Chapter 357: Change

"Lan Guang, tomorrow is the day off, are you going back to the city?"

The half-orc Lilong said from the side, interrupting Lan Guang's train of thought.

Nowadays, Lan Guang's temperament had changed slightly.

Because he was literate, he was now a squad leader among these one thousand laborers, in charge of exactly ten people.

"Of course I'm going back." Lan Guang thought of his younger brother and sister in the city.

He hadn't seen them for a long time either.

Under Prince Lin, they worked six days and rested one, but he hadn't returned to Koya City during that one day of rest.

According to the overseer, everyone who was recruited for labor needed to learn how to read.

Therefore, on that day of rest, every laborer was required to come to learn literacy and agricultural knowledge.

This generally didn't attract too many people, but there was a subsidy; coming once meant you could collect three eggs.

As for Lan Guang, he was responsible for teaching other laborers how to read, so needless to say, he could not be absent.

Now, he still had quite a few eggs in his room, and he prepared to take them back for his younger brother and sister to eat.

"Lan Guang, what are you thinking about? You've been distracted all day today," the half-orc Lilong asked from the side.

He and Lan Guang had a very good relationship, and the two even lived in the same room.

"My application for an independent room... has been approved." There was a hint of excitement in Lan Guang's words.

Someone like him, a squad leader, could apply for an independent room.

The independent rooms had all been built this past month.

The quality was far better than the previous ones.

Moreover, it was said that they even used a material called cement, which was very novel.

The newly built houses were single-story, with several rooms inside.

"Damn, that's great!" The half-orc Lilong was genuinely happy.

He had snuck a look at those houses, and he felt that the houses those noble lords lived in were not as good as these.

"I'm thinking about whether I should move my younger brother and sister over here to live."

Lan Guang's words carried a hint of hesitation.

His house in Koya City was located in the slums.

It was less than ten square meters, and besides a bed, there was nothing else.

Usually, since his younger brother and sister were still small, the three siblings slept together.

Once they grew up, especially when his sister grew up, it wouldn't be good for them to sleep together anymore.

It was just that Lan Guang was also somewhat hesitant.

The house in Koya City was very small and dilapidated, but it was Koya City after all.

Right now, they were at Tieshi Mountain.

In terms of status, this place certainly couldn't compare to Koya City.

However, if he brought his younger brother and sister here, not only would their living environment improve, but they could also go to the cafeteria to eat every day.

Prince Lin was very generous; the meals they laborers ate every day contained meat, which made many laborers feel deeply grateful.

Lan Guang felt the same way.

If he remembered correctly, before he came to Tieshi Mountain, the last time he ate meat was during the New Year.

Room and board were provided, and there was even meat.

In Lan Guang's heart, Prince Lin was the true god of kindness.

His younger brother and sister were at the age where they were growing; coming here, going to the cafeteria to eat, and being able to eat meat, plus being able to learn literacy every weekend—

"Move them over! This place is much better than the city, and Prince Lin is always sitting in command here, plus there are those strange adventurers; this place might just become the second Koya City!" Lilong said casually.

Lan Guang's eyes lit up.

The second Koya City?

Nowadays, the reclamation of wasteland was still ongoing.

The overseer even said that this was a long-term mission, and the fields they were reclaiming had to ensure the survival needs of one million people.

How much land was that?

Lan Guang couldn't imagine it; he only knew that Koya City didn't even have a million people.

Did this mean that Prince Lin really had the intention to build a city here?

"If you're right, I'll do whatever it takes to bring my younger brother and sister over," Lan Guang said from the side.

He felt excited, along with the joy of returning home.

"It's a pity I don't have any family, otherwise I would have brought my family here too," Lilong said, a look of loss in his words.

"Lilong, hurry up and learn to read, become a squad leader in the future, and then apply for an independent house so we can be neighbors," Lan Guang said from the side.

"Sigh, I recognize the characters, but the characters don't recognize me," Lilong said, feeling very troubled.

"Big brother, you're back!"

"Big brother, I missed you so much!"

Seeing Lan Guang, the little boy and little girl were very excited and flew straight into Lan Guang's arms.

Humans were very complex creatures; perhaps it was easier to reveal their true nature when they were young.

"Have you been good this month while I was gone?" Lan Guang's eyes were filled with doting affection.

"We were very good." The little girl was wearing tattered clothes, her face was very clean, and her face was also full of joy.

"Grandma Sen Ni, sorry to trouble you." Lan Guang looked at the fifty-year-old woman in the room, his face full of gratitude.

