Chapter 18: Three Conditions

Chapter 18: Three Conditions

Dandell quickly regained his composure.

The reason the Internet God inexplicably cared about the empire's commoners was, in the end, because he was certain the Keville Empire wouldn’t refuse his cooperation.

Thus, the Keville Empire would become his preaching zone.

In that case, his concern for the commoners' food supply was as natural as a shepherd caring for his lambs' grazing.

Once he grasped this, Dandell couldn’t help but feel disheartened.

Because he truly lacked the courage and ability to refuse.

A rejection would inevitably lead to mutual destruction.

No—more accurately, a rejection would surely push the Keville Empire into decline, possibly even reducing it to a mere city-state.

As for the Internet God, the worst consequence would merely be a slower spread of his Divine Techniques, a preaching zone plunged into war, and a sharp population decline!

After all, no one could resist the benefits of the Internet—especially not the lower-class commoners.

"I think we should first discuss the terms of cooperation," Dandell shifted the topic.

"No problem. State your conditions," Yu Sheng'an spread his hands, relaxing into his chair.

Dandell, however, instinctively straightened his posture. Intricate Magic Runes flickered beneath his feet, enveloping the traditional Keville-style eatery.

At the same time, ripples of magical energy pulsed from the Magic Towers towering over Willis City, shrouding the entire metropolis.

In that moment, Yu Sheng'an was startled to realize that his Divine Perspective could no longer observe any user in Willis City—except for his own projection, which was, after all, an extension of his true form.

Dandell spoke softly, "The Empire has only three demands."

"First: Never establish a church within the Keville Empire."

Yu Sheng'an gave an almost imperceptible nod. It was easy to understand why the Keville Empire would prioritize this demand.

A church was the embodiment of a god, the fortress of a preaching zone, the solidified eye of divinity, and a warning monument to other deities!

One could say that gods relied on churches to expand their influence, point by point, until they achieved full control over their preaching zones.

If the activity of another god within a preaching zone exceeded a certain threshold, it would attract the attention—or even the divine projection—of the ruling deity!

Who knew? A god might even casually patrol their preaching zone from time to time.

Thus, a church’s significance to a god was no less than that of Magic Towers to mages.

"Second: Never interfere in any of the Keville Empire’s political affairs."

"Third: Never spy on any mage’s or Internet user’s private communications!"

"These three conditions must be formalized in a Contract Document."

Dandell laid out the remaining terms in one breath.

"A Contract Document?" Yu Sheng'an’s tone carried a hint of peculiarity.

"Without the binding force of a contract, I doubt Your Excellency would find it easy to trust our sincerity," Dandell deliberately phrased it this way to preserve Yu Sheng'an’s dignity.

In truth, the statement should have been: Without the binding force of a contract, they would find it hard to trust the Internet God.

But the problem was… I am the God of Contracts, aren’t I?

A strange emotion flickered through Yu Sheng'an’s mind.

Contracts indeed held immense binding power over him.

But where there were rules, there were exceptions. As long as he was willing to expend enough Source Essence, twisting a contract was nothing more than standard procedure!

At the same time, Dandell's reminder suddenly made Yu Sheng'an inwardly exclaim, "Holy crap!" as he cursed himself for being too rigid in his thinking.

It suddenly occurred to him that his initial promotion of the Internet Divine Technique had been quite difficult.

The reason was simple—back then, the Internet Divine Technique only had the function of social networking.

Most mages who picked up the Mithril Ring were naturally reluctant to use it due to the drawback of "Those who use divine techniques will inevitably be watched by the gods."

After all, with other divine techniques, at most, they might be watched for those few minutes of use.

But social networking? Once you started using it, logging in eight or ten times a day was completely normal.

As a result, he later had no choice but to resort to incentives, even launching a Forum to create a herd effect.

In reality, he could have simply introduced a "consent form" back then, guaranteeing that the Internet God would not spy on users' Privacy. Wouldn’t that have solved the problem?

With the Contract Document as assurance, he believed it would have alleviated most users' concerns.

For him, doing so would have cost nothing—in fact, he could have even profited from the "Contract Document" fees.

After all, the Internet God promising not to spy didn’t mean the God of Contracts wouldn’t, right?

"I can agree to all three of your conditions, but I also have three conditions of my own."

Dandell tensed up, as did the God of Magic and the few Grand Archmages behind him who were privy to this matter.

"First, the Internet Divine Technique must be widely disseminated. I demand that within a month, it reaches the most basic administrative units of the empire—villages and towns."

"Second, from this day forward, the Keville Empire must implement mandatory free basic literacy education across the board. Every administrative region, even a village with only one person left, must establish a free school with at least one teacher to provide literacy education. This must be completed within a year."

"Third, within the borders of the Keville Empire, all gods except the Internet God and those he recognizes shall be declared heretics!"

As the three conditions were laid out, Dandell fell into silence.

In truth, he was already discussing the matter with the God of Magic and a few other Grand Archmages through a special magical link.

The first condition Yu Sheng'an proposed was entirely within their expectations.

The second condition, however, caught them slightly off guard.

But upon closer consideration, they could understand the logic behind it.

This condition would require some financial and material investment, but it would also benefit the empire, so they could agree to it.

The third condition, however, was ruthless.

This was essentially binding the Keville Empire to the Internet God’s war chariot.

Although the Keville Empire rejected other deities, to avoid being besieged, they still diplomatically acknowledged the legitimacy of the Five Great Righteous Gods.

Moreover, their territory was small, and their population relatively limited.

For the Five Great Righteous Gods, conquering them would be too costly, so they had let it slide.

But now, the Internet God was demanding that they take his lead in matters of faith. If he later declared the Five Great Righteous Gods as heretics, would they still tolerate it?

"Your Excellency, the third condition is too harsh," Dandell ventured cautiously.

"Then your first and third conditions are also too harsh. I can only comply with one—you choose," Yu Sheng'an countered.

Dandell fell silent again. After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine."

Yu Sheng'an smiled lightly, feeling optimistic about the future after securing an empire with just a flick of his fingers.

Subsequently, the two parties discussed the specific terms and details, and in a warm and friendly atmosphere, signed the bilateral strategic cooperation agreement!

The moment the agreement was finalized, the magical ripples enveloping Willis City dissipated like midday mountain fog.

Dandell's highly tense body relaxed, and his mindset shifted from "confrontation" to "cooperation."

Curiously, he asked, "May I ask, what exactly does the 'official website' you mentioned earlier look like?"