Chapter 202: The Dark Web Launches a New Feature
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Chapter 202: The Dark Web Launches a New Feature
The scene in the study left Hubert momentarily stunned.
To be precise, it was Mr. Aji De’s appearance that took him by surprise.
In his mind, Mr. Aji De should have been a gentleman in his forties or fifties, sporting a well-groomed mustache and dressed immaculately. He might even have worn glasses. After all, judging by the Aji De ideology, he was clearly a scholar with profound insights into industrial society.
But what did he see now?
A young man with black hair and dark eyes sat behind the desk, surrounded by virtual screens floating above its surface.
On a nearby sofa sat a woman, her features similarly obscured by virtual screens, lending her an air of mystery.
"Please, have a seat," Aji De spoke, his voice identical to the one Hubert had just heard outside the door.
"Thank you!"
Hubert, flattered and slightly nervous, took a seat in front of the desk. Only then did he realize he was still wearing his top hat and holding his walking stick. Flustered, he hurriedly removed his hat and placed it on his lap, growing increasingly uneasy.
"No need to be nervous. I invited you here primarily to discuss the history between the Empire of Infer and the Farlay Dynasty. Do you have any expertise in this area?"
"Some, yes."
"Excellent. Could you give me a brief overview? Preferably within a quarter of an hour."
"Of course."
Hubert exhaled slightly in relief. Gathering his thoughts, he began his explanation. At first, his nervousness made him stumble, his sentences halting and disjointed. But gradually, he found his rhythm, speaking more fluidly, as if lecturing to a class.
About fifteen minutes later, he concluded his introduction.
"Sounds like a history of love and slaughter," Yu Sheng'an remarked.
"Hmm?" Hubert blinked in surprise.
"I’d like to ask for your help with something."
"Ah? Y-Yes, of course!"
"I’d like you to trace the historical roots and find evidence that the Farlay Dynasty has, since ancient times, been part of the Empire of Infer’s territory. Alternatively, prove that the Empire of Infer and the Farlay Dynasty share the same ethnicity or ancestry, but due to various chaotic circumstances, split into two separate nations."
Yu Sheng'an’s words left Hubert wide-eyed in shock.
A flash of insight flickered in his mind, and he vaguely grasped the implications.
"You want me to... falsify—no, revise history?"
"Revise? No, no. Everything has two sides. I merely want you to highlight the aspects that favor us and amplify them!"
Yu Sheng'an continued,
"History is a little girl who can be dressed up as one pleases. I just want you to dress the Farlay Dynasty to look more like the Empire of Infer. Understand?"
History is a little girl who can be dressed up as one pleases?
The phrase sent a shiver down Hubert’s spine, stirring a complicated mix of emotions within him.
"I understand, Mr. Aji De." A shadow of conflict crossed Hubert’s face, but he nodded in agreement.
"Good! If you need any resources, inform my assistant. He’ll do everything to assist you. This must be done quickly—I need these materials urgently."
"Yes!"
Hubert departed.
Aphnora, who had been pretending to review battlefield reports, lifted her head with a puzzled expression. "Why go through all this trouble? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just spread religious propaganda?"
The gods of the multiverse never cared about the history, culture, ideology, or other abstract notions of the commoners.
To them, once territory was conquered, the church would swiftly move in, and all problems would resolve themselves. Under the threat of life and death, aside from a handful of fanatical believers who clung to their original faith, the remaining commoners could be subdued with a mix of punishment and reward.
As long as the territory remained under control, assimilation of its people would take no more than a generation or two.
A shared faith would become the sole label of the commoners.
"Religious belief hinders scientific research!"
"Scientific research?"
"You can think of it as magic's explanation of natural phenomena. It’s precisely because mages don’t believe in gods that they’ve forged an entirely new power system. The scientific system of Azerai operates the same way."
"You place great importance on Azerai’s steam civilization?" Aphnora keenly picked up on the emphasis in Yu Sheng'an’s words.
Yu Sheng'an seemed to equate steam with magic.
This was almost unthinkable!
Though Yu Sheng'an’s airship and tank forces dominated the battlefields of Azerai, sweeping all before them, to Aphnora, whose mastery reached the realm of the Saint Magus, they paled in comparison to magic.
These hulks of steel were riddled with weaknesses in the multiverse—almost any school of magic could dismantle them. Even a magic apprentice, if they understood the mechanics of a tank, could simply conjure rocks in its crevices to cripple these once-indomitable constructs.
That wasn’t even accounting for flooding, extreme heat, fire, electrocution… and so on.
"Correct. It’s a power system capable of rivaling magic, though it’s still in its infancy," Yu Sheng'an nodded.
Having witnessed technology advance to the atomic level, Yu Sheng'an understood the potential of the technological path better than anyone in the multiverse.
Using Blue Star as a reference, the leap from Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0 would take at most two centuries!
