Chapter 1 Meeting

The conference room was silent, everyone contemplating the information-rich content Arina had just delivered.

The Gate offered planetary-level resources and a paradise untouched by plane wars, while the Mandate War offered a chance for transcendence?

After a long silence, someone finally asked, "Is there any evidence to support this? And what form does this transcendence take?"

"The evidence is the compilation of hundreds of thousands of script mission background materials collected by our major guilds to date."

Arina said, "This information is impossible for any individual player to fully grasp.

Even we only recently began to share information and discern subtle patterns due to the Shibi Wang incident.

We've discovered that many script missions set near modern Earth also feature the same broad spectrum of pantheons as Earth. Most players have noticed this and dismissed it as a setting of the Killing Game.

However, the subtle point is that while the distribution of pantheons is broad, there are discrepancies in the specific details of the gods in different script worlds.

For example, in some worlds, the Germanic people of the Nordic region became the main ethnic group spreading religious beliefs in that world.

They unified Europe, implemented a tribal system, and caused the early demise of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires.

They stained the Seine and Rhine rivers with blood, and put the Pope of the Vatican on trial.

The biggest holiday in the local world isn't Christmas, but Midsummer Festival.

The prevalence of water burials or sea burials is also far higher than that of cremation or burial.

These minor details are hidden in the background information,

proving that in that world, Norse mythology has a more obvious advantage in the fields of dissemination and continuation.

Players always see bizarre script worlds,

such as those with only monks, where Buddhist scriptures are taught in schools; or where all of humanity gathers on isolated islands, worshiping the sea god Poseidon and regularly offering white bull sacrifices to him.

After sorting, summarizing, and performing big data analysis on these strange worlds, a very interesting conclusion emerges—so far, the propagation index of each pantheon's mythology in the script mission worlds (this index integrates data such as frequency, intensity, breadth, and depth),

is consistent with the curve of the propagation of each pantheon's myths and legends in the real world's history.

The wider a pantheon spread and the more people who believed in it in the real world, the greater its advantage in the script missions. The key is that this advantage is horizontal.

The feathered serpent god of American mythology first appeared in the Olmec civilization, and was later called Quetzalcoatl by the Aztecs and Kukulkan by the Mayans.

Now the Olmec, Aztec, and Mayan civilizations have all perished, but the influence of the feathered serpent god in the script worlds is still comparable to that of ancient Greek mythology at the same time.

The Olmec civilization of Central America is the mother of Indian civilizations, dating back to 2000 BC to the beginning of the Common Era,

while ancient Greek civilization can be traced back to the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete from approximately 3000 BC to 1100 BC.

The two are close in age.

That is, if the feathered serpent god and the ancient Greek pantheon originated at the same time and had the same influence and a similar scale of believers at the time.

Then their subsequent impact on the script worlds is also the same—regardless of the later fate of these two pantheons' myths and legends and believers.

If we use evidence to extrapolate backwards, we may be able to prove a theory,

the strength of a transcendent being when they are alive determines the power they have to become a god,

the power to become a god determines their subtle influence on the script worlds.

And this influence determines that, regardless of whether the god's faith has been cut off in the real world, they can still be resurrected."

Arina paused, casting a sidelong glance at the leaders of the Global Supernatural Alliance and Michael, and said in a deep voice: "We believe that this is the essence of the Mandate War.

The prize of the Mandate War—or perhaps an ancillary prize—is that players can project their influence into more subordinate worlds.

Players can ignore this,

or they can use this convenience to choose the path of apotheosis.

If they choose apotheosis, then this convenience will be transformed into a great advantage.

They will never die, even if their faith in the real world is forgotten and their believers are wiped out, thus obtaining immortality in the literal sense."

Immortality...

The atmosphere in the conference room became oppressive and solidified once again.

The proportion of fanatics among the player community is not large, especially after they know that the so-called gods are just more powerful transcendent beings, and even fewer people are willing to persist in their faith.

But this does not affect their awe and fear of gods and immortality.

