Wasteland Development Diary

Seeing the Night God's serious expression, Zhou Yi realized this was not a joke.

"Is the other party also a conceptual life form?"

"Yes."

For some reason, she seemed unwilling to talk more about it.

Zhou Yi carefully chose his words: "Is it that you can't casually mention them, as it might bring you trouble?"

The Night God nodded.

"Then, can you explain this mechanism that causes trouble?"

"That I can."

The Night God pondered for a moment: "Conceptual life forms have prototypes. You know that, and conceptual life forms will undergo a series of evolutions based on their prototypes, mainly expanding in the realm of consciousness."

"As long as they are mentioned, conceptual life forms will be spread and strengthened. For example, our prototype is a shop, and we can be considered the visible shop owners."

"If someone talks about, praises, or spreads our names, it's like constantly consuming and purchasing the service of our names here, bringing us continuous benefits and enhancing our power."

"On the other hand, if conceptual life forms mention each other, the one whose name is mentioned will also notice. Harmless types like the Earth God or Hotpot are fine to talk about, but it becomes troublesome if it's some dangerous家伙 [jiā伙 – this was left untranslated as it has a specific nuance in the original text]."

Zhou Yi immediately understood.

The one who killed the Earth God was a powerful and highly aggressive conceptual life form.

"Although I can't mention its name, I can give you a hint."

The Night God looked at Zhou Yi: "It's almost universally known in this side of the world, and its prototype possesses tremendous ruling power and deterrence. It's a name this world can't avoid."

Zhou Yi pondered.

Famous, ruling power, deterrence, a name that can't be avoided.

"The Celestial Nation?"

The Night God nodded.

Zhou Yi immediately understood.

The conceptual life form 【Celestial Nation】 takes a vast country as its prototype, and its spread and prestige are indeed at their peak.

According to the mechanism of conceptual life forms, not only are the citizens of the Celestial Nation its loyal believers, but also a large number of outsiders constantly talk about this name.

"Why?"

Zhou Yi frowned: "The Earth God has been living in seclusion for a long time and doesn't seem like someone who would provoke trouble..."

"That's right. It itself lives in seclusion, but that doesn't mean trouble won't actively seek it out."

The Night God shook her small fan, a look of regret on her face.

"Originally, if the Earth God did nothing, nothing would have happened. But it suddenly had a moment of kindness and saw that many people had died on the land this year. The people there offered the last of their grain as a sacrifice to it, praying for its descent and help. So it sealed the soil on the farmlands of several small islands, giving the islanders a chance to have a good harvest and live another year."

"This angered that guy. Because the Earth God had refused to seal soil for it in the past and had also refused to heed its call. This time, the sealed islands were not far from that guy's territory, so it found a reason to kill the Earth God."

Zhou Yi was somewhat puzzled: "Is the difference between them that great? Couldn't it escape?"

According to his combat experience.

Between life forms of the same level, it's normal for them to have wins and losses against each other. But completely killing an opponent of the same level is very difficult.

"The difference is huge."

The Night God nodded, a hint of reminiscence in her eyes.

"The Earth God itself is incomplete, possessing less than one percent of its power at its peak. Facing an opponent still at its prime, there is indeed a chasm like a difference in levels."

Zhou Yi didn't understand: "Why does the Earth God only have one percent of its power?"

"Because ninety-nine percent of the Earth God's power has been suppressed and taken away by another true behemoth. It's also the pinnacle of conceptual life forms in this world, an unshakable absolute strongest, and any conceptual life form will be affected by it."

The Night God said quietly: "【The Dead Sea】 is such an existence. It dominates both sides of the world."

"Fortunately, it itself has a chaotic tendency, more akin to the evolution of natural laws. Although extremely dangerous, it won't casually take action."

Zhou Yi suddenly understood.

More than ninety percent of this world is covered by the Dead Sea, no wonder the Earth God was suppressed and had its power taken away.

In front of 【The Dead Sea】, 【The Celestial Nation】 also has to bow its head.

"How long will it take for the Earth God to revive?"

Zhou Yi asked.

He had heard Yuan Xiao say before that the Dragon had been killed by the Celestials once. Now it's far from its peak and can only live in the Forbidden Continent.

Theoretically, the Earth God, whose concept is more ancient and widespread than the Dragon's, should be easier to revive.

"Hard to say."

The Night God blinked: "Anyway, I'm here to deliver a message for it. Before it died, it sent me a message, asking me to tell you that it won't be able to come in winter, it was killed. Revival will be around next year, spring if it's fast, winter if it's slow."

Zhou Yi was relieved.

He thought again: "After it revives, what if someone guards the body?"

"Guards the body? That kind of situation won't exist."

