"Absolutely not!"
Hayden almost made Angela vomit blood from anger.
"I like women with Angela's style!"
Before Pania could say anything, Angela tilted her head in surprise and asked, "Huh?"
Panya fell into a deep daze and self-doubt. However, she was, after all, a lively little imp with a heart full of desire for a good life. After her initial daze subsided, she immediately began to think things through—in this day and age, it was practically impossible for a mortal woman to marry into a wealthy divine family and snag a rich husband. Besides, Panya had already investigated Hayden; he wanted to be the son-in-law of the Peacock King and was being pursued by the goddess Mikt. It was clear that a mortal woman couldn't possibly win him over.
...But if the goal isn't marriage, but rather becoming Hai Deng's mistress, wouldn't that also allow her to make a fortune?
Pania's ultimate goal is to ascend to godhood and live a life of freedom. If she can earn her first fortune from Hayden, her chances of becoming a god herself will naturally be much greater.
Thinking of this, Panya's eyes started to gleam with greed: This uncle is simply a goose that lays golden eggs!
If I could get a few million or ten million from him, then having a child with him doesn't seem like such a big deal, right? Seriously, what kind of weird fetish is this? Childbirth play?
"...Uncle, I don't actually dislike you, you know?"
Although she hadn't originally intended to do so, and Panya herself had never done anything to sell her body, she still cautiously moved closer and tried to rub against Hayden.
Unfortunately, she had absolutely no protrusions on her body that she could use to rub against someone.
In addition, Hayden had become accustomed to touching Angela's large, soft, and elastic breasts over the past year, so he was completely unaware of Panya's tentative touch, and was just confused: "Huh? Oh, that's good."
To be honest, Hayden really has no interest in lolis. Putting aside romantic feelings, if we're just considering fetishes, he's into breasts!
Hayden, who was only half the age of Hayden, wouldn't even think about it, let alone react physically!
So neither of these two fools knows what the other is thinking, and they probably won't know for a while.
On the contrary, Angela stood to the side, looking at Hayden with a kind and gentle gaze, as if she were looking at some kind of cute creature.
163: Differences in Purpose
The "Magical Girl Pazuzu" incident has come to an end—of course, that's impossible.
After the other employees of Qiqimiti Entertainment Company finished dealing with the negative impact caused by the temporary interruption of the live broadcast, Goddess Mickett immediately called everyone together for a meeting.
Pania was not among the attendees.
But this includes Hayden.
“Mr. Hayden, you just forced your favorite but incompetent pet to keep its job. That’s not good for the company’s operations.”
Not long after the meeting began, the goddess Mikkelsen smiled and said this to Hayden.
"Business operations must focus on rationality, Mr. Hayden. Otherwise, it will only affect your own profits."
So this vampire thinks Hayden is the kind of boss who lets his mistress forcefully keep his job.
Hayden didn't know how to retort or refute, as arguing about such matters only makes things more complicated. So he simply changed the subject, saying, "I'm just simply feeling sorry for the children. What's wrong with that? Does every capitalist think they're rational?"
To prevent Goddess Mikt from misunderstanding, and also to guide her thinking, he said it in a joking tone, which could be considered as taking half of Panya's matter upon himself.
Unexpectedly, after hearing his words, the goddess Micket actually said to Hayden in a serious tone: "A capitalist who does not know how to make rational assessments and does not operate with ideal efficiency will soon cease to be a capitalist."
噫
This left Hayden speechless.
But Mikkelsen was serious when she said that. To be honest, capitalists are essentially playing a terrifying yet thrilling game of cutthroat competition!
If the various financial gurus want to become the ultimate winners and survivors in this battle royale game, their behavior must be extremely rational.
If they don't want to pursue victory... then one day they will be devoured by other capitalist gods and will no longer be capitalists.
Mikkelsen's words were a well-intentioned piece of advice from a capitalist's perspective to Hayden!
However, Hayden is not a capitalist, nor has he ever wanted to be one—in fact, he is more like working for Karen now, but there is no real employer-employee relationship between them.
Unfortunately, at this moment, Hayden really had to pretend to be a capitalist.
“In that case, Miktikashiva,”
So, on a sudden inspiration, he smiled and asked in return,
"Why would you specifically offer suggestions to me, a capitalist rival who affects your profits and may become your competitor in the future, to improve efficiency?"
Hayden's comment was originally just a casual joke.
However, when the goddess Mikt heard him say this, she was actually stunned for a moment!
