Goddess Kaleidoscope

As the plot unfolds, most of the audience in the theater are completely immersed in it, but a small number of people are frowning as they watch, including Katie, who is disguised.

Everyone else was there to watch the show, but she was there to investigate and learn. She thought that with her intelligence and years of experience in the entertainment industry, even if she couldn't poach Hugo from Servis, she could at least imitate him fairly well. But when she actually saw him, she was dumbfounded.

As the saying goes, laymen watch the spectacle, while experts see the details. Putting aside the excellent script and the novel soundtrack, what truly amazed Katie, an industry insider, was the dreamlike stage effects of the entire show. The exquisite level of the costumes, props, and sets completely surpassed that of traditional theater, and many of the scene arrangements were simply breathtaking.

Even a large and established theatrical troupe like the Feixia Dance Troupe keeps its stage setup as simple as possible. It's not that they can't, but rather that time constraints prevent it. Many plays involve more than one scene, and when a scene change is needed, the curtain must be drawn within one minute; otherwise, a prolonged change would negatively impact the audience's viewing experience.

The Rainbow Dance Troupe took a clever approach in this regard. The entire first act had four scene changes, and each time the curtain closed, a device called a projector (as mentioned in the intelligence report) was used to project moving silhouette images onto the screen, while the narrator vividly continued to tell the story to the audience.

In this way, from the perspective of the audience, the entire performance remains coherent and does not feel noticeably interrupted by scene changes, while also giving backstage staff more time to set up the scenes.

Of all the scenes in the first act, the most shocking and memorable for most viewers was undoubtedly the final prison break. The production team actually built a sinister mass grave on stage, where two prison guards hastily buried Edmund's body bag amidst thunder and lightning and torrential rain.

As the two jailers left, cursing and swearing, the previously eerie background music began to change. A beam of light descended from the sky, illuminating the shallow grave. Accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder, a strong arm suddenly emerged from the soil. Then, the protagonist, covered in mud, struggled to crawl out of the grave, forcefully tearing his tattered prison clothes. He roared at the sky in the pouring rain, as if venting the resentment accumulated over fourteen years of wrongful imprisonment, until this roar was replaced by a hearty laugh from the bottom of his heart.

Watching Edmund on stage, arms outstretched and bathed in the rain, the actor hadn't uttered a single line, yet the character's emotions were perfectly conveyed to every audience member.

This scene was a direct copy of a famous scene from "The Shawshank Redemption," with even the background music being exactly the same, serving as the ending of the first act.

And so, the first act ended. The forty-minute episode gave the audience in this other world their first taste of what it meant to be "non-stop entertaining." Many viewers, knowing beforehand that the entire show would last a whopping two hundred minutes, were worried they might fall asleep halfway through.

Looking at it now, as long as the last four acts can maintain the same level of quality as the first act, it is impossible for anyone in the audience to fall asleep!

At this moment, in the second-floor private room, August was staring blankly at the curtain, lost in thought.

He was just bored today, and when he learned that the city lord's family had suddenly come to watch a play at the Sky Opera House, which was always second best, he followed along out of curiosity. He never expected to discover one surprise after another.

First, backstage, he met a stunningly beautiful girl who he couldn't forget. Then, he unexpectedly discovered that the Rainbow Dance Troupe's new show was quite different, and he couldn't help but become somewhat engrossed in watching it.

However, halfway through the film, Auguste suddenly noticed a problem: Hume, the god of thieves, appeared in the story, and it seemed that unless there was a plot twist later on, he would be a rather positive character.

August had served as the bishop of Yanmu City for eleven years and was intimately familiar with all sorts of people in the city, from the underworld to the legitimate world. He was naturally aware of the existence of the "Black Hand Brotherhood" and knew that they secretly worshipped the god of thieves, Hume, and used so-called "divine wine" to exploit the faith and wallets of their followers.

