Chapter 508: The bullet condensed by the crowd hit the head of the God-Chosen

"Dong—!"

The bell at high noon shattered the silence of Thunder City.

The scorching sunlight passed through the crisscrossing steel scaffolding, casting mottled, eerie shadows onto the stagnant four-sided clock.

Behind those stagnant hands, huge brass gears were slowly meshing; each tooth's insertion was seamless, emitting a dull and rhythmic metallic friction sound.

This is the highest point of Thunder City, and also the future "heart" of this city.

The citizens of Thunder City had never built such a huge building; this was the first time in history, and the spire of this magnificent building even exceeded the dome of St. Clement's Cathedral!

Although the four-sided clock had not yet been put into use, a small clock inside the bell tower had already been put into trial operation, its transmission structure connected to a pendulum, providing free on-the-hour timekeeping services for the citizens of Thunder City.

And right under that huge bell tower was Queen Street, the most prosperous street in Thunder City.

Unlike Klanto Island, which was in the midst of a bloody storm, well-dressed citizens and elegantly decorated carriages came and went on that magnificent street.

They were like the gears inside the bell tower, as if they would never stop.

On the top floor of the unfinished bell tower, Luo Yan was standing behind the clock face that had not yet been installed with glass, smiling, standing with his hands behind his back.

Through the gaps in the brass hands, he overlooked the bustling crowd on Queen Street below; the endless stream of pedestrians was like ants.

But it was these tiny "ants" who created the magnificent giant that was out of reach under his feet.

Those figures, who seemed to be scurrying around like headless flies, were gathering into a monstrous wave capable of shaking the era!

Hearing Hearing You You beside Luo Yan, the milky-white glowing Hearing You You was like a ghost.

At this moment, its abstract face was flashing with intense curiosity, shuttling around those metal parts that were taller than people, flying back and forth between the gears.

"Lord Demon King, is this the new toy you mentioned?"

Hearing You You asked curiously, its voice ringing directly in Luo Yan's mind, like a noisy parrot.

"But, but, we spent so much effort building a clock just for people to see the time, wouldn't that be too extravagant?"

This clock tower is an industry set up by Pangke, belonging to the Purple Moon Bank just established in Deadwood Port on the Gana Continent.

Although it was not funded by the Demon King in name, it was clearly the Demon King's money.

In addition, since Purple Moon is the emblem Luo Yan designed for the Prince Kelin family, in a sense, this is a national bank endorsed by the "Prince Kelin Duchy."

Besides providing savings services, this bank also has financial derivative businesses such as futures and government bond issuance.

Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, it will also issue the sovereign currency of the Prince Kelin Duchy, just as the Andes Bank is doing for the Campbell Duchy.

If there is a need for that.

"... If you only treat it as a bell tower for timekeeping, that is indeed very extravagant."

Looking at Hearing You You flying up and down around the clock, Luo Yan's eyes carried a faint smile.

"But if you treat it as an engine, or an altar... then this wonder is not expensive at all."

"Altar?"

Hearing You You tilted its head, obviously not understanding the connection between the two.

"That's right."

Not all altars have to be called churches. Just as not all religions are called religions.

Luo Yan's gaze crossed the core structure of the four-sided bell tower, looking at the slowly rotating hands, and suddenly opened his mouth in a conversational tone.

"Hearing You You, what do you think a god is?"

Hearing You You blinked.

"Is... what?"

"I think it is a man-made object."

Without waiting for Hearing You You to express the confusion in its heart, Luo Yan continued on his own.

"In the long river of history of the Aos Continent, the evolution of faith has gone through two stages."

"The First Epoch, which is the so-called past. At that time, people were like infants in swaddling clothes, harboring primitive awe, or fear, for everything in the natural world."

"From mountains, rivers, to wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, all forces that people could not control could be called gods. And under the guidance of priests, the first element gods were born, and along with them were born many pan-spirits."

Hearing You You nodded understandingly.

It was not unfamiliar with the history of the Aos Continent, just didn't know why the Demon King mentioned it at this moment.

Does this have anything to do with this clock tower?

The Demon King's expression told it that it seemed so.

Luo Yan did not explain, cast his gaze toward the sky outside the clock tower, and looked toward the direction of the distant Shengcheng.

After a pause, he continued.

"The Second Epoch, which is the present we are in, the creatures of the Aos Continent have already conquered nature."