"This theory also explains some other doubts.

For example, the mythological backgrounds that appear in script missions and are close to Earth are all ancient, without modern or contemporary elements. Many mythological settings added by later generations in modern times do not exist in the script worlds.

And there isn't a single case of many man-made cultural symbols in modern times, such as the Flying Spaghetti Monster, being seen in hundreds of thousands of script worlds—the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a modern invention and has no transcendent attributes."

Arina said: "True gods cannot be killed. At least, they cannot be killed by conventional methods. Because they both exist and do not exist in this world."

The representative of the Monster Alliance Guild frowned and asked, "...Then, what about the Thor that David just encountered in the Sky Arena?

Is he a real god, or something else?

And why is he qualified to appear in the Mandate War?"

Hearing the question, Arina exchanged glances with the management of the Global Supernatural Alliance and nodded, saying: "We tend to think that he is a god who has not fully resurrected.

Just like what was mentioned earlier, many of the most powerful transcendent beings in previous Killing Games will choose the path of apotheosis through faith, wanting to continue their existence after death.

Of course, even many ordinary transcendent beings know now that apotheosis through faith is actually destroying one's original personality and replacing it with the image of the god imagined in the minds of believers.

Becoming another person,

is almost the same as dying, or becoming a zombie.

So, if this path to continuing one's existence is so bumpy, so cost-ineffective, and there is also the risk of falling into slumber after death, why do those brilliant transcendent beings choose it without hesitation?

Combining ancient books from the Different Society, the Clock Tower, the Vatican, and other places, we believe that this incomplete resurrection will turn into a complete resurrection at some point—gods have influence in different script worlds,

and some planets with particularly strong religious atmospheres will even give rise to transcendent beings, or even players.

There are also players in the script worlds, both local players summoned at random and those who inherit player qualifications after killing Earth players.

When this happens,

those transcendent beings with strong religious beliefs will become existences that the gods can control,

Saints, walkers on earth, and apostles are all names for these people.

These saints have grown up in an absolute religious atmosphere since childhood, and can even be regarded to some extent as containers and carriers of the gods..."

"Carriers? Wait, are you saying..."

"That's right, we believe that the one who defeated David in the Sky Arena just now was Thor, the chosen carrier in a certain script world."

Arina nodded and said: "It's not just Thor. After the last Killing Game version update, our several guild organizations received hundreds of script world data, among which there were hundreds of eyewitness accounts of suspected gods.

After the Killing Game version update, ancient gods have indeed awakened, not only in our world, but also in the thousands of script worlds they once controlled."

"This..."

Black Steed of Whalefall listened in stunned silence, but wasn't so surprised in his heart.

As a contestant chosen by the Whalefall organization, he had also consulted a considerable amount of information before the competition, and had vague guesses in his heart about the essence of the Mandate War and the gods.

"We knew that the ancient gods were very strong, but we never thought they would be so strong,"

Ju Zi of the Mechanical Workshop Guild said with a wry smile, "Even after death, their influence can spread to hundreds of thousands of script worlds."

"That's normal, isn't it?"

Zhen Li Zhi Ce said quietly, "Just look up at the moon and you'll know. Even the Shenlong left over from the mythical era can now occupy the moon alone, leaving mortals far behind.

It's only natural that gods are a little stronger than imagined."

Zhen Li Zhi Ce paused, turned to look at Arina, and said slowly: "I also have some information on hand.

So, those awakened gods have also chosen their own carriers, substitutes, saints,

or apostles,

to participate in this Mandate War?

If they can win, they can use the influence of hundreds of thousands of script worlds to truly resurrect?"

"We guess that's the case."

Arina nodded and said: "Mr. Zhen Li Zhi Ce, you are a master in manipulating souls. I wonder if you have any opinions?"

"I'm just better at creating things with psionic energy. The mental aspect is not my specialty, and besides, I didn't choose the path of apotheosis through faith."

Zhen Li Zhi Ce said slowly, "Someone is more qualified to answer this question than me."

