239.Leozi's Believers
At first, Li Aozi was a bit surprised, but then he quickly understood.
Back when the Abyss Professor gave up the lucrative position at Abyss Heavy Industries and struck out alone to create Bio-Gigant, aiming to achieve an artificial Gamma rank, he had ninety long years of accumulation and collected an enormous amount of Omega Energy. Seeing so many familiar names here is actually quite normal.
"That's fine. Aside from the Sequence Omega Energy, I already absorbed almost everything back when I fought the Biochemical Titan, but there's just too much of it. I need to go check in the White Obelisk myself."
Without delay, Li Aozi threw on a coat and headed straight for the Holy Monument Church's local landmark—the White Obelisk.
He pretended to be an ordinary believer, coming to pay respects at the White Obelisk by laying down flowers at its base. In reality, he was taking the opportunity to get close to the obelisk and investigate the situation.
Nowadays, the Holy Monument Church has grown to fifty thousand followers, with 780 of them being devout, [Mutant] believers. Even the number of Alpha-tier supernaturals isn't small. As for Kadan Frolich, the regional bishop who was first moved by Li Aozi, he has already reached Beta rank.
Unlike the established powers that recruit members in the name of "blessed fortunes," the Holy Monument Church under Li Aozi's control has aimed from the start at cultivating a path to ascension, delivering tangible benefits to people.
The Church's mythological system is gradually clarifying; its doctrines and tales have gained a preliminary form.
Essentially, they take the rumored stories from the Star Abyss about the [Domination Will] in Morphedria's universe, along with the anecdotes Li Aozi gleaned from the "Lady of the Lake" Sophia Marlin, then add a bit of polish and embellishment for use.
Only, Li Aozi deliberately erased the traces of Morphedria, glossing over the agent relationship between Morphedria and Leozi. Instead, he focuses on describing the mighty feats of the "God of Reality," Leoz.
Yes—Leozi.
Perhaps Morphedria and Leozi were on good terms, but what's that got to do with him?
Dead is dead; Morphedria itself has no particular renown, its name is long and hard to remember, and it lacks any striking deeds or reputation.
Even in the Star Abyss, Leozi is regarded as a valiant figure with distinguished exploits. It's perfect to choose Leozi as the main god.
As for whether this counts as blasphemy…
There's no such concept in the Star Abyss. Here, any living person has a chance to attain godhood, so talk of blasphemy has long ceased to exist.
Only a brutal scramble to outdo one another.
Living gods can be blasphemed; dead gods are simply forgotten.
Not happy about it? Then don't jump in the fray. It's long been said that competition on the path to godhood is cutthroat. Why not just lie low in some corner? Must you join the rat race?
The era when gods reigned supreme is long gone. Ever since narrative-level civilizations took the stage and seized control of the paths, gods have become mere tools for spreading those paths, for weaving grand narratives on a mass scale.
Whether Morphedria or Leozi, these remnants of the old times ought to be swept into the trash bin.
Li Aozi went about these matters very calmly.
He can do so freely because of his relationship with Leozi—he can cut ties when he wants, uphold them when he wants.
After all, if he really is Leozi's reincarnation and doesn't see a problem with it, he suspects that if the original Leozi were here, he'd probably criticize him for not being efficient enough.
The Holy Monument Church's doctrines emphasize: "Leozi" was never truly dead; he still roams the Star Abyss. The Omega Energy authority wielded by the [Mutant] faithful is the best proof. Believe in Leozi, believe in the power of Omega Energy, serve the Star Abyss, and stand up for what is right and good.
At its core is the godhood derived from Li Aozi: Suffering and Death.
Suffering Godhood—Leozi's believers endure suffering only to become stronger, gaining steeled will and robust bodies, and thereby letting the main god hear their prayers more clearly.
The upper limit of Suffering Godhood is extremely high. By means of it, Li Aozi can build the very best religious unit among all the churches in "Star Abyss"—Martyrs.
As for the Death Godhood's ability to "awaken remains," it requires at least Gamma rank to use. For now, it simply lets the Holy Monument Church undertake a variety of funerary services, which has broadened its revenue streams.
It's not bad at all…
Achieving even this is enough to make Li Aozi quite satisfied.
After all, Azure Star isn't a planet steeped in religion, and it doesn't know much about the Star Abyss's mythological system. Each nation has powerful local mythologies and religions of its own.
"Though Red Arrow's tolerant stance on religion has let my forces grow quickly, and even garnered support from local government and law enforcement—the farmers and workers will always be a religion's core—relying on them to provide elite warriors is still far from reliable."
So Li Aozi turned his focus to Red Arrow's soldiers.
In other words, retired veterans like Isaac.
These people have professional training, know how to operate weapons of war, and exist in large numbers. Most have minor troubles with military-to-civilian transition, so they're prime candidates for the Holy Monument Church.
"The Apostles of Entropy will only get stronger, so if I want to boost the Church's influence, I need real combat strength."
Though Red Arrow's government does indeed support the Holy Monument Church, it also backs rival churches. Right now, they only treat the Holy Monument Church as an Omega Energy catalyst and a new tourist spot.
Even with repeated warnings of terror attacks following that "divine revelation," the local authorities haven't drastically altered their attitude.
After all, five thousand believers is nothing compared to the ten-plus mainstream religions with millions of adherents in the Red Arrow Empire, each occupying several provinces… It's obviously overshadowed.
There's nothing Li Aozi can do about that. Such things can only be changed with time. After adding some "pay attention to recruiting veterans" notes, he let it go.
As for expanding the congregation, that's mostly up to the clergy of the Holy Monument Church. Li Aozi's real purpose is to assemble [Sequence Thirteen•Dark Light].
That's his biggest objective on this trip.
[Dark Light] ranks quite high, and it involves the domains of "light" and "dark." The destructive power should be considerable.
After going through the messy Omega Energy records, Li Aozi finally gathered everything required for the synthesis formula except [Shadow Assault] and [Sequence Ninety•Extreme Dark Matter]. Those two rank fairly high, but fortunately he'd seized enough genetic fragments from Remaining Moon to reconstitute the others.
There's even a third of the fragments left over.
"But where to find [Shadow Assault] and [Sequence Ninety•Extreme Dark Matter]?"
Speaking of [Shadow Assault]…
Li Aozi pressed his forehead, quickly scanning his memories.
"Got it."
"When I was leaving Tianhuan, I was ambushed multiple times by the [White Knight] Yohle. I vaguely recall he even turned his own sister into some sort of Society facility."
"And that girl happened to possess the [Shadow Assault] ability. Her name was…"
"—Zonya."
Narrowing his eyes, Li Aozi thought:
"Now that you mention it, I nearly forgot."
The [Secret Society] that turned Yavanna into a [Tailor] is still lurking around on this planet.
"There's no lead yet on [Extreme Dark Matter], so I guess I'll have to make a trip to Tianhuan. But before that, since I'm here anyway…"
Li Aozi opened his contacts and punched in a familiar number:
"Hello, Mr. Gretorvo? I'm Isaac Maxim, sent by Li Aozi."
"Just wondering if you'd be interested in a big job?"
"Eh? No no, what are you talking about! I'm not suggesting robbing banks or busting jails—that's for terrorists. I'm a law-abiding, friendly citizen!"
"I mean… how would you like to overthrow the King and build a new republic?"
Since he's already headed to Tianhuan, he might as well change the government while he's at it.