Clockwork Bride

Page 162

Hayden didn't dare to say a word.

Four hundred years ago, the history of the new god of capital overthrowing the old god of feudalism—who knows what it was like?

Of course, capitalist society certainly provides a better life for ordinary people than feudal society, and to some extent it levels the playing field in terms of human rights differences. This is the progressiveness of the new capitalist ideal compared to the old feudal ideal.

However, it's unlikely that the history of the new gods killing the old gods was anything particularly glorious or righteous. At least, it couldn't be as righteous as depicted in historical stories. Dakini and Miktikashiva were both born from the old gods and were well aware of the truth of the past; the Five-Colored Goddess was a holy envoy of the bodhisattvas and also knew the truth.

The truth, of course, cannot be perfectly presented to the public on stage.

Mikt's words were clearly in defense of Hayden, and at the risk of displeasing the Mithra Group executives—her words carried a somewhat sarcastic tone. Speaking like this in front of the five Bodhisattvas' holy maidens would come at a price, even if she herself were a major god (majorgod) from another company.

Her sarcastic remarks now will only bring her unnecessary unhappiness in the future.

...but she also made it clear that she was protecting Hayden.

Neither the Dakini Heaven nor the Five-Colored Heavenly Maiden could misunderstand.

Everyone knew that the Peacock King was going to protect Hayden, since everyone considered Hayden to be the Peacock King's future son-in-law.

Miktikashiva was merely Hayden's partner, yet he was also required to protect him, which put both Dakini and the Five-Colored Goddess in an awkward position.

Peacock King, Hela, Miktikashiva... Hayden now has two [Mingwang] level and one [Tian] level capital gods protecting him (Hela is only [Tian] level).

To be honest, this situation is quite awkward.

The awkward atmosphere lasted for a few seconds before the goddess Mira spoke, saying, "In that case, the failure of this ritual was not Mr. Hayden's fault. It's a good thing that the divine form of Mara was revealed. He has already done quite well."

Since the goddess Mira, who represents the Bodhisattva Mithra, said this, it means that she will not hold Hayden responsible.

Hearing this, Tujini Tian became even more furious: "Then how does the chairman plan to resolve this problem? Summon a Vidyaraja to smash the [Para-Magical Image] along with the stage? That would be a huge loss. I suggest the board of directors send the Peacock Vidyaraja to handle it, which would also prove Mr. Hayden's innocence."

She said this because inviting a wrathful deity to intervene meant having that deity cease their other duties and reduce their own earnings. A wrathful deity who could otherwise dedicate millions of thoughts to managing investments, commanding wars, and operating businesses to generate countless profits for themselves would now have to allocate 30% or even more to help you fight Mara, which is undoubtedly a significant loss.

For example, if a capitalist deity decides to use its resources to produce one car, it means it cannot use the same economic resources to produce two hundred bicycles. Therefore, the opportunity cost of producing one car can be said to be the two hundred bicycles it forgoes producing.

This is what people mean when they say, "If you don't find any money when you go out, you've already lost it."

If the Mithra Group sends Peacock King to fight Mara, then Peacock King will naturally be the one who loses money. In Dakini's words, this would be equivalent to having Peacock King prove Hayden's innocence.

Even the goddess Mickett didn't want to stand up for Hayden for nothing when this came up. Deploying 30% of her processing power to smash the stage would be a huge loss for her. She could have done so much more with that 30% of her processing power, made so much more money; how could she let it go to waste?

Of course, if the Mitra Group is willing to pay her some other price, that's another matter. That's business, after all.

...This is the economic concept of "opportunity cost".

The gods of capital could have used their near-limitless power to improve the world and create a prosperous and peaceful planet. But they couldn't choose to do so. Because after applying their rational economic thinking, they quickly realized that the cost of using their power to improve the world was simply too high.

The same principle applies now.

If Goddess Mikkhu or any of the Vidyarajas were to unleash even 30-40% of their power, they could obliterate the entire stage and the [Prajnaparamita] statue. They wouldn't be injured or significantly weakened—but how much money could they have made with that 30-40% power? What a huge cost!

