Chapter 165: Curse · Deprivation [Two-in-One]

“Prioritize destroying the teleportation array!”

Archmage Dundar and Zimor floated in front of the charging warriors, engaging both the Underworld God and high-level lords, while confirming the primary target in the wartime channel.

The scenes shown by the Internet God have already revealed a lot.

Although the Underworld God is currently strong, he has become the enemy of the world, even his allies have chosen betrayal.

If we don’t take him down now while he’s weak, when will we?

“God bless the Empire!”

Zimor roared angrily, boosting morale.

He then suddenly spread his arms, gathering magic around him, which, under the transformation of Magic Seals, formed tornadoes, fiercely tearing into the Fifth Calamity.

The winds howled, countless undead were swept into the air by the rolling airflow before reaching them.

The weak were torn apart; the strong were also spun around dizzyingly, showering down like undead rain.

Just as the two Archmages were dominating effortlessly, the Underworld God’s sudden release of “Necromancy Transformation” shocked them!

“Shields—”

Dundar roared, both casting and reminding his battling subordinates.

He frantically expanded the magic shields, trying to encase more magicians.

But the battlefield was vast! Especially after the Internet God cleared tens of miles around Willis City of the Undead Corps, that void was completely filled by the charging warriors of Willis.

Such a large area, he couldn’t cover it all at once.

“Phasing!”

Archmage Besse needed no prompting, enveloping some warriors and phasing them to avoid the Underworld God’s attack.

At this moment, besides the three Archmages of Kewell, numerous magi also frantically deployed shields, trying to protect more people.

But human strength has its limits, powerful as they might be, they are still mere mortals and could only cover a fraction of the warriors. More were still exposed to the Underworld God’s onslaught.

In an instant, countless charging and fighting warriors suddenly stiffened, their features uncontrollably twisting, and from their bodies emerged semi-transparent souls, as if trying to break free of their shells.

“Damn it!”

Zimor, enraged and helpless.

“No—”

Dundar screamed in terror, knowing full well that Willis was his stronghold.

You could say that the majority of the magicians here were directly under him. Attacked like this, how could he not feel the pain?

A scream abruptly interrupted the Necromancy Transformation.

Numerous souls wrenched from their shells, almost converted into undead, scuttled back inside like quails startled.

Countless people, faces full of bewilderment, turned to follow the sound.

They saw a giant towering over the shield of Willis City suddenly clutch its head in pain, letting out a piercing wail.

—He had been cursed, by Yu Sheng’an’s soul authority!

Because he cast Necromancy Transformation, he exposed his soul, giving Yu Sheng’an an opportunity!

His body quickly shrank. No, a hundred-foot illusory titan’s residual soul separated from his body and flew towards the Internet God.

This was clearly the curse of deprivation.

“No, how do you have soul authority?”

The Underworld God, who transferred the curse through soul grafting, widened his eyes, his facial muscles twitching.

Compared to the curse’s pain, Yu Sheng’an’s soul authority, now exposed, was more alarming and terrifying!

But this was not the time for shock. With shock and anger yet to fade, he frantically executed soul exchange.

Numerous phantom souls flew from his body towards the titan’s residual soul.

—He wanted to take back the titan’s residual soul.

“Get lost!”

Yu Sheng’an angrily rebuked, as a high-energy laser suddenly shot from the light orb above his head, wildly directed by microwave radar, pursued the Underworld God.

The Underworld God both resisted and dodged.

Missed lasers hit the Willis City shield, sparking ripples that made the citizens jittery!

While the Underworld God dodged, he desperately tried to exchange for the titan.

Unfortunately, the souls he sent turned into meat buns hitting the dog—gone yet never returning.

“Roar!”

In furious maneuvers, the Underworld God suddenly ground his teeth, his body surged out a dragon soul, initially small, growing larger as it flew away from him, and under a deep growl, it pursued the titan’s residual soul!

Soul Exchange!

In an instant, the curse of deprivation and soul exchange clashed in ultimate collision!

A tug-of-war of authorities began, backed by ample Source Essence.

No authority of divine spark is intrinsically superior or prioritized; when authority collides, the battle is decided solely by the sufficiency of Source Essence or the will of the owner.

Of course, there’s a third scenario—the rope in the tug-of-war breaks.

“Pop—”

A strange tearing sound echoed as both sides pulled.

Both titan and dragon souls were torn apart, splitting into two, flying towards their respective owners.

