Chapter 675: Virus

While Ishtar was feeling regret, Li Mochen was also marveling at the things inside the light screen. Unfortunately, he had nothing left to trade.

At this moment, most of his subordinates could only watch helplessly.

This was why the Supreme God had such strict requirements for participants; if the guests here could not achieve a sufficient volume of transactions, the Supreme God would not even be able to recover the costs.

Bringing so many people together across billions of worlds—the loss of divine power was no small matter. Even for a Supreme God, it must not have been easy.

“Damn it!”

Anthony’s eyes gleamed green. “There’s even Tri-Light Divine Copper, a legendary metal recorded in the Chinese cultivation world. I’ve wanted it for a long time, but the Bright World doesn’t have any. Shit, let me think—what else can I use to trade? My god—”

But his harvest this time was actually the highest among everyone present except Li Mochen, with a total of seven formulas for mythical alloys and six blueprints for precision processing instruments, which earned him a large amount of top-tier mythical materials.

As for Angela, she only used the soul gold coins here to exchange for a small amount of Death Source. As the God of Death, she could collect hundreds of these universal currencies across the myriad worlds every day. But Angela’s savings were quite meager when used here.

Li Mochen was indeed kind to his wife; he gave her all 3.2 million soul gold coins he had, and in return got a bit of Metal Source. This could strengthen her ‘Crown of Sorrow.’ Recently, this divine artifact had absorbed a large amount of Dream Source and was nearing the upper limit of its material endurance.

As for the Sea Goddess Thetis, Prometheus, Heracles, and others, they had some gains, but the amounts were very small.

Only the Supreme Dragon God Io gained a great advantage. This being was born around the same time as Chaos and Gaia, and had experienced the era when dragons dominated the world. His collection was substantial, at least four times that of Ishtar, which earned him an extremely powerful mythical armament close to the Pseudo-Truth level, called ‘Deep Space Dragon Armor’—a heavy armor specially crafted for dragons.

Next were the two archmages, ‘First Source’ Paracelsus and ‘Truth Dominator’ Einstein. Even Paracelsus, who had lived for over a thousand years, could not produce treasures that would move a God-King. However, the knowledge they offered attracted many buyers.

After them came Ishtar, who used her possessions to exchange for a mass of attribute-less Source. This was because the concept of ‘Venus’ could not generate an independent Source. If Ishtar wanted to continue strengthening her ‘Shield of the Morning Star,’ she either had to collect Star Source or this attribute-less ‘Chaos Primordial Energy.’

But the conversion ratio for the former was extremely low and not cost-effective. The Star Source needed to strengthen the ‘Shield of the Morning Star’ to the Truth level could have forged two Truth-level mythical equipment.

Only attribute-less Source could be converted into ‘Venus’ without loss, though it was much more expensive.

“Andre, this kind of trade happens once every ten years, right?”

Ishtar’s eyes burned with intensity. “We still have a chance, don’t we?”

She thought that in the future, she might need to plunder the entire Dark World. The mythical materials of the Bright World had long been divided up; the only hope lay in the Dark World.

“Once every ten years. Fellow Daoist Zhuanxu said he secured a permanent qualification for me.”

At this moment, Li Mochen’s expression shifted slightly. He took out several black sealing boxes from his storage space and looked at the light screen with a hesitant gaze.

Prometheus and the others saw this and their faces changed, their expressions strange.

“Your Majesty, you’re not thinking of trading her, are you?”

They all recognized those as the sealing boxes of the Goddess of Freedom.

“Let’s give it a try. I’ll keep one box.”

In the end, Li Mochen threw these sealing boxes into the light screen. Unexpectedly, shortly after they were listed, a trade request came in.

The other party intended to trade item for item, and what they offered made Li Mochen’s eyes narrow.

“Eye of Peeping Secrets?”

This was an ultimate mythical armament, with a divine rank of seventeen. But its ability was what interested Li Mochen.

Li Mochen confirmed the trade without any hesitation. The balance beside the light screen was clearly tilting toward the other side. In the eyes of that Supreme God, this item was evidently more valuable than this portion of the Goddess of Freedom.

Moreover, he had never expected to get anything good from these sealing boxes. If he missed this buyer, he might not encounter a divine object like the ‘Eye of Peeping Secrets’ again.

A moment later, a glass eyeball-like object shot out from the light screen and landed in Li Mochen’s hand. This was how trades worked here; the various Sources he had traded for earlier had also been ejected directly from the light screen, with neither party needing to meet.

