...This person actually used alchemy to cook noodle soup for the gods of capitalism?
"It's just a simple bowl of shredded pork noodle soup, please have some."
Hayden offered no further explanation and simply presented the bowl to the goddess Mikkelsen.
The goddess Mikkuri didn't ask any further questions. She first scooped up a spoonful of soup and drank it. Hayden could see her small mouth, which possessed a blend of animalistic, divine, and feminine charm, open, take a small sip, and then happily squint her eyes.
This noodle soup is actually quite extraordinary.
Hayden couldn't understand Angela's cooking methods and tools, nor could he exhale life like her. But fortunately, he already had some understanding of Angela, and the mysteries of alchemy were at least enough for him to simulate something somewhat similar.
As for the life force, he relied on other powerful figures.
The flower seed he watered with his own blood was, without a doubt, Karen's [Dream Flower]. This thing was the culmination of Karen's unique alchemical techniques, capable of extracting and transforming essences; it was something she developed after referencing Angela's aura. Hayden could naturally use it to extract some of the life essence from his own blood, condense and refine it into blood beads, and then incorporate them into the soup.
Moreover, the purity of these blood droplets is much higher than that of the wisp of air that Angela usually adds to fried chicken legs or cream puffs!
Such a high-purity secret fire has the power to turn the dead into the living, the rotten into the miraculous, and to turn ordinary noodles into a sacred meal!
Moreover, the ingredients at Goddess Micket's place were of excellent quality, far better than what Hayden usually ate. These vegetables were not only incredibly tender and crisp, but the juices that burst forth with each chew, combined with the delicious flavor of the pork fat, created an unparalleled sense of pleasure.
Moreover, the noodles and broth hidden beneath the ingredients should not be underestimated. When you pick up a noodle and put it in your mouth, you will feel the salty and spicy broth with a touch of chili oil clinging tightly to the noodles, making it very delicious.
The ingredients, the noodles, and the broth—the three form a harmonious whole—three! What a perfect, complete, and sacred number!
As Mikkuru ate, her originally pale face began to flush with a rosy hue. Three minutes later, after she had finished the bowl of noodles, the vampire looked almost indistinguishable from a living person.
"Hawoo"
As she put down the empty bowl, she closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.
"I am full."
How many years has it been since she last said that?
Or perhaps it was never said at all?
Miktikahiva closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time, lost in thought. For at least several minutes, no one spoke.
After a long pause, she spoke again:
"Mr. Hayden, is it because you have been consuming your own synthesized secret fire and food infused with it for a long time that your physical body has become like this?"
There was no point in hiding it now, so Hayden nodded.
Because he had been eating Angela's cooking for over a year, and with Hela's help to strengthen him a few months ago, Hayden's life energy was almost at the limit of a mortal's biological form. This life energy had recently even filled Hayden's flesh and blood, to the point that the goddess Mikt could see through it and allow Hayden to use the Dream Flower and his own blood to refine a high-purity Secret Fire.
Of course, unlike Angela, whose secret fire flowed endlessly, the secret fire within Hayden was merely a source of water that Angela had poured into him without any source... But in any case, Angela was the only inexhaustible source of energy in this world. Hayden simply passed the life that Angela had given him to Miktikashiva.
Now that things have come to this, after watching Hayden's performance, Goddess Mikkelsen must believe that he has the technology to extract the Secret Fire, and that he is very efficient at it, and that's enough.
Miktikashiva stared at her empty bowl, lost in thought. She didn't seem hungry; rather, she seemed to be savoring the flavors, trying to understand the mysteries of life contained within them. This made her appear more and more like a living person than a vampire in a ghostly body.
Although many incomprehensible things had happened today, even by Hayden's increasingly stringent aesthetic standards, it was clear that Miktikashiva looked more radiant than usual. She had previously resembled a dark shadow obscuring the sun during an eclipse, but now she faintly radiated some of the sun's golden glow.
“Mr. Hayden, you are a truly remarkable person. I had a wonderful time.”
After a long while, she looked at Hayden and gave him a genuine, heartfelt smile, a smile that was as genuine as a child's.
Hayden had seen many different types of beauties over the past year and had developed a considerable immunity to them. But the sight of such a genuine, heartfelt, and unpretentious smile on the face of a capitalist tycoon still surprised him.
Then what Miktikahiva said next shocked him even more.
"It's a pity, a real pity, that you are already a subordinate of the Peacock King and Karen's future husband... But that is only in the future."
A strange light flickered in the goddess's eyes, and then she suddenly changed the subject.
“Mr. Hayden, why don’t you join my side? I swear I will offer you better treatment than the Peacock King.”
……What?
"Please don't joke with me." But Hayden immediately realized what was going on and refused, "You yourself just said that the Peacock King entrusted his only daughter to me. Forgive my bluntness, but there is no better treatment than this."
Miktikashiva smiled slightly upon hearing this: "That's not necessarily true. Even if you marry Karen, you won't gain the Peacock King's shares and power in the Mitra Group. To the immortal new gods, their children and descendants are nothing more than higher-ranking employees."