"People have measured mountains and rivers with their feet, and their footprints have even reached the underground. They have mastered the power of elements with their hands, no longer fearing the unpredictable mystery, but began to think about who created all these magnificent miracles."

"The priests of the Second Epoch called it the Creator, claiming that the Creator created people based on himself. However, in fact, you and I both know that it is not God who created all things, but the thoughts of the crowd that created the omnipotent gods."

Not just the human Saint Xisi, but also the demons' Demon Gods, as well as the dwarves' ancestors, and the elves' Tree of Yggdrasil.

These many faiths are actually similar things.

"And now, we are standing at the door of the Third Epoch... although it has not arrived yet, I have already vaguely seen its prototype."

A smile was on Luo Yan's face, his gaze moved downward, and fell back on the street that was constantly extending toward the horizon.

New things are born there every day.

Some of them come from his players, and some come from the "localized improvements" of the Thunder City citizens to the players' ideas.

But no matter who the idea comes from, those new things are created by the crowd, not defined by some god.

Including the God of Machines.

"... The role that clergy play in people's lives is becoming increasingly marginalized, and along with it, the gods themselves are being marginalized. And with the awakening of self-consciousness in some people, people will no longer be satisfied with praying to gods for prosperity and strength, but began to try to reshape the shape of the world based on themselves."

"Whether it is material, or spiritual..."

"People began to consider problems from their own perspective, rather than from the standpoint of gods."

"In this process, they will constantly invent new tools, discover new natural laws, summarize new theories, and nurture new ideas..."

This will be the biggest difference between the Third Epoch and the Second Epoch—

People no longer fantasize about the shape of the Creator, but begin to think about how they can become the Creator!

They will drastically improve their world, just as the Solipsi people in Void Realm No. 440 once did early on.

The "New Testament" born in the Twilight Province and the clock tower in Thunder City are actually products of this concept.

The former is a wonder standing in the spiritual world, while the latter condenses the dreams of Thunder City citizens for faster, higher, and larger.

Based on this concept, Luo Yan can make a bold guess.

In the upcoming Third Epoch, the direction in which the thoughts of the crowd converge will shift from the heroes and kings in epics to those "wonders" created by commoners!

Hearing You You suddenly realized, muttering in a low voice.

"So that's it... No wonder Gutav was able to cut the entire Gana Continent out of the main world; it turns out he was using the power of the Third Epoch?!"

"You could say that."

Luo Yan looked at Hearing You You approvingly and continued.

"This is also why we can't harvest too much faith from the lizardmen, and the transcendent power of the lizardmen there is also weaker than we imagined. They don't have innate defects in their souls; it's just because the 'thoughts of the crowd' are concentrated in places other than 'individual power'."

The wonder of Assam City is a typical example!

That dragon temple extending toward the sky is like an engine installed on the Gana Continent, and the faith contributed by the dragon god's descendants is its fuel!

Gutav and Lint Isaac, these two guys from higher civilizations, realized the existence of faith power at the same time.

And Gutav went a step further, completing the "Great Barrier" that cut off the entire continent on this basis!

It's a pity that the Dragon God Gutav died too suddenly and became the current muddle-headed Tafu before he had time to summarize his theory.

Although the Holy Armored Dragon Kingdom was ahead of its time, it is clear that neither the Dragon God nor the lizardmen of the Armored Dragon tribe were able to harness this power that was ahead of its time.

Gutav panicked for a moment and cut off the entire Gana Continent.

And the last Holy Armored Long Wang got angry for a moment, and then just got angry for a moment... In the end, the entire dragon temple rushed to the sky and almost couldn't come down.

If it weren't for concentrating power to do stupid things, they could have completely used the transcendent power that had been recovered from the God-Chosen to summon a "Divine Dragon" comparable to an "Angel."

If that were really the case, the Necropolis might not necessarily have been able to take down the Holy Armored Dragon Kingdom; at least the angel outside Dusk City would not have been something a few machine guns or rocket launchers could defeat.

That thing should be the "nuclear weapon" of the material world.

The descendants of the Dragon God are not backward.

On the contrary, they are too advanced!

Luo Yan believes he is not the only one who has glimpsed the "heavenly secret" from it.

The Great Barrier completed by Gutav in the late First Epoch very likely also inspired Saint Xisi's servant—the first Pope of the Aos Empire!