“Professor Einstein, take a look.”

Once the item was in hand, Li Mochen tossed it to Einstein. After examining it intently, the latter smiled and returned it to Li Mochen.

“Ultimate Peeping and Ultimate Insight—this is indeed a good thing, but it’s no longer useful to me.”

If it had been before he became ‘Forseti, the God of Truth and Justice,’ he would have gone mad for it. But now, he truly had no need for it.

“Indeed. I suspect none of you need it either.”

Li Mochen waved his hand and put the item back into his storage space.

This item was useful to them, but somewhat redundant. However, for certain specific individuals, it was still a divine object.

Li Mochen had already determined its use. Perhaps soon, he would have another Angel King under his command.

Next, they continued to wait and watched two item auctions. Mostly they were just watching the excitement and learning the market. But the auction process of those two Truth-level mythical armaments still stirred them up.

Li Mochen did not wait for the auction to end; he actively activated the token and withdrew from this God-King gathering.

“This has truly opened my eyes.”

At this moment, even the most even-tempered Prometheus could not help but feel stirred. “It makes me feel like a frog at the bottom of a well.”

“Indeed, it feels like seeing a new world, realizing how vast and boundless the myriad worlds of the outer domains are.”

Einstein also sighed softly. “If I could, I would eagerly go to the outer void to see again.”

Unfortunately, his identity as ‘Forseti’ was very important to Li Mochen. And even if this identity were exposed, Einstein could not leave. Not until his lord truly achieved victory and stepped into the rank of God Above Gods.

“The next time is in ten years!”

Ishtar could not forget those attribute-less Sources appearing on the light screen.

“Well, I do need time to gather enough valuable bargaining chips.”

She looked back at Li Mochen. “The explanation you gave me is quite satisfactory.”

This time she had personally witnessed Li Mochen trading for those source essences. No matter what the Lord of Fate intended to do with them, he had more than enough capital.

After a few sighs, the crowd quickly dispersed, and Li Mochen was also eager to enter seclusion. The stellar source essences he had obtained from Chiron were still unused.

But before going into seclusion, Li Mochen first summoned his god of intelligence, Reinhard Heydrich, before him.

“Lord Heydrich, I apologize for having turned a blind eye to all your achievements these past few years. In truth, I am very satisfied with the intelligence work you have overseen, and I have been thinking about how to reward you. The problem is that until today, I could not think of a suitable way to compensate you for your merits.”

Unfortunately, this man’s accumulated merit was very meager, often negative. The wish-granting spells Li Mochen bestowed were of no benefit to him, so Li Mochen had long been troubled by this matter.

“Your Majesty, your words fill me with trepidation. In fact, the protection you now grant me is the greatest grace you could bestow.”

Heydrich seemed to sense something; with a sincere expression, he knelt on one knee, hand over his chest: “In truth, I feel that you are far too generous and magnanimous toward the gods under your command. Yet there is no need for you to be so.”

“The problem is that I need them to fight for me, Lord Heydrich. I hope the same from you.”

Li Mochen smiled. “Let us return to the previous topic. Until now, I could not think of a suitable reward for you. But today, I obtained an artifact.”

He suspended the Eye of Secrets before Heydrich. The latter observed it cautiously, then his pupils suddenly dilated, and an intense desire appeared in his eyes.

“Do you like it?”

Li Mochen smiled with satisfaction. “Then, Lord Heydrich, are you willing to become an angel under my command?”

“That is my wish, Your Majesty!”

Heydrich prostrated himself deeply. He knew that with his current merits alone, he could not obtain this object. There was only one way to acquire it, and Heydrich had no resistance.

“Then it now belongs to you.”

Li Mochen even generously implanted the ‘Glass Eye’ directly into Heydrich’s eye socket.

He never hesitated to bestow divine artifacts upon his angels, for the bond between an angel and the sovereign god was not only extremely close but also carried a very strong binding force.

Of course, exceptions like Wema Medici existed. The nature of ‘Miracle’ allowed anything to happen.

Moreover, during the absence of the main consciousness of the Lord of Radiance, most of the angels he had appointed also had various problems. Even the connection between several Angel Kings and the Lord of Radiance had loosened to some extent.

Similar problems had never occurred on Ahura’s side.

“Today I grant you the title ‘Angel of Secrets’. Considering your current abilities, I temporarily bestow upon you the rank of Seraph.”