"On the contrary, if I marry you—you will become a true capitalist god."
ah? ? ? ?
Regardless of Hayden's astonishment at that moment, Miktikashiva's astonishing words were not yet finished.
“I am an empty vessel. You only need to fill me. As long as you satisfy my desires, whatever other goals you may have, I will use everything I have to achieve them. How about that?”
Although she was already full, at least for now, Miktikashiva's emerald eyes shone with an even greater desire for satisfaction and the joy of life.
154: Infinite Desire
Holy crap!
It's probably not the best way to put it, but really...
Upon hearing Miktikashiva's words, this was the first thing that popped into Hayden's mind.
These conditions look really good!
...But surely no one would think that these are really such great conditions?
First of all, although what the goddess Mikkelsen said sounds amazing, Hayden did not actually make any guarantees that she could be completely trusted.
Is there magic in this world that can enforce and maintain oaths and agreements? Of course. But the nature of magic means that almost any magic in the world can be broken; it's just a matter of how much it costs to break it.
When two companies sign a contract using the magic of oaths, they expect the other party not to be willing to pay such a high cost to break the oath, rather than being certain that the oath is unbreakable.
As the new god of oaths, Mithra Bodhisattva once developed the most costly magic to break capitalist oaths. But the gods of capital can put everything on a scale, turning it into numbers and weights for calculation. If they feel that the cost of keeping an oath is higher than the cost of breaking it, they would certainly rather pay to break the oath.
To give an extreme example that is unlikely to occur in reality: Suppose a billionaire capitalist is dying and asks you for help, vowing to give you half of his wealth if you save him. After you save him, he will of course spend a hundred million to break the vow and then see how to control you so that you don't spread rumors and ruin his reputation.
In contrast, impoverished ordinary people cannot afford such a high price to break their vows. As a result, many people become indentured laborers once they sign a contract with a company, with no way to escape their predicament.
The goddess Mikk's words were tempting, but in reality, they were empty promises. Moreover, even if she did write them down, their actual effectiveness would be limited.
Even if Hayden did believe her, it wasn't exactly a particularly tempting offer.
"Allow me to refuse."
So Hayden shook his head.
The goddess Mikt didn't seem surprised by this answer, but she still asked, "Why? I thought I had already offered quite an exceptional condition. Can you tell me why you refused?"
good question.
Hayden hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to seriously explain this to her or just laugh it off. But his intuition told him that Miktikashiva was at least somewhat serious about what she said.
"You just said that as long as I satisfy your desires, you will do anything to achieve whatever other goals I have—right?"
Since she was taking it so seriously, Hayden naturally had standards of honor and respect to uphold. Therefore, he explained, "In other words, this is still an exchange of interests between us. My goal isn't really your goal."
This made the goddess Mikkelsen raise her eyebrows.
"On the contrary, even without any exchange of benefits, Karen, the daughter of the Peacock King, and I share the same goals and even the same ideals. Karen and I are not bound by interests, but are comrades aiming at the same ideal."
Hayden calmly continued speaking.
"Therefore, even if all the gods and bodhisattvas turn against Karen, I, Hayden, will stand by her side."
Although Miktikashiva's sensibilities as a "beast" differed from those of a normal "human," she was still somewhat speechless upon hearing Hayden's words.
As for Angela, who was standing behind Hayden, she showed a mixed expression of joy and worry when she heard Hayden's words.
After a long pause, Miktikashiva sighed before speaking again: "'Even if it means going against the whole world, I will stand by her side'... I've never heard such words before in my life. This is not just a matter of loyalty; it's truly awe-inspiring."
This shouldn't be a sarcastic remark, right?
"Having heard your passionate confession to Karen, it would be absurd for me to continue making trouble. Please forgive me for poaching you today; just pretend I never said anything."
Miktikashiva reached out and cupped her cheek, a thoughtful expression on her face.
"That being said, now that I've heard this far, there's something I'm really curious about."
As the goddess Mikkelsen spoke, her eyes suddenly sharpened: "What exactly is this 'same ideal' you just mentioned?"
Hayden immediately lowered his eyes and became someone who knew nothing: "I'm sorry, this is a trade secret."
This is a trade secret!
These words carried considerable weight in this era. Although Goddess Mikt looked regretful, she shook her head and didn't press the matter further.
In fact, this was a great opportunity for Hayden.
Ultimately, Hayden never wanted to be a capitalist god. He didn't come here today to be one.
...Everyone remembers why he came here today, right?
Hayden is here today to find a way to obtain the life magic and resurrection technology from the Smoke Mirror Company!
Although it's impossible to get it today, the atmosphere is good right now, so we can still try to find out.
"Although I cannot join your side, I still have the right to decide whether I can provide you with some Secret Fire food every day. In addition, I have some other technologies and materials that you may be interested in."
So Hayden softened his tone at that moment, just in time.
"The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is bustling, all for gain. We are all in business, and we can talk business, right?"
The goddess Mikkelsen clearly didn't dislike this statement.
