Chapter 366: Section 153: I Became a War Merchant
Deep Sea Monster Fish.
In one cabin, a patient was devoutly praying to a statue, “Great Mei Lan God, I praise Your kindness and thank You for healing my illness. As high as the heaven is above the earth, so great is Your mercy towards those who fear You; as far as the east is from the west, so far have You removed my transgressions from us…”
In another cabin, the growling of a Magic Beast could be heard in the darkness. Many people huddled close together by candlelight, tightly pressing against each other, and kept praying incessantly, “My Lord, Mei Lan God, You are a God full of grace and mercy, please rescue Your believers, grant us the perfect disguise so that the ferocious Magic Beasts cannot detect our presence…”
In the third cabin, which was mostly submerged in seawater, several Believers lay atop wooden cabinets, watching the water level rise slowly. They were incredibly anxious and under immense pressure, praying in unison, “My Lord Mei Lan God, You are so great, even the sea quakes when You are angry. I look up to Your mighty power, convinced of Your salvation. Please grant me the ability to command the waters, so that Your loyal Believers can escape this maritime disaster.”
In the central cabin between these three, Cang Xu observed the Believers expressionlessly.
He kept manipulating the simple Arrays he had set up, controlling the scenes within the cabins, then watched as after the believers prayed, they each gained Divine Power and channeled it all into the statues.
The statues were fixed, with their bases directly connected to the Mei Lan Divine Artifact in the cabin below—the Mermaid’s Fairy Tale.
The Divine Power of the Believers was ultimately channeled into the giant clamshell.
Today’s prayer time had ended, and Cang Xu then hypnotized the believers in the three cabins once more, had the cabins cleaned, and fed them potions as a substitute for food and water.
Of course, taking such potions long-term could not entirely replace the effects of food and water, which left the believers weak and feeble.
But this was exactly what Cang Xu wanted.
After the believers became weak, even if they discovered flaws and wanted to break free from captivity, their spirit was willing, but their flesh was weak.
Furthermore, Cang Xu had discovered: the more frail the bodies of the believers, the more sincere they were when they prayed, and the Divine Power gained would be slightly increased.
Watching the cabins being tidied up orderly, Cang Xu reviewed the records of this session of prayer once again.
The three cabins were arranged carefully by him, and the content of the three sets of prayers, as well as the memories of the three groups of believers themselves, were all designed differently.
The experiment was very successful, and Cang Xu had probed even more into the secrets of the gods.
“Although it is said that the gods are omnipotent, in reality, gods are more proficient in certain domains or multiple domains. The amount of Divine Power They bestow and Their own Divine Office and Divine Authority are also related.”
“In cabin one, the praying believers were suffering from diseases and sought help from Mei Lan God.”
“In cabin two, the believers sought to disguise themselves, to deceive predatory Magic Beasts.”
“In cabin three, the believers wanted to command the waters to facilitate their own escape.”
“Excluding the factor of quantity, cabin two received the most Divine Power, and the efficiency was also the highest. Cabin three came next; although Mei Lan God does not preside over the oceanic Divine Office, She was a mermaid mage before becoming a deity, so She must be very skilled in Water Magic. Cabin one received the least amount of Divine Power. Mei Lan God Herself is not adept at healing.”
As he pondered, the cabin door was knocked.
It was the Fishman youth coming for inspection.
Cang Xu welcomed him inside.
After learning about the latest results, the Fishman youth let out a breath of relief, “Cang Xu, you’ve succeeded! We have new Pearl Bubbles again.”
Once the prayers ended this time, a Pearl Bubble finally emerged from the Mermaid’s Fairy Tale.
Cang Xu nodded, “Ever since we acquired the Memory Concealment Skill, we’ve been able to mass-produce Desecration Priests. To be more precise, Believers. It’s still far from being a Priest.”
Cang Xu continued to explain in detail, “Before we had this Skill, I had to erase all memories from the subjects. But this caused a lot of trauma to the soul. With the Memory Concealment Skill, the subjects still remember nothing, yet false memories can be implanted, and the soul remains very stable, making the prayers go smoothly.”
“Very good,” praised the Fishman youth, “If we can escape pursuit this time, Cang Xu, you will be the key figure! Your contribution and merit are the greatest. Now, we need to do our utmost to expand the scale of Believers, to generate more Divine Power!”
But Cang Xu shook his head slightly, “I’m afraid that’s not possible, my Captain.”
“Uh, why?”
Cang Xu then explained, “Firstly, the Deep Sea Monster Fish has a limited number of cabins, and they are cramped.”
“Secondly, all these Believers need me to perform the Memory Concealment Skill, and not all prisoners can become Believers. Many will be eliminated in the selection process.”
“Calculate the costs involved meticulously, not just my Mana expenditure but also personnel losses, and the practical use of various materials. After each prayer session, I have to use the Memory Concealment Skill once and a large amount of potions.”
“The cost is too high; I’ve already reached my limit alone. Unless there’s another Undead Mage to assist me, and this Mage’s rank must be at least Black Iron Level.”
The Fishman youth fell into deep contemplation, “If we can’t expand the scale, what about improving the quality of the Believers themselves? As you said before, the level of these Believers’ Faith is not deep, at most pious Believers, and many are General Believers and ordinary Believers. If we can deepen their level of Faith, we could also obtain more Divine Power.”
Cang Xu still shook his head, “It’s hard to deepen one’s Faith. Faith is a spontaneous transformation of the soul, and the soul itself cannot be deceived. I’ve already tried a series of experiments, having Believers self-identify as fanatics or devout in the forged memories, but there were no effects, no increase in Divine Power at all.”
