Chapter 173: Quasi-Subordinate · The Dwarves

Chapter 173: Quasi-Subordinate · The Dwarves

At this moment, the earth turned into a pool of spring water, countless civilians—even Grassland Barbarians—falling into it.

The civilians were swiftly enveloped by earth puppets and dragged deep into the ground.

"Hey, old man, what slander did you spew about the Internet God?" A mocking voice rang in Mo Rui's ear.

Mo Rui's vision was pitch black, as if he had been stuffed into a sack.

"N-no, nothing... I... I thought using the internet would consume one's soul. No, no, that wasn’t me! It was the priests of the Dark Night Temple who told me that!"

Mo Rui stammered, his words jumbled.

"Tch, is that all? That’s normal. Gods lie left and right to compete for Source Essence. Only the Internet God tells us the truth."

The teasing voice didn’t sound angry at all, speaking casually.

"You... you’re not mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad?"

Mo Rui was bewildered.

The Internet God’s Believers were far more magnanimous than he had imagined.

"My... my son said the God of Dark Night is... is an evil god. Is that true? But the Dark Night Temple has always treated us well! They handed out porridge during famines, healed the sick, and when my wife passed early, the priests even... even offered to find me a new wife!"

Mo Rui couldn’t help but voice the question weighing on his heart.

"How should I know? But pigs in a pen only realize the one feeding them is their worst enemy when they’re about to be slaughtered!"

The moment this metaphor landed, Mo Rui shuddered violently.

After a long silence, he asked nervously, "Can someone as sinful as me still worship the Internet God?"

"Worship if you want. The Internet God won’t stop you."

"Huh?"

"Ah, forget it, I’ll stop teasing you. Let me be straight—worshiping anyone is useless. The only one worth believing in is yourself! If you were an Archmage, could those Grassland Barbarians trap you? Take my advice: go online and look around. There’s all kinds of knowledge there—Magic, Battle Aura, whatever. Learning a little won’t hurt."

"I... I can’t read."

"Then learn! What, you expect the gods to protect you while you do nothing? Are the gods that bored, or do you think your face is worth more than your ass? You wanna be a pig? Then don’t squeal when the knife comes down!"

The old hunter Mo Rui froze.

The player casually chatting with him had no idea his offhand remarks would ignite the old hunter’s fighting spirit.

Right now, he just wanted to protect his silver coins.

That’s right—the Fourth Calamity players rescuing civilians from Mo Rui’s city were the very same ones who had joined the God of Dark Night’s faction!

Their current mission was to save the God of Dark Night’s Believers.

The God of Dark Night had offered a fair price: fifty silver coins per head.

Clearly, the God of Dark Night was desperate for Source Essence!

Or rather, in his mind, trading gold and silver for Believers—or rather, Source Essence—was an absolute bargain.

For Yu Sheng'an, the Internet God, this was also a win.

He earned Source Essence from the players, who in turn earned money. After skimming a cut from the middle, plus players buying his weapons, goods, and depositing money in the bank—voilà, the cash flowed right back into his pocket.

Could anything be more satisfying?

Absolutely not!

The most brilliant part was that he was making a double profit!

In reality? At this moment, the God of Dark Night and the Grassland God were so furious they were practically hopping mad!

Especially the God of Dark Night.

When he saw his believers shouting, "The Internet God has come to save us!" he nearly exploded with rage!

Was it really the Internet God who saved them?

No! It was clearly him spending real money to hire them for the rescue!

Yet, the God of Dark Night couldn’t even explain—he could only plan to slowly strengthen ideological education after his people were brought back.

But that wasn’t the only thing infuriating him.

After hiring the Fourth Calamity, he realized his situation hadn’t improved at all.

Because the Grassland God had also hired the Fourth Calamity.

Both sides hiring mercenaries only rebalanced the war, escalating its intensity and destructive power even further!

And he couldn’t even stop hiring them.

Unless he and the Grassland God reached an agreement!

But was that possible?

Not for now!

