"I'll rely on the virtual idol I'm in charge of, [Magical Girl Pazuzu]!"
176: Getting something for nothing
Hayden asserted that he could resolve the situation, and that it would be done through the virtual idol he managed, "Magical Girl Pazuzu."
So naturally, when the two Capital Gods and the Five-Colored Goddess present heard Hayden's words, they couldn't help but wonder in their hearts—could it be that Hayden orchestrated the whole thing himself? Otherwise, where would he get the confidence to say such a thing?
This is a very serious matter. At least tens of millions of viewers could potentially be trapped in the live stream's visuals or even suffer adverse effects. If this happens, Mitra Group's business will be negatively impacted for a long time to come.
Even if Hayden tries to shift the blame to Dakini, and even if Dakini might actually have made a mistake and needs to take responsibility—office politics are never that simple. If Dakini were to throw the blame back at Hayden, Hayden's future would certainly be bleak, even with the support of the Peacock King.
When such a big problem arises and everyone is trying to find a solution, you suddenly confidently declare that you can solve it yourself. Who else would we doubt but you?
...That being said, if Hayden could really resolve this matter without harming the company's interests, or even profit from it, the outcome would be completely different.
Ultimately, companies are driven by profit. Although everyone suspects Hayden is the mastermind behind it all, orchestrating the whole thing, there's no evidence. If he messes things up, he'll certainly be held accountable even without proof.
However, if things don't go wrong, if the situation is successfully smoothed over, and there are no losses—then from the company's perspective, Hayden is in the good position, and the blame lies entirely with Dajinite. Even if Hayden orchestrated the whole thing himself, even if he intended to sabotage Dajinite… it doesn't matter.
Why can't Hayden frame Dakini? Everyone knows that Dakini attacked the planting camp of the Peacock King's daughter a few months ago. Such things are never a secret among the gods. Given this, and since their two families already have a grudge, what's wrong with Hayden retaliating by framing Dakini?
As long as they don't harm the company's interests and don't go too far (for example, Dajini wouldn't dare to jump up and kill Hayden or Karen), the company won't get involved. It's part of the office politics game.
Furthermore, if Hayden truly managed to completely absolve himself of any trouble, without causing any problems for the company, while simultaneously getting Dakini Heaven into trouble—then the other gods would only think Hayden was very capable and did a great job.
They would only think that the Peacock King had found a very capable son-in-law, and would admire Hayden even more.
This is the correct mindset of a capitalist god.
So at this moment, when these gods and goddesses heard Hayden claim that he could resolve the situation, they all vaguely believed that this was all Hayden's own doing—however, only Dakini was both shocked and angry, while the others were not unhappy.
"Mr. Hayden, given this situation, how do you intend to resolve this issue?"
The White Goddess [Mira], although not a god, holds a special position as the envoy, messenger, and saint of Mithra Bodhisattva. Her words carry weight and can represent the world's foremost god.
As long as Hayden can solve the problem and prevent them from suffering losses, these capitalist gods won't be unhappy. Dajini, on the other hand, will bear some responsibility for his oversight. If Hayden can't solve the problem and causes them losses… ahahaha, then Hayden will definitely have to suffer.
So, was this really all staged by Hayden himself?
Actually not.
...No, it really isn't.
At this moment, only Hayden himself in the room knew the truth: the current situation... was not his doing at all!
(Although I did indeed install some backdoors and tamper with the ceremony of this competition, this situation was really not caused by me! I would never risk the lives of tens of millions of ordinary spectators!)
Hayden wasn't that kind of person. Even if he wanted to revive Alastor, even if he wanted to help Panya, he wouldn't be in such a hurry to do something like this.
Unfortunately, he couldn't voice these words to defend himself. At this point, Hayden even felt a little confused, like a protagonist in a Dihua-style story.
Now these gods and goddesses all believe that Hayden really did it, and he can't explain it—the biggest reason being that explaining it wouldn't make a difference.
It's more accurate to say that explaining it would only make things more complicated.
