Picking Up Attributes From Today - Chapter 248

Chapter 248: The Great God Meng Lei, Spreading Faith
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

For tens of thousands of years, the Golden Archipelago had been subjected to the Golden Dragon-Lions’ ironfist dictatorship. Without the local tyrant suppressing them now, the outcome was easy to imagine.
Innumerable strong and wealthy ambitious players with substantial backgrounds rose one after another.
Saint Domains that had holed up in the past emerged!
Powerful clans bared their fangs!
Wealthy merchants and tycoons also began to run rampant and wreak havoc!
For a while, all sorts of rogues and monsters ran wild in the Golden Archipelago, and the lives of the people living on the islands became even harder than during the Golden Dragon-Lions’ reign itself.
There were endless grievances as people fell into the abyss of suffering. Chaos ran amok as disasters and calamities broke out one after another. How could the word “suffering” even begin to describe it all?
On the Blazing Sun Island…
The Blazing Sun Island was famous for producing in abundance a type of mineral called the Blazing Sun Ore, which was used as core materials in the forging of weapons.
In order to extract the Blazing Sun Ores on the island, the Golden Dragon-Lions had divided and conferred the Blazing Sun Island upon an affiliated family—the Blazing Sun Clan—to guard them.
With the Blazing Sun Island located to their backs and put in charge of mining ores for weapon forgery, the Blazing Sun Clan had accumulated vast strength over the years and was a big, top-notch clan in the whole of the Golden Archipelago.
In the Blazing Sun Clan’s conference hall…
The conference hall was packed with people on this day. The Blazing Sun Clan’s directors, elites, and executive officers of various islands had all gathered in the hall and were currently plotting something big.
“Grandmaster, over the days, we’ve conquered a total of 23 islands, such as the Singoff Island, Elephant Island, Garment Island, and various other islands. We’ve also recruited 79,237 experts who are four-grade and above and a total of 348 Magicians.
“The Blazing Sun Clan’s turf and strength have become a notch even stronger. The only problem we’re facing now is food supplies. It’s enough to last only ten days.”
“Ten days!”
Lieyang1 Zhan, the Blazing Sun Clan’s grandmaster, sat at the top, his brows drawn together into a big frown. He said, “Food supplies are essential to our development and strengthening process. We absolutely mustn’t be short on them.”
“Grandmaster is right! The current situation is looking highly favorable for us. We’ve been conquering five islands, hundreds of thousands of people, and hundreds—almost a thousand—of experts every day. We absolutely mustn’t be halted!”
“That’s right! Once we’re halted, these islands will fall into the hands of other forces. It’ll be hard for us to take them back in the future!”
“The Blazing Sun Clan has everything we can possibly need—manpower, weapons, and experts. This is an extremely rare opportunity for us. How can we let it slip past us just because of food supplies?”
The Blazing Sun Clan’s directors spoke up one after another. Lieyang Zhan also nodded lightly. He said, “Now that the Golden Archipelago is leaderless, it is an opportunity for the Blazing Sun Clan to rise. We mustn’t let such a good opportunity slip by us!”
“Grandmaster is right!”
Everyone nodded. They, the Blazing Sun Clan, boasted top-notch power. They were qualified to sit in the most supreme position and become the second Golden Dragon-Lion clan!
“Since that’s the case, then let’s resolve the problem of the food supplies. No matter what, our expansion efforts mustn’t halt.”
Lieyang Zhan’s eyes gleamed brightly. “The Food-Prep Clan in the southeast owns an abundance of food supplies, despite their low population. It’s exactly where we should obtain our food supplies from.”
At this point, Lieyang Zhan barked fiercely, “Hear my command! Gather all the elites in the clan and seize ships. Three days later, we shall attack and conquer the Food-Prep Island in one go, and take the Food-Prep Clan’s properties!”
“Brilliant plan, Grandmaster!”
“We’ll carry out the Grandmaster’s orders!”
“As per the Grandmaster’s decision!”
The Blazing Sun Clan’s directors echoed him in high spirits. Unexpectedly, a fearsome and mighty aura suddenly descended from above at this point and bore down on their hearts like a great mountain.
Boom!