Therefore, they absolutely do not want to work for nothing.

So at this moment, all the gods and goddesses present were thinking about how to solve the problem at the lowest cost and how to negotiate terms.

Only Hayden didn't consider opportunity cost. He was the only one staring at the stage space, racking his brains for a solution "as quickly as possible," instead of thinking about how much money he would lose.

Therefore, he will never be able to become a capitalist.

On stage, since the appearance of [Mara], fifteen idols were instantly defeated, and the battle became extremely fierce. [Magical Girl Pazuzu] cleverly led the remaining four idols to escape, barely managing to avoid being defeated as well.

[The Divine Physician] didn't kill anyone, nor did he chase after the remaining five idols and desperately try to kill them; he simply followed them leisurely. No one knows why.

But this situation is unlikely to last.

The [Bojun Divine Image] has already demonstrated its divine power.

This stage space gathers the spiritual energy of tens of millions of viewers. In terms of sheer energy, virtual idols wouldn't lose. However, [Bo Xun Shen Xiang] utilizes this energy more effectively, manipulating and converging it more efficiently, thanks to its multi-threaded processing capabilities that surpass even those of [Heavenly] level gods. This is true divinity.

Twenty idols who only knew how to boost energy were no match for it, especially now that only five remained. However, the capitalists were busy discussing costs, arguing about who should fight and what the consequences would be.

Therefore, Hayden could only think of one solution:

Only the true God can defeat the true God.

...This was truly a coincidence, not something he had planned beforehand; it was a method he wouldn't normally use for gambling.

But now, all the damn thing to do is do it!

Who the hell wants to calculate costs like a capitalist!

“Pania, listen up.”

Hayden spoke to Pania through his personality chip.

"Only God can defeat God."

Panya initially didn't understand what Hayden was saying: "Huh?? What do you mean?"

Therefore, Hayden explained:

"So now I'm going to start turning you into a god."

The world does not need capitalist gods.

179: Goddess of Magical Girls

I'm going to start turning you into a god right now.

—That's what Hayden said, anyway.

Pania had absolutely no idea what he meant by those words.

These virtual idols participated in this competition with the goal of becoming gods. Everyone knows that if this ritual succeeds, there will be a chance to become a god—it's essentially a ritual to overcome death and ascend to godhood!

But now the faceless shrine maiden has caused chaos, turning all the idols into a bloody mess. The ritual can no longer proceed; in fact, it's stuck.

"That faceless witch is a mirror, reflecting the shadow of death and recreating the image of the deceased [Mar]. She possesses at least 20-30% of Mar's strength in life. Either we must gather an entire legion of the War Gods, or at least a true god would have a chance to defeat her."

Only God can defeat God.

But if you can't defeat [Mara the God], you can't defeat death; if you can't defeat death, you can't complete the ritual, you can't become a god; if you can't become a god, you can't defeat [Mara the God]... Isn't this a vicious cycle?!

"It does sound like a vicious cycle, but there are actually ways to work around it."

However, Hayden spoke in Panya's head,

"If we're talking about which of the remaining five idols has the potential to become a god immediately, then it's you."

???

Pania was stunned by these words: "Uncle, I would be very happy to hear you praise me like that, but it's no use saying this now!"

"Who praised you?" Hayden was speechless. "I'm serious—I've looked at the profiles of all the contestants. You're the only one who has ever defeated death!"

what?

Pania was even more confused: "Defeated death? Me? When did that happen?"

"Of course, it's the ceremony you had last time, the one where you were beaten up in public during a live stream and I used a million paper dolls to save you."

Hayden rubbed his forehead and explained.

“Death once tried to devour you, but you escaped. In a broad sense, this can be considered a victory over death. Although not entirely, it has also granted you a small part of divinity.”

Pania was stunned: "This counts?!"

Of course it counts. A family that supposedly defeated the Dark Lord three times could actually just have narrowly escaped death three times. Classical magic is often very subjective. Escaping death is also a form of conquering death, just not a complete victory.

