Chapter 390: The Divine Nation Concept and the Guardian

Breaking the barrier between the real world and the Abyss Game, allowing other plane entities from Erin's Divine Nation to enter the real world, is merely the first step.

Those entering the real world are ordinary transcenders, whose impact on reality is extremely limited; no matter how strong an individual may be, they cannot surpass the players returned from the Rational Realm.

But if scientists like He Yun from other planes enter the real world, she could completely overhaul the technological tree within the Divine Nation's scope.

Technology from other worlds cannot leave Wanghai City, but within Wanghai City, their existence is entirely valid.

Not to mention the technology from the Hymn Corporation's plane—even the underground shelter where He Yun resides far surpasses real-world technology; just leaking a single piece of it could turn Wanghai City into the most sci-fi city on Earth.

If Wu Chang is given time to develop it, he could hollow out the underground of Wanghai City and construct a metropolis rivaling the surface in scale.

The surface is now controlled by the Hymn Corporation's automated defense systems; even transcenders attempting to cause trouble in Wanghai City will be instantly detected and vaporized by high-energy weapons.

The Hymn Corporation's building will become Wanghai City's landmark, breaking the record for the tallest building in the real world.

Yongguang Sect Sect churches are visible everywhere in the city; the priests inside don't just lead prayers—they truly wield magic. Minor illnesses? See a priest. Serious illnesses? Go to the hospital. Cancers nearly incurable in the real world can be treated in at least nine ways in Wanghai City.

Wu Chang envisioned the future Wanghai City in his mind; just imagining it was thrilling, and most importantly, anyone who came would believe everything here was meant to be this way, never questioning it.

If you have questions, take them up with my highest-level temporary administrative authority.

The instant Wu Chang conceived the idea of using forces from other planes to completely transform Wanghai City, a prompt popped up before his eyes.

"Player constructs a Divine Nation in the real plane; minor alterations to the plane's trajectory grant the player a small amount of luck."

"Player's permanent luck +15."

Wu Chang stared at the prompt—it was his newly acquired title, the first activation of Luck Plunderer.

One of the title's descriptions stated that whenever a player takes actions capable of altering the dominant direction of a dungeon instance, they gain a portion of luck.

His idea to transform Wanghai City—or the transformed Wanghai City itself—would, in the future, influence the trajectory of the real world.

Though the prompt didn't specify whether this change would be positive or negative for him, his intuition told him he was doing the right thing.

He had originally planned to keep a low profile, but now he had no choice but to change.

The moment the idea of changing the world arose, his luck increased by 15 points directly.

The title description didn't clarify anything, leaving him with no sense of how much luck he had; yet compared to his initial 5 points, this increase was undeniably massive.

He hoped that in the upcoming world instance, his surge in luck would make his walkthrough smoother.

Since transforming Wanghai City was inevitable, why wait? Wu Chang opened the offline activity group of the original Yegē Bar and notified several believers to come immediately.

He previously lacked the highest-level administrative authority and feared Erin's existence being discovered, so he had never spread the Yongguang Sect Sect in the real plane; the believers who worship Erin were still those they had seized from Revelation during their takeover of the Divine Nation.

These believers were all former customers of Yegē Bar, a members-only club where gaining membership meant one was at least an x-second-generation elite.

Though their numbers were few, their influence was immense.

They spanned every sector of Wanghai City; with their support, he effectively controlled more than half of Wanghai City.

Wu Chang summoned the most capable among them and ordered them to use their resources to find two suitable locations.

One would serve as the Yongguang Church, located near a densely populated area; the other would serve as the Hymn Corporation's headquarters, with supporting factories sufficient for He Yun to establish production lines from the Hymn Corporation's plane.

He gave them three days to complete the task as quickly as possible.

Wanghai City was his home turf; with him, the acting director of the Wanghai Branch, in charge, the efficiency shouldn't be slower than it was in Stilane.

After giving his orders, Wu Chang and Erin stood on the playground of Wanghai No. 1 High School, gazing at the Divine Tree, visible only to them, extending from the school's grand auditorium.

