Chapter 171: Aliens Are Not Stupid at All

"How's it going?"

As Mo Ying's ghostly energy entered the test tube, Feng Xue couldn't help but feel curious; Mo Ying fell silent for several seconds before answering:

"It's a seed of faith."

"..." Feng Xue was utterly baffled by this answer, and said with a sense of exasperation:

"Don't joke! Don't you think I know your background inside and out? Do you even know what a seed of faith is?"

Mo Ying, stung by Feng Xue's words, snapped back, instantly forming a small head to glare at him: "I don't know what a seed of faith is—but this thing inside is definitely a seed of faith!"

"Listen to yourself," Feng Xue said, momentarily wondering if Mo Ying had been corrupted by whatever was inside—but then he thought better of it, and suddenly recalled the line from "A World Without Thieves": "I'd rather die than say it."

Though nearly twenty years had passed, fragments of ancient memories still occasionally surfaced in his mind.

After a brief moment of nostalgia for his past life's childhood, Feng Xue squinted and said:

"So you mean there's a little note inside that says 'seed of faith'? That's just too un-human… oh, right, you're an alien! Never mind then."

"No, it's just really hard to explain to you…" Mo Ying now felt her obsession was veering off course, but quickly came up with an idea and said directly:

"Ghost Veil!"

"Sure thing!" Seeing Mo Ying's initiative, Feng Xue smiled with satisfaction; after all, a spirit should have some spirit—what's the difference between her and a Void God if she only moves when prodded?

She cast Ghost Veil upon herself, then re-entered the test tube; through their spiritual link and the feedback from Ghost Veil, their perceptions merged instantly.

"Damn, it really is a 'seed of faith'?!"

Looking at the cluster of devotional energy inside the test tube, Feng Xue felt his brain spark—not because he didn't understand it, but because he understood it too well, and thus realized exactly what these aliens were doing in this world.

As previously noted, a Void God is a stable structure formed by the accumulation of homogenized devotional energy over time—so if a group believes a seed of faith exists, and firmly believes it lies somewhere specific, wouldn't that place naturally form what's called a seed of faith?

The answer is yes.

Feng Xue had no doubt this formation was precisely what Giant He Xing wanted. Based on Xiao Ye Mazi's testimony and the data Xiao Lingdang had found online, Feng Xue could confidently conclude this seed of faith was a scam.

The war between Giant He Xing and humanity had not ended at all; it was merely at a stalemate, where the gods of Earth and Giant He Xing's technology had reached a balance. From Xiao Ye Mazi's equipment alone, Feng Xue could see humanity was attempting to fuse technology with devotional energy—and as the party with superior technology, Giant He Xing certainly hadn't ignored the study of gods.

And this seed of faith was clearly one part of that research.

Feng Xue didn't know if Giant He Xing could create their own god—but this seed was clearly the result of a decade-long deception, built on countless sacrifices.

More than ten years ago, they leaked information about the seed of faith through an attack, then spent over a decade feeding false leads, luring rebels into stealing, raiding, and sacrificing themselves—even if the seed never formed, all Giant He Xing had to do was hold a triumphant press conference, mocking the rebels, who would then naturally assume they'd failed to seize it or received false intel—until the moment the seed truly coalesced, at which point Giant He Xing would swoop in to reap the harvest.

In a sense, this seed of faith was a universal divine egg. He had no doubt that once Giant He Xing recovered it, they would gain terrifying suppression power over the Void God system.

Never mind whether they had the means to refine it—even if they simply dumped all the turbid devotional energy accumulated in Japan over the past decade into it, they could forge a "malevolent entity" capable of devastating the Void God system. No, that term was too mild; the only word Feng Xue could think of that fit such a thing was "Divine Corruption"—a true "seed born of hope, bearing a flower of evil."

"But using it like this is such a waste—not just wasting it on the aliens, but also wasting it on these rebel groups being used as donkeys by the aliens. They can't even utilize this precious thing properly."

Feng Xue's eyes narrowed. He turned to glance at Xiao Ye Mazi, still in a daze, then suddenly smiled, reaching out to open the test tube.

Qi flowed; the 【Gather Devotion Technique】, developed from Moonstone and the 【Gather Essence Art】, activated in sync. The cluster of devotional energy, once floating quietly inside the test tube, was instantly encased in a layer of crystalline substance.

"Should I say I'm lucky to be the one holding it? If you'd opened this anywhere else in Japan, the only result would've been instant contamination by turbid devotional energy! Good thing I didn't let you take it away—otherwise this precious thing would've been ruined!"

Feng Xue pinched the tiny, pea-sized pure crystal, casting over a dozen Spirit-Infusion Arts, wrapping it completely in his own Qi to shield it from turbid devotional contamination, then slipped it into the Pot Heaven Sack.

…

"No!" Xiao Ye Mazi jolted awake from a nightmare, her head spinning; pain and itching intertwined, making her wish she could pass out again.

But her soldier's training snapped her back to alertness; she swiftly scanned her surroundings.

"I remember… I was rescued? Wait—where's the item?"

Her heart clenched. She forced herself upright, ignoring the blanket slipping from her shoulder, her eyes frantically sweeping the room.

A modest room, a simple hospital bed, an IV stand still hanging with fluid, and…

A battered but neatly folded combat uniform!

"Clatter!"

Her rough movement made the IV stand clink. Ignoring the pain from the needle ripped from her skin, Xiao Ye Mazi snatched up the combat uniform from the bedside table, confirmed no vital parts were torn or forcibly dismantled, and finally exhaled in relief.

"Check contents!"

As her dry voice issued the command, the combat uniform's security box instantly turned transparent. Seeing the metal test tube inside undamaged, the girl finally relaxed.

"Still here… thank goodness it's still here!" She was about to open the security box and inspect the test tube more closely when she caught footsteps—immediately she returned the uniform to the bedside table: "Cancel check."

As the command was issued, the security box turned black again. The girl was about to lie back down—but the door opened anyway:

"Oh, you're awake? Tsk. I barely patched you back together—can't you show a little respect for my hard work?"

Hearing the young man's weary tone, Xiao Ye Mazi once again felt the pain radiating from every limb and joint—but before she could think of what to say, he was already beside her, tending to the wounds on her hand while saying:

"Everyone's searching for you outside, but don't worry—I run an underground clinic. I don't expose patient information. You can stay here until you recover. Just don't forget to pay. Uh, I don't take insurance…"

(End of Chapter)