Hearing this, some people are probably wondering why, what kind of logic is this—but the answer is actually quite simple. Because at this very moment, Hayden is actually the one in the most dangerous situation.
The gods of capital aren't entirely incapable of solving this problem. They're simply calculating the costs and benefits. Once they've calculated the results and negotiated the terms, they'll eventually resolve the issue.
They are, after all, gods. New rulers with supreme power!
Now, let's think about it from another angle. If a god like Dakini were to take charge of this matter and handle it successfully, who would ultimately take the blame? Of course, it would be Hayden! Would they willingly take the blame themselves?
If Hayden remains silent and ignores the matter, these capitalists will eventually solve the problem themselves and then pass the blame to him. Hayden's current silence, neither explaining nor admitting anything, and allowing these capitalists to speculate, might actually make them agree to let him handle the problem—at least they'll let him try once. Because they don't want to pay for the solution themselves.
Therefore, Hayden is now willing to continue to allow this misunderstanding to continue, in order to seize the initiative in resolving this incident.
Hayden is actually quite distressed right now. He doesn't have complete confidence in solving the problem; he can only have a rough plan in mind that he's willing to try. Normally, he would never take such a big gamble, but this time he's stumbled into this mess himself—what else can he do?
We might as well face the challenge head-on!
Whether through business or deception, he wants to get the result he desires from this unexpected event.
At the same time, he also had to handle everything properly without causing harm to himself or innocent civilians!
"In order to resolve this issue smoothly, I need your help."
Hayden turned to Dakini and the white celestial being Mira, and began to speak.
"Please grant me two permissions. First, permission to access the personality chips of these virtual idols on stage; second, permission to view the design blueprints of these virtual idol suits."
This is definitely not a request that can be casually agreed to without taking it seriously.
Upon hearing this, Tujini Tian immediately raised her eyebrows. However, before she could say anything, Mira beside her interjected, "Alright. But why?"
Hayden then turned around, pointed to the virtual idols on stage who were struggling to fight the faceless witch, and gestured to the gods and goddesses.
These virtual idols fight very bravely. They know that they are human test subjects who have to risk their lives to become gods and advance their class, so why would they be afraid to fight? Moreover, their costumes are very powerful, and in terms of strength alone, they are definitely not weaker than a standard five-person fighting god squad.
That's right.
Judging solely from their "strength" and "courage," they are not weak.
【Magical Girl Pazuzu】was arguably the most valiant of them all, unleashing explosive flames and howling winds. The other virtual idols were equally formidable. However, these twenty or so virtual idols were utterly defeated by the faceless witch on stage, ending up covered in dust and grime.
"That's the fighting power of about twenty standard combat god squads. A force of over a hundred celestial soldiers could even gang up on and kill a relatively weak god. Could that fake Mara really be that powerful?"
Hayden shook his head immediately.
"This battle wasn't a head-on clash. There are two reasons why that fake Bo Xun was able to defeat the Star Entity, which consists of about twenty virtual idols."
"Firstly, because their battle takes place on a stage. Their battle is like a play, a story, a ritual on that stage. To defeat that false Mara, either Lady Miktikashiva must use her immense power to blow up the entire stage, and everyone will suffer the recoil damage..."
As he finished speaking, he nodded again to the goddess Mikt.
"Either we can only let the actors on stage treat this accident as part of the performance and continue acting, defeating the fake Mara in this play. That's why I asked you all to give me the personality chip access to these virtual idols. I can connect to these personality chips and immediately instruct them on the details of how to perform the ritual, as well as the professional combat techniques of the War Gods, into their minds."
The faceless witch and other virtual idol contestants are now standing on the same stage.
This is a performance, a magical ritual.
During the performance, the stage is not just a stage, but a world, a unique realm with its own ritual rules.
As for combat skills, that goes without saying. Although these virtual idol suits possess the power of a combat god squad, they have never learned professional combat techniques, let alone have a century of combat experience. If they were to take on a standard five-person combat god squad one-on-one right now, even if their strength was equal, they would probably still lose in actual combat.
