Chapter 583 - 357: Zog Never Leaves Empty-Handed (Part 2)

Chapter 583: Chapter 357: Zog Never Leaves Empty-Handed (Part 2)

"I think it’s acceptable," the Great Sage declared.

"But, Great Sage!"

"When you’re outside the Holy Sanctuary, don’t you pretend to be a faithful follower of the Magic Goddess?"

That single sentence left him speechless.

Seeing no more objections, the Great Sage said, "Good. Let’s vote. All in favor of building a Zog Divine Hall and statue in the Holy Sanctuary, raise your hands."

A few seconds later, every Sage had raised their hand.

Without needing to count the votes, the Great Sage said directly, "Begin preparing the plans. Complete this as soon as possible. It’s the highest priority. If there’s nothing else, this meeting is adjourned."

"There’s one more thing!"

"What is it?"

"If we’re no longer to have contact with Zog, then what about our plan to collect the Basic Source?"

This referred to the Loman Empire’s impending war, for which the offensive against Sutton was a critical component.

But now, the greatest obstacle had appeared: Zog was in Sutton, right in the location Loman planned to strike first.

Hearing this, the Great Sage froze for a moment before answering, "I will adjust the operational arrangements. We can succeed even without Sutton."

After saying this, and without waiting for the other Sages to respond, the Great Sage exited the Holy Sanctuary.

He’d dealt with enough problems for one day.

In a secret chamber behind the study of a castle in the Loman Imperial Capital, Emperor Loman rose from the Soul Ascension Device. He rubbed his forehead and sighed, defeated.

The entire battle plan now needed a complete overhaul.

But that was the easy part. The greater difficulty was the blow dealt to the faith of the Soul Ascenders.

Their ideal was to create a deity through human effort, to achieve a man-made miracle by pooling the consciousness of countless individuals.

But if a true miracle was like what they had witnessed in Zog’s memories, then their plan to ascend to godhood through consciousness seemed like child’s play.

Even if they eventually succeeded, what good would it be against something that could obliterate the world in an instant?

The grand ideal that generations of Soul Ascenders had pursued suddenly seemed far less grand.

It even seemed... insignificant.

As the Emperor of Loman and the leader of the Soul Ascenders, he was suddenly gripped by a sense of powerlessness that sucked him in like quicksand, slowly swallowing him whole.

He sat beside the device, head bowed, lost in thought for a long, long time.

Two thoughts clashed in his mind. ’Should I just give up? To hell with this grand plan.’

’Or should I press on? I can’t abandon my goal just because something greater exists.’

He chose the latter.

He was the Emperor of the Loman Empire; he could not lose his will to fight.

When he emerged from the secret chamber, his eyes were firm. He summoned an attendant. "Inform Duke Welton that the plan to attack Sutton’s Northern Domain is on hold for now; I have other important tasks for him. Then, contact that fool prince in Sutton. Tell him to play his part as Crown Prince. The plan is off. He is not to act rashly. I repeat, no unauthorized actions, or our cooperation is terminated. Make your wording sharp and forceful."

The Emperor feared that if the warning wasn’t harsh enough, the dim-witted prince would do something impulsive and foolish.

"Tell our spies in Sutton to prepare for extraction and be ready to sever all ties with the Prince at a moment’s notice."

Having given his orders, the Emperor closed his eyes to rest. He began to contemplate adjustments to the war plan, whether he should introduce some of the Zog Group’s business projects within Loman, and that other troublesome matter... building a divine hall for Zog.

—————————

"Do you think people will build statues of me in the future?"

At Zog’s home in Deepwater City, Furin was poring over new magic at her desk when Zog suddenly blurted out the question.

"Why would they build a statue of you?"

"Father of the internet, creator of the Shadow of Evil, the God of Games! Don’t you think I deserve to be commemorated by a few universities?"

"You can pay to build one for yourself in Hogwarts. Build any kind you like. You can even build several," Furin said tonelessly.

"What’s the point of building one for myself? How is that any different from some minor celebrity hiring people to pose as fans to greet them!"

For the first time in a while, Furin looked up. "Celebrities actually do that?"

