Chapter 347: A Little Strong, But Mostly Average |
"..."
After analyzing the current situation in the Niya Galaxy, Chen Mang had a pretty good grasp of things. While the enemy was busy rallying their military forces for an invasion, it was obvious they still needed time. It could be days, or it could be months.
In short.
Striking first was definitely the right move.
One day later.
Chen Mang led Biao Zi and the rest of his team onto a planet belonging to the Vile Civilization. The inhabitants here all possessed three heads and six arms, meaning his group would stand out glaringly if they didn't use disguises. Fortunately, the Human Civilization had the Cultivation Civilization among its ranks.
For the Cultivation Civilization, altering physical appearances was not a difficult task.
After borrowing a Spiritual Treasure from the Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, they easily morphed their bodies to sport the same three heads and six arms as the locals. As long as they were not stopped for a rigorous inspection, they looked completely indistinguishable from the citizens of the Vile Civilization.
Only by infiltrating deep into a civilization.
And discover its respective weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
For example...
"This really is a bit bizarre."
Chen Mang sat in a local cafe. He had not taken a single sip of the coffee on the table before him. Xiao Ai had already hacked into the civilization's network and discovered an accessory that almost all trains exploring the universe were required to install.
-
The Prismatic-grade firepower accessory, "Cannon of Satan".
-
A firepower accessory that consumed copper ore.
Its destructive power matched any standard Prismatic-grade firepower accessory. However, because it was not a light-energy cannon, its projectile speed was relatively slower, failing to reach the speed of light. Still, unless a train was incredibly fast, dodging it was extremely difficult.
The most significant effect of this accessory was—
"Every projectile fired comes from the future."
Literally.
Even if you did not possess a single unit of copper ore, you could fire it continuously for an entire year without any physical ammunition. All the resources consumed were drawn from the future. Naturally, you only needed to repay the borrowed copper ore one year later.
If you failed to repay it.
Satan would claim your life.
Aside from this, there were many other peculiar accessories.
For instance.
"Sacrificial Altar".
By sacrificing certain items to Satan, one could earn a corresponding level of rewards. The highest tier of rewards was reserved for pure-blooded humans—individuals with no mutations, lacking three heads and six arms, devoid of Cultivation aptitude, and completely untainted by any bizarre anomalies.
As long as the offering was human, the sacrifice would yield a reward.
The purer the bloodline, the greater the bounty.
The common link binding many of these accessories pointed to a single entity: Satan, the revered deity of the Vile Civilization. This was a society where a divine civilization and a train-based civilization had seamlessly merged.
"..."
Chen Mang furrowed his brows slightly, falling into deep thought without speaking. He felt that something was not quite right about this situation.
He had previously spoken with the leader of the Starlight Civilization.
There were no gods in the universe.
The God Race did not count as true deities.
A true god would be omnipotent. Much like the very laws of the universe, they would be immortal, indestructible, and entirely transcendent of the mortal realm.
Almost all train civilizations operated like the Starlight Civilization. They worshiped a specific cosmic beast or a totem pole, channeling massive amounts of the Power of Faith to wash over the object. This constant baptism of faith would cause the object to mutate, eventually feeding power back to its worshipers.
To put it bluntly.
The essence of a divine civilization was actually to create a god first, and then believe in it.
The god was merely a fabricated medium, not an entity that truly existed.
But—
The Vile Civilization gave him a completely different vibe. It felt as if Satan truly existed, as if there really was a conscious entity going by that name.
Right at that moment.
The Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion returned from gathering intelligence outside. As a member of the Cultivation Civilization, this was his first opportunity to be truly useful in a major civilizational operation. Naturally, he wanted to show off his capabilities to secure more benefits for his people within the Human Civilization.
Possessing the ability to shapeshift, he was like a fish in water here, virtually immune to being exposed.
He strode confidently into the cafe and sat down. Using one of his heads, he downed a cup of coffee in a single gulp. After wiping the stains from the corners of his mouth, he looked respectfully at Chen Mang and whispered, "Boss Mang, I managed to dig up some intel."
"Which is—"
"During their cosmic expeditions, all of their trains seek out unranked, primitive civilizations. By displaying miracles, they coerce the people of those civilizations into worshipping Satan. This Power of Faith is directly received by Satan, who then rewards the believers with a certain amount of faith points."
"These faith points can be used to upgrade certain Faith Accessories or be consumed for other uses."
"What I am almost absolutely certain of is..."
