Chapter 915: Chapter 703: Youth: Let Me Arrange Everything
The consumption of the divine arts [Resurrection Technique] is simply too intense! The targets of this resurrection are still only Silver Level.
In the middle, the Dragon-man youth switched to using mana to cast undead magic, raising the vast majority of the corpses and converting them into undead life forms.
The consumption of these mana and spiritual powers was also a significant expenditure.
Finally, the Dragon-man youth also activated some alchemy puppets, boosting the deception and divine arts.
All the resurrected were implanted with false memories, which was also an expense.
Additionally, there are multiple deception divine arts, not only deceiving Hun Tong, Sanda, and others, but also making those turned into undead life forms at least believe that they were truly resurrected.
The Dragon-man youth invested a hefty amount of Gold Coin, but the result only yielded a few Devout Level believers, with the vast majority being ordinary level followers.
If this were placed in a commercial setting, it’s akin to investing millions of Gold Coins, with revenues only at a few thousand Gold Coins. You could say it’s a loss to grandma’s house.
“Preaching is so difficult.”
“I am walking on behalf of the gods; with divine arts and divine country pushed to the max, and yet it is so. What about other clergy members preaching?”
“The vast majority of divine officers preach by spreading doctrine or using low-level divine arts (healing skill being the most common) to showcase divine might, gaining the goodwill and trust of the masses, and they plan slowly.”
“Manipulating people’s emotions is easy, changing people’s minds isn’t difficult either, but the key is to truly make people recognize the deity and take the deity’s doctrine as the standard for life. Only then can the quality of believers nurtured be high enough.”
The greatest realization of the Dragon-man youth is that preaching is not something that happens overnight, but a long-term process like heaven and earth, subtly evolving over time.
“The preaching method of ordinary, low-level divine officers is the lowest cost.”
“The greatest cost they have to pay is time.”
“And since they are inherently weak, their time isn’t valuable anyway. As for the deities themselves, they aren’t constrained by lifespan; time is something they have aplenty.”
“This must be the best preaching method.”
The Dragon-man youth has many reflections in his heart.
“The lifeform evolves to a divine level, with endless lifespan, standing at the pinnacle of extraordinary power, then the only threats left are from those of the same level.”
“Just like Mei Lan, isn’t it true that she was heavily injured and fell asleep due to attacks from gods of the same level?”
“So, even at the divine level, deities must constantly strengthen themselves. Only by being strong can they protect themselves and survive.”
“And to be strong, one must pursue faith!”
Currently, the Dragon-man youth is still unable to confirm whether faith is the foundation of divine power, but he already knows—faith can definitely bring more power to the deities; faith is a strong guarantee of strength!
Even if faith isn’t the foundation of divine power, as long as one deity pursues faith, other deities must follow suit, either keeping pace or surpassing others in their efforts.
If you don’t strive, others will, and the one at a loss will be you.
Thus, the Dragon-man youth also has a certain understanding of the survival environment for deities.
He must understand and needs to understand more.
The Dragon-man youth is very clear: despite currently wielding Mei Lan’s divine power to achieve great divine prowess and getting substantial benefits, Mei Lan is certainly a significant hidden danger for the future. After all, he indeed carried out blasphemy prayer, as a desecration priest, stealing Mei Lan’s power, and ruthlessly used it.
No, not just used once; it is foreseeable that more uses lie ahead!
The more understanding he gains, the more apprehensive the Dragon-man youth becomes about Mei Lan.
He tells himself: precautions must be taken!
This precautionary mindset makes him hesitate to use the Resurrection Technique on Zi Di first—if Mei Lan meddles, he would be completely unaware.
Therefore, among the multiple purposes for resurrecting the others, one was—experimentation.
He wanted to resurrect others first, continually observe them, observe the effects of this resurrection on their mentality, faith, and more, see if there were any adverse influences, and the degree of those influences.
The long preaching has finally ended.
“All rise,” the Dragon-man youth announces.
The crowd rises one after another, looking up at the Dragon-man youth with faces full of reverence and fanaticism, eagerly awaiting the Dragon-man youth’s next command.
Cong Mang and Hun Tong are the same.
Hong Zhu need not be mentioned; she is one of the newly promoted Devout Level believers.
Only Da Dou stood up slowly, still retaining obvious pain. He persisted for so long, it wasn’t easy, and both his spirit and will have undergone rigorous tests.
The Dragon-man youth already has a plan for everyone.
He first arranges for Big guy, Da Dou, Hong Zhu, and the resurrected mercenaries to leave Snowbird Port and proceed to take over the Vegetable Basket pirate group.
Big guy opens his mouth, tries to object, but he doesn’t understand why, after returning to his father, he still has to separate. He doesn’t want this at all!
But the next moment, the Dragon-man youth merely gives him a slight glare, and with a harsh look, Big guy ducks his head, daring not to defy.
His lips pout, eyes soon reddening, feeling very aggrieved.
