Cthulhu Gonfalon

It was not so easy to build an artificial vein. First, one needed to dig a well and estimate the concentration of negative power underground to figure out how deep the first tunnel should be.

At the theoretical level, the deeper the tunnel was dug, the better the effects it would have. One of the reasons was that the deeper into the ground it went, the higher the temperature and concentration of negative energy there would be. That would bring better growth and a higher output of the special mushrooms.

However, it would be more dangerous as well because of the high concentration of negative power.

Average spellcasters were also able to protect themselves from the negative energy, but they couldn’t work as tunnel diggers. As for those diggers, they were mortals without magic power, and even under the protection of Felix, it was still too dangerous for them to work in an environment containing high concentrations of negative energy.

Neither Sui Xiong nor Felix was an evil businessman that saw nothing except money. This couldn’t be taken carelessly as it was a matter of life and death. They had to cautiously estimate and find a balance between less investment and lower risks.

That was too careful a job for both of them to do. What they could do was dig the wells and provide necessary information and material. As for calculations, Sui Xiong invited an Oracle from the holy kingdom of the Goddess of Wealth to help. This Oracle used to be a chancellor. After several days’ careful calculation, the Oracle worked out a reliable plan.

That former chancellor promised that there would be no actual dangers as long as the workers followed his safety plan. Furthermore, he had also given some important suggestions—at the very beginning, the tunnel could be artificially heated, and there was no need to dig four tunnels. One would be enough.

Sui Xiong’s symmetrical aesthetics in painting were not working here.

Sui Xiong didn’t hide the whole thing from his allies. The gods of the Desolation God System didn’t show much interest in his social experiment except for Morani. Morani reminded Sui Xiong to be careful because building the underground vein might attract the greedy black dragon Cladema here.

That Dragon God, the Master of the Dark Underground, possessed two divine positions in the Underground Caves and the Underground Sites. In the recent one to two thousand years, he began to stretch his hands into the divine position in the Underground Vein. There was a contradiction between him and the Dwarf God System. He had also tried to extort money from Sui Xiong last time when Sui Xiong had been building the Underground Maze. At that time, the Dragon God had been chased away by Yorgaardman. Later, he had been busy dealing with the disputes between the Dwarf God System and him and that dragon never came back again.

But it didn’t mean that he could stand aside quietly upon seeing such an opportunity!

“If that guy comes, I’ll find someone to deal with him,” Morani said. “I have a good relationship with several gods in the Dwarf God System. If he comes, I’ll get them to help. We’ll attack this greedy old dragon together, even if we are unable to kill him, at least we’ll hurt him badly!”

As the God of Forging of the Half-Orcs, Morani got along well with the God of Forging of all god systems. In Sui Xiong’s opinion, it was a natural friendship between technical nerds. Since almost every god of the Dwarf God System more or less knew about forging, it was easy for Morani to get along well with them.

In fact, when Morani got the title of god, Bergen Stone, the Master God of the Dwarf God System had invited him to join them as a visiting god. However, at that time, Lefon had come to visit Morani. In the Orc Empire before, Lefon had been the king while Morani had been his subordinate as a general. They had been in a good relationship, so finally Morani agreed to be a visiting god for the Orc God System.

But it had no influence on his relations with the Dwarf God System.

Sui Xiong did admire Morani a lot that as a Half-Orc, Morani had managed to build his own force in the place of the Orc God System. What’s more, he was still able to butter his bread on both sides and make friends everywhere. Almost all of his god followers were masters. Even the seemingly foolish guys, the Giant Catfish, and the Giant Earthworm, were useful in their own ways: one could purify poisonous ponds, and the other could fertilize soil.

Compared to that, Sui Xiong thought that he was not that successful. Over so many years, he had only made a few friends, including Yorgaardman, Morani, Manissy, and Javier. That was it. As for others, such as the God of Redemption, they were just acquaintances; Wall and Ariel could be his best friends, but that was because he had helped them a lot.

But he had ignored that Morani had spent thousands of years developing his interpersonal relationships. Compared to that, Sui Xiong had made his debut less than thirty years before. In other gods’ eyes, he had already become an excellent example of being full of stratagems, as he had been able to make so many friends in such a short period of time.

However, Morani didn’t have many real enemies over thousands of years, while Sui Xiong did. Not to mention those who had small disputes with him, there were many of his enemies that wanted to kill Sui Xiong. His enemies were in different places and areas, from legendary monsters to super Divine Powers. In addition, some of the evil monarchs with the most chaotic characters in the chasm had remembered him, making trouble with Sui Xiong constantly.

He was really good at getting himself into trouble.

For example, his experiment on social progress right now. Although he didn’t feel anything wrong about it, it had offended the interest of many gods and the traditional forces. They hadn’t noticed it yet only because Sui Xiong didn’t take any action.

Not to mention, in a few years, the God of Caves, Cladema, definitely would come to make trouble with him.

