Chapter 342: Ode to Light

"Cough."

A cough interrupted Wu Chang and He Yun's further intimacy.

Wu Chang turned to look and saw He Yi glaring at him, saying:

"Right in front of me, you dare lay hands on my sister? Boy, I hope your bones are tough enough for what's coming."

Wu Chang snorted—he paid his social security like a civil servant; what was this, trying to put his medical insurance on arrears?

He spoke in a high-pitched, teasing tone to He Yun in his arms:

"Your brother's scary. Unlike me—I only care for you. When I hit, I hold back, making sure not to hurt him."

Warning. Warning.

A high-temperature alert sounded from He Yi's mech, indicating Wu Chang had successfully controlled the temperature.

He Yun sensed Wu Chang was teasing, shook her head slightly, and sighed:

"Can't you two both grow up?"

Wu Chang grumbled: "Don't you know whether I can grow up or not?"

No sooner had he spoken than a powerful uppercut slammed into his abdomen—strong, forceful, lifting him clean off the ground.

Damn it, he'd forgotten: when He Yun wore her mech, she had boss-level power.

Landing on the ground, Wu Chang sat up and looked up at He Yun, bewildered:

"Why are you wearing a mech under your lab coat?"

He Yun's face flushed red; she snorted and turned back toward the lab.

Wu Chang rubbed his stomach, rising from the ground with a scowl, as He Yi's mocking voice came from behind him:

"Now you're not just caring—you're stomach-aching too."

Wu Chang wrinkled his nose. All because of He Yi, the third wheel. Wanted to spar? Fine—he'd take it out on him.

"You're fighting me in an upgraded mech—isn't that unfair? Let's both use training mechs."

He Yi immediately replied: "I'm wearing this mech only to show you Xiao Yun's latest achievement. I don't even need a mech to fight you."

Wu Chang said nothing more and walked straight to the training ground's equipment zone.

He asked He Yi to switch mechs not because he feared him—he feared the divine essence inside the upgraded mech. He worried the Desecrator might not control his strength and accidentally break it.

If he caused He Yun to get distracted repairing the mech and delayed her modifications to her personal mech, that would be a huge loss.

Sparring with He Yi wasn't about fighting a boss.

Wu Chang used only martial techniques and attributes, facing off against a master-level mechanical pilot—no active skills, just fairness.

Since witnessing the Heavenly Lord Wuqu's power, he had become a true master on the martial path.

Even against Zhao Yan, he could handle him effortlessly, blending martial techniques into mech operations—how much easier would it be against He Yi?

Twenty minutes later, Wu Chang lay on his back, staring blankly at the simulated sky above.

What the hell—why was he He Yi's punching bag again?

Compared to last time, his attributes and combat skills had improved massively, yet he still couldn't land a single blow against He Yi.

In terms of piloting skill, He Yi was at least master-level—possibly even S-class.

Wu Chang's master-level mech piloting always felt like one with the machine—but under high-intensity combat, he couldn't keep up with He Yi's movements. He moved stiffly, like a half-paralyzed man.

His physical stats were even more absurd: he was using his own body, yet his strength and agility lagged far behind He Yi's.

He Yi's values in both stats were at least 150 points each.

Just those two stats alone were enough for a player to unlock a realm ascension quest, not to mention the superhuman endurance he'd shown fighting the fog monsters.

Wu Chang couldn't understand: how could a post-apocalyptic tech world produce a being like this—a flesh-and-blood saint?

As for Wu Chang's greatest strength—his combat techniques—it was even worse to explain.

Someone like Zhao Yan, a master of countless martial styles, moved with clear patterns, governed by rules.

To Wu Chang, who had seen the Way of Martial Techniques, a single move revealed all future changes—he could predict his opponent's actions before they happened.

But He Yi was different: his fighting had no form at all—purely instinct and reflex.

In simple terms, Wu Chang's current state was like a perfected Lone Sword Nine Strikes—he could see through any technique, exploit its flaws, and defeat effortlessly.