Hong Zhu’s expression is also tremendously disappointed and regretful. She was determined to cling tightly to the Dragon-man youth’s leg, yet the next moment she is dispatched to the sea again.
Da Dou, however, doesn’t mind; he is even somewhat pleased. He is full of apprehension toward the Dragon-man youth and doesn’t want to stay by his side. The Dragon-man youth’s pressure on him is too great, especially the recent preaching, which left a deep impression. Being away from the Dragon-man youth allows Da Dou to breathe a sigh of relief.
Sanda also feels a sense of loss.
He still wanted to bring these resurrected mercenaries back, to boost morale and rebuild the mercenary group.
He was truly devoted to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
But he quickly realized the Dragon-man youth’s action was correct: “Bringing this batch of resurrected people back would be too conspicuous.”
“Even though we have the Disguise Skill to let them play other roles, why waste the precious Pearl Bubble?”
“The strength of these people isn’t worthy of consuming the Pearl Bubble.”
“Letting them go on their own at sea is the right decision.”
Among everyone, Cong Mang was the most unwilling.
“The Vegetable Basket pirate group, that was the foundation I worked so hard to build!”
Yet now, with just a light word from the Dragon-man youth, it was going to be taken over.
How could Cong Mang be willing?
But what could he do?
The situation is stronger than the person.
Cong Mang could only console himself secretly: “My foundation was initially built with the support of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce. Giving it back now isn’t too bad.”
Then he pondered again: “No, what exactly is the relationship between the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce and Long Fu?”
“The Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce was already crippled. Facing an alien deity, how could it possibly be an equal cooperative relationship?”
“Very likely, the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce has already been annexed!”
“The Long Fu in front of me is the mastermind.”
Cong Mang’s brain supplemented this quickly, and his prior slight anger quickly dissipated.
When a person is down and sees others equally unfortunate, the mood improves. This is probably such a mentality—not just me being unlucky, see, there are others just as unlucky as I am!
When Cong Mang assumed that the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce was also unlucky, his resistance wasn’t as much.
He immediately muttered: “Lord Long Fu, it is truly my honor that you find my people worthy.”
He then expressed his willingness to actively cooperate and help Da Dou and others complete the takeover of the Vegetable Basket pirate group.
To this, the Dragon-man youth just nodded slightly, showing acknowledgment.
He had expected Cong Mang’s reaction.
The Dragon-man youth analyzed Cong Mang’s temperament and believed he should react this way.
As a pirate, there is always a strong admiration for power. Therefore, the pirate group leader is almost always the strongest in the pirate group. This is almost without exception.
In fact, this is a world of the strong.
Admiration for power is very common in all layers and aspects of society.
Cong Mang’s display in this regard is also very obvious.
Just see how he previously voluntarily attached himself to Da Han, leading the entire pirate group as a vanguard, offering part of the spoils obediently to the Icebound pirate group, and you can understand it.
Now Cong Mang’s active cooperation in the Dragon-man youth’s takeover shows his mentality of relying on the strong again.
On one hand, he was already a captive, subjected to others, and had no choice but to cooperate. On the other hand, the Dragon-man youth’s deity background was far beyond the Holy Domain Level’s Da Han!
The Dragon-man youth purposely brandished the “Group Fog God” card, reaping substantial benefits. Cong Mang’s active cooperation was one of these benefits.
The Dragon-man youth continued with arrangements.
He had Cong Mang follow him to the Ice Sculpture Royal Capital, while Hun Tong remained behind, assigned to the Snowbird Port’s Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps branch, secretly protecting and overseeing it.
Cong Mang needed to go to the Royal Capital. One main reason was the Purple Vine Secret Stash.
Now that he was on the surviving side, it favored Zi Di in obtaining the secret stash.
Another crucial reason was that the Dragon-man youth wanted him close to observe and understand him better. Naturally, the more he understood Cong Mang’s character and thoughts, the better he could control him.
As for leaving Hun Tong at Snowbird Port…
On one hand, the Dragon-man youth was already quite assured of Hun Tong. His personal hatred toward Tan Mo, to some extent, aligned with his loyalty to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
On the other hand, the Dragon-man youth needed Hun Tong to be alone for a time.
This was because Hun Tong, after experiencing the siege of Snowbird Port and witnessing the Dragon-man youth’s public preaching, must have felt a significant impact on his mind.
His loyalty to the Holy Bright Empire was long-standing, the result of noble education since childhood, ingrained in his thinking habits.
And now, he would involuntarily start considering and comparing.
On one side is the Holy Bright Empire, where he needed to lead the way, far from the continent, painstakingly pioneering and managing territories, and still got blackmailed and framed by Tan Mo.
On the other side is the mysterious alien force, generous enough to unleash a Group Resurrection Technique, and includes high-level entities like Long Fu at least at the bishop’s level.
Is returning to the Holy Bright Empire better, or is pledging allegiance to the Dragon-man youth a better option?