After being stunned for more than a second, she seemed to suddenly recover and said very seriously, "We are now in a cooperative relationship, so improving your efficiency will naturally benefit my own interests. Besides, don't forget, I've always wanted to get you."
噫
Hayden had only meant it as a joke, but he never expected the vampire goddess to actually say something so serious. Now it was his turn to be dumbfounded.
Would he be happy to hear that? No! Of course not! Who would be happy to hear a mother spider say she wants to eat you?!
Hayden was internally fuming, but he couldn't show it on his face!
Moreover, the goddess Mikkelsen is a predator in the food chain, capable of keenly sensing the fear in others. Hayden not only had to conceal it on his face, but also on the surface of his thoughts.
Dealing with these capitalist gods is truly a bitter experience.
The goddess Mikkelsen had no idea what Hayden was thinking.
"Since [Magical Girl Pazuzu] has triggered such a reaction from real deaths, and even during a live broadcast, other major companies must already know about this."
At the same time, she turned back to her other employees and said,
“We can’t completely monopolize the mystery of true death. After all, not to mention other companies, at least the Mitra Corporation also has personality chips, and they are the giants in the media industry. In order to compete with them, we obviously can’t rely solely on [Magical Girl Pazuzu].
The goddess Mikkelsen, having succinctly and concisely stated the key point,
"I plan to increase investment and expand the product line of virtual streamer idols."
“Although Mitra Group has more mature virtual idols with many fans than we do, they have not yet been revamped into new versions. We need to launch more virtual idols before they are revamped.”
What was she saying?
Actually, it refers to suits like [Magical Girl Pazuzu], which can materialize astral bodies in the material world and are powered by both death energy and the [Kowtowing Bug] system; these are currently unique. While the Mitra Corporation also possesses the same technology, it will likely take them at least one or two months to commercialize it and transform their existing virtual idol suits into new versions.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mickett Goddess—or rather, Smoke Mirror Company—should quickly release several new versions of virtual idol streamers. Not only could they compete for market share, but they could also unravel the mysteries of real death!
Hayden couldn't just stand there like an idiot. So he asked, "Should we learn from the Mitra Group's 'Five Colored Goddesses' and create a magical girl idol group centered around 'Magical Girl Pazuzu'? The history of the idol industry has proven that beautiful girl idol groups are more efficient in commercial promotion than single beautiful girl idols."
However, upon hearing this, Goddess Micket turned to look at Hayden twice, then shook her head: "No. The business of [Magical Girl Pazuzu] doesn't need to be handled together with new things. I will start a new business separately."
"In fact, Mr. Hayden, the business of [Magical Girl Pazuzu] will be mainly handled by you from now on."
what?
What? !
--------------------------
The next day, Hayden, accompanied by Angela, made another rare trip to Professor Albion's office.
Fortunately, Professor Albion hasn't had much to do lately, spending his days at the university conducting research using the school's equipment. What has he been researching lately? Of course, it's the Angela aura that Hayden provided him.
Some might ask at this point—wait, didn't Hayden have the professor study Angela's aura at the beginning of Book 2? How come the professor is still studying the same thing in Book 5?
Hey, what are you saying? Doesn't Professor Albion have to go to work regularly?
Besides, research is inherently troublesome and difficult. A truly difficult problem can easily take decades to study. Not to mention that Angela's aura may be the greatest mystery of all magical questions, and might even be the ultimate answer to life, death, and everything else—but that's a digression.
"Virtual streamer idols... The internet is really good at inventing new and catchy terms, and then hyping them up to the sky."
After listening to Hayden's words, Professor Albion stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Professor Percival Albion is 220 years old this year. Although he is an expert in StarNet communications engineering, one of the early engineers of the Astral Network, and still a top-notch information arcane mage, virtual anchors are still a relatively new and novel concept to him.
After all, Professor Albion is 220 years old, while virtual YouTubers are a new thing that only appeared more than 80 years ago.
"A huge crowd of living people watching a person in a suit perform all over the StarNet, that's so punk."
Therefore, even the old professor couldn't help but express this sentiment after learning what a virtual streamer is.
"Yes, yes, I understand what you mean."
Hayden scratched his head in annoyance: "But the point I want to make now is that the technological development of modern virtual idol streamers has indeed shown the potential to create new gods from the dead. At least Smoke Mirror Company is already planning to increase its investment in this area."
"In other words, it should also have the potential to revive Alastor."
