Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 762 - 760 Serene
The Witch pondered silently, dismissing names one by one in her mind.
She had noticed the information about this item a day ago and had gotten quite excited, thinking she could snag a bargain and unlock the item's true potential.
Although the Witch belonged to the Syndicate Secret Society and received a decent subsidy each month, the power system she cultivated was very unique. It had no barriers to practice and no dangerous side effects when advancing. However, it required spending a large amount of Transcendent materials daily, which was indeed too costly. The subsidy wouldn't even warm up in her wallet before it was all spent.
To maintain her funds, the Witch and her companion, Meow Meow Head, had opened an odd-jobs shop in Southeast Asia. They worked hard to make some small change, but it still wasn't enough. Consequently, she was forced to sign up for seven cards from seven financial institutions at the square, spending in advance every month. At the end of the month, she had to rob Peter to pay Paul. She had almost gone to the Global Occult Coalition herself to be captured and reported, just to exchange herself for the bounty they offered.
For this "Evil God Handicraft Clay," she had scraped together 6,000 Game Coins, risking life and limb. Then, she sweet-talked and wheedled Meow Meow Head into coming to the Game Square, begging it to lend her a few thousand Game Coins for the auction. (She had already swindled every senior and junior fellow from the Syndicate with various excuses, so none of them would lend her money for business ventures).
Unexpectedly, it was over before it had even begun. But, perhaps that's for the best...
With an expressionless face, the Witch sneakily slipped her left hand into her pocket and felt the bank cards inside.
Calming down, she thought that not managing to buy the handicraft clay might be a blessing in disguise. If she had bought it, she probably couldn't have paid off this month's credit card bill... Then she'd have to put on cosplayer attire again, posing as a perverted player just like before, to rob Transcendent gangs in Great Britain. Hmm... Have I been robbing gangs a bit too frequently lately? Even leeks need to be watered and their soil loosened from time to time...
Meow Meow Head, engrossed in eating dried fish on the table, suddenly noticed all the remaining fish had disappeared from its plate. It instinctively looked up to see the Witch seriously packing food into a plastic bag, including the dried fish it was still munching on.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? I'm still eating!" Meow Meow Head complained, flailing its claws.
"Eating too much of this stuff is bad for a cat's health," the Witch continued packing food with a serious face, looking as if she wanted to take everything, including the tables and chairs. "I'm doing this for your own good," she said.
"You!" the grey-white kitty cried out in frustration. "You promised I could eat a feast while we went for the item!"
"Did I?" The Witch furrowed her brows, smacking her palm with a fist. "Well, we didn't get the item, did we? Plus, all this food is cooked for humans; it doesn't suit a cat's palate. I'll buy you some premium cat food later. As for this meal, let's settle this like sisters and go Dutch."
"Screw you!!!"
「 」
He got it.
Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the grey-white box-shaped package suddenly appear in his inventory.
He continued to browse items on the shelves as if nothing had happened. After a while, he chose to log off, exiting the Game Square and returning to the real world.
There was no one in the room. It seemed Chaichai was still in the Breeding Box. Li Ang teleported into the Breeding Box and called out Chaichai, who was immersed in modifying Chai's Revelation in the Alchemy Workshop.
"What's this?" Curious, Chaichai glanced at the grey, rubbery substance on the ground, as large as a car wheel. She reached out to poke it with her index finger, but Li Ang swatted her hand away.
"This is the 'Evil God Handicraft Clay,' used for sculpting statues," Li Ang explained. "Just infuse it with Divine Power, and you can change its shape."
"Oh?" Chaichai's eyes lit up. "Does it become a sentient, living statue after being sculpted? With such a big piece of clay, let's sculpt some Sonico, Yukinoshita Yukino, and Kasumigaoka Poetry Feather, shall we?"
"That's not how it's used, okay?" Li Ang's eyes twitched slightly. "And why sculpt them?"
"You just don't get it," Chaichai smiled smugly, speaking gravely. "Nowadays, if cultural works don't feature cute, charming, youthful, and beautiful girls, they won't be popular! In this day and age, the world's ways have declined, and the human heart is not what it used to be!"
Miss Chai shook her head and sighed, displaying an air of lonely superiority, as if she alone were sober in a world of inebriates. Her fisherman's cardigan over a V-neck sweater, with a mandarin-collared shirt underneath, made Li Ang feel more and more as if he were looking at Mr. Lu Xun himself.
