Cthulhu Gonfalon

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Boom!"

After another earth-shattering loud noise, the tall and big furnace exploded suddenly. Red iron slags and burning coal flew around, but nothing fell on the green jellyfish who was close at hand.

Sui Xiong had already put a trigger spell on himself, so once he was attacked, he would immediately change into a virtual state. Although the power of the blast furnace explosion was amazing, it couldn't hurt the existence of a virtual state.

Of course, the virtual body couldn't directly attack any beings or entities. The "untouchable" rule went both ways.

After a while, the smoke gradually subsided, and the hot debris on the ground gradually cooled down. Sui Xiong changed back from the virtual body to his real body; then he sighed deeply while looking at the mess on the ground.

"What on earth is going wrong?" he said to himself. "Obviously, I have improved it so many times. I suppose that there should be no problem…"

Just then, he tipped his head and heard the voice of Palin.

"My lord, today is the day of the retirement ceremony, please don't forget to participate."

He was stunned and raised his tentacles to calculate the time, only to find that he had forgotten the days without realizing it.

Since visiting Elder Frog, Sui Xiong had taken back his avatar and concentrated on the blast furnace. Unknowingly, so many days had passed since then.

Without Palin's reminder, maybe he would really forget the big retirement ceremony. If he forgot the ceremony, he would remember it when everyone began to pray to him. If he ran to the ceremony at that time, then the scene would be really awkward!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh a bit; then he hurriedly packed up and rushed to the Void Mask Land.

The gods could walk very fast, especially to return to their own temples. A moment later, Sui Xiong had arrived at the Temple of the Void Mask, located in the southernmost part of the center of the Land. He met with the bishops and priests who were already waiting there.

Seeing the arrival of their own god, the bishops and priests were all rejoicing. They sang hymns with excitement and sang the songs that Leon had stolen and recomposed from the ancient book of the God of Eagle again and again. Sui Xiong couldn't stand it and asked them to stop, or else he was afraid that they would sing forever.

These guys were not ordinary people; each of them was at least mid-level adventurers. They were really full of vitality, with a vital capacity conserve of more than 10,000. If they were on the earth, they would all become the kings of swimming who could swim 100 meters while diving in one breath. If he didn't stop them, they would sing and sing for a few days and nights with no problem.

They could stand it, but Sui Xiong couldn't!

At this time, on the square of the Land, a simple and solemn stage had been built up. The two hosts had already arrived on the stage, and the invited guests off the stage had been seated. Moreover, many curious tourists and residents surrounded outside the guest seats.

The waiters were walking through the guest seats like butterflies, delivering fruit and drinks to the guests. The fruits were cut into pieces with toothpicks inserted into them, making them more convenient to eat. The drinks were prepared based on the tastes of different people. Except for alcohol, there were various kinds.

Onlookers who didn't have seats also had benefits. There were dining tables on both sides of the ceremony place, offering drinks and fruits. Of course, the textures and types were far worse than those of the guests. After all, there was closeness and alienation in a relationship, so the principle of different service was universal in all worlds. People would serve close friends with good things and serve ordinary friends with ordinary things. That was the principle of different service.

However, such welfare had been enough to satisfy the people. A tourist from a southern country took a beverage of Frosty Tree Fruit. Frosty Tree Fruit was the specialty of the World of Ice and Snow; the fruit was dried and then smashed into powders to make the beverage. He took a big drink and said to his family, smiling, "In restaurants, such a cup is worth 2 gold coins. As it is free now, drink more!"

His son was holding two skewers of roasted ground dragon meat in each hand, his mouth covered with oil. He looked at his father who had a face of disdain and said, "Dad, why are you caring so much about money? The roasted ground dragon meat skewers are usually available in limited quantities. Today, they are infinitely available. Of course, you should eat them to fill yourself now!"

"Ground dragons are also demon beasts after all. It's not good to eat too much, right?" the mother asked with concern. She was holding a small cup of dessert

The father was stunned and looked at his son who was eating with full strength. He thought about it and then smiled.

"If there was really a problem, would they be offered in unlimited quantities?"

the son who was very open-minded said indifferently. "There are priests nearby. Even if there are any problems, it will be alright."

Similar situations were everywhere. As it was rare to encounter such great benefits, all the tourists were happy. Residents nearby also chose some of their favorite foods, waiting while eating and drinking.

Although they did not have seats, they were also very satisfied.

As for the guests, most of them were very knowledgeable. Even though the fruits and drinks provided by the Void Mask Land were really high-end, the food only surprised them a little. They weren't that excited.

Of course, among the guests, some were very excited, and some were even shocked—for example, Reif and his fellows.

Reif was sitting uncomfortably in the guest seat, looking around. He could tell at first glance that the surrounding guests were big men. In contrast, he was only a worker, whose identity was really worse than theirs.

He always felt it was a huge mistake to sit here. He worried that a husky man would come over at the next moment, grabbing him and throwing him far away into the ditch nearby.

