Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 273: Blood Moon and the Gospel

As the sun rises on the horizon and light falls on the center of Azura, the entire city blooms shyly, as if graced by a Miracle.

The roads become congested with traffic, and the sky fills with swarms of Drones, as all Races start another day of calm and happiness.

Annan’s car remains parked not far from the Holy Spirit Building. By now, all traces have been cleaned up by the Red Cap. The suspects have been arrested, the Corpses removed, and the victims transported to the hospital for psychological treatment.

Perhaps the tale of the Orc Sorcerer will be the talk among neighbors for a few days, but they will soon forget this discordant noise amidst their fast-paced and fulfilling lives.

Ashe and Annan watch silently as the Red Cap enforces the law, until the first rays of sunlight enter the car, like a slap across Ashe’s face.

The Cult Leader slowly speaks, “Is this the ‘reality’ you showed Harvey and Igor?”

“Pretty much,” Annan replies. “I selected a few tasks specifically, feeling they would appropriately touch upon your experiences.”

“Was the blond man your real target?”

“Yes. A common assassination task, something I wouldn’t have taken in the past even if my methods were completely legal. However, the Gospel would have lowered my Firm’s rating. But now it doesn’t matter, since to get a few of you, the Firm has already dirtied itself completely, might as well consider it trashed.”

Annan makes a gesture with three fingers: “Identify the target, find a proxy, and let the proxy deal with the target.”

“But how do you motivate the proxy?”

“Everyone has their own desires,” Annan says. “The Gospel doesn’t ask you to suppress your desires, it only helps you cover up your actions with lies. When you indulge your desires, you inevitably encroach on the rights of others, but under the veil of lies, neither are you aware of the harm you cause, nor the harm inflicted upon you.”

“The network of relationships built by the Gospel is so ingeniously fragile.”

“I just need to lift the veil of lies, and what follows will naturally be a Conflict of desires.”

Ashe asked, “So, you’re saying you could ruin anyone’s life?”

“It depends on the situation. Different people have different levels of vulnerability. Besides, didn’t I mention that performing such tasks would lower the Firm’s rating? Anyone with a bit of ambition wouldn’t undertake these tasks,” Annan explained. “Not everyone has vulnerabilities. For instance, those on the ‘Unrelated Ranking List’ don’t have social connections that can be exploited.”

“Newcomers to the Gospel like you, who have only been here a few days, are like little insects that haven’t yet been caught in this web.”

“But the longer you live under the Gospel, the more you interact with others and express your desires, the deeper you’ll become entangled in this network of relationships.”

“You will harm others quietly using the Gospel, and others will harm you in the same silent manner.”

“In fact, if you know nothing, you would be quite happy. Your life is on easy mode. The Gospel is constantly weaving a veil of lies for you, shielding you from the dirt of reality and letting you embrace the happiness of dreams. You can enjoy peace and occasionally vent your darker thoughts, leading a rather flavorful life.”

Purple Moth looked at the rushing traffic beside her and softly said, “With such a sophisticated social system, the Gospel reduces meaningless internal consumption in society. Plus, with the Ranking List as motivation, productivity has greatly advanced, and indicators of happiness like public security, resident satisfaction, and living standards have not decreased.”

“Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”

Annan flicked his Amethyst Earring, glancing sideways at Ashe, “Do you like our Gospel?”

Ashe asked, “What did Harvey and Igor think?”

“They didn’t respond directly, but Mr. Harvey seemed quite angry, while Mr. Bukin was overjoyed.”

“It’s normal. Harvey doesn’t like his life being controlled by others, while Igor always feels he can manipulate anyone through rules…”

Annan then asked, “What about you, Ashe? Do you detest this system or do you want to utilize it?”

“I’m not naive enough to judge this social system that has maintained the stability of the Gospel Kingdom for centuries based solely on your word,” Ashe said. “But you have certainly achieved your goal.”

“Oh?”

“I will do everything in my power to get the Divine Master’s Wish,” Ashe said, looking up at the Inverted City. “It’s not about changing anything; I just hope to have the means to prevent change.”

