Gao Wu: I inherited the evil organization in the game

Chapter 674 Saints?!
Chen Fengrui was immediately overwhelmed with emotion and tears of gratitude welled up in his eyes:

"Thank you for the Lord's grace and guidance. Your words are a beacon illuminating the darkness, and I feel that the path ahead, which I was lost in, has been instantly lit up!"

Feng Mu did not reply this time. He felt that the saints were good at making up their own interpretations, and he did not need to respond or explain everything.

If a boyfriend doesn't respond to everything, it's easy for things to end badly.

But if the Lord doesn't respond to everything, it will only make believers more...devoted!
And indeed it is.

Feng Mu could clearly sense that Chen Fengrui's inner fervor had not cooled down because of his silence; on the contrary, it had surged even higher in his silence, reaching a new peak.

God knows what kind of revelation this saint gleaned from the silence of the "Lord".

After a long while, Chen Fengrui asked himself nervously:

"Lord... I dare to ask, why did you choose me?"

I'm not questioning the Lord's choice; I just feel incredibly terrified. I'm so insignificant and worthless..."

This question truly stumped Feng Mu.

You'd have to ask Ma Bin; it was Ma Bin who kidnapped them from the vast crowd.

Feng Mu pondered for a moment, then decided he couldn't answer truthfully and could only reply indifferently:
"No reason."

Chen Fengrui's heart sank slightly at first, a trace of disappointment flashing across his face, but this was quickly followed by an even more surging fervor:
“I understand now. The Lord just planted the seed randomly, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Lord has favored me. Praise be to my Lord.”

What else could Feng Mu say? He found that no matter what he said, the "saint" could always interpret it in a wonderful way, and the effect was even better than the lines he had carefully crafted himself.

His voice grew increasingly calm:

"No need to praise me. I was just bored, so I planted a few seeds in the garden and occasionally pruned the branches. My scissors have no preference; I just wanted to see what kind of flowers would eventually grow."

Chen Fengrui was breathing rapidly, his heart pounding with excitement.

The Lord's parable was so vivid and profound. It turns out that in the Lord's eyes, the whole world is just a garden, and they, the believers, are just seeds that the Lord casually sowed.

What a magnificent perspective, what detachment and deep affection!

Indeed, the blessings and guidance of the merciful Lord do not demand anything in return from even the smallest creature.

If he weren't afraid of attracting too much attention on the street, Chen Fengrui would have loved to kowtow to the Lord on the spot.

The Lord doesn't even need His praise.

Tears!

Chen Fengrui's eyes welled up with tears, and his nose stung with emotion. He felt his own insignificance and triviality all too clearly.

The greatness of the Lord needs no further explanation. Listening to the Lord's indifferent response, Chen Fengrui felt as if his soul had been purified and elevated to a whole new level.

"Praise my Lord!"

Chen Fengrui praised the Lord in his heart again and again. The more the Lord forbade him to praise, the more he could not restrain himself.

He made a decision in his heart—he must make the most beautiful flower bloom.

After a long pause, Chen Fengrui finished his mental preparation and asked the last question:
"Lord, do you like your garden?"

Feng Mu, on the other end of the consciousness, narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was beginning to understand what the potential of a "saint" was.

This is not just a fanatical faith, but a terrifying kind of "heartfelt" concern for the Lord, thinking what the Lord is thinking!

Look at how thoughtful that question is! It directly addresses the "cleaning" issue he's been pondering.

He remained silent for a moment before uttering three words softly:
"It's so dirty!!!"

Chen Fengrui was jolted awake, his very soul stirred, as if he had once again received a divine revelation.

But this revelation is extraordinary and has an exceptionally special significance.

The three words of the Lord, spoken with undisguised disdain and indifference, resounded and echoed repeatedly in his mind like a great bell.

Although the Lord still didn't ask him to do anything, he seemed to have found his own value and mission.

"I not only want to bloom the most beautiful flower, but I also want to tend the garden for the Lord, cleaning away its filth. I not only want to bloom a flower, but I also want to be the Lord's gardener..."

Chen Feng suddenly understood.

Even if it sounds like a fantasy, what can the Lord do if He can't even clean the garden?

