Mercenary Black Mamba

"It is the mythical creature of Dubaiburupa!"

"See, the appearance of Dubaiburupa!"

"Allahu akbar!"

"It's the Mahdi!"

All kinds of primal shouts shook the entire Lake Yoa. The tens of thousands of people in the crowd standing at once resembled an avalanche.

The refugees that settled in Novatopia had experienced extreme life conditions. For them, Novatopia was Utopia itself — they could eat plentifully and be safe. Even if Ombuti and such had not promoted the policy of Dubaiburupa's deification, he was already a godlike figure.

The rumor that Dubaiburupa came to Novatopia and revived Wazalan spread like fire. The spectacle of a god walking on a moonlit lake was like pouring fuel on that fire.

People who have not seen Jesus walking on water still believed in that story. People who saw Dubaiburupa walking on water had no choice but to believe it. The people at shore entered a trance.

Black Culture was even more surprised. The four professors and Afwerki were, to be specific. Ombuti and the rest were used to it. They would not be surprised if Mu Ssang drank the entire lake's worth of water.

"Hey, Shernion. Are we watching a blockbuster movie made by boastful Americans?"

"There are basilisks whose nickname is 'Jesus lizard.' Dubaiburupa surely is more powerful than that."

Shernion responded cryptically to Orifice's question. Ahmmad clenched the hilt of his shamshir. Shernion likened Dubaiburupa to a lizard. Ibrahim pressed gently on the hilt to hold him back. Shernion did not realize he was about to face Allah.

"This is hypnotism. A human is a human, not a water strider. He collectively hypnotized us."

Ignorance was bliss. Shernion insisted.

"That is absurd. There is no movie set. It's not a show. Basilisks simply run across the surface quickly enough to not be immersed in the water. Dubaiburupa is ambling leisurely. That is some sort of mythical arts from the East."

Afwerki added.

"Come to your senses!"

Mulsoli poked Orifice's side with her finger and pulled at Shernion's ear.

"It is a far greater feat to hypnotize 20,000 people than to walk on water. If the East had such arts, they would have rewritten world history."

"That's right. He has to be a god to hypnotize 20,000 people."

Orifice and Shernion nodded.

"Then what is that?"

"Do I look like I know? I'm just watching it too."

The four continued to debate amid the crowd's cheers. The more you knew, the more bothersome you became.

'This is effective!'

The crowd's enthusiastic reaction surprised Mu Ssang. It surpassed that of the teenage girls at an idol singer concert. This was much classier than being Call Name who wandered in deserts and jungles and showered in blood. Mu Ssang felt an urge to transform into a cult leader and quit being a mercenary to the French government.

Since he had already decided to use a confidence trick, the more shocking it was, the greater its impact. With his heels, he kicked up the surface. Minuscule droplets jumped up like a handheld fan. The Gongjinpa emanating from the top and back of his head caught them and wielded them about. Moonlight diffused in the droplets divided into fog particles. A reddish halo formed behind Mu Ssang. It depleted his stamina at a rapid rate to perform another trick as he walked on water. It was hard to maintain Gongjinpa steadily.

A lucky person was also lucky as a con artist. As the emanation of Gongjinpa became irregular, a white light reminiscent of Buddha's holy luminance appeared around him, then vanished, then appeared again. It was a top-tier performance.

Mu Ssang committed blasphemy by imitating Jesus and stealing one of the Buddha's features. It was not surprising, considering he was an asura in his past life.

[Thus, the owner of Novatopia wore sacred luminance and stepped on the waters of Lake Yoa to appear before his people.] Such a phrase was written in The Saga of Dubaiburupa, which was considered as the orthodox history book in Novatopia. Dubaiburupa did wear some light and walked on lake water. That was a fact but not a truth. Yes. Truth did not necessarily equal to a fact.

"Whoa!"

"Dear God!"

