Mini World Game Console

"Task completed."

"Beginning settlement of Faith Gain."

"A total of 2,630 Micro-beliefs were acquired, developing 8 True Believers."

"Huh!?"

After Ren Suo had Zhao Zili finish his grandstanding, he immediately had Zhao Zili depart from Earth. Although Zhao Zili's appearance on Earth hadn't reached 30 minutes, Ren Suo didn't know what else to have him say if he continued to stay. It wouldn't make sense to awkwardly wait a few more minutes before leaving. Besides, Ren Suo had already made his stance clear: if it wasn't free, it wasn't free. He couldn't let Zhao Zili contradict that, so he sent Zhao Zili back directly.

Ren Suo thought this minor task would definitely fail, and he didn't know whether Zhao Zili would be stripped of his Priest status.

However, contrary to Ren Suo's expectations, Zhao Zili had managed to develop 8 True Believers within the Federation with such an indifferent approach to preaching and Healing!

In the game, being a True Believer was merely a data point. In reality, however, a True Believer represented someone willing to worship a single religion and naturally reject followers of other religions. They also had to wholeheartedly practice their religion's teachings, constantly remember the deity's presence, and use that awareness to keep themselves in check.

It was already the 21st century. Ren Suo thought he could only develop True Believers if he went to areas with high illiteracy rates, like parts of Africa. New York had believers, certainly, but they were all nurtured by other sects through societal, educational, and habitual influences. How could Zhao Zili, with a mere 30 minutes of "performance time," possibly compare with religions that were millennia old?

But at this moment, Ren Suo realized he might have underestimated the power of "Manifesting Saintliness In Front of People."

The religious atmosphere in Mysterious Country was almost non-existent, consisting at most of mountain worship and ancestral rites. Furthermore, after decades of compulsory education and rising national strength, most people—excluding hardened ruffians and criminals concerned with fortune and misfortune—viewed religion as something that "couldn't hurt to believe in." They didn't wholeheartedly rely on such an elusive faith.

On the other hand, religions in foreign countries were almost integrated with education. This was especially true for the Federation, a nation of immigrants where faith was diverse. Consequently, people's acceptance of faith far exceeded that in Mysterious Country, leading to extremely high efficiency in developing True Believers.

What a pity. I didn't expect there to be enough True Believers, but not enough Micro-belief quantity...

Ren Suo felt somewhat depressed. The second minor task required 3,000 Micro-beliefs and 5 True Believers. Ren Suo had assumed the True Believer quota would be impossible to meet, so he'd treated the task casually, never expecting this outcome...

However, Ren Suo quickly adjusted his mindset. The game was over, and besides bashing the keyboard, what else could he do?

"Zhao Zili's action has gained the recognition of three deities and earned 55,000 Points."

"Minor task information updated."

Last time it was "appreciation"; this time, "recognition". After completing the previous minor task, Zhao Zili had been directly promoted to Priest. This time, however, there was nothing.

It seemed that Zhao Zili was not so easily dismissed in the eyes of the three deities—Ren Suo had thought if the task failed, Zhao Zili would be annihilated.

Zhao Zili's next mission assignment was different from the last. Instead of a 15-day cooldown, it was now 12 to 15 days.

Furthermore, a tip popped up: "Due to the rise in Earth's Energy Level, Zhao Zili's next duration of stay has been extended to 45 minutes."

Ren Suo was slightly startled. The rise of Earth's Spiritual Energy could actually extend Zhao Zili's stay and even shorten the frequency of his appearances?

The game was eroding reality, and reality in turn was influencing the game.

But this also corroborated one point: because Earth's Spiritual Energy Level wasn't high, it would limit the power Level of the entire world.

If an existence that surpassed the world's power Level emerged, Ren Suo surmised there could be two possibilities: one was that the Extremely Strong Being would directly destroy the world; the other was that the world would directly destroy the Extremely Strong Being.

However, considering the three deities were attempting to preach through the Priest Zhao Zili, Ren Suo leaned towards the latter possibility. If three deities truly possessed Miracles, it was more plausible that they dared not come to the current Earth, rather than them being too benevolent to destroy it.

Moreover, the only extraterrestrial life Ren Suo had discovered so far were three Lawful Good deities. So, could there be life forms from an evil faction?

This thought made Ren Suo break out in a cold sweat. He took a shower, then returned to his computer desk and opened the Intranet. A quick search revealed that people smarter than him had already posted about it:

"From the 'Jedi Priest's' appearance of three deities, speculate whether there are other life forms attempting to visit Earth?"

"Discussing the relationship between the 'Jedi Priest's' three deities and various religions"

"Are the deities powerful Transcendent_s_?"

Ever since the "Jedi Priest" appeared, the life forms known as deities naturally entered the vision of various countries.

Actually, today's Transcendent_s_ could have been called Spiritual Immortals if placed in the Feudal Era. So, could the Lord of Billion Brilliance, Eternal Burning Heart, and Monarch of Wind, Rain, and Snow be Transcendent_s_ from a past era of Spiritual Energy? Perhaps they left Earth for various reasons and are only now returning as its Spiritual Energy revives.

Most importantly, are there other potentially returning Transcendent_s_?

These few posts were mainly discussing this point, which made Ren Suo both agree and feel depressed.