"Satan..."
"Might actually exist, and he seems to be quite active."
"I saw with my own eyes on the streets just now that the overall happiness index of the population is incredibly high. Also, I witnessed someone get hit by a vehicle and suffer severe injuries. A priest happened to be walking by, knelt down to pray for a moment, and a beam of white light shined down from the sky. It completely healed the critically injured person! It was truly miraculous..."
At that same moment.
The customers at the neighboring table ordered a few cups of coffee.
A waiter with three heads and six arms approached, first placing three empty cups on their table. Then, he patted his left head. The head leaned over an empty cup and regurgitated a stream of hot coffee. Next, he patted his right head, which spat out a splash of milk.
"Please enjoy your drinks."
The customers behind them immediately began sipping their coffee, constantly singing its praises as they drank.
Chen Mang maintained a calm expression as he subtly pushed his own cup of coffee a little further away.
Meanwhile, the Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion sat frozen, his face turning an ugly shade of green. He couldn't help but look around the room, feeling an urgent need to visit the restroom.
"It is actually fine,"
Xiao Ai, who was sitting beside them in her own disguise, spoke up softly. "The biological structure of the people in the Vile Civilization is completely different from ours. Their abdomens are natural, ideal environments for fermentation. Therefore, in the Vile Civilization, many taverns and cafes use their own bodies to ferment beverages."
"And because of this brewing method, labor costs are significantly higher."
"As a result, this practice is usually only found in high-end establishments."
"Overall, due to the unique composition of their organs, there is no bacteria or saliva involved in the process. If you can accept this method of preparation, the flavor is honestly much better than many of the coffees available within our own civilization."
Hearing this, the Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion's complexion recovered slightly. He licked the corner of his lips before admitting hesitantly, "The taste... is actually quite good."
Chen Mang did not say another word.
He simply took the tablet handed to him by Xiao Ai. His train could not be equipped with Faith Accessories. The only way to bypass this restriction was to choose to worship Satan and gain his explicit approval; only then could he utilize the Faith Accessories.
Based on all the information he had gathered so far.
He could basically draw one conclusion.
The faith of the Vile Civilization was not a fabricated construct or an abstract concept. It was centered around a genuine, existing deity. For a divine civilization that possessed a true god, the level of social cohesion would typically be unprecedentedly strong.
It was just that...
This god did not seem to be physically present within the Vile Civilization, or perhaps even in this dimension. He could only manifest miracles and harvest the Power of Faith through specific means, unable to descend upon the Vile Civilization with his true body.
"A god?"
Chen Mang's face remained utterly tranquil as he scrolled through the data Xiao Ai had compiled. He murmured softly, "Just a special entity possessing formidable power, that's all. If he truly were a god, why hasn't he noticed our presence yet?"
If he were a true god, Satan should have sensed their existence the very moment they began prying into the Vile Civilization.
Only an omnipotent being, entirely unbound by the laws of the universe, deserved to be called a god, right?
He faintly felt as though he might have brushed against another world.
Or perhaps, another dimension entirely.
A realm he had never encountered before.
"Let's go."
Chen Mang stood up, grabbed his walking stick from his chair, and turned to head out of the cafe. "Let's go meet this Satan."
The Vile Civilization's greatest foundational weapon was undoubtedly Satan. If he wanted to wipe out this civilization, he had to deal with this Satan first.
Within the Vile Civilization.
Quite a few people had allegedly witnessed Satan with their own eyes. However, no accurate descriptions of his face had ever been circulated, and every eyewitness account told a different story.
There was a planet known as the Satan Planet.
Any train captain who wished to equip Faith Accessories was required to travel to this planet. There, they had to step through a "Bronze Gate" into a mysterious world to meet Satan in person. Only after receiving Satan's explicit blessing could they install the Faith Accessories.
He needed to go there and see it for himself.
To see exactly what kind of tricks this Satan had up his sleeve.
Of course—
Before doing so, he needed to make as many preparations as possible.
Out in deep space.
Chen Mang sat in the passenger cabin of an interstellar train. Taking Biao Zi and the others with him, they traveled toward the Satan Planet like ordinary tourists.
He hadn't brought his own train out. His Stellaris Train was far too conspicuous. Right now, it had been transformed into a brooch pinned to his chest, ready to be summoned only if a battle broke out.
During the year spent developing in the Niya Galaxy.
He had accomplished a great deal.
And the most important thing of all.
