I Have a God Simulator

The Sand City strategy was based on mutual visits and exchanges. Sending out Sand Walkers and inviting the two kingdoms to participate in events were both means of expanding the Yao Race’s external influence, continuously reaching the common people of the two great Divine Kingdoms.

Luh Yao’s ultimate goal was to use culture as a hub to build a sphere of civilization, turning the Ghost Realm and the Bamboo Reed Kingdom into a cultural commonwealth on the periphery of the Yao Race World.

The Titled Deities’ method of play was usually top-down: control the core Gods of a Divine Kingdom to achieve dominion and mastery over the entire kingdom.

This method was based on the superstructure. Titled Deities treated other Gods as vassals who required no land investiture. It was simple and crude: by strangling the Gods, one seized the Divine Kingdom’s only helmsman.

Luh Yao’s approach was to both keep the upper-echelon Gods in check and carry out cultural integration among the common people.

This would be much more tedious and slow, but the advantage was its extreme stability, preventing it from becoming top-heavy.

By following in the footsteps of the Yao Race, the Ghost Realm and the Bamboo Reed Kingdom would receive the Yao Race’s guidance, allowing them to avoid many detours and have the opportunity to develop rapidly with the help of an advanced civilization.

To achieve this underlying strategic objective, Luh Yao formulated a comprehensive set of policies.

The Martial Arts Tournament allowed Extraordinary Beings to spar and test their combat readiness, giving participants from both kingdoms a chance to showcase themselves.

The city-to-city visits, on the other hand, were for cultural and technological exchange and learning.

And then there was the most crucial step.

"Immigration?"

An exclamation mark appeared above Blo’s head. "You mean, allow residents of the Ghost Realm to immigrate to Sand City?"

"To be precise, it’s allowing residents to migrate between our lands."

Slime Mod explained, "The few who visited Sand City before—Binn Du, Binn Ji, as well as Lu Shan and Zhur Hu—were either clever and sharp or tenacious and resilient. These are all fine qualities that we of the Yao Race admire."

"So I thought, Sand City is a young city, originally populated by Yao Race immigrants from various cities. Why not welcome ambitious individuals from the two great Divine Kingdoms? As long as they work in Sand City, they are residents of Sand City."

"Sand City will not force anyone to change their Faith. This can be considered a small privilege of this city."

This was the ultimate goal of all of Luh Yao’s earlier groundwork.

To absorb immigrants from the other Divine Kingdoms.

Initially, Luh Yao had thought about capturing some Bamboo People, Funeral Race, and Lumin and bringing them into the Yao Race World. As long as they underwent the baptism of the Yao Race Civilization, the vast majority would quickly assimilate.

The Empire’s Scout squad led by Boutu was a successful case in point.

As the two great Divine Kingdoms sent envoys who visited Sand City and then returned to their own lands, they brought about numerous changes, both overt and subtle. The Lumin and the Funeral Race alike demonstrated their Wisdom and talents in different fields.

Luh Yao gradually changed his way of thinking.

Establishing a stable system for absorbing foreign talent would be more stable and long-lasting.

This led to the later dispatch of Apostles and, ultimately, the absorption of high-quality immigrants.

The most critical part was that neither of the two Divine Kingdoms could refuse this proposal.

Whether due to Fear and worry at the divine level, or their craving for the Yao Race Civilization’s advanced technology and culture, they would agree. They could only agree.

After hearing Slime Mod’s words, Blo fell silent for a long time.

Luh Yao knew he was waiting for an Oracle from the Ghost God.

After a moment, Blo said, "This proposal is indeed difficult to refuse. We look forward to your guidance in the future."

"Excellent, Mr. Blo. This will be a win-win situation. Both Sand City and the Ghost Realm will achieve better development and growth. I wish us a smooth cooperation."

Slime Mod immediately began discussing the specific details of the cooperation with Blo.

Seeing this, Luh Yao relaxed.

’This is the way.’

’Cooperation is the key to mutual victory; a confrontational mindset is not the way to go.’

Having settled the most crucial step of his civilization’s external circulation, Luh Yao stood up, stretched his limbs, and let out a big yawn.

"Xiaohuo, braise me a few pork ribs. Make them soft and tender, mildly spicy, and light on the sauce."

"As you command, Lord God. Please wait a moment."

The Cactus Ball received its orders and trotted all the way from its flowerpot straight to the refrigerator. A moment later, the sound of a faucet running and the TAP TAP TAP of chopping came from the kitchen.

The New Year had just passed, and the weather was still chilly. In his rented room without air conditioning, Luh Yao was warming himself with a hot water bottle.

