Chapter 209: The God of Death Makes a Movie [Two-in-One]

Chapter 209: The God of Death Makes a Movie [Two-in-One]

Underworld·Glazed Mountain·Nether Temple.

After teleporting back to the Underworld from the bedroom of Edwina, the star performer of the Lambert Royal Opera House, the God of Death Sawyer immediately set out to replicate Interconnected Film.

For him, replicating a film function wasn’t difficult.

However, just as he decided to copy Saving Princess Hedi, the God of Death Sawyer suddenly hesitated and stopped.

The Internet God can make movies?

Why can’t I?

The moment this thought crossed his mind, the God of Death’s eyes lit up.

Those lowly commoners were nothing but fickle creatures.

Most of them had already seen Saving Princess Hedi. Even if he replicated it, the impact would likely be minimal.

At best, it would only allow the commoners in his preaching zones to watch it openly.

In that case, why bother copying it?

The God of Death’s gaze flickered.

No! I’ll still replicate it, but I must also create something unique—something the Internet God doesn’t have. Only then can I compete with him.

If the Internet God can film the well-known Saving Princess Hedi, why can’t I make The Prince’s Revenge?

Even a brainless, trashy drama like Saving Princess Hedi had caused a sensation across the multiverse, sparking endless discussions and adoration among the commoners!

If I were to make a film, it would undoubtedly surpass Saving Princess Hedi!

At this thought, the God of Death’s breathing grew rapid, his fists clenched, and a large portion of his anger dissipated.

Thousands of years of godhood had exposed him to countless schemes, dynastic collapses, and real-life cases of restoration.

He could easily pluck one such story from his memory—one that would absolutely shock the commoners out of their wits!

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Descending from his divine throne, he dug through his memories, searching for the perfect tale.

Finally, he recalled a particularly striking and brilliant story of dynastic restoration—one that had left even him deeply impressed. Without delay, he teleported away from the Underworld.

He decided to film it all by himself!

Thousands of years of godhood meant he couldn’t claim mastery over all magic, but he was proficient in most spells.

Using illusions to simulate scenes and the soul-recording function to film, creating a virtual drama was no challenge for him!

……

……

While the God of Death was busy filming The Prince’s Revenge, the fact that Saving Princess Hedi had become a phenomenon and swept across the multiverse naturally didn’t escape the notice of the gods of the multiverse.

In this world, three things could never be hidden: love, poverty, and coughing.

If one were to add a fourth, it would undoubtedly be public opinion.

When the gods casually inspected their preaching zones, what did they see?

Saving Princess Hedi!

Everywhere, people were discussing this brainless drama.

Taverns, homes, streets, city gates, neighbors, long-distance travelers… even some of the rare intelligent races were talking about it.

This sight utterly stunned the gods of the multiverse.

Many of them even suspected that the movie might have been imbued with some kind of bewitching power.

For example:

Music Enchantment empowered by the Music Godhood?

As it turned out, they were overthinking it.

Large-scale Music Enchantment would consume far too much Source Essence, far beyond what the fragile souls of commoners could withstand.

Unless the Internet God was willing to expend it himself.

But would the Internet God really do such a thankless and foolish thing?

Most importantly, they found no trace of any mental enchantment at work.

Yet this "low-intelligence drama" in their eyes—somehow became a hit.

"A brainless play can send the commoners into a frenzy. Truly, wild dogs that have never tasted meat will wag their tails at the sight of a bone!"

In the Temple of Wisdom, the Wisdom Goddess was as venomous as ever.

Though her words were sharp, her expression was grim.

Now, forget the Greg Duchy—even her preaching zones in other small and medium domains had almost entirely fallen to the influence of Saving Princess Hedi.

The thing was, her commoners watching the movie were essentially praying to the Internet God, offering up Source Essence.

A two-hour play equaled two hours of prayer.

Heavens above, even her most devout Believers wouldn’t spend two hours a day in prayer!

It was downright infuriating!