Auguste had never held these shady characters in high regard, but he turned a blind eye to their misdeeds. After all, they had been paying him "tribute" for the past eleven years, and he had also taken a cut of their ill-gotten gains.

However, at least on the surface, August still had to maintain a positive image of hating evil and keeping a strange "fighting at the head of the bed and making up at the foot of the bed" relationship with the forces of evil.

"Strange, is this song and dance troupe sponsored by those guys? Or is it just a coincidence?"

Jade, in the next booth to August, shared the same doubts. Although Hume, the God of Thieves, had a wide following, with petty thieves and scoundrels all over the world having some influence over him, he was ultimately not a proper god. Just like the people on Earth who play Genshin Impact, they all do it secretly and don't dare to publicize it in public.

Jade couldn't help but smile slightly as he recalled Hugo's incredible wins at his casino a few days earlier.

"interesting!"

Soon, after a short break, the second act officially began. The thousands of audience members in the hall fell silent instantly, all staring intently at the stage curtain, eager to see what would happen next.

At this moment, in a corner of the second-floor VIP box, there was a staff room that was not open to the audience. The group of girls who had come to Yanmu City with Lu De were all watching the wonderful performance on stage with great interest.

Hume leaned against the corner of his box, observing the hall below. A considerable number of spectators had unknowingly generated orbs of faith in her, the goddess of thieves. However, each orb was tiny, generally only the size of a grain of rice, resembling dying fireflies. Even so, this was a sight Hume hadn't witnessed in a long time.

Hume couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. The brat was indeed fulfilling his promise step by step, helping him to revive his source of faith, defeat the fake that threatened his legitimacy, and eventually break the curse of the God of War on her so that the God of Thieves could become a god again.

Indeed! That day may be far away, and it is by no means a goal that can be achieved in the short term, but the other party has already shown her hope. This made Hume, while feeling moved, also ask himself how he should repay the other party's great kindness when the time comes.

End of this chapter

Given the excellent quality of the original "The Count of Monte Cristo," "The Count of Monte Cristo," which was merely localized, was naturally a great success at its premiere, and it can be said that everything was within Lude's expectations.

The three-and-a-half-hour performance allowed the more than 1,000 audience members to experience for the first time in their lives what a true "audiovisual feast" is all about.

When the finale came, the protagonist got his revenge, and all the villains paid the price for their evil deeds. A near-perfect ending was presented before the audience. While the audience cheered with satisfaction, they were still somewhat unsatisfied. Some seasoned drama fans even sat there feeling a little lost.

Because they discovered that after witnessing such a novel and excellent masterpiece, the traditional dramas of the past could no longer satisfy them, as if their bodies and minds had become the shape of "The Count of Monte Cristo".

Amidst the jubilant crowd, Katie sat dejectedly in her seat, trembling uncontrollably. Despite being in a warm room, she was drenched in cold sweat and her hands and feet were ice-cold. The appearance of "The Count of Monte Cristo" terrified her. She sensed a power, a power she had never seen before, as if a new king had donned a laurel wreath, and all his subjects, whether they liked it or not, would soon have to make changes to determine whether they could continue to survive in this industry.

She didn't know how to describe the fear, but if Ludwig were sitting in front of her right now, he would surely tell her with a smile.

"The power you feel comes from change!"

Essentially, Cavern King is an experiment by Rudd, who is constantly integrating the knowledge he brought from another world into his native land, and then using this power to improve an industry and change the world.

As it turned out, Lud once again succeeded. The natives of the other world, just like the Earthlings, were very receptive to his methods!

Led by troupe leader Servis, the entire Rainbow Dance Troupe of over 120 members took to the stage and bowed to the thunderous applause from the audience. At that moment, Servis felt like Edmund in the play who had finally avenged himself; all the misfortunes of the past decade had vanished in an instant. Her eyes were already brimming with tears, but her smile grew even brighter.