Li Mochen tapped the Heavenly Fate Sword in his hand on Reinhard Heydrich’s shoulder, causing three pairs of purple-gold wings to unfold on the back of the god of intelligence.

“Continue to strive for the safety and future of the Heavenly Fate Pantheon! Lord Heydrich, you know I never stint on rewards.”

At the same time, in Heydrich’s presence, he issued an order to Eliza Targaryen.

“Notify Clark Banfield that in half a year, I will personally deify him.”

As Li Mochen’s intelligence chief in the mortal world, Clark Banfield had also made great contributions to his cause.

Li Mochen would not favor one over the other, and it was also necessary for checks and balances.

In ancient China, there were both the Eastern Depot and the Western Depot, and the current American Federation also operated over a dozen intelligence agencies. He could not place all his trust in Reinhard Heydrich alone.

※※※※

Five months later, in the alchemy chamber of the magic tower in Destiny’s Domain, Li Mochen gazed with delight at the scarlet dragon armor inside the ‘Divine Furnace of the Secret Core of All Stars’. The integration of source essences into the scarlet dragon armor was not as simple as with the ‘All-Heaven Thunderfire Star Core Sword Formation’. The latter’s material was extremely tough and had an excellent foundation, so it could withstand any fusion. But the ‘Scarlet Dragon Armor’, which bore the power of an entire star beast, was already very fragile. It could only be strengthened step by step, like unraveling silk from a cocoon, gradually enhancing its material.

Li Mochen did not even dare to entrust this task to Anthony, not because his current artifact-refining ability surpassed the latter’s, but because he, who held Fate and Time, could see the future and trace the past, effectively avoiding major changes in the internal structure of the scarlet dragon armor—a capability even Anthony lacked.

Of course, the latter was also busy. In the trading fair five months ago, Anthony had obtained a small bottle of ‘Primordial Water’, which could not only greatly strengthen Typhon’s bones but also enhance Anthony’s spiritual connection with them, producing an effect akin to an ‘external incarnation’.

Anthony had been constantly refining his Mechanical War God, strengthening its structure, which was expected to elevate the combat power of the god of industry to a new level.

After five months of refinement, the scarlet dragon armor had undergone a radical transformation.

The integration of the ‘Solidity’ and ‘Eternity’ source essences had raised the material of this mythical artifact beyond that of most pseudo-truth-level divine artifacts. The pseudo-truth-level ‘Eternity’ alone made the artifact nearly indestructible. It would exist eternally until the end of this world, and it was extremely difficult to damage or destroy. This also gave the scarlet dragon armor nearly unlimited carrying capacity. In addition, it would provide its owner with almost boundless magical power.

Then the pseudo-truth-level ‘Defense’ was nothing compared to its many other powerful abilities.

It could be said that this mythical artifact, obtained before Li Mochen’s deification, had grown into a pseudo-truth-level divine artifact that could rival—or even surpass—the ‘Thunderfire Divine Spear’, the ‘Holy Spear Gungnir’, the ‘Sun Divine Spear’, and the ‘Scorching Sun Golden Ring’. It was extremely powerful and could help Li Mochen suppress fate.

The three truth-level divine authorities of that rabbit-shaped star beast were not particularly strong, but it possessed numerous pseudo-truth-level divine authorities. Moreover, the power of a star beast was immense; even Hercules, the ‘Divine Power Angel’, could not match it at full strength. It was equivalent to ten Fenrirs with divine rank twenty. If not for the star beast’s slight lack of agility, it would never have died at Li Mochen’s hands.

The ‘Scarlet Dragon Armor’ could not replicate the full power of the rabbit-shaped star beast, as strength was closely related to size, but it was roughly equivalent to three Fenrirs with divine rank twenty.

After raising ‘Eternity’ to pseudo-truth, Li Mochen devoted all his energy to enhancing ‘Strength’, aiming to maximize the benefits provided by the scarlet dragon armor.

With Hercules as his teacher and incorporating principles of modern mechanics, he made rapid progress in this area and soon possessed the pseudo-truth-level divine authority of ‘Strength’.

This directly caused a significant increase in Li Mochen’s physical divine rank, reaching divine rank sixteen, just one step away from the main god tier.

