It was a God.
A divine statue appeared before Luna.
The image was that of Jesus hanging upon the cross.
"This civilization couldn't possibly have the myth of Jesus. The only explanation is that this is a projection of my own subconscious."
When thinking of a God, regardless of one's nationality, that figure is often the first to come to mind.
While she knew of other Western deities, she had never studied them closely. Those Gods were merely names to her, known vaguely through movies and novels.
Jesus, however, had been introduced in her history curriculum, making him more aligned with Luna's primary intuition.
"So, this is just an insignificant manifestation."
The Jesus who had been closing his eyes now opened them, staring directly at Luna.
He spoke in a loud, praising voice.
"Pity the mortal world, where countless souls are mired in pain and disaster, born of ignorance. I bestow my knowledge upon you to save the world. This knowledge is called science, and this science is called Yaroessen kinetics!"
Luna looked at the Jesus nailed to the cross, feeling a strong sense of dissonance as science and theology converged at this moment.
It was beyond imagination.
Jesus praising science.
Even the wildest imagination couldn't have conjured such a scenario before it actually happened.
After Jesus finished speaking in a song-like manner, a ray of light descended, bathing Luna's body.
Then, Luna received a piece of knowledge.
It was Yaroessen kinetics.
A kinetic technology.
In truth, Luna had found it strange before. The Believer Civilization's communication was abstract, so why could she know the specific term "Yaroessen kinetics"?
She should have only gathered the two simple concepts of "kinetics" from the emotions.
But the reality was exactly that, Yaroessen kinetics, a phonetic transliteration.
It was getting stranger and stranger.
After transmitting the information, Jesus vanished, leaving Luna alone in the room.
If not for the new data in her head, she would have almost believed the previous scene was a hallucination.
She read through the Yaroessen kinetics data.
She discovered it was an incredibly advanced science, utilizing a "fan-blowing-the-sail" principle to achieve lossless kinetics.
To put it simply, imagine placing a fan at the stern of a sailboat and blowing it against the sail. Because the fan's backward thrust and the sail's forward force cancel each other out, the boat stays stationary, moving neither forward nor backward.
Yet, Yaroessen kinetics allows a ship to accelerate under these exact conditions. While the initial acceleration isn't fast, only about 76 kilometers per second, it can propel a warship to near-light speed with almost zero energy consumption.
It utilizes advanced spatial mechanics rather than simple classical physics.
The energy required to maintain these spatial distortions isn't significant. In fact, it barely qualifies as true spatial warping.
Luna couldn't grasp the deeper complexities. She wasn't a spatial scientist and had only dabbled in the subject.
However, based on her own knowledge, she felt this technology was genuinely feasible.
Furthermore, this technique represented the pinnacle of "returning to simplicity" in science, something far beyond basic spatial understanding, especially given its minimal energy requirements.
If human civilization attempted to achieve this through their current technological path, it would likely consume ten years' worth of the entire civilization's total energy production just to power a single warship.
Popularizing such a thing would be an absolute impossibility.
"This isn't something the Believer Civilization could have researched on its own!"
Luna was certain of this.
Now, she felt a trace of panic.
Perhaps within the Believer Civilization, something like a "God" truly did exist.
Of course, this God wouldn't be the omniscient and omnipotent kind, but rather a much more advanced civilization.
A high-level civilization that dispersed its scientific achievements across the cosmos through a religious framework.
The question that now troubled Luna was:
Just how powerful was this civilization?
If they were Type 3 or higher, Luna wouldn't actually be that worried. It's like how a powerful deity doesn't watch every single follower. A Type 3 civilization acting this way would simply be casting a wide net.
But if this civilization were only Type 2.9, then the Believer Civilization might be one of its most successful masterpieces, meaning the civilization's gaze was fixed firmly on this place.
And if that were the case, Luna might have very well just exposed herself.
If this civilization happened to be four-dimensional, her subsequent plans might become unfeasible.
There were too many variables.
"I didn't expect a single civilization to drag me into so much trouble."
"But then again, it makes sense."
"The history of the Believer Civilization spans only 50,000 years, and for the last 10,000 years, they've been in a state of near-stagnation. Even human civilization couldn't have reached the Believer Civilization's current technological level at such a pace."