Zog nodded. "Of course. It’s a legitimate industry. Plenty of people make extra money doing it."

Furin sniffled, feeling that Zog’s definition of "legitimate" might differ slightly from most people’s.

"Can you please stop studying that magic?" Zog asked, a hint of grievance in his voice as he saw Furin about to dive back into her notes. "It’s not like the spells are going anywhere."

But Furin paid him no mind.

He had already been distracting her from her studies for two hours. The fact that she hadn’t gotten angry could only be attributed to the strength of their relationship.

After leaving the Holy Sanctuary, Zog had given Furin access to all the magic that the deity had left in his mind for him to review.

And she had become completely engrossed in it.

In Furin’s own words, it was like opening the door to a whole new world.

In Zog’s opinion, however, the information wasn’t all that useful.

Sure, the magical knowledge was incredibly advanced, but most of it pertained to High Ring Magic.

Magic above the Ninth Ring couldn’t be cast anyway.

’What’s the point of researching something you can’t use?’

The vast amount of remaining foundational principles were all incredibly abstract, concepts touching upon the very essence of reality. There were still far too many steps missing between theory and practical application.

Simply put, it couldn’t be used to make money directly.

’Not as good as the stuff I swiped from the Soul Ascender’s Sanctuary,’ he thought.

’It wasn’t easy getting into the Holy Sanctuary... well, okay, it’s not hard anymore. I can go whenever I want now.’

In any case, leaving empty-handed just wasn’t Zog’s style.

But everything in the Holy Sanctuary was virtual, a product of consciousness, so the only thing he could take with him was knowledge.

And so, Zog had greedily absorbed all the knowledge he could from the Soul Ascenders’ Grand Library.

He didn’t try to understand it, just committed it to memory through brute force. This played to his particular strengths: memory stat maxed out, intelligence stat... limited.

Not long after entering the Holy Sanctuary, Zog had realized the technology had incredible potential for gaming.

True virtual reality!

It engaged multiple senses and didn’t require physical movement in the real world. It was leagues beyond any VR device.

However, after bringing the Soul Ascenders’ technology back with him, he discovered that practical application was not so easy.

First, creating a space like the Holy Sanctuary would take an enormous amount of time, far exceeding a normal game development cycle.

Second, the access devices would be difficult to mass-produce and distribute.

Thus, it was still a long way from commercial viability. This didn’t stop Zog from putting together a team to attempt building such a virtual space, but it would be some time before they saw any results.

’So bored...’

Zog curled up on his cushion.

’Can’t something major happen to liven things up?’

Wait. Zog suddenly remembered. ’According to the intel I got before, isn’t the Northern Domain supposed to be facing an invasion soon?’

’Where’s Duke Welton’s grand army? What about the succession to Sutton’s throne? It’s about that time, isn’t it...?’

—————————

「Sutton Royal City. The Prince’s Mansion.」

Inside the study, there were no servants. There was only the Prince and his foreign tutor, who was a Loman spy.

"What do you mean, ’play my part as Crown Prince’!?"

The Prince was in a fit of impotent rage. Books were strewn everywhere, and several chairs had been kicked over.

"If I wait any longer, I won’t be Crown Prince anymore!" he shrieked, veins bulging grotesquely on his neck.

A Sound Insulation Array had been placed in the study, ensuring no one outside could hear the commotion.

"Play your part as Crown Prince, and do not act rashly." The foreign tutor merely repeated Emperor Loman’s orders with placid calm.

In truth, he despised the Prince. While Loman had certainly used the man to accomplish a great deal, Lomans had no respect for traitors—not even the ones they had turned themselves.

"Do not act rashly? Hahaha..."

The Prince laughed, his fury twisting into bitter amusement.

"The orders have been delivered. If you do anything out of line, our cooperation will be terminated."

"Who do you think you’re talking to!? I am the Prince of Sutton! The Prince of Sutton! The future King of Sutton!"

"You need to calm down," the tutor said, leaving the study with that final piece of advice.

Watching him go, the Prince panted heavily.

He gritted his teeth and snarled, "Even without you, I can still become the King of Sutton..."