But He Yi was like a street thug who'd never learned a single move—just swinging pipes, throwing wild monkey fists, charging at anyone.

Yet his combat instinct was as sharp as a beast's, his physical capabilities and mech piloting absurdly strong—utterly irrational.

Against Zhao Yan, Wu Chang won by having no technique; against He Yi, he was the one stuck with technique.

No skill—only stats.

Every time he fought He Yi, Wu Chang marveled: he was a technique player; He Yi was the stat monster.

These two siblings—one flesh-made-saint, one intellect-divine—must've been realm-children reincarnated into the same family.

But that was fine: now he didn't need to find another guardian deity for the underground shelter.

With He Yi's current strength, piloting a divine mech, even if a god's projection invaded, he could kill them all.

Wu Chang got up and waved his hand: "Enough. Boring."

Next time he sparred with He Yi, he'd use his skills—otherwise he couldn't land a single hit.

He Yi looked down at Wu Chang and said: "Your mech piloting is poor. You're wasting Xiao Yun's mech. Go back and train."

Wu Chang rolled his eyes. Master-level piloting was poor? Was that even human speech?

"It's not me who's weak—it's you who's too strong."

He Yi said: "Strong? I've held back as much as I could."

He paused, then added: "If you ever make Xiao Yun sad, you'll see how strong I am when I'm serious. Believe me—you won't want to experience it."

Watching He Yi walk away after his threat, Wu Chang smirked and rose from the ground.

He stripped off the mech and returned to the lab, where He Yun was adjusting something at the control panel.

She glanced at Wu Chang and said:

"Looks like you lost."

Wu Chang shrugged and insisted: "I let him win."

If he could use his skills, even just Mamba Iron Elbow, he wouldn't have lost so badly.

He Yun smiled and said:

"Since childhood, my brother has never lost a one-on-one fight."

Wu Chang said: "I figured it out."

With He Yi's physical condition, he could easily beat an ordinary person in powered armor with bare hands.

He looked at the control panel, suddenly remembered something, and took the damaged Dawn's Weight Hammer from his personal space, placing it beside He Yun.

"I was too busy yesterday and almost forgot this."

"The Destruction Mode was extremely effective—it helped me a great deal."

He Yun put away Dawn's Weight Hammer and placed it on the repair stand, saying:

"The damage is severe; it'll take about fifteen days to repair."

Wu Chang roughly calculated the time—it could be fixed before the World Instance—and nodded, saying:

"Leave it with you for now. I need to leave tomorrow and will return in a few days."

He Yun paused his work and asked:

"Leaving so soon?"

Wu Chang sighed: "Isn't this about going as a foot soldier to pave the way for Young Lady He Yun's ascension to her most loyal Song Company?"

"Didn't I say I'm leaving tomorrow morning?"

The next morning, Wu Chang left the underground shelter and returned to reality.

When he returned, he first went to Wanghai Branch.

Compared to the earlier bustle, the branch was much quieter.

Gambling is human nature, especially when the chance to change one's fate is right before one's eyes—very few can truly resist the urge to go all-in.

Although Shi Ning had clearly explained the dangers in the Administration's full meeting, half of Wanghai Branch's members still wanted to try.

Though they were eager, they weren't foolish; to survive the next two Instances, they had already gone to Yanjing for pre-qualification training camp.

Almost everyone with real strength had left—even Xia Jia, the former acting director who had been semi-administrative, chose to enter the World Instance.

Those still at the branch were mostly newcomers and elderly administrative staff with newcomer-level ability.

This period could be called the weakest time for Wanghai Branch.

Wu Chang, claiming he had a special training plan, did not join the training camp; Director Gao and others did not try to dissuade him.

After all, Wu Chang's training plan could raise his Combat Specialization to Master level in just a few days.

This efficiency in private training far surpassed the collective model of the training camp.

However, before leaving, Director Gao gave Wu Chang an extra task: to serve as acting director of Wanghai City.

He was to check in on the branch during training breaks—if he had time—to ensure nothing went wrong at home.