Once you've grasped the meaning, you've grasped it!
Chen Fengrui looked up and realized that he had already arrived at the citizen registration office.

It was a makeshift venue with a crooked sign hanging at the entrance. A queue stretched out from inside, and the faces of the people were a mixture of numbness, anxiety, and an inexplicable expectation.

He took a deep breath of the polluted air, but at that moment it seemed to carry the scent of a mission.

After waiting for a long time, it was finally his turn in line. He looked at the registrar, who stretched out a hand wearing a white glove and impatiently beckoned with his finger.

The registration process was quick, and the system registered his basic information.

“ID D9-734 District-07 Street-0815, Chen Fengrui, age 22. Failed the comprehensive citizen assessment, no skills certification, no criminal record.”

The registration process was surprisingly simple, and he quickly received a card.

His citizenship class F was printed in large print on it.

Chen Fengrui took the card, his fingers gripping it so tightly they turned slightly white.

This is not a symbol of compromise.

This is... his pass to infiltrate the government, and also his first step into becoming a gardener.

Feng Mu gave his final answer and then cut off the gaze.

What Feng Mu didn't see, or rather, even through the body, he couldn't see the black line above Chen Fengrui's head suddenly tremble wildly for a moment.

One end of the black thread was faintly stained with a strange crimson color.

It's very faint, very faint...
However, Feng Mu was not a stingy person. Since he had sown the seeds of "saints," it was only right to water and fertilize them.

The Lv2 Proxy's Gift can grant believers 1-2 more abilities.

What skills should I bestow upon you next?

Of course, not all the entries or skills in his system panel can be granted this blessing.

Some overly core or high-level abilities remain grayed out and unavailable. Feng Mu hesitated for a moment, then carefully selected two skills from the available skills to bestow.

Furthermore, the inheritance rate of these two skills has been adjusted to an optional maximum value of 99%.

In other words, it is almost a perfect replica of his current two abilities.

"Since Chen Fengrui has already been granted this favor, the other agents will be included as well..."

Feng Mu's mind started working, and he decided to "upgrade" all the existing agents.

However, when he actually started doing it, he suddenly realized that things were far from as simple and easy as he had imagined.

Lv2's [Proxy's Blessing] does indeed grant him the ability to create more powerful Proxy, allowing him to bestow upon them more complex combinations of abilities and a higher degree of inheritance.

However, correspondingly, the mental burden placed on him increased exponentially.

At first they seem insignificant, but as the numbers accumulate, the losses become clear and noticeable.

Especially when he wanted to upgrade all the proxies to 99% inheritance, a glaring red warning panel suddenly popped up on the system interface:

[Warning—Your mental workload is overloaded!]
[Forced Blessing will temporarily freeze 19 points of your Spirit attribute!]
[At the same time, your pupil power value will be temporarily frozen by 1900 points!]
[Do you confirm enforcement?]
Feng Mu: "..."

He stared at the cold, impersonal message and remained silent for a moment.

After a brief moment of surprise, he carefully examined the panel instructions and related details, and gained a clearer understanding of how [Agent's Grace] worked.

This is roughly equivalent to having some of the funds in a bank account frozen.

The ownership of the frozen mental attributes and pupil power still belongs to Feng Mu, but from the moment they were frozen, the right to use them was temporarily "lent" to the agents.

He cannot use this frozen attribute himself until he reclaims the gift or the agent "repays" it.

Simply put, gifts are not a free lunch. The amount of power He wishes to bestow upon His agents depends on the corresponding amount of "capital" He must first pledge!
After realizing this, Feng Mu's mood instantly soured.

Originally, as the Lord, He would not hesitate to bestow power upon His agents if He paid for it for free.

It demonstrates the Lord's mercy and greatness, and also allows us to get a bunch of tools for free. Why not?

But if all of this requires "payment," and he is the one "paying," then it's not impossible, but it just requires... careful calculation and deliberation.

There is no surplus food in the Lord's house.

Feng Mu had to adjust his thinking:

"Gifts should not be given indiscriminately. Yes, that's right. Things obtained for free are often not valued."

Although the Lord does not need anything in return, He deserves praise. Those who act on His behalf need to learn to actively please the Lord and prove their worth in order to be worthy of receiving more blessings!

