Chapter 2204: 70%
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This should have been a pregnant Holy Maiden, but the image showed her corpse, with a suicide note placed beside her.
The scene flashed by, yet in the shadows, more Holy Maidens seemed to be standing, silently watching their companion.
This silence lasted until the very end.
The image vanished, and the wall returned to calm. Xu Huo rubbed his sore, swollen eyes and rested in place for a while.
The content on the wall should be the origin of this Instance, and also the history of how this district had redeveloped. Although the process differed somewhat from the local legends, it was also more realistic.
"Androgyny" did not mean stronger or more reasonable; rather, it meant they relied on the Instance to survive and were also protected by it. Whether for their own situation or to further consolidate the Instance, the Temple had to maintain the power of "androgyny."
Xu Huo injected the P5S agent into his arm.
On the eve of the God's Birth Festival, many people suddenly appeared in the Holy Land City. Some entered the Temple openly, while others lurked in various parts of the city. Whether believers or players, they scurried about, passing information to one another.
However, judging from the silent Holy Maidens in the final scene, those who bore the responsibility on the surface were already feeling the pain. Combined with the earlier news from the satellite cities about someone killing a Holy Maiden, the main crux of the issue might lie here.
"You've been watching for a long time." The player beside him silently slipped away, and a veiled Holy Maiden walked up to Xu Huo, asking him with a smile, "What did you see?"
The Holy Maiden turned back to look at him. "God is God, man is man. Man is not so dependent on God, and God is not so dependent on man."
General healing agents could quickly stop bleeding and accelerate recovery, but it was difficult to drastically shorten the time for wound healing. Rapid wound healing not only reduced pain but also minimized physical depletion to the greatest extent. In actual combat, this was an absolute advantage, especially when both sides were evenly matched, since enemies usually wouldn't stop mid-fight to let you replenish your agents.
The Holy Maiden came and went in a hurry. The player who had disappeared reappeared and politely asked Xu Huo to leave, as the Temple needed to prepare for tomorrow's ceremony and could no longer receive believers.
"You can use the next agent."
The origin of the "Goddess" seemed to be a broken divine statue, and the process of becoming an Instance relied on her own believers, which seemed different from other Instances.
Whether it was the Temple's Divine Envoys, Holy Maidens, or the descendants of those from outside districts, no matter how they clashed, their purposes were all legitimate. Standing from anyone's perspective, it was only human nature. Winning and losing had lost their literal meaning here, because anyone's thoughts and demands were reasonable.
Xu Huo didn't answer this question but instead asked, "Does the Temple Instance need to rely on believers to exist?"
"Indeed, it's not easy for an outsider to meddle in family affairs." Xu Huo said, "But I still hope that whether it's the Holy Maidens or Ahai, they are all making choices from the heart, not being forced."
The Holy Maiden let out a low laugh, then her tone became somber. "We are not madmen; we are just ordinary people."
"The Goddess is supreme; she has always existed. Why would she need to rely on believers?" The Holy Maiden looked at the covered statue of the Goddess. "Besides, man is man, God is God."
Xu Huo was silent for a moment, then said, "Without the Goddess, the people of this district might have a harder time."
Although this district only had a dozen or so major cities, there were already many people. If they regressed, it would mean these people might fall into endless trouble in the future.
"You are different from other players. You are also very kind to Ahai. However, he is different from you. You don't have to take on his future just because he helped you. He has his own choices."
Has the agent been reformulated?
Xu Huo raised his hand and slashed through the air. A Space Ray Blade cut his palm, but as the blood flowed, the wound was also slowly healing—this was a level that only players who had undergone Secondary Evolution could achieve!
Normally, "androgyny" in this district was not actually suitable for reproduction. But to consolidate the district, or rather to consolidate the Instance, the Temple advocated or forced them to reproduce. This was inherently against human nature, and the Holy Maidens, who bore the brunt of the reproductive responsibility, were certainly the strongest force of resistance.
Xu Huo returned to the hotel. When he saw the eye patterns painted in the hotel again, he suddenly realized that even if the "Goddess" could know everything happening in this district, there was very little she could do.
Although his leg injury wasn't fully healed yet, Xu Huo felt he had made another leap in physical ability. His Evolution Rate was only 60% now, much lower than players of the same level. However, because he was taking the Perfect Agent developed by Dr. Wu, the potency was maximized. Without the flaw of advanced players having a gradually decreasing absorption rate for agents, his condition should be closer to that of an advanced player with an Evolution Rate of around 80%.
In the past, injecting the Perfect Agent would cause some reaction in the body, and the process wasn't very pleasant. But this time, it was very smooth. Not only did the injury on his leg bone heal quickly, but even the mild headache from overusing his Spiritual Power, which hadn't fully recovered, was swept away. He felt a sense of renewal from the inside out!
And the first time the Goddess displayed her power was only to protect her first believer, who had lived with her day and night. Only later did it extend to more believers. Although the Goddess could interfere with people's minds, she could not stop or change their thoughts. In the impending conflicts, she couldn't even secure a position as a referee. Even if she intervened for protective purposes, it was ultimately unavoidable, because if this conflict was avoided, there would be another.
"Some people want to use God's name to fulfill their selfish desires. Some people think they are very important to God, but in reality, God doesn't care at all."
This was an unsolvable problem. The attempts and concessions the Temple had made in the past had brought painful lessons. It wasn't really about the locals, but rather that the group under the Instance's protection, who easily gave birth to androgynous offspring, was not suited for survival in the game. They were not easily born as players, had short lifespans, and faced high reproductive risks.
For some unknown reason, after releasing his Spiritual Realm, Xu Huo received help from the Goddess. In a suitable environment, his observable range increased exponentially. Moreover, due to the depletion and recovery of his mental strength from the previous few battles, his physical condition had returned to its peak, making him feel even more refreshed than before he came here.
It seemed the P4S version of the Perfect Agent had been fully digested.
Rapid recovery and enhanced physical ability were only part of the agent's effects. Xu Huo vaguely felt that his Mental Evolution had also changed.
He released his Spiritual Realm and found that his Spiritual Interference power had increased. The tangible spatial range had expanded from about two hundred meters before to three hundred meters... He manipulated the flowing black Spiritual Power, turning it from a line into a surface, and from a surface into points. Points of Spiritual Power floated in the air, then completely disappeared with a wave of his hand.
The Materialized Object disappeared, but this absolute domain did not vanish. The invisible Spiritual Power naturally formed a wall with no blind spots around him.