Chapter 00078: Long Live Understanding
# Long Live Understanding
Chapter 78
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 78 Long Live Understanding
Although Li Chengxi still held some suspicion about the things Qian Sen had told him, he did not doubt the existence of things like immortal arts or magic.
After all, the sight of Lei Lei opening a security door with her bare hands and Audel flying out of the game was still fresh in his mind.
No matter how you looked at it, these things could not be explained by science.
One path was basically impossible, the other required more than a decade of practice.
Li Chengxi felt that this was just too difficult.
But on second thought, it was normal.
If just anyone could do it, the streets would be full of old men and women flying on swords to buy groceries.
So, Li Chengxi agonized for a moment and decided, I'd better just keep playing the game.
He was familiar with that.
On the pixel-style screen, it was almost time for prayer.
Li Chengxi saw the chibi figure of Viola leading the Royal Guards into the Chapel.
As he was staring at the screen, Audel suddenly asked from the side:
"I forgot to ask earlier, what is this?"
Li Chengxi looked up:
"Are you referring to the konjac silk?"
"No, I mean the material on the outside."
Audel stuffed a whole packet of konjac silk into her mouth and kneaded the packaging, saying:
"It's almost as thin as paper, yet incredibly durable. It can also be printed with exquisite and complex patterns and text. And I've seen many things packaged with the same material, which means it's something that can be mass-produced."
"Uh... you mean the plastic packaging bag?"
"Plastic? Is that its name? What raw materials is it made from?"
"It's made from a black, gooey oil, a substance called petroleum. I don't know the specific process."
Li Chengxi pointed at a car passing by outside:
"The oil burned in cars is gasoline, which is also refined from petroleum. Petroleum is also used in medicine, chemical engineering, and many other fields."
"Oh, oh, oh!"
Audel became interested in this.
She pressed on:
"Is it a resource unique to the Divine Realm? Where can it be found?"
"No, the Leon Territory has it."
Pressing the alt key would highlight all interactable items on the screen.
This trick could also reveal mineral deposits exposed on the surface, but it was useless for those buried deep underground.
It wasn't x-ray vision, after all.
"North of Leon Fortress, near the snow mountains, there's a large coniferous forest. In the center of that forest, some petroleum seeps out of the ground."
"Really? This is a revolutionary new material!"
"It's quite difficult to turn petroleum into plastic. Also, you have to be careful when extracting it. It's very hard to wash off if it gets on you."
Hearing this, Audel quickly jotted down the information, while Li Chengxi turned his gaze back to the computer screen.
At this time, Viola had already begun to kneel and pray before the Holy Emblem.
As usual, Li Chengxi planned to see what Audel and her Royal Guards were praying about.
With a click of the mouse, a dialogue box popped up, reading, ‘Lord Demon God, please let Audel return.
You can take me instead.
No, please just let her return.
Why did it have to be her? No, no, I shouldn't think this way.
The Lord must have a deeper reason, but, but!’
Viola's inner thoughts were all displayed on the screen, seeming somewhat incoherent.
"Could she have suffered some kind of shock..."
"Is that Viola praying?"
Audel heard Li Chengxi's voice and completely understood Viola's feelings.
"For a devout follower like her, the fact that she wasn't taken away by the deity she worships, while a casual believer was, must be very hurtful."
"It's not like I did it on purpose..."
Li Chengxi suddenly noticed a term:
"What did you mean just now by a casual believer?"
"Casual believers make up the largest proportion of all gods' followers. Simply put, it means I believe in a certain god, but I wouldn't make selfless sacrifices for that god."
In other words, I believe, but only a little bit.
"The number of devout followers is smaller, but their range is broader. For example, a devout follower of the Goddess of Commerce would be willing to donate a large amount of property to the Church, but their level of devotion is still not enough, so they can't obtain or use Divine Arts."
"How devout do you have to be to use Divine Arts?"
"Only those who are willing to devote everything to their god and take their god's will as their primary principle of action can use Divine Arts. Priests, for instance, are all people of extremely firm faith. As their devotion to their god gradually increases, the number and variety of Divine Arts they can use also grow."
An idea suddenly popped into Li Chengxi's head.
