Chapter 169: Warehouse

The system's earlier notification of the three-stage mission objective had already revealed that the woman before him was a Battle Arena player, so Li Cheng cared more about the two key words in her final sentence.

Otherworld, and human.

There are only two ways a player can be created: either randomly assigned by the Battle Arena, or by killing another player and forcibly seizing their qualification.

The national organizations of Earth had long discovered that although the Battle Arena's selection appeared random, it favored those with stronger adaptability, willpower, execution ability, and professional skills.

Thus, early on, each country would draw elite troops from military, police, constitutional, and special units, deliberately exposing them to, handling, and resolving anomalous events to increase their probability of being selected by the Battle Arena.

Meanwhile, besides humans, animals—especially large ones—could also be randomly chosen as players, and their mission formats would differ from those of humans.

For example, a sperm whale's mission might be to hunt ten giant squids; a stray cat or dog's mission might be to escape an animal shelter before its eggs were broken.

Overall, the number of animal players was far fewer than humans', and they grew much slower (it took a long time just to reach the average human intelligence level), so it wasn't an urgent concern.

What truly alarmed national authorities was when Earth players died in script missions and their qualifications were acquired by the native inhabitants of the script world.

"Using Battle Arena terminology, I am a natural psychic. At fourteen, I committed suicide in a psychiatric hospital; my body died, but my soul remained, still drifting aimlessly across oceans, drawn to an underground religious altar deep in the mountains of Japan, absorbing the faith of rural villagers, gradually regaining clarity."

Jiang Zhihui said: "Just as my spiritual form was about to collapse and dissipate naturally, a new player from another world descended from the sky—unenhanced, inexperienced."

"I killed him, seized his qualification, and became the first, and likely the only, Chosen One in this world. In a way, I should thank you—for showing me a broader world. But I want more."

All the followers of the Mind Religion present were dead; Jiang Zhihui openly revealed, without any hesitation, that she was not a celestial goddess at all.

Li Cheng's mind flashed like lightning; he squinted and said: "Having player qualification isn't enough—you also need a living human body with psychic bloodline talent to move and act in the real world, so you orchestrated that shipwreck—"

"You might not have the heart to kill your own sister, but possessing the body of a stranger niece would carry far less psychological burden."

Moral condemnation was meaningless, Jiang Zhihui said calmly: "The Battle Arena is a death vortex; once pulled in, there's no escape. Grow stronger, or die."

"I've already died once; I don't want to die again. So I'll do whatever it takes to grow stronger. Obtain a human body, become a god walking among mortals through the guise of a religious saint."

Jiang Zhihui smiled: "I alone hold the Law. Right now, I am the only player in this world, the only one who possesses a power capable of continuous enhancement."

"Coincidentally, there are two point four billion Christians, one point eight billion Muslims, and one point one billion Hindus in this world."

"It might be difficult to force them all to believe in an unknown Korean high school girl—but what if I split myself into several incarnations?"

"For example, a newborn infant in Bethlehem, Palestine; or a reincarnation of Shiva rising from the underwater temple in Devalka, northwest India."

"I don't need everyone to worship me fervently—just a small portion is enough to gather sufficient faith power, ignite divine fire. Even if that divine fire is forged through deception."

Hey, Religious Committee? Someone here is illegally fundraising, gathering faith power to attempt godhood.

Li Cheng clicked his tongue; this speech sounded utterly insane on the surface—Jiang Zhihui was merely a wandering spirit, at best a psychic possessing another's body, yet she dared to dream of gathering faith power in the 21st century, igniting divine fire, becoming a living god.

But upon closer thought… there was a sliver of possibility.

"The advantage of being the only one who holds the Law" was simply too great; Jiang Zhihui possessed a system of power outside the modern scientific framework.

If she could manipulate the South Korean Blue House, deceive and fool it at will, what about those Christian nations?

The United States, the Vatican, Britain, France—all their leaders were ordinary people; if Jiang Zhihui, while playing the divine trickster, could leverage the Battle Arena system's advantages to produce "Elixir of Rejuvenation" or "Pill of Immortality," she could easily bind them to her chariot.

