PGVCW 16

Playing God in Various Catastrophic Worlds

Chapter 16: Everyone Will Love Me

Xia Wang'an and her companions descended gracefully after showing off their sword-flying prowess.

Though Xia Wang'an had already mastered flight over those ten years, experiencing true [sword flight] (yùjiàn fēixíng) felt entirely distinct. Especially for someone who, despite possessing a boundless reservoir of spiritual qi, still pushed herself through daily quantitative or over-quota training regimes, the sensation felt precisely like waking up to complete routine daily exams, only for the teacher to suddenly spring a surprise pop quiz—followed by naturally securing first place and being rewarded with an even larger stack of test papers.

Filled with burning ambition, Xia Wang'an decided she must cultivate even harder today. "So this is what sword flight feels like..."

Linke collapsed like a flat fish onto a patch of mutated flora, his gaze glazed over and his striking facial features draining of color: "So this is what sword flight feels like..."

Though they had spent three hours airborne, the only casualty of motion sickness was Linke alone.

At the very least, their stunt of circling Ming County via sword flight delivered an astronomical wave of shock to the entire county's populace.

The disciples of the Wheat-Excision Sect had already run a preliminary propaganda campaign for Xia Wang'an over the preceding days. Primarily, the senior brother had spoken with intense fervor, while his junior brothers and sisters trailed behind him with expressions of helpless resignation.

Between believing that "Xia Wang'an is an authentic immortal rather than a martial wanderer; those ragged bums are the actual wanderers" versus "these beggars are spouting sheer nonsense," the citizens of Ming County would ordinarily have found the latter far easier to swallow.

Yet when three ethereal figures bathed in immortal light stood poised upon flying swords, gazing down from the firmament, the visceral realization that "she is truly an immortal" became overwhelmingly profound.

[Ding! Faith Power +19] [Faith Power +37] [Host Faith Power has reached 4,256!]

Xia Wang'an once again harvested pure Faith Power. Reclining amidst a cluster of mutated vegetation, the minor scratches on her face sustained during earlier skirmishes began healing at a hyper-accelerated rate.

She burst into unrestrained laughter.

This accumulation velocity was ten times faster than her personal cultivation rate in the original timeline. Furthermore, the Faith Power gifted by these people was entirely positive—rooted in genuine reverence and profound gratitude.

Xia Wang'an was already intimately familiar with chaotic-energy Faith Power, but once this pristine, unblemished variety flooded her physical vessel, she realized that true Faith Power caused zero physical pain. Instead, it carried a warm, comforting sensation resembling the cozy embrace of sunlight—though she was, in fact, currently basking in literal sunlight.

Linke lay sprawled beside her like a stranded fish; seeing her smile so brightly, his first instinct was to grope around for snacks. Finding none, he flopped back down with a soft thud.

Gazing up at the drifting clusters of pristine white clouds in the firmament, Linke spoke up softly: "So clouds really are white."

Yuanning lay stretched out on her left, his demeanor suggesting he wished to imprint this exact visual frame permanently into his memory: "This is also my first time witnessing white clouds."

Xia Wang'an stared up at the cerulean expanse—a chromatic hue entirely absent from her native world. The sky above Great Xia remained eternally draped in monochromatic ash, just as Great Xia's soil remained perpetually rock-hard, resisting even advanced mechanical drills.

Yet as the three of them lay resting in the grass, not a single one uttered the sentiment, "If only we could remain here forever." Instead, fixing their gaze upon that solitary cloud, Linke murmured: "If we could capture it and bring it back for the Bureau Director to inspect, how wonderful that would be."

Yuanning turned his head toward him: "I never asked you before. You possess a Level 4 spatial ability, so why are you assigned to the Energy Research Institute?"

Ordinarily, any ability user displaying even minor combat potency should have been integrated into the Management Bureau for frontline operations. The fact that they could sustain three practitioners aloft on swords for hours without total energy exhaustion bordered on cross-tier operational abuse of their abilities.

The teenager, who stubbornly insisted on wearing his baseball cap even while sprawled across a bed of wild grass, replied with an utterly flat intonation: "The Bureau Director subjected me to cognitive behavioral evaluations multiple times, but I failed every single one. When they enrolled me in institutional schooling, I repeatedly assaulted my classmates; when they transferred me to the Management Bureau, I assaulted my squadmates and tactical instructors."

"Therefore, they reassigned me to do menial labor at the Energy Research Institute."

Having delivered this testimony, he pulled the brim of his cap lower, hiding his expression completely from view: "Everyone thinks I'm a weirdo. Only the Bureau Director is willing to keep me around, train me, and guide me—that's why I want to pack up this cloud and bring it back to make her happy."

Yuanning's lips parted slightly. He had not anticipated that a casual inquiry would unearth a deeply sensitive emotional wound; even with his refined social intelligence, the academic-and-research-centric trajectory of his prior life left him momentarily unequipped to formulate appropriate solace. Before he could offer a tentative comforting gesture—such as suggesting a holographic cinematic projection to cheer him up—Xia Wang'an, lounging directly in the center, abruptly bolted upright.

She leveled a piercing, severe gaze at Linke.

The boys froze, instinctively lifting the brims of their caps to meet her scrutiny. The teenager braced himself, mentally prepared to receive her trademark disdain and verbal rejection.

"You assaulted your instructor? How did you execute the strike? Did you secure victory?"

The duo blinked in uniform confusion; entirely unprepared for this line of interrogation, Linke answered with honest mechanical obedience: "I won. I managed to swell both of her eyes shut."

Xia Wang'an's eyes ignited with sudden brilliance: "Was your tactical instructor also the Bureau Director?"

Linke shook his head: "Initially no, but after I beat up three consecutive combat instructors, the Bureau Director personally stepped in."