Previously, Ayla had suspected that multiple technological explosions had occurred within the Believer Civilization.
But now, Luna knew the truth: the Believer Civilization was being hand-fed.
"What exactly is that civilization's goal in doing this?"
Luna had stumbled upon a new secret, but she didn't feel particularly good about it.
More secrets meant more enemies. In her opinion, fewer secrets were always better.
She hoped the situation at the dimensional gateway was leaning toward a victory for her side, so she could transmit this information back.
At this point, all Luna could do was offer a silent prayer of her own.
Another matter that concerned her even more was this:
According to One's explanation, prayer should only grant him a fraction of a piece of knowledge. Yet, she had received the complete Yaroessen kinetics data.
This was definitely not normal.
She wasn't foolish enough to ask One directly. She planned to bring it up indirectly later, slowly probing for more information.
In short, the Believer Civilization was far more complex than she had imagined.
Fortunately, her primary objective wasn't to investigate their secrets.
"Perhaps the plan needs a few adjustments."
"Instead of destroying the Believer Civilization, I'll incite conflict between the Home Civilization and the Believer Civilization."
"That might be much more interesting!"
Luna's original plan was to annihilate the Believer Civilization, not just the people, but the stars themselves, to cut off the energy supply the Home Civilization used for the dimensional gateway.
It had seemed like a brilliant plan at first.
But if the Luna within the Believer Civilization had received the intel from the dimensional gateway regarding the Home Civilization, she probably wouldn't have thought that way.
The Home Civilization carried immense energy reserves within themselves. They didn't need stars to provide power.
However, Luna didn't know that yet.
Nevertheless, the emergence of this new, powerful civilization prompted her to change her strategy.
A new plan was already taking shape in her mind.
To achieve her goal, she would likely need to leverage the seminar she was currently in.
But first, she needed to use the knowledge she had just acquired to trade for intelligence.
Luna notified One.
One had never truly left. In this virtual world, even if it had, it could have returned in an instant.
"You've already finished the prayer?"
One checked the time.
"You're the fastest prayer I've ever seen. Only 31 suker have passed."
Luna had been keeping track of the time herself, counting in her mind based on her own understanding of seconds. Though there might be inaccuracies, the margin of error for ten minutes should be within thirty seconds.
From start to finish, she had spent 21 minutes, fluctuating between 20 and 22 minutes.
From this, she estimated that 1 suker fluctuated between 38.7 and 42.5 seconds.
Rounding to a whole number, it was likely 40 seconds.
In daily life, extreme precision isn't necessary. That's reserved for scientific research and technical requirements.
"Perhaps I enjoy the God's favor," Luna replied.
According to One's explanation, they could only obtain fragments, yet Luna had received complete information.
Previously, she had suspected a high-level civilization might be watching her, but she later felt such a civilization wouldn't be that bored. Therefore, the entire system was likely automated.
She must have triggered something specific to obtain the full data.
"It's possible."
"Very well, can you sell the information in your hands to me?"
One seemed indifferent to the small talk and bluntly stated a number: "How about 333?"
It appeared the Believer Civilization also had a monetary system. Luna didn't know the basic prices of various goods yet, so she couldn't make a baseline comparison.
However, One's number was definitely below the average value, though not excessively so. This gave Luna a point of reference.
"350?"
Luna tried proposing a number.
But One reacted as if it had been shocked.
"That is too disrespectful! As believers, we cannot discuss any numbers in trade other than multiples of three."
This was a tenet of their faith.
That was why One had suggested 333. In this civilization, it was likely a lucky number.
Luna felt a twinge of anxiety at its words. In human civilization, violating religious beliefs could lead to being judged as a heretic, at least, that was the case during the dark ages.
Since the Believer Civilization called themselves believers, they must be an extremely religious society. A carelessly spoken number could spell disaster for her.
However, One didn't react violently.
It said to Luna: "I can increase it to 336, but the God will not protect you if I do."
It sounded very reluctant.
The Believer Civilization's currency was perhaps more valuable than Luna had imagined.