The only thing that Servais regretted was that Faria, who helped her complete this grand revenge, did not stand on the stage to receive applause with her, but remained quietly behind the scenes.

Servis had always known that the man's help wasn't out of pity, nor was it, like many men, motivated by lust for her body. He had other motives for helping her, but Servis no longer cared. All she knew now was that it was time for her to repay his kindness wholeheartedly.

After the performance, the general audience members left one after another, preparing to enthusiastically recommend it to their friends and family the next morning, determined to let everyone in the city experience the same excitement they felt, as if they wanted to run laps around the city walls. Meanwhile, some of the important figures who had watched the play from their boxes went backstage, harboring various motives and hoping to meet Servis and the others.

The first to arrive were the Duke of Crude and his family. Today's new play was an unexpected delight for them, and the whole family loved it. So they came backstage to congratulate him in person. The Duchess even took off a piece of jewelry and gave it to Servis on the spot. This item was, to a certain extent, equivalent to a "talisman," enough to make most villains wary.

Following them were some wealthy businessmen from out of town who expressed their desire to provide temporary accommodation for the Rainbow Dance Troupe and invite them to perform in other cities. If possible, they also wanted to purchase some of the new technologies showcased during the performance, especially the projector. The projector immediately caught the eye of many businessmen, who realized that it held considerable business potential.

Servis mainly dealt with these persistent businessmen by making excuses. She would consider the performance, but the projector was not owned by their Rainbow Dance Troupe. She was only borrowing it and could not make any deals with it.

The day after the premiere, the heated discussion about "The Count of Monte Cristo" quickly spread throughout the city. Everyone who had seen it was praising it to the skies, and even official forces came out to endorse it. Even the city lord's family said it was good.

As a result, the city's nobles and wealthy people with a little spare money all developed a strong interest in the new play, which directly led to tickets being extremely difficult to obtain. Tickets that originally cost one silver and fifty copper coins were sold for forty silver by scalpers, which was almost half a gold coin.

Seeing the new show become such a hit, the Heavenly Music Opera House, the top opera house in Yanmu City, couldn't sit still. They had been cooperating with Katie's Flying Cloud Opera House because of Katie's box office appeal. Now that an even more powerful show had appeared, the theater owner naturally couldn't just let money slip by because of a few "connections" with Katie. He took the initiative to contact Servis and invited them to perform at the larger Heavenly Music Opera House, and they were willing to discuss profit sharing and other matters.

Unfortunately, Servis declined the offer from the boss, explaining that the Sky Theatre had undergone special stage modifications for the performance of "The Founding King," and therefore only there could they achieve the performance effect they needed. They couldn't simply switch to the Sky Theatre's stage.

However, Servis, who was prepared in advance, immediately came up with another plan: to allow the Rainbow Dance Company to still perform the hit play "The Count of Monte Cristo" on their stage even if they did not perform at the Celestial Opera House.

Out of curiosity, the owner of the Celestial Opera House followed Servis to Hall 2 of the Celestial Opera House. This hall was much smaller than the main hall, with only 150 seats and no boxes.

When the boss arrived, he discovered that there were other competitors from the city there, all waiting to see the "good stuff" that Servis had mentioned.

"What exactly is it? Is it a new stage effect?"

“It’s even more exciting than that. Please find a seat first, and I’ll have the staff turn on the machine right away.”

Filled with curiosity and unease, the bosses found places to sit down, and the entire hall suddenly went dark, making everyone tense. Then, a beam of light shone from the back row of the hall, illuminating the white curtain erected in front of the stage.

To everyone's astonishment, a live performance appeared on the white screen—the currently wildly popular "The Count of Monte Cristo." While it wasn't quite as good as the stage play, it was still incredibly impressive.

"Sect Leader Servis, what... what is this?"

"This is called a 'video'! First, a camera records the actual footage, and then it is played back through a projector. This way, even if our Rainbow Dance Troupe doesn't go to your theaters, we can still perform, and even... even if there's no theater, it's still possible."

