Eve was exceptionally efficient. With the [All-Seeing Eye] working alongside [Laplace's Demon], she could practically overwhelm every faction from the original story with an advantage they could not hope to match.
Roy reclined in the bath and nodded.
"Report immediately."
"Yes, Lord Joshua."
"The Slane Theocracy covers 300,000 square kilometers and has a population exceeding forty million, with the precise figure around 41.5 million. It is the most powerful of the human nations in the continent's northwestern corner..."
Wait.
"Over forty million people?"
Roy remembered that the Slane Theocracy's total population in the original story was over fifteen million, the largest of any human nation.
Slane Theocracy: fifteen million people.
Re-Estize Kingdom: nine million people.
Baharuth Empire: eight million people.
Northern Roble Holy Kingdom: 3.5 million people, excluding the south, with roughly seven million overall.
These were the population figures explicitly mentioned in the novels.
After his rebirth, Roy had long since written down the relevant figures while he still remembered them.
Yet the Slane Theocracy's population had more than doubled?
Roy immediately asked:
"Is that population figure accurate?"
"Supreme One, Laplace's Demon uses a biological census method. The margin of error is no greater than one hundred people, accounting for the new people born every minute."
Roy considered this and asked:
"What level has their agricultural technology reached?"
Eve continued her report:
"The Slane Theocracy has built large numbers of warehouses and has ample food reserves, enough for ten years. Its livestock industry is also highly developed."
"Their grain yield has reached eight hundred kilograms per mu, and they possess nearly ninety million mu of cultivated land, approximately twenty percent of their territory. They could feed even eighty million people without difficulty."
"The Slane Theocracy still follows a policy encouraging childbirth, which it has maintained for several hundred years."
"For every human child born, the parents receive two hundred and fifty kilograms of flour, three hens, three roosters, and one hundred eggs."
"They also provide roughly six years of universal education to ordinary citizens, primarily focused on theology, while identifying suitable talent."
"In this world, one person with an innate talent is born for every two hundred people. The Slane Theocracy conducts universal screening to discover such individuals."
"Even without accounting for magic, some of the Slane Theocracy's scientific technologies have reached eighteenth-century levels. Its agriculture is particularly advanced, and it can manufacture fertilizer through both industrial and magical methods."
"In addition, the Slane Theocracy has instituted sanitation measures that address problems such as puerperal fever, greatly promoting population growth."
No wonder.
Roy now understood. The things he had left Surshana had not gone to waste.
With six hundred years of accumulated changes, humanity was clearly far stronger than in the original story.
The Slane Theocracy had managed to raise its grain yield to eight hundred kilograms per mu.
The special high-yield seeds he had left behind, advances in fertilizer production, and improvements in farming methods had all been indispensable.
Roy continued:
"What about the Six Great Gods?"
Eve continued her report:
"After appearing six hundred years ago, the Six Great Gods fought the Dragon Lords. The outcome is unknown, but after the battle, they relocated a large slave population to the continent's northwestern corner and began protecting humanity's development for hundreds of years."
"Five hundred years ago, powerful beings known as the Eight Greed Kings appeared in this world."
"During that period, the Six Great Gods negotiated with the Eight Greed Kings, declared their submission, and offered tribute. The Eight Greed Kings were very satisfied and did not trouble the Slane Theocracy."
"The Eight Greed Kings later rampaged across the continent, hunting down an unknown number of powerful heteromorphs. After ruling the continent briefly, they suddenly perished."
"Rumors claim they established a harem, indulged in extravagant excess, and destroyed themselves through infighting."
"Judging by the available records, those claims are not particularly credible."
"The Slane Theocracy instead used the calamity brought by the Eight Greed Kings to make substantial progress."
"However, several unexplained mysteries arose afterward. The Six Great Gods disappeared one by one, and some claimed that infighting had broken out."
"The Slane Theocracy declared that they had died of old age and harshly suppressed claims of infighting."
"The last of the Six Great Gods, the Death God, personally traveled to the center of the continent two hundred years ago to investigate the mystery surrounding the destruction of the [Inveria Kingdom]. He ultimately vanished without a trace."
So he still hadn't survived in the end?
Roy fell somewhat silent.
Among the resources he had given them was one particularly important item: the [Elixir], which hardly anyone wanted in the game.
The Elixir was a pill used to change classes to Immortal. Taking it essentially granted an undying lifespan; living for at least six hundred years posed no problem.
This had allowed all six of the Six Great Gods to remain alive when they faced the Eight Greed Kings.
Clearly, with all six still present, the Eight Greed Kings had been unwilling to make enemies of them and had focused on conquering the continent instead.