"Yes, that's it. I'm going to plant the seeds of competition among the agents, and then bestow power upon the best of them."

As for the specifics of how to proceed, Feng Mu quickly came up with a clear plan.

He doesn't need to speak with every agent; that would be beneath the Lord's dignity.

All he needs to do is provide the agents with a "platform" where they can communicate with each other and see each other's "performance".

As long as there is communication, there will naturally be comparison; with comparison, there will naturally be a competitive spirit; and then naturally, those clever and ambitious people will discover the "secret" and, in order to gain more favor from the "master," they will naturally... roll up!

After clarifying his thoughts, Feng Mu immediately took action, significantly reducing the coverage and intensity of the blessings bestowed in this plan.

After some skillful manipulation and testing, he roughly figured out the system's current "free quota":
He discovered that, without excessively utilizing his own attributes, he could "freely" support up to five fully-equipped agents.

The term "fully unlocked" refers to obtaining the maximum number of skill combinations allowed at the current Lv2 level, as well as the highest inheritance rate of 99%.

These five individuals, whom we might call "saints," are the key investment targets.

The other agents can only select about half of the slots to be granted the second basic ability, but the inheritance rate can only be maintained at the minimum guarantee level of 50%.

If someone tries to exceed this limit, even by just 1%, the system will immediately prompt that their mental attributes need to be frozen.

"The five spots for saints... Chen Fengrui can take one; his potential as a rebel and his fanaticism are worth investing in."

Feng Mu's mind raced, and he quickly made the allocation.

"Then select the best-performing or most promising candidate and bestow the second spot upon them. The remaining three spots will be kept in reserve for now, to observe their performance and to encourage future candidates."

"After all, saints can act as catfish in a fishpond. Too few will not have a noticeable effect, while too many will make the saint seem cheap and will not help maintain the prestige of the 'Lord' and the preciousness of his gifts."

With the plan finalized, Feng Mu began his operation.

First and foremost, he needed to establish the envisioned "communication platform."

This was actually the easiest part for him, because the foundation of this "platform" was readily available. He could have easily pulled the consciousness of all the agents he connected to into his "consciousness space" at any time.

Of course, in the previous model, he was in control unilaterally; he didn't open the door, and the agents couldn't come in on their own.

Now he only needs to make a small change to permanently fix this "platform" and grant all agents access permissions.

Without hesitation, Feng Mu focused his mind and began to "set up and adjust" the "platform".

Immediately, a system notification popped up:

[Note: Solidifying and opening the "Consciousness Corridor" will grant all agents access, establish a stable channel, and maintain its existence. This will additionally freeze 5 points of mental attribute and 500 points of pupil power.]
This "fee" was exactly what Feng Mu had expected.

He was becoming increasingly familiar with the system's nature—it would never turn a blind eye to any opportunity to extract "middleman markups" or charge "server maintenance fees."

Fortunately, the 5 attribute points and 500 points of pupil power are still within Feng Mu's acceptable range, and this is a necessary initial investment for building the platform. He believes that the future returns will cover this investment.

He agreed without much hesitation.

[5 points of Spirit attribute have been frozen.]
[500 points of pupil power have been frozen.]
[The "Consciousness Corridor" has been solidified and opened; access has been granted to all agents.]
[Hint: You are free to customize your "Consciousness Corridor"!]
Seeing the notification flash by, Feng Mu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the system finally acted like a human this time and didn't charge him any extra "renovation fees".

However, thinking about it, it makes sense. This "Consciousness Corridor" is essentially a creation of his own spiritual power, so he naturally has to put in the effort to decorate it. Why should the system charge him again?
When it comes to decorating, it's natural to want to do a good job.

The previous feeling of emptiness, nothingness, absolute silence and darkness was meant to create mystery and sophistication. While it was effective, it was too oppressive and discouraged the agents from opening up (comparing with each other) and engaging in friendly exchanges (secretly competing).

How can effective internal competition be generated without sufficient communication?
"So, it should be changed like this, then like this, and then like this again..."

Mu didn't have to think for long before a ready-made, market-proven solution surfaced from the depths of his memory.

This was mainly thanks to a classic online novel he had read in his previous life, whose descriptions of similar "online communication platforms" gave him great inspiration and reference.

....
(End of this chapter)