Chapter 166: The Faction System

Chapter 166: The Faction System

On the second day after the Battle of Willis concluded, Clairement, the Director of the Interconnected Bank and Princess of the Keville Empire, appeared at the Teleportation Mana Well in the Ringed Magic Tower of Felix.

Greeting her was Palace Guard Captain Burton.

"Wow, I thought my dear brother would come to meet me in person," Clairement said playfully, standing in the portal and glancing around with a mischievous expression.

"He didn’t prepare a grand display of flowers outside, did he? If so, I’ll have to say it in advance—that’s so cliché!"

The fifty-something Captain Burton saluted with utmost formality. "Your Highness, His Majesty’s message: 'I am handling important matters, dear sister. I hope you won’t hold it against me.'"

Hearing Burton’s stiff delivery of the message, Clairement raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Imagining her brother saying those words, she suddenly broke into a radiant smile. "I never thought my brother would actually work hard for once!"

Burton’s face stiffened slightly at the implication that the emperor had never worked hard before.

Well, to be fair, the empire’s governance had long been monopolized by the Three Saint Magi, leaving the Keville royal family with little substantive work beyond ceremonial duties and worship.

"Alright, I’m here on important business too, so I won’t be returning to the palace. Pass a message to my brother for me…"

Burton immediately bowed slightly, tilting his ear attentively to commit the words to memory.

"Ahem—'Brother, you did great this time!'"

With that, Clairement strode past Burton, head held high.

The captain froze for a moment.

After a pause, a faint smile and unmistakable pride broke through his usually rigid expression.

The Battle of Willis the day before had revealed a formidable side of the Keville royal family, which had remained dormant for nearly a century.

Amplified by the internet, the royal family had gained immense public recognition overnight.

Just like the surprise attack by the Five Evil Gods, the Battle of Willis had predictably exploded across the internet, becoming the hottest topic of the moment.

Countless details of the battle were dissected and debated.

On the increasingly authoritative Q&A community, the top ten trending questions were almost entirely dominated by discussions about the Battle of Willis.

Even beyond the top ten, most threads revolved around minor aspects of the battle.

"What powers did the Internet God display in the Battle of Willis?"

"How should the Battle of Willis be interpreted?"

"What noteworthy details emerged from the Battle of Willis?"

"What are your thoughts on the bank run at the Interconnected Bank during the Battle of Willis?"

"What powers did the God of Death exhibit in the Battle of Willis?"

"Who is stronger—the Internet God or the God of Death?"

Questions like these dominated the trending lists, flooding the platform.

Among them, one question stood out—about the Keville royal family’s last-minute activation of the Blood Shield!

Though many believed the Internet God would have protected Willis City even without the Blood Shield, the sheer might of the shield left a deep impression on the public.

A highly upvoted answer in the Q&A community sparked countless likes and discussions.

"I don't know how powerful the Blood Shield is, nor what kind of power the great Internet God displayed. But I know that when we were in danger, there were always people who stood up for us! Especially the great Internet God—he never lets us down!"

This very response struck a chord with countless internet users.

The Keville Empire swelled with pride!

Citizens of other nations burned with envy!

It had to be admitted—the power displayed by the Internet God in this battle had greatly boosted the sense of security among the people of Willis.

Now, back to the main topic.

After leaving the Ringed Magic Tower, Clairement boarded a carriage and rushed in urgent haste to Ajef's private residence.

To be honest, she couldn’t quite understand why Ajef had summoned her back at such a critical post-war moment.

Couldn’t this have been discussed over the internet?

However, this also suggested that whatever Ajef wanted to convey must be extremely important.

With authorized passage, Clairement’s carriage drove straight into the Dragon Factory, finally coming to a stop before Ajef’s private estate.

Taking a deep breath, Clairement stepped down from the carriage.

Guided by an advanced magic puppet, she eventually found Ajef in a conference room.

The room was vast.

A ten-meter-long table dominated the center, and Ajef sat alone at the head, eyes closed in feigned sleep.

"Sit."

Yu Sheng'an issued the command without opening his eyes.

At the moment, he was still fine-tuning the "Faction System for the Conquest of Subdomains."

Among the suggestions offered by the higher-ups of the Internet God’s divine system, the framework for establishing national-level mercenary forces had quickly taken shape.

Namely—the Faction System.

To avoid bias, the higher-ups unanimously agreed that the most suitable main bodies would be the "player guilds" and "player mercenary groups" from [the game].

From a certain perspective, player guilds theoretically weren’t under the direct jurisdiction of the Internet God—their relationship was more like a partnership.

After all, lured by wealth and Source Essence, [the game] had already attracted a flood of foreign players.

Especially from the Kaman Union.

If a noble family didn’t have a player guild these days, they’d be too embarrassed to even greet others.

Thus, using [the game] not only avoided employer prejudice but also ensured relative fairness in faction selection.

In other words, the Internet God merely provided a platform—which faction the "guilds" and "mercenary groups" on the platform chose to serve had nothing to do with him.

Of course… would it really have nothing to do with the Internet God?

Obviously, that was impossible.

The room for manipulation here was simply too vast.

On one hand, the guilds of the Keville Empire—the Internet God’s favored sons—would undoubtedly receive preferential treatment, with priority access to high-value tasks.

With the Prophecy Godhood as his foundation, Yu Sheng'an could even use big data to calculate which missions had higher returns and lower risks.

This would indirectly nurture the Keville Empire’s guilds.

On the other hand, as a means to balance the powers of the multiverse, Yu Sheng'an could easily adjust task exposure rates to increase or decrease the order volume for certain factions, thereby maintaining equilibrium.

Most importantly, when players become dependent on the internet—whether economically, socially, or psychologically—the ultimate goal of the internet will have been achieved.

Additionally, to prevent employers from bypassing the platform and privately contacting mercenaries, all employers and mercenaries must sign strict employment agreements.

Of course, even so, there’s no absolute guarantee that everyone will conduct transactions through the platform.

Regarding this, Yu Sheng’an could do nothing but resort to his ultimate trump card: signatories of the agreement would enjoy the protection of the Internet God.

If either party violates the contract, they can request official intervention from the internet authorities to investigate and uphold justice.

Therefore, if anyone dares to bypass the contract—not to mention the cost of doing so—they will lose the contract’s protection. Once defrauded, they can’t blame the Internet God for not warning them.

Thus, while direct dealings outside the platform may still occur, their frequency will be minimized to an extreme extent.

For payment methods, Yu Sheng’an provided three options: Source Essence, mana, or general equivalents.

The first two are forms of energy and are considered universal hard currency across the multiverse.

The latter, general equivalents, refer to valuable items like gold or mithril. Such transactions require appraisal and valuation by the Interconnected Bank.

This was the fundamental reason he summoned Clairement.

After a long while, Yu Sheng’an finished his adjustments and opened his eyes.

“You handled this bank run crisis well!”

His first words upon opening his eyes were praise, causing Clairement’s fair cheeks to flush crimson with excitement.