Phones really were great things.
Through his phone, Jing Yan sent a message to Natasha, who was far away in Boulder Town. She replied almost immediately.
Natasha: "Send me a photo so I can see?"
Jing Yan was a little surprised. They had known each other for such a short time, and she already knew how to take photos.
Belobog did have photography, but it used cameras.
It seemed Natasha was a quick learner, both as a doctor and as the leader of the Underworld Fire.
Jing Yan sent Natasha a photo of the nearby Vagrant Camp.
After receiving it, she told him that anyone who was injured could come to her clinic.
Then she added, "Jing Yan, why do you insist on going to such a dangerous place? There's not much we can do out there. What if something goes wrong?"
Jing Yan smiled when he saw that and sent a message back.
"It's fine, don't worry. (*^_^*)"
Natasha replied with a smiling face wishing him well.
Only then did Jing Yan put his phone in his pocket.
"Hey, was that a message from Natasha?" March 7th asked beside him.
"That's right," Jing Yan replied.
"Seems like she really cares about you, and..."
March 7th smiled, looking a little peculiar.
She had probably sensed from her earlier conversations with some children from the Underworld that Jing Yan, as a doctor at Natasha's Clinic, had an unusual relationship with Natasha. That was why she was looking at him that way now.
"What is it?" Jing Yan asked.
"Nothing."
"It's nice," March 7th said as she walked along with her hands behind her back. "Having someone who cares about you makes it feel a little more like home, doesn't it?"
"Back on the Astral Express, I was always looking for someone to talk to, too. But Himeko and Uncle Yang were both pretty busy, and Pom-Pom was busy as well. Then there was just Dan Heng, but that guy doesn't like chatting. Hmm..."
March 7th continued.
Beside her, Stelle pointed at herself with her index finger, as if to say, "What about me?"
But March 7th seemed to have missed the gesture.
Jing Yan's reward for today's sign-in had arrived.
His new reward gave him a deeper understanding of divine power.
It also brought with it an entirely new ability.
"Not bad."
As he walked, Jing Yan closed his eyes and sensed the changes in the Eros divine power within him. When he opened them again, a faint smile had appeared on his face.
The power he had just gained would be quite useful here.
The ability was called [Illusion Domain]. It was different from the abilities he had obtained before.
Despite its name, the domain was real.
It was a space created within his body, though everything inside it was an illusion formed by divine power. People could see it, but they couldn't touch it.
While someone was inside, virtually everything would be affected.
The ability also had an even more powerful effect: it could amplify his previous abilities, increasing their range tenfold.
In other words, if Jing Yan activated [Illusion Domain] and then used [Verbal Domination], he could command everyone within a hundred square meters at once.
That is, as long as they couldn't resist.
He could also use it simply to create an illusion, preventing people from seeing reality.
This skill could be considered a second-order ability, like [Verbal Domination]. But if he used them together, they could produce a third-order effect.
It could also be used purely to support his other abilities, raising them to a whole new level.
Not far ahead, Jing Yan spotted a rampaging Automaton Soldier chasing a vagrant.
He rushed forward at once.
Then he began using [Verbal Domination].
"Stop. Format yourself, then reboot!"
Jing Yan finished speaking.
The Mechanical Vanguard replied, "Understood. Formatting complete. Reboot finished!"
"Personnel detected ahead. Beginning threat assessment!"
"Question: Which component should the microcrystalline unit connect to?"
"A. Heat dissipation board."
"B. Operational braking module."
"C. Logical reaction hub."
"Let me handle this..."
March 7th noticed something strange about the Automaton Soldier—Beetle. Intrigued, she stepped forward and answered, "I choose A!"
"Congratulations—you're wrong!"
"You can't even answer such an easy question! Trash! Combat mode activated!"
March 7th froze at its words.
She looked a little panicked.
But Jing Yan quickly said, "Choose C, the logical reaction hub. And stop!"
As soon as he spoke, [Verbal Domination] took effect. The Automaton Soldier stopped.
"Successful identification. The object is..."
"The highest-ranking controller!"
The Automaton Soldier announced. Green lights soon flashed across its body, showing that it was completely obedient to Jing Yan.
Then it followed Jing Yan as he continued onward.
"This..."
The people beside them were dumbfounded.
"It just obeyed?" March 7th asked.
"That's right."
Jing Yan said nothing more and walked on.
There were several more Automaton Soldiers ahead.
Although emotions were like a virus to machines, allowing them to break free of their original commands, develop self-awareness, and potentially harm people, Jing Yan didn't see it that way.
"Expand [Illusion Domain]!"
A bizarre, surreal scene spread out from Jing Yan, quickly enveloping the rampaging machines.
Before long, all the Mechanical Vanguards had calmed down.
The reason was simple.
Jing Yan had successfully brought them under his control.
The mere fact that they had a chance of developing emotions allowed Jing Yan to make that possibility come true.
After that, controlling a rebooted robot was even easier than controlling a person.
Before long, a squad of Mechanical Vanguards had gathered behind Jing Yan, March 7th, and Stelle.
They heard a lot of arguing from the road above them.
Jing Yan and the others quickly made their way up to the iron bridge. They saw a crowd gathered in front of a distant gate.
A little girl with white hair and red eyes stood out in front of it.
"She's so pretty!" March 7th exclaimed.
Jing Yan recognized her.
It was Clara.
She stood barefoot in the snow, wearing a bright red cardigan, and didn't seem cold at all.
"Please, don't disturb Mr. Svarog. He doesn't want to see anyone," Clara said, looking troubled.
There were three groups in front of her.
Some were vagrant Gold Diggers, while others were miners. There were even people from the Underworld Fire standing there.
A vagrant chuckled. "Why does Svarog get to hog the Core Hub? At a time like this, I hear he's especially protective of Clara. How about..."
The person beside him frowned but said nothing.
"How interesting." Jing Yan approached with the Mechanical Vanguards, March 7th, and the others.
Before you continue