Some cried tears of joy. Some jumped up and down. Others knelt and prayed. A woman stripped herself of her hot pants and T-shirt. Everyone entered a state of trance. Cargo cultists waited for something nonexistent to exist. They create a nonexistent god to worship. There were countless gods but none of them appeared before their believers. Any believer would have gone crazy at the sight of their long-awaited god.

"Dear people of Novatopia, I am Dubaiburupa."

Mu Ssang raised both his arms in the air. He was at a spot 50 meters from the shore. The blueish full moon shone upon the regal king that stood on rippling water. Silence fell upon the crowd. The sounds of bustling sand drifted in the wind, people gulping, and a running lizard was heard.

"Whoa!"

"Our king!"

After some moments passed, an explosive roar erupted. When 20,000 people roared at the same frequency, resonance occurred. The lake rippled and the gravel on the slope tumbled down.

"This is maddening! Why are they roaring? I need to tell them something!"

Mu Ssang yelled internally and pulled his ankle deeply submerged in water. The sound's shockwave rippled the surface so Gongjinpa's surface tension was weakened.

He was barely floating on the water and maintaining the luminance at the same time. He was on the verge of falling underwater. He planned to make a speech on water and it was greatly taxing.

"Whoa!"

The roar intensified, oblivious to Mu Ssang's thoughts. The ripples became taller. Mu Ssang, in a hurried state, slid across the surface like a water strider and cut short the distance between him and the shore then jumped ashore.

'Whoa. It is quite taxing to pretend to be a messiah!"

His legs trembled at the exertion. He had no energy left for speaking. It was quite a problem because the crowd's roar intensified at each moment.

Dino glanced back at its master. A spiritual animal was supposed to discern the state of its master. The master needed time to recover his energy. Dino shook its body to shed water in its fur and kicked at the ground to leap 20 meters to land on top of a stone pillar.

Dino raised its head high toward the moon on the stone pillar. A magnificent roar erupted from Dino. The air pushed away by the shockwave expanded like concentric circles. It was a tremendous force worthy of the title of "King of the Beasts."

"What is that?"

"Hurrah! It's the mythical creature of Dubaiburupa."

The crowd's eyes converged on the giant reddish-brown beast, Dino. Samdi ran to Mu Ssang like a breeze. He discerned the weakened state of his master.

"A beast and a zombie are much more empathetic than humans!"

Mu Ssang was impressed. As Dino steered the crowd's attention, Mu Ssang recuperated. The erupting roar was deafening. The performance elicited too much shock.

"Wakir, that seems good."

Samdi pointed at the sandstone pillar on the shore. It was five meters high and 60 centimeters wide.

"Great!"

Vajra encircled the foot of the pillar. Samdi struggled with the pillar in his arms.

"Ugh!"

The pillar, which was sliced by Vajra and standing by the core, was broken like an icicle.

"Ugh!"

Samdi held the pillar upside down then soared. The pillar's pointed head buried itself deeply in the sand. Mu Ssang jumped on the pillar. [The Open Discussion at Lake Yoa], the entire text of which was included in The Saga of Dubaiburupa, was about to begin.

"Whoa!"

"Mahdi!"

"Dubaiburupa!"

The roar seemed to shake the night sky itself. Mu Ssang raised his hand. The roar stopped at once.

"Dear owners of Novatopia! I am Dubaiburupa. I am not God. I am not the Son of God. I am a being that is seeking the human condition to become human."

Mu Ssang said honestly. The performance was just a performance. He was not supposed to stay in Novatopia for a prolonged period and did not care to play God for no reason. Concretus, a being that approached divinity, became fallen because of a mere virus and natural disasters. That honesty proved problematic too.

"Dubaiburupa is a man!"

"Man Dubaiburupa!"

The crowd chanted. Their faces were lit up. Dubaiburupa was a god. The reason why a god would emphasize his humanity must be a covenant that he will be with humanity forever. They were supposed to accept him as a human even if he did not say so but he said it himself. The crowd was obviously moved.