Yet there was nothing she could do!

She couldn’t ban it outright.

If she did, the Interconnected Bank branches in her preaching zones would withdraw, and the Interconnected Grand E-commerce would blacklist her, cutting her off completely.

Then, not only would she be unable to purchase goods, but it would also become nearly impossible to sell her territory’s products.

Having already tasted the convenience of e-commerce, the Wisdom Goddess—and indeed, the gods of the multiverse—could no longer do without the Interconnected Grand E-commerce.

In fact, under the expansionist pressure of the God of Death’s Fifth Calamity and the Four Pillar Gods, the gods were startled to realize their growing dependence on the Internet.

They needed firearms, seeds, bicycles, and airships.

They needed the Interconnected Bank to earn Interconnected Coins and exchange them for Source Essence.

They also needed to hire the Fourth Calamity to handle the most dangerous and casualty-prone missions.

In fact, the Fourth Calamity was also the strongest force against the Fifth Calamity.

They knew why the Internet God was helping them.

At its core, the Internet God’s strength still wasn’t enough to oppose the God of Death, let alone the Four Pillar Gods.

So the Internet God supported them to counter the God of Death and the Four Pillar Gods.

Now, though the Internet God was nominally part of the Six Great Righteous Gods, he had quietly become the de facto leader of a third faction among the gods!

Weapons, food, mercenaries—these critical strategic resources were only available through the Internet God, and he was willing to provide them.

The times were changing too fast!

The only comfort for the gods of the multiverse was that the Internet God didn’t seem interested in expansion.

Within the borders of the Keville Empire, he was frantically developing wastelands.

Magic Towers and cities were being built everywhere.

With resources pouring in from across the multiverse, the Keville Divine Kingdom had already expanded to thirty-three cities!

And the pace of expansion showed no signs of slowing.

The mages’ ability to reshape nature was too formidable.

With sufficient resources, they could erect a city from nothing in a single day. The only bottleneck was the construction of Magic Towers.

"But in the end, the Internet God still used a trivial magical image to seize the Source Essence of countless beings across the multiverse."

The Goddess of Pleasure’s expression darkened.

At her words, the Gods of Kaman fell silent.

With their insight, they could tell at a glance that Saving Princess Hedi had cost almost nothing to produce.

In fact, the cost was practically zero.

To amass such terrifying Source Essence at zero cost—how could anyone not be envious?

"Everyone is overthinking this. Even without Interconnected Film, the internet and the Dark Web are still siphoning Source Essence from the commoners. This is a battle between the internet and the Dark Web. The one who should be worried now isn’t us, but the God of Death."

The God of Fear, shrouded in a black robe, reassured his allies from a fresh perspective.

Sure enough, the furrowed brows of the Gods of Kaman relaxed considerably upon hearing this.

Indeed, even without movies, the vast array of content on the internet was more than enough to capture the attention of countless people.

The emergence of movies was merely a response to the Dark Web’s new feature, the [Opera House], which had drawn the commoners’ focus, forcing the internet to follow suit.

So, in theory, the situation hadn’t changed much from before.

The only difference was that the new feature had sparked louder discussions.

If Yu Sheng'an heard this, he’d probably laugh himself to death.

A bunch of country bumpkins—have they ever heard of "user time"?

Before, even though everyone used the internet, the vast majority of illiterate commoners didn’t browse the forum, let alone the Q&A community or the Library… and so on.

They only listened to music, used voice or video calls, occasionally watched incomprehensible public lectures, or turned on the lighting function at night to extend their active hours.

Their average daily internet usage was only about an hour.

The Source Essence naturally generated by their souls wasn’t fully dedicated to the internet.

But now, things were different.

The advent of movies had effectively opened up the entertainment market for illiterate commoners, directly increasing their average online time to an hour and a half—or even longer.

Could this really be called "no different from before"?

Did they really think the world’s wealth was fixed, that if one took more, others got less?

Had they never heard that the pie could be made bigger?

