Yes, Lady Funina!

“It’s normal for disagreements to arise within a project,” the Great Sage Hazard first defined the nature of those voices. “But now that the project has reached its most crucial stage, to discuss this further is either foolish or malicious!”

"This..." Uday felt like the sweat on his head was about to form a small stream.

“Besides, didn’t the Council of Religion have already discussed this issue before the project even started?” Azar’s tone was unreadable as he glanced at Uday, who was drenched in sweat.

"Are you... questioning the wisdom of the sages, or are you questioning my decision?"

How should one respond to this? Uday felt that if the Great Sage disliked him, he could simply remove him from office; there was no need to torment him like this.

Fortunately, the Great Sage only wanted to give Udai a warning, so after seeing the look of fear on Udai's face, he changed the subject and said, "Don't mention this matter again, and tell the people below to just focus on doing their own jobs."

"More importantly, have the people spreading the rumors been found?" Hazard asked.

It's important to know that their projects are kept extremely confidential, and Hazard certainly doesn't believe that this public outcry is an accident.

Clearly, there must be someone pulling the strings behind all of this.

“We’ve found the Great Sage, those two travelers from afar that you’ve been keeping an eye on.” Uday paused, then added, “There might also be a force from Fontaine.”

“Fontaine…” A shadow crossed Hazard’s eyes; these two words had appeared in front of him quite often lately.

In fact, he had heard about Fontaine's dissatisfaction, but he deliberately ignored it.

In Hazard's view, nothing is more important than the project right now, and everything else has to give way to it. As for what Fontaine wants... we'll talk about that after the project is successful.

Some people might ask, why not talk about it now?

The answer is simple: no money.

Fontaine is clearly here to ask for money, but the key issue is that Sumeru doesn't have any money. They've poured almost all their resources into the God-Making Project, so there's no way they can spare any to compensate Fontaine.

Of course, Hazard had absolutely no intention of paying compensation, or even apologizing.

In his view, it was already a great favor to allow your Fontainebleau Academy of Sciences to participate in this great project of creating a god, yet you dare to talk to him about money and even about infringement.

What a short-sighted move!

Hazard has decided that once the project succeeds, he will send the new gods they created to Fontainebleau to negotiate compensation with them.

Let's see if the other side can still speak in front of the god of the machine they created.

According to the sages' estimates, the divine power they created should directly leap to the top of the world. Even if it can't compete with Inazuma's Thunder God, it can easily defeat a second-generation water god with little combat power.

What kind of compensation will I get then? I'll give you two electric cannons, and you'll have to praise me for shooting well.

Of course, this is just wishful thinking. A war is definitely out of the question. After all, Fontaine is not someone to be trifled with. They have good relations with various countries, and if a war were to break out, it's possible that other countries would come to their aid.

Keep in mind that the God of Thunder and Man just visited Fontaine not long ago. If he were to actually attack, he probably wouldn't stand idly by.

Therefore, in Hazard's plan, once the God of the Righteous Machine is born, he will give Fontaine some 'appropriate' compensation, and both sides will take a step back and turn hostility into friendship.

We're all smart people; there's no reason why Fontaine wouldn't agree.

However, Fontaine is now pressing him relentlessly, even stirring up trouble right under his nose, which is really irritating Hazard.

But with the big plan not yet accomplished, he had no better options and could only endure it.

As long as Fontaine doesn't pose a real threat to the project's progress, we'll just ignore the rumors and gossip.

As for whether the "Scattered Soldier" will be controlled by the Order of the Order after becoming the God of the Righteous Machines...

If he didn't have the skills, would he be able to take on this difficult task?

What we're experiencing now is just a few hardships before success; we'll talk about everything else after the project is successful.

After dismissing Uday, Azar continued to focus his attention on the progress of the Void Terminal project.

But he could never have imagined that the minor hardships he had anticipated would, driven by countless factors, turn into a blizzard that swept across the entire Xumi region.

A few days later, a large crowd gathered in front of the Church of Christ, all with obvious anger on their faces. It was clear that they had come to demand an explanation from the Church of Christ.

Their skin was darker than that of the residents of Sumeru City, and judging from their clothing, there was no doubt that these people were desert people living in Sumeru City.

The purpose of these people coming to the gates of the Church was very simple: for money... no, for justice.

Under Richard's arrangement, an article titled "Regional Discrimination Hidden Beneath Academia" suddenly went viral on Xumi, and subsequently, countless similar articles emerged like mushrooms after rain.

"A Comparative Report on the Quality of Life between Desert Dwellers and Rainforest Dwellers," "Are Desert Dwellers Born to Endure Hardship?", "The Domesticated Sons of the Desert"...

Just by looking at the title, you can tell that this is an organized and premeditated propaganda offensive.

These comments directly exposed the hypocrisy of the "Intelligent Nation," bringing to the forefront the reality of an increasingly serious form of regional discrimination.

Faced with a series of detailed and reliable data, both the rainforest dwellers and the desert dwellers were stunned.

Although I knew long ago that rainforest people looked down on desert people, this treatment is just too unfair!

According to research, the middle and upper-income groups of the desert people in Sumeru City only account for 20% of the total middle and upper-income population, while in the Academy of Teachings, the desert people only account for 30%, and most of them are low-level researchers. Only a very few outstanding individuals have reached the middle level, and the high-level groups are even fewer.

As for the most core power center sage of Sumeru... there isn't one; they are all Rainforest people.

It should be noted that the population of the people in the Sumeru Desert is only 10% less than that of the people in the rainforest, with an overall population ratio of approximately 4:6.

Despite this near 50/50 population ratio, not a single desert dweller was able to enter the core of power in Sumeru.

In other words, the upper limit for desert dwellers was actually set at some point in time.

In fact, this situation had long aroused the dissatisfaction of the desert people, but they had never had a suitable opportunity to vent their discontent, and it could only accumulate deeper and deeper over time.

Until... Richard tore off this fig leaf.

This resentment, which had been accumulating for decades or even centuries, finally erupted. With the financial support of an unknown benefactor, a massive demonstration unfolded in the city of Sumeru.

Currently, protesters are in a standoff with guards from the Vatican.

It's unclear who started it, but they threw a stone into the inner chambers of the Order of the Church, and the crowd behind them began to stir. Before long, they even started a physical altercation with the guards who tried to stop them.

—The city of Sumeru has fallen into chaos.

……

"An unprecedented turmoil broke out in Sumeru City. The protesting crowd broke through the guards of the Church and blocked the Great Sage Azhar in the Palace of Wisdom for several days. Finally, the turmoil was quelled through the mediation of the Fools?"

Fu Ningna looked at the words on the newspaper. She could understand each word individually, but when put together, all she could understand was a question mark.

Don't make any noise, I'm thinking.

The great sage of Mount Sumeru was blocked by his own people, and the one who saved him was actually the Fools.

What...what is going on?

Funina didn't understand, but she was deeply shocked.

And her intuition told her that Richard was definitely involved.

Richard, the instigator of it all, remained remarkably calm. He glanced at the newspaper in Funina's hand and indicated that the information was not guaranteed to be true.

"Phew, it was fake news after all. I knew it. No matter how incompetent the Sumeru Order Academy is, it couldn't possibly let its own people block it, could it?"

"Oh, that's true, but what I meant by not being able to guarantee its authenticity was the unprecedented turmoil."

"……Eh?"

"In fact, the Great Sage Azar of the Council is a thing of the past."

"Eh?!"

"Because just yesterday, a divine war broke out in Sumeru."

"Eh?!!"

Faced with a barrage of bombshell revelations, Funina was momentarily overwhelmed, and Richard nearly caused her brain to shut down.

After a long while, once Funina had finally processed the news, she looked at Richard, who was still calmly drinking his tea, and couldn't help but ask, "How did you do that?"

“I did nothing,” Richard said, indicating that even if you are the Prime Minister, you cannot arbitrarily slander someone’s innocence.

"Come on, there's only the two of us here, stop pretending."

In a flash, Funina appeared beside Richard, skillfully taking his arm. Then she whispered in his ear, "If you tell me how you did it, I'll grant you one wish."

“A wish?” Richard glanced at Funina.