Of course, Sui Xiong was not afraid of Cladema right now. He clearly remembered that when he had been injured after the big war, this damn black lizard dared to profit from his injury. Sui Xiong had always had a clear sense of gratitude and resentment. For those who had helped or hurt him, he would surely pay them back!

“I wish that black dragon could come!” At Morani’s words, Sui Xiong sneered and said, “I’ll make and have dragon soup then!”

Several months later, instead of the material to make dragon soup, there came the God of Diplomacy of the Human God System.

He came here to send invitation cards. The God of Light was going to hold a banquet, so he invited all of his friends. Sui Xiong and Wall were on the guest list for they had helped him in the fight against the Sun God System.

To be honest, Sui Xiong didn’t like the God of Light. However, facing such a polite invitation, he was unable to refuse with a straight face, so he accepted the invitation and prepared a small present.

Instead of holding the banquet in the Country of Light of the Human God System, the God of Light had chosen a vast place in the Main Plane where one was unable to set any traps. Although not luxurious, the Human God System had given the venue a magnificent feeling that deserved admiration. It fully reflected the God of Light’s profound heritage as the world’s first god system.

It was a buffet with various foods around the venue prepared for the guests. Sui Xiong was surprised at seeing all the Chinese cuisines. He asked Javier about that and was told that many people of the Human God System were interested in the cuisines offered in the Void Mask Land, so they learned about it and made some adjustments according to their own flavors.

Although that flavor was not suitable for Sui Xiong, he still felt the great momentum of all the rivers running into the sea. He also felt the God of Light’s confidence in learning from others to make progress. That made Sui Xiong admire the God of Light a lot.

After a while, the God of Light who had left after the opening speech appeared again. This time that majestic god changed into a chef’s uniform and pushed a large dining car into the venue.

“Not long ago, I got a very rare ingredient. It took me a long time to deal with it. Today, it’s finally ready.” A smile appeared on the face of the God of Light, who was usually serious and cold. “It’s a rare chance for friends to gather together. We’re having a good time now, so I’d like to share this precious dish with you!”

Sui Xiong was stunned for a moment. He remembered the despondent and insane thing that the God of Light had done before, so he couldn’t help but make a terrible guess.

Looking around, he found that many gods looked uncomfortable. Perhaps they were thinking about the same thing.

However, it was like the bad news never failed you. In the worried eyes of everyone, the God of Light laughed and lifted the lid of the dining car. Inside it was a big pot. In the center of the pot, a group of sunny things was sinking and floating in the soup, boiling the milk-white soup slightly.

A gentle breeze blew, the soup rippled, and the fragrance overflowed. Smelling that fragrance, the gods felt energetic. With faint strength infiltrating their bodies, their Divine Power had seemingly enhanced.

But the gods who knew about what was in the pot were all shocked and gave different reflections: some were stunned, and some were at a loss whether to cry or to laugh; some were scared, and some were about to vomit. Even still, there were some that couldn’t wait to try it.

What the hell! This guy is doing this again!

Sui Xiong had figured it out at a simple glance. This was soup none other than the Sun God who had been killed by the God of Light before!

“Last time, many of you were unsatisfied with my Ancient God Wine,” the God of Light said. “I made countless efforts and took great risks to collect raw materials to make it, but I had never expected that so many of you didn’t like to drink.” He shook his head with a look of regret.

Come on! It was not a problem of drinking or not! You killed your own master and put him into the wine. Who the hell would drink that?

Sui Xiong made complained in his heart, so the God of Light naturally knew nothing about that.

“I’ve been thinking about it carefully after that, and I think it must be because many of you don’t like drinking. So this time, I made a pot of soup.”

He pointed to the pot of milky white hot soup, which was boiling slightly, and said with a smile, “Actually, this soup was inspired by His Majesty’s Void Mask Land.”

Sui Xiong almost jumped up at that and could not help crying out, “How could my land stew this kind of soup?”

“Isn’t it one of the winter specialties in your land?” the God of Light laughed and said. “It’s called hot pot.”

“I had it last time. It was really interesting. Then I’ve been thinking about the materials to make the most distinctive and tasty hot pot.” He was a little proud. “After several ideas, I found the best ingredient in the world.”

“It can be made into both food and soup. It boils itself without any heating and keeps its original flavor. No seasonings are needed. It fully embodies the beauty of nature and the purity of food. Is there anything that could be more suitable for stewing hot pot than this?”

Sui Xiong was silent for a long time and asked, “Is it true that… Is that why you attacked the Cloud City and destroyed the Sun God System?”

“How could that be!” The God of Light laughed. “I had made that plan before all this. I just moved the plan earlier since the winter was the best season to have a hot pot.”

Sui Xiong finally could not help but sigh deeply, and even his tentacles fell down to the ground softly.

Now he was sure that the God of Light was the senior of Yorgaardman. The two brothers were really similar to each other.