At this moment, who else shared such thoughts besides the Gods of Kaman?

Even the Four Pillar Gods were no exception.

"What a delightful dogfight! Haha, we’ll have no shortage of such entertainment in the future."

By the shores of Lake Borg in the Azeia Main Domain—the Four Pillar Gods’ newly established meeting place—the God of War roared with laughter.

"Now it seems the God of Death’s creation of the Dark Web hasn’t been without benefits for us. Not only has it restrained the Internet God, but it’s also drawn the attention of the other gods."

The Earth Mother Goddess giggled.

For the Four Pillar Gods, the emergence of the internet and the Dark Web hadn’t actually affected their Source Essence absorption.

Because the Believers who were supposed to pray still continued to pray.

In fact, thanks to the spread of divine techniques through the internet and the Dark Web, their Source Essence absorption had even seen an upward trend.

"This time, the God of Death suffered a major loss. Based on past patterns, I’d say it won’t be long before he copies Interconnected Film onto the Dark Web." The God of War suddenly proposed, "How about we place a bet? Let’s wager on when the God of Death will plagiarize Interconnected Film. I say within a day!"

"No need to bet. The Dark Web has already launched Underworld Film!" The God of Life, appearing as an elderly man, interjected.

"So soon?" The God of War looked stunned.

"The Prince's Revenge? Interesting, very interesting. It didn't just copy 'Saving Princess Hedi.' I must see what the God of Death is capable of!" The Earth Mother Goddess seemed to have discovered a new toy.

"Hahaha, the Internet God has also released a new film," added the God of Life, clearly keeping a close eye on the movements of both the internet and the Dark Web.

"The curtain rises, and the show begins!" The God of War burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"Well then, let’s see what kind of drama our esteemed God of Death has produced!" The Earth Mother Goddess smirked and flicked her finger, summoning a virtual screen before the Four Pillar Gods.

This was the God of Death’s Dark Web.

An icon for Underworld Film appeared on the Dark Web.

Upon clicking it, two movies were displayed:

One was The Prince's Revenge;

The other was none other than Saving Princess Hedi.

"The God of Death is as clever as ever. Having both options prepared is truly brilliant!" The Earth Mother Goddess cut straight to the point with her critique.

Her gaze lingered on the cover of The Prince's Revenge, which depicted a man with starry eyes and sword-like brows holding a sharp blade, with an army standing tall behind him.

Clicking on The Prince's Revenge, the camera immediately revealed a grand and imposing castle.

As the shot zoomed in, a king sat in a pavilion, enjoying a belly dancer’s performance while the beautiful queen urged him to drink cup after cup.

Midway through his drinks, the king suddenly spat blood, exclaiming that the food was poisoned!

No sooner had he spoken than a group of guards rushed in and, without hesitation, swiftly cut down the terrified queen. The king also collapsed onto the table, vomiting black blood as he died.

"Quite intriguing. The queen was clearly framed—who would poison someone and stay at the scene? And for the guards to kill the queen without question, someone must have orchestrated this!"

The Earth Mother Goddess’s eyes gleamed as she immediately spotted the layers of deception.

As the crown prince, ministers, and royal family members swarmed in, the brutal nature of royal politics unfolded—accusations flew, and covert and overt struggles ensued.

At this point, the Earth Mother Goddess was fully engrossed.

Millennia of wisdom whirled in her mind as she tried to deduce the mastermind from the shifting expressions and words of those involved.

By now, not just her, but the other three gods were also captivated.

The subsequent plot was filled with intellectual battles—scheming, betrayal, alliances, and treachery, one after another!

Even with the Four Pillar Gods’ vast experience, they found it thoroughly entertaining.

The movie concluded with the prince outmaneuvering his foes and reclaiming the throne.

"As expected of the God of Death. This magic film is leagues above Saving Princess Hedi!"

"Indeed, this is true drama—fascinating!"

"I have a feeling this play might even provide lessons for countless dynastic struggles! Hahaha..."