Was—
He had constructed a spatial Wormhole. Its far end opened up directly into the path of that Level 4987 light-energy attack currently traversing the Dark Abyss. He had also scattered quite a few Refrigerators along that path. Whenever he needed to, he could track down that light-energy cannon blast within twenty-four hours.
By absorbing the energy of that devastating light-energy beam, he could temporarily boost his train's armor to an unfathomable degree.
This was one of his greatest trump cards.
Beyond that.
Over the past year, he had also used his existing resources to constantly build up his own foundational strength. True foundational strength was something that required vast amounts of time to accumulate.
This was an interstellar train bound for the Satan Planet. The carriages were packed with travelers sporting three heads and six arms. Every single face wore an expression of deep devotion. It was the piety of zealous pilgrims, and this sheer, extreme fanaticism emitted a subtle, suffocating pressure.
If any normal human were placed in such an environment.
They would undoubtedly feel a stifling sense of oppression.
The overwhelming psychological pressure of being forced to conform.
He glanced around without saying a word, simply turning his head to gaze out the window. When it came to civilizational foundation, the Human Civilization still fell a bit short. The train was traveling incredibly fast. Whatever propulsion method it used, it looked remarkably similar to how that cosmic behemoth, spanning two light-years in diameter, traversed through space.
Wriggling its way through the very fabric of space.
Using a chain of rapid micro-teleportations to push the train to blistering speeds.
He didn't possess these complex mechanics; all he relied on were raw, brute-force stats.
However...
Fast as this train was, it still paled in comparison to the top speed of his Stellaris Train. In the face of absolute stats, complex mechanics were nothing more than band-aids meant to cover up weaknesses.
Right at that moment—
In the row of seats directly in front of him, a middle-aged man suddenly began to convulse violently. Gasping for air, he tumbled out of his seat and crashed onto the floor. All three of his heads were panting heavily, struggling desperately to draw breath. His faces turned a ghastly shade of blue. Clutching his chest with multiple hands, he writhed on the ground, looking as if he were on the verge of dropping dead at any second.
Panic immediately erupted among the passengers.
But immediately after.
Urgent shouts rang out from the end of the carriage. "Make way! Make way! There's a priest here! Let the priest through!"
Soon after.
An elderly man adorned in priestly robes slowly stepped forward, flanked by the crowd. He knelt in front of the middle-aged man, placed a single hand on the convulsing man's forehead, closed his eyes, and muttered with deep devotion, "In the name of Satan, I bestow blessings upon the sick."
"May the wisdom of Belial allow you to see through false mercies."
"May the desire of Asmodeus ignite your burning will to survive."
"May the pride of Lucifer guide you beyond the shackles of mortal agony."
"If you are destined to fall."
"May you wage war in the darkness."
"If you are to be healed."
"May you reign as a king in the light."
"True salvation lies not in the lies of heaven, but in the awakening of the abyss."
The priest knelt on the floor, his eyes tightly shut in prayer. Two of his hands rested on the patient's forehead, while his remaining four hands were clasped together in supplication. A soft white light began to radiate from his body, glowing like a firefly in the dark as he silently chanted the scriptures.
The next moment—
The priest's eyes suddenly snapped open. A flash of envy and compassion crossed his gaze as he looked at the surrounding crowd.
"Satan has answered my prayers."
"He said that considering this man's lifelong devotion, he cannot bear to see him suffer any longer in the mortal realm. He is specifically recalling him to the Holy Land, to serve by Satan's side for all eternity."
Immediately after.
The patient had actually stopped convulsing by this point and was on the verge of opening his eyes. However, the priest raised his glowing hands and simultaneously slammed several of them down onto the man's heads, crushing them instantly.
Flesh and blood splattered in every direction.
The man was dead beyond any hope of revival.
At the exact same time.
The rest of the passengers on the train erupted into deafening cheers. Their faces were flushed red, completely overwhelmed with excitement.
"..."
Watching this unfold right in front of him, Chen Mang couldn't stop his mouth from twitching. If his eyes weren't deceiving him, that patient had simply suffered an epileptic seizure. That particular condition did indeed cause people to sporadically collapse and convulse.
But normally, after a brief period of thrashing, the person would wake up on their own.
Unless their airways were blocked, there was virtually no risk of death.
As a result...
The patient was just about to wake up naturally, only to have his heads smashed in by this priest?
And they called this sensing the summons of Satan?
Meanwhile.
