Chapter 31: Painting a Pie

At first, Chen Zhi hadn't thought about the issue of renovating the Sewers, because he hadn't considered that much to begin with.

From the decision to make the game to its launch, it had only taken three days in total; many games' closed betas are either for fleecing players or for publicity, but his closed beta was truly just for testing.

If he wanted more people to come to Tana City next time, the Sewers would have to undergo some renovations.

Relying on Saina or Andrew was truly unrealistic; it was better to rely on these players.

Of course, this was also because Tana City had been too noisy lately, necessitating concealment.

As for the career system and Awakening that the players were looking forward to, Chen Zhi had no intention of letting the players Awaken right now.

After all, this was a closed beta that would require a data wipe; if they Awakened and then the account was gone, wouldn't that Awakening have been for nothing?

After learning a little bit about Awakening, Chen Zhi felt it was better not to let players Awaken for the time being; after all, the Lord of Calamity had become what he was now by eating too many Magic Potions and devouring a large amount of Spiritual Substance.

Letting players drink Magic Potions—what was the difference between that and letting himself drink them? Those players were all split off from his own body.

Just thinking about it felt wrong, but since there was no better way to avoid it for now, letting the players finish the basic closed beta tasks and having his little sister hype up the activation codes to earn more money was what really mattered.

To leave behind some Inheritance, was it easy for him?

Just thinking about it made him feel bitter.

Hearing the words of the Lord of Calamity, Saina frowned, feeling that the matter was not simple.

He actually needed to provide his Believers with some material rewards.

In other words, a god had to pay a salary to his Believers?

Even the God of Wealth would not pay a salary to his Believers; instead, he required Believers to hand over a portion of their money to ensure their wealth and prosperity.

Sure enough, the brain of this Lord of Calamity was still not right; she had expected too much for nothing.

"Still the same old rule: cleaning up trash in the Sewers is 30 Tana a day. This is also so that more people can come to assist us later," Chen Zhi instructed.

Saina asked somewhat inappropriately: "There will be more new Believers?"

"Yes, that is exactly why," Chen Zhi said with the air of a charlatan, "In the near future, Tana City will be a city that belongs to us."

If there were enough players, they could definitely exceed the current population of Tana City.

Of course, this was also just a pie in the sky; to have so many people, Chen Zhi would have to mold them all, which was not an easy job, even with an AI plugin.

Saina trembled slightly upon hearing the description from the Lord of Calamity.

If that were really the case, her father's election could be completely under her control.

She wouldn't even need to create too many people; with just fifty or sixty thousand Believers with identities appearing, the entire Tana City election would be completed according to her plan.

This was even more important than becoming an Awakened.

After all, her father was the man who wanted to control Tana City for the next twenty years.

If she could break his plan and become the Governor herself... Saina's attitude became respectful once again, "I will assist those Believers in building your Earthly Kingdom of God."

"May your Divine Kingdom last forever," Andrew also lowered his head.

It was fortunate that he had developed Saina as a Believer earlier; only she could possess enough money to assist the Lord of Calamity in completing such a feat.

If all the citizens of Tana City believed in the Lord of Calamity, then he would not need to reside in the Sewers.

He could possess his own true Earthly Kingdom of God... this was something the White Family had dreamed of for generations, and perhaps it was about to be completed by him!

When Saina returned to the Nongzhuang, those players had already finished harvesting the wheat, and countless amounts of wheat had been threshed and sent to the warehouse.

This would be a large sum of wealth; selling it to places like flour factories could net at least ten thousand Silver Tana, making it the most profitable of all Saina's industries.

"This is your payment for your labor." Saina tossed bags of Tana to the players. She didn't bother calculating these guys' working hours; she tossed 110 Tana to each player, counting it as completing the task.

Seeing the money, the players were all beaming with joy and began discussing whether to go check out the area near Bar Street.

However, at this moment, Saina waved her hand, signaling them to quiet down.

"Our Lord is currently enduring humiliation that he should not have to bear for our sake. The environment inside the Sewers is harsh, and I need your help." Saina looked at those guys clutching their money bags, "I need thirty people to go into the Sewers to carry out cleaning work. The daily wage is thirty Tana. If you are willing to go, please raise your hand."

As soon as Saina finished speaking, two players raised their hands.

Yet, among the dozens of players around, not a single one raised a hand.

Everyone's first reaction upon getting money was: I should go have some fun.

Go taste the delicacies of Tana City, chat with the young ladies of Tana City, go to a bar for a glass of Wine, or craft some equipment and find out what Awakening really is.

No one wanted to go back to the Sewers to clean up trash.

Even if they were Believers of some Lord of Calamity.

"Even if you don't go, you may have to live in the Sewers later anyway, since there is no more work for you to do at the Nongzhuang," Saina threatened subtly.

Suddenly, a group of players raised their hands, with only a few scattered ones not responding.

No one wanted to live in a dirty and smelly sewer, but they didn't speak the language of Tana City and couldn't find suitable places to rent, so living in the Sewers was reasonable.

While one batch of players was being dragged to the Sewers, another batch of players was busy with a life-or-death pursuit. The witch had already planned the escape route; just as the bar building completely collapsed, the witch had already taken Chen Ai into the prepared Sewers.

Tana City had two sewer systems, and the earliest batch of the sewer system had been completely abandoned due to a plague several decades ago.

This was also the reason why the Lord of Calamity could hide in the Sewers.

The smell in the Sewers under Bar Street was even more foul, but very few people would enter the abandoned Sewers, and most people didn't even know of the existence of this pipeline.

However, the pipeline was already blocked; no matter what, they couldn't walk out of the Factory District's perimeter, and in the end, they would still have to escape to the surface.

The stench rushing toward her made Chen Ai feel nauseous; she struggled for a moment, then was hoisted onto Brown Beard's shoulder.

"Where are we going?" Brown Beard said uneasily, "What exactly did you do yesterday? You even drew the people from the Wealth Church over!"

"A little trouble. Is the house I had you rent in the Factory District still there?" The witch also had a dark face; she hadn't expected those people from the Wealth Church to move so quickly.

However, fortunately, she had long been prepared to abandon this bar. She urged, "Hurry and lead the way. Those guys have tracking methods; we must leave Tana City immediately."

(End of chapter)