Chapter 16: Can I Become a Believer of the Internet God?

Chapter 16: Can I Become a Believer of the Internet God?

Panic seemed to take on a life of its own, spreading wildly among the youths with every breath they took!

Gasping breaths; terrified cries; dazed murmurs—all merged into a chaotic sea.

"No, no, no… don’t kill me…"

"Mom… save me, Mom…"

Some turned deathly pale from fear;

Some lost control of their bowels on the spot;

Others collapsed to the ground, paralyzed with terror.

The young Pus was also ashen-faced with fright.

Yet, in this critical moment, a thought suddenly struck him. His gaze snapped toward the purple-robed mage, and he cried out like a drowning man:

"Master Raymond, you’ll save us, won’t you?"

Pus’s plea snapped the other youths out of their stupor.

Their eyes locked onto the purple-robed mage as if clutching at their last lifeline, and they began shouting.

"Master Raymond, please, save me!"

"Get us out of here, Master Raymond!"

"Master Raymond…"

But the mentor they had placed all their hopes in was trembling like a leaf. After exchanging glances with his companions, he suddenly gritted his teeth and bolted for the back door.

Midway, Raymond’s signature dual flames ignited in his hands, as if he were brandishing two torches.

The youths’ eyes instantly lit up, and many instinctively clenched their fists!

Thud!

A soft sound followed as the horned demon guarding the back door casually swiped its hand, sending Raymond and his two companions flying backward.

Thankfully, the basement was spacious enough—otherwise, they might have crashed into a crowd of the youths.

Bang!

After the sound of their landing, the basement plunged into dead silence.

The youths were dumbstruck.

They never expected the mysterious and powerful Master Raymond to be unable to withstand even a single exchange with the demon.

Yu Sheng’an took two steps forward—just two steps—yet it was enough to startle the youths like a flock of frightened birds. They scrambled backward in unison, pressing against one another in a tight huddle.

Some even burst into tears, begging: "Don’t kill me, don’t kill me… I-I didn’t mean to learn magic, I was wrong…"

Yu Sheng’an sighed as he looked at the terrified youths. "Don’t be afraid. They’re just my servants."

With a wave of his hand, the two grotesque demons vanished in a flash of teleportation light.

Seeing this, the youths’ emotions finally stabilized somewhat.

Of course, they had only barely stepped back from the brink of collapse—their gazes toward Yu Sheng’an were still filled with fear!

The do-gooder gets misunderstood instead?

Yu Sheng’an chuckled self-deprecatingly before turning his attention to Raymond and his two companions. The shadow demons lurking in the darkness hoisted them into the air.

To the youths, it looked as though Yu Sheng’an had cast some mysterious spell.

Suspended midair, Raymond flailed desperately, limbs kicking wildly, his face a mask of terror.

"Tell them properly—what exactly have you done? Speak well, and if I’m in a good mood, I might spare your lives. Speak poorly, and I happen to be short on undead servants. The three of you are neither too tall nor too short—just the right size for skeletons."

"N-no, my lord! I-I was wrong! I’ll never spread magic again!" one of them pleaded in terror, his floating body resembling a suspended toad—a laughably pitiful sight.

"Is this about spreading magic?" Yu Sheng'an's voice turned icy as the shadow demons gripping the three tightened their hold, squeezing until their eyes rolled back, gasping desperately for air.

"Don’t kill me! I’ll talk, I’ll say everything! We... we just wanted to make some money, so we copied magic knowledge from the Internet and pretended to be mages selling courses..."

Raymond seemed to have realized something and blurted out their deceit in terror.

As he confessed, the youths were left stunned.

One by one, they stared at Raymond in disbelief, unable to fathom that the mysterious and powerful mentor they admired was actually a fraud?

A few bold ones even chanted the Prayer on the spot, summoning the Internet interface. When they checked the Library and saw the free magic knowledge available, they were thunderstruck, utterly shocked!

"Raymond... is a fraud?"

"Damn it, that was all our hard-earned money!"

"Wow, look! Besides magic, there’s even the Battle Aura Divine Technique!"

"And there’s the Internet Magic Academy too! According to the description, we might even be able to attend classes there in the future. Does that mean... we can still continue learning magic?"