“No—”

This scene led the Underworld God to scream hysterically at the sky.

This was a titan’s remaining soul he had found with great difficulty, already reduced to a sliver. He had spent countless efforts to cultivate and strengthen it, barely enough for exchange and manipulation.

Now it was torn again.

Under the power of authority, this tear was of the titan’s soul essence, containing the essence of titan power. How could he accept it?

Compared to the Underworld God’s rage, Yu Sheng’an was overjoyed to obtain two slivers of residual souls.

Originally, he only intended to deprive the Underworld God of the titan’s soul he was exchanging. Unexpectedly, the Underworld God valued it enough to keep sending souls.

Even the soul of a dark dragon was taken out.

Now, having gained nothing, it’s been a loss.

A double reduction by half, simply marvelous!

The Underworld God floated in the air, veins bursting from his copper eyes, his chest heaving rapidly, and his lungs almost exploding with rage!

But ultimately, he deeply inhaled, gritted his teeth and said: “Internet God, our war has just begun. I’m waiting for you!”

With that, his figure abruptly disappeared in the brilliant light of the teleportation array.

It’s undeniable, the Underworld God, living for thousands of years, remained rational even driven by rage.

Staying now had no meaning. It was better to leave early and save the Preaching Area under siege.

Yu Sheng’an squinted and disappeared.

Next moment, his primary consciousness descended on Ajnor, standing atop the city walls.

“The Underworld God has left?”

Seeing Ajnor open his eyes, Afnora couldn’t help but ask.

“Gone.”

Yu Sheng’an nodded, looking out of the city—far away, the majority of the Undead Corps had retreated; only some ‘offline’ members of the Fifth Calamity stood foolishly, becoming easy targets.

Yu Sheng’an watched not just outside the city.

Within the city, outside the Internet Bank branch, the once-panic-stricken crowd stopped panicking.

Many people logged onto the Internet, focusing on the external war.

The crowd occasionally erupted in excitement and cheers!

Yet the crowd didn’t disperse but became even more packed.

—Because they wanted to deposit the withdrawn money back.

Trembling citizens hiding indoors also gathered courage to step outside, and many swarmed to the city walls.

This time, soldiers guarding the walls did not stop them.

Gradually, more people flooded up.

They watched the one-sided battle outside the city, their faces flushed with excitement, proudly waving, showing their pride.

Many selectively forgot their scenario of trembling under the bed.

Scenes inside and outside the city left Yu Sheng’an sighing quietly. He had no desire to mock the people, who were ambivalent because if it were him, he wouldn’t fare much better.

He only knew he had survived another ordeal.

……

……

Even until the war ended, Aileen didn’t see Mr. Ajef.

No, it should be said that she only saw Mr. Ajef from afar.

—He stood on the city walls, overlooking the battlefield, occasionally waving and saying something, surrounded by the nodding Empire executives.

As a follower and spokesperson of the great Internet God, Mr. Ajef was obviously busy, not suitable for interruption.

Most importantly, with the threat to Willis lifted, the sample seeds she prepared were no longer needed to be given to Mr. Ajef.

Thinking this, Aileen turned to leave.

Just before leaving, she couldn’t help but glance at the scorched earth outside, her clear eyes filled with pain and compassion.

Whose land is that?

Whose farmland was it, once used for survival?

Although the Empire won the battle, the final pain will still be borne by the lower class.

Aileen couldn’t bear to look any longer, turning her head away. She could not change any of this, and looking further was just heartache in vain!

“Ding ding!”

A clear notification sound rang in her ears.

Aileen paused, this was a special notification sound set up in her Internet social settings, only set for one person — her most respected mentor, Mr. Ajef.

She quickly opened the Internet to see a message sent by Mr. Ajef.

[Aileen, quickly lead the team to test the soil outside, urgently replant suitable crops, and investigate the damage to the farmland. Assess compensation appropriately, funds in place, check immediately.]

Aileen was stunned.

She turned sharply to look at Mr. Ajef, who stood afar on the battlements.

Mr. Ajef, noticing something, glanced over and nodded slightly, then looked away.

Although perhaps negligible, or even an illusion, Aileen was still stirred, clenched her fist tightly.

I knew it, as a follower of the benevolent Internet God, Mr. Ajef is always so kind!

Even after the war barely ended, he’s still thinking of the land, the crops!

Whether Ajef is kind, Yu Sheng’an doesn’t know.

But he knows that food is the foundation of all issues; only by solving the food problem could they have the energy to solve other issues.

