Chapter 77 - 72: Perhaps This Is Life
The Garlic Tribe’s galleys sailed far and wide.
Protected by the Sea Monster, they could reach the deepest parts of the ocean. The risk of shipwreck was far lower than before.
One after another, their ships set out to pioneer and explore, and the little people charted the seas of this Fragment World.
[The Garlic Tribe has charted the world map. Everyone’s Wisdom has slightly increased.]
Luh Yao clicked open the map on the right side of the interface.
The whole world was smaller than he had imagined. Most of it was ocean, with only two continents. The Western Continent was the Garlic Tribe’s main base, and the Eastern Continent was a great prairie discovered not long ago.
Far from the two continents were two large islands. One was East Sea Island, where the East Sea Clan used to live, and the other was Mingyue Island, which had suffered a rat infestation.
The rest were scattered small islands and archipelagos. Some of these islands were also inhabited by natives, but no traces of God worship or Divine Statues were found.
This small world was oval-shaped, its edges enveloped in a gray mist that also served as the world’s border.
No matter how hard the galleys rowed, they couldn’t get close to the border. Even swimming in the water, they couldn’t reach the world’s edge that seemed so close. The little people could only gaze from afar, lamenting their own powerlessness.
Luh Yao fixed his perspective on the Boundary Zone.
He observed for a long time and found that this boundary was slowly expanding outward—or growing, one might say.
The Fragment World was like an oval-shaped pancake, constantly being spread larger.
Its edges generated more ocean, along with some randomly generated, scattered islands.
Luh Yao was very curious.
’If it keeps expanding and growing like this, what will ultimately happen?’
’Will it become a giant, infinitely growing world?’
’Or will it completely close off on all sides and become a truly three-dimensional world?’
Luh Yao asked Isabel.
"My Lord, the Fragment World is currently being slowly repaired and is growing under the influence of Rule Power."
"If given enough time, it will eventually form a new Unowned World."
"But in reality, that is very difficult to achieve."
"Because while Fragment Worlds and Unowned Worlds may not seem very different, there is a fundamental distinction."
Isabel explained patiently, "In an Unowned World, the world’s rules operate in a closed loop."
"Therefore, a God cannot simply descend into it out of thin air. They can only enter by breaking through the Unowned World’s outer wall, or by slowly entering through an overlap between worlds."
"Only then can they alter its internal rules, turning the unowned into the owned. It’s like fitting a door with a lock and key; once that’s done, other Gods cannot enter."
"A Fragment World is incomplete. Its internal rules have been too severely damaged. Even if most of them can form a closed loop, the world itself is still full of flaws."
"Unless these flaws can be repaired, a Fragment World is like a deranged patient covered in wounds. Even if the wounds scab over and heal, he can’t regain consciousness, and thus lacks the vitality of an Unowned World."
"The incompleteness of a Fragment World prevents it from forming a complete, closed loop. These gaps are the coordinates that Apprentice Deities use to enter."
"Apprentice Deities are constantly descending into Fragment Worlds, so it’s nearly impossible for them to close up again. They just uncontrollably become more and more broken..." Isabel said patiently.
Luh Yao summed it up simply.
’A Fragment World is like a public bus. It always opens its doors at a stop, and the Apprentice Deities are the passengers with tickets.’
’Some Apprentice Deities stay on for a long ride, while others get off quickly. With Gods getting on and off, the bus can never stop, and it just gets more worn out and broken over time.’
’An Unowned World is a brand-new car fresh from the factory. Only one God can control its ownership.’
’Because it’s a new car, all its specs are great—it’s fast, has plenty of horsepower, and even has some extra features. The owner would naturally be more diligent about maintaining their own car.’
’So, that’s the situation.’
’That’s why Fragment Worlds are the Newbie Village for new players.’
Luh Yao figured that once he built a Miracle and entered the Divine Hall of the Gods, a Divine Player would probably enter the so-called "Crawling Area" and be forced to move out of this newbie zone.
Just then, a line of text appeared on the game interface.
[Hemira has written the first theological book, "Divine Gospel".]
[The Garlic Tribe has invented Theology.]
