"Hiss—! Praise Om Messiah! Praise the God of All Opportunities!"
The bizarre spectacle made the surrounding homeless gasp sharply. One after another, they sat down in front of Lana's dwelling, chanting their praises aloud.
"Very good," Lana said, surveying the believers seated as obediently as primary school students. Satisfaction bloomed in her eyes. "Since you are so interested in the God of All Machines, then I, as His agent, shall tell you of His greatness…"
This unprecedented reverence intoxicated her almost instantly.
All of it—power, authority, worship—had been bestowed upon her by the God of All Opportunities. Such things were irresistible. She would continue spreading the faith for God, and all infidels would one day kneel at His feet.
…
…
Preaching was the method Xiao had devised to gather the people of Night City.
There was simply no realistic way to make a group who had never been exposed to Dragon Kingdom culture since childhood suddenly start cultivating immortality. If you spoke to them about cultivation, they would only stare at you in confusion:
Cultivate what? What immortal? What kind of immortality are you talking about?
Rather than forcing immortality cultivation upon them, it was far better to teach them directly—and make himself the object of their faith. Along the way, he could harvest a wave of belief and evolve his own abilities in the process.
As for Lana… Xiao had no idea what inspired her, but based on the limited information he provided, she had helped him construct a complete Mechanical Holy See.
She renamed cyber aura as the more comprehensible Primordial Power.
She revised the existing scriptures, adding mathematical principles to them, forging a sacred tome where theology and science coexisted—The Canon of Mechanical Principles.
The Cult of Mechanicus followed the ritual doctrine of the Three Saints.
The God of All Machines was the omniscient, omnipotent synthesis of the universe's laws.
Om Messiah was His human incarnation.
Primordial Power was the foundation of all things (once devoured and fused by cyber aura), and when countless wills converged, they formed the Machine Soul.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the Trinity—were the most fundamental doctrines of the Mechanicum.
Xiao could only sigh in amazement.
He had found a treasure. Lana had been born for this.
…
…
"From the mediocrity of thought—Ohm Messiah, save us!
From the lies of the infidels—Circuit, protect us!
From the wrath of the beast—Steel, protect us!
From the temptation of minced flesh—Silica, purify us!
From the ravages of the Destroyer—Machine Soul, shield us!
From this rotting prison of flesh—Mechanicum, set us free!"
"Ohm Messiah! Ohm Messiah! Ohm Messiah! Ohm Messiah!!"
Five hundred believers sat around Lana, chanting in unison as they praised the God of Machinery. The sight was nothing short of spectacular.
"Life is directional movement. Spirit is the spark of life. Perception is the foundation of intelligence. Intelligence is the comprehension of knowledge. Comprehension is the path to understanding—and understanding is the key to all things. All of this comes from the teachings of the omnipotent Om Messiah!"
Standing atop the platform, Lana preached fervently through a loudspeaker. The believers below responded in kind, praising the God of All Opportunities together.
In just one month, the Cult of Mechanicus had spread throughout the garbage dump.
Using both money and force, Lana had recruited countless followers into the Mechanicum.
Under the reward system of the Dimension Network, for every new believer inducted, the recruiter received ten euros—further fueling the cult's rapid expansion.
Even residents on the outskirts of the city had begun to believe in the God of All Opportunities, placing statues of Om Messiah inside their homes.
As the monks carried out their missionary work, their faith grew ever more fervent. That belief transformed into boundless power, surging continuously into Xiao's body.
Bathed in the monks' faith, Xiao could clearly feel his Munch-Munch Fruit ability strengthening, slowly evolving in the direction of the faith of all living beings.
Eventually, it would become—
Zoan Type · Mythical Beast Species · Human-Human Fruit · Om Messiah Form.
(P.S. lol)
…
"Now," Lana declared, her voice echoing across the assembly, "the development of our congregation has reached its limit. The Lord has cast His gaze upon the Badlands—lands steeped in sin and ignorance. We must bring His glory there and purify every pagan!"
The people she had summoned this time were no ordinary monks.
The five hundred before her were not only the most devout believers of the Mechanicum, but also its priests.
Each of them commanded vast numbers of followers, and every one possessed a cyber aura coverage rate exceeding fifty percent.
More importantly, they had already begun to awaken Haki, granting them crushing superiority over ordinary cyber monks.
Clad in the same rags and scrap, a cyber monk who had awakened Haki could effortlessly suppress one who had not.
They were the backbone of the Mechanicum—the force that would lay the foundations of the Badlands for the God of All Machines.
"Praise be to the God of All Opportunities! Praise be to Om Messiah!"
The five hundred shouted in unison, raising weapons and incense burners as they began to pray.
Fanatic light shone on their faces as purer faith blossomed within them.
The cyber aura in the air surged into their bodies, rapidly expanding their coverage rates.
At the same time, the weapons in their hands trembled faintly, as if responding to their prayers. The cyber aura forming their basic structure grew abnormally active—
The Machine Souls rejoiced.
Lana gently soothed the spirit within her power axe, rang a bronze bell three times in succession, then pointed toward the distant Badlands and shouted:
"The holy war begins! Purify the pagans, and let the Lord's glory shine upon this land!"
"For Om Messiah!!!"
The red-robed priests roared God's name, mounted their vehicles, and led their followers in a charge of faith toward the Badlands.
Such a massive mobilization naturally drew the attention of the local Badlands forces—and the watchful eyes of the major corporations.
"Fuck—have the trash from the garbage dump gone insane?"
As the largest fixer in the Badlands, Dakota Smith received the news of the Mechanicum's invasion almost immediately, and cursed without restraint.
The garbage dump held Night City's refuse—both objects and people alike.
Garbage.
And now that garbage dared to attack the Badlands?
The Badlands were even more chaotic than Night City itself, home to desperate outlaws with nothing to lose. Why would they target the Badlands instead of the city gangs?
There weren't even resources here!
If they had the strength to challenge the Night Wanderers, wouldn't it make more sense to fight Night City's gangs and seize territory?
Attacking the Badlands?
Whoever came up with this plan—Dakota wanted to crack their skull open and see what the hell was inside.
…
…
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