It is worth mentioning that Hercules had also fused and refined his physical body during these five months. Although the coordination of this body had not yet reached the level of his original one, Hercules himself was very excited. Apart from carrying out a few tasks assigned by Li Mochen, he spent almost all his time tempering his body. The improvement was rapid; in just a few months, his divine rank had reached twelve, which was quite astonishing.

About three hours later, the last innate magic pattern within the ‘Scarlet Dragon Armor’, born from the source essences, stabilized. Li Mochen eagerly closed the ‘Divine Furnace of the Secret Core of All Stars’, and after allowing it to cool slightly, he reached out and summoned the scarlet armor, donning it.

There was no need to sense or adapt; every minute structure of every particle of this mythical artifact was already in Li Mochen’s mind. Once he put on the dragon armor, it responded as if it were a part of his own body.

Li Mochen’s divine sense extended toward a certain point in the void. When it reached its limit, his figure flickered and appeared in a location in the outer void, countless miles away from the Bright World.

If calculated by Li Mochen’s normal teleportation speed using the power of Time, it would have taken at least an hour and a half. But now, with a single ‘Jump’, he had arrived.

This was one of the abilities of the truth-level ‘Jump’: wherever divine sense could reach, one could jump. Additionally, using items on which Li Mochen had fixed his divine sense, he could also complete the jump. Furthermore, it could combine with various divine authorities, such as Time. Li Mochen could now even use ‘Jump’ to a certain extent to go back in time.

Even the truth-level ‘Time’ could not achieve this. Li Mochen’s current ability could only reverse time by twenty to thirty seconds within a certain area; beyond that, it was impossible.

The inertia of Time and the River of Fate was immensely powerful; even a god-king before it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Moreover, the other powerhouses of this world would not allow anyone to act against the flow of time; everything that had happened in the past must never be altered.

And Li Mochen, as a beneficiary of past time, would likewise not permit others to do so; he himself would spontaneously and wholeheartedly strive to maintain the stability and firmness of the river of time.

Yet the combination of 'Leap' and 'Time Sequence' allowed Li Mochen to swim upstream within the river of time to a certain extent. He still could not change the past, but he could alter the future that had yet to occur.

For example, a 'Star' source mass in the outer void that had never been discovered by anyone, following the trajectory of history, would drift to other worlds in the outer realm and then, at some future time that had not yet happened, be obtained by someone else.

However, Li Mochen could now return to the past and claim this 'Star' source mass in advance. Since this 'Star' source mass had never been discovered, this would not cause a time paradox, nor would it attract the attention of other 'Time Sequence Divine Kings'.

The true power of the 'Leap' divine authority lay in its ability to help the user leap out of any existing framework of rules. It was only after Li Mochen delved deeply into his research that he realized its terror.

Among the three truth-level divine authorities of that rabbit-shaped star beast, the one Li Mochen had originally thought the most useless turned out to be the most practical and powerful.

After arriving in this outer void, Li Mochen locked onto a building nearby that resembled both a magic tower and a space station, and swiftly flashed inside.

Once inside, Li Mochen saw over a thousand researchers dressed in white, gathered around various advanced instruments and sturdy cages, conducting all kinds of experiments.

At this moment, if anyone familiar with the medical and biological circles of the Bright World were here, they would recognize many familiar faces—at least a hundred academic giants gathered here. The rest of the personnel were mostly young scholars who had made their mark in the biological field in recent years.

“Carlson, I heard that your research here is already preliminarily complete, is that right?”

Li Mochen went directly to the central control room, where Carlson, the 'God of Microorganisms, Viruses, Bacteria, and Vaccines,' and Patrick, the 'God of Surgery, Medicine, Modern Medicine, and Healthcare,' were present, along with the magic envoy 'Biological Tyrant' Kester Tebble, the 'Goddess of Nature' Artemis, and the 'God of Prophecy' Prometheus, whom Li Mochen had personally invited and recruited.

At this moment, they were observing the conditions in each laboratory.

Upon Li Mochen's arrival, the five were momentarily stunned but quickly regained their composure. Although Li Mochen's main body was fully occupied with strengthening the 'Crimson Dragon Armor,' his secondary body would occasionally come here to check. The numerous experimental subjects here were captured by Li Mochen himself.

This was because, aside from him and Prometheus, no one else in the Fate Divine System could evade the spiritual senses of those insect mothers.

At this point, Carlson pointed to a screen.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Look here, at Laboratory 47. These demon insects were infected with the 'Punishment Type 3' virus seven hours ago, and it's just now time for the symptoms to manifest.”