During the month he was away, he entrusted his younger brother and sister to the care of Grandma Sen Ni, a neighbor.

"It's no trouble at all; the two boys are very sensible, and they've even been helping me weave cloth these past few days." Sen Ni was doddering, smiling happily, and quite kind.

"These are some eggs." Lan Guang took out the eggs and gave them to Sen Ni.

"Hehe." Sen Ni did not refuse and took the eggs.

Eggs?

The two little ones had eyes that lit up, looking incredibly hungry.

After saying goodbye to Sen Ni, Lan Guang took his younger brother and sister home.

Returning home and looking at the tiny room—a bed, a cabinet, a small table, and a chamber pot were all the furniture, filling the room so completely that it was hard to find a place to step.

Lan Guang felt quite conflicted inside.

His home's environment was not even as good as the four-person room on Tieshi Mountain.

"Are you hungry?" Lan Guang cast those emotions aside and picked up the bundle. "I brought you something delicious."

On the way back, the two little ones had been staring longingly at his parcel.

"Is there bread from Mike's Bakery?" the little girl blurted out.

On the little girl's birthday, Lan Guang had once bought her a piece of bread at Mike's Bakery, which cost him 2 copper coins.

The bread from Mike's Bakery was not that cold, hard black bread; it was very soft and had a sweet, glutinous quality, and the taste was quite good.

"No." Lan Guang had never eaten bread from Mike's Bakery.

However, he had eaten many desserts in the cafeteria.

The fellow workers all said that the bread in the cafeteria was much better than those in the city that cost several copper coins each.

Hearing this answer, there was obvious disappointment in the little girl's eyes.

"Caisi, brother has worked so hard to come back, why are you only thinking about eating?

Mike's Bakery bread is expensive and doesn't taste good; it's not as filling as black bread," the little boy said from the side.

Lan Guang's heart softened; he remembered that his younger brother had been staring longingly at his sister's bread back then, very much wanting to eat it.

"Don't worry, brother also brought bread back, but it wasn't bought from Mike's Bakery..."

This month's leave, the manager had also given them laborers some gifts.

There were ten jin of rice, as well as some bread and pastries.

He hadn't brought the ten jin of rice back, but he had brought the bread and pastries; before returning, he had even specifically gone to the cafeteria to order a portion of vegetables, asking them to add more meat.

"Here, there is bread, and also small cakes."

The parcel was opened, and a rich fragrance swept through the room; this scent was completely out of place with the sour, musty smell of the dilapidated room.

Caisi sniffed hard: "So fragrant, so delicious."

The pastries and bread here looked very exquisite at a glance, with excellent color, aroma, and taste; they were not something that black bread could compare to.

"You eat some, but don't eat too much; I brought food back, I'm going to go heat it up."

"Alright, brother."

"Wow, so delicious, much better than the bread from Mike's Bakery."

"Caisi, eat slowly, no rush, don't choke, no one is snatching it from you."

"Aren't you snatching it from me right now?"

"I... I am not."

"Wow, there's meat!"

"This is meat!"

After the little boy and little girl finished the hot meal, their faces wore expressions of excitement; the two tossed and turned for a long time before slowly falling asleep.

Looking at the sleeping postures of his younger brother and sister, a look of happiness flashed in Lan Guang's eyes.

Is this... hope?

Prince Lin...

Lan Guang was very grateful and prayed inwardly.

He did not pray to the gods; he prayed to Prince Lin.

What he did not know was that at this moment, Lin Chao had been startled awake from the deep night, frowning.

"That sound just now... what exactly was it?"

While asleep, he had been hazy, constantly hearing many people calling his name.

As if they were offering prayers to him.

"Was I hit by a spell?"

"Or is it...?"

Lin Chao slowly recalled the details of his dream.

Suddenly, an image imprinted itself into his mind.

Inside a dilapidated room, a little boy and a little girl had fallen asleep early, and a young man was praying under the moonlight, his mouth seemingly whispering the name Prince Lin.

"Is he one of those laborers? He seems to be called... Lan Guang."

Lin Chao had naturally gone to inspect the laborers' work.

He had heard others mention Lan Guang's name and also knew of his diligence and hard work.

"This scene is quite like a believer praying to a deity."

Lin Chao narrowed his eyes.

"However, as I am now, I am very far from being a deity."

"Moreover, the most important thing is, if this is faith, then faith comes too easily."

This matter reveals something strange.

After all, if one could become a god by harvesting others' faith just by doing good deeds, then the gods in this world would be too cheap.