“Mr. Ajef, do you think it is an opportunity to attack the Underworld God’s Preaching Area?” Archmage Besse seemed to consult, actually craving an indication.

At this moment, atop Willis City’s walls, the three Archmages of Kewell looked at Yu Sheng’an with entirely changed gazes!

If before the attack on Willis by the Underworld God, the relationship with Yu Sheng’an was more cooperative, now they were from the depths of their hearts, delightfully convinced, even bowing.

—A doomed situation was not only cleverly resolved under his arrangement, but the overall multiverse situation also plunged into chaos.

Though the Kewell Empire was the fuse in this cosmic war, it had inexplicably gotten away unscathed.

Such skill, how could the three Archmages of Kewell not revere?

Their hearts even filled with blazing ambition!

The struggle between the Four Main Gods and the Underworld God was precisely when they could sit back and reap the benefits.

Therefore, even the usually meek Archmage Besse was salivating eagerly.

“No! This war ends here.” Yu Sheng’an shook his head.

“Ah?”

“Why?”

Not to mention the three Archmages of Kewell, even Afnora and Phobos looked shocked.

Yu Sheng’an glanced at everyone, asking, “Tell me, what do you gain by attacking the Underworld God’s Preaching Area? Territory? Population? Technology? Gold coins? Resources? Or to weaken the Underworld God?”

This counter-question left the gods dumbfounded, then contemplative.

Yu Sheng’an then explained each.

“Remote territory is rootless. Despite teleportation array assistance, if attacked, it can easily be a case of looking after one and losing the other. Now, with all sides in chaos, blindly expanding territory only exhausts our living power!

“The crux is our power isn’t enough to rule too much land.

“So instead of attacking other dimensions, we should focus on fully developing Kewell’s territories, clearing all forests between cities!

“As for the population? We can completely expand our population through absorbing refugees and buying slaves to fill the empire’s wastelands, making assimilation and governance easier.”

Yu Sheng’an took a light breath and continued:

“Now with all sides in chaotic warfare, the situation is unclear; rashly joining will only break the balance! In that case, why not act as an observer, selling arms for huge profits! Building high walls and storing abundant grain is the king’s way.”

Upon this statement, everyone’s heart was violently shaken.

How forward-thinking the Internet God is!

Currently, the Four Main Gods have the upper hand. If the Kewell Empire rashly joins, they might think the Internet God is here to divide the spoils and may just stab them in the back.

If they stab, does the Kewell Empire and the Four Main Gods fight or not? If they fight, that gives the Underworld God time to breathe. If not, it feels frustrating!

Moreover, if they together beat the Underworld God severely, the Four Main Gods might turn their guns on the Kewell Empire.

Thus, helping no one or helping both sides, balancing the war is indeed the right way.

In the end, it boils down to one point—with no troops, holding territory is impossible; it merely becomes someone else’s fat meat with wasted resources and energy.

Just as everyone was about to agree with Yu Sheng’an’s viewpoint and abandon joining the fight, Yu Sheng’an suddenly changed the subject.

“However, it’s a pity to miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As they say: a horse without nighttime fodder doesn’t fatten, a man without windfall wealth doesn’t thrive. Not profiting from war, that’s courting divine retribution. Selling arms is one way, but plundering can’t be abandoned either.”

“While not directly joining, we can organize mercenaries, using the Fourth Calamity as cannon fodder, accept the gods’ hire, let them bear the war costs, we reap the plunder. Train troops, earn money, spread the Internet, drag followers into [Conquest Sub-Dimension], gaining multiple benefits, why not?”

Yu Sheng’an spread his arms with a smile.

Hearing this, the Internet God’s upper echelons were stupefied.

How insidious is this? Simply brilliant!

Organizing mercenaries might forgo territorial benefits, but it captures nearly all other benefits!

To Yu Sheng’an, what does an Internet God want with territory?

This is too short-sighted!

Operating under the guise of mercenaries is effectively colonization, resolving differing beliefs across various Preaching Areas, avoiding direct conflict with the gods, reaching indirect domination.

Source Essence—this is his core objective.

With ample Source Essence, he alone is an army! A calamity!

“This plan is splendid!”

The three Archmages of Kewell applauded in admiration, impressed by the wisdom of the Internet God.

The mercenary matter was critical, requiring meticulous planning. The Internet God high-ups then teleported to Yu Sheng’an’s Dragon Factory residence meeting room to discuss in detail.