Erin looked at the vast canopy and asked:

"Do you think, if we were in our current world—or in a world like the Hymn Corporation's, more technologically advanced—could the tragedies I witnessed in Grimlan have been avoided?"

Erin's eyes held confusion, a confusion Wu Chang had seen before—in Zhu Li's eyes when he first entered the Steam Phantom plane.

Wu Chang instinctively wanted to tell two hellish jokes, like how child labor remains rampant even in the most advanced Bai Ta.

And the so-called Chosen People, the self-proclaimed fathers of Bai Ta, created vast open-air concentration camps to seize land, imprisoning millions and freely taking their lives.

Human conflict has always been unrelated to technological progress or productivity development.

But the words died on his lips.

Because Erin was different from him—she wouldn't laugh off these people's suffering, or strike a merit bell after laughing and pretend nothing happened.

She would truly carry it in her heart.

After brief thought, he said:

"How to prevent the tragedies in Grimlan? Olivia already gave you the answer."

Erin frowned slightly, puzzled. "You mean replacing individual consciousness with collective consciousness? Didn't you oppose her method?"

Wu Chang shook his head. "I'm not referring to her method, but to her means."

"Using absolute force to shape people's perceptions."

Erin's confusion deepened—his answer sounded exactly like something a villain would say.

Seeing Erin's expression, Wu Chang smiled, took her hand, and looked up at the full moon.

"The moon tonight is beautiful. Will you take a walk with me?"

Erin's cheeks flushed slightly; she seemed to recognize the line from films. She nodded gently. "Alright."

Wu Chang held Erin's hand as they walked out of Wanghai No. 1 High School, strolling along the night streets.

It was already past midnight; only the two of them remained on the streets, the moonlight above lending a quiet, comforting atmosphere.

Wu Chang suddenly broke the silence. "Erin, what do you think of Wanghai City's nighttime security?"

Erin replied, "Wanghai's nights are safe. Not a single danger occurred in the city tonight."

Erin could perceive everything happening in Wanghai City through the Divine Nation; her statement carried absolute authority.

Wu Chang swayed her hand gently.

"Do you know that over twenty years ago, very few people dared to go out at this hour?"

Erin asked, "Why?"

Wu Chang shrugged. "No reason—just plain unsafe. The chaos might not have matched Grimlan's, but it was close."

"Forget the distant past—just a month ago, due to the Abyss's erosion of the real world, wild transcenders increased, people's resentment grew, and Wanghai City's crime rate surged sharply."

"You have intervened to save people more than once, yet after a month, the crime rate in Wanghai City was effectively controlled, and now it has returned to peaceful tranquility; why is this?"

Erin understood what Wu Chang meant to say: "Are you saying it relies on force?"

Wu Chang snapped his fingers and said, "Guessed right; it is force."

"Wanghai City's transition from its former chaos and gloom to its current harmony and peace relies on the law; and what upholds the law? Is it self-discipline, is it morality? Of course not; it is violence."

"Those who, upon awakening extraordinary powers, believe themselves to be protagonists and seek to stand above others—why do they no longer emerge to harm Wanghai City? Naturally, it is because after being beaten into submission, they were locked away underground by the Administration Bureau."

For a moment, Erin could not grasp the logic, so she said:

"But if mere force could be effective, why would Olivia and Zhu Li be in such dire straits?"

Wu Chang shook his head and said:

"I am not telling you to simply use force to eliminate people, but rather to establish corresponding rules, and then use force to compel everyone in the world to abide by your rules."

"The mindset of gods and humans for solving problems is different; only humans rack their brains to ponder curing symptoms versus curing the root cause; a god merely needs to use divine power to realize what he wishes to accomplish. Just as God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light in the world."

"For this, you must become powerful enough, so powerful that others cannot refuse you."

Saying this, Wu Chang took out the Lake of Eternity and handed it to Erin.

"Take it; perhaps it will give you the answer."

Following Wu Chang's guidance, Erin reached out and grasped the Lake of Eternity.

Back in the Steam Phantom Plane, Wu Chang had been very curious: if Erin obtained the Holy Sword of Lake Light, just how intense would the lake light emitted from the blade be?

