Lord of Prayer

Chapter 422: Chapter 272: Wish Box (2)

Zhou Chen didn’t press the issue. He was just probing indirectly, trying to see if the Star Association knew about the "Apostle Factor." It seemed the "Apostle Factor" was already on file with the Star Association, but they’d never imagined the Poison Master had perfected it to such a degree.

This was actually a good thing. The Star Association would surely strengthen its precautions and launch a focused investigation now.

"After the Rain of Life fell, all the Resurrectionists died. Many citizens in Stone City vomited out Extraordinary Factors, and there were even infected people within the Star Association..." Wang Miao said, his voice laced with lingering fear. "Thankfully, we found a solution for the Resurrectionists early on. If the Extraordinary Factor had been allowed to spread, the entire World would have descended into chaos."

Unlike the Crystal Disease, what the Resurrectionists represented was resurrection—and humanity’s pursuit of endless life has never ceased.

Half an hour later, the Rain of Life subsided.

The Resurrectionist incident thus came to a baffling conclusion, attributed entirely to "luck."

Hiding in a bathroom stall, Zhou Chen sent a message to Jiang Che, asking if he should go meet the head of the Stone City Star Association.

The answer he received was no.

In the meantime, Jiang Che had already finished discussing the details of their cooperation with the head of the Stone City Star Association.

’Is that it? So I really just came out here on a paid vacation and happened to stop one of Fallen Paradise’s evil plans along the way?’ Zhou Chen mused. ’I can’t just go back like this. At the very least, I should try some of Stone City’s authentic local dishes and justifiably slack off for a day.’

「」

「In a dark laboratory.」

"The Star Association summoned the Rain of Life again. The experiment with the Apostle Factor has failed," a voice announced from the activated communication Secret Ceremony.

The Poison Master, who was bandaging a wound on his arm, frowned slightly. "So soon? How is that possible?"

"Do not underestimate the Power of the Star Association," the voice warned.

"It doesn’t matter," the Poison Master said calmly. "The existing data shows that the Apostle Factor is very stable. The experiment’s main objective has been achieved. All that’s left is to see if the Crystal Virus’s mutation will meet our expectations."

"With you guiding the Crystal Virus’s evolutionary path, could something still go wrong?"

"Hah." The Poison Master let out a cold laugh. He poured a bottle of eerie green Alchemy Potion onto his arm. Upon contact with his flesh, it SIZZLED, releasing a thick black smoke reeking of Curses, which made his face turn even paler, completely devoid of color.

After a long moment, he finally gasped, "Do not underestimate the Power of North Carolina."

"Hm?" The person on the other end of the communication Secret Ceremony sounded confused.

"When I went to deploy the Mutagenic Inducer today, I ran into a mysterious fellow. He was tough to deal with and was likely carrying a B-Level Forbidden Object. It took some effort to shake him," the Poison Master said, glancing at his healed wound as he slowly got dressed.

"Besides the King of North Carolina and his men, there’s someone else in North Carolina who can pose a threat to you?" The voice in the communication Secret Ceremony sounded even more astonished.

"But it did happen."

"...What a pain. I’ll make a trip to North Carolina," the person on the other end of the communication Secret Ceremony sighed, then asked, "Oh, right, how is the Crystal Virus’s evolution progressing?"

"It’s in the Second Stage and still under my control. If the situation remains optimistic, it should enter the third stage in half a month," the Poison Master replied.

「」

「Afternoon.」

Zhou Chen took a high-speed train back to Jinzhu and went to the Star Association to describe the series of events to Jiang Che.

Even Jiang Che raised an eyebrow in surprise after hearing his account, finding it a bit preposterous.

It was all too coincidental—a Resurrectionist suddenly craved snail noodles, the snail noodles happened to contain a substance that was harmful to Resurrectionists, and so the Resurrectionist ended up taking itself out, even helping the Star Association find a way to counter the mysterious Extraordinary Factor in the process...

According to Wang Miao, luck had been on their side this time.

