Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

"Ah... where is this?"

Chaoyang opened his eyes to find complete darkness surrounding him. He was leaning against a sturdy tree trunk, in front of him a roaring campfire.

"You’re finally awake," came the response from Qianyuan Mingzi, "We are now more than sixty kilometers away from Thistlefort. According to Fiend... no, Miss Ailuodi’s estimate, we should encounter the enemy troops by tomorrow afternoon."

"I see. But they may not necessarily be the enemy," Chaoyang surveyed the area, noting that everyone else had crawled into their sleeping bags and were sound asleep, while Qianyuan Mingzi was obviously the one on night watch.

"We’re not going to fight?" Mingzi seemed surprised, "Then Mr. Anthony will be disappointed."

"You’ve seen the intelligence too—the main enemy of this troop is Duke Longjiu, and we don’t have much of an irreconcilable conflict with them." Chaoyang picked up a stick and threw it into the fire. The flames suddenly leapt up, crackling loudly.

"So that’s what you’re thinking..." Qianyuan Mingzi said pensively.

"What’s wrong?"

"My thinking might be different from yours..." She stared at the campfire, slowly speaking, "What they did at Thistlefort shows that for resources, they can disregard sacrifices, or rather, the importance of resources far outweighs everything else. By taking Thistlefort, you’re essentially taking away their resource point. If these people can see far enough into the future, they would naturally understand the strength of the Paradise Sect. But... most leaders can’t set their sights that far."

"Perhaps in their eyes, their conflict with you is equally irreconcilable."

Chaoyang did not reply.

In truth, he had considered that perhaps the negotiation might not change the situation at all, but it was better to have tried than not. This way, when he had no choice but to counterattack, he wouldn’t have so many doubts in his heart.

"How much of a chance do you think I have against the Magic Goddess?" he asked.

"In a normal confrontation, zero," Shi Yin’s reply was always timely.

Chaoyang was quite surprised by this answer, "You have that little faith in me?"

"I’m also curious where your confidence comes from!" the other party scoffed, "Creating a division of yourself so weak it couldn’t get any weaker, maintaining the Divine Country only within a two-meter radius of yourself—thinking of defeating her with such is underestimating the local divinities too much. Right, although I don’t know what kind of person the Magic Goddess is, she is at least a true Latter God. Conventional means can’t kill her, and on that point alone, she is invincible."

"If it comes to a fight, that’s going to be troublesome."

"Troublesome?" Qianyuan Mingzi looked up at him.

"Nothing, I’m considering how to deal with a difficult enemy," Chaoyang vaguely dodged the issue. He hadn’t shared the information about the divinities with the players—because there was a bug here. He was supposed to be the unique host of the Paradise game, but if the divinities were on the same level as the host, the facade of the Paradise game would completely collapse.

"You don’t need to worry too much, at most you’ll lose tens of thousands of wishing power, and just one division," Shi Yin seemed to be offering consolation, but her tone was anything but, "It’s well known you’re not skilled in combat, to the point that even in a one-on-one situation, that little girl in the team could probably pin you to the ground. So when it’s time to be cowardly, be cowardly. I still have quite some faith in your potential."

That little girl...

Chaoyang twitched the corners of his mouth, glancing unintentionally at Ailuodi, who lay halfway out of her sleeping bag, looking like a cocooned larva that finished its transformation halfway.

Tens of thousands of wishing power... That number, if put in the past, could have made him bleed internally. Even after acquiring Thistlefort as a source of wishing power, tens of thousands were still not a small number. But this was a side effect of establishing the Divine Country. In Shi Yin’s words, it’s called the Divine Country Tax—any of his divisions would cover the power of the Divine Country, just like his main body and division nearly encompassed both Magnificent Castle and Thistlefort. To create another new division, he couldn’t just spend a few hundred wishing power as before. It would come with a complete set of the Divine Country black box and consume an equivalent amount of wishing power.

In other words, if he had enough wishing power, then the nation of Paradise could cover the entire world.

Once the Divine Country was established, it would continuously consume wishing power, similar to the depreciation of machinery. It’s not something you can avoid paying by not using it; calling it a form of tax would indeed be fitting.

Therefore, Chaoyang specifically reduced the range of The Divine Country when establishing his third incarnation, so that the consumption could be bearable, but the problem of the collapse of The Divine Country due to the losses still existed.

Chaoyang shook his finger at Shi Yin.

"...Even doing this won’t work?"

After listening to his idea, Shi Yin was stunned, "I haven’t tried it, but it sounds feasible... However, I must warn you, this method might bring more trouble."

"It’s okay, as long as it’s workable."

After all, he couldn’t just throw away more than a hundred thousand wishing power; he would want to try anything that might save it.

"Mr. Zhao, are you in communication with the organization?" Qianyuan Meiko asked curiously. Although she couldn’t see Shi Yin, she noticed that Chaoyang’s gaze was always focused on an empty space.

"Hmm, I just finished chatting... By the way, how is your father doing? Is he still normal lately?" Chaoyang changed the subject.

Mention of her father softened Qianyuan Meiko’s tone, "Thanks to you, he’s now able to immerse himself in his research again."

"No abnormalities?"

"None so far. I am constantly monitoring this."

Could the contraption toyed with by the Causal Sect actually confer immortality without any side effects? "That’s good to hear. Continue the surveillance; after all, it’s related to the Evil God."

"Yes, I’ve mentioned this to my father. He’s accepted this fact and said that if an abnormality occurs, he will choose to end himself. Moreover, my father is filled with gratitude towards you. Although you haven’t agreed to meet with him, he insisted that I tell you, should Paradise need the Qianyuan Family’s assistance, please feel free to speak up." Qianyuan Meiko said with utmost respect.

In this way, they chatted intermittently as the night gradually waned.

The next day, as soon as it was dimly lit, the group set off again.

On their journey, they passed through a small town, marked as Mushroom Lane on the map, where the trees lining the road began to transition from deciduous to coniferous forests.

By four in the afternoon, Ailuodi, who had been conducting aerial surveillance, raised the alarm.

"I see two teams of Scout Cavalry, a total of ten men, approaching us; the main force is still about eight kilometers away."

"The scouting units are spread out quite far..." Anthony stroked his chin, "These guys seem professional."

"Understood, we’ll proceed as planned. We’ll approach them as members of the Envoy Delegation, and without instructions, no one is to fire at will," Chaoyang ordered, "Ailuodi, continue your observations from the air. No matter what happens, do not engage in combat. If we switch to Plan B, don’t intervene by force; if there’s no good opportunity, it’s okay to head straight back to Thistlefort."

"Got it," the Angel agreed promptly.

Everyone here could replace their bodies except for the Angel. In case a conflict erupts, the few people in the Envoy Delegation would not possibly defeat an army of twenty to thirty thousand, so staying out of it was the most prudent choice.

"Well then, let’s go meet them!"

Chaoyang spurred his horse and led the way toward the Scout Cavalry squad of the united resistance forces.