Li Ang opened his mouth, then hesitated, "Your outfit..."
"Oh," Miss Chai looked down at her clothes and, lifting the "Chai's Revelation Revised Edition Draft 2" in her hand, pretended to be profound. "I feel that when writing scripture, cosplaying a great literary figure will give me more inspiration. Please call me Chai Tree Man, or Zhou Chai Ren."
"Chai my foot." Li Ang tapped Chaichai on the forehead. "How is your Chai's Revelation coming along? Let me see it."
"Here." Chaichai handed the scripture to Li Ang, puffing out her chest with pride. "I think the original Chai's Revelation, which only contains the creation chapter, can be further completed. I plan to imitate formal scriptures and construct a reasonable template of life philosophy, worldviews, and value systems for the Bug Clan..."
As Li Ang listened to Chaichai's ramblings, he flipped to the back of Chai's Revelation and found that Chaichai had anticipated the day when the Bug Clan would be released, commenting with solid square brackets.
[In the Automated Pet Box, everything the Bug Clan eats and uses belongs to Li Ang. Like the Garden of Eden, it is under the absolute control of the creator. But on the day they encounter the outside world, the Bug Clan will be tempted by the forbidden fruit, just like Adam and Eve.]
[They will see the colorful world, encounter various people and events, and learn about different thoughts.]
[To control the Bug Clan, it is necessary to establish the fundamental principles of the Bug Clan's ideology, so they understand why they exist and why they fight.]
Below the remarks was "Chai's Revelation: Parables," containing several simple and easy-to-understand parables. At the very top was the story of the bees.
Once, there was a group of bees that worked hard to produce 10 kilograms of honey, but an alien creature nearby took 9 kilograms of it.
The bees were very upset, so the next year, they only produced 5 kilograms of honey. Although 4 kilograms were still taken away, they got 20% that year, double the 10% from the previous year.
The bees were happy.
The alien creatures living nearby thought this could not continue, so they put on thick protective suits to negotiate with the bees. They told them that there was another choice: if the bees worked hard, in the third year they could produce 100 kilograms of honey. Although 90 kilograms would be taken away, they would get to keep 10 kilograms. In the fourth year, if they produced 1,000 kilograms of honey, they would get to keep 100 kilograms...
The alien creatures gently persuaded the bee colony. They told them that what mattered was not how much honey was taken away, but the growth of the bee colony—growth was the most important thing. Once the colony thrived with many members, buzzing densely in the flowers, all troubles would vanish like smoke.
The bee colony believed the words of the aliens and worked diligently.
But in the third year, the fourth year... the alien creatures still only left the bee colony 1 kilogram of honey, just enough to sustain their lives. To prevent the bees from resisting further, they devised tedious and complex spreadsheets and, with convoluted financial theories, argued that the value of honey had depreciated.
The worker bees withered away in hunger, larva after larva shriveled and died, and the colony faltered, while the alien creatures ate to their fill, growing fat and bloated.
The parable ended abruptly there.
Li Ang looked at Chaichai with confusion.
But the Chaichai, cosplaying as Mr. Lu Xun, became serious. She pushed up imaginary glasses on her nose and said solemnly, "I've reviewed all the human literary works about Bug Clans. Whether it's the Bug Clan in 'Starship Umbrella Soldiers,' the Zerg in 'StarCraft,' or the Great Devourer in 'Warhammer,' they all portray Bug Clans as savage primal beings that lack self-awareness, only capable of boundless consumption. Such a setting is certainly convenient, but it does not match the characteristics of your Bug Clan units, which possess self-awareness.
"To control the Bug Clan, in addition to using scriptures, you must make them firmly believe that the way of the Lord of Flesh and Swamp is correct. They must believe that the Lord of Flesh and Swamp will generously embrace all beings from myriad worlds with the tenderness of a father for his children.
"The loving father wants to bring hope of life to all creatures and to bring true justice and fairness. He aims to eliminate exploitation, end wars, rid the world of all injustice, and return everything to the peaceful serenity of the Automated Pet Box's Garden of Eden state.
"And the Bug Clan is the father's tool, his knife, and his sword. They were born to clear all obstacles in his way."