But Jiang Che’s Sixth Sense told her things weren’t that simple. A certain fellow calling himself Santa Claus goes to Stone City, and suddenly the Star Association finds a solution for the Resurrectionists. Was all of that really to be credited to luck?

"Why are you... staring at me?" Zhou Chen felt a little spooked by Jiang Che’s calm gaze.

"It’s nothing." Jiang Che averted her gaze and began tidying the messy files on her desk.

"How did your talk with the head of the Stone City Star Association go?" Zhou Chen asked curiously.

"The cooperation was a success," Jiang Che replied without elaborating.

"That’s good... If you need my help, just say the word."

Jiang Che looked up at him, paused for a few seconds, then returned to organizing her files and gave a slight nod.

「」

Back at the villa, Zhou Chen discovered that neither Li Xiye nor Erin was home. He guessed Li Xiye must have had a sudden whim and dragged Erin out for fun again.

Undisturbed, Zhou Chen went down to the basement, found a chair, sat down, and let his consciousness ascend to the Round Table Hall.

Making a wish today had cost 500 Wish Value, which gave Zhou Chen a sense of urgency. As his strength and realm increased, the consumption of Wish Value would certainly get higher and higher. He had to find more new pigs... er, no, new members.

’I’ll set a small goal: gather 100 people first.’

Zhou Chen began the screening process. After nearly two hours of work, he finally selected 30 new members from around the globe.

He used his usual method to make initial contact. When the time was right, he would pull the consciousness of these 30 individuals into the Round Table Hall and give them a proper introduction to the hall and the Prayer System. After learning how miraculous the Prayer System was, no one could possibly refuse—especially not these hand-picked new members, all of whom possessed intense desires.

After the welcoming ceremony for the new members, Zhou Chen walked over to the Forging Melting Furnace. It was currently active, having been started by the member codenamed "34" to forge a short sword, consuming a total of 2 Wish Value.

In reality, however, forging the short sword only required 1 Wish Value. The other point was Zhou Chen’s cut.

Although it was only one point, it was a 50% commission. The larger the base cost, the more ruthless his cut. Zhou Chen even felt a bit villainous. But then he thought about the financial institutions and game companies that professionally fleeced their users, and he suddenly felt like a saint for taking such a small cut.

Realistically, though, this was as high as he could go. Wish Value was already difficult to accumulate; taking any more would be unreasonable.

Now that the Round Table Hall was running smoothly, the members used the system’s functions frequently, and they made wishes even more often. If there were a real-time income panel, it would surely display: Wish Value +1, +1, +1, +1, +2, +2...

He was earning passive income without lifting a finger.

Once the 30 new members adapted to the Prayer System, his income was bound to double again.

The Round Table Hall now had a total of 72 members. For a Secret Society, it could be considered a small-to-medium-sized organization, but Zhou Chen had no intention of stopping there.

For him, the more people under his command, the stronger he would become.

If he could establish an Extraordinary Association of ten thousand people, he could save up for a Tiny Miracle in ten days at most, and a Great Miracle in a hundred days at most. That translated to becoming a Crowned King in just over three months. And if he actually managed to pull it off, his progress would surely be even faster.

But for now, that was just a distant dream. The Round Table Hall didn’t even have a hundred members yet; a thousand was still a far-off goal.

Just as Zhou Chen was preparing to exit the Round Table Hall to rest his mind, he suddenly heard a familiar voice in prayer.

—It was Calia.

He waited a moment before responding.

"Mr. Lamp God, I have some intelligence I would like to trade," Calia said, getting straight to the point.

"What intelligence?" the Lamp God asked in a gentle tone.

"Are you aware of Forbidden Object B-025: Wishing Box?"

Forbidden Object B-025: Wishing Box...

Zhou Chen instantly recalled the relevant information. Because of his connection to the Wish Bottle, he had paid close attention to the Wish Box before. However, that particular Forbidden Object was extremely mysterious—an Activated Forbidden Object with its own consciousness. To this day, the Star Association had not been able to study it in depth, and the compendium of Forbidden Objects only contained a brief description of its abilities.

"Has it appeared in North Carolina?"

"Yes."