With his guidance, the process might accelerate.
To a god’s lifespan, what were two hundred years?
Merely a nap.
If he could unify the Primary Domain of Azerai within two centuries and successfully push the tech tree to the Industry 4.0 era, the doomsday of the gods of the multiverse would be all but assured.
Didn’t the God of Death flaunt his Nether Godhood’s natural dominion over the Underworld, strutting about like the Fifth Calamity?
Well, he’d like to see if the Underworld could withstand billions of atoms raining down upon it.
The best part? It wouldn’t cost him a single drop of Source Essence!
Was there any deal more profitable than this?
Absolutely not!
"Did the Prophecy Godhood tell you this?" Aphnora asked.
"No. The Prophecy Godhood can’t predict the development of steam civilization—the Source Essence required would be a bottomless pit," Yu Sheng'an shook his head.
"So… you personally believe in the potential of steam civilization?"
"You could say that."
Aphnora nodded thoughtfully.
She had long noticed that Yu Sheng'an’s way of thinking differed from everyone else’s. What others valued, he often disregarded.
Take Source Essence, for example.
He could easily allow others to exchange, yet judging by the Source Essence she gained from controlling the Music Sanctuary, the distribution of Source Essence from the Music Sanctuary had been increasing with the issuance of Interconnected Coins.
The sheer volume even surpassed her accumulations over the past several centuries.
From this, one could imagine just how vast an amount of Source Essence the Internet God, as the master of the internet, had seized.
Because of this, Aphnora paid close attention to Yu Sheng'an's ideas.
Now that he favored steam civilization—even going so far as to painstakingly spread ideology and protect culture—she found herself somewhat eager to see how things would unfold.
"Have you seen the new update on the Dark Web?" Aphnora changed the subject.
"You mean the Opera House?"
"Yes! It seems to have hit us quite hard. My share of Source Essence has noticeably dropped by quite a bit." Aphnora said worriedly.
Yu Sheng'an glanced at a virtual screen on his desk displaying various complex data and twitched his lips.
Seriously? A total drop of 1.3%—that's what you call "quite a bit"?
Well, given the enormous denominator, 1.3% was indeed significant.
"Do you think we should imitate an Opera House section?" Aphnora couldn't help but ask again.
"No need. Opera is anything but down-to-earth. Why copy it? If we're going to do something, we either don't bother or we surpass them entirely."
Yu Sheng'an curled his lip.
"Ever heard of a movie?"
The scene in the study left Hubert momentarily stunned.
To be precise, it was Mr. Aji De’s appearance that took him by surprise.
In his mind, Mr. Aji De should have been a gentleman in his forties or fifties, sporting a well-groomed mustache and dressed immaculately. He might even have worn glasses. After all, judging by the Aji De ideology, he was clearly a scholar with profound insights into industrial society.
But what did he see now?
A young man with black hair and dark eyes sat behind the desk, surrounded by virtual screens floating above its surface.
On a nearby sofa sat a woman, her features similarly obscured by virtual screens, lending her an air of mystery.
"Please, have a seat," Aji De spoke, his voice identical to the one Hubert had just heard outside the door.
"Thank you!"
Hubert, flattered and slightly nervous, took a seat in front of the desk. Only then did he realize he was still wearing his top hat and holding his walking stick. Flustered, he hurriedly removed his hat and placed it on his lap, growing increasingly uneasy.
"No need to be nervous. I invited you here primarily to discuss the history between the Empire of Infer and the Farlay Dynasty. Do you have any expertise in this area?"
"Some, yes."
"Excellent. Could you give me a brief overview? Preferably within a quarter of an hour."
"Of course."
Hubert exhaled slightly in relief. Gathering his thoughts, he began his explanation. At first, his nervousness made him stumble, his sentences halting and disjointed. But gradually, he found his rhythm, speaking more fluidly, as if lecturing to a class.
About fifteen minutes later, he concluded his introduction.
"Sounds like a history of love and slaughter," Yu Sheng'an remarked.
"Hmm?" Hubert blinked in surprise.
"I’d like to ask for your help with something."
"Ah? Y-Yes, of course!"
"I’d like you to trace the historical roots and find evidence that the Farlay Dynasty has, since ancient times, been part of the Empire of Infer’s territory. Alternatively, prove that the Empire of Infer and the Farlay Dynasty share the same ethnicity or ancestry, but due to various chaotic circumstances, split into two separate nations."
Yu Sheng'an’s words left Hubert wide-eyed in shock.
A flash of insight flickered in his mind, and he vaguely grasped the implications.
"You want me to... falsify—no, revise history?"
"Revise? No, no. Everything has two sides. I merely want you to highlight the aspects that favor us and amplify them!"
Yu Sheng'an continued,
"History is a little girl who can be dressed up as one pleases. I just want you to dress the Farlay Dynasty to look more like the Empire of Infer. Understand?"
History is a little girl who can be dressed up as one pleases?
The phrase sent a shiver down Hubert’s spine, stirring a complicated mix of emotions within him.
"I understand, Mr. Aji De." A shadow of conflict crossed Hubert’s face, but he nodded in agreement.
"Good! If you need any resources, inform my assistant. He’ll do everything to assist you. This must be done quickly—I need these materials urgently."
"Yes!"
Hubert departed.
Aphnora, who had been pretending to review battlefield reports, lifted her head with a puzzled expression. "Why go through all this trouble? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just spread religious propaganda?"
The gods of the multiverse never cared about the history, culture, ideology, or other abstract notions of the commoners.
To them, once territory was conquered, the church would swiftly move in, and all problems would resolve themselves. Under the threat of life and death, aside from a handful of fanatical believers who clung to their original faith, the remaining commoners could be subdued with a mix of punishment and reward.
As long as the territory remained under control, assimilation of its people would take no more than a generation or two.
A shared faith would become the sole label of the commoners.
"Religious belief hinders scientific research!"
"Scientific research?"
"You can think of it as magic's explanation of natural phenomena. It’s precisely because mages don’t believe in gods that they’ve forged an entirely new power system. The scientific system of Azerai operates the same way."
"You place great importance on Azerai’s steam civilization?" Aphnora keenly picked up on the emphasis in Yu Sheng'an’s words.
Yu Sheng'an seemed to equate steam with magic.
This was almost unthinkable!
Though Yu Sheng'an’s airship and tank forces dominated the battlefields of Azerai, sweeping all before them, to Aphnora, whose mastery reached the realm of the Saint Magus, they paled in comparison to magic.
These hulks of steel were riddled with weaknesses in the multiverse—almost any school of magic could dismantle them. Even a magic apprentice, if they understood the mechanics of a tank, could simply conjure rocks in its crevices to cripple these once-indomitable constructs.
That wasn’t even accounting for flooding, extreme heat, fire, electrocution… and so on.
"Correct. It’s a power system capable of rivaling magic, though it’s still in its infancy," Yu Sheng'an nodded.
Having witnessed technology advance to the atomic level, Yu Sheng'an understood the potential of the technological path better than anyone in the multiverse.
Using Blue Star as a reference, the leap from Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0 would take at most two centuries!
With his guidance, the process might accelerate.
To a god’s lifespan, what were two hundred years?
Merely a nap.
If he could unify the Primary Domain of Azerai within two centuries and successfully push the tech tree to the Industry 4.0 era, the doomsday of the gods of the multiverse would be all but assured.
Didn’t the God of Death flaunt his Nether Godhood’s natural dominion over the Underworld, strutting about like the Fifth Calamity?
Well, he’d like to see if the Underworld could withstand billions of atoms raining down upon it.
The best part? It wouldn’t cost him a single drop of Source Essence!
Was there any deal more profitable than this?
Absolutely not!
"Did the Prophecy Godhood tell you this?" Aphnora asked.
"No. The Prophecy Godhood can’t predict the development of steam civilization—the Source Essence required would be a bottomless pit," Yu Sheng'an shook his head.
"So… you personally believe in the potential of steam civilization?"
"You could say that."
Aphnora nodded thoughtfully.
She had long noticed that Yu Sheng'an’s way of thinking differed from everyone else’s. What others valued, he often disregarded.
Take Source Essence, for example.
He could easily allow others to exchange, yet judging by the Source Essence she gained from controlling the Music Sanctuary, the distribution of Source Essence from the Music Sanctuary had been increasing with the issuance of Interconnected Coins.
The sheer volume even surpassed her accumulations over the past several centuries.
From this, one could imagine just how vast an amount of Source Essence the Internet God, as the master of the internet, had seized.
Because of this, Aphnora paid close attention to Yu Sheng'an's ideas.
Now that he favored steam civilization—even going so far as to painstakingly spread ideology and protect culture—she found herself somewhat eager to see how things would unfold.
"Have you seen the new update on the Dark Web?" Aphnora changed the subject.
"You mean the Opera House?"
"Yes! It seems to have hit us quite hard. My share of Source Essence has noticeably dropped by quite a bit." Aphnora said worriedly.
Yu Sheng'an glanced at a virtual screen on his desk displaying various complex data and twitched his lips.
Seriously? A total drop of 1.3%—that's what you call "quite a bit"?
Well, given the enormous denominator, 1.3% was indeed significant.
"Do you think we should imitate an Opera House section?" Aphnora couldn't help but ask again.
"No need. Opera is anything but down-to-earth. Why copy it? If we're going to do something, we either don't bother or we surpass them entirely."
Yu Sheng'an curled his lip.
"Ever heard of a movie?"
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