(After years of exploration, Earth players had long confirmed that the Battle Arena contained no true immortality methods, but did offer alternatives like Vampire bloodlines, Turtle Breathing, Ripple Breathing, and full-body cybernetic enhancement to extend lifespan.)

Once the ruling class was secured, the media and public opinion machines controlled, propaganda flooded the world, and spirit servants and demons were unleashed to create an apocalyptic atmosphere, brainwashing billions—

With this entire operation, Jiang Zhihui might, possibly, truly have a chance to realize her godhood fantasy.

From a low-tier transcendent, leap to a Lv30, Lv35 humanoid nuclear weapon.

The upcoming Seoul Peace Forum was her first planned public appearance.

"Uh, you're really bold and daring," Hui Yu scratched her head; as another transcendent being, this woman across from her was plotting the faith of billions.

Meanwhile, all she thought about daily was finishing less homework, spending more time on her phone, computer, and video games—scrolling Weibo, Zhihu, Tieba, Douban, Douyin, NGA, Douyu, Huya, Tiger, A Island, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu.

If the situation weren't so inappropriate, she'd have written "broad vision" and handed it to Jiang Zhihui.

"Thank you for the compliment."

Jiang Zhihui accepted Hui Yu's praise with perfect composure, a faint smile curling her lips; as the sole Chosen One in this world, she was lonely—so lonely she was willing to waste time sharing hidden secrets with a theoretical enemy.

She tilted her head gently toward Li Cheng: "Considering you've taken over Jiang Wanyong's identity, the Battle Arena's mission assigned to you is probably to rescue Jiang Meixi—or kill me, right?"

"What level are you now? Lv10? Lv15?"

"I've founded the Mind Religion, and though the current player level is about the same, my true strength is likely far greater than yours."

"Why not cooperate? I'll give you an emergency escape card; you take this ton of gold and leave this planet."

Jiang Zhihui raised her palm and summoned a large safe out of thin air; its door swung open, filled with stacks of gold ingots and diamonds and jewels.

She elegantly tapped the alloy lid with her knuckles: "The difference between an otherworldly player and a native player is that otherworldly visitors have only a few hours to complete their mission, while I, as a native NPC, can use my power to accumulate wealth."

"I doubt the Battle Arena's mission reward for you exceeds the value of this safe."

Gazing at the glittering gold and jewels inside the safe, Li Cheng's thoughts churned, filled with awe and admiration, while confirming many things.

"If I agree to your terms and leave this world, what will you do with her?"

Li Cheng pointed at Jiang Zhihui—not only at the body she possessed, Jiang Meixi, but also at the infant cradled in her arms.

Jiang Zhihui paused, her smile fading slowly, her expression turning as still as a deep well.

"Let me guess—the essence of igniting divine fire is a P2P scam. To pull off a colossal lie and deceive followers of all major religions, you need several bodies capable of housing a psychic soul."

"And in this world, the only ones with psychic bloodline talent seem to be the Jiang Shaoxi family."

Li Cheng said calmly: "The reason you haven't killed your sister Jiang Shaoxi isn't just because of familial ties—it's a more practical reason."

"Surrogacy, breeding, cloning, artificial wombs, genetically engineered infants—"

"Only flesh and blood of kin can pave the path toward your ambition to ignite divine fire."

The bat-wing motorcycle engine roared to life; the shark-shaped exoskeleton arm rotated slowly, raising its muzzle once more to aim at the girl in her high school uniform.

"I am not of this world, and I don't care what happens to its future. But some things—I refuse to do."

Li Cheng pulled out Jiang Wanyong's phone, its screen slightly cracked; the wallpaper showed a happy family photo of three.

"." Jiang Zhihui said coldly: "For the sake of so-called morality, are you willing to risk your life challenging a transcendent far stronger than you?"

"I said before—in this roleplay mode, I'm merely fulfilling my duty as a father."

Li Cheng grinned: "Besides, I'm stronger than you imagine."

The exhaust pipe blasted out surging flames, the tires screeched sharply against the cement ground, the heavy motorcycle's engine roared savagely, carrying him forward in a lightning-like charge.