Sharing My Twenty Million Believers

"This is Vias custom. I hope Mr. Asheff will do as the locals do!" Facing Yu Sheng'an's astonished expression, Meg explained in a low voice.

"Why haven't I heard of this custom?" Yu Sheng'an frowned inwardly, somewhat resentful that the Kevil Empire's diplomatic work had been so utterly terrible!

"Foreigners entering Vias have always been required to sing a song to prove their sincerity. Could it be that Mr. Asheff is not from the Aizeya Southern State?" Meg wore a strange expression.

Vias had been established for more than four hundred years. Almost no noble was unaware of this rule.

Even among the Snowfield Tribes at the northernmost edge of the Aizeya Continent, renowned for their backwardness, barbarity, and brutality, plenty of people knew of it.

Well then! From the sound of it, he really was the ignorant one... Yu Sheng'an suddenly had a headache. Gods really were willful, weren't they? They dared to impose every bizarre rule imaginable. Weren't they afraid of making fools of themselves?

Then again, once you became a god, who would you fear mocking you?

Besides, habit became second nature!

Putting himself in their shoes, Blue Star even had cheek-kissing greetings. If that happened on the Aizeya Continent, it would probably be mistaken for taking advantage of someone and earn a beating!

"Mr. Meg, I truly wasn't aware of your country's customs. As you can see, I made no preparations. How about we keep the ceremony simple this time and skip the process?" Yu Sheng'an politely declined.

He truly could not bring himself to sing in public.

On one hand, he was thin-skinned. He only dared hum a little when bathing alone.

On the other hand, he was tone-deaf. Even at KTV, he only dared pick songs like "Love Must Go On Even After Death" or "Xi Shua Shua." How was he supposed to sing? "This..." Meg hesitated for a while, even privately consulting his superior before finally nodding in agreement.

There was no helping it. Asheff's status was anything but ordinary.

Amid the astonished gazes of a group of dancers, the delegation set off again and slowly proceeded into the city.

The moment the delegation entered the city, it drew the attention of Vias's citizens.

Vias was far too isolated. Although the opening of the Music Academy each year attracted many nobles, great and small, who sent their children to enroll, it was only lively for a short while then.

For most of the rest of the year, it was a closed city-state.

Now that foreign envoys had suddenly arrived, everyone naturally paid closer attention. Besides, Vias had extended such high-level courtesies that it was difficult not to attract notice.

"Are they from the Kevil Empire? They look so fierce."

"Exactly. Their armor looks truly crude."

"I heard they're a bunch of lunatics obsessed with pursuing the power of Magic. For power, they would even summon Abyss Devils."

"They're not like us, blessed with the protection of the Goddess of Music. Without a god's protection, they can only barter with Devils for power and struggle to survive."

"How pitiful!"

"Oh, right, what song did they sing when they entered the city?"

"They didn't sing."

"Huh? They didn't sing?"

The citizens of Vias buzzed with discussion. When they heard that the Kevil Empire's delegation had entered the city without singing, the gathered crowd immediately erupted! The news spread at an astonishing speed!

The way everyone looked at the Kevil Empire changed as well.

"They actually didn't sing? What do they take Vias for? I remember Prince Howard sang 'Praise the Goddess' just last year!"

"This is simply desecrating the Goddess!"

"What songs could a bunch of Magic-crazed lunatics possibly sing?"

"What meaning is there in life if you can't even sing?"

"How crude! I really don't understand why they were allowed in at all. They should all be driven out!"

The citizens of Vias boiled over! Some were filled with righteous indignation; some sighed in pity; some looked on with contempt and disdain.

Completely unaware of what was happening, Yu Sheng'an watched the hostile, contemptuous gazes from the citizens on both sides of the road and felt deeply vexed. What was wrong with them? The rumors really hadn't come from nowhere. The people here truly rejected outsiders!

Of course, not all rumors were true.

For instance, people claimed that Vias "did not engage in production and devoted itself to Music," and that its people could not even afford enough to eat.

Yet along the way, Yu Sheng'an had rarely seen anyone with a sallow complexion.

On the contrary, judging by their expressions and clothing, the citizens here seemed to enjoy a quality of life perhaps thirty percent better than that of Willis.

There were no mercenaries galloping recklessly through the streets; no child laborers struggling to make a living; and certainly no sprawling clusters of Slums buildings.

The architecture here resembled musical scales, orderly yet layered with a pleasing rhythm.