The Grassland God needed resources and population—he was the aggressor, and the overall war situation favored him. There was no way he would stop hiring.

Damn it!

In his fury, the God of Dark Night could only increase his hiring of the Fourth Calamity. He didn’t just want them to rescue people or act as cannon fodder—he also sent them to the North Ai Grassland to mimic the Internet God’s psychological warfare tactics.

He refused to believe the Grassland God wouldn’t withdraw his troops!

For a time, despite knowing they had fallen into the Internet God’s trap, both the God of Dark Night and the God of Death still clung to a sliver of hope.

They fantasized: The Fourth Calamity was a double-edged sword—how it was used depended on their tactical skills! If handled well, they might still turn the tables!

Both were brimming with confidence in their tactics.

Meanwhile, Yu Sheng'an, the Internet God, was growing less confident in the Faction System.

Because the newly opened Faction System had indeed exposed the drawbacks of a closed-door policy, along with unexpected bugs and flaws.

First, the involvement of the Fourth Calamity risked worsening public perception of the Internet God in various regions, which would hinder the spread of the internet.

He had to find a way to remove the "Internet God" label from the players.

Yes, he was being hypocritical.

After a brief contemplation, Yu Sheng'an devised a strategy.

On one hand, he ordered major guilds and mercenary groups to stop calling themselves the Fourth Calamity, instead unifying their identity as forces under their employers.

On the other hand, he intensified propaganda, using "no trade, no harm" as the ideological foundation to shift blame onto the employers.

And of course, he made sure to heavily promote the Fourth Calamity’s rescue efforts!

Naturally, when publicizing these rescues, the name "Internet God" had to be bolded and highlighted in red.

Secondly, Yu Sheng'an noticed that major Fourth Calamity guilds, in their rush to secure missions, were recruiting anyone—even those whose Source Essence could only sustain them for half an hour. What if they disconnected mid-mission?

Forget the employers—Yu Sheng'an himself couldn’t tolerate it.

After all the effort he put into deploying them, was this how they repaid him?

Workers should have the attitude of workers!

After a moment’s thought, Yu Sheng'an decided to sell—hourly—cards!

Still troubled by insufficient soul strength preventing you from enjoying the game?

Still frustrated by the unreliable delay Magic equipment flooding the market?

Don't worry, all problems will be solved at once starting today!

Thanks to the God of Death's "blessing," the Internet is now flourishing across the multiverse, with users increasing day by day. Yu Sheng'an certainly isn't lacking in Source Essence for the time being.

Spending a small portion to fund players? Yu Sheng'an considers it well worth it!

The money he earns in return can be fully invested in purchasing production materials and precious magical resources.

After all, according to his plans, the Empire has already decided to develop its existing territories.

Reclaiming wilderness is hardly difficult in this extraordinary world.

A Saint Magus could conjure up an entire city out of thin air in a single day.

But that would be meaningless.

Because while reclaiming land is easy, holding onto it is the real challenge!

That’s why Yu Sheng'an needs wealth—to clear the forests of ferocious beasts and magical beasts, expanding humanity’s living space.

At the same time, he must construct the ultimate war tool—Magic Towers!

This is the key.

A city without the protection of Magic Towers is nothing but a piece of tender meat in this extraordinary world.

A single portal deployed right in your face, and before you can even react, the city could be destroyed in minutes.

Thus, all these plans require money.

The ongoing chaos of the multiverse is the perfect opportunity for him to amass wealth.

However, Yu Sheng'an still thinks the money-making speed is too slow.

The main issue is the insufficient supply of weapons.

The multiverse is simply too vast. With nearly half of its domains already engulfed in war, how could his tiny Dragon Factory possibly meet the demands of the entire multiverse?

In fact, even with the barely established supply chain, he can’t even fully supply the Azarea Continent market.

In the end, it all boils down to insufficient productive forces!

The Vilia domain won’t be of much help anytime soon. Fortunately, Yu Sheng'an already has a new candidate in mind—the Kazad-dûm dwarves.

Only those who have been beaten will truly understand the might of their big brother!