Multiverse: In Little Garden, Becoming a God by Proving One to Prove Eternity
"Then he exploited Kars and Wamuu's desire for the Super Aja Stone and their contempt for Ripple warriors."
"He drew them together, creating a situation where we outnumbered them, and finally wiped out all the Pillar Men."
"It only felt easy to us because Qin Qi dealt with all the difficulties himself."
Lisa Lisa looked at the rising sun, feeling its warmth. Who knew how much they had sacrificed to be able to bask in the sun here today?
"There's a saying in The Art of War: a skilled warrior wins no glorious victories. That's because someone skilled in battle never takes reckless risks. He makes every preparation before launching an attack."
"If he doesn't move, he doesn't move. But when he does, victory is certain!"
Joseph suddenly remembered those words from The Art of War and felt they were very fitting for Qin Qi now.
"It's over. It's all over!"
Caesar looked at the rising sun. Whether because the sunlight was too dazzling or because he was too overwhelmed, he couldn't help shedding tears.
Everyone watched the sun rise quietly. The darkness of the past was over, and a new life was about to begin.
Afterward, Lisa Lisa and the others prepared to go to America. They had originally invited Caesar, but he still needed to stay behind and take care of his younger siblings for a while.
In the end, only Lisa Lisa and Joseph left. On the ship, Joseph learned that Lisa Lisa was his mother.
His first reaction was:
"Fuck! I treated you like a brother, and you wanted to get with my mom!"
Joseph had been grinning before, but he wasn't grinning now. One careless moment, and he had nearly lost his mom.
Looking thoroughly displeased, he went to get himself a drink, but he spotted a pure white envelope on the table.
A small spoiler: JoJo isn't just a backdrop this time. There will be further developments later.
Chapter 16: Return to Little Garden, item Gift: Stone Mask!
Little Garden, seven-digit outer layer, inside a general store.
"I'm back?"
Qin Qi looked around the room, which hadn't changed at all, then at the sunlight outside. For a moment, he felt a little dazed.
A long time had passed over there, while no time at all had passed here. The difference left him feeling disoriented.
He reached up and felt his neck. The Super Aja Stone was still hanging there, proof that everything that had happened before was real.
It took Qin Qi a moment to recover.
"Phew..."
Qin Qi let out a deep breath, then calmed himself and began examining what he had gained from this simulation.
"First, there's what I learned in the simulation: Ripple Overdrive, the Stand-modified version of Magnetic Field Rotation, improved physical condition, and more combat experience."
Qin Qi watched the golden Ripple dancing between his fingers. His body's lifespan hadn't been consumed, but the strength he had trained was brought back in full.
"Then there's the reward for completing the mission, the Steel Ball Spin Technique."
A wealth of knowledge about steel ball Spin techniques had appeared in Qin Qi's mind, but he hadn't learned them outright. If he wanted to use the steel ball Spin, he would still have to spend time training himself.
"Although it takes more time than learning it outright, all in all, I can master it better by training it myself."
Qin Qi smiled. After mastering Magnetic Field Rotation, his control over his body had increased, and the increase in life energy had improved more than just his physical strength.
It had also strengthened his soul. As his soul improved, so did Qin Qi's intelligence and comprehension, allowing him to learn faster.
"My physical condition has already improved. Adding the strength I gained through training, by Little Garden's standards, I should count as upper seven-digit now."
Based on his understanding of the seven-digit level, Qin Qi deduced that the destruction he could cause at full strength should be considerable among seven-digits.
It wasn't impossible for him to fight six-digits either, but only the weak ones. After all, the gap between the upper and lower limits of each digit level in Little Garden was enormous.
Finally, he turned his attention to the last reward, Gift: Stone Mask.
[Gift: Stone Mask: You can use it to bestow a Gift of the demon race upon your subordinates. Those upon whom you bestow a demon-race Gift will be certain to swear loyalty to you.]
[Vampire Gift: The recipient will become a vampire, gaining formidable strength, speed, and regenerative ability, as well as a long lifespan.]
[However, those who possess this Gift will fear the sun, and sunlight will inflict terrifying damage upon them.]
[They will also ordinarily have a desire to drink blood.]
"A Gift that lets me bestow the demon race on others. This really is a good thing."
Qin Qi had originally thought it was just an ordinary Stone Mask that turned people into vampires. He hadn't expected it to be a demon-race Gift.
He could turn some of his subordinates into vampires so they could pursue greater strength. As for how to feed them...
Simple. He could hold a game: the losers paid with blood, and the winners received gold coins.
Three birds with one stone: first, it trained his subordinates' combat ability; second, it showed off his strength; and third, it solved the blood problem.
"But converting a small number is enough. Too many would be bad."
After a little thought, Qin Qi decided to choose ten of his subordinates to turn into vampires and see how it went.
After all, he had never used it before, and the Vampire Gift had side effects. Its fear of the sun was too serious.
They could move about freely under the canopy in Little Garden City, but that might not be possible on the land outside it.
Having made up his mind, Qin Qi got to work. While his people were transporting goods, he chose ten of them and bestowed the Vampire Gift upon them.
"Boss, I suddenly really want to drink blood!"
The method of bestowing the Vampire Gift was quite simple. There was no need for any ritual involving bone needles piercing skulls.
