Chapter 37

In the tavern of Glimmerstone Town, Palin, Satan, and the newly appointed head of the Thieves Guild, "Grey Eyes" Rod, sat together drinking.

Rod's attitude was remarkably humble, his face fixed in a fawning smile. To borrow a phrase from Mr. Gu Long, he looked as if he would gladly kneel down and lick the boots of Palin and Satan.

Having witnessed the incredible power of His Majesty Void Mask with his own eyes, he—a follower of the God of Thieves who had never been particularly devout—was already tempted to defect to that Majesty's banner.

The God of Thieves was not a particularly powerful deity. Although he was considered a senior among the gods, he had never fared very well. This was largely determined by his style of conduct: his primary domains were theft, concealment, and illusion. At first glance, these seemed high-end, but in reality, he always taught his followers to prioritize self-preservation, avoid high-risk ventures, and restrain their desires, claiming that a life of small risks was enough to live in peace. Under his guidance, the Thieves Guild's main business, beyond traditional theft, fencing, and selling information, included manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods, running grocery stores, taverns, and inns, as well as locksmithing and appraisal. Beyond these, there were even quite respectable professions, such as building houses and cemeteries, archaeology, and low-to-mid-level disaster relief education for the common folk.

It was naturally not difficult to make a living and get rich through these means. But to reach the pinnacle of life and dominate the world through such methods was clearly unrealistic. If one had no choice, there was nothing wrong with making money quietly and living in peace, but after witnessing the immense power of His Majesty Void Mask, Rod could not help but entertain the thought of switching his faith.

It wasn't that the God of Thieves was bad, nor was he unwilling to go to the God of Thieves' divine kingdom after death, but as everyone knew, reaching a divine kingdom after death was no easy feat. The limited power and mediocre divine rank of the God of Thieves meant he could not widely accept the souls of his followers; even a guild master of a town's Thieves Guild was not guaranteed a place in the divine kingdom.

If he couldn't reach the divine kingdom, the fate awaiting Rod would likely be grim. Over the years, while he hadn't committed any truly horrifying atrocities, the cumulative weight of his theft, forgery, and fraud would be enough to get him executed several times over, not to mention the underworld conflicts that had absolutely nothing to do with justice.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but envy the deceased Ryan.

Heading to the divine kingdom of the God of Redemption was not a great choice. That deity's philosophy was for followers to redeem themselves and others. Although Ryan had redeemed himself, he would not find peace and joy until he had redeemed enough people and truly completed his atonement. As the messenger of the God of Redemption had said, his path was still very long. In Rod's view, it was merely avoiding the tragic result of falling into hell, trading torture for long-term forced labor.

But... that was already good enough!

If he could build a good relationship with His Majesty Void Mask, even if he didn't receive His protection in daily life, as long as he could receive a blessing at the moment of death, he could gain a chance at redemption and avoid hell. This benefit alone was enough to make a coward like Rod feel moved.

Not to mention, the level of protection His Majesty Void Mask provided to his own followers was enough to make anyone jealous!

With so many gods in the world, which one would fly into a rage because their follower was plotted against and go head-to-head with the God of Conspiracy?

And he had—won!

By comparison, the God of Thieves, who hadn't even noticed when his own guild master—a figure equivalent to a high priest—had defected, was truly a bit... sigh!

Palin was relatively young, lacking experience and the ability to read people from subtle cues, but Satan was an old hand. As a powerhouse who lived by his wits and had even managed to suppress Gerald through intellect at one point, he saw through Rod's intentions at a glance and couldn't help but smile.

"Guild Master Rod, let's get straight to the point—do you wish to become a follower of my Lord?" he asked bluntly.

This straightforward style of speech clearly made Rod, who was accustomed to slow bargaining, uncomfortable. Having prepared many lines, he was momentarily choked, only nodding with a bitter smile after a while.

"The Immortal Thief (another name for the God of Thieves) is not a petty deity, but as a Thieves Guild master, aren't you afraid of being punished for betraying his faith?" Satan asked, hitting the most critical point.

Rod had naturally considered this carefully and answered immediately: "Strictly speaking, I am still only the deputy master. I have not yet held the formal sacrificial ceremony to be recognized by His Majesty as the official master. His Majesty certainly wouldn't tolerate the defection of an official master, but he will likely tolerate a deputy. Besides, His Majesty Void Mask is, after all, an enemy of his enemies. If the enemy of an enemy isn't an ally, they can at least be considered friends."

"It seems you have thought this through and weighed the pros and cons. Then I have one more question," Satan said. "Our Majesty belongs to the Ancient Nature Gods and is not a deity keen on spreading faith. If you want to join us, what do you think you can do for Him? If it's just belief, then forget it."