The angel summoned by the Shengcheng should be something similar.

That strike that shattered the Chaos clone might be the power condensed by the wonder of the Shengcheng, not the "Book of Holy Words"!

And that is exactly what the Great Sage fears.

The tower of the Academy might have been built precisely to secretly study that power!

"... After seeing the angel descending outside Dusk City, I am even more convinced of the idea in my heart. The Saint Xisi Church should have mastered some similar way, using those magnificent wonders to call upon miracles called angels."

"The source of the miracle might be the Shengcheng itself, or it might be that magnificent palace, or St. Clement's Cathedral... or the exquisite murals in the cathedral."

Hearing You You suddenly realized, eyes shining, and said.

"So you want to use this clock tower to imitate them?"

"Not just imitate, but surpass."

A smile appeared on the corner of Luo Yan's mouth, and his gaze was cast toward the core component of the clock tower—the timekeeping clock connected to the pendulum.

"I am conceiving a brand-new way of using power, and in this, I also have inspiration from Void Realm No. 440."

The Demon King's acolytes in the clock tower made the replaced copper hands into bullets, and that bullet is condensing the "thoughts of the crowd" of millions of Thunder City citizens and even nearly ten million Campbells!

It has the same effect as the angel attached to the Shengcheng; they all belong to the "extra power" produced by wonders that condense faith!

Its power cannot be measured by transcendent power in the traditional sense, nor can it be measured by explosive equivalent.

It, like the domain of a demigod, belongs to conceptual power!

Just then, a ghost-blue butterfly silently passed through the gap in the scaffolding and landed gently on the cold steel frame in front of Luo Yan.

Its wings trembled gently, emitting weak mental ripples.

Looking at that fragile and beautiful butterfly, the smile on the corner of Luo Yan's mouth became more obvious.

Just a few minutes ago, a tragic slaughter took place in the monastery on Klanto Island.

Just as he had predicted with a fifty-fifty probability, the King of the Luo En Kingdom had put Jerok Campbell, who had already sworn never to return to secular life, on the assassination list.

The only thing that exceeded his expectation was that His Majesty Theoden Devalu actually bought off the remnants of the greenwood army to act as the perpetrators.

Behind the King stands Chaos, and behind the Duke stands the Demon King.

"... Things are getting more and more interesting."

Just right.

Let's use this chaotic apostle who calls himself the "Burier" to test the bullet condensed by the faith of Thunder City citizens...

The bell of Thunder City rang on the hour at noon, but the bell of Klanto Island was late for the slaughter of metal clashing, and only the surging waves shattered on the steep cliffs.

The power of time condensed at the muzzle; not only was Haro beating drums in his heart, but Thanos, who was holding the flintlock gun, was also secretly shocked.

What kind of terrifying power did his Demon King bestow upon him!?

This is too scary!

"Playing god!"

Finally unable to suppress the fear in his heart, Haro the "Burier," who was guarding against the threat, let out a roar and mobilized all his strength.

As a Diamond-tier Chaos God-Chosen, he is a terrifying existence wherever he goes; when has he ever been so underestimated by such a nameless nobody whose aura he couldn't even feel?

Firearm?

Want to defeat him—

At least bring another ten thousand!

The crazy flames gradually burned away the fear in his heart, and Haro gripped the huge metal cross wrapped in chains with both hands, and the red light of Chaos surged on the cross!

He stepped on the ground abruptly, and the floor tiles that were already broken shattered completely!

Only to see the whole person like a runaway chariot, carrying the momentum of crushing everything, rushing toward the uninvited guest sitting on the edge of the dome's stained glass window.

"Die!!!" Haro roared, swinging his arms forward with force, as if he wanted to smash the entire dome of the prayer hall!

Feeling the pressure rushing toward him, the seriously injured Jerok held his breath instinctively, and the blood in his whole body seemed to freeze.

Yet facing the charge that could flatten the castle, Thanos did not dodge or evade, just aimed the sight of the muzzle at that face twisted by anger.

He pulled the trigger, just as the Demon King had instructed.

"Click—"

The flint hit the fire door, but there was no explosion of gunpowder being ignited, nor did any smoke drift from the muzzle.

There was only a clear sound, as if a mainspring in an old clock that had been tired for a long time finally broke, dragging the hands to freeze on the dial.