And so, Hayden produced the information on life magic (a small portion) that Kallen had previously given him, which was independently developed in New Sprout City, as well as the plague that Kallen had developed from the remnants of Pazuzu—the former was nothing special, just ordinary. The latter, however, immediately aroused the great interest of the goddess Mikt.
【Magical Girl Pazuzu】is essentially a ritual that imitates, redefines, and recreates Pazuzu. It is an arcane art that transforms and resurrects the deceased Great Demon Pazuzu into 【God Pazuzu】. Needless to say, such an arcane art would require remnants of Pazuzu and related items, and the more the better.
Not to mention, Hayden could also offer the Secret Fire Food as an additional bargaining chip. That was more than enough to seduce the goddess Mikt.
Therefore, the goddess Mikkuri quickly asked curiously, "What do you intend to ask of me in exchange for these?"
Obviously, none of these things are free. In fact, the things that are free are often the most expensive.
Hayden didn't bother with any more nonsense and went straight to the point: "I want shares in Qiqimiti Entertainment Company, as well as the right to participate in its business operations and management."
What he really wanted was the technology to create [Magical Girl Pazuzu]. But since Hayden had already rejected the goddess Mikite's "proposal," it wasn't appropriate to say it directly.
At this point, Hayden turned to look at Panya, who was still frozen in her seat, and added, "Besides that, I also want to manage the power over Panya as a person. Including, to some extent, managing her work as a virtual anchor."
Pania, who had been frozen in her seat, suddenly became more active, muttering something like "Produce?" Unfortunately, no one was listening.
The goddess Mikkuri wasn't stupid. Upon hearing this, she immediately glanced at Hayden and guessed what he probably wanted, answering bluntly, "Sure. But I'll be frank here. The technology used to create [Magical Girl Pazuzu] is still not perfect."
This reaction was somewhat unexpected for Hayden.
“Mr. Hayden, although you are a rare technical genius, I’m afraid you’re not very good at business management.”
The goddess Mikt said quite simply,
"But similarly, as a rare technological genius—have you noticed that the energy source of [Magical Girl Pazuzu] is obviously very strange?"
She actually hit the nail on the head right away about what Hayden had been wondering about the most recently.
What else could Hayden say? He could only nod: "I've noticed that half of the energy of [Magical Girl Pazuzu] comes from the [Kowtowing Bug] system that your company recently developed in cooperation with the Mitra Group. Many other people inside and outside the company should have noticed this as well."
These things can't be hidden. In modern society, once a new technology is developed and publicly used, it's impossible to completely conceal its principles. There are just too many smart people in this world. The basic principles of any new technology, once they're first publicly used, will quickly be discovered by others (mainly other large companies). Your peers, competitors, teammates, and related stakeholders will all be frantically trying to figure it out, either developing a countermeasure or figuring out how to copy it.
Unless the technology you possess is a completely incomprehensible and unanalyzable black box—like a "miracle" like Angela—the only things that can be hidden in the world are the most cutting-edge and complex technologies, and even then, they can only be hidden temporarily.
Currently, everyone has only just witnessed the emergence of the "bowing bug" system. Major companies only have a vague understanding of its principles and haven't yet uncovered the core technical details. However, technology diffusion is a historical trend. Perhaps in a year, perhaps in ten years—but this truly effective technology will eventually spread everywhere.
Therefore, Hayden wasn't worried about offending the goddess Mikket by bringing up the matter of the "Kowtowing Bug": "I've now discovered that half of the energy of 'Magical Girl Pazuzu' comes from the 'Kowtowing Bug' system, but what about the other half? I don't know yet. Perhaps it's a technology unique to your company?"
Goddess Mikkelsen didn't hide anything, shaking her head directly and saying, "That's not the case. Although my company does have the most impressive operational technology in this area, it's not unique in principle. In fact, your future mother-in-law, Hela, the goddess of the underworld from Wotan Company, also has energy extraction technology based on the same principle. You probably haven't asked her, have you?"
……what?
Oh no!
Hayden was taken aback at first, then immediately realized that this was actually a problem. Through this flaw, the goddess Mikt had probably already noticed that Hayden's relationship with the Peacock King and Queen wasn't as close as it seemed.
At least, Hayden didn't report everything to the Peacock King like a normal subordinate would.
However, Goddess Mikkuri didn't dwell on this point. She simply continued, "The remaining half of the energy of [Magical Girl Pazuzu] was extracted from [Death]."
…………ah?
“A sufficiently powerful god or demon, once it has existed, will exist forever. Even if it has died, it will leave a mark in its death. Wizards like you have known since ancient times how to extract the remnants of the power of the dead gods through their names. What we are doing now is similar, but based on a more advanced principle.”
"The Death Goddess of the Smoke Mirror Company explained calmly."
“Death can be defeated. Some powerful gods and demons are particularly tenacious, and even death is not enough to completely erase the traces of their existence. They are dead, but their names and traces remain in [death]. With their names as guiding lights and faith as a hook, a death god like me can extract a lot of energy from [death].
This was something even Hayden didn't know. He was somewhat stunned.