"Perhaps, it is for other reasons," Lin Chao pondered.

Even with thousands of players helping him grind experience, Lin Chao is still far from achieving apotheosis.

As of now, he has not yet finished his Legendary Path, let alone achieved apotheosis.

And for apotheosis, he possesses neither the divine office nor the Divine Power required.

Only with these two things can one have the qualifications for apotheosis.

Only after apotheosis can one recruit believers and accept faith.

This is the normal path.

Currently, Lin Chao has no divine office, no Divine Power, and cannot even be considered a Divine Creature, so naturally, he cannot harvest faith like a god.

Putting this matter aside for the moment, Lin Chao stood up and began to flip through the documents on the table.

As he read, Lin Chao revealed a smile: "Building a city here is also a good thing."

But if I were to build a city... it would require tens of thousands of laborers.

Currently, my forces are not enough; it is too time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Unless I can obtain High-Grade Golem Puppets."

Lin Chao sighed.

High-Grade Golem Puppets are not so easy to obtain.

Such things are the foundation of the Arcane Empire's power on the God Continent.

Those Golem Puppets have many uses and are massive in size.

If one were to use something to draw an analogy, it would be the steel machines in the real world.

These Golem Puppets can transport goods, open mountains and chisel stone, and even build cities and fortresses.

Most importantly, they can be used as weapons of war.

A former emperor of the Arcane Empire once said something very arrogant.

"Gods are nothing more than powerful Golem Puppets."

The Arcane Empire is a nation established by a group of non-believers.

Precisely because they have no gods of faith, countries across the Continent are relatively repulsed by the Arcane Empire.

However, the strength of the Arcane Empire is incredibly formidable.

Utilizing powerful Arcane and Golem Puppets to conquer cities and seize territory, the Arcane Empire can be considered invincible; otherwise, the Orc Tribe near the Shaya Kingdom would not have been scattered.

This has also led to the current crisis facing Koya City.

Today, Shivana even wrote a letter asking Lin Chao to bring everyone back to Koya City to avoid being struck by the remnants of the Orc Tribe.

Lin Chao naturally did not agree.

If the Tieshi Mountain where he is stationed were to be struck by the remnants of the Orc Tribe and he fled, then Koya City would not be defensible either.

Staying anywhere is the same.

"The number of players is still small now; if the number increases, I fear it will attract the attention of the gods of this world."

Lin Chao thought of this and murmured.

However, he also understood.

As the number of players increases, it will not only attract the attention of the gods of this world, but even in the real world, I fear high-level organizations will take notice of this game.

Canghai World.

Ye Di reluctantly logged out of the game.

"Brother, why are you here?"

In front of Ye Di was a young man who looked somewhat like him.

The young man wore gold-rimmed glasses and looked Gentle and Elegant; he unbuttoned his coat and sat on the sofa: "I was passing through Hang Town, so I stopped by to see you. Still playing games? How is it?"

"I'm already level ten, a High-level Professional," Ye Di said triumphantly, holding his head high.

His relationship with his father is very stiff, but he is not too distant with his older brother.

He had also shared the fact that he was playing the game Twilight of the Gods with his brother.

At the time, his brother was also surprised and found it incredible, but due to being busy with work, he did not pay much attention.

"Not bad," the young man praised, "Does this game really use virtual reality technology as you said?"

He has recently dealt with the Special Zone quite a bit and knows that there are many things in this world he does not know about.

Therefore, knowing about this game, he also felt it might be related to the Special Zone.

Currently, it is still a closed beta version; perhaps it is an experiment.

"It's real, I'm not lying to you. The flowers, trees, and even every person inside are very real." Speaking of the game, Ye Di was clearly enthusiastic.

"Give me the link. I have a new business partner who worked as a game planner in his early years and is very interested in games. I'll recommend he play it."

"Brother, you need to make a reservation; you might not get selected!

Right now, tens of thousands of people have already reserved, but only a few thousand have gotten in." Mentioning this, Ye Di was triumphant.

The better this game is, the happier he is.

After all, he was in the first batch to enter this game.

With the game becoming popular, he felt as if he had a keen eye for talent.

"Haha, good. By the way, I came here this time to talk to you about something important."

The young man's gaze became serious.

Ye Di withdrew his playful expression and also became serious.

"This is something I spent a great price to get from the Special Zone... a Test Crystal, it can test whether a person has Beast Taming Talent..."

Thanks again to 【Hui Mou Jian You Xiang】 for the 1,000-point reward!

(End of this chapter)