"I… I passed?"
Pus stared blankly at the nation's goddess, Irene, his voice stuttering, his attitude one of extreme trepidation and sincerity.
The expected interrogations and cross-examinations didn't happen;
The 'noble lord's test of his servant's loyalty through sacrifice' that his mother had secretly taught him wasn't needed either;
The entire interview consisted of very simple questions like where he lived, why he wanted to be a research assistant, and what his thoughts were on crops.
Pus barely dared to lie and answered truthfully, spilling everything.
Some of his answers, he regretted as soon as he said them.
For example, when Irene asked him why he was participating in the assessment,
He honestly replied that he wanted to make something of himself and give his mother a better life.
Who would have thought that this terribly poor answer would actually lead to him passing the interview?
It was simply unbelievable.
Could it be that the God of the Internet was truly protecting him in the shadows?
"Is there a problem? Are you not satisfied with the salary, or do you think the contract period is too long?" Irene asked calmly from the interviewer's seat, though she felt a slight nervousness in her heart.
After all, this was her first time acting as the main interviewer.
Most importantly, the interview content was quite… difficult to describe.
She still remembered asking Mr. Ajef what content needed to be assessed in the interview.
Mr. Ajef had said something that deeply moved her.
"Just ask whatever you like. If they look pleasing to the eye, that's fine. They will all be your assistants in the future. If you don't find them pleasing to the eye, anything else is meaningless."
It was these words that, while absurd to Irene, also stirred a strong sense of emotion within her.
A feeling of 'a scholar dies for his confidant' took root and flourished in her heart.
Mr. Ajef was a rare genius, seen only once in a millennium. His attainments in Wood Spirit magic had already shocked the empire, and recently he had confirmed the historical hypothesis that 'Lightning magic can be converted into Light magic,' causing a sensation in the magic world.
Such a person was destined not to be engrossed in the tedious cultivation of crops.
His creative mind would make the greatest contribution to the magic world when applied to unknown fields.
Therefore, Irene was willing to stay at the [Magic Forest] for Mr. Ajef, and was even very happy to do so, because this was the original motivation for her to learn magic.
"No… no problem. Lord Irene, when… when should I come to work?"
Pus quickly waved his hands, asking excitedly and nervously.
"You can come tomorrow. Someone will explain the specifics later. Alright, you can go out! Call the next person in."
"Yes, Lord Irene."
Pus respectfully exited the interview room. The moment he left the doorway, unconcealed joy blossomed on his face.
That look of joy made the interviewees waiting outside both envious and anxious.
On the way back, Pus walked with a spring in his step. When he passed the Hall of Fame, he looked around with a newfound confidence, finally having the leisure to examine the bronze statues there.
He had long heard that Felix had a famous landmark—the Hall of Fame.
It was located on the main road that was the only way in and out of Felix.
It had an arcade structure, towering and majestic. Walking through it felt like visiting a temple of gods!
On both sides of the arcade, at intervals, a bronze statue was placed. They were all mages who had made outstanding contributions to Felix and even the magic world throughout history.
Currently, only seventeen statues were placed in the Hall of Fame, which shows how stringent the conditions for induction were!
It was said that even the three Archmages of the empire had not been inducted.
Pus examined the statues with curiosity and reverence, looking at the unfamiliar names and the words like "pioneered Mind magic" and "pioneered Curse magic" that occasionally appeared on the plaques below. His eyes were filled with shock and respect!
Although he had only learned magic by self-study on the Internet,
And currently had only barely managed to learn Burning Hands, he could still understand the immense contributions these people had made.
Perhaps their strength wasn't powerful;
Perhaps the sub-schools of magic they pioneered only contained one or two levels of spells, but they were still the pride of the magic world.
"Ajef?"
As he walked, a bronze statue at the end of the Hall of Fame made Pus stop in his tracks.
The statue was tall, reaching two zhang, and on the bluestone it stood upon, it was introduced thus:
Ajef, born in Felix, confirmed the hypothesis that Lightning magic can be converted into Light magic, and pioneered Life Gene theory, stepping into the domain of gods.
These two brief sentences caused Pus's pupils to contract, his eyes shining with excitement!
Starting tomorrow, he would be serving under such a legendary figure. How could he not be excited?