The youths were overwhelmed by the sudden revelations.

Some cursed Raymond and his accomplices, while others marveled at the wonders of the Internet.

Of course, a few also began to look at Yu Sheng'an differently—no longer with fear.

They realized that the seemingly most terrifying figure, Yu Sheng'an, was actually the good one.

Those frightening demons must be his servants, just like in the tales where powerful mages always had demons as attendants.

Yu Sheng'an ignored the youths’ complicated emotions.

He turned to Raymond and asked, "Do you know why I came after you?"

"I don’t—no, no, I do! We... we shouldn’t have committed fraud!" Raymond stammered, his face drenched in sweat.

"No. Mere fraud isn’t enough to warrant my intervention."

"We... we shouldn’t have spread magic from the Internet," Raymond ventured again.

"Internet knowledge is meant to be public."

Raymond was nearly in tears. "Sir, I truly don’t know what we did wrong. Please, just tell me, and I swear it won’t... won’t happen again!"

Yu Sheng'an’s voice turned stern. "Your mistake was using Internet resources to commit fraud—without spreading the Internet Divine Technique."

Yu Sheng'an couldn’t care less if people exploited information gaps for profit during the spread of the Internet Divine Technique!

If they could profit, that was their skill.

In fact, he’d even allow such profiteering, because only with incentives would people be driven to help spread the Internet Divine Technique.

But selling his resources without spreading the technique? That was something Yu Sheng'an couldn’t tolerate!

Had Raymond and his group left behind even a single Prayer, Yu Sheng'an wouldn’t have interfered. But they took everything, gave nothing back, and even had the audacity to swagger off.

Did they think the Internet God was some pushover?

At this moment, Raymond’s companions were inwardly cursing.

If you want to kill us, just do it! What kind of excuse is this?

Yet, as if possessed, Raymond blurted out, "Sir... are you a Believer of the Internet God?"

Yu Sheng'an gave Raymond a surprised glance. "Didn't expect you to be quite clever, huh?"

Being praised, Raymond's aged face suddenly turned pale, his heart screaming, It's over, it's over!

"You're so smart—then tell me, how should I punish you?" Yu Sheng'an smiled, his expression one of inquiry.

"Don’t kill me! I—I’ll do anything!"

"You’re sure?"

"Yes."

"Fine. My Lord happens to be short on missionaries. Since you’ve got a sharp mind, how about joining… the Redemption Corps to spread His glory? What do you think?"

Yu Sheng'an grinned.

The idea, of course, was spur-of-the-moment.

Raymond and his companions didn’t deserve death, but letting them off too lightly would leave him unsettled.

Coincidentally, Raymond seemed quite sharp—why not toss him into the Five Great Righteous Gods’ territories to spread Divine Techniques and annoy them in the process?

Success? Everyone’s happy.

Failure? No real loss.

"To become a servant of the Internet God is an honor for me, Raymond. I swear, from this day forth—"

"Stop! No need for oaths. Just sign this contract." Yu Sheng'an casually cut him off, waving a hand. A translucent Contract Document materialized in the air.

Raymond was stunned.

He had been hoping to bluff his way out first.

Now, signing this Contract Document meant losing any chance of resistance for life.

But with the knife at his throat, what choice did he have? Better than dying on the spot, right?

Sweat poured down Raymond’s forehead. Finally, he bit his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the Contract Document.

In an instant, the document dissolved into three beams of light.

One vanished into Raymond’s body.

One merged into Yu Sheng'an.

The last shot into the void, absorbed by the Contract Godhood.

"And you two? Oh, right—there’s one more."

Yu Sheng'an smacked his forehead and ordered a shadow demon to drag in Raymond’s lookout accomplice from outside.

"I’m willing!"

"Me too!"

The captured lookout, utterly confused, could only mimic his companions and hastily agree.

Once all three had signed the Contract Document, Yu Sheng'an smiled. "Congratulations on your rebirth. Alright, that’s it for today. Everyone, go home."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait!" Pus suddenly called out.

Yu Sheng'an paused.

Pus ran over, nervous. "C-can I become a Believer of the Internet God?"