The guild leader of the Devil Scientists Alliance slowly turned his head, and with his movements, everyone in the conference room turned their attention to Li Ang, who had been silent from the beginning.

"What are you all looking at me for?"

Li Ang leaned forward, letting his back leave the chair, and said lightly: "Do I have flowers on my face?"

"Ahem,"

Celsius of the Clock Tower coughed lightly and said, "Mr. Li, you should be the existence in the Killing Game who has gone the furthest on the path of apotheosis through faith.

Do you think those gods will use this Mandate War to return in complete form?"

"I'm just a weak and solitary player without any power to rely on and unable to obtain too much information.

You want me to discuss the rise and fall of hundreds of thousands of worlds and the revival of gods, it's difficult for me."

Li Ang spread his hands. Much of the information he obtained was through Zerg scout drones and what he obtained by using the Gate and the terminal vending machine.

It's much more than ordinary players, but it's definitely not comparable to ancient organizations like the Vatican, the Clock Tower, and the Different Society.

"However, seeing your dazed expressions now, I can roughly guess something."

He looked at Arina and said: "I think the Vatican, the Clock Tower, the Different Society, and other organizations have records about the revival of gods, right?

In an extremely obscure form, recorded in ancient books."

Arina nodded, "Yes."

Li Ang said thoughtfully: "Then, these records should not mention any cases of gods actually resurrecting, not even once.

At the same time, there are no specific explanations about when the gods will revive."

"This..."

Arina hesitated whether to answer, and the Secretary-General of the Global Supernatural Alliance next to her nodded, saying: "That's right, how did you know?"

"If the gods could be resurrected so easily, Shibi Wang wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble to lie dormant until now."

Li Ang narrowed his eyes, recalling the Shibi Wang avatar he encountered in the [Farewell My Love] script mission, and the last words the other party had left behind.

Gods who rely on the power of faith to achieve "eternal life" are just parasites parasitizing on mortal groups.

"Gods are very powerful, but they are not invincible.

First of all, they haven't resurrected before. Now, it's only the first time, proving that they only had some kind of premonition when they died and made arrangements.

Secondly, a god is likely to only have a saint in one script world.

Although I don't have hundreds of thousands of script world data like you, I can guess it by thinking about it.

It is difficult to perfectly meet the conditions for a saint—the gods must have a huge, brainwashing influence in the local world, have hundreds of millions of believers, and players must also be produced among the believers.

That last player must also persist in their faith, not abandon the gods because they possess extraordinary power, and be willing to act as the gods' substitute.

Even with hundreds of thousands of worlds as the denominator, the number of numerators that can be born is pitifully small.

Not all gods have saints. Of the thousands upon thousands of gods born on Earth, perhaps only a few hundred, or even a few dozen, have saints in other worlds,

just enough to participate in this Mandate War."

Li Ang tapped the table with his knuckles casually, and said lightly: "Of course, even dozens of god saints are difficult to deal with.

If they really let them resurrect, perhaps something terrible would happen to the Earth civilization.

Gods possess unimaginable power, and perhaps the fully complete gods with self-awareness can resurrect other gods in the same pantheon after returning to Earth.

Think about it, the center of those pantheons is on Earth,

Earth and the residents on Earth must have some special significance for them.

When hundreds or thousands of gods return, the transcendent beings on Earth will become thorns that must be dealt with.

Either believe in them, or just die.

And Earth has also become their battlefield for launching divine wars, or even starting plane wars with other Stargate worlds.

Is this the analysis you want me to give?

Tell all transcendent beings that the apostles of the gods they encounter in the Mandate War are not allies, but mortal enemies who cannot coexist."

Li Ang looked around the entire conference room, his calm gaze passing over Michael's silver-white armor.

Saints, apostles.

What exactly is Michael's identity and source of power?

What role will Su Ni Shang play in the Mandate War?

Even Li Ang himself, if other transcendent beings can surrender and beg for mercy in the face of the possible god saints, then he, who has already embarked on the path of apotheosis through faith, has no possibility of retreat.