End of this chapter

Undoubtedly, "The Cave King" has successfully stirred up a frenzy in the literary and artistic circles of Yanmu City and is rapidly showing signs of becoming a hit beyond its original scope.

The Sky Theatre hosts two shows every day, both of which are sold out. Some enthusiastic audience members even said at the ticket office that they were willing to buy standing tickets at full price, just to get in and watch the show.

Even so, the Sky Opera House's audience capacity is still insufficient to meet the demand. Some audience members have already learned queuing tactics on their own, arriving at the opera house entrance several hours in advance, just to be able to grab a ticket as soon as the ticket office opens.

Faced with this situation, some audience members couldn't help but complain, wondering why the Rainbow Dance Troupe couldn't perform at the larger Tianlai Opera House. The response they received was that the stage there wasn't suitable. As a new production, "The Cave King" utilizes many new technologies, requiring the Tianji Opera House, the only one in the entire Yanmu City to undergo a special stage upgrade. If they were to perform at the Tianlai Opera House, there was no guarantee that they could achieve such dazzling stage effects.

However, the staff then gave the audience some good news: they were collaborating with other small and medium-sized theaters in the city to screen a "video version" of "The Count of Monte Cristo" there. The visual effects would certainly not be as good as the live performance at the Sky Theatre, but it would still be worth watching, and the ticket prices would be lower accordingly.

Ludd's promotional strategy was to attract more people to see the play. Relying solely on the Sky Opera House was certainly not enough, and the already forced price increase to three silver dollars had deterred some ordinary people who wanted to see the play but couldn't afford it. Therefore, in order to expand its reach, Ludd decided to sell projectors as a product.

As the original starting point, Ludwig believed it was necessary to maintain the "high-end positioning" of the Sky Opera House, with its specially designed stage and live performances, offering the best viewing experience and service. The next tier consisted of the small and medium-sized theaters that partnered with them. Ludwig provided them with projectors and "memory crystals (videotapes)" on a rental basis. While the viewing experience was certainly not as good as the Sky Opera House, the ticket price was much lower, costing only one silver coin.

For the operators of these small and medium-sized theaters, Lude played a little trick on them: instead of using a revenue-sharing model for the rental, he opted for a time-limited buyout. A one-month rental cost 150 gold coins, and during that period, the Sky Opera House wouldn't interfere with how many performances you held each day.

The advantage of doing this is that it forces these operators to release more funds.

Upon hearing this condition, every operator immediately did the math in their heads. Given the current popularity of "The Count of Monte Cristo," attendance was guaranteed for at least the next three weeks. These opera houses were mostly small venues with two to three hundred seats; if the ticket price was set at one silver coin, each performance would bring in two to three gold coins. They could easily make a profit by showing three performances a day; what if they gritted their teeth and showed four or five?

One advantage of projectors is that they don't need to rest like live actors; they can run continuously. Lude also promised them a free warranty during the loan period.

So the business owners, having figured out the math, signed the lease agreement without a second thought and happily took the projector away.

Lude believed that over the next month, these dozen or so theaters would definitely be showing "The Count of Monte Cristo" like crazy. But this would make things difficult for small ensembles that could only perform in low-end theaters, and their income might plummet.

Most of these small theater troupes had little to no resources and lived paycheck to paycheck. Lude didn't want their livelihoods to be cut off because of his side, so while contacting the theater owners, he also asked Granny Marilyn to arrange a meeting with the heads of these small theaters. He expressed his willingness to cooperate with them, providing them with simplified projectors without stereo equipment so they could act as mobile broadcasting teams to show "The Cave King" in the towns and villages around Yanmu City.

The viewing environment of an open-air cinema certainly cannot compare with that of a theater, so there is still room for further reduction in ticket prices.