"You originally had the potential to become a god, and now you've undergone some trials. Although it was a struggle, you've at least managed to overcome death once."

Time was of the essence, Hayden quickened the pace of his thoughts in her mind.

“Originally, you might have needed some more arduous training and trials, but you have learned a lot on your own these past few months, and the personality chip has also given you a lot of enlightenment, which has made up for a large part of it. You were only one step away from becoming a god. But this step is just due to insufficient accumulation, and you will be able to cross it sooner or later.”

Pania could easily understand what that meant.

However, it's precisely because this step requires accumulation, time, and resources that she specifically came to participate in this idol competition, hoping to take a shortcut. What's the point of Hayden saying that?

"Don't you understand? You are only one step away from becoming a true god, and this step only requires accumulation. You are already qualified, and you will definitely become a god in the future."

Hayden said meaningfully,

“You are already incredibly similar to the true god, and the law of similarity is the fundamental core of ancient magic. Everything else is merely to strengthen this law. If a is similar to b, it can borrow power from b. This is like the five celestial maidens on the judges' platform now. They are similar enough to the five bodhisattvas that they can become the bodhisattvas's saints, agents, and apostles, reaching a state similar to that of a god.”

This is basic magical principle, which Pania certainly understands. Idols are something between gods and mortals. But even so, idols are not true gods.

"Even if you say that you can borrow power if A and B are similar, even if I am close to becoming a god, I am actually not a god yet!"

So she complained, "If you don't have it, you don't have it. Why try to borrow power from something that doesn't exist?"

Then Pania widened her eyes and closed her mouth first.

Hayden laughed in the communication: "Can't you borrow something you don't have? You don't even have that awareness, yet you want to be a capitalist god?"

Pania was speechless.

Using something that doesn't even exist as collateral to borrow real money now—isn't that the financial game that capitalists love most? If you can't even turn the future into cash, what kind of capitalist god are you?

"In short, the principle is the same. If everyone believes you can be rich, then you will be rich, even if you are not actually rich."

Hayden understood this better than anyone, since he wasn't Karen's husband at all, yet everyone treated him as the Peacock King's son-in-law.

This is similar to an antique; it is a priceless treasure in the eyes of an expert, but may just be a shabby piece of pottery in the eyes of others.

In a way, virtual idols are similar. Those who are hooked think virtual idols are amazing, while others wonder why a fandom would be so obsessed with funding these virtual characters. Both viewpoints are undeniably true and insightful.

From this perspective, everything in the world is both worthless and worthless.

"That being said, financing is risky, and not everyone can play the financial game."

Hayden paused here, staring intently at Pania, and said tentatively,

"You have to pay back the money you borrow, and the costs and risks are huge. You could easily ruin yourself if you're not careful. Can you pull off such a reckless and dangerous scheme?"

To be honest, Pania herself didn't know how to answer that question.

However, if you really want to fool the world and borrow power from your future self, then you have to fool yourself first, right?

It's like I've always been wearing the costume of my dreams—so that one day I can become the person I dream of being.

"Humph."

So Pania deliberately responded with a humming laugh.

"Who do you think I am?"

This was less a question for Hayden and more a question for herself.

Having realized this, Hayden smiled and asked in return, "Who exactly are you?"

I am--

"I will become a god, the [Magical Girl Pazuzu] who reigns supreme over millions!"

Pania made a loud declaration and looked directly up at [Mars' Divine Might].

She stopped running away.

And she took a deep breath, as if it were the first time she had ever breathed in her life.

"World, oh world, listen to my song!"

"Remember my songs, let them become eternal laws!"

Then [Magical Girl Pazuzu] began to sing loudly, her voice captivating.

This is not actually an original song by her.

Hayden suggested she borrow power from her future self. If that's the case, she needs to find a way to solidify this uncertain future. But how can she solidify the future?

Pania decided to do something pretty crazy.

“I saw exhausted workers,”

Working on an assembly line;

"I also heard the order to work overtime,"

"It's destroying his life."

“I saw anxious riders,”

"Weaving through traffic lights;"

"I also saw a timeout warning,"