[Due to Theology, the Garlic Tribe has developed a fanatical worship for you. Faith has been greatly increased.]
—A Believer has inspired fanatical worship. Would you like to transform her into a Prophet?
[Yes] [No]
’Fanatical worship?’
This was the first time Luh Yao had ever seen such a description.
He immediately glanced at the top right corner of the interface.
One look made Luh Yao wonder if his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Population: 21,398 | Faith: 25,741
Luh Yao couldn’t hold back a "Holy crap."
’My Faith just exploded!’
’Is this the power of a "great increase"?’
He took a couple of deep breaths, and after calming down, he did the math.
His Faith had been around 4,000 points before. This was an instant increase of 21,000 Faith... The amount of the increase was exactly equal to the total population.
In other words, the so-called "great increase" meant that every single person in the population provided 1 extra point of Faith!
Luh Yao had always had a faint feeling that population was no less important than Faith.
Otherwise, the simulator wouldn’t have given it such a high evaluation.
[Population is the vessel, Faith is the power.]
The two were pillars on the same level.
Luh Yao speculated that once the population broke through a certain threshold, a further qualitative change would occur. This change would not only come from the Believers’ level of civilization but also affect the Divine Player’s own body.
He hadn’t expected the first dividend from his population to arrive so soon.
At this moment, Luh Yao felt a bit fortunate.
’Good thing I’ve always focused on balanced development and steady progress, unlike other players who go to extremes.’
’Can you really walk a straight path on one leg?’
’If you’re not careful, you’re bound to fall.’
And the more Luh Yao looked at the instigator of this Faith bull market, the more he liked what he saw.
’Hemira, you did a good job, a really good job.’
’No wonder you were able to lead the East Sea Clan at such a young age. You’ve got real talent.’
Luh Yao clicked into the Divine Hall and readily converted her into a Prophet.
Hemira was now 35 years old. A decade had passed since Luh Yao had last paid attention to her.
In her detailed personal panel was Hemira’s portrait.
The tall, wheat-skinned woman was burning the midnight oil, reading in her room.
Under the dim yellow light, she was writing on paper with a charcoal pencil. She wore a wool coat, and a glimmer shone in her long-lashed eyes as if she had been struck by inspiration.
Below it was a quote from her.
—Even when you are unaware, God is leading you.
...
[Prophet Lv8] Hemira
Attack 0 | Defense 2 | Knowledge 5 | Mana 1 | Luck 1 | Morale 3
[Abilities]
Wisdom Lv5: Wisdom is the key for an Apostle to hear the Divine Will. The higher the level of Wisdom, the easier it is to improve and comprehend various abilities.
Theology Lv1: Adept at spreading Divine Faith, can keenly discover traces left by a God, and can comprehend and raise Tiers by observing Miracles.
...
Hemira gave Luh Yao a pleasant surprise.
Compared to the previous Prophet, Nong Lai, Hemira was much smarter and had even comprehended the [Theology] skill. ’She’s a professional Prophet, through and through.’
Hemira only needed to research and observe Miracles to level up. ’What a coincidence, right? And it just so happens that I’m a Divine Player who isn’t stingy with Miracles.’
’It’s a perfect match.’
Amid his happiness, Luh Yao noticed that someone seemed to be missing from the Divine Hall.
’That Astrologer, Shahan, who was always in the Divine Hall praying silently... why isn’t he here?’
Luh Yao searched all over but couldn’t find the Astrologer.
Finally, he found Shahan’s name on the Monument.
"Shahan: An outstanding Astrologer and leader. The Tribe’s Brief History he authored tells all who come after to never forget where they came from."
This guest Prophet, who wasn’t particularly good at divining the God’s will, had finally completed his mission.
But that didn’t mean it was the end.
In the Ghost City Saniluo, Luh Yao found Shahan’s Ghost Soul.
He was now running a stall in the city, happily performing Divination on fortunes and the weather for every passerby.
That old man truly loved Astrology.
Luh Yao reckoned.
’For Shahan, working his shift in the Divine Hall during his life was a job. After death, setting up a stall on the street to practice Astrology—that was life.’
’Perhaps this is what life is all about.’