If Ashe remained blissfully unaware of everything, he could continue living obliviously in the Gospel Kingdom. But having seen the intricate web woven by the Gospel, he could not passively accept his Destiny.

Think about it, although the social systems of the Blood Moon Kingdom and the Gospel Kingdom have many differences, they are both designed to address one issue: when productivity is greatly developed, how to reduce the internal consumption among the societal gears.

When everyone can sustain themselves with simple labor, the original Family System naturally disintegrates. Humans are selfish by nature, and cooperation goes against their instincts. In the past, due to the lack of resources for survival, people were forced to band together to get through tough times. Moreover, since productive labor occupied most of their time, there was little opportunity for the expression of desires.

As productivity reaches a certain level, two problems arise: people have more leisure time and seek a better life; people can sustain themselves with minimal effort and do not need to rely on others.

If these issues are not addressed, social development will stagnate, birth rates will gradually decline, and contradictions among Race, class, and regions will become increasingly sharp, wasting societal energy on meaningless internal consumption.

The Blood Moon Kingdom and the Gospel Kingdom offer two completely different solutions.

The Blood Moon Kingdom chooses to hit the accelerator to the floor, not waiting for the Family System to disintegrate naturally, but abolishing it preemptively. All citizens start life as orphans, then promote consumerism, strictly prohibit all forms of discrimination, and utilize mechanisms like the Blood Moon Tribunal, Moon Sugar, and establishments like Mud Café and Tea Cafe to channel public anger. As for reproduction, they simply purchase children with money.

The societal progress in the Blood Moon Kingdom does not rely on the common folk; exceptional commoners can ascend through normal channels to become part of the elite Blood Saint or Moonshadow groups, then contribute their light and warmth to the Research Institute and the Church, while the rest of the populace serves as fuel, sustaining a small number of immortals.

In contrast, the Gospel Kingdom opts to mask its contradictions. If society were a completely random game of chaos, the Gospel would be its only solution. It regulates everyone’s desires and covers all contradictions with sophisticated lies, allowing everyone to live in a perceived paradise.

The Gospel Ranking List further motivates progress, giving everyone something to look forward to. People accustomed to life’s easy mode, facing issues related to childbirth, employment, and education, will heed the guidance of the Gospel, thus maintaining a virtuous cycle in society.

It was through comparing Blood Moon and Gospel that Ashe truly understood the terrifying miracles—or rather, divine acts—that the Divine Master had imposed on the Kingdoms…

The Blood Moon Sovereign created the “Blood Moon Promotion System,” a sustainable exploitation that does not resolve any societal contradictions but instead uses them to mask the exploitation by the Blood Saint and Moonshadow groups, relying only on a few elites to drive societal progress;

The Omniscient Weaver, utilizing the absolute authority of the Gospel, forcibly suppresses and covers all societal contradictions, making the well-educated populace docile like sheep, with work, reproduction, and consumption all accounted for in the Gospel’s calculations!

Compared to the earth-shattering destructive powers, these miracles that change the Destiny of every individual from the top down make one feel incredibly insignificant.

“I’m glad you’ve finally decided to join my side,” Annan said with a smile. “Indeed, compared to vague temptations, a real and direct threat is what truly motivates you to willingly join my plan.”

Ashe glanced at her, “But Annan, by stirring up our greed, are you really doing yourself any favors? I won’t speak for myself, but people like Igor have never known the meaning of ‘moderation’; they only understand ‘monopoly.’ Or do you have that much faith in the Contract?”

“The only purpose of a contract is to be broken, but what replaces it isn’t necessarily hostility; it could also be an alliance.”

Annan extended her hand towards Ashe: “Let’s cooperate with each other, each harboring our own agendas.”

Ashe looked at her seriously and took her hand.

“Right, we agreed that once I complete the task, you would help me add funds to the game…”

“10,000 copper coins.”

“That won’t do. 10,000 copper coins might only buy a pass and a monthly card. I also need the big monthly card, the newcomer’s discount package, the limited-time package, and I have to buy the pass level package too, otherwise I can’t level up to 1000…”

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