"As you wish—"

"Go to hell."

That was the last sound Haro heard.

And the moment that sound drifted into his ears, the whole world seemed to be pressed on the pause button, freezing on the spot.

Haro saw in astonishment that the blood-colored prayer hall was fading from its scarlet blood color, leaving only the pitch-black Saint Xisi statue and the pale church stained glass windows.

The colors disappeared.

The whole world turned into oppressive and dead black and white, just like the nightmare he would fall into involuntarily every night!

Astonishment gradually turned into terror.

The only thing that didn't change was the expression on his face.

Haro discovered in horror that his thinking was clearly still running, and the emotion of anger was still burning in his chest, yet his body could no longer move even a millimeter!

Even the twitching of facial muscles couldn't be done!

His soul seemed to leave his body, overlooking the body rushing toward the sky.

The chaotic cross carrying the power of ten thousand jun was still smashing toward the dome close at hand, but like the dust flying beside him, it was suspended in mid-air.

In the end, what happened?!

At the end of that black and white world, Haro suddenly saw a bronze-colored flying insect.

It was the only color in this black and white world, flying toward him slowly and firmly, and the tiny figure contained unstoppable power.

The "flying insect" plunged into the scarlet wrapped around Haro's body, just like a needle piercing into a quilt, without causing a ripple.

Haro finally saw what it was.

That seemed to be a bullet; from the trajectory that tore through space, he vaguely saw an upside-down clock.

That is... the power of time?

This thought had just flashed through Haro's mind when the void bullet had already touched his brow, passing through the depths of his soul.

"Tick-tock—"

Vaguely, he heard the sound of the hour hand returning to its place.

And at that moment, the huge clock phantom shattered instantly in front of Haro, just like a giant holding the clock tower of Thunder City, smashing the four-sided clock fiercely onto his face.

Haro didn't even have time to let out a scream before a black and white hollow appeared between his brows.

No blood gushed out.

Nor did brain matter spray out.

That chaotic power from the void was erased by the rapidly passing time in just an instant.

Along with it, his flesh was also erased.

That decaying body shriveled and withered at a speed visible to the naked eye... as if it had experienced thousands of years of weathering in one second!

The flying cross flail flew over Thanos's head like a kite with a broken string, piercing through the stained glass window of the dome, lifting his lowered hat brim and drooping black hair.

At the same time, the decaying corpse fell backward, hitting the broken floor of the prayer hall heavily, and shattered into dust and bone slag all over the floor in an instant!

The moment Haro died, those walking corpses that were manipulated like marionettes also fell to the ground one after another, dissipating the bloodshot eyes and ferocity in their pupils.

The prayer hall returned to color and sound, but fell into a more dead silence, with only the sound of the tide outside the window echoing.

Jerok leaned against the broken statue, his brain blank, and it took a long time before he slowly lifted his head and looked toward the dome of the prayer hall.

That shadow demon in a tuxedo never looked at him from beginning to end, just coldly put away the gun in his hand, as if he had just casually slapped a fly to death.

At the same time, in a corner that no one noticed, a pale blue butterfly flew around the broken stone pillar and disappeared first into the boundless silence.

Jerok swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty and finally found his voice.

"Who are you..."

He didn't understand why it was the Demon King's servant who saved him.

Even if it was the King of the Luo En Kingdom who wanted to kill him, this didn't seem to be a bad thing for the Demon King of Thunder County.

They could completely sit in the labyrinth and watch the show.

Thanos raised his index finger to press down the hat brim that had been blown up, and replied indifferently.

"You, also don't need to know."

Poor Aaron Campbell.

All three children became pawns of Lord Demon King.

However, this is not a bad thing for them who are kept in the dark.

After all, looking at the entire hell, you can't find a better job than being Lord Demon King's dog; I don't know how many demons seek it but can't get it.

Thanos finally looked at the young knight with pity, his pitch-black figure like dark clouds blown away by the wind, merging into the shadows under the stained glass window.

He disappeared.

Just like he had never been here.

Only Jerok was left in the bloody church.

Holding the broken arm of Saint Xisi, he stood blankly on the ruins of the mess, listening to the surging tide outside the window, unable to return to his senses for a long time.

The Campbell family, which is at odds with demons, was actually saved by a demon this time... ===== CHAPTER 509 =====