The Four Pillar Gods buzzed with discussion.

They had to admit, this drama perfectly suited their tastes.

"It seems the God of Death is staging a comeback!" The Earth Mother Goddess observed with amusement.

"Not so fast. Don’t forget the Internet God has also released a new play," countered the God of Life.

"What’s the Internet God’s new play called?"

The God of War asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He had always been at odds with the God of Death and didn’t want him to dominate unchallenged.

"Young King!"

The God of Life spoke, and with a thought, another virtual screen appeared beside him.

The screen prominently displayed the words: Young King!

As the text faded, the main film began.

To the astonishment of the Four Pillar Gods, the opening of Young King was nearly identical to The Prince's Revenge—it also began with the king dying from poisoned food, vomiting blood!

The difference was that as the king lay dying, the once-smiling queen suddenly revealed a venomous expression, cruelly cursing him as a "useless old man" and even confessing her entire scheme—how she had conspired with the king’s younger brother to poison him.

This scene nearly made the Four Pillar Gods spit blood in disbelief.

Such a familiar flavor!

Yet again, the same thick, idiotic stupidity!

Well, fine—they could grudgingly accept that the plan succeeded, so a little gloating wasn’t unreasonable.

But the plot that followed made the Four Pillar Gods want to vomit blood outright.

After the king’s younger brother ascended the throne, he didn’t kill the prince. His reasoning? He wanted to watch the prince suffer. So, he kicked him into the stables to tend horses.

The poor prince was forced to shed his luxurious robes, living and eating in the stables, enduring a pitiful existence!

It was the stablemaster’s daughter who took pity on him, often bringing him food and clothes, even medicine when he fell ill, helping him survive.

Moved to tears, the prince pounded his chest and vowed to marry her one day and make her his queen.

The stablemaster’s daughter didn’t believe him but continued to treat him kindly.

From then on, the prince worked hard, training a group of children to become archers—teaching them to shoot wherever he pointed, even targeting the new king’s beloved horse.

When one child hesitated to shoot, the prince immediately punished him with a whipping.

Finally, during a national speech by the new king, the prince leaped out to confront him.

Unable to out-argue the prince, the new king ordered his execution.

But the prince shot an arrow—and the children followed suit. The new king died tragically under a hail of arrows.

The scene shifted, showing the prince smoothly ascending the throne and, before a cheering crowd, marrying the stunned stablemaster’s daughter.

"...Could it be that the Internet God was actually killed?"

After watching Young King, even the notoriously reckless God of War looked dazed as he turned to his allies.

This play was just too ridiculous!

It was full of holes everywhere!

The plot was as simple as a child’s game of make-believe.

The only redeeming moment was the prince training the children in archery—barely worth praising.

"Probably not. The internet has been functioning normally."

"Then... did he even make this play? No, the credits clearly list the Internet God, the Music Goddess, and the Prophecy God as producers."

"It’s truly unbelievable. How could the Internet God produce something so mind-numbingly stupid?"

"A good chess game turned into a mess—the Internet God is nothing special after all!"

"Exactly! The worst part is that Young King was released after The Prince's Revenge. Couldn’t he see the difference?"

"Maybe the Internet God was blinded by the success of Saving Princess Hedi!"

"That’s the only explanation!"

The Four Pillar Gods critiqued mercilessly.

At the same time, the exact same scene was playing out among the gods of the multiverse.

After watching The Prince's Revenge, then seeing Young King, it felt like being force-fed garbage!

If not for the Internet God's reputation holding it up, many people probably wouldn’t have endured it at all.

Even those who did watch it did so while sneering at the Internet God.

Well done!

He was supposed to be the "Pioneer of Cinema," yet with just his second film, he foolishly handed this powerful tool for seizing Source Essence straight to the God of Death.

In the battle of cinema, it seems the God of Death ultimately proved more skilled.

Meanwhile, within the Nether Temple at Underworld·Glazed Mountain, a jubilant atmosphere filled the air!