"Sit first. I don't feel good seeing you standing up all the time. Ounianga's sand is as cushiony as a chair seat that has a sponge in it.

Mu Ssang's loaded Gongjinpa in his voice. His low baritone shook the cool night air. People could not bring themselves to sit in veneration of present divinity, but at their divinity's words, they sat at once.

"I am pleased to see you all. Have you seen the Dubaiburupa that you imagined? Beautiful, the one with the cat T-shirt. What do you feel now that you have seen the real Dubaiburupa?"

Mu Ssang pointed at a young woman sitting in the front row.

"You are so handsome. I want to marry you!"

It was an unexpected answer. Mu Ssang flinched at her rather uninhibited answer. The woman herself must have been surprised too since she buried her face between her legs. She must have been carried away by the collective ambience of Novatopia. Marrying him meant she considered him as human. Mu Ssang was grateful.

"Whoa. I am saddened that I cannot reciprocate that. Rudrey Edel has already occupied your desired spot."

"Haha!"

"Long live Ms. Edel!"

Laughter and chanting erupted here and there. The crowd cheered at the humble personality of Mu Ssang. A god incarnated as a man was so amiable. The solemn, tense ambiance thawed at once. Mu Ssang's approach was proving to be successful.

"I just referred to you as the owners of Novatopia. Dubaiburupa is not its owner. He is just here and laying the groundwork. You are its owner. You will call this land home and pass it on to your children. The governor has just told me that there are 60,000 Novatopian mouths to feed. I am quite in a pickle with such a burden. But you also are, because you will feed those 60,000 mouths yourselves."

"Yes. We are in a pickle."

"Haha!"

Someone shouted and that elicited more laughter. The word "pickle" was heard in many spots in the crowd. Laughter ensued.

"Today, I am not standing here to give you some sweet promise. That is your job, the owners of Novatopia."

"Tell us what you wish. We will promise willingly."

Someone said in a loud voice.

"A promise!"

"A promise!"

The word "promise" swept across the crowd.

"It's a pity that you like pickles that much. Before we talk about the promise, I will explain why I referred to you as a burden. Novatopia is founded in a desert. In the last year, you made waterways, planted trees, made roads, and built homes until your hands peeled and feet blistered. You wouldn't have had the time to flick your penis after urinating and please your spouse after work. Blue Art is just in its beginning. For the next 10 years, we need to plant trees, make roads, sprinkle grass seeds, build factories, and make children. You, sir, are you happy?"

Mu Ssang pointed at an old man sitting in the front row. His burnt face was deeply wrinkled and his silver hair was abundant. The man bowed on the ground as if stung by a bee.

"I, Wajai Abdul, bow to Dubaiburupa. During my 63 years, I was never as happy as I am now."

"Dear Abdul who trudged through life filled with misfortune, please receive my blessing. Why are you happy now?"

"I do not fear if my son will be conscripted. I do not fear for the safety of my daughter-in-law. I do not fear if my grandson will ever be sold as a slave. I do not fear if my assets will be robbed from me. I do not fear being whipped for no reason. People who want to work can work. People who work receive proportional compensation. No one oppresses me. I do not need to oppress anyone. My young grandchildren are educated…"

Mu Ssang raised his hand. This man was going to talk until the moon set.

"The reasons Abdul spoke of are every human's birthright. It is not reasons for happiness but that which keeps misfortune at bay. In my eyes, you are in a pickle, Elder Abdul. You have two more years of hard toil. Every Novatopia worked until 65 years of age, then when they were 66, they could officially retire and enter a nursing home. A nursing home is where retired elderly people rest and get treated for their ailments. I am not merciful. I make the elderly work in fields and workshops to produce crops and products. I make them rear dogs and goats. Abdul will need to make money to afford his medication and give allowances to his grandchildren. You need to maintain your clarity of mind if you don't want to defame all your years. I will spank you if you ever get a preposterous disease like dementia."