Li Mochen cast his gaze over and saw that the so-called Laboratory 47 was actually a prison. Hundreds of giant arthropods of various shapes were confined within this unbreakable cell.

Not long after Li Mochen focused his attention, these arthropods began to stagger as they moved, then fell one by one. Within a short hour and a half, these creatures, which Zhuanxu considered 'Blood Feast Demon Insects,' had lost all signs of life.

“The 'Punishment Type 3' virus can also be transmitted through bodily fluids.”

Carlson pressed a button, and as several alloy doors of Laboratory 47 opened, a large number of demon insects surged in. They were likely already very hungry and instinctively began to devour the corpses of their kind.

“Based on the principle of cockroach bait, these demon insects will die about seven hours later. This allows them time to return to their nests and spread the virus to their kind. We have conducted 127 experiments so far, and the results are perfect—they can adapt to the harsh environment of this desert world.”

“Your Majesty, I hope the execution time of the 'Punishment' plan can be advanced as much as possible.”

Artemis looked worriedly at the various screens ahead: “This race is expanding its population by plundering realms. I have watched with my own eyes as this world went from decline to the brink of destruction in just one year. We must not let them continue. I can even sense the world wills of several surrounding realms trembling in fear. If we don't stop them now, these demon insects will eventually bring disaster to the Bright World. We must cut off their ability to expand into surrounding worlds and prevent them from easily eroding and occupying them.”

Prometheus also smiled bitterly: “If they come to the Bright World, it would indeed be a disaster. I really don't know who created them. 'Blood Feast Demon Insects'—since they are called 'blood feast,' they are clearly not naturally bred creatures.”

“I'm not entirely sure of their origin. I tried to use my divine authority to trace back the past, but the history of the 'Blood Feast Demon Insects' appearing in this world 3,700 years ago is blurry and invisible, blocked by a power of extremely high level that I cannot overcome. However, eliminating the threat they pose is precisely why I brought you all here.”

Li Mochen's expression turned serious: “I noticed that the 'Punishment Type 3' virus doesn't seem to be very effective against demon insects above the divine level?”

In the experiment just now, those below the divine level died within two to two and a half hours. But some particularly strong individuals managed to hold out for three hours.

“Yes, Your Majesty. They have the ability to resist this virus. According to experiments, this resistance becomes more pronounced above Divine Rank 4. For safety reasons, further experiments were not conducted. The current 'Punishment Type 2' and 'Punishment Type 4' viruses are more potent—once infected, demon insects generally die within half an hour, even those above Divine Rank 4 die in about forty minutes. However, these two viruses have poor transmissibility and cannot achieve the effect of 'Punishment Type 3'.”

Carlson looked at Li Mochen with a glint in his eyes: “But isn't the most terrifying aspect of these 'Blood Feast Demon Insects' their terrifying reproductive capacity and their incredibly large numbers? Our 'Punishment Type 3' may not be able to completely eradicate them, but it can delay the onset of disaster to the greatest extent.”

“You're right, but for maximum effect, it's better to deploy multiple viruses together.”

Li Mochen turned to Prometheus: “Lord Prometheus, when do you think we can execute the plan?”

This project in the outer realm was primarily under the charge of the God of Prophecy.

Li Mochen had to be cautious. They only had one chance. If they failed, the 'Blood Feast Demon Insects' would become wary. Their 'Insect Mothers' and 'Lords' possessed high intelligence and would not let their guard down again.

“Before you arrived, we had already begun mass-cultivating the virus. Thanks to the power of the Goddess of Nature and the three gentlemen, our progress has been swift. Within at most half an hour, the 'Punishment Type 3' virus and its carriers we have can achieve full coverage of this desert world. But if we want to include the other types of viruses, we will need a few more days to prepare.”

Prometheus smiled wryly: “The main issue is the virus carriers, which require some time to cultivate. We discovered that these demon insects have a particular fondness for the meat of deer and horses; they cannot resist the temptation of these two animals.”

Of course, they could not transport these two animals from the Bright World to here, nor would it be humane. The virus carriers they planned to use this time were all obtained through cloning technology.

“Is that so?”

Li Mochen remained cautious. He used the 'Zhou Tian Divine Mechanism Xuan Shu Lock Star Secret Method' to calculate for a long time, even leveraging the power of the 'Shenxiao Lingyun Purple Gold Tower.' It was only after half an hour that Li Mochen's gaze gradually became resolute: “Then prepare to execute!”