As acting director, he confirmed nothing unusual had occurred at the branch and scanned the city through Ailin's Divine Realm to ensure no strange entities lurked in Wanghai, then prepared to depart for the Song Company's realm.

Before leaving, he manipulated his True Self to the commercial street and left a message at Yu Na's restaurant: he wished to speak with the Revelation higher-ups, preferably meeting Lady Christin directly.

If possible, reply through the Aboveground Divine Realm.

After the familiar realm transition, Wu Chang and Ailin appeared on the top floor of the Song Company.

His purpose in coming to the Song Company was to merge its realm into the Divine Realm.

Once both the Song Company and the underground shelter entered the large Divine Realm, He Yun could use the Divine Realm Pillar as a medium to travel between realms.

He opened the CEO backend, intending to review recent company updates and see what might be useful.

But he underestimated the Song Company's scale; just half a month's backlog of messages in the backend amounted to over a hundred.

After reading only two, his head spun—he took out the Omniscient Crystal to help him judge.

The Song Company's success today owes at least eighty percent to the Omniscient Crystal; it handles company affairs with great proficiency.

Wu Chang even suspected that when faced with less important matters, Schultz simply let the Omniscient Crystal decide.

After filtering by the Omniscient Crystal, the Song Company currently had only two urgent issues requiring his personal attention.

The first was company operations.

During the development of Primordial Armaments, many major organizations placed orders with the Song Company and paid substantial deposits.

After the battle with the Light Society, news of the completed Primordial Weapons and their deployment spread worldwide.

Since the weapons were made, buyers naturally pressed for delivery.

The problem was, Wu Chang had no intention of continuing Schultz's path of using living humans to produce Primordial Armaments—he allowed only internal use of the already-produced Primordial Armaments.

Even using them internally might not be enough, let alone supplying externally.

During this time, constant pressure and inquiries from all sides had nearly driven the sales department managers to madness.

The solution to this issue was simple: one word—delay.

Such technical troubles could wait until He Yun took over the Song Company—then hand them to her.

With her current technological capability, producing Primordial Armaments without living humans would be no problem.

The second issue came from the pit he dug last time.

Before entering the Cursed Instance, he assigned the News Department a task: based on the Hymn Plan, Schultz had made another breakthrough and was developing a true human deity.

He named the plan the Hymn of Light and gave the News Department a concept art of the artificial deity—Ailin's selfie—for external promotion.

It wasn't that the News Department wasn't doing its job—it was doing it too well.

Those working in the Song Company News Department were all leading figures from major media outlets, masters of the three pillars of journalism.

Key point: not the three pillars of journalism—truthfulness, timeliness, and reportability.

But the three pillars of news: rhythm, emotional manipulation, and stirring division.

Under their promotion, the Hymn of Light Project spread widely across the world.

Due to Wu Chang's instructions before leaving—to do everything in their power to make the Hymn of Light Project accepted, and to require the entire company to cooperate with their promotion—

Under the Saint Song Company's excellent operational style, they employed Degenerate Monsters and Primordial Armaments in their dissemination.

The central figure of the Hymn of Light Project, Ever-Pure Light Ailin, though it was her first time entering the Saint Song Company's dimension,

had already seen over a dozen "miracles" of her slaying Degenerate Monsters circulating across the dimension's social media.

In Saint Song Company's longstanding promotion, Degenerate Monsters were creatures summoned by human destruction of the environment, wars, and other acts.

Degenerate Monsters were messengers of world destruction, heralding that humanity would soon suffer divine punishment.

The appearance of Ever-Pure Light was Saint Song Company's self-rescue act, humanity's guardian deity.

Ailin's near-perfect beauty, combined with the News Department's promotion and the frequent threat of Degenerate Monsters worldwide, swiftly cemented her identity as humanity's guardian deity.

Netizens built personal websites for Ailin, cyber-churches, fan sites, and her fan-made merchandise became wildly popular.