But Luna continued to probe.
"345!"
"It's a logical number and also a multiple of three. For me, it is a lucky number."
One became visibly irritated and angry.
"Truly a greedy one."
"Everything you do is watched by the God. On the final day, you will receive no divine protection and will never become a child of the God."
It seemed to be losing its temper.
Luna had essentially found its limit and didn't want to provoke it further. She gracefully shifted her tone.
"Actually, rather than trading for money, I'd prefer to trade for information. For example, you show me the knowledge you've gathered, and I'll give you mine."
"This is a seminar, isn't it? Much of your information must overlap with what others have. Those parts aren't worth much and can be learned with a little inquiry."
Hearing this, One finally calmed down.
Its evaluation of Luna shifted from a complete unknown to a bottomlessly greedy false believer, and finally settled on a shrewd individual with clever little schemes.
"Very well. I haven't collected that much technology. Practically all of it is publicly available data anyway. Here."
Without any hesitation, One handed the information over to Luna.
Luna suspected that this civilization must have some form of law, and it was likely because of those laws that One was so forthright.
She received the data and began to read and compare it. She discovered that One's records only covered about 80% of the total information she possessed.
It seemed like a lot.
But for a piece of technology, possessing 99% and possessing 1% are effectively the same.
Moreover, this science was something the Believer Civilization had prayed for. They had no foundational research of their own. Trying to fill in the remaining 20% through research would be even more grueling than continuing to pray forever.
Before Luna could even finish her comparison, One spoke up urgently: "Quickly, give me your information. Is it different from this content?"
Luna confirmed.
"It is indeed different."
One looked ecstatic.
"The Yaroessen kinetics, stalled for 7,200 years, is finally going to take a step forward!"
Luna was a bit taken aback.
She hadn't expected this thing to remain unchanged for so many years. If the technology had been invented by the Believer Civilization itself, it would have been understandable. In human civilization, many technologies require tens of thousands of years to perfect.
But this was something they prayed for. To be that slow at asking for help was truly hard to believe.
Seeming to notice Luna's disbelief, One explained somewhat awkwardly: "You probably haven't participated in a similar seminar before, so you wouldn't know. Technology like Yaroessen kinetics isn't the mainstream focus of our civilization's development. Therefore, the time, energy, and resources the civilization invests here are very sparse."
"This is a private celebration for our seminar. We firmly believe that any technology passed down by the God has its place and that all are equal."
This fellow's emotions were a bit too rich.
Luna provided a portion of her information to One.
One was struck with astonishment.
"Heavens, you actually obtained so much information! Could you be one of the God's Chosen?"
When it said this, it wasn't with fanaticism. Instead, it instinctively maintained a distance from Luna.
From the information gathered, a God's Chosen in this civilization should theoretically receive immense support. After all, they could acquire more knowledge and use it to leap to a higher social class.
However, One's immediate reaction was fear. Its emotions were so rich that Luna could clearly catch this fear. There was no faking it.
"Not really. This also includes information I gathered before. Although I don't fully understand Yaroessen kinetics, I have collected many prayers. When I received the knowledge just now, I surprisingly discovered that I already possessed some parts of Yaroessen kinetics knowledge myself."
This explanation left One somewhat skeptical. But at least Luna had provided a cover.
It said: "That makes sense. If you were a God's Chosen, you wouldn't have come to a place like this with me."
It was convincing itself, and then it returned to a normal state.
"Regardless, these things are extremely important to our seminar. This further confirms that my modified prayer method is effective."
"Thank you. Of course, don't even think about making me pay any more for it."
"I'm going back to study this knowledge. Goodbye!"
After speaking, it vanished from in front of Luna, likely logging out of the virtual world directly. It seemed the suspicion of her being a God's Chosen still made it feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Luna, however, was no fool. From those few brief sentences, she was able to analyze and extract key information.
"A God's Chosen wouldn't come to a place like this... that means they truly occupy a much higher social tier."
"But One is afraid of them. This indicates a class conflict. The God's Chosen hold superior power. The Believer Civilization is essentially a feudal society!"
The final conclusion was one Luna found hard to believe. After all, this was such a powerful civilization.