Old Anderson, wielding the Holy Sword of Lake Light, could illuminate an entire St. George Church; Erin should at least be able to illuminate the whole St. George Square. At the time, he had worried the commotion would be too great and did not try it, but now he could finally get his wish.

Wu Chang held his breath and focused, staring intently at Erin; the instant Erin gripped the Lake of Eternity, a flash of Bai Guang shot out, nearly blinding him.

The intense radiance was like a sun rising from Erin's hand.

Although Wu Chang could not see the scope covered by the light, relying on the highest authority of the Wasteland Realm, which had merged with his Divine Kingdom, he could feel that the lake light emanating from Erin illuminated the Peace Zone where they stood.

The area of the Peace Zone was equivalent to one-quarter of Grimland.

"That's enough; turn off the light, or people won't be able to sleep if it continues," Wu Chang said to Erin, covering his eyes.

Erin retracted the lake light, condensing the radiance to within ten centimeters around the sword blade.

Under extreme compression, the lake light transformed from radiance into a solid form, resembling a layer of undulating water surface swirling around her body.

Wu Chang picked up a stone and threw it at the undulating water surface; amidst the churning waves, the stone turned into fine dust in the blink of an eye.

He grinned; he could be certain that within the Wasteland Realm, no one would want to take a hit from such a sword strike.

"Erin, has your Guardian Oath activated?"

Erin closed her eyes, feeling the lake light that had transformed into a shimmering water surface, and said:

"It tells me that the oath projected from my inner conviction is to fight for those who need help and desire redemption."

Wu Chang had long known the result would be this; the Guardian Oath is a projection of one's inner conviction, and Erin's Saintess nature destined her generated Guardian Oath to be exactly this.

However, only such pure benevolence could cause the Lake of Eternity to emit such a dazzling light.

Wu Chang let out an exaggerated sigh and said in a resentful tone, "I thought the oath you generated would be to fight for me."

Erin responded seriously, "No matter when, as long as you need me, I will put everything aside and come to your side immediately."

"This is the oath I have made to you."

Wu Chang froze on the spot; he opened his mouth several times but did not know how to respond, and could only feel his old face flushing red.

Oh no, sincerity is the ultimate killing technique; he had only thrown out a basic attack, yet Erin directly unleashed her ultimate move in one wave; how could he possibly compete with that?

He held back for seven or eight seconds before saying:

"Regardless of whether you need me or not, I will always be by your side."

Erin smiled and said, "I know."

Hiss~

Although he had not fused with the items dropped from Xavier's Crimson Last Words, Wu Chang felt that at this moment, he had transformed into a steam engine, with hot steam spraying out from the top of his head.

Oh no, he had not expected natural lethality to be this strong.

He could only temporarily avoid the sharp edge of the situation; grabbing Erin's hand, he said, "Let's go home!"

If it had been He Yun launching such an offensive against him, tonight he would definitely make the other party experience his own fierce counter-offensive.

But Erin's emotions were too pure, so pure that they reminded Wu Chang of his ignorant first love from elementary school; it was too much of a pure romance, and thus it extinguished his desires.

This left him with no choice but to record tonight's events, waiting for an opportunity to settle the score double.

Wu Chang took a deep breath, shook his head to clear the clutter from his mind, and took out "Zhu Li's Research Notes on Spatial Magic."

With less than ten days remaining until the World Dungeon, he must improve his strength as quickly as possible before entering the dungeon.

"Player has reached the standard to activate the item; spend 300,000 Corrupt Silver Coins to upgrade Spatial Magic to Lord Rank?"

"Activate!"

Watching the Corrupt Silver Coins he had just saved up dwindle like flowing water, Wu Chang felt a pang in his heart.

But thinking that only 300,000 Corrupt Silver Coins were needed to exchange for an S-rank technique, he immediately felt it was a tremendous bargain.

As the 300,000 Corrupt Silver Coins vanished, Zhu Li's research notes moved without wind; the pages flipped rapidly before Wu Chang.