Casual believers probably referred to those with a devotion level of around 10 to 30, the type who think, ‘Well, there's no harm in believing, so I'll give it a try.’
Devout followers covered the range from 30 up to 100, but only those with a devotion level above 70 could obtain Divine Arts.
This type of person with extremely high devotion, if their thinking were a bit more extreme, could probably be considered a fanatic.
In a way, this was a sort of beginner's tutorial, since it was an NPC from the game explaining it to Li Chengxi.
"Will Viola be okay like this?"
"Don't worry. Knowing her, Viola will just be distraught for a while. It'll be fine once I go back in a couple of days."
But Audel would probably get an earful from Viola for quite some time...
"Speaking of which, how did you get over here?"
"I used a Levitation Spell and an Invisibility Spell, and then I just had to grab the tray. It was just an idea I had at the time. I didn't expect it to be so easy to come to the Divine Realm."
"... Your spirit of adventure is a bit too strong."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Do you really think I'm complimenting you?
After checking the other people's prayers, which were mostly the same as usual besides Viola's, Li Chengxi shifted his attention away from the computer.
"How about we figure out what to have for lunch."
–‐‐——–‐‐——
The small restaurant next door had finally reopened.
Li Chengxi rushed over to buy a couple of dishes before the lunch rush peaked.
Although they were just ordinary home-cooked dishes, the moment Audel took a bite, Li Chengxi heard that same exclamation again.
Life is now complete.
That feels so heavy...
Besides that, Audel was very interested in the rice.
She had never seen this type of grain before.
Li Chengxi had indeed considered giving rice seeds to Viola, but firstly, the seeds were not easy to buy, and secondly, the climate in the Leon Territory was not suitable for growing rice, so he had to give up the idea.
After lunch, Li Chengxi was about to see if there were any new changes in the game, but he noticed Audel still weaving through the shelves.
On that note, shouldn't I buy the girl some new clothes?
She was still wearing the same robe she had arrived in.
Although it looked very much like a mage's, it was out of touch with modern society.
No wonder Xue Wenshu thought Audel was into cosplay.
Buying clothes online was the easiest way, but Li Chengxi didn't know Audel's size.
And were sizes in the other world the same as on Earth?
So it was best to take her to a store to try things on.
But it felt like he should probably tell Qian Sen about this first.
So Li Chengxi found the business card Qian Sen had left him and dialed the phone number on it.
"Hello? Is this Qian, Qian, Qiang..."
"Qian Sen. I'm Qian Sen. Mr. Li Chengxi, please pay a little attention."
"Uh, sorry, my tongue got a little twisted."
Li Chengxi said into the phone:
"How did you know it was me?"
"I have your number saved here. If you want to find me, you can actually add me on WeChat. It's more convenient than calling. There's a QR code on the business card, you can just scan it."
He didn't remember giving Qian Sen his number, but then he thought, if Qian Sen really had a national background, looking up Li Chengxi's phone number wouldn't just be easy, it would be a breeze.
"Mr. Li Chengxi, is there a reason for your call?"
"I wanted to ask if it's okay to take Audel out to buy some clothes."
"Oh, no problem."
Qian Sen's reply was very prompt.
"However, you temporarily cannot purchase train ticket, plane ticket, or long-distance bus tickets. If you drive onto the highway, you will be stopped by us. As long as you don't leave the city, you don't need to inform me. Of course, if there is an emergency and the situation is reasonable, we will also allow you to leave the city, but you must state your destination."
"Is the movement restriction to prevent transmigrators from running around?"
"It's mainly that management becomes more troublesome. We in Section Nine work by zones. Going to another city is like entering someone else's jurisdiction. We have to give them a heads-up in advance to avoid any misunderstandings."
Lei Lei was a case of entering someone else's jurisdiction without giving notice, which resulted in Qian Sen's team monitoring her as a secondary target for over half a month.
"Will the people following us come with us?"
"They won't show themselves directly. Actually, you don't need to pay them any mind. Just think of them as roadside surveillance cameras. Do you pay attention to the location of surveillance cameras?"
"Using people as surveillance... you guys must have it tough."
There was a two-second pause on the other end of the line before Qian Sen replied:
"Long live understanding."
From that sentence, Li Chengxi could hear the exhaustion.
(End of this chapter)