The scientific level of the Believer Civilization had been thoroughly probed by human civilization over thousands of years of enslavement. It sat between Type 2.35 and 2.36.
Carrying her doubts, Luna continued her search for others. She intended to trade the rest of her knowledge for data that would actually be useful to her.
After her exchange with One and learning some basic information, Luna was now well-versed and ready for what needed to be done next.
After dozens of hours, having traded away all her knowledge, she finally gained a comprehensive understanding of the Believer Civilization.
It was, indeed, a feudal-type civilization.
The upper class held absolute dominion over the lower tiers.
This was especially true for the God's Chosen.
A God's Chosen could obtain more knowledge from the God, usually over 1% of a specific technology. The more powerful ones could even acquire 10%.
Ordinary citizens of the Believer Civilization, however, could only glean roughly one-ten-thousandth of a piece of knowledge from each prayer.
When calculated, that amounted to just a few characters.
They had to constantly piece the text together, much like a jigsaw puzzle.
This puzzle solving was even more difficult because it was like mixing dozens of different puzzles together and then trying to find the right pieces. This was why the seminar struggled so much. Parts of the Yaroessen kinetics knowledge had appeared 23,000 years ago, and even now, the puzzle remained incomplete.
From this, one could see just how enviable the God's Chosen were.
But it was exactly because of this advantage that the God's Chosen effectively monopolized all cutting edge knowledge within the Believer Civilization.
When Luna entered the hall where knowledge was acquired, she saw various prayer contents, which left no room for doubt.
Beyond just this, Luna also discovered why she was able to obtain 100% of the knowledge.
It was faith.
As a human born in the 21st century, Luna had a very broad understanding of faith and wasn't stingy with her own beliefs.
In short, she was the type of person who could truly believe in a God.
The Believer Civilization was not.
Luna had initially assumed that everyone in the Believer Civilization was a loyal follower of the God.
But in reality, from top to bottom, deep within their hearts, this civilization felt only fear and resentment toward the God.
During the first few thousand years of the Believer Civilization's history, there were still loyal followers who could obtain 100% of the knowledge.
But as technology advanced and the Believer Civilization realized that this wasn't some divine being, but likely a more powerful civilization, they began to feel enslaved. From then on, even the God's Chosen became nothing more than shallow believers.
In truth, the civilization that provided the technology had set fairly lenient requirements. One didn't need to be a fanatic to obtain 100% of the knowledge. Otherwise, Luna wouldn't have been able to receive the complete Yaroessen kinetics data while knowing absolutely nothing.
However, from the highest levels to the lowest rungs of the Believer Civilization, not a single individual possessed true faith.
Ordinary citizens weren't even shallow believers. To them, prayer was merely an act of withdrawing cash.
A Believer Civilization without belief.
This was Luna's evaluation of the society.
"A closed, feudal society, that makes things a bit difficult."
"But fortunately, this civilization is still quite welcoming to the God's Chosen."
"As soon as a God's Chosen appears, they can be promoted directly, becoming a so called noble or manager, and gaining territory."
Territory meant a Shell.
Each Shell served as a noble's domain.
One's previous goal was to obtain an independent Shell.
The civilization also offered another path to promotion. Acquiring a completely new piece of knowledge. Any individual who obtained new knowledge could also become a noble.
That was the purpose of the seminar.
The first person in the seminar to complete a scientific puzzle would be nominated for nobility and receive an independent Shell.
However, even if an ordinary individual became a noble, they wouldn't receive the same privileges as a God's Chosen. They would always be a step below.
In theory, simply demonstrating profound faith toward the higher civilization was enough to become a God's Chosen, which seemed simple to Luna.
But in this world controlled by a God, it was incredibly difficult.
Likely only a small fraction of people could manage it. The Believer Civilization was a perverse inversion of the natural order.
The true majority was suppressed while a tiny minority gained authority. Even if these individuals didn't truly believe, they could force themselves to, and that was a skill in itself.
"I thought it would take many more years to incite a war, but if I have the status of a God's Chosen, that couldn't be better."
Because the God's Chosen were a small group, they huddled together for warmth to maintain absolute control over the Believer Civilization.