Later, the Eight Greed Kings had all perished, yet the Six Great Gods had disappeared one by one.
That could not have been a matter of lifespan.
Moreover, the Six Great Gods had worked together toward a common cause for over a century. It was unlikely that they would have fallen into infighting after weathering the chaos caused by the Eight Greed Kings.
Roy could not help asking:
"Eve, what do you think caused the fall of the Six Great Gods?"
"Based on the current information, the Six Great Gods made extremely cautious, careful decisions. Their hidden enemy may never have found an opportunity to strike or to uncover complete information on the players."
"The subsequent destruction of the Eight Greed Kings changed all of that. The hidden enemy gained enormous benefits from their downfall, as well as a far more extensive understanding of the players."
"Viewed in that light, the deaths of the Six Great Gods were very likely targeted eliminations."
Roy felt that Eve's conjecture resembled his own, but deliberately asked:
"What makes you say that?"
Eve answered unhurriedly:
"The [Inveria Kingdom] lost its entire population of eight million in a single night."
"It was part of humanity's sphere of influence and a major settlement of the Rainbow-Eyed People. It was also one of the Slane Theocracy's friendly nations, with considerable trade between them."
"In that incident, which shocked humanity, four human kingdoms were destroyed and over thirty million people died."
"Given the Six Great Gods' demonstrated desire to protect humanity, they could not possibly have refrained from investigating. That was their greatest weakness."
According to the original story, the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord had used Soulbreaker Breath to wipe out the [Inveria Kingdom]'s population of five million.
But in Eve's account, that number had become eight million.
Clearly, trade between the [Inveria Kingdom] and the [Slane Theocracy] had improved its agricultural standards and considerably increased its population.
Even with its current forty million people, the Slane Theocracy could not withstand more than a couple of mouthfuls from the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord.
It was entirely reasonable that the last remaining god, the Death God, had taken action over this.
Then the Death God had encountered the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord and been hit by his Soul-Extinguishing Breath. Without a World Item to protect him, he would certainly have died on the spot.
The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord had been crushed by the Bone King in the side story entirely because of an information disadvantage.
Any level-one-hundred player without a World Item would be in deep trouble against him.
These True Dragon Lords might be far more difficult to deal with than in the original story.
Overall, however, the relevant Information Crystals Roy had left behind had proved immensely valuable.
Humanity was still stubbornly surviving.
It was just that the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord had devoured twenty million people in the original story, while that number had now become thirty million.
What a tragedy.
Over six hundred years, changes at crucial historical junctures had accumulated into a tremendous butterfly effect.
The Six Great Gods had remained around longer, the Slane Theocracy was considerably stronger than in the original story, and humanity had multiplied in greater numbers.
Of course, to the heteromorphs, this also meant a clear increase in their food supply.
That had brought both sides into a new dynamic equilibrium.
Roy continued:
"What about the populations and levels of development of the other nations?"
"The Re-Estize Kingdom covers 300,000 square kilometers and has eighteen million people."
"The Baharuth Empire covers 220,000 square kilometers and has twenty million people."
"The Roble Holy Kingdom covers 150,000 square kilometers and has ten million people."
"The Draconic Kingdom covers 50,000 square kilometers and has four million people."
Presumably, they had defeated many heteromorphs in the northwestern corner and successfully expanded their territories.
But military pressure had restricted the Holy Kingdom and the Draconic Kingdom, slowing their population growth considerably.
This also made the church's anger toward the Re-Estize Kingdom understandable.
It possessed as much territory as the church, with fertile land as well, yet its population growth had fallen short of expectations.
Population meant national strength. In a world where humanity could perish at any moment, one person with an innate talent was born for every two hundred people.
It would be no exaggeration to call these innate talents divine blessings. They were humanity's hope.
The nations therefore had to govern better to increase their populations, educate their people, and select talented individuals.
Having gained a preliminary understanding of the situation, Roy now had some grasp of the butterfly effect he had caused.
Eve added:
"Supreme One, should we contact the Slane Theocracy in secret?"
"They should retain a certain amount of strength, although they fall far short of World City."
Eve knew about Roy's relationship with the Cat Re-Estize Kingdom.
Even at its peak, the Cat Re-Estize Kingdom could not compare to so much as a hair on World City's head. The Great Tomb of Nazarick, however, possessed a relatively large number of World Items and could pose a certain threat.
Roy considered this and said:
"That depends on how the butterfly effect has changed things."
"Has there been any corresponding activity over on the Katze Plains?"
Before you continue