Chapter 1802: NO.417: The Pathetic Superiority of Human Society

NO. 417: The tragic superiority of human society

Although the Holy Beast looks like a child, after falling it becomes the mature form of the Demon King concept of Lucifer, the fallen morning star, with a sturdy build and tall stature.

Estimated at over 2.6 meters tall, it would still stand out even among this group of "acquired demi-humans" who all bear monstrous traits.

Though one could tell its identity at a glance from the Star‑Eating Zero, it did not notice the former in that moment.

This is not because it lacks vigilance, but because most people here have a gaze similar to that of the Star‑Eating Zero.

Surprise is hardly worth mentioning, joy is rare, greed even rarer; all these emotions mingle together under the gaze of the Demon King of Pride, so it cannot be expected that its splendid blue eyes will linger anywhere.

Especially, the Star‑Eating Zero's gaze shows only astonishment, without the due caution or hostility that acting should display.

It is precisely this harmlessness that makes the priest's recommendation seem natural; even the priest of the Administration Department standing obliquely opposite subtly raised a thumb, causing Aomo's demeanor to shift subtly when he noticed this detail.

Though reality is not a game, each character indeed has their own life.

But are your little moves a bit too many?

During the few days he stayed at the Beast Sect's temporary encampment, his biggest impression was that these people's little gestures were truly numerous.

When you talk to this person, the hand he keeps behind his back might be gesturing to someone else; then when you talk to that person, he is simultaneously responding to the gesture and communicating with someone else via mental fluctuations you cannot directly intercept—clearly a kind of telepathy.

Of course, you could also say he looks quite familiar.

So familiar that it's exactly the performance of Aomo Lindun being approached while busy with work—don't dig into what he's doing while talking to you; the more you probe, the easier it is to suspect, like a possessive little girl, that he's not paying attention to this side.

Naturally, a demon who inherently possesses independent multithreaded mental leeway can justify it.

He could even swear that his responses to those around him are wholly attentive; as for the folks in the Beast Sect……

After all, there aren't completely none who can handle dual threads—though true dual‑tasking is a rare talent, it can also be pursued through postnatal practice.

It can even be surpassed through postnatal modification.

Among the ascendant groups of mechanical and fleshly ascension, it's not uncommon; likewise, within this circle of "monstrous demi‑humans" there are also several.

But they remain a minority.

Among the people Aomo has interacted with, out of forty, thirty‑one are perfunctory types who only speak to brush you off onto the next commission; at this stage, what they say is at least forty percent untrustworthy, merely adding to his errand of unclogging toilets, and his mood doesn't improve a bit.

But it can only be called a kind of karmic retribution in some sense.

After all, he himself usually doesn't demand utter truthfulness when he speaks, so the shrewd people he deals with probably feel much the same.

Yet wits‑and‑wits battles with so many of himself make this retribution surprisingly intense—was it cursed by someone deeply hurt……

Such a nonsensical feeling has already faded away from the beginning.

Now he must play the part of a nervous youngster newly arrived and entrusted with a heavy responsibility.

Although he has witnessed "the elder brother killed, companions captured" and already undergone great personal growth, to say he is serving a great lord…… the bewildered must still be bewildered, the stiff must still be stiff.

He also needs to appropriately show some absent‑mindedness to facilitate slipping into his recent circumstances.

Regardless of whether the other party likes to watch, the character design and acting must be top‑priority first; only then can intelligence be gathered.

Honestly, it was unavoidable that the most important content, which should have come first, ended up last.

After all, this is still his first time, after several days of infiltration, being stuck in this neither‑here‑nor‑there state; but if you say this is a high‑end situation, that's not necessarily true—the demon knows he's having such a hard time only because he wants to catch them all in one net.

Otherwise, the intelligence he already has offline would be enough to summon everyone for a full‑scale assault.

It's also a kind of stubbornness: refusing to try the normal evolutionary path, insisting on jumping straight from minor demon beasts to the Apollyon Beast.

Setting aside the embarrassment caused by this stubbornness, the target of his intelligence gathering is obviously a troublesome fellow.

"Are these little trinkets what you're after?"

"…No, that's right."

"They're not like what we initially got—is it because the digital world's environment differs from this one?"

"I… I suppose so?"

Looking at the monster capsule and glow stone pinched in that digital beast's uniquely large palm, the Star‑Eating Zero seems unsure.

"Can't you make it simpler?"

"Uh… it's hard, after all I'm also a newcomer…"

"Are you saying your superiors are using you, a newcomer, to brush me off?"

"I wouldn't dare!"

The Pride Demon King, bearing two pairs of wings covering the nape and crown—five white feather wings, six black bat wings, plus one black feather wing—is an ancient existence that has never undergone a regime change in the digital world for countless years.

Before being crowned by the "Crown of Sin: Pride," in the real world he led one‑third of the angels in rebellion as the fallen morning star; in the digital world he is truly the sovereign of Heaven.

—The Holy Beast, attended by the three angelic hierarchies, was in the age when the World Tree was still the sole deity yet saw little movement, truly the lord of all armies.

Even after later going berserk, being swarmed and blown apart by the Ten Warriors into the dark realm, his pride remains unshaken.

But there is a rather counter‑intuitive point here.

That is, a boss of pure arrogance is actually the easiest to serve.

Not because it's easy, but because it's common. Just as all crows are black, the world is full of those who inexplicably exude arrogance and conceit, forcing those below to adapt to their temper.

Can't adapt?

Then what else can you do? Quietly resign, or before resigning give them a big pick‑one.

Even the demon of old was not exempt; although his current superiors are ideal—whether Thus we output: Thus we output: QiuChuan Mingsheng or JunChuan JiangSheng, each has their own merits, a leadership type many dream of—his past part‑time work didn't always bring such luck.

Whether it's arrogant leadership or self‑proclaimed genius colleagues, both exist here.

In Bi Ze's earlier recollections, Aomo held back from mentioning this regrettable cruel truth: in the Holy Terra Federation, a society where the lower limit is raised high and the upper limit raised even higher, pretentious fools won't be few; they'll only grow more.

Merely, in this more mature, developed information age, it's always easy to weave enough information cocoons to make someone who doesn't like to run around feel the world is wonderfully smooth.

Unfortunately, Aomo is not that kind of quiet person.

The desire for greed also won't allow that one‑sided information cocoon, made for comfort, to wrap him; so he will adapt.

He will adapt to the fact that this world has many fools, while trying to find ways to get along with them, and on that basis seek higher‑level—guidance, control—strategies.

So if you have observed the entire exchange between the Star‑Eating Zero and the fallen‑type Holy Beast, you will notice that the former has, unbeknownst to when, taken over the role of guiding the conversation.

This requires patience, patience to the point that those arrogant superiors won't notice the extremely tiny changes in your way of speaking.

You must also patiently endure the other's initial contempt and disdain, patiently endure the fact that even if you show a little ability, it still isn't recognized by them.

By then, you will realize that the hardest part is not the other's personality, but the time you have.

——Such restless and arrogant people, possibly even with bad breath, they themselves may not be willing to stay with you that long.

You must have a practiced pace.

Otherwise, all your efforts will vanish in their departure after a single 'boring' remark, and you'll just hope for another chance to meet someday.

And when you can solve that time problem, or when your reunion is no longer uncertain, you might be able to do as the current Shixing Ling does, starting with a demeanor that seems fine at first glance but actually uttering words that step over the other's personal boundary:

"But with your abilities, sir, you should have many options for cooperation, right?"

"Does our congregation do better than them?"

?? This weekend I might take a day off, but whether it's Saturday or Sunday… we'll see.

? (End of chapter)