I Have a God Simulator

Hai Wan closed his eyes for a moment, recovering a bit of his strength.

The more dangerous the situation, the more one needed to seize any opportunity to rest. This was a piece of wisdom passed down through generations of sailors.

"Captain."

Hai Yuan, who had just returned from Scouting, said in a low voice, "The enemy is mobilizing their troops. It looks like they’re done probing and have locked onto our position."

He looked at the Off-Road Rabbit in his arms and said, "Good thing we brought this little guy. Otherwise, we’d be at a serious disadvantage in Scouting. Their Scouts have some real skill."

Hai Wan nodded and looked over at Lie Chen, who was wiping his bow and Long Sword. "How many consumables do we have left?"

"Two canisters of Anesthetic Juice left. It can create a localized anesthetic effect, but it’ll hardly stop them for real."

Lie Chen sheathed his Long Sword. "We can also light the Malachite Butterfly stink bombs, but they won’t last long either."

"We have 32 arrows."

"That’s it."

Hai Wan said, "Listen to me. You two take the Off-Road Rabbit and flee north. Give me half the arrows. I’ll lead them south."

"Give me the stink bombs and the Anesthetic Juice."

"We’ll regroup on the Northern Continent."

Both young men couldn’t help but want to protest.

"That’s an order!"

Hai Wan cut them off. "Report everything you’ve seen here to the Prophets of Yao City and Yan City. They’ll give you further instructions."

"I made it out of the Dragon Nest in one piece. These guys are nothing to me." He said it with a confident expression.

Hai Yuan hesitated for a moment. "Captain, of course we trust you. But look, the stink bombs and Anesthetic Juice won’t be much use to you. Why don’t you give them to us..."

Lie Chen chimed in, "Exactly. With your negotiation skills, Captain, you could make them understand even without speaking the same language. You don’t need weapons at all. Just give us the bow and arrows. Every little bit helps, and we need weapons to stay alive."

Hai Wan froze for a second, then thumped both young men on the forehead. "You two bastards, are you trying to get me killed? Have I ever docked your pay? Have I ever sent you on a suicide mission? Huh? And now you pull this on me at a critical moment!"

The three of them couldn’t help but laugh.

Lie Chen and Hai Yuan shouldered their packs.

"Well then, Captain, see you on the Northern Continent. We’ll wait for you to drink Honey Wine together. Your treat, of course."

"Get lost."

Hai Wan waved them away.

After sending the two young men off, he pulled up his pant leg. The arrow wound in his right knee had begun to fester. Even bandages and medicinal herbs could no longer ease the injury.

An arrow to the knee, of all things. It made it impossible for him to move quickly; he would only slow the other two down.

Hai Wan sighed. All he could say was that his luck wasn’t very good.

He had discovered a New Continent and found a brand-new type of Extraordinary Creature, the Sand Lizard, only to be hunted down by a mob of armored soldiers...

He suddenly recalled his student days at the Divinity School.

Back then, he would listen to Scholars lecture every day, complain about how hard and coarse the flatbread at the Divinity School was, and set off on pilgrimages with a few good friends. Memories from so many years ago welled up in his mind for no reason.

Just then, Lie Chen and Hai Yuan came running back.

A warmth spread through Hai Wan’s heart. ’These little rascals are loyal after all.’

He kept a serious expression on his face. "Why aren’t you gone yet!"

"It’s not that we don’t want to go."

"We can’t, Captain! We’re surrounded."

The two young men wore miserable expressions.

Hai Wan gritted his teeth. "Then we’ll fight them to the death!"

At that very moment, enemy troops swarmed in from all directions.

They were all clad in Chain Armor, carrying shields and spears. There were even Sand Lizards saddled with heavy Crossbow Mechanisms, completely encircling the hill.

There were two to three hundred enemies, with mounted Scouts and Rangers on the flanks. Their formation was spread out, making it impossible to break through.

The three of them, Hai Wan included, took up their bows and proactively fired at the enemy.

Unfortunately, their arrows couldn’t pierce the Armor and failed to inflict any effective damage. The Imperial Soldiers’ advance was completely unaffected.

Seeing the enemy’s spears drawing ever closer, Hai Wan drew his Long Sword with a SHING. "North Sea Adventurer’s Group, charge with me!"

Just as the three were about to charge, a raging fire suddenly erupted in the enemy’s ranks, causing instant chaos. The blaze spread rapidly, tearing a long, empty path straight through the enemy formation.

A thin, gaunt old man with sparse hair stood before the Imperial Army.

He wore a simple linen robe. His bandaged right hand was extended, palm up, as white vapor rose from his body.

The old man stared ahead and said slowly, "Yan Jiu of Yan City. Please, enlighten me."