Therefore, revealing herself as a God's Chosen wouldn't lead to suffering. Instead, she would receive preferential treatment. After all, in the Believer Civilization, a God's Chosen was the embodiment of genius.
And in both stories and reality, geniuses receive favoritism. That's why protagonists in novels are often underdogs or ordinary people, while the antagonists are frequently various favored ones.
"Then I'll go report myself."
"I hope the other side can hold out until my plan begins."
Proving one is a God's Chosen was easy. All she had to do was provide a more detailed version of a well known, incomplete piece of knowledge.
Luna certainly wasn't the first person in the Believer Civilization to earn the title of God's Chosen from the lower class, so she could do so without hesitation.
Still in the virtual world.
Since there was no physical room to move within the Shell, the primary social interactions of the Believer Civilization took place in virtual environments.
Luna returned to the hall of knowledge. This time, she chose a new book.
"Keaofen Numerical Sequence", also known as the Keaofen formula.
"Another name like title. This definitely didn't originate from the Believer Civilization."
Individuals in the Believer Civilization lacked names, possessing only emotion tags. Therefore, Keaofen was almost certainly a transliteration from that higher level civilization, likely the name of the person who created the formula.
Luna read part of the Keaofen Numerical Sequence's description. There was no specific content, she had to pray for that. However, even this brief summary felt familiar to Luna.
While human civilization lagged behind technologically, mathematical exploration isn't strictly tied to scientific advancement. In fact, 21st century human mathematics was quite robust.
Mathematics as a discipline follows the law of diminishing returns. It is undeniably difficult for an individual, but for a civilization as a whole, it might be the simplest thing in the universe.
Everything else requires thousands upon thousands of years of exploration, but mathematics can reach an incredibly high level in just a few centuries. Mathematical explosions are much more rapid and intense than technological ones.
From Luna's current perspective:
The mathematics of modern Type 2.5 human civilization is only about 300% to 320% more advanced than that of 21st century Earth. Theoretically, 21st century Earth already possessed roughly 30% of the mathematical knowledge held by modern humanity.
Yet, the technological gap between the two is a staggering one quintillion times.
That is no exaggeration.
The pinnacle of 21st century weaponry, the hydrogen bomb, could only blast a few craters on Earth. But in the 2320th century, any random warship can obliterate an entire planet. The Federation possesses millions of such warships, with human civilization as a whole nearing ten million of them.
If no more powerful civilizations existed, the Milky Way would be nothing but wilderness. Such power is sufficient to develop the entire galaxy.
It's merely a matter of time.
Then, human civilization would leverage the Milky Way's vast resources to gradually reach Type 3.
It's like how on Earth, human civilization dominated the planet at Type 0.7, even though developing an entire planet is technically the domain of a Type 1 civilization.
If the Solar System had contained multiple civilizations, humanity would likely have remained a small nation huddled in a corner of Earth, rather than the planet's overlord.
Of course, that quintillion fold evaluation is based on technological power. If one were to evaluate the core scientific principles themselves, the gap wouldn't be quite so astronomical.
It all comes back to mathematics.
Even though it's only three times more advanced than the 21st century, that extra mathematical knowledge allows modern humanity to generate tens of quadrillions of times more resources than in the 21st century.
The law of diminishing returns in foundational technology manifests in two ways.
If a Type 3 civilization is taken as the benchmark, the first type of diminishing returns is that early in a civilization's history, the number of scientific discoveries is high, potentially accounting for over 10% of the total scientific count.
This means several hundred years of development might explore 10% or even 20% of the field, while it would take millions or tens of millions of years to complete the remaining 80%.
In the middle stage of a civilization, where human civilization is now, exploring toward the limit of a Type 3 civilization, they may have already explored over 90%. Yet, the final 10% still requires millions of years of investigation.
The second type of diminishing returns, however, is that while scientific exploration yields fewer discoveries in the later stages, the inherent value of each scientific breakthrough grows progressively larger.
Every single technology developed in the late stage is infinitely more powerful than those from the earliest periods. In this sense, the law of diminishing returns doesn't mean smaller marginal gains, but rather increasingly massive marginal gains.
