Three Conditions

Dendall quickly came back to his senses.

The reason the God of the Internet had so inexplicably concerned himself with the Empire's commoners was, in the end, because he was certain that the Kevil Empire would not refuse his cooperation.

In that case, the Kevil Empire would become his Missionary Zone.

Then his concern for the commoners' food supply was only as natural as a shepherd caring about his lambs' fodder.

Having understood this, Dendall suddenly felt discouraged.

Because he truly lacked both the courage and ability to refuse.

Once he refused, both sides would inevitably suffer.

No, it should be said that once he refused, the Kevil Empire would inevitably decline, perhaps even eventually becoming no more than a city-state.

As for the God of the Internet, the greatest price he would pay would merely be a slower spread of his Divine Art, war within his Missionary Zone, and a sharp population decline!

Because no one could refuse the benefits brought by the Internet, especially the commoners at the bottom.

"I think we should first discuss our cooperation," Dendall said, changing the subject.

"No problem. Tell me your terms." Yu Sheng'an spread his hands, relaxed, and leaned back in his chair.

Yet Dendall instinctively straightened his back. Arcane Magic Runes flickered beneath his feet, enveloping the traditional Keshi Delicacy.

At the same time, rings of magical ripples rose from the Magic Towers towering across Willis City, covering the entire city.

At that moment, Yu Sheng'an was astonished to discover that his Divine Perspective could no longer peer into any user in Willis City, aside from his own projection. After all, it was an extension of his true body.

Dendall said in a low voice, "The Empire has only three demands."

"First, you may never establish churches within the Kevil Empire."

Yu Sheng'an nodded almost imperceptibly. It was easy to understand why the Kevil Empire had raised this demand first.

Churches were the incarnations of gods, the fortresses of Missionary Zones, the fixed eyes of Godheads, and warning monuments to other gods!

It could be said that gods relied on churches to expand from points to broader areas, thereby completing their rule over their Missionary Zones.

Once another god's activity within a Missionary Zone exceeded a certain alert threshold, it would draw the attention of the local god, perhaps even a projected divine descent strike!

For all anyone knew, gods might quietly patrol their Missionary Zones whenever they had nothing better to do!

Therefore, churches were to gods what Magic Towers were to mages.

"Second, you may never interfere in any political affairs of the Kevil Empire."

"Third, you may never spy on any mage or Internet Social information!"

"The above three points must be bound by a Contract Document."

Dendall laid out the remaining conditions in one breath.

"A Contract Document?" Yu Sheng'an's tone carried a trace of oddness.

"Without the binding power of a Contract, I believe it would be difficult for Your Excellency to trust our sincerity." Dendall deliberately put it the other way around, saving Yu Sheng'an face.

In truth, what he should have said was that without the binding power of a Contract, they would find it difficult to trust the God of the Internet.

The problem was... I'm the God of Contracts!

A strange feeling rose in Yu Sheng'an's heart.

Contracts indeed imposed extremely powerful restraints on him.

But where there were rules, there were exceptions. As long as he was willing to pay enough Source Essence, twisting a Contract was nothing unusual!

At the same time, Dendall's reminder made Yu Sheng'an suddenly think, What the hell! He cursed himself for being too rigid in his thinking.

He suddenly recalled that when he had first promoted the Internet Divine Art, things had gone quite poorly.

The root cause was that the Internet Divine Art had possessed only one function at the time: Internet Social.

After most mages picked up Mithril Rings, they were naturally unwilling to use them due to the drawback that "those who use Divine Art will be watched by gods."

After all, with other Divine Arts, they might only be watched for those few minutes when they were in use.

But Internet Social? Once they started using it, logging in seven or eight times a day was perfectly normal.

This had forced him to later resort to tempting users with benefits, even launching the Forum to create a herd effect.

Actually, back then, he could simply have issued an "authorization agreement" guaranteeing that the God of the Internet would not spy on user privacy, couldn't he?

With this Contract Document as a guarantee, it should have been enough to dispel most users' concerns.

He would not suffer any losses from doing so. He could even earn an extra wave of Contract Document fees for free.

After all, the God of the Internet promising not to spy did not mean the God of Contracts would not spy, right?

"I can agree to all three of those conditions. However, I also have three conditions."

Dendall immediately became highly tense, as did the Magic God and the few Grand Archmages behind him who were qualified to know about this matter.

"First, fully spread the Internet Divine Art. I require it to reach the Empire's most basic administrative units—villages and towns—within one month."

"Second, from this day onward, the Kevil Empire must fully implement Free Compulsory Basic Literacy Education. Every administrative region, including even a village with only one person remaining, must establish a Free Academy with at least one teacher to teach literacy. The establishment of these academies must be completed within one year."

"Third, within the Kevil Empire, all gods other than the God of the Internet and gods recognized by him shall be Heretics!"

As soon as the three conditions were stated, Dendall fell silent.

In truth, he was already discussing them with several Magic Gods behind the scenes through special magic.

Yu Sheng'an's first condition had been entirely within their expectations.

The second condition was somewhat unexpected.

But after thinking it over carefully, they could understand the logic behind it.

This condition would require some financial and material resources, but it would also benefit the Empire, so they could agree to it as well.

But the third condition was ruthless.

Was this not an attempt to tie the Kevil Empire to the God of the Internet's war chariot?

Although the Kevil Empire rejected other gods, in order to avoid being besieged, it still diplomatically acknowledged the legitimacy of the Five Great Gods.

Moreover, its territory was small and its population relatively limited.

For the Five Great Gods, the cost of conquering it was too great, so they simply left it alone.

Now, the God of the Internet wanted them to follow his lead in their attitude toward gods. If he turned around and declared the Five Great Gods to be Heretics, could the Five Great Gods possibly tolerate that?

"Your Excellency, the third condition is too harsh," Dendall probed.

"Then your first and third conditions are too harsh as well. I can only abide by one of them. Choose one of the two," Yu Sheng'an said.

Dendall said nothing. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine."

Yu Sheng'an smiled lightly. With a snap of his fingers, he had taken down an Empire. The future was promising!

Afterward, both sides discussed the specific details of the terms and signed a bilateral strategic cooperation agreement in a cordial and friendly atmosphere!

The moment the agreement was signed, the magical ripples shrouding Willis City dissipated bit by bit like mountain mist at noon.

Dendall's tightly tensed body relaxed as well, and his mindset shifted from "confrontation" to "cooperation."

He asked curiously, "May I ask what the Official Website Your Excellency mentioned earlier actually looks like?"