The train captain arrived in the carriage with his crew, his face full of gratitude as he presented the priest with a handsome sum of wealth.
Xiao Ai whispered softly.
"Captain."
"Within this Vile Civilization, everyone fiercely believes one thing: as long as they die in battle for Satan, they will ascend to the Holy Land. It is a place devoid of illness or death, overflowing with nothing but fine wine and endless joy."
"Those who commit suicide or die of old age are forbidden from entering."
"Because of this, the greatest aspiration of the people here is to die fighting for Satan, or to be directly recalled by him. Priests are considered Satan's chosen spokesmen, blessed with the ability to commune with him. Becoming a priest requires passing astronomically difficult trials. In the Vile Civilization, their authority is absolute, and no one dares cross them. Even the supreme leaders of the civilization must treat them with the utmost reverence."
"Otherwise, they would face a violent uprising from the masses."
"Many trains are equipped with a Prismatic-grade accessory called the 'Gates of Hell', which can resurrect any passengers who die on board. However, this resurrection has strict limits. A person can be revived a maximum of two times. Upon their third death, they perish permanently."
"Anyone who dies in battle defending their train is also granted entry into the Holy Land."
"Therefore, becoming a train Guard is also considered an incredibly glorious profession in the Vile Civilization. They view dying in combat as an honor, and the Holy Land as their true home."
"..."
Chen Mang remained perfectly calm and silent. Initially, he had genuinely believed that Satan was nothing more than a political tool—a myth fabricated by the leaders of the Vile Civilization to govern their people. But all the evidence pointing in the same direction suggested that Satan might truly exist.
He just didn't know if the guy had a health bar.
And if he could be killed.
He had already prepared quite a few escape routes. If push came to shove and he couldn't win the fight, he would simply bail.
It was fine to be lacking in offensive tactics, but you could never have too many ways to run for your life.
Besides...
Although this civilization was undeniably eerie, he had still chosen to come. After all, unlike the Good Cat Civilization, the Vile Civilization had already completely strip-mined their entire star system and gathered all the resources in one place. It was simply too convenient. He could skip the tedious mining process altogether and just pack everything up to take with him.
Right at that moment—
Perhaps it was because he seemed entirely out of place among the fanatical passengers on the train. The priest, who had been smiling genially while soaking up the praise and reverence of the crowd, locked his gaze onto Chen Mang. Furrowing his brow, he slowly walked over to Chen Mang and spoke in a raspy voice.
"Did you not witness the miracle that Satan has bestowed upon us?"
"A sick man received Satan's grace and was granted an exceptional recall to the Holy Land."
Chen Mang nodded. Having no intention of exposing himself, he allowed his eyes to turn slightly red and replied in a hoarse voice, "I saw it, Priest. I was just so overcome with emotion that I couldn't speak. I also felt a surge of jealousy... wondering why I wasn't the one chosen to enter the Holy Land. I was just reflecting on these negative emotions of mine."
"Very good."
The priest seemed quite satisfied with his answer. He nodded approvingly and patted Chen Mang's shoulder. "As long as your faith remains deeply devout, one day, you too will earn the opportunity to die in battle for Satan."
"The glory of Satan shall spread across the entire universe."
"Satan has already handed down his divine decree."
"In a star system 780,000 light-years away resides an unforgivable, heretical civilization. Under Satan's command, the Vile Civilization has already begun massing its armies, preparing to launch an invasion on that system in the coming days. Right now, widespread conscription is underway."
"Go."
"Go die in battle for Satan. He will be waiting for you in the Holy Land to reward your courage and celebrate your homecoming."
"I will!"
Tears welled up in Chen Mang's eyes as he nodded emphatically. Then, mimicking the slogans he had seen online, he slammed his fist over his heart and shouted, "Long live Satan! The darkness is eternal!"
The priest's expression turned solemn as he similarly struck his chest with his fist.
"Long live Satan, the darkness is eternal."
Within the Vile Civilization.
The very name 'Satan' inherently carried the utmost reverence. There was no need to add honorifics like 'Lord Satan' or 'His Eminence.' Saying 'Lord Satan' would be redundant, akin to saying 'Lord Lord,' which would just sound ridiculous. Since he was infiltrating to gather intelligence, Chen Mang naturally paid close attention to these subtle Humanities details.
He could not allow himself to be exposed over such trivial oversights.
Afterward.