It came as no surprise that everyone, including Lieyang Zhan, the Saint Domain grandmaster, was flattened to the ground, their legs shaking violently as shock and fear filled them.
“D-Divine power!”
“This is divine power!”
Lieyang Zhan had met Thackeray, the Golden Dragon-Lions’ grandmaster, more than once before and had naturally experienced what divine power felt like before. The divine power he was currently feeling was even more terrifying and mightier than Thackeray’s.
“Could Thackeray still be alive?!”
Shocked and horrified, Lieyang Zhan almost died from fright. Should Thackeray really still be alive, their actions would be no different from staging a rebellion or a coup. Given the Golden Dragon-Lions’ way of doing things, they would definitely torture them to death and annihilate the entire clan.
“Why is this happening? Isn’t Thackeray dead?”
Lieyang Zhan was filled with shock and horror.
“Listen up, all those at the bottom!”
Just as Lieyang Zhan was so terrified that both his legs had given out on him, a voice filled with endless dignified might rang out.
“I order the strongest expert in your clan to head to the Golden Dragon-Lion Continent within three days to discuss important matters. If you do not show up, all of you will die, and your clan will be wiped out with not a single creature left alive!”
The voice disappeared right after the owner of the voice spoke. What disappeared along with it was also the terrifying divine power. Only then did Lieyang Zhan and the Blazing Sun Clan’s directors get back onto their feet, trembling as they did so, their faces full of fear and alarm.
“G-Grandmaster, was that a half-deity just now?”
A Blazing Sun Clan director quivered as he asked, “Could Thackeray still be alive?”
“No, that divine power was several times more fearsome than Thackeray’s. It’s not very likely to be him.”
“If it’s not Thackeray, then could it be the half-deity that had killed Thackeray and wiped out the Golden Dragon-Lions?”
“Highly likely! Of course, we can’t strike out the likelihood that it’s a half-deity that’s passing by the Golden Archipelago, either.”
“Oh my god! Why has another half-deity popped up out of nowhere? What are we going to do about the Blazing Sun Clan’s emergence plan?”
Everyone was passing remarks on the situation, yet Grandmaster Lieyang Zhan had stayed silent. They couldn’t help but look over in puzzlement—only to see his countenance looking terribly awful.
“What’s the matter, Grandmaster?”
“What’s the matter?”
Lieyang Zhan had a grim look on his face. “Didn’t you hear what that half-deity said just now? The strongest expert in the clan is to head to the Golden Dragon-Lion Continent within three days to discuss important matters! Who does the ‘strongest expert’ in the Blazing Sun Clan refer to?”
“Isn’t that obvious? It’s you, the Grandmaster, of course! W-what are we supposed to do now?”
“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask, then?”
Lieyang Zhan gave them a resigned smile and said, “Unless the Blazing Sun Clan wishes to be annihilated, I’ll have to go. But the problem is, what will I have to face once I’m there?”
All the directors fell silent at once.
“The most optimal scenario is that that half-deity has nothing to do with the Golden Dragon-Lions, but has instead taken an interest in the Golden Archipelago’s faith and is intending to fight for it.”
With a wry laugh, Lieyang Zhan went on. “If that’s the case, then another Golden Dragon-Lion clan would surface in the Golden Archipelago. All of the Blazing Sun Clan’s previous efforts will all be for naught!”
A couple of Saint Domains quickly asked, “What about the worst possible scenario?”
“The worst scenario is that Thackeray’s the half-deity. How that would turn out requires no further explanation from me!”
…
The same scene unfolding in the Blazing Sun Clan was also taking place on the other Golden Archipelago islands.
All the ambitious players who had originally been intent on greatness practically laid down their flags and fell silent overnight.
Conquest?
Not anymore!
Expansion?
Not anymore!
Social unrest?
Not anymore!
All the experts, forces, and clans were as obedient as a puppet as they holed up in their bases.
Right on the heels of it, the strongest experts and the people holding the highest power in these forces began to head toward the Golden Dragon-Lion Continent without even a moment’s rest.
In under three days’ time, all of them had assembled at the Golden Dragon-Lion Continent and gathered at the Golden Dragon-Lions’ base with not a single one fewer or a single clan missing.
No one dared to defy or challenge a half-deity’s order!