As he said this, he took out the Dragon Ball that he usually wore around his neck and placed it on Professor Albion's desk. Alastor's soul and consciousness were sealed inside by Hayden, frozen in the state they had been in a year ago.
"I thought you were more concerned than me about whether we could revive him as soon as possible. It's been over a year already."
That's why Hayden criticized it so vehemently.
However, Professor Albion seemed in no hurry: "Don't rush, Hayden. As you live longer, you'll realize that rushing doesn't help anything. Rather, you should consider all the processes involved before doing anything important."
"You believe that current virtual idol technology can be used to resurrect Alastor, but why do you think so?"
At this point, the old professor glanced down at the materials and data Hayden had given him.
"The last time you held this ceremony, you attracted a whole host of deaths. You barely managed to save the little girl's life using a substitution technique. Do you think you'll have a way to solve the same problem next time?"
"Of course I can use Stand again next time..." Even so, Hayden knew that using Stand would divert the power of [Magical Girl Pazuzu], in other words, the "idol." How could the idol then defeat the embodiment of death?
"But that's just a matter of technical details."
Hayden frowned and said,
"Solving this problem won't be too difficult. Smoke Mirror Company has already come up with a solution. Although I don't like their approach, the idea should indeed be effective."
The interaction between viewers and fans would attract a large number of death shadows, making it impossible for the idol to overcome death. However, if viewers and fans were not allowed to watch the live stream, the magical ritual centered on the idol concept could not be carried out. This is a dilemma.
However, Goddess Micket was also clever. She quickly devised a solution—clone a large number of human brains, implant personality chips that worshipped [Magical Girl Pazuzu], and then have them watch the live stream in place of the fans! These cloned brains, devoid of distractions and focused solely on worship, would be easier to control even if they triggered a backlash from entropy!
The professor was amused by this: "Hayden, Hayden, after realizing that Smoke Mirror Corporation has created clones, cloned brains, replicated personalities, and suit actors that can be replaced at any time, and that you yourself can use a stand-in technique to divert attention from death—you still think this is just a technical detail? Now, I'm starting to worry that the new life born after the ritual may not even be the original person inside!"
what?
……ah
Hayden racked his brains, suddenly realized, and was speechless.
With clones, replicated personalities, replaceable inner beings, and stand-in technology, who exactly is this virtual streamer idol's "I"? And what is the "I" of this newly born and resurrected god?
"What is the original? What can be replaced? What is real? If you don't even understand these things, do you dare to use this technology to revive Alastor? What if what is revived is not the real Alastor, but 'the Alastor you think is Alastor'? That would be a horror story."
Professor Albion shook his head at this point.
“Hayden, you see the Smoke Mirror Company busy investing in this new technology and trying to make it practical, so you think it’s something to look forward to. However, this idea ignores the difference between your own goals and those of the capitalists.”
What could Hayden say? He could only obediently lower his head and accept the teacher's criticism. No matter how old a person is, they are always a junior in front of their former teachers.
However, he still joined in the fun, and asked with some curiosity, "What's the difference?"
The old professor gave a wry smile and explained bluntly: "The purpose of capital is not to improve the quality of people's lives through value appreciation, but value appreciation itself. Capital doesn't need to consider whether the person revived by this new technology is the real person. Rather, capitalists don't have much of their own personality—they are simply personified capital."
For capitalists, as long as the clone and the original have the same social nature and can generate the same value, the result is the same regardless of whether the clone is actually the original.
"Look at yourself. What is the purpose of wanting this technology to resurrect the dead?"
Of course, it's for... to resurrect the dead.
For example, Alastor.
For example, many people who shouldn't have died.
Hayden scratched his head, speechless.
Only someone like Hayden would need to agonize over whether the new technology resurrects a clone, an "imaginary person," or a real person.
The difference in purpose is the biggest and most fundamental difference.
Frowning, Hayden fell into deep thought again.
He disliked the Smoke Mirror Company's **goals**, and even more so, he disliked the **methods** they were about to use. So, what should he do?
The goddess Mikkuri has now handed over the [Magical Girl Pazuzu] business to Hayden, which is both a hassle and an opportunity. He can gain access to deeper technology and get involved himself.
So the answer is quite simple.
"I want to make [Magical Girl Pazuzu] defeat her own death in a fair and square way."
That sounds great. But how exactly do you do it?
"Very ambitious."
Professor Albion smiled slightly.