At this moment, Wu Chang seemed to have learned quantum speed-reading; facing the pages flipping until they left afterimages, he could actually see the content of every page clearly and imprint them in his mind.

Zhu Li's Research Notes on Spatial Magic recorded Zhu Li's journey from awakening her spatial magic talent to later exploring her own path step by step.

Within it, there were not only texts but also many sketchy drawings similar to sketches.

One could see that Zhu Li attempted to use messy text combined with abstract images to depict as accurately as possible what she had seen within the source of space.

In fact, she succeeded.

The rapidly flipping magic research notes connected the patterns on each page together, making them move like a comic strip.

Combining Zhu Li's textual descriptions with her research insights, the animated comic strip seemed to transform into a tunnel, guiding Wu Chang's spirit into the origin space belonging to "Spatial Magic."

On the road toward the origin space, Wu Chang once again saw the line segments he had created when promoting to Spatial Magic Grandmaster, dividing space into different small blocks.

But in the passage, the divided space was not square, and what separated them were not straight lines, but chaotic, twisted curves.

Wu Chang had to use his ability to warp space, re-twisting the chaotic distorted space back into orderly, normal space, in order to pass smoothly through the passage.

No wonder Zhu Li's magical research notes required the reader to be a Space Magic Grandmaster—if one did not master the power of spatial distortion, the reader's consciousness would become lost in the twisted passage, unable to enter the Source Space or return to the physical body.

In such cases, going mad was even considered lucky; those who became too absorbed often lost their consciousness entirely within the spatial passage, turning their bodies into living corpses, or even dying outright.

With the aid of spatial distortion, Wu Chang's consciousness passed through the spatial passage and arrived at the Source Space.

This was not his first time entering the Source Space—he had been here before when completing his Origin Knight transformation.

As before, countless beams of light intertwined in the Source Space; each beam represented a component of the world's rules.

But unlike last time, the light now lingering before Wu Chang had become two.

One was purple, representing mysticism; the other was a pale silver, representing space.

The two beams intertwined, forming a peculiar silver-purple hue.

Under the guidance of the silver-purple light, he fully comprehended all the knowledge in Zhu Li's notes.

The next moment, his consciousness left the Source Space and returned to his body.

"You have elevated Space Magic to Lord level. Your Space Magic is no longer bound by upper limits. Your Life attribute increases by 25 points, Energy attribute by 35 points, Inspiration attribute by 10 points, Will attribute by 25 points."

"Technique name: Lord-level Space Magic"

"Technique rank: S"

"Technique description: As a Lord of Space, you have personally witnessed the Source itself and forged your own path. Your path is unique; no one in Space Magic can now be your teacher. To advance further, you must rely solely on yourself."

Each time Space Magic as a technique is upgraded, the entire skill tree upgrades together.

As a Space Lord, it would be absurd to still be constrained by spatial size.

This upgrade of "Efficient Spatial Utilization" was not a doubling—it jumped directly from 2000% to 10000%.

The power of the Inner World was further enhanced; the spatial barrier now carried the power and rules of the Source.

Players pulled into the Inner World now found it far harder to escape; previously, with sufficient output, one might still shatter the spatial barrier and flee.

Now, with the constraints of Source power and rules, to attack the spatial barrier, one must first possess an equal level of Source power.

Space teleportation and spatial distortion both improved, but without fundamental qualitative change, as their upgrades were merged into the newly added Lord-level Space Magic.

"Skill name: Spatial Domain"

"Skill description: As a Space Lord, you may extend your abilities over a region to form your Spatial Domain. While the Spatial Domain lasts, the cooldown of your space teleportation and spatial distortion within it is reduced to one second, and you begin with five stacks of charge.

Within your Spatial Domain, marked targets cannot use blink, teleport, or dash-type skills; the space around them gradually solidifies until they are sealed within the solidified space. Maximum number of targets that can be marked: Inspiration / 50.

Spatial Domain range: Will attribute × 10 meters; while the Spatial Domain lasts, it consumes 1.5 Energy per second, each use of Space Magic consumes 1 Energy, each activation must last at least three seconds, cooldown: none."

(End of Chapter)