a gentle tug!

—System Notification: Congratulations! You have overcome extreme weakness, and your muscle memory has restored Intermediate Fishing to Level 1. You have received an additional achievement reward: Health +6, Spirit +1! Module Combination skill proficiency increased.

Holy crap!!

As expected, being hooked by a whale was like yesterday; it leveled up six times in a row, directly reaching Intermediate level! And another 1 point of Spirit. Sure enough, as long as you are sick, every major level-up in a skill grants 1 point of Spirit. At this rate, reaching Advanced level will be a piece of cake! It feels like I’m teaming up with a whale to exploit a bug!

And the effect of Spirit +1 was very significant; Da Chun could clearly feel the radar's range extend a good distance.

Ailen was even more shocked: "This whale is too smart!"

Da Chun got excited: "Actually, my original plan was to raise this whale into a Sea God!"

Ailen was surprised: "The star mage gave you a Chamber of Commerce token, and there’s a 'Guardian Deity' option on the token!"

That’s true, but a Guardian Deity requires divine attributes and enough favorability. Let’s see how this option works.

Da Chun took out the token and selected the option—Black Flag Decree prompt: Please seek the deity's consent!

It requires dialogue?

Da Chun said: "Old Whale, I want you to be the Guardian Deity of my territory. Are you willing?"

The old whale emitted a sound of astonishment—System Notification: The whale indicates it does not dare to call itself a deity!

—Black Flag Decree prompt: The whale possesses extremely high anti-magic traits, deriving faint divinity, but its overall strength is insufficient. It cannot be recruited as a Guardian Deity at this time!

Uh... wait?

Although failure was expected, I didn't expect it to actually have divinity! Is this a product designed by corporate bigwigs?

Da Chun was excited: "As long as I heal its external wounds, maybe I can manufacture a god?"

Ailen was also quite spirited: "The value of a god is immeasurable. Even if it’s not qualified enough yet, as long as everyone else believes it’s a god, even a 10 billion debt wouldn’t matter. Plenty of big nobles would be willing to come over and invest..."

So, as long as I package and hype it up as a god, enough for others to believe it, it will work?

Is that how we’re playing this? Very well!