Rod was stunned, not expecting this question. Most gods in this world were keen on spreading faith because receiving feedback from the power of faith was the most common way to improve a deity's rank. However, for the Ancient Nature Gods who drew power from the source of the world, the presence or absence of faith was not a major issue; whether people believed or not had no impact on them.

Therefore, joining the church of an Ancient Nature God became extremely difficult.

After all, they had no intention of recruiting people in the first place.

Rod thought for a long time before saying: "In these Four Northwest Towns, I am considered well-informed. Furthermore, I have a deep understanding of appraisal; even if I went to the Gold Coin Federation in the south, I would qualify as an expert in the field. Beyond that, I am skilled at forging documents, creating and disarming various mechanisms and traps, and I know quite a bit about geology, history, and flora and fauna..."

"But are these useful to my Lord?" Satan asked.

Rod remained silent for a long time, then shook his head in frustration.

The Ancient Nature Gods were existences that drifted outside the civilized world; those skills that were highly useful in the civilized world were useless to Him. And as for things like geology or knowledge of plants and animals, a great deity had no need to concern himself with such trivial matters.

Just as he was feeling dejected, Sui Xiong's voice suddenly echoed in the air: "This tavern is run by your Thieves Guild, right? Do you know how to run a shop?"

Rod shook his head: "Someone else is responsible for running the tavern. I know very little about business and management."

In front of a deity, he dared not harbor any thoughts of lying.

"Then, what about you, Palin?" Sui Xiong asked again.

"My Lord, I can learn," Palin replied immediately. "I am still young and learn quickly. And before I finish learning, I can find some veterans from my uncle's side to help."

"If you need help, I have even more assistants!" Rod hurriedly interrupted. "My Lord, I know many capable people, and at least ten of them are merchants with excellent track records!"

"So, your specialty is connections..." Sui Xiong smiled and said, "Gerald has been suggesting that I establish my own church and belief system. Although I haven't made up my mind yet, trying to establish a pioneer village is a decent attempt. Rod, if you are willing to work for me, how about I let you and Palin help build this village?"

"That's no problem! I will definitely do it well!" Rod was overjoyed and promised, patting his chest.

Palin bowed his head in agreement: "My Lord, I will certainly do my best."

He knew he was young and his talents were limited; all he could guarantee was that he would try his best.

"Don't worry, building a pioneer village is not difficult for us," Rod said, encouraging him in turn. "To build such a village, we only need three things: food, population, and military force. As for food, it just takes money; as for population, it's not hard to recruit pioneers; as for military force, that's even less of a problem. With that big guy Gerald around, as long as we aren't foolish enough to build the village next to the dens of the fiercest legendary monsters in the Ash Forest, can mere skeletons stop his axe?"

Everyone suddenly realized that, as Rod said, with military protection and no shortage of money, building a pioneer village in the Ash Forest was not difficult at all.

It was like sowing seeds: the seeds were good, the soil and climate were suitable, and there was no shortage of water or fertilizer. All that was needed was careful tending and patient waiting.

Thinking of this, both Palin and Satan couldn't help but smile.

Perhaps for His Majesty Void Mask, building a pioneer village was just a trivial game. But for them, it was an opportunity to contribute to the deity they believed in.

The Ancient Nature Gods were always without desire or demand, and their followers often lacked a sense of presence. However, the world operated by its own rules. If a follower could not follow the deity's philosophy, or if the deity did not make sufficient contributions, then even if the soul was received into the divine kingdom after death, it could not be reborn well to become a divine creature with near-immortal life. In the divine kingdom of the Ancient Nature Gods, there were countless souls who had failed to complete their rebirth and were merely sleeping between life and death, waking up only occasionally.

Neither Palin nor Satan wanted that ending. So, naturally, they had to work hard to contribute to their deity while they were still alive, in hopes of a smooth rebirth after death.

For the first formal task assigned by the deity, they both wanted to do their utmost to set a positive benchmark for future followers and to lay a solid, reliable brick on the path to their own rebirth in the divine kingdom.

Thus, they soon began to discuss the specific plan for building the pioneer village in detail: where to purchase supplies? Where to recruit villagers? Where to site the village? How to handle transportation? How to build it specifically? One question after another was raised, followed by discussions on solutions.

Sui Xiong listened with interest at first, but as they went on, he felt bored. He shifted his focus outside the tavern to check on Gerald, only to see Gerald teaching the thieves martial arts. Although the big guy's personality was becoming increasingly honest and straightforward, his inherent nature as a teacher had not vanished. Seeing this group of good material with loose skills but decent physiques, he couldn't help but want to teach them something.

His followers were all busy, so Sui Xiong didn't want to disturb them. He calmed his mind and began to read the materials the God of Redemption had sent him...

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