Funina reached out and tugged at her collar, her large, watery eyes fixed on Richard as she said, "Any wish is possible~"

"whatever?"

"whatever!"

Seemingly to verify the truthfulness of her words, Funina tightened her grip on Richard's arm, pressing herself close to his body.

"Since that's the case... it's not impossible to tell you." Seeing that Funina's attitude was so sincere, Richard didn't keep her in suspense.

"In fact, I was just telling the truth."

"The truth?" Funina looked at her with a 'you're kidding me' expression.

If it were just the truth, how could such a huge upheaval, or even a war of gods, be stirred up in Sumeru?

“That’s just how it is.” Richard shrugged. The social contradictions in Sumeru were already quite serious.

The conflict between the desert people and the rainforest people, in particular, had long become irreconcilable and was bound to erupt sooner or later. Richard had only accelerated this process.

To be honest, Richard didn't expect the Church to be so weak, that it would be occupied by protesters and blocked in the Palace of Wisdom for several days. Should we say that the desert people are full of martial spirit, or that the Church's defenses are too weak?

Richard had originally intended to use this opportunity to attract the attention of the Order of the Church and give Ying a chance to contact the Little Grass God.

Richard never imagined that the opponent's defense would be as fragile as paper, easily breached. He felt it was unacceptable to occupy the territory for even a day, let alone several days.

"What about the God Wars?" This was what Funinga was most concerned about.

------

PS: PY (a term used in China to refer to someone who offers personal favors)

Synopsis: The story of a faded individual who starts off with lifelong regrets, but finds exhilarating combat in Honkai Impact 3rd.

Reporter: "Let's interview the passengers on the train. What are your thoughts on him (the faded one)?"

Trail Blazers: "My best friend is the Galactic Baseball Man—the Cosmic Swordsman!"

March 7: "Uh, a super killer who will draw his knife and start killing people without hesitation? Well, although he's very friendly to us."

Dan Heng: "...He is very reliable in critical moments, but sometimes he is too reckless."

Walter Young: "He's the most protective member of the train crew, but he's very easy to talk to as long as it doesn't involve these kinds of things."

Himeko: "A very interesting guy; he always surprises us with his things."

Chapter 217 Father's Love is as Solid as a Mountain

"In short, the Order of the Fathers thought the Lesser Lucky Grass King was too weak, so they joined forces with the Fools to plan a new god..."

"...Under various factors, the new god was defeated by the Little Lucky Grass King, and the sages of the Faith Academy who led this project were all purged and removed from power, and the Little Lucky Grass King regained control." Funina summarized Richard's previous description.

In the end, she couldn't help but say, "How stupid."

Isn't Mount Sumeru a land of wisdom? How could there be such stupid people there?

How could someone who is both stupid and wicked become a sage?

"I feel like I'd be better than them even if I were a sage," Funina thought.

“It’s pretty stupid.” Richard nodded in agreement. It really is like a pair of lynxes.

Sometimes, clever people are like this: they always want everything and want to be the best at everything, without considering that the little auspicious grass king has just been born, yet they compare it to the great tree king that has been growing for thousands of years.

It would be a miracle if they could even compete.

Even Richard was a helpless child in his early years, at most he could only use his electric powers to fish in Mondstadt, and he was even bullied by the Divine Child during his teenage years.

The situation only improved after he learned martial arts from Ying. What does this show? It shows that not all creatures are born strong; they need a certain growth period.

Those foolish sages from Sumeru didn't even give the little grass god a chance to develop, but they wanted to start their own sect. Besides being stupid, they were also a bunch of ingrates.

You should know that the Little Grass God was the next Grass God appointed by the Great Tree King. Even if these sages were to give the Little Auspicious Grass God some respect, they should still do so out of respect for the Great Tree King.

No, they didn't. After judging the little grass god with the eyes of mortals and concluding that the little grass god was useless, they imprisoned him.

It's just that the little grass god is kind-hearted. If it were Richard who encountered this situation, those sages would not only face life imprisonment, but their entire families would probably be wiped out.

“But I have another question,” Funina said, raising her hand.

"explain."

Why couldn't the artificial gods created by those sages defeat the Little Lucky Grass King?