Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

Ange watched it behave obediently until the Insect God finally lowered its head, daring not to meet Ange’s gaze anymore.

Only then did Ange wave his hand, signaling it to continue eating.

As the Insect God was gnawing on the cocoon, it was Negris’s turn to take the stage. He flew in front of the Insect God and asked tentatively, “Do you remember who you are?”

The Insect God stared blankly at Negris, a piece of cocoon in its mouth.

“Do you remember your name?” Negris ventured again.

The Insect God shook its head and lay back into the cocoon, heartily chewing on it.

Negris folded his little paws behind him, gave Ange a quick glance and then proclaimed to the Insect God: “You are Hemel.”

The Insect God looked up, the cocoon still in its jaws, its eyes blank.

“You are Hemel, Hemel is you, do you understand? From now on, if anyone calls Hemel, they are calling you.” Negris repeated its name three times in quick succession.

The Insect God nodded blankly, and then buried its head back into the cocoon. To it now, nothing could be more important than feeding.

Negris flew back and secretly consulted Ange, “How was it? When I called its name, did its soul give any reactions?”

Ange shook his head.

“It appears, then, to have truly lost its previous memory, or perhaps we could say it now possesses a new soul,” Negris concluded.

Ange’s soul control enabled him to detect even the slightest fluctuations in the soul, so the Insect God’s complete lack of response to its name suggested it had no recollection of it.

“But it’s a deity, isn’t it true that it’s incredibly difficult for them to lose their memory? Wasn’t it said that it’s difficult to kill a god? If their memories can’t be preserved, can they still be considered difficult to kill?” Lisa approached, articulating her doubts.

Negris explained, “The difficulty of annihilating a deity refers to their ability, under the conditions of having a large number of devotees who harbor an unending faith in them, to reignite their Divine Fire even if they perish. Only if all the believers are exterminated could the deity be considered dead.”

“However, whether the deity that reignites the Divine Fire is the same entity raises questions. For example, it’s much like you witches, theoretically, witches have Life Boxes and can be reborn numerous times. But what about the witches who cannot create a Life Box? Isn’t their demise no different if their soul disperses?”

“It’s the same with deities: there are many ways they can retain their memories, including sealing, engraving, and reincarnation. However, if a deity lacks these skills and its divine status shatters, the newly reignited Divine Fire may lose its memories. Is it still the Insect God? Is it still Hemel?”

“Don’t forget, this Hemel was originally just a farmer and only became the Insect God through a series of fortunate incidences involving breeding insects. In terms of skills, he might have fewer than you.”

With sudden clarity, Lisa admired, “Lord Nage, you know so much.”

“It’s nothing,” Negris replied indifferently, waving a hand and making a concerted effort to keep his tail from twitching with elation. “You should study more about these theories. Now that you have the faith of the hundred thousand followers of the Harvest Goddess, we can try to usurp the faith of the Harvest Goddess and transform you into a false God.”

“This… is it really this thrilling? I… I’m a bit scared.” Lisa, who had lived for over a thousand years and experienced a myriad of situations, couldn’t help but feel a bit flustered, her legs trembling slightly.

Becoming a god? Even if it’s becoming a false God, that was something she had never contemplated in her life.

“What are you scared of? Even if you become a god, you’d just be a subordinate deity to Ange. Any benefits would still belong to him, you’d merely be borrowing his power,” Negris replied, somewhat annoyed.

Right now, it was just a subordinate deity. Any benefits were Ange’s. Only pots were its own.

“Phew, that’s good, that’s good, if it’s like this, that’s good, I’ll follow my Lord’s instructions.” Lisa let out a great sigh of relief. The pressure on her disappeared instantly, and her legs stopped feeling weak.

Heh, borrowing the Lord’s power? Lisa was familiar with this concept. Plus, having a generous master deity like Ange meant there was nothing bad about being a subordinate deity, and there would be no stress to carry.

…

In the Holy Light Temple, Guliani was praying in front of the statue of God, a scepter in one hand and the Holy Code in the other. This religious exercise was a daily routine for the Pope. As he prayed, an invisible bridge was erected between him and the statue, with an unseen power transmitting between them.

After an immeasurable amount of time, Guliani slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of golden pupils. His entire aura was brimming with an imminent force, like it was ready to burst out of his body at any moment.

Guliani stood steadily, waiting for this impulse to recede, for the golden glow in his eyes to dissipate. Only then did he lower his hands and murmur to himself, “My power is growing stronger. Once I gain control over divinity, I will bring down divine punishment and judge you, Anthony.”

…

Anthony was incredibly busy, his feet hardly touching the ground. With Ange’s constant supply of food, Anthony suddenly felt more confident to suppress grain prices and deal with those profiteering merchants.