“The maintenance of Faith has a lot to do with the Believer’s worldview and values. Once a Believer suffers a significant setback or mental trauma, their own notions wavering, the Faith will collapse accordingly. I previously worshiped the Dark Lord, but after realizing the secrets of the deity through the training experiences of the ship ghosts, my Faith Level immediately declined, and I’m no longer even considered a General Believer.”
“Raising Believers is very difficult; fanatics are usually very rare. To deepen Faith, on the one hand you need a pure environment, special external pressures, and on the other hand, more importantly, time, a lifetime of experiences to continually strengthen one’s worldview and values.”
The Fishman youth couldn’t help but fall silent.
Time.
It was time that he lacked the most.
With enough time, relying on the Blood Core in his heart, the true body of Mei Lan, two Divine Artifacts, two Demi-Artifacts, and the Golden Magic Ship, he was confident he could become one of the world’s Peaks.
Time, oh, so precious!
Cang Xu continued, “In fact, even now, I can’t maintain the believers for very long.”
“The Memory Concealment Skill has its limits.”
“This has been tested many times by the ship ghosts.”
“These believers have had their memories altered by me and then placed in a special, singular environment that forces them to pray. Once the Memory Concealment Skill is overused and can’t be sustained, they will experience memory flashbacks. They’ll start to doubt themselves and everything around them and eventually uncover the truth.”
The Fishman youth fell silent once again.
This time, his mood also became heavy.
Because he was most profoundly affected by Cang Xu’s words, being a substitute whose memory was manipulated. When he awoke, he found himself on the treacherous Mysterious Monster Island.
“How different are these people’s experiences from my own?”
“I used to believe in the Holy Emperor, praying to Him countless times. These people are likewise praying to the Goddess Mei Lan.”
“I don’t know my own identity. In fact, I still haven’t recovered my true memories. These people’s memories are also concealed.”
“On Mysterious Monster Island, I had to struggle desperately just to survive. Aren’t these people doing the same?”
“The only difference is…”
“This time, I’m no longer the victim; I’ve become someone like a War Merchant.”
“How did it come to this?”
Sensing the youth’s shame and self-reproach, Cang Xu immediately consoled him, “My lord, you need not blame yourself so. These captives are no saints, and besides, we have no choice! If possible, we would never do this. But there’s no helping it; we just want to live, right?”
“Alas…” The Fishman youth let out a deep sigh.
Cang Xu then said, “My lord, you are our leader. In crucial moments like this, everyone relies on you. You led us alive out of Mysterious Monster Island; everyone trusts you immensely!”
“But, with the current rate, we’re obtaining too little of the Pearl Bubble,” the Fishman youth said, his face clouded with worry.
Suddenly, he thought of a plan, “Wait, what if it were me?”
“You conceal my memory, put on me a Magic Prohibition Ring, and have me pray to the Goddess.”
“The biggest difference between them and me is that I possess a Divine Level Fishman Bloodline; I am a Divine Son among the Fishmen! I believe I will definitely receive the Goddess’s attention.”
But Cang Xu shook his head, “That’s too risky, my lord.”
“With your power, can a Magic Prohibition Ring really bind you? Your Blood Core can’t be prohibited.”
“At this crucial moment, with Zong Ge unconscious, you are the most powerful in the Justice Pirate Group. If you were to lose your memory and the Navy caught up to us, it would be disastrous.”
“And most importantly, the attitude of the Goddess is unpredictable. After all, we saved Her corporeal self but also placed Her in the Green Jade Gold Coffin to confront the Feathered Snake’s spirit.”
“If we truly gain the Goddess’s attention, I can’t guarantee that it will result in something good.”
The Fishman youth had no choice but to grit his teeth, “Indeed.”
Cang Xu paused for a moment, “Actually, there is another way.”
“Another method?”
Cang Xu nodded, “A ritual! We could hold a ritual to seek the Goddess’s bounty of Divine Power.”
“A ritual? With our current situation?” the Fishman youth hesitated.
Cang Xu explained, “My lord, rituals are not necessarily carried out in Divine Temples or Holy Temples with singing or celebrations. The specifics of a ritual can vary greatly and depend on the deity.”
“For example, believers who worship the Duke of Law hold rituals declaring publicly that, over two or three years, they will overcome certain challenges, make specific research breakthroughs, or explore unknown domains and gain new knowledge. The greater their achievements at the end of the time period, the more successful the ritual.”
“Or take the Duke of Corn, whose sect would organize large harvest rituals during the bountiful seasons. They would mobilize a vast number of farmers to reap the mature wheat. The more abundant the harvest, the more successful the ritual. It’s recorded that every time there was a bountiful harvest, the Duke of Corn would perform miracles, showing His pleasure with the ritual.”
The Great Dukes of the Holy Bright Empire are living deities, who not only own noble lands but also lead their own sects.
“In the history of the Beast Race, there was once a Goddess of Wisdom who, after Her demise, had Her followers conduct a ritual in Her honor. Using fragments of Her Holy Clothes as materials, they created new Holy Clothes and dedicated them unconditionally to the goddess.”
“These are all rituals.”
The Fishman youth, upon hearing this, suddenly remembered the words of Goddess Mei Lan’s High Priest.
The latter had once told the youth that disguising the Divine Domain around the Goddess’s corporeal self as a Half-plane and deceiving more and more people was akin to a prayer or a ritual. Such acts in themselves were a great help to the Goddess.
“So, how are we to conduct a ritual for Goddess Mei Lan?”
The two were discussing this when a military report arrived.
A large fleet of Navy enemy ships had been spotted ahead!