If Hayden doesn't use personality chips to instill the rules and knowledge of rituals into their minds, these virtual idols simply won't know how to fight correctly in this world.
...and at the same time, Hayden could take the opportunity to openly peek at the design drawings of their suits.
The benefits of doing this are so great that it goes without saying, right?
Backdoors can be discovered, and vulnerabilities can be patched, but the knowledge and skills learned from Hayden's mind are not so easy to steal!
"As long as the detailed instructions of the ritual and the technical experience of the battle gods are instilled into them through their personality chips, they can work together to defeat that fake Bo Xun. To do this, I need to first review the costume designs of these virtual idols in order to determine the appropriate techniques and instructions for them."
Hayden said in a very serious tone.
Crisis is also an opportunity. He is now facing a great crisis and cannot afford to show weakness in front of these gods and goddesses.
He wants to use this opportunity, which he can rightfully use to steal top-secret technology from large companies, to kill two birds with one stone!
The gods and goddesses present were not fools. However, since allowing Hayden to secretly learn these techniques would not harm Goddess Mikrit, but rather bring future benefits, she naturally wouldn't say anything. The fact that almost all of the virtual idols from the Mitra Group participating in this competition were the property of Dajini Tian further enraged her.
However, the goddess Mira looked at the stage and then at Dajini, and actually spoke to Hayden, saying, "Okay. That sounds reasonable. I can temporarily grant you the access to these personality chips, as well as the access to the contestants' personal files and astral data."
it is good!
Hayden was naturally overjoyed. Dakini was so angry he wanted to grit his teeth. But Mira hadn't finished speaking yet.
"But Mr. Hayden, this stage is now a small world of its own, and even we can't interfere with it. Why are you so confident that you can connect to the actors' personality chips and impart knowledge and technology to them?"
She tilted her head and looked at Hayden, her eyes gleaming with a strange light.
"...Of course, it's because I personally designed the foundation of this ritual stage. Even if that fake Bo Xun took away most of the authority, it's perfectly normal for me to be able to connect with the actors on stage through my personality chip."
Hayden answered immediately. He was telling the absolute truth.
Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the goddess Mira simply wanted a reasonable explanation, she nodded and didn't press the matter further.
"Then Mr. Hayden, why don't you give it a try? I hope your practical skills are as effective as your eloquence."
But the goddess Mira left behind a profound statement.
"Please don't forget that the final deadline is determined by us. If we determine that it's too late, we will choose the party that can more reliably resolve the issue."
Hayden was well aware of the heavy warning hidden in her words.
The pressure was enough to make his hair stand on end.
[Mira] The goddess is Mithra's personal envoy. If Hayden fails, he will likely bear the blame and suffer considerable hardship.
Soon, the information he requested was quickly delivered to him via StarNet.
When Tujini Tian retrieved these documents, she glared fiercely at Hayden. She would likely cause Hayden further trouble after this.
Unfortunately, Hayden didn't even have time to worry about that right now. He quickly read through the information on how to construct the Astral Body (suit), secretly memorizing how to design and create this god-like body, while also scanning the personal files of the people in those virtual idols.
It wasn't until Hayden discovered that Hongye's personal file was also mixed in with these documents and sent to him along with them that he realized what had happened.
That makes sense, since Hongye is one of the virtual idols still active on stage.
But Hayden's gaze lingered for a moment as he scrolled through Hongye's personal file.
Who exactly is this strange tengu ninja, Momiji? What is her background? What is her relationship with Emperor Hojun? Why does she have such a strange loyalty to Hojun?
All of this information was written in the documents sent by the Mitra Group.
177: The Stage of Gods
【Magical Girl Pazuzu】is in battle.
Moreover, the opponent was probably the most powerful enemy she had ever faced in her life.
Pania was once just an ordinary little girl. Although she came from a middle-class family and her parents had enhanced her genes, she wasn't a combat-oriented enhanced human. However, after being infused with the personality chip from the Smoke Mirror Company, and with Hayden's training and education over the past few months, she had gained various experiences and lessons. Although she was still weak, she already possessed the spirit to fight decisively and without hesitation.