He subconsciously tilted his head back to look at the statue's face.
Boom!
The moment he saw the face of the bronze statue, Pus's eyes widened, as if struck by lightning, his soul trembling!
"It's him?!!!"
Pus could not forget the mysterious young man who controlled a large group of demons to expose the fraud that night.
He had also tried to search for his whereabouts on the Internet, but had found nothing to this day.
He hadn't expected to encounter a statue so similar to him today.
Was that mysterious young man Ajef?
Finally, Pus left Felix filled with great excitement. He wasn't sure if the Lord Ajef who had caused a sensation throughout the empire was the mysterious person he had met that night.
But he had a strong premonition that they were the same person.
Because that mysterious young man had said, "God loves the world, my Lord is merciful. As long as you spread the glory of my Lord, you are a follower of my Lord!"
Thinking carefully, wasn't Lord Ajef constantly practicing the benevolence of the God of the Internet?
"Whether he is Lord Ajef or not, I'll know tomorrow." Pus thought excitedly, looking forward to tomorrow even more!
...
Yusheng An didn't know that a young man had taken notice of him.
At this moment, he was making the final debugging and optimization for the Internet's "flashlight" function.
Inspired by the Joint Research Society, he had been almost exclusively focused on the lighting function during this time.
Facts had proven that doing something un-magical like releasing magic without engraving magic patterns could indeed only be achieved through divine authority.
"Ding dong!"
A notification sound echoing in his soul interrupted Yusheng An's work.
With a thought, the Internet's virtual scroll appeared. He saw a message from Dandan'er that read: "Come to the Ring-shaped Magic Tower immediately, it concerns the Music Goddess Afra."
Yusheng An raised an eyebrow. Even though the lighting function he was working on was almost successfully debugged, he immediately stopped, got up, and used the short-range teleportation magic inscribed in the [Magic Forest] to directly teleport to the Ring-shaped Magic Tower.
The next second, his figure appeared in the Forbidden God Council meeting room.
In the empty meeting room, three figures were already seated.
However, except for Dandan'er who was present in person, the other two figures, Qimo'er and Beixi, were magic projections; they were not currently in Willis City.
The three nodded in greeting to Yusheng An, and Dandan'er got straight to the point:
"The Music Goddess Afra has sent an envoy to purchase seeds. Whether it's the non-toxic mallow or the cold-resistant black grain, both originated from your hand. You should understand their importance, so the empire intends to refuse. However, Afra is an established neutral god after all, and refusing at this time might cause hostility between the two countries. What is your suggestion regarding this?"
"If I remember correctly, there seems to be a clause in the contract we signed that prohibits me from participating in your country's government affairs, right?"
Yusheng An said with a cold laugh. You've already discussed and decided to refuse, why call me here? To take the heat for you?
Dandan'er and the two Archmages exchanged glances, a hint of helplessness flashing in their eyes.
You've caused such a stir in the empire, your status and influence are close to ours. Is this something you can just say you won't participate in?
Just a casual remark from you can change imperial policy!
Dandan'er said, "You jest, Your Excellency. This matter concerns the future of the empire and the interests of your missionary area. Your participation is only right."
Yusheng An was just mocking him. When they signed the contract, they already knew that the first clause was the most important, and the other two were just added casually.
Just like among the three conditions Yusheng An proposed, the third one was the most important.
"My suggestion is simple. Selling seeds is impossible. License plates… uh, grain, however, can be sold to them."
Yusheng An and the others were not worried about Afra stealing a portion of the seeds and cultivating high-yield crops themselves.
The reason was simple: the seeds cultivated by Yusheng An were purebreds. Even if they were mutagenic plants, they hadn't mutated into completely reproductively isolated new species.
Therefore, even if a portion of the seeds were stolen, after two or three generations of cultivation, they would hybridize into heterozygotes, causing trait segregation and a sharp drop in yield.
Dandan'er and the other two exchanged glances, their eyes revealing joy; their thoughts were also along these lines.
The reason they had called Yusheng An over was simply to use his divine status to negotiate.
After all, leaving such a powerful god unused would be a bit wasteful.
Unexpectedly, Yusheng An's next sentence stunned them speechless.
"...and we can even sell it to them below market price!"