I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Candidate selection..."

As for the players, he immediately ruled them out as an option. Offending "The First Epoch" was risky; after all, he had to make his living off this platform. It was fine to make a move on small matters, but plotting against players in an issue that involved an entire world... Who knew what troubles might arise.

The Azure Sea World already belonged to "The First Epoch"; allowing players to act recklessly could lead to complications.

"The Royal Family and the locals should be ruled out; they're like fish out of water. They would drown if they jumped into the sea; there's no way they could release the Divine in the deep sea."

"It seems we only have the sea folks left, but this feels a bit like snatching food from the jaws of the sea and the world."

The existence of the sea folks was a part of the deployment of the ocean.

Gu Shanhai had considered the Sea Beasts, but those creatures were all brawn and no brains, utterly incapable of carrying out tasks.

"Therefore, I would need to indirectly control a group of sea folks or an organization to do the job for me."

Such a task would most certainly require choosing an organization over an individual. If there were a main character, Gu Shanhai might have chosen the main character for the job.

"Hmm, under such a major crisis, the main character should be about to emerge." Just when he mentioned the main character, Gu Shanhai thought about how most world-threatening crises usually lead to the emergence of a main character.

However, this time, it was highly unlikely that the main character would become a form of support for Gu Shanhai, but rather could become a competitor-like obstacle.

As for whether the main character could resolve the crisis, that was uncertain. Without someone like Gu Shanhai intervening, the chances of success were not low.

"This time I really have to become the antagonist force," Gu Shanhai mused, and started performing Prophetic Divination on the main character.

Now when performing Prophetic Divination, the result was no longer "no such person" but vague and uncertain, clearly in the process of emerging. Gu Shanhai estimated that it would take at least a few years before the main character would officially come into being.

The emergence of the main character wasn't an easy feat, it would at least require sufficiently arranged opportunities, otherwise how could they contend with the Divine. It might even lead to the development of a completely new system.

However, these weren't the concerns Gu Shanhai should be pondering now; he was contemplating how to build his very own puppet organization.

"If only I had let Xu En be more lenient at the start, how perfect would the Sea Suppression Gang have been."

"Now it's gone, it seems I have no choice but to try and guide one into existence myself."

"It would be best to occupy a righteous force, something like a covert organization; an Evil Path organization is not advisable."

If we really had to create a covert organization resembling something like the Dawn Organization, it would be immediately obvious that you are playing the role of a doomed antagonist. It needs to become an organization sided with righteousness. If anyone thought about moving against this organization, they would have to consider the trouble it could bring.

As for how to release the Divine after becoming a righteous organization, that could be done through weaving an "accident."

"Just perfect, my Divine Contract can now come into play. I'll have the sea folks pay Tribute to me, and in return, I will grant them corresponding power. Not only will they have to help me with my tasks, but they can also shield me from disasters. Perfect."

"I could even fully embody my role as a righteous knight, and perhaps even deceive the main character... cough cough, that's a discussion for another time, as long as it doesn't backfire."

Gu Shanhai even considered bringing the main character into the fold. They would indeed be competitors, but that didn't mean Gu Shanhai couldn't make use of the other party.

This time around, trying to deceive people like Huang Yanshan would indeed be different, considering it involved a world crisis. There was no way those kinds of manipulations by Gu Shanhai could lead someone astray.

"Wait, it's not impossible; I could act as an old grandfather." Suddenly, Gu Shanhai recalled something. This way, he could not only obtain all the information about the main character and keep tabs on their moves but might also be able to guide them to some extent.

As for whether he would implicate himself, that was indeed something to consider, so he decided not to go in person but to send a proxy to remotely control the situation.

All subsequent activities, he planned not to participate in directly, but rather to interfere and manipulate in an indirect or remote manner.

By doing so, he could to the greatest extent, remove any suspicion from himself, and if necessary, even use the protagonist as a cover for himself. That's why Gu Shanhai needed to send a proxy to act as a personal grandfather to the protagonist and even pretend to be a Treasure Delivery Boy to boost the protagonist's strength.

"I originally wanted to find a scapegoat... Is this plan too big to manage?" Gu Shanhai realized. Initially, he just wanted to find a fall guy to take the blame, but the plan had turned into such a massive one.

Any scheme involving the protagonist would not be small, because it wasn't just the protagonist being manipulated, but rather the whole world forming a grand stage, where you had to alter the original script to insert your own.

However, this was also considered a necessary development process within the Heavenly Mechanism Flow. Sometimes, when you encounter an ungrateful protagonist, it would be nice for a Heavenly Mechanism Flow player to switch protagonists. However, because those following the Heavenly Mechanism Flow usually don't have strong abilities, not all can be as outrageous as Gu Shanhai.

Therefore, scheming and plotting were very fitting strategies, allowing him to lay low and handle things slowly.

Waiting for the protagonist to die on his own was unrealistic; if there wasn't an external cause, most protagonists would complete their missions, and if they did, the protagonist would disappear, along with the benefits.

Using something like a personal spell was a very good way to replace the protagonist stealthily killing him in a way that went unnoticed.

Of course, more direct methods, such as spending money to hire players to kill the protagonist, worked as well.

After all, aside from the special styles, few players would recognize a protagonist fresh out of the newbie village.

As long as the price was right, the protagonist could indeed be overwhelmed by the players.

Unfortunately, Gu Shanhai was not suited for such direct styles because he could not access the forums. If he could, he would simply post an anonymous bounty; such commission rewards were common on the forums as long as you had a screenshot to claim your reward.

Besides, he was sending a proxy to act as the personal grandfather to the protagonist, not to kill the protagonist. If he did that now, what difference would it be from killing an imperial envoy?

"As for the avatar, what should it look like?"

"Gourd Brothers...no, that thing is a grandson, not a grandfather."

"Or maybe a Pill Master inside a certain ring... that's also not quite right. The protagonist might not necessarily divorce; the Pill Master in the ring can only play its biggest role when matching a divorcing protagonist."

"What else is there? The remnant soul in a broken sword, but in this world, swords are not mainstream, without the belief in 'one sword breaking all magic', no matter how good it sounds, people won't believe it."

"Or maybe pretend to be the protagonist's second personality? No, that won't work; what if it excites the opponent even more?"

"Or become the protagonist's system? Even more nonsensical. If the protagonist already has one, then I would have to compete with the protagonist's system, ending up giving the protagonist an advantage by being tangled up."

Numerous contingency plans emerged in Gu Shanhai's mind, but none seemed quite satisfactory.

The main issue was that this world was in a sensitive period and was quite unique, so Gu Shanhai had to be cautious.

"Wait, if I use the guise of a distressed divine grandfather... that might actually work." Gu Shanhai suddenly remembered this, and at first glance, it seemed a bit nonsensical, since even divine beings had become enemies; using this identity to approach was akin to inviting targeted aggression.

But upon deeper thought, this was him whitewashing himself; in doing so, Gu Shanhai would have this layer of protection afterward, and could completely sidestep releasing divine entities.

More importantly, he could also indirectly use the protagonist to shield him, almost like a twist on the technique of hiding in plain sight.

"It's worth a try; of all the plans, this one has the highest returns." Gu Shanhai immediately decided to go with this, even though this carried no small risk. But often, the risks were commensurate with the benefits.