NOVPUBChapter 103: Chapter 102: Believers in Paradise
Chapter 103 -102: Believers in Paradise
Believers… huh?
Chaoyang suddenly realized that those white lines, constantly providing wishing power and connecting to him, might be proof of his believers.
Since the “divinities” were not illusory, the believers were no longer just a spoken identity.
They were indeed praying to him.
They indeed upheld the existence of the Paradise Master.
“This does not require my permission,” Chaoyang extended his hand to the two of them, “As long as you wish to devote yourselves to Paradise, the Paradise Master will not reject you. In fact, you are already its followers.”
Dane and Judy exchanged glances, their expressions filled with delight.
They reached out their hands in succession, stacking them on top of Chaoyang’s.
In an instant, Chaoyang felt a tremor in the world around him, as if a stone had been thrown into a calm pond.
He instinctively switched his perspective and was surprised to discover that the things within the transparent circle were no longer emptiness!
At least within the ten centimeters closest to him, objects had been painted a grayish white.
This coloration of “material loss” closely resembled the “temporary holding area” he built within and outside the corridor—except that was purely a fictitious space based on consciousness, commonly used to freeze players or for emergency evasion, and he chose gray out of convenience. But this was the real world; he had nothing to “choose,” and he didn’t even understand what such a change signified.
However, any change was better than no change at all.
At least now he understood that whether it was the transparent circle or the colored areas, both were related to the believers. Perhaps as more people came to regard the Paradise Master as their object of faith, a day would come when the circle would be completely filled with color.
…
As dusk fell, the bustling noise inside the temple gradually subsided.
But this was merely a temporary leave from the construction workers; the nuns were still practicing their injection skills. Walking down the corridor, one could occasionally hear sharp cries of pain from the rooms on both sides and the nuns’ slightly apologetic consolations, “Sorry, I missed. Please bear with it, I need to try again!” Overall, however, the mournful wails and depressing sobbing that once persisted into the night had significantly decreased.
And this was just the second day since the introduction of penicillin.
Its most miraculous quality was not its effectiveness but its ability to instill the confidence to live in those who believed they were destined to die.
It was then that Chaoyang heard Zhang Zhiyuan’s call, “Director, regarding the direction of the pharmaceutical company’s management, Mr. Xue already has some ideas. Could we discuss them with you?”
“There’s no need to tell me; Paradise is only concerned with whether the task is completed normally. However, I can help you notify the other players to hold a meeting. What you can achieve depends on yourselves,” Chaoyang responded.
“Then please do so,” Zhang Zhiyuan said.
After ending the conversation, Chaoyang promptly issued a gathering notice to all players. In fact, his indifference was just a pretense to maintain the game-like attributes of Paradise—he was also curious about the capabilities of the people Zhang Zhiyuan brought along.
An hour later, the seven-person squad finally assembled in the temple’s underground meeting room.
Anthony’s face even bore an unabashed kiss mark.
“What have you been up to?” Tyler frowned and asked.
“Of course, I went to have some fun. Why bother asking a question when you already know the answer,” Anthony replied disdainfully. “Sukarnobert, you haven’t been with a woman from this world yet, have you?”
“I just hope you’re not wasting everyone’s time.”
“What’s the matter, Brit, looking for a fight?” His voice grew colder.
“Enough, we’re a team, there’s no need to fight all the time,” Zhang Zhiyuan tapped the table, “Of course, if someone is late again next time, we don’t need to keep waiting. With fewer people, the points we get will be more.”
“Hmph.” Anthony snorted but didn’t continue the standoff with Tyler.
“Wait a second, aren’t we still one person short?” Qianyuan Meiko raised her eyebrows. “Where’s that Fiend lady?”
“She’s temporarily left the game,” Chaoyang appeared in everyone’s view. “Since the number of days in this game is longer, the time difference between the two worlds will gradually decrease. If any of you have urgent matters, you can also submit a request to leave.”
At the mention of time disparity, everyone perked up their ears.
Zhang Zhiyuan directly asked, “Mr. Host, could you show the time difference explicitly? That way, we can make flexible decisions accordingly.” 𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖕𝔲𝖇.𝖈𝖔𝖒
“Paradise will consider this need… but everything will have to wait until after the system upgrade.”
Of course, this was a bluff.
Chaoyang knew the specific time differences and that these would change; however, lacking ample observational samples, he was not yet able to deduce a calendar that conformed to the operation of both worlds.
“Alright…” As soon as the system was mentioned, Zhang Zhiyuan knew the conversation had reached its end. He shifted his gaze to those present, “As for our new mission, we need to establish a pharmaceutical company in Magnificent Castle and turn it into a big tree sturdy enough to support Yeni Temple. It’s fair to say that most of the previous phase was completed by you all before I even entered the game, so what I mainly want to discuss with everyone is the plan for the next phase.”
“Before discussing that, shouldn’t you introduce these two newcomers first?” Qianyuan Meiko pointed at Xue Quan and Cui Zhen’en. “They must be the experts you brought in, right?”
Although Zhang Zhiyuan knew the others wouldn’t be oblivious, being directly called out by her was still somewhat unexpected.
Keep in mind that before this meeting, Qianyuan Meiko hadn’t actually met Xue Quan and Cui Zhen’en. Even though they had appeared in the main hall of the temple the night before, they were far away from her. How could she instantly link the two men with him?
“I think so too.” Tyler smiled politely. “Mr. Zhang was the last one to join the game, and then suddenly there are two new faces in Paradise. It’s hard not to see the three of you as a team, or perhaps… friends.”
“You’re right, I am indeed Zhang’s friend,” Cui Zhen’en suddenly spoke up. “You can just call me Cui Zhen’en. I run a gaming company in real life and came here to see for myself this unparalleled super game he’s been raving about. Now I’m convinced, the one million US Dollar ticket was indeed worth it.”
“My name is Xue Quan, I wouldn’t call myself an expert, though I have a bit of a knack for business,” Xue Quan then added, “Of course… I’m not exactly Mr. Zhang’s friend, more like… his benefactor. So, if possible, I would still like to see a reduction in the ticket price.”
The room burst into laughter at this.
“I see,” Anthony shrugged, “I knew someone as righteous as him would be a pennyless bum in real life.”
Zhang Zhiyuan breathed a sigh of relief; regardless of how much the others believed these introductions, at least they had got through the moment.
It wasn’t surprising that Xue Quan could handle the situation, but Cui Zhen’en taking the initiative to help was unexpected. Zhang had the impression she rarely socialized, focusing on gaming after work, so this nimble side of her was a surprise.
“Can we discuss the matter at hand now?” Zhang Zhiyuan said in a deliberately displeased tone, “You should know this mission isn’t easy, and it took a lot of effort to bring Mr. Xue here.”
“Okay, I’m all ears. But don’t expect me to blindly follow this guy,” Anthony leaned back in his chair and crossed his leg, “I’ve seen plenty of people who can do business—before they go bankrupt, each one acts like some hotshot. But the reality is, they are just a bunch of nobodies protected by the rules.”