Of course, this applies to foundational science rather than applied science.
Science is boundless.
The number of applied technologies today is incomparable to the 21st century. In a single star system, the number of new technical developments born each year is counted in the tens of thousands, and those are just the ones with significant technical value. The number of those without value is far higher.
Luna was somewhat familiar with the Keaofen Numerical Sequence, but she couldn't be certain.
The vast majority of her knowledge was stored in the auxiliary brain of her original body. Having lost that auxiliary brain, her learning was limited to what she truly possessed. Mathematics was not her forte.
Perhaps if the complete Keaofen Numerical Sequence appeared before her, she would remember it.
Luna read through the content and then returned to her small room in the virtual world to begin her prayer.
Aside from changing her body into a different shape, Luna's prayer was almost identical to the previous one.
Once the prayer began:
Perhaps influenced by her earlier thoughts, the figure that appeared this time wasn't Jesus, but Luna herself.
Luna stood motionless.
The God version of Luna touched her, then dissolved into ten thousand golden lights that surged into her body.
"Interesting!"
"For that civilization to achieve this, they must have left something within the Believer Civilization."
Unless, of course, that civilization was beyond Type 3, capable of directly transcending dimensions and using wormholes to transmit knowledge.
It would be like a supercharged version of the Divine force.
The Divine force can only transmit energy, which is chaotic. Knowledge, however, is stable. The sender would need to ensure the knowledge sent through the wormhole remains coherent.
Luna received all the contents of the Keaofen Numerical Sequence, just like before.
"It seems I'm still a latent fanatic."
Luna made a joke at her own expense, then dove deep into the Keaofen Numerical Sequence.
"So, it's the Leibniz formula, just with some added content."
Having seen the complete sequence, Luna indeed remembered the formula that had tormented her during her first year of university. Thinking back now, it was actually quite simple.
Mathematics can also be applied in biology. The Leibniz formula can analyze certain aspects of the gene pool and perform biological statistics. Two areas that happened to be Luna's primary research focus, which is why she frequently used it.
However, the version of the formula currently in her hands was exceptionally difficult.
That was because it had no three dimensional solution. Instead, it applied a six dimensional solution, complicated further by the inclusion of six dimensional geometric problems.
For a six dimensional organism, this might be simple, but for a three dimensional or four dimensional being, it required simplification.
Regardless, this granted Luna a vital piece of information.
"That civilization actually comes from the sixth dimension."
Luna was somewhat surprised.
Previously, she had assumed this civilization would be a top tier four dimensional one, transmitting knowledge through wormholes.
But the sixth dimension...
This heightened Luna's sense of crisis.
"These top tier civilizations are even more powerful than I thought. Transmitting complete information through dimensions and wormholes, I believed that was reserved for Type 3 civilizations or higher."
"It seems Type 2.9 civilizations truly are infinitely close to the limit of Type 3."
Competing with such civilizations was nothing short of a pipe dream.
Fortunately, the formula revealed another detail.
Because it was a six dimensional formula, it suggested that if the civilization had truly mastered the fourth dimension, they would have transmitted a four dimensional version instead, making it easier for the Believer Civilization to understand and develop.
Thus, that civilization hadn't yet truly mastered dimensions. They still had a long way to go.
The law of diminishing returns.
Basic science had been explored, but dimensional science was far more complex and required much more time.
Now, Luna had a basic idea of why that six dimensional civilization was doing this.
"They likely want the Believer Civilization to act as their pathfinders."
"As a top tier civilization, they made these arrangements millions of years ago. There's likely more than one Believer Civilization across all the dimensions."
A head start truly makes all the difference. This dimensional war was essentially a game played by these top tier civilizations.
"But there's still time."
"At least they still can't cross dimensions without using a dimensional gateway."
Luna translated the Keaofen Numerical Sequence into emotional form and published the information through a virtual world channel.
This portion of the content represented only about 7% of the whole, the later, more difficult to understand 7%.
Luna wanted to become a God's Chosen, not start trouble. As someone from the upper class herself, she knew the nature of greed. She believed that even across different species, the trait of greed remained constant.