Xia Wang'an radiated intense anticipation: "Then have you ever assaulted the Bureau Director?"

Linke cast his mind back through archival memories before replying with measured hesitation: "I suppose you could count it? There was that singular occasion when I exploited her restroom break, utilized my [Wind] vector to force a velocity multiplier, and successfully utilized a restroom toilet brush to puncture her rear flanks, completely tearing her uniform trousers."

He added a subtle note of adolescent pride: "That remains my singular, undefeated tactical victory against her."

Yuanning, listening from the sidelines, remained frozen in complete speechlessness: "You ambushed the Bureau Director in the restroom with a toilet brush and shredded her uniform trousers??" He suddenly fixated on a glaring logistical anomaly: "How did the Bureau Director manage to exit the restroom after that??"

Linke shook his head: "Unknown. I fled immediately after execution."

Yuanning finally understood why an operative wielding Level 4 combat metrics remained permanently barred from active Management Bureau deployment.

True to form, having confessed her sole historical victory, the teenager's shoulders drooped into a dejected slump, his entire physical aura radiating profound melancholy: "Following that incident, the Bureau Director declared that the Bureau Director would personally tutor me for several days—until I unlearned how to assault people with toilet brushes—before allowing me back into active rotations."

Yuanning curled inward, shrinking into a tight defensive ball: "The Bureau Director must harbor profound, unmitigated exhaustion toward you."

While Yuanning’s analytical empathy recoiled at the tactical hazard—internally vowing to maintain rigorous situational awareness during future restroom visits—Xia Wang'an experienced an entirely divergent neurological trigger.

The maiden sprang to her feet, as though an entirely uncharted dimensional portal had just been unsealed before her: "So the Bureau Director's defensive parameters drop catastrophically while occupying restroom facilities!!"

Yuanning: "..." He harbored an intensely ominous premonition.

Predictably, Xia Wang'an immediately issued her strategic directive: "Splendid! Once we return to base, I shall initiate a restroom ambush against her immediately!"

Yuanning: "..." He had anticipated precisely that outcome.

Linke raised his head in genuine bewilderment: "Do you not think my behavior is profoundly abnormal? Everyone else constantly reiterates that nobody in civilized society behaves in such a manner."

Xia Wang'an executed a dismissive sweep of her hand, radiating absolute nonchalance: "In the face of ultimate victory, what do petty, trivial gossips signify!"

Striking a dramatic posture with her fists resting against her ribs, she assumed the air of an omnipotent syndicate boss imparting wisdom to an underling: "Historically, millions of individuals vilified me, branding me as an apocalyptic demon responsible for orchestrating planetary annihilation."

Yuanning furrowed his brow, shooting a glance of profound sympathetic tenderness toward his long-term companion.

Conversely, Xia Wang'an's features beamed with unadulterated triumph: "And what transpired next? With a singular palm strike, I obliterated a commercial skyscraper; those individuals instantly pivoted into submissive providers of pure Faith Power, permanently purging all derogatory rhetoric from their lexicon. By the temporal juncture of our dimensional extraction, they wept bitter tears of bereavement, organizing a massive farewell delegation where numerous participants openly sobbed."

007 chimed in via internal audio loops: [Indeed, indeed! I have logged those telemetry records! The host observed your tearful displays of despair and generously proposed kidnapping several of you to accompany our transdimensional vector, which predictably amplified your psychological breakdown into a magnificent theatrical performance!]

Xia Wang'an expanded further upon her thesis: "Therefore, this dynamic mirrors academic environments: provided you secure the absolute primary ranking and establish yourself as the unchallenged supreme entity, the collective populace will inevitably love you."

The previously dejected teenager blinked, his optical receptors gradually reflecting newfound illumination: "Is that truly how structural mechanics operate?"

Having an operational paradigm completely re-engineered, Linke absorbed the new philosophical axiom.

Witnessing Xia Wang'an nod with absolute doctrinal conviction, the teenager sprang to his feet, his posture rigid with zealous determination: "Understood! I shall likewise claim the primary ranking! I will force everyone to love me!"

Xia Wang'an opened her mouth to register total agreement, when a logical contradiction registered within her cognitive matrix: "Hold on. You shall claim the secondary ranking; the primary ranking belongs to me."

Linke tilted his head in mild perplexity: "Did you not just assert that securing the primary ranking constitutes the optimal outcome?"

"Indeed, but because I occupy the role of your supreme superior officer, operational protocol mandates subordination to my command. Consequently, I claim first place, and you shall settle for second."

Faced with Xia Wang'an's ironclad, circular logic, the teenager hesitated briefly before nodding with solemn gravity: "Understood. I shall accept second place."

Having successfully forged a bilateral consensus, both youths broke into synchronized, highly suspicious giggles, intermittently punctuating their amusement with theatrical villainous chuckles: "Jie-jie-jie-jie-jie..."

Observing the interaction from the sidelines, Yuanning felt the severe tension pinching his brow slowly dissipate. Rising smoothly to his feet, he stepped forward: "Indeed. All rational individuals will inevitably adore Wang'an."

Pausing for a micro-second, he cast a lingering, compassionate glance toward Linke, whose optical receptors continued broadcasting pure, unadulterated youthful innocence, and appended a supplementary clause: "And they will likewise tolerate him."

Xia Wang'an slapped her palms together in final resolution: "Splendid! In that case, let us harvest this aquatic pond today and transport it back as a gift for everyone!"

The tranquil surface of the landscape's reflecting pool mirrored the pristine cloudscape directly overhead.

Naturally, capturing a physical cloud remained an absolute topological impossibility.

Yet expropriating the entire aquatic reservoir circumvented the limitation entirely!

Her tactical ingenuity genuinely defied conventional metrics.