Qin Qi merely had them drip their blood onto the Stone Mask, and the Gift was bestowed.
But once it was complete, their bodies immediately began to change. Their skin turned pale and soft, and their eyes became somewhat red.
"That's normal. Vampires have to drink blood, of course. Just go out and find someone to buy it from later. I'll reimburse you for that expense every month."
Qin Qi put the Stone Mask away. He wasn't worried about losing it; even if someone else got hold of it, no one but him could use it anyway.
"Vampires, huh? Boss, should we get some cool uniforms and advertise our community while we're at it?"
A blond youth among his subordinates named Little Di felt his pale, soft skin and immediately began admiring himself.
"If you want them, go buy them yourself. Let me make this clear first: that's your own business. I'm not reimbursing you for clothes."
Qin Qi looked at his employees, who weren't very surprised, and marveled a little at how readily people in Little Garden accepted things.
In Little Garden, where who knew how many kinds of beings were mixed together, a demon-race Gift like this was nothing remarkable.
"Little Di, quit fooling around. The boss gave us power to take care of serious business, to do great things, great things!"
"Boss, are we going to deal with the remaining commercial communities on the seventh level?"
Little Lan's eyes were full of longing to do great things as he spoke.
"There aren't that many great things for you to do. I just got hold of this and shared it with you, that's all."
"Doing business isn't all fighting and killing."
Qin Qi shook his head. Increasing their strength was simply for the sake of developing better; it didn't mean they had to go to war with anyone.
"Boss... there's something I need to report to you."
"The stores occupied by that community under the Beast of 666 have refused our supply this time."
"They said they found a better supplier and won't need our goods anymore."
A female vampire, Shalltear, spoke up. As she did, she handed Qin Qi a list she had prepared beforehand.
"Hmm..."
Qin Qi quickly read it over, then said, "Leave them alone for now. Wait a while longer and see how things develop, and investigate who their new supplier is."
"Go back and get used to your strength. Oh, and remember not to go outside Little Garden City to sunbathe. Don't get yourselves killed by the sun."
After giving them those instructions, Qin Qi sent them back, while he returned to the shop and began studying the steel ball Spin.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Qin Qi successfully mastered the simplest steel ball Spin technique, which was also the most fundamental one.
At its core, the steel ball Spin was a rotational force that sent an object curving endlessly outward along the trajectory of a special perfect rectangle.
Its essence was the power of Spin. Whether one used a steel ball, a fingernail, or something else, it was fundamentally an application of Spin Power.
"How should I develop the power of Spin?"
Qin Qi watched the Ripple spinning constantly above his finger. It was a combination of Ripple and Spin, making the Ripple last longer.
But it wasn't very useful. Qin Qi hadn't yet thought of a way to combine the two and make them stronger, though he felt it was possible.
As he pondered, the shop door opened, and a white-haired loli in a kimono walked in.
"Qin Qi, it's time for a meeting. Apparently, we're discussing medicine prices this time."
White Night Yaksha spoke up.
"Medicine prices? Has the fighting on the North Side still not stopped?"
Qin Qi frowned, dispelled the power of Spin, then stood up and followed White Night Yaksha to a meeting of the Thousand Eyes commercial community.
A note on Little Garden's power levels, from seven-digit to four-digit:
Four-digits can destroy stars, five-digits can destroy countries, six-digits can destroy towns, and seven-digits can destroy streets. All of these are the lower limits.
The gap between the upper and lower limits within the same digit is enormous. Also, speaking of Spin, what does it remind everyone of?
Chapter 17: Black Rabbit: Th-this isn't robbery, is it?!
The meeting lasted an entire day. By the time they returned, both Qin Qi and White Night Yaksha felt exhausted.
"I'm exhausted. I really don't know why we had to spend a whole day discussing something so ordinary."
After returning to her room, White Night Yaksha sprawled on the floor without the slightest concern for appearances, her small feet in white stockings swinging casually.
"This is no ordinary matter. The fighting on the North Side has grown even fiercer, and someone even unleashed a plague, causing large numbers of people to become infected."
"This is an excellent opportunity! We got the information first, so we can stockpile medicine and then make a huge profit."
Qin Qi had struck a major deal this time, securing the medicine trade on the East Side's seventh level. All he had to do was wait for the news to spread.
People would immediately panic, and the medicine in his hands would become as valuable as gold. Then he could make a massive profit.
"By the way, I'm still here. Could you mind your appearance a little? At least pretend to be a lady."
Qin Qi looked at the white-haired loli sprawled casually on the floor and spoke, at a loss for words.
"There's nobody else here. Why pretend? Even pretending to be a lady in front of you feels like a hassle. Hey, bring me some snacks."
White Night Yaksha called outside, and before long, a young shop assistant came in carrying tea and snacks.
"How much are you planning to charge, kid?"
White Night Yaksha ate a rice cracker and lay on her side, looking at Qin Qi as she asked.
"Five hundred percent of the original price, or five times as much. That's the price I agreed on with the people from the other areas."
"Prices in the East, West, and South will be kept between five hundred and eight hundred percent, while prices on the North Side will be raised to ten times the original."
Qin Qi spoke. The prices weren't set at random; most of the meeting had been spent negotiating exactly how much to charge.
Different people had different supply channels and different costs, which was why the prices varied between five and eight times the original.