Alien world

Chapter 1593 Chapter 227. Two Roads

It’s very simple to fulfill Avery’s wish, but it’s to let him believe in himself... You can’t just tell him “Don’t believe in the lady, believe in me”, right?

"You can do it separately and find the right path through trial and error," Skeleton King suggested.

"I understand."

Annan and the Skeleton King are both outsiders, and those who are on the path to becoming gods will not write their experiences in diaries, so they can only stumble and grope their way forward.

It seems that we still need to give Avery some money first to fulfill his wish.

It was a little late today, and Annan returned to his faithful otherworldly tree. He just lay down to rest when he started playing again.

Because he discovered that the divinity on the magic vortex was entangled with two strands of faith power.

What happened? Was there a delay in the power of faith? Or was Avery satisfied after being pinched and shaken by himself for a long time?

……

Jimmy never left the bedside because the doctor told him during the day that his sister might wake up at any time.

The street outside the window went from noisy to quiet. The girl on the hospital bed trembled her eyelashes and opened her eyes.

She saw a sea of ​​white, snow-white bedding, ceiling, walls, until she saw her brother lying on the bed, the girl's soul felt heavy: "Hmm... Brother, is this heaven?"

Jimmy woke up and looked at his weak but finally awake sister with joy: "No, Remi, this is Liberty City, you are saved..."

He slowly recounted what happened after his sister fell ill. Helpless, he begged the gods for help, and in despair, hope fell from the sky.

"That adult is so nice." The younger sister pursed her dry lips and said hoarsely, "Brother, I want to drink some water..."

"My fault!"

Jimmy hurriedly went to get the glass of water, helped his sister up and leaned against the head of the bed, and drank some water.

His sister's condition was getting better and better, and Jimmy's eyes became red. He would never forget who saved them.

"We want to repay Lord Annan..."

Jimmy took off his clothes and spread them out beside the bed, then knelt down and began to pray. This was the only thing he could do at the moment.

"Great Lord Annan, your glory..."

This was the prayer Jimmy had learned from church, except that the object of his prayer had changed from Lady Fortune to...Annan.

……

Annan quickly found the source of the second strand of faith power - there were only two believers in total, and he knew everything after checking them out.

Skeleton King said that his first believer was more devout and therefore could contribute more power of faith.

And Avery, it guessed, was a nonbeliever.

Therefore, in the church system, fanatical believers are more important than devout believers, shallow believers are better than casual believers, and those without faith are condemned by everyone.

"Why?" Annan still didn't understand one thing. "Aren't nonbelievers easier to convert into believers than other believers because they have no faith?"

"Annan, your perception is wrong."

The Skeleton King corrected Annan unceremoniously: "Other pagans of other faiths can easily change their faith when they suffer a blow or experience a turning point. Even an extreme change of faction can instantly give birth to new power of faith. Most non-believers lack this seed. Even if they become believers, what they succumb to is just a 'creature with great power and authority' instead of 'what my soul desires'. Therefore, this is why non-believers are regarded as heretics."

Annan understood. After all, he himself was a vivid example—he had no faith in the gods and only wanted to get benefits from them. With this comparison, Avery seemed even more useless, even though he was a wizard apprentice.

Jimmy gave me two strands of faith power, maybe I'll have some tomorrow. I saved his gambling father and his seriously ill mother, but he was so broken, but he didn't even have a strand.

However, after learning that Avery was also a nonbeliever and needed guidance, Annan regained his composure.

First fulfill his wish, if that doesn't work, then influence him subtly and make him identify with Liberty City.

Annan couldn't force him to believe in himself rudely. There were countless eyes staring at Annan outside, so he had to be careful.

"One last question."

Annan asked: "There must be a large number of residents in Free City who believe in me. Why can't they generate the power of faith?"

"Because you are not a 'god' yet."

Only gods, or more precisely, only beings with divinity can absorb the power of faith. Otherwise, even if they are legends, the power of faith is like magic elements to them - invisible and intangible, but it does exist.

Although Annan has divinity, it does not belong to himself. He is like a man holding a hoe handed to him by the Skeleton King, digging the wall with great effort, trying to dig out a dog hole that he can get into.

When Annan officially gets into it and makes the divinity his own, he can be considered a demigod who can absorb the power of faith.

In a way, Annan is a bit like shooting the arrow first and then drawing the target: the orthodox path to becoming a god is to choose a priesthood, develop followers, and eventually raise the divine fire.

Annan has already developed a large number of believers, the number of which is no less than that of some gods who have been carefully managed for more than ten years, but because they did not embark on the path of gods in the past, the power of faith has no target.

"So as long as I transform into divinity, a large amount of faith power will flow towards me?"

"Yes."

The Skeleton King paused for a moment and said, "Annan, you should consider which path to choose."

"What way?"

"How do you think gods develop followers?"

"Should we look for people in distress and save them like I did?" Annan thought thoughtfully. "Finding powerful nobles and asking them to preach from top to bottom is also a way."

The Skeleton King did not comment on Annan's thoughts, but simply said, "I have read a lot of ancient manuscript secrets these days. The second and third generation gods usually take two paths."

Its soul fire flickered.

"The first is to place believers in a life of poverty and hardship, cutting off their path to upward mobility. No one can help them, and they can only obtain meager resources and a sense of happiness in the church. They must devote their entire lives to the power of faith in the gods, hoping to ascend to the kingdom of God after death."

"Only an evil god would do this, right?"

The Skeleton King gave Annan a deep look and continued, "Second, generously provide the believers with favorable living conditions, allowing them to freely receive education and do what they want—"

"Of course it's the second one!" Annan said without thinking.

"But human desires are never satisfied. If you give a beggar a meal, he will work hard for you. If you give a commoner a meal, he will be grateful to you. If you give a noble a meal, he will only beat you up... The richer they are, the harder it is to satisfy them. The less you can give to them, the less they will give back to you."

"It doesn't matter. Liberty City is everything to me."

He chose to become a god for the development of Liberty City, rather than choosing to develop Liberty City in order to become a god.

To put it bluntly, Annan’s idea of ​​becoming a god was just “What is this? It seems interesting, let me touch it”, and he didn’t have too much obsession.

(End of this chapter)