Only when the priest turned and walked away did Chen Mang's expression smoothly return to a calm mask. What a brilliant excuse for legalized murder. He was absolutely certain that the priest hadn't received any sort of 'recall command' from Satan just now.
He had a pretty good guess as to how these priests performed their miracles.
To maintain his rule, Satan likely selected a batch of priests to act as his proxies, performing miracles on the ground—such as healing critically injured patients. However, while Satan might possess divine power, he definitely wasn't bored enough to micromanage everything.
It was impossible for him to constantly monitor the prayers of every single priest.
Therefore...
Whenever these priests managed to solicit a response from Satan, they would heal the person and display a miracle. But if Satan ignored them, they would simply execute the patient on the spot and dub it an exceptional recall to the Holy Land.
It was perfect.
The logic was watertight.
Either way, they never took a loss.
This Satan's power level was definitely not overwhelmingly high. Chen Mang silently pinned a label onto the deity in his mind. Otherwise, with Satan being so actively involved, the Vile Civilization wouldn't have remained stagnant as a Level Four civilization for so long.
They would have sought out the neighboring Level Five civilization to wage war long ago.
Or wouldn't it have been more tempting to cross over the Dark Abyss and pick a fight with the Level Five Naomi Civilization?
In reality, they were...
A little strong, but mostly average.
Soon enough—
The train continued its journey across the cosmos.
Along the way, that priest hardly took a break. He harassed every single female passenger on the train. Yes, every single one of them—from the young maidens down to the elderly crones, he didn't spare a single one. He conducted an inspection on all the women, one by one.
His excuse was that Satan had tasked him with selecting a handmaiden.
His method of inspection involved placing something in their mouths.
Many of the female passengers were accompanied by their husbands or family members. Yet, these relatives acted as if they were possessed. They didn't feel the slightest bit offended that their wives were being violated. On the contrary, they felt that having the opportunity to participate in this evaluation was an incredible blessing from Satan.
Each of them knelt on the side, their faces brimming with gratitude.
While the priest was busy at work.
They kept their eyes tightly shut in fervent prayer, desperately hoping that their wives would pass the test and become handmaidens serving Satan in the Holy Land.
"..."
Chen Mang watched the absurd spectacle unfold with a deadpan expression. For the first time, he truly realized the terrifying nature of fanatic faith. It could completely warp a person's perception of reality, brainwashing them into blindly accepting something utterly unconscionable while genuinely believing it was their greatest honor.
The Power of Faith.
Just witnessing its effects was horrifying enough. If all of this faith was gathered together, what kind of explosive energy could it unleash?
He felt as if...
He suddenly understood what that Satan was truly after. Was he harvesting this pure Power of Faith to break through his own physical limitations and advance to a higher tier?
Before long—
They arrived at their destination.
The Satan Planet was right in front of them.
They had set foot on the planet with the most concentrated aura of faith. The Bronze Gate serving as the entrance to Satan's Holy Land was located right here. As soon as they stepped off the train, they saw countless people prostrating on the ground, kowtowing every three steps and crawling slowly toward a specific direction.
That direction led straight to the Bronze Gate.
"Let's go."
Chen Mang didn't waste any words. He simply led his team onto a transport, and they swiftly arrived at the entrance of the Bronze Gate.
At this moment, a massive queue had already formed in front of the Bronze Gate.
A Bronze Gate standing roughly thirty meters tall was embedded directly into the side of a mountain, projecting an air of immense grandeur. The individuals waiting in line were all train captains seeking to acquire Faith Accessories.
As long as they gained Satan's nod of approval.
Not only would they earn the right to use Faith Accessories, but they would also receive several blueprints for Faith Accessories as gifts from Satan. A few of these blueprints were even Prismatic-grade, representing pure, unadulterated profit.
Not everyone in the Vile Civilization was entirely insane.
Take that priest, for example.
He could guarantee that, aside from their own group, that priest was definitely the least pious person on the entire train.
Of course, his behavior was relatively predictable. At least he hadn't targeted any young boys.
Chen Mang, with Biao Zi and the others in tow, joined the back of the line, preparing to uncover the truth.
He wanted to see exactly what lay behind this Bronze Gate.
He was also incredibly curious.
Whether this so-called Satan...
Could withstand a blast from a Level 500 Akhenaten Light Energy Main Cannon, or even a Level 1000 one...
If he could shrug off all of that.
Then he truly was Satan.
In which case, Chen Mang would immediately turn tail and run, leaving their next encounter up to fate.