Li Mochen's time was also limited. Amid the multitude of troubles he was about to face, he had to resolve at least one of them, even if only temporarily delayed.

For the next five days, Li Mochen remained stationed at this space experiment station. After 120 hours, thousands of airships were launched from the bottom of the station, gliding toward a world whose outer realm was already covered with cracks.

At the same time, the space experiment station began to evacuate, carrying over a thousand precious biological researchers as it started void travel, embarking on the journey back to the Bright World.

Only a few leading figures, including Li Mochen, remained behind to continue observations.

“I wonder how far this will ultimately go?”

Once the plan was actually set in motion, Artemis's eyes showed some unease: “The Lords and Insect Mothers still have a chance to stop it.”

“They do have a chance to stop it, but they cannot suppress the instincts of these demon insects. Their vast population consumes an enormous amount of food every moment. This world's resources are already depleted and cannot meet their needs, so most of the lower-level demon insects are in a state of semi-starvation. How much control can those Lords and Insect Mothers really have over these lower-level demon insects?”

Carlson sneered, his eyes contemptuous: “In fact, these lower-level demon insects are essentially food prepared for crossing star domains. I believe the Lords won't pay much attention to their situation. I estimate that this time, we can kill nearly seventy percent of their numbers.”

“I agree with that view.”

This was the God of Medicine, Patrick: “They have control over the lower-level insects, but it is very crude, not strong enough to suppress their instincts. So the key to the plan's success lies in whether these airships can evade the Lords and high-level demon insects and be delivered into the interior of this desert world.”

—But for Li Mochen and Prometheus, this was the easiest part.

Prometheus used his prophetic and divinatory abilities to make the airships evade perception; Li Mochen, this time, directly manipulated the forces of fate and causality, guiding the airships forward. They were destined to fall into the desert world without being detected, and the cloned horses and deer on the airships were destined to be devoured by certain specific demon insects.

About an hour later, the faces of the group showed some relief. Although the plan was not yet complete, the virus carriers they had sent in had all successfully entered the insects' mouths. The various types of 'Punishment viruses' were rapidly spreading through the demon insect population.

Li Mochen also felt greatly relieved; he knew this was the most critical step. At this point, it was already very difficult for the top-tier demon insects to stop the spread of the virus.

But at the same time, the probability of them detecting and becoming alert was also skyrocketing.

“Except for Prometheus, all of you should withdraw as well. The dice have been cast; there's no need to see the numbers, is there? Hearing my report will be the same.”

The others exchanged reluctant glances, then flew into an airship and shuttled away into the distant void. They also wanted to see the final effect of the 'Punishment' plan, but they knew it was very risky.

Those 'Blood Feast Demon Insects' had bred a large number of top-tier demon insects, including at least ninety 'Lords' at the main god level and about seven Insect Mothers with divine ranks above 19.

Once their whereabouts were discovered by the enemy and a battle broke out here, they would certainly become a burden to Li Mochen.

There was also no need for that; they could not direct the hatred of these 'Blood Feast Demon Insects' toward the Bright World.

Although these demon insects were terrifying, at their current numbers, they could plunder a large world in a very short time. But they were still some distance from the Bright World; it would take at least five to ten years before they posed a real threat to it.

After Artemis and the others left, Prometheus couldn't help but exclaim in admiration: “Among the 1,213 people, 945 were granted lifespans of over a hundred years. Your Majesty, you really value them. You must have consumed a lot of divine power this time, haven't you? Isn't this reward a bit too extravagant?”

“They are now one of our most precious assets, perhaps even the foundation of our divine system.”

Li Mochen said with a hint of pride: “Take this 'Punishment' plan as an example. If not for them, how much strength would we have needed to kill these demon insects? For such achievements, no matter how much I reward them, it's not too much. In fact, if I weren't worried about them losing their drive, I could grant them immortality right now.”

“That may be true, but Your Majesty, you have made it too easy for them to obtain these rewards. This will eventually make them lose their reverence for the gods.”

Prometheus's eyes were full of disapproval.

“Prometheus, have you heard the Chinese idiom 'spend a thousand gold to buy horse bones'? I hope that more talents in this field will emerge.”

Li Mochen shook his head: “Perhaps, as you said, my rewards are a bit too generous. But the enhancements I grant are more for their physical condition, which allows our scholars to have more energy to conduct research for me.”