He freed a hand to minimize the simulator and clicked open his bookmark for the Committee’s official website.

There were two new messages on the bulletin board.

The first was "Public Notice for Soliciting Clues Regarding the Suspected Illegal and Criminal Activities of Hong Mouxiong’s Malicious Gang."

The notice stated that this Hong Mouxiong, under the cover of working at a roadside restaurant in the South Line Street district, used his status as a player to abduct and sell women and children through enticement and intimidation with special Artifacts...

As Luh Yao read the detailed description, he found it more and more familiar.

’A roadside restaurant?’

He carefully examined the photo of Hong Mouxiong.

He remembered now. This was the guy who served food at the restaurant. While Luh Yao’s memory couldn’t be called eidetic, it was far better than it used to be.

The notice also included the names and physical descriptions of three known abducted children.

Luh Yao recognized one of them.

A missing person poster had once been posted at the entrance of his apartment building; the eight-year-old child who had gone missing was one of them. It wasn’t an accident—the child had been abducted by criminals.

Back then, Song Shiyi had arranged to have dinner with Isabel at that very restaurant. He didn’t know if it was a pure coincidence or if she had been investigating this Hong Mouxiong.

Luh Yao looked at the next notice.

"Bounty Notice: A traffic accident occurred in the neighboring city. After the accident, a black travel bag went missing. Inside the bag was a transparent, glass-like Klein Bottle."

"The inner wall of the bottle is painted with a black, simple line-drawing of a human figure with large ears, wide eyes, and hands reaching its knees. The figure has an archaic appearance and moves along the bottle’s inner wall. Anyone with information is asked to report to the Committee..."

Luh Yao immediately realized it was Cancong.

He checked the date; the bounty had been posted four days ago. And next to the bounty notice was a lock symbol with a note beside it: [Withdrawn].

’Looks like the 66th generation Cancong has been captured,’ Luh Yao mused. ’It’ll be difficult for it to escape from the Committee’s grasp.’

After browsing the Committee’s news and notices for a while, Luh Yao’s fragrant braised pork ribs finally arrived at the table. He poured a glass of cola, put on a pair of plastic gloves, and was just about to dig in when a knock suddenly came from the door.

Xiaohuo immediately dove into its flowerpot, reverting to its Cactus Ball form.

Luh Yao muttered to himself.

’Who’s knocking on the door at one in the morning?’

At first, he thought it might be a drunk from upstairs who had stumbled to the wrong door.

DONG—DONG—

The knocking was jarring in the quiet night. The force wasn’t heavy; it had a sense of sober restraint.

Luh Yao’s heart skipped a beat. ’It couldn’t be someone looking for trouble, could it?’

’Safety first.’

He first summoned Isabel, the Blood Knight, and the Tyrant. He ordered Isabel to go to the door and ask who it was, had the Tyrant lie in ambush in the corner, and had the Blood Knight stand by his side as a personal bodyguard.

Isabel asked in slightly accented Chinese, "Who is it?"

A man’s voice, clear and perfectly articulated, came from outside the door. "Greetings, esteemed Mr. Pioneer."

The person introduced himself, "My name is Harlow. I was entrusted by Cancong to retrieve the memory it left here, and I’ve tracked it all the way to this place."

"I’m visiting so late to avoid attracting attention, so please forgive the intrusion. The Committee has my registration information, which you can verify. I have never committed any acts that violate the local rules since arriving in this world, though I generally prefer not to deal with them."

With Luh Yao’s permission, Isabel opened the door.

Luh Yao looked outside through her eyes.

At the entrance of the rented apartment, a dirty stray dog was sitting on its haunches.

Its white fur was covered in black spots, and a large black patch covered its right eye, like a pirate’s eyepatch, giving it a somewhat fierce look.

The Pirate Dog saw the ribs in Luh Yao’s bowl and couldn’t help but lick its lips. It tried to turn its head away, but its eyes wouldn’t obey, remaining fixed on the ribs.

It struggled to steady its breathing. "Mr. Pioneer, I implore you to hand over Cancong’s memory to me..."

Before it could finish its sentence, the Pirate Dog had already nimbly slipped inside. Isabel didn’t even have time to stop it.

As it rushed toward the doorway, it was sent flying by a precise kick from the Tyrant.

The Pirate Dog did a backflip and landed lightly on its feet. It looked at the Tyrant, who was wearing a White Bone Helmet. "Swordsman, is this a challenge to a duel?"

"You are strong. I accept your challenge."

The Pirate Dog’s eyes became like crimson magma. Its body exploded, transforming into a twisted, hairy monster of black and white.