Third Divine Decree

Time ticked by, second by second.

Just as Gao Yuan had guessed, the Third Divine Decree contained far more information than the previous two decrees.

The Goddess with the shoddy modeled face not only showed Chen Fan a low-resolution model of the God Kingdom, but also introduced the "perfect" life within it in a voice that sounded like a broken gong.

All one had to do was pray to the Goddess, and they could obtain inexhaustible resources.

There would be no need to worry about food or drink. The only thing the God Chosen had to do was maintain the normal operation of the God Kingdom for the Goddess.

It was called maintenance, but in truth, it was not much different from leisurely enjoyment—according to the shoddily modeled Goddess, the God Kingdom would operate on its own, and the God Chosen only needed to handle daily supervision.

In short, in Chen Fan's eyes, this was a promotional CG meant to advertise the Goddess and the God Kingdom.

It could stir the God Chosen's interest in the God Kingdom while dispelling their resistance to leaving their homeland and heading there.

At its core, it was simply an advanced brainwashing tactic.

It was just that... this tactic had little effect on Chen Fan.

Leaving aside whether Chen Fan would believe such obviously fake scam rhetoric, the abysmal texture quality alone was enough to make it impossible for him to feel even the slightest interest.

Just as Chen Fan was being lulled drowsy by the shoddy God Kingdom promotional CG and the bishop's low, chanting prayer, the images and sounds in his mind gradually began to fade.

The promotional CG had ended.

A few minutes later, the bishop's chanted prayer also drew to a close.

A somewhat shrill "Praise the great Goddess," laden with stiff mechanical undertones, announced the end of the prayer and the successful conclusion of this divine decree ritual.

The room abruptly fell into silence.

Just as Chen Fan was about to open his eyes, Yi suddenly spoke to stop him:

Don't rush. That bishop seems to be checking the condition of every God Chosen.

As the words fell, an incredibly realistic holographic image appeared in Chen Fan's mind—at least to him, it was comparable to the real world.

In the image, Chen Fan could clearly see the area around his body.

It was an extremely peculiar angle, somewhat like the third-person perspective used when controlling a character in certain large-scale AAA games.

The difference from a game perspective was that the image covered an extremely narrow range—by rough estimate, he could only see within a radius of three meters.

Sensing Chen Fan's thoughts, Yi promptly protested: This is real-time holographic photography. It is fundamentally different from those ordinary camera feeds!

You don't think this is easy to achieve, do you?

Unlike conventional holographic photography, I not only have to extensively capture the surrounding images, but also carry out massive amounts of rendering and stitching before I can produce this holographic image with virtually zero delay.

Do you know how much processing power this takes up? No, you don't. All you care about is...

Fine, fine, I get it. You're amazing.

Chen Fan carefully observed the holographic image and casually cut Yi off with a perfunctory response.

Just as Yi had warned, the bishop who had finished praying was slowly walking toward Gao Yuan nearby.

Gao Yuan's facial muscles twitched slightly, while his eyeballs kept moving beneath his eyelids.

He had not realized that the bishop had already brought his gleaming steel head close to his face.

It's like he's dreaming.

Watching Gao Yuan's state, Chen Fan frowned and spoke inwardly.

That is what low-quality Brain-Computer Interfaces are like.

They cannot project images while the organism is awake. You should already have some understanding of why.

Compared to the real world, the image quality projected by this Brain-Computer Interface is extremely poor and easy to see through.

But it is different when the organism is dreaming.

The cognitive organs of highly intelligent lifeforms are quite remarkable. They possess powerful Self-Perfection and detail-filling abilities, especially when unconscious and free from external interference.

In other words, within dreams, such low-quality images are often automatically perfected. At the same time, the organism does not notice the process.

*...*

Chen Fan fell silent and pondered for a moment before suddenly understanding. Got it. So it's basically filling in the blanks yourself and talking yourself into it, right?!

...That was more or less what it meant.

As the man and machine communicated, the bishop left Gao Yuan's side and walked toward Chen Fan with composed, dignified steps.

Yi? Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly asked inwardly, He won't notice something's wrong, will he?

Theoretically, no. Methods for testing the projection effects of a Brain-Computer Interface are quite complex. I do not believe he possesses that technology.

As they spoke, the bishop stopped in front of Chen Fan and silently observed him.

"Hm?"

Perhaps having noticed something, the bishop let out a soft sound of surprise, crouched slightly, and brought his iron head close to Chen Fan's face.

A faint smell of motor oil rushed into his nose.

Chen Fan could even imagine the bishop applying motor oil to his steel forehead on a daily basis.

At that moment, he was utterly devastated inside.

Yi! Didn't you say he wouldn't notice anything wrong?!

Yi could not help falling silent.

Well... theoretically. Do you understand what theoretically means?

Yi argued forcefully: Isn't it normal for practical results to differ somewhat from theory?!

Chen Fan: ...Nice.

Fortunately, the bishop did not observe him for long.

After taking a few careful glances, the bishop stood up again.

Through the third-person perspective provided by Yi, Chen Fan could clearly see the bishop's mechanical facial features shift slightly.

Using his unique recognition skills, he discerned the bishop's current emotions.

Joy. Satisfaction.

Perhaps it was somewhat inappropriate, but four words still uncontrollably surfaced in Chen Fan's mind—machine spirit greatly pleased.

Under Chen Fan's gaze, the bishop nodded his iron head "satisfiedly," waved his purple robe, and headed toward the next God Chosen.

Even after watching the bishop disappear from the panoramic view provided by Yi, Chen Fan did not act rashly. He merely kept his eyes closed in silence.

Until more than ten minutes later.

Gao Yuan slowly opened his eyes and looked around in confusion.

Once he clearly saw his surroundings, a visible look of disappointment appeared on his face.

Clearly, the God Kingdom CG projected into his mind by the Holy Crown had deeply appealed to him.

Chen Fan also opened his eyes at just the right moment, putting on an equally convincing expression of confusion and disappointment.

"The Third Divine Decree has ended."

The Purple Robe Bishop's voice came from the front.

By then, he had put on his purple, gold-trimmed hood, concealing his gleaming iron head.

"I trust that all of you God Chosen have heard the Goddess's divine decree and witnessed the Goddess's God Kingdom with your own eyes."

At those words, a trace of yearning involuntarily appeared in the eyes of several God Chosen.

Like Gao Yuan, they had been immensely awed by the promotional CG projected by that low-quality Brain-Computer Interface.