The existing God's Chosen would welcome a new member, but they would absolutely not tolerate someone more powerful rising above them.
The moment she published this data, it sent shockwaves through the Shell.
An internal message network within a Shell is quite small, only containing ten million individuals. That previous seminar hadn't just been limited to one Shell, it included others as well.
A Shell is a tiny unit, a community.
Luna publishing this information was equivalent to posting an announcement in a local neighborhood group. It was easily noticed.
"It's the Keaofen Numerical Sequence!"
"To publish so much at once, who is so generous?"
Knowledge within this civilization wasn't shared freely. Luna had initially assumed it was, but she realized they only shared prayer methods.
It's like being in a group where one person catches a fish while the others are starving. Everyone wants a piece of the fish, but the fisherman only wants to share the method of making a fishing rod.
To put it nicely, it's the teach a man to fish philosophy, but considering they're a single team with shared destinies, sharing the rod making method without sharing the fish is inherently selfish.
"Incredible! I study the Keaofen Numerical Sequence, and this is absolutely brand new content."
"Publishing so much at once, could it be a God's Chosen?"
"The emotion tag belongs to an unknown individual. Has a new God's Chosen been born?"
The community chat was ablaze with activity.
The information eventually reached the Shell's administrator.
The title was "Shell Lord."
Titles were the primary standard for distinguishing noble individuals from ordinary ones within the Believer Civilization. "God's Chosen" was a title, and "Shell Lord" was another. Those with titles also possessed superior authority.
The Shell Lord held total control over everything within the Shell.
The Shell Lord located Luna with ease and transmitted a message directly to her.
"Are you the one who published the Keaofen Numerical Sequence in the community?"
It was a redundant question, asked only to confirm the obvious.
"I am."
Luna had only published the data a minute ago and hadn't expected the other party to find her so quickly. However, she had faced far greater crises, she remained as calm as ever.
This tranquility convinced the Shell Lord of her absolute confidence.
"It seems that information was obtained through prayer. How many sessions?" the Shell Lord inquired.
"Two!"
Luna told the lie without the slightest emotional ripple.
In a civilization where communication was centered on emotion, a lie was usually incredibly easy to detect. Perhaps for that very reason, the Shell Lord harbored no suspicion toward her words.
"To obtain so much of the Keaofen Numerical Sequence in just two sessions... I have studied it myself and know its foundational nature."
"However, it is too difficult to acquire and comprehend. I gave up on it."
"The content you obtained regarding the Keaofen Numerical Sequence is roughly 7%. Make no mistake, while I didn't obtain the full sequence, those who are God's Chosen have. For a God's Chosen, this is no difficult feat."
"Of course, you will soon become one of them."
"All it takes is one round of testing."
The Shell Lord continuously broadcasted feelings of goodwill toward Luna.
To the lower tier individuals, a God's Chosen was distant and fearsome. But for a noble like the Shell Lord, currying favor with a God's Chosen was standard procedure.
Nobles who weren't God's Chosen could only gain more power by siding with those who were. This was essentially the tragedy of this civilization.
Nobles who were not God's Chosen were, without exception, the geniuses among geniuses. They had to collect countless fragments of knowledge and piece them together. Each fragment might consist of only a few characters, the entire process of assembly was, in itself, the process of mastering that knowledge.
Their mastery of knowledge was far superior to that of the God's Chosen, one could say they were the top tier scholars of their respective fields.
And yet, such scholars were forced to exist solely as dependents of the God's Chosen.
The Shell Lord was currying favor with Luna, the newly ascended God's Chosen, hoping she would remember this goodwill in the future when benefits arose or offer a helping hand when danger struck.
Truly pathetic.
Though she thought so privately, Luna maintained an outward facade that suggested all of this was perfectly natural.
"Submit the report as quickly as possible. I wish to become a God's Chosen without delay," she said to the Shell Lord, using a tone that was almost a direct command.
In the Believer Civilization, a Shell Lord held the power of life and death over every individual within their Shell.
Yet, the Shell Lord showed no sign of irritation. Instead, it replied to Luna with even greater humility.
"Understood. I will report it immediately. It should only take about 10 suker."