It made sense. This was, after all, a city-state ruled by a god. How could its people fail to fill their stomachs?

Besides, this was merely a city-state with a population of several hundred thousand. If the Goddess of Music could not even govern such a tiny patch of land properly, she would shame the very title of godhood!

The delegation finally settled into the Mission Office.

After Yu Sheng'an rested briefly, bathed, and changed clothes, Meg came to inform him that it was time to meet the Goddess of Music.

Soon afterward, Yu Sheng'an rode in a sedan chair to The Palace, then entered the hall on foot.

Passing through a corridor of stone pillars engraved with musical scores, Yu Sheng'an finally met Aphnora, the Goddess of Music, in the Feather Hall of Vias's Divine Palace of Music.

The gleaming hall was lofty and vast.

Statues of men and women holding all manner of instruments stood on either side of the hall. At the far end, a woman in a plain black robe, her ponytail tied casually, sat serenely upon a high-backed Divine Throne, her deep gaze fixed upon Yu Sheng'an as he entered.

"Asheff greets Her Excellency, the Goddess of Music!"

Yu Sheng'an stood below the throne and copied a gentleman's pose, pressing a hand to his chest in salute, though his eyes roamed rather improperly over the Goddess of Music's appearance.

White hair, green eyes, fair skin, and large eyes. On her unadorned face, there was a beauty mark on the bridge of her nose.

She could not be called breathtakingly beautiful. By Yu Sheng'an's standards, she would score a seven. Yet the temperament radiating from her very core was striking, filled with an ethereal aura.

That alone raised her overall beauty to a perfect ten without exaggeration.

"You are the seventh god to set foot upon this land since Vias was founded, though you are merely a projection."

The Goddess of Music spoke, her voice unexpectedly soft and muffled, as though she had a rice ball in her mouth.

"State your purpose, Outer God."

Yu Sheng'an was not surprised by the title "Outer God."

Whether it was the divine name he had chosen for himself, "God of the Internet," or the information revealed through his prayer, both indicated that he was not from this world.

The reason Yu Sheng'an dared reveal his identity as an outsider was that Outer Gods were hardly unusual in this multiverse.

Many gods kept multiple contingencies, spreading their faith across several planes to prevent the destruction of believers on any one plane from affecting their supply of Source Essence.

"Before I answer why I have come, may I ask you a question?"

Without waiting for the Goddess of Music to respond, Yu Sheng'an continued, "The Cold-Resistant High-Yield Black Grain had only been developed not long ago when your delegation arrived in Willis City. Your response was remarkably swift."

"People also widely claim that Vias does not engage in production and devotes itself to Music, yet along the way, I found that your country does not lack food."

"So, beautiful and noble Goddess of Music, I am quite curious. Since you do not lack food, why do you need high-yield seeds?"

Aphnora's expression did not change. "Food concerns the survival of my people. Is there a problem with my purchasing high-yield seeds?"

"Of course there is!" Yu Sheng'an raised his voice. "Everyone says the Goddess of Music is aloof by nature and unconcerned with worldly affairs. Then I am curious: if that is so, what do you need high-yield grain for?"

Aphnora remained impassive and silent.

Yu Sheng'an answered for her. "You want food to sustain more people and expand the Spring of Source Essence. Am I right?"

Aphnora remained calm. "Vias's territory is limited. No matter how high the yield of Black Grain is, it cannot support many more people."

"Who knows whether you have believers on other planes?"

After he said that, Yu Sheng'an felt, perhaps only in his imagination, that the temperature in the hall had dropped by several degrees.

Yet when he looked at Aphnora, he found her as still as an ancient well. "You are overthinking it. The multiverse is vast beyond measure, but every place we can cross into is already claimed. How could I possibly spread my faith?"

Something's fishy!

Alarm bells rang in Yu Sheng'an's mind. If she truly had no believers, why would she go out of her way to explain?

Something fishy was good!

It meant she had ambition.

Ambitious people were easier to persuade. The troublesome ones were those with no desires at all.

Yu Sheng'an smiled and got straight to the point. "We are both sensible people, so I will be frank. I came here to form an alliance with you and share my twenty million believers!"

The moment those words fell, Aphnora's pupils, which had remained still as an ancient well, abruptly contracted.

Then she laughed softly. "Share? Are you joking, sir? How would we share them? Even the Five Great Gods of Aizeya divide their domains among themselves."

Yu Sheng'an wore a serious expression. "Have you heard of NetEase Cloud?"