The Night God waved her small fan: "Conceptual life forms will be reborn from the Great Holy Spirit. Although their power will be weakened a lot, they can still choose to project to any place where their prototype is located."

"If they don't want to, they can also stay in the Great Holy Spirit. The only flaw there is that it's completely isolated from the outside world, it's absolutely safe. Hotpot is still sleeping in the Great Holy Spirit."

"Some conceptual life forms are inherently weak or tired of the outside world, so they choose to sleep."

Zhou Yi had a clear understanding.

He asked: "Is there any relationship between the one who killed the Earth God and the Black Emperor?"

"Of course there is."

The Night God said seriously: "That guy is highly bound to the Black Emperor. It's trying to rule and subdue other conceptual life forms, and the Earth God is one it can't avoid."

"Hasn't it made a move against you?" Zhou Yi asked curiously.

"My situation is special. Actually, I'm not considered a local conceptual life form. Because my prototype can't be affected, the Black Emperor is relatively restrained towards me."

"As far as I know, the Black Emperor's current focus is already on the consciousness side. It's trying to integrate enough conceptual life forms there, so as to expand its empire in another way. It's an ambitious emperor."

The Night God suddenly changed the subject: "Regarding the 【Floating Heart】 matter, does our church have a chance to join in?"

Zhou Yi looked strange: "You're a church... technical equipment shouldn't have anything to do with you, right?"

"The church focuses on having a large number of people."

The Night God actively said: "The Night God Church has a total of more than one million six hundred thousand believers. We also have to pursue progress, otherwise, how can a lifeless church attract young people to join?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment: "Do you have a foundation in the technical direction?"

"No."

"Then don't force it..."

"We still have to force it, we need to pull people in first," the Night God emphasized practicality.

Zhou Yi put forward an idea he had long had: "In the age of gods, there was actually a very mature way to have a large group of followers."

The Night God immediately looked serious: "Please speak."

"Create idols."

Zhou Yi said concisely: "The old humans of the age of gods would create some new humans as idols, usually young men and women with good image and temperament, and then package them, engage them in activities such as singing, dancing, and acting."

"Humans are visual animals, and being lustful is human nature. It's always pleasing to the eye to encounter good-looking young men and women. Then find things that everyone likes to do, and by doing these things, you can get everyone's attention and affection..."

The Night God frowned slightly: "Are you saying... I should also package some people like that?"

"It's just an immature idea of mine, for reference only."

The Night God touched her lower lip with her finger: "What everyone likes most is gaining wealth, power, and satisfying desires."

"The church itself doesn't have much money, and can't distribute it to more people."

"Desire... it wouldn't be good to open a brothel either."

She suddenly brightened her eyes: "Got it, I know."

"Sell the church's Offering Certificates."

"Do you know about Offering Certificates?"

Zhou Yi shook his head. It was the first time he had heard this name.

"The church will issue this kind of thing to friends outside the church who have provided significant help. They can use that, and even if they don't join the church, they can get my guidance and conversation once. But this kind of thing is issued very rarely, because I'm already very busy dealing with believers and don't have time to handle these things."

The Night God said with great interest: "But now I've thought of a way."

"Just like you said, I will recruit some handsome young men and beautiful girls, let them become god-sons and god-daughters, and then let them come forward to solicit donations and recruits everywhere. If the donor reaches a certain amount, they can exchange for an Offering Certificate."

"The Offering Certificate can grant an audience with me."

"In addition to solving doubts, I can also satisfy their pursuit of wealth, power, and desire once. But of course, it's not real, just slightly influencing their consciousness to let them achieve what they want in a hallucination, whether it's becoming a hero or a king, being richer than a country, having many wives and concubines, or even fighting against the whole world... It's easy for me to do this."

Zhou Yi was stunned: "Doing this will make users addicted, right?"

This reminded him of the data dopamine in the Star Hub.

"This is like a simulation of life. There will be as much comfort and excitement as there will be boredom and emptiness. As for whether they will become addicted, that's their business."

The Night God shook her fan with a smile: "This is really a good idea! Zhou Yi, you are a genius, this idea is worth a thousand gold! Our church is saved!"

"I'm leaving now, bye-bye."

After saying that, she disappeared without a trace.

The hotpot was still steaming.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but look at Yuan Xiao beside him: "Will my idea cause problems?"

"Please don't worry."

The Death Angel said: "Desire itself exists, it will not disappear because it is not discussed or achieved."

"In my opinion, it is also a good thing if the Night God Church can release the desires and grievances of some people through this harmless method."

"Humans are still fragile lives, and allowing them to experience more pleasure is beneficial to the continuation and stability of the entire group."

Zhou Yi nodded.

That's right.

You always need some sugar in hard times.

This entertainment program is left to the Black Night Church!