Chapter 176: The Bell Goddess Can Do Anything!

Xiao Lingdang's response was like an injection of adrenaline, stirring excitement in everyone at this secret gathering, but the excitement did not last long, as everyone soon realized a practical problem—

Is this guy really a deity?

There was no help for it; after all, deities existed mostly in legend, and even those who had seen deities battle aliens twenty years ago were then merely children or hot-blooded youths, utterly unworthy of meeting a deity's true form.

Yet even in legend, deities should not be so… so human.

But this deity before them felt more like an idol—specifically, a virtual streamer!

But to say this was a Giant He Xing trap was also wrong, because they believed Giant He Xing would never set up such a stupid trap; even if they wanted to deceive, wouldn't they at least create a more convincing AI?

Moreover, the faith energy radiating from this "deity" was unmistakably real, and humanity's ability to resist Giant He Xing stemmed precisely from the fact that Giant He Xing could not harness faith energy; if they could truly create an AI capable of using faith energy, humanity would already be finished!

As if sensing the believers' doubts, Xiao Lingdang pouted and waved her finger lightly:

"Sigh, modern believers have no piety at all. Fine, what can I do? I've so few followers. Let me show you my divine power! You want a way to defeat Giant He Xing, right? I have three strategies—upper, middle, and lower. Which one do you want to hear?"

"Goddess my lord, we've read the Records of the Three Kingdoms—no need to lower our expectations with upper and lower strategies; just tell us the viable one!"

Shi Feng, still wearing a stretch cap over his head, sighed, feeling this deity was unreliable. Xiao Lingdang shot him a glare and spoke with a lack of authority yet full of solemnity:

"My strategies are all viable! For instance, the lower strategy: I teach you how to properly worship a deity. In roughly ten years, you could cultivate a War God. If enough people come to offer prayers and offerings, you might not suppress a nation, but protecting a city is certainly possible. Then you can use that city as your base and cultivate more War Gods, right?"

Though Xiao Lingdang spoke casually, everyone present understood how precious this so-called "proper" method was; after all, humanity's worship of deities remained a black box—they knew only that offering worship caused deities to manifest, and perhaps how to trigger manifestation or where it occurred, but how deities came into being remained in the exploratory stage across all nations, and even if results existed, those living in He Zujie could never know them.

The disappointment of having recruited an unreliable deity vanished instantly, replaced by hope and elation. Tina immediately said:

"What about the middle and upper strategies?"

"Hmph!" Xiao Lingdang crossed her arms and glanced at Shi Feng. Seeing this, Shi Feng, lacking all backbone, immediately prostrated himself in a full tuxu, ignoring the injury on his head, bowing repeatedly as he pleaded:

"My Lord Lingdang, I am the one who disrespected you—punish me alone, do not blame others. If you can show us the path to expel Giant He Xing, take my wretched life without hesitation!"

"Hmph, why would I want your life? Stand aside!" Xiao Lingdang waved her hand, and Shi Feng's faith energy inexplicably reversed, lifting him back to his feet. Though it seemed a trivial trick, this ability to manipulate others' faith energy at will completely dispelled all doubts about Xiao Lingdang's divine identity.

Shi Feng obeyed instantly and stepped aside. Clever Tina immediately said:

"My Lord Lingdang, what offerings do you desire? We will certainly…"

"I'll teach you about that later! Don't make it sound like I'm revealing my only viable strategy just to save face!"

Xiao Lingdang waved her hand, proudly declaring:

"The middle strategy: I help you find the hidden deities, and you worship them directly. After all, deities are fundamentally immortal—if someone believes, they exist. Just find the powerful ones."

"But this still depends largely on luck. My followers are too few, my sensing range is limited; whether I can find them, and whether they have combat power, is uncertain. But once found, they'll be faster than the lower strategy. And worshipping deities from legends you already know is surely more devout than inventing one from scratch?"

"And the upper strategy?" Dima, his confidence soaring, couldn't help pressing further.

Xiao Lingdang shook her finger, then pointed at herself:

"Of course, keep worshipping me! I am the Guiding Goddess. With enough followers, I can directly guide those aliens toward their doom—why complicate things? Of course, you must truly believe in me… hmm, of course, my number one believer is still the most obedient!"

As she spoke, Xiao Lingdang suddenly flew out of the screen, even piercing through Dima's force field wall. In the stunned gazes of all present, she kissed Xiao Ye's cheek, then hovered midair, scanning the room with disdain and wagging her finger:

"You—all lack sincerity!"

"…" Embarrassment spread. Xiao Ye didn't know why she was considered obedient; she whispered weakly:

"Goddess my lord, how many followers do you need?"

"Hmm, if they're all like you, fifty thousand believers for two years should suffice. But if they're just those who know your name and mutter 'Protect me, Goddess Lingdang' when trouble strikes, you'd need about twenty million." Xiao Lingdang stated the number with grave seriousness, but everyone could only shake their heads.

Forget twenty million—given He Zujie's current state, even two thousand were hard to find. It wasn't that everyone had given up; rather, spreading faith under Giant He Xing surveillance was extremely difficult. It relied solely on word-of-mouth, and one had to carefully screen for traitors. If entrusted to the wrong person, the entire faith could be wiped out.

If Giant He Xing could sever the Shinto lineage in Nihon within twenty years, destroying a nascent deity faith would naturally be no challenge.

"My Lord Lingdang, your three strategies don't conflict, right? Can we pursue them simultaneously?" The pink-haired girl, no longer needing to play it safe after the goddess breached the force field, asked. Xiao Lingdang nodded:

"I suppose we can—but each person's faith output is limited. Worship too many deities, and each deity's power weakens. Hmph, this is basic worship knowledge. Go find it yourselves… pfft, this device is trash. Remember to replace it with a better one!"

As Xiao Lingdang spoke, she flew back into the handheld computer, and a list immediately popped up on the screen.

Everyone immediately began diligently recording it, except Xiao Ye, seated in her wheelchair, staring at the list with a strange feeling—

"Where have I seen these items before?"

(End of Chapter)