Regardless of strength, Pania's sheer spirit and willpower already qualify her as a "warrior."
On top of that, Pania now also possesses the [Magical Girl Pazuzu] suit. Combined, she is already incredibly powerful. With a casual wave of her hand, she can unleash a raging storm that burns down an entire street, and a powerful strike can instantly turn a city without any protective barriers into a sea of fire.
If the target were a country of average size from hundreds of years ago, she could reduce it to a desolate wasteland in a single night.
Although cities and countries without barriers no longer exist in modern times, this metaphor should be sufficient to illustrate the current fighting power of [Magical Girl Pazuzu].
At this very moment, within the live stream space, on this self-contained stage, there are nineteen virtual idol costumes roughly equivalent to [Magical Girl Pazuzu]. Together, this is equivalent to twenty standard combat god squads, a total of one hundred [Vajrapani Gods] in combat power.
Such combat power is enough to destroy a modern city, enough to conquer an ordinary modern country, and even enough to kill a true god.
...But they couldn't defeat this faceless witch.
"Obsidian Mountain-Splitting Sword!"
The Jaguar virtual idol from Smoke Mirror Company roared, brandishing its obsidian sword and unleashing five chaotic slashes at the Faceless Witch in an instant. Each slash was powerful enough to cleave a mountain as easily as tofu!
...But the faceless witch could swing her fan even faster. A metallic clang echoed in the dark, chaotic space. It was actually because the speed of the attack and defense was so fast that the five rebounds were mixed together. All five consecutive slashes were deflected by the fan, none of them touching the faceless witch's body.
"Celestial body falling, comet kick!"
Meanwhile, the eagle-attribute virtual idol, from the same group as the jaguar, launched a pincer attack. She descended from the highest point of this virtual space, using gravity-manipulating magic to accelerate and continuously increase her energy as she approached the enemy. Then, at the moment of contact, she flipped over and unleashed a spinning kick with maximum power at the faceless witch.
The force of that kick was comparable to that of a small meteorite. And it was incredibly fast.
However, the faceless priestess reached out and lightly waved her hand with the sleeve of her priestess robe. The movement was so casual, so natural, that it was as if she were shaking off dust stuck to her clothes.
This is impossible; it's impossible according to common sense. A gravity-driven kick that strikes like a meteorite could shatter a city; it couldn't possibly bounce off like dust. Yet, what happened was true. The virtual eagle idol was just like that, bounced away.
This scene was neither an illusion nor a dream—and what's even more terrifying is that all these attacks and counterattacks occurred at the same time!
These virtual idols aren't stupid. They certainly know that when facing a powerful enemy, they should launch simultaneous attacks to overwhelm the opponent. However, the result of doing so was that the faceless witch displayed astonishing resilience. Several different types of powerful attacks were simultaneously launched at it, yet it was able to react to all of them at the same time, perfectly blocking them all.
Pania, now clad in the [Magical Girl Pazuzu] suit, is a completely different person. Under Hayden's guidance and tutelage, she has grasped many mysteries and gained a deeper understanding of power, making her incomparable to her self three months ago.
...That's why Pania understood all too well how terrifying this faceless witch was.
This wasn't a battle of attrition; it was a massive brawl where twenty idols attacked simultaneously, their attacks flowing seamlessly into each other. Yet, the faceless witch seemed to be able to handle them all at once, as if she had three heads and six arms.
Pania was naturally inclined to admire the strong and fear the weak. Now, with increased experience and knowledge, her insight has been enhanced, allowing her to realize that the key here is neither the amount of energy nor the intensity, but rather the multi-threaded processing capability.
【Magical Girl Pazuzu】These twenty virtual idols already possess firepower no less than that of a true god.
But the ability to process data using multithreading is the true divine power.
Unlike the gods, true gods can handle many things simultaneously. They can interact with hundreds, tens of thousands, millions, or even more people at the same time. The weakest god may only have a few hundred threads, while the more powerful the god, the more things they can handle simultaneously.
The ultimate true gods possess near-omnipresent abilities.