At first, Lude was worried that the cooperation terms he offered might be insulting to the artists of these small theater troupes, but in the end, the troupe leaders were overjoyed and praised the "generous boss".

For these small group leaders, nothing is more important than food. After all, the vast majority of people who choose this profession are not driven by a passion for art, but simply by the need to make a living. Now that Lude is willing to give them a meal, and perhaps even better than before, they are naturally extremely grateful.

So, thanks to Lud's efforts, the small theaters in the city soon began showing "The Count of Monte Cristo". Some viewers who were reluctant to spend three silver coins but really wanted to see it turned to these theaters, which relieved a lot of the pressure on the Sky Opera House, which was always packed.

Soon after, the mobile broadcasting teams began to operate in the towns and villages surrounding Yanmu City, serving the lower and middle classes.

Only the Heavenly Opera House remained unmoved. As the largest and most luxurious opera house in Yanmu City, they were in a very awkward position.

On the one hand, the Rainbow Opera House had explicitly rejected their invitation, citing "inadequate facilities," and the owner was too embarrassed to rent a projector like other small and medium-sized theaters. As for Katie, whom he had once pinned his hopes on, she had fallen into a state of despondency and isolation ever since she returned from the premiere of "The Count of Monte Cristo."

In the end, with no other choice, the Tianlai Opera House could only stubbornly maintain a haughty attitude that even they found embarrassing, in the face of a dismal attendance rate that had plummeted to less than 10%.

This wave of movie-watching that swept the entire city made "The Cave King" a topic of national discussion, with everyone talking about the play during their leisure time.

Hume, the "God of Thieves," is a key supporting character who appears multiple times throughout the series and plays a crucial role in driving the plot forward. Thanks to this wave of popularity, he has become a household name. In particular, his line, spoken by Hume in the series, "Even if the heavens fall, the contract must be fulfilled," has been regarded as a famous line by many viewers and has been widely circulated in Yanmu City.

Many people don't realize that they seem to have subtly changed their opinion of Hume, the God of Thieves. Those who didn't know about him before watching the show have their image of Hume as portrayed in the series, while those who did know him feel that this version of Hume is even better.

These shifts in thinking can generate subtle beliefs that people themselves are unaware of, which eventually accumulate and coalesce into a powerful force that can alter certain perceptions.

End of this chapter

Having served as a priest for over three years, possessing the primordial fire within him, and surrounded by so many goddesses for him to study in a way that is both profound and accessible, Rude still hasn't fully grasped the essence of faith to this day.

This energy, which is based on mortal thinking, still has many mysteries to solve, but some patterns that can be utilized have been discovered.

Regarding the divine positions, when Lud had previously added the "Abundance" divine position to Aina, he discovered that as long as the majority of believers in his own main parish believed that Aina had it, then Aina could have it. However, this influence was limited to his own territory, because in other parts of the world, people recognized the Earth Mother Goddess more, and they had never even heard of Aina.

Without being recognized, one cannot obtain corresponding faith from these people. Therefore, in a sense, the position of the god of abundance is currently jointly held by Aina and the Earth Mother, with the Earth Mother holding a larger share; Aina has only just begun to undermine it.

Based on this discovery, Ludwig once proposed a scenario: if there is a sufficiently closed environment, a group of people are kept inside and made to believe that there is a single, omniscient, and omnipotent God in this world, then such a God can indeed be born.

However, a theory is still just a theory, and this assumption has a fatal flaw: the size of the believer population.

If the population in this captive environment is very limited, for example, only one or two thousand people, then no matter how devout these people are, the power of their faith cannot support an omniscient and omnipotent god. Therefore, once believers discover that the god they believe in is not omnipotent, then the collapse of faith will follow, and the god will be finished.

Lud then had a new idea based on this setup: what if one day, more than ten times the number of outsiders were suddenly crammed into this closed religious ecosystem? These outsiders also believed in the gods within the ecosystem, but their doctrines were in great conflict with those of the natives.