This caused Ailin, upon entering the Saint Song Company's dimension, to immediately feel a flood of faith surging toward her.

With this faith, she successfully planted a sapling of the Miracle Tree in the garden atop Saint Song Company's headquarters.

All that was needed was for the sapling to grow, and this place would be merged into the Divine Realm.

The massive success of the promotion, however, brought a serious problem: the News Department was trapped.

Wu Chang's earlier directive had been to promote, but he had not elaborated on the details of the Hymn of Light Project.

They had extrapolated the Hymn of Light Project based on the partially declassified portions of the Hymn Project.

Now, Ever-Pure Light had been over-deified; some descriptions had exceeded the capabilities outlined in the Hymn Project.

If they continued riding the hype, the promises they made would far surpass the company's current technology—and the blame would fall squarely on them.

If they denied those exaggerated claims, it would contradict current public expectations and cool down people's enthusiasm.

Once enthusiasm cooled, minds cooled; once minds cooled, skepticism followed, and the news effect would deteriorate.

So they sought Wu Chang's guidance on how to proceed.

Wu Chang was highly satisfied with the News Department's work; he ordered his secretaries to verify each member's contribution during this event and award them the maximum possible rewards under company regulations.

As for how to handle what comes next, they need not concern themselves for now.

Because Ailin had arrived.

Tactics are not about being novel, but about being effective.

What he would do next was use Saint Song Company's most trusted method: to construct a stage suited for Ailin's grand entrance.

In the second hour after Wu Chang and Ailin arrived in the dimension, Saint Song Company released a statement.

At 8 p. m. Federal Time tomorrow night, a press conference would be held to announce the phased achievements of the Hymn of Light Project.

The moment this news broke, the entire world ignited.

Whether the Artificial Deity Project or Ailin herself, both were explosive topics.

Not only did major news organizations and media outlets from every nation rush in, but countless independent media did as well.

Wilddo City became more crowded than during the final release of the Primordial Armaments in the Saint Song Company's Instance.

Meanwhile, on the Hymn of Light discussion forum, a post was pushed to the top.

"If Ever-Pure Light is truly humanity's guardian deity, will the Messenger of the End truly stand idly by?"

The post gained immense traction, briefly topping all social media trending charts.

As if Murphy's Law had struck again, Wilddo City, which the forecast had promised would be sunny, remained shrouded in overcast skies all day.

Pitch-black clouds pressed down, suffocating, signaling that something monumental was about to happen.

"Anomalous Weather in Wilddo City" became the focus of public discussion.

Starting at 4:30 p. m., Wilddo City was struck by violent winds, churning the clouds into a strange and menacing sky.

At exactly 5:00 p. m., residents in high-rise buildings faintly heard roars and bellowing from above.

At 6:00 p. m., the roars grew louder, carried by the wind throughout Wilddo City.

Massive black shadows moved within the clouds, flickering in and out, each shadow at least a hundred meters long.

The Federal Conquest dispatched drones to investigate, but all flying devices lost contact the moment they entered the clouds.

At 6:15 p. m., the clouds tore open in the gale, revealing a colossal yellow monster with a grotesque face.

It rode the storm as if tearing the sky apart.

Countless cameras captured this moment, broadcasting the yellow monster's existence live to the entire world.

Whether in Wilddo City's streets or watching from screens, the moment people saw the yellow monster, their heads swelled, their thoughts slowed, and despair surged uncontrollably within them.

Everyone shared the same thought: the end of the world was truly coming.

Just as despair spread wildly and the weak-willed neared mental collapse, a soft beam of light pierced the heavens.

The next instant, a girl with four wings behind her and a massive hammer in hand charged through the gale, smashing the yellow monster with one blow—and splitting open the pitch-black clouds to reveal the sunset hidden behind them.

The moment the sunset appeared on camera, vast streams of faith converged from across the world.

The Miracle Tree atop Saint Song Company's headquarters surged skyward, becoming a Pillar of the Divine Realm, linking to the Grand Divine Realm.

(End of Chapter)