Chapter 955 - Undercurrents Move Once Again (1/2)

The palace hall made up completely of gold-alloy mechanical parts sat atop a mountain peak, and two mechanical islands revolved around it like planets around the sun. A bright red artificial sun hung in the sky, like a bloodshot eye, shining on this barren land.

Around the lone peak, there were countless large mechanical mining platforms, with the palace located in the middle. Coupled with the many Machinery Faith believers clad in mechanical suits and walking around the city, this scene resembled a mechanical city shaped like a ring. Armored transport vehicles whistled down the space roads, making noises as their plates collided with the bumps on the road, and the air was filled with the smell of metal and motor oil.

This was a branch base of the Machinery Faith, located on a famous planet that used to be a battlefield within the Ancient Star Desert. These miners excavated the underground mechanical wreckage day and night, sending them to the priests of the Machinery Faith to uncover the lost technology.

Placed in the center, the palace hall was the temple of god for the Machinery Faith. Each mountain peak that carried the mechanical temple of god would be named as the Holy Mountain. Obsidian-esque floating steps extended from eight directions at the foot of the Holy Mountain, connecting to the mechanical temple’s doors. According to their customs, if it was not an emergency, pilgrims had to use their feet to traverse the path and could not ride any form of transportation to enter the temple.

On each side of these eight pilgrimage roads stood mechanical statues or metallic monuments. They were different types of abandoned ancient machinery, which showcased the progression from ancient to advanced technology, and they were all carved with all sorts of teachings.

This fusion of machinery and theology seemed to bring about a unique flavor to this area.

The Machinery Faith was a loose organization, not a unified religious organization. Their common activity was worshipping mechanical technology and powerful mechanics. However, based on their principles, they had also segregated themselves into many factions and different specializations in each field. Examples included the Biochemical Machinery school; the Bloodshed Destruction school, which was fanatical over the destructiveness of the weapons; and the Firepower Advantage school, which adhered to the saying ‘big is good, big is beautiful’.

As for this current branch, it belonged to the believers of the Forgotten Faction, which was also known as the Archaeological school. They were keen on finding and restoring the lost ancient mechanic technology and were one of the oldest Machinery Faith schools.

At this moment, in the main hall, the priests of this branch were gathered with a large number of priests from the other branches participating through remote projection. The crowd had formed a circle, and in the center, there was a virtual screen showing the battle between Black Star and the Tyrant.

“As everyone saw, a new Mechanical Deity has come to this world, spreading the gospel to the entire Universe.”

Clad in luxurious, heavy-duty power armor, the Grand Priest who only exposed his head spoke as though he was giving a sermon.

“So majestic, so beautiful!”

“What sort of magnificent creation is this…”

“It’s been so many years since we’ve last seen a Mechanical Deity descend. I almost forgot what it looked like.”

Many of the priests were whispering among themselves, their eyes shining with excitement and fanaticism.

“Silence.” The Grand Priest pressed down with both hands, an expression of solemnity on his face.

Everyone shut their mouths immediately, turning to him.

The Grand Priest then took out a mechanical scepter that resembled a tree branch. He pressed a button, and behind him rose a completely new alloyed shrine pedestal.

He turned to walk over, and with his back to the rest, he spoke in a strong and grand tone.

“Following the ancient teachings, in the name of the original deity Nilfgadi, we shall witness the birth of the new deity together. From now on, I will consecrate the new deity, and everyone, please remember the name of this new deity…”

As he recited, the Grand Priest opened the operation screen for the divine pedestal and entered the battle video as well as the parameters. The next moment, the entire temple shook!

Boom!

In front of everyone, countless flows of metal alloys and nanoparticles shot out, combining with each other to form a statue that was carved in the likeness of the Black Star Mechanical Deity.

Besides the Black Star idol statue, there were others, and the statue of Manison was also among them. These were the Mechanical Deities of the past, all of which stood under the towering dome of the temple.

The largest and most conspicuous statue was the mechanic named Nilfgadi. This person was the very first mechanic to have his Mechanical Deity enshrined. Even those who possessed a Mechanical Deity worshipped him. In fact, this purpose of the Machinery Faith was developed by him.

As the pioneer of the Divine Throne Mechanic class, Nilfgadi discovered the effect of the [Key of Adeptus Mechanicus], so he interfered with the Machinery Faith, influencing it to its current state of worshipping Mechanics. All the enshrined Divine Throne Mechanic descendants were simply enjoying the benefits that he had wrought for them.

The Machinery Faith did not require a two-way communication between the worshipper and the idol to work, to the point that sometimes… it did not concern them at all.

However, only those Divine Throne Mechanics that were still alive could give blessings to their believers. Thus, the dead Mechanical Deities of the past only had commemorative significance. Nowadays, most of the believers in the Machinery Faith believed in ‘Mechanic Emperor’ Manison.

And now, the rise of Black Star had torn a small hole in this solid belief. This was something that Manison could not even stop.

Facing the deities from past to present, the Grand Priest and all the priests bowed down to complete the ceremony.

“We respectfully welcome Black Star!”

…

I keep feeling as if someone is praising me behind my back…

Within the cabin, Han Xiao rubbed his nose as he felt a strange emotion.

“Hey, hey, don’t lose focus when you’re talking to me!” From within the communicator, Tarrokov had a helpless expression.

Han Xiao came back to his senses and joked, “Sorry, I was just thinking about what to have for dinner later. Where were we?”

“What do you have to think about? You think I don’t know you only rely on nutrition fluids?”

“Oh, who tattled on me!”

“That’s enough, back to business.” Tarrokov shook his head in resignation. “I can reveal that the development plan made by the upper echelons of the dynasty has been arranged up to the fourth phase, and only the first phase will give you plenty of time to build. After that, more foreign direct investments will be introduced to help you develop while exploring further.”

“Which means, only when these three Star Clusters are completely constructed will the dynasty proceed with the next period, right? Then the advantage that we’ve brought for ourselves by pioneering the Flickering World will end.” Han Xiao stroked his chin.

Tarrokov neither agreed nor denied it. “In short, the development progress for the three star clusters has exceeded expectations and is very smooth. We expect to complete the construction plans in five to seven years before we begin the second phase.”

This timing is still acceptable… Han Xiao secretly nodded.

When Version 4.0 was released, the Flickering World should be in its fourth phase of development, so his own [Flickering World] Main Storyline had to undergo quite a few of the chain missions. Completing the [Exploration Pioneer] milestone would not be a problem. The reason he had called Tarrokov was to find out about this.

After chatting for a while, Han Xiao hung up.

The news of him defeating the Tyrant had already gone on for more than a month, and the results were obvious. The number of new applicants rose by forty-three percent, and the investments from the various financial groups rose by thirty-five percent. As for Bloodshed Land, their influence had taken a hit, and their pace was slowly dying down.

In addition, the Wayne Cards series, which was always sensitive to news, immediately made a change, issuing a statement to announce an epic enhancement to the Black Star deck, as well as a comprehensive weakening of the Bloodshed Land deck. Furthermore, they also changed the status of the strongest within the Star Fields, adding Black Star’s name into the list.

Some of the Beyond Grade A people also sent out congratulatory messages. Among them was Sorokin, who gave Han Xiao a whole new impression of the word ‘shamelessness’.