But what shocked and horrified them even more was that upon arrival at the Golden Dragon-Lions’ base, they didn’t see just one half-deity but… Four!
Four half-deities stood proudly in the sky above the Golden Dragon-Lions’ base. They gave off as much vast, majestic divine power as they wanted and wantonly abused their souls, almost scaring them half-dead.
Ambition?
Great aspirations?
Replacement?
Gone?
Gone! All gone!
The only thing they had left was just endless fear and unease!
“We have three reasons for summoning all of them here today!”
Bubbles’ gaze swept across everyone present as his voice boomed in their ears like the rolling thunder.
“Firstly, it’s to inform all of you who the one that killed Thackeray, annihilated the Golden Dragon-Lions, and saved all of you from the sea of suffering is! He’s our great, noble Master and the most supreme… Great God Meng Lei!”
Boom!
With a wave from Bubbles, a 100,000-feet-tall statue of Meng Lei appeared out of nowhere. It instantly stood towering in the square, producing a grand boom.
Everyone was stunned for a moment as they stared at the divine statue that had abruptly appeared. Then, they bowed down to it at once, all sorts of words of immense gratitude flowing endlessly and eternally like the gushing, flooding rivers beyond one’s control.
“Thank you for saving our lives, Great God Meng Lei!”
“I thank the noble Great God Meng Lei for saving us from the sea of suffering and allowing us to be human again, such that the evil Golden Dragon-Lions’ servants no longer oppress us!”
“I thank the supreme Great God Meng Lei. You’re the light that chases away loneliness and lights up my hopes. You’re the tea that filters out my impetuousness and helps me to retain my calm. You’re the water that hydrates and nourishes me for a moment so as to preserve my freshness for a lifetime. You’re the sugar that waters down the bitterness and fills me with sweetness…”
“Secondly, all of your recent actions have greatly angered the Great God Meng Lei. He’s terribly furious!”
Bubbles could hardly contain his fury. “The noble Great God Meng Lei is a benevolent and humble existence that holds universal love for all of mankind has compassion for the weak and abhors evilness!
“He had exterminated Thackeray and annihilated the Golden Dragon-Lions in order to save all of you from the sea of suffering. What a merciful and benevolent god he is! But what about all of you?
“Showing blatant disregard for the toiling masses’ lives, wantonly engaging in slaughter, and creating chaos—you’ve thrown the Golden Archipelago into a state of turmoil where calamities wreak havoc everywhere!”
Bubbles glared at them, his vast divine power overflowing. “Do you own up to your sins?”
“Yes! Yes, we do!”
“Forgive us for our sins, Great God! We have seen the error of our ways and will definitely correct them!”
The group of people was so frightened that they shook like leaves. They kowtowed incessantly as they begged for mercy, fearful to the extreme.
“A fault confessed is half redressed. On account of how this is a first offense for all of you, he can let bygones be bygones. What’s important is what you do next!”
Bubbles shouted, “Do you need the Great God Meng Lei to specially instruct you on what you should be doing from now on?”
“No, no!”
“We know what we should do!”
“Good to hear that!”
Bubbles nodded in satisfaction. Then, he said, “Thirdly, this isn’t the Great God Meng Lei’s decision, but the four of ours! You can just use it as a casual reference!”
“Your orders, please, sir!”
Bubbles said dispassionately, “The Great God Meng Lei has done so much for the Golden Archipelago. Shouldn’t all of you show some gratitude in order to repay his great kindness?”
“Show some gratitude?”
“Yes, yes, yes! We get it! We get everything!”
“Since you do, then get lost! The four of us will inspect the Golden Archipelago again a month from now. If your actions do not satisfy us, your life will be taken as punishment in less severe cases, while the whole clan will be wiped out for more serious cases. All of you had best keep that in mind!”
“Yes, yes!”
Everyone then left in a hasty panic.
Bubbles snorted lightly as he watched them from the back. “These guys will never behave if you don’t scare them a little.”
“What happens next will now depend on what they choose to do.”
“Of course!”
“We can’t stay idle, either. We’ll have to create a few disasters and then make a few displays of divine intervention in Master’s name. Only when we attack the problem from two angles at the same time can we successfully establish and build power of faith!”
“Yes, that’s what we should do!”