The soldiers stared blankly for a second, then the archers and Crossbow Mechanisms opened fire on the strange old man simultaneously.

Flames erupted around Yan Jiu’s body. He became a fiery red streak, wreaking havoc among the enemy forces. Wherever he went, soldiers were sent flying, engulfed in flames.

Seeing this, the enemy army drove their Sand Lizards to charge at him.

But the massive Sand Lizard was stopped dead by the old man’s arms. His metal right arm seized its throat and slammed it to the ground. The Sand Lizard struggled desperately, its limbs and body thrashing wildly, kicking up gravel and sand.

Before long, the Sand Lizard went limp and stopped moving.

The old man looked coldly at the other Sand Lizards.

The remaining Sand Lizards, terrified, turned and fled. The heavy beasts trampled soldiers in their path and quickly vanished from sight.

The soldiers behind them fired arrows frantically, but the projectiles were all consumed by the flames surrounding the old man, unable to harm a single hair on his head.

The old man was like a fire god descended upon the mortal world. None could stand against him. Any who dared to swing a blade at him were burned to charcoal.

Watching this scene, Hai Wan was stunned for a moment, then became ecstatic. "Reinforcements are here! The Great Cultivator, Mr. Yan Jiu, came himself! We’re safe! We’re safe!"

The other two young men watched Yan Jiu—a tiger among a flock of sheep—with expressions of utter fascination, their mouths slightly agape in reverence.

"So the power of a Martial Cultivator can reach this level... using fire as a weapon."

"Mr. Yan Jiu can take on several hundred men all by himself... He must not be far off from the level of the Lord Apostles."

"I shouldn’t have become an Adventurer. I should have gone into cultivation."

"I’m thinking of a career change, too..."

At that moment, a Fighting Shovel Armor dropped from the sky, using its hard shell to block two arrows aimed at the three Adventurers.

Tie Sai, carrying a drawing board on his back, and the Ghost Physician Yaopu also ran over.

Yaopu threw off her outer coat, revealing the Brass Ghost Armor underneath, and took out Pike Soldiers one by one with her fists. Her strikes were fierce and powerful, her movements wide and open, fully displaying the prowess of a Combat Physician.

After the pilgrimage to the Dragon Nest, Tie Sai and Hai Wan, former classmates, were reunited after many years, and both felt a wave of emotion.

Hai Wan’s smile was a bit awkward. "It’s been years, and the first thing you see is me in such a disgraceful state."

"As long as you’re okay. It’s time to go home." Tie Sai smiled, then glanced to the side.

From within the raised helmet of the Ghost Armor, a heroic and valiant female face emerged. The smile on her face was clean and pure. Yaopu was genuinely enjoying the battle.

For a moment, Tie Sai was mesmerized.

Innocence and ferocity, slenderness and might, purity and aggression, beauty and wildness.

All these strange elements converged in this Miss Ghost, leaving him utterly captivated.

...

The battle ended quickly.

Yan Jiu single-handedly routed the army, killing more than half of the enemy soldiers. He also captured a Sand Lizard. The Extraordinary Creature was quite docile, acting very submissive in the face of a powerful human.

He also captured a few prisoners alive.

Through a series of gestures and drawings, Tie Sai finally managed to pry some information out of them.

The three bodies had been hung on newly erected sharp stakes to display the Empire’s might. The location hadn’t changed; it was still at the previous campsite.

When they learned that these terrifying humans actually wanted to retrieve the corpses, the captive soldiers were baffled.

To them, a corpse was just a corpse, nothing more than rotting meat. Was it really worth attacking an army for them? It wasn’t uncommon for them to eat corpses when food was scarce.

This reasoning confused them greatly.

It wasn’t until they saw the terrifying, fire-wielding old man charge into the camp and return carrying the corpses that they were certain these people were serious.

After being released, the soldiers ran back to their army and told their commander about the strange and bizarre event. An entire unit had been routed and annihilated... over three corpses.

The commander listened in silence and gave a look to the guards beside him.

Then, this group of deserters was seized and executed on the spot for treason and spreading rumors to disrupt Morale.

...

Luh Yao was closely monitoring the battlefield.

A notification suddenly popped up in the simulator.

[Tie Sai has created "Dawn of the Kingdom"]

[Tie Sai has invented a new profession: Painter]

Luh Yao clicked on the entry.

...

[Dawn of the Kingdom]: Morale +2, Knowledge +1. The scene in the painting will be recreated before the viewer’s eyes.

A series of Sketching scrolls created by Tie Sai based on the defense of the Wuzi Kingdom, possessing an inspiring power.

...

—Great God, one of your Believers has performed a deed far surpassing their peers. Would you like to transform them into a Hero?

[Yes][No]