Chapter 177: Cyber Enlightenment

Is it safe to let Xiao Ye take that goddess?

After the meeting ended, the anti-He faction's core members—aside from Xiao Ye—gathered again at another meeting hall; although Xiao Lingdang had demonstrated power indistinguishable from that of a legendary deity, her manner of speaking made it impossible to associate her with the term "goddess."

"At least for now, we cannot restrict that goddess—neither Dima's force field nor our information controls affect her. Under these circumstances, rather than restricting her freedom and provoking her resentment, it's better to accommodate her somewhat, and she clearly understands how aliens view deities and won't expose herself recklessly."

The blue-haired girl analyzed calmly, while the pink-haired girl beside her rolled her eyes:

"In plain terms, all our abilities are essentially black-box exploitation of faith, and since the goddess controls faith, how could we possibly restrict her?"

"More importantly, what do you think of the three methods she proposed?" Tina said, flipping through the paper checklist repeatedly, as if trying to memorize it immediately; upon hearing her question, Shi Feng, who had just finished disinfecting his wounds, grinned:

"In plain terms, it's still the same old stuff—the middle and lower strategies are viable, but the top strategy is clearly just a carrot dangled in front of a donkey. I even suspect she's just making it up because she can't gather the resources; after all, if only twenty million non-devout believers had to worship for two years to drive out the alien scum, the major powers would've done it long ago!"

"That's not necessarily true," replied the blue-haired girl, who handled external communications, shaking her head using her ability:

"According to intelligence I obtained from international contacts, a deity's inherent attributes and powers greatly influence what they can accomplish.

"Moreover, believing in one god is not the same as believing in many gods—each of us produces a limited amount of faith daily, and even with drugs, the increase is negligible; the more deities you worship, the less faith each one receives.

"And ultimately, not everyone wants the aliens eliminated—they bring threats, yes, but also more advanced technology; even the few who support us are no exception.

"It's possible the major powers already have a way to completely eradicate the aliens, but haven't fully mastered their technology and lack spaceflight capability, so they're deliberately stalling the conflict—Japan being handed over to the aliens might even have been to make sample collection easier…"

"Cough!" Tina interrupted Li La's increasingly pessimistic remarks with a commanding tone:

"Regardless, the 'guiding goddess's' proposals have trial value, but these items are currently sensitive—direct purchase carries high risk; acquiring Semi-Finished Products separately and processing them ourselves should be safer. I'll see if I can get some raw materials through research institute channels, but these are all controlled substances…"

"I get it, I get it—you're going to steal a batch in two days, right?" Lena immediately waved her hand, indicating she understood; she'd done similar things before—just disguise as a traitor's form, enter the warehouse, divert the shipment, and then the blame falls on the traitor while the goods are ours—perfect!

"Hmm, but using only research institute channels would be too conspicuous—candles, spirit tablets, and statues can be made ourselves; I remember one of the peripheral members is a figurine prototype designer… Would the goddess accept figurine statues? Hey, what if we openly display the deity's image as figurines?"

Shi Feng suddenly slapped his own head, wincing in pain—but the action sparked an idea.

At the same time, Ji Si, who was already a virtual streamer, lit up with sudden inspiration:

"Forget figurines—let's promote her directly as a virtual idol! That goddess is literally the perfect cosplay suit! We can boost the data, then release her as a 'guzi' product—couldn't we flood the market with deity statues (figurines), spirit tablets (standees), and holy symbols (badge pins)? We wouldn't even need our own manpower; once the persona is built up, people will naturally do it themselves!"

"Wait, you're not wrong—you really aren't…" Dima ran the idea through his mind and realized it might actually work; if they had no limits, they could even release a whole pachinko machine—each time someone hit the jackpot, a screen would flash "Xiao Lingdang blesses you with luck!" With hundreds of thousands of gamblers in He Zujie worshipping her, they could launch her overnight.

But considering deities are influenced by believers, Dima swallowed the idea back down, raising only his hand:

"Then whose identity? Virtual streamers require real-name verification—even cosplay suits are monitored by the aliens. Ji Si and Li La, you two can boost streams, but if you crash, you'll get dragged down too. And even if we say it, it's useless unless the goddess agrees—if she refuses, all our talk is meaningless!"

"Let Xiao Ye do it. Though her injuries are fine, given the He Xing authorities' wanted level, she shouldn't participate in frontline missions for now. Besides, the guiding goddess seems to like her—let them pair up for now." Tina made the decision as if it were effortless, yet even Lena, who was closest to Xiao Ye, voiced no objection.

After all, the anti-He faction was a life-on-the-line operation; helping a deity hide was no more dangerous than frontline combat.

"Alright, everyone, begin acquiring materials for deity worship in batches. Lena, go ask the goddess her opinion."

…

Inside the Jade Rabbit Pharmacy, Feng Xue had just finished a fitness routine; seeing the sun about to set, he reactivated the ghost-wall technique that had merged the surrounding streets into one.

After double-checking the shop's condition, Feng Xue asked:

"How's the progress?"

"Excellent—or rather, too excellent!" Xiao Lingdang waved her hand, her virtual projection's face forming a slightly odd smile:

"They figured out the plan to package the goddess as a virtual idol in just one day—I haven't even started guiding them yet! This is really not satisfying at all!"

"After all, your style is already very much like a virtual idol," Feng Xue shrugged, unsurprised.

Although Xiao Lingdang was a virtual deity, she differed greatly from traditional deities in one key aspect: she possessed a "code" set.

This meant that for her to descend, she required none of the usual burdens—lengthy incantations, close spiritual bonds, prolonged faith, or proximity; all she needed was to write her code into a chip to establish precise connection. If forced to name it, it would be "Cyber Enlightenment" (Note ①).

(End of Chapter)