He'd imagined himself as clever as Zhuge Liang, with the insight of Jiang Ziya, believing he'd uncovered a shocking crisis. Yet, other researchers had not only thought of it but had explored it more thoroughly and in greater detail. Discussions had been ongoing for over a month, with top-rated answers garnering nearly a thousand likes.

—This feeling was like when he was in middle school and suddenly thought of a clever way to solve a math problem, excitedly showing it to the teacher, who would quietly pat his head in approval: "Impressive, this has touched on high school knowledge, which you'll learn sooner or later."

I thought I could easily write another paper...

Ren Suo puckered his lips in annoyance, but a moment later his eyes lit up. He opened a Word document and began typing furiously...

"From now on, this will be your office."

Inside the Tactical Bureau, Yu Kuangtu opened an office door on the second floor. He spoke to Li Dan, who had dark circles under his eyes, "Finally, you've decided to come back. I thought you were going to defect to Sky Capital for their household registration..."

Li Dan walked into the office and sat down slowly. "Is this idiom used correctly?" he asked. "That matter is already settled. If it weren't for Ren Zuo needing me to stay on the Scouting team for a special assignment, I would have returned earlier."

"Ren Zuo?" Yu Kuangtu blinked in surprise, then quickly understood and nodded. "That's a good title; it has much more style than calling him 'Teacher.' Now that you're back, and with Second Stage Cultivation, leading a Tactical Bureau team shouldn't be a problem, right? I'll give you the files of teams that don't yet have a Second Stage Cultivator as their leader. You can choose which team of 'little friends' to lead."

"Oh, and the Tactical Bureau doesn't recommend office romances, at least not within the same team, to avoid favoritism, so... you understand, right?"

Li Dan rubbed his temples. "Don't worry about that... Oh, I saw another Second Stage Cultivator in Sky Capital who is also from Lian River..."

"Qiao Muyi, right?" Yu Kuangtu said, smiling. "I sent her there for a special mission, but I didn't expect her to break through there. It's good for us; our Lian River's strength has increased again."

"As for the mission, according to her, the success rate is very high. If it's successful, it will greatly enhance the strength of our Lian River Countermeasure Bureau!"

Li Dan asked, "What mission?"

"Let's talk about it only if it succeeds; there's no point otherwise," Yu Kuangtu waved his hand. "Since you're back, you'll also share some of my responsibilities. You already know the specifics, right? It's all just the work a team leader has to do."

Li Dan nodded. "The notice was clear. It's just... why do I have to review the internal manuscripts submitted to the Tactical Bureau? Yao Fei doesn't have to do this."

Yu Kuangtu shrugged. "Because you can go without sleep now. Even after Cultivation every day, you have more free time than us, so..."

"However, if you don't wish to, it can be postponed. The task would still fall on me as the deputy director." Yu Kuangtu sighed, touching his forehead. "These days I'm so busy with one thing or another that I have no time for Cultivation; either I'm sitting in the office or I'm on duty. If I could have one less thing to worry about, maybe I could properly cultivate the Mysterious Sovereign's Secret Records..."

With a look of helplessness on his face, Li Dan said, "Well, give it to me then."

THWACK! A square card embedded itself into the desk in front of Li Dan.

"The username and password for the Tactical Bureau's internal email are on it. Just remember to review the manuscripts every day. We have several contributors. As long as you think the manuscript makes sense, just directly rate it as 'qualified' and submit it—and if you think it's particularly sensible, then you have to rate it as 'excellent', and I will review it again later."

Before he had finished speaking, Yu Kuangtu had already slinked away.

Li Dan looked at the card, pulled it out, and discovered it was just a piece of ordinary notepaper.

To flick a piece of notepaper and make it as sharp as a flying knife... Li Dan's understanding of Yu Kuangtu was refreshed once more. I knew he was powerful, but I didn't expect him to be *this* powerful.

Cultivating the Mysterious Sovereign's Secret Records, Li Dan, whose strength had reached the second turn, truly understood the terror of this skill: Yu Kuangtu hadn't used any Spells. Purely by relying on his body's dexterity and keen manipulation of Spiritual Energy, he had significantly strengthened the piece of paper!

Li Dan's respect for Yu Kuangtu grew.

Turning on the computer, with nothing else to do, Li Dan logged into the Tactical Bureau's internal email to see if there were any new manuscripts.

Just as he opened the email, a notification popped up: a new email had arrived.

"A new email from 'Researcher: Suo': 'The Real Purpose Behind Ren Naiser's Uploaded Videos'..."

Seeing this email, Li Dan was momentarily taken aback.

He recalled what he had heard from two researchers in the bathroom of the underground base that day.

It was the female protagonist of "If You Are Strong, Climb Ten Thousand Meters" who had made contact with that strange hat, helping Li Dan and his team escape from the eerie danger of death.

And this video was released by 'Ren Naiser'.

Is 'Ren Naiser' an organization? Are the protagonists appearing in the video members of this organization?

If Li Dan wanted to express gratitude, how could he find the female protagonist to thank her?

Or should he just directly thank 'Ren Naiser'?

Moved by gratitude as well as curiosity, Li Dan was already very focused on any information about 'Ren Naiser,' even having a positive impression of it.

With this 'bias,' Li Dan opened the email and quickly scanned the freshly composed short paper, which, at a glance, was riddled with over a dozen typos.

This is really something...

Li Dan shook his head lightly and in the review section of the paper, resolutely chose—

"Excellent"!