It was the same for several workers next to him. They were shaking with fear and feeling restless, their faces full of panic.

"I don't think this is right…"

"Yeah, we are sitting here. It's not suitable, is it?"

"Let's sneak to the back. I don't think it is bad to stand and watch …"

Felix, who had specially asked Madame Teague to arrange her seat in front of theirs heard their whispering. She felt funny as well as angry, so she turned her head and said to them, "Don't look down on yourselves so much! You know what, you are all chosen as 'outstanding workers' to watch the ceremony. Although you are sitting off stage today, maybe one day you will also be a representative on the stage to accept the glory!"

Reif and his fellows were stunned, looking at each other. They then looked at the simple but solemn, high stage with disbelief in their hearts.

"Mayor, are you joking?" Reif asked uneasily.

Felix couldn't help but smile and then shook her head. "Does it look like I'm kidding? His Majesty, the Void Mask has paid much attention to the promotion of the status of workers. You are the best workers, so it is very likely that you will receive the glory in the future. There is no doubt."

"Bu… but… We are just some ordinary people…"

Felix shook his head, pointing her finger to the sky. "Who is not an ordinary person in front of the gods? Aristocrats, adventurers, workers, and farmers are not very different in the eyes of the great existence of the eternal gods, are they?"

After thinking for a moment, Reif whispered, "The difference is still quite big. Rich people can donate more money…"

Felix laughed. "Money? His Majesty, the Void Mask doesn't care about that. What he lacks least is money… Do you know that under the Land, there is a dragon living in the rock cave? She is responsible for keeping the vault for His Majesty. Guess, how much money is in that vault?"

Reif and his fellows looked at each other, and then a worker carefully guessed, "10,000 gold coins?"

They just learned about the "10,000" unit on their journey. Before that, they only counted with "five" and "ten." Most farmers were similar, so it was good for them to count to 30 without mistakes. If one could count to 100, they must be an intellectual. Bur 1,000 or 10,000? They simply had no such concept.

When the temporary teachers had described those concepts to them, they spent a lot of time understanding them and had asked the teachers to give them several examples again and again.

However, with such a reason, they had special awe of such a huge number like "10,000." Therefore, whenever they said that word from the mouth, they felt that they had also become a little greater.

Felix didn't have such thoughts. She smiled, shaking her head. "Ten-thousand" gold coins, come on! This number is too small. Guess again."

Reif and his fellows looked at each other confused. "Ten-thousand" is already an unimaginable number for them, and yet, it was too small?

Then, in the underground vault, how much money was there in that collection!?

Seeing their confused faces, Felix estimated that they couldn't guess. She said after a sigh, "I don't know the exact number, but I happened to go there on business last time. I chatted with the dragon who guarded the vault. At that time, I saw the glistening gold coins piled up like a mountain behind her, at least as high as three floors. I was not clear how far it extended because I didn't go inside and look at it carefully."

Reif imagined the picture, and then asked after swallowing some saliva, "How… how many?"

Felix took out a gold coin and put the small metal disc flat in her palm. "Look, this is the size of a gold coin. Piling up a hill as high as at least three floors, how many gold coins would that be?"

She smiled, sighing softly. "I don't want to count that because it will make me feel depressed."

She didn't care about money, but when she looked at such a huge fortune with countless gold glittering under the illumination of bright magic stones… Whenever she thought about it, she couldn't help but get charmed. It also made her deeply admire and feel jealous of the dragon who was sleeping on the gold coin pile as her bedding.

That dragon… must be the happiest dragon in the world…

Countless gold coins.

This concept made Reif, and his fellows feel confused. They tried to imagine the huge gold hill, trying to calculate the exact amount with the weak mathematics ability that they had just learned. However, in addition to letting themselves feel dizzy, there were no results at all after calculating again and again.

However, for the sake of this calculation, their original nervous emotions had been greatly relieved, and the mood had finally calmed down a bit.

"In short, don't worry, don't burden yourself." Felix knew that it was nearly the noon, and the ceremony was about to be held, so she whispered, "If you are hungry, you can just eat. If you are thirsty, you can just drink. You probably won't understand the meaning behind this ceremony for a while, so just think that you have come here to entertain yourself. Just eat and drink freely."

"Is that okay?" Reif asked worriedly.

"I just said that the Church of the Void Mask has a lot of money."

Thinking about the huge gold hill that she just mentioned, Reif and his fellows suddenly felt relieved, so they picked up the fruits and drinks to hurriedly consume them.

They only ate for a while, and the sun moved to the center of the sky.

On the high stage, the two hosts looked at the sky, nodding. At the same time, they raised their wands. The special wands gave a soft glow and a burst of clear brightness that made every guest feel refreshed.

"The first employee retirement ceremony of the Void Mask Land starts now!"

The two hosts came from the Church of the Void Mask and the Church of the God of Wealth. They were all veterans of the mall. They were not only handsome but also eloquent. They had designed a set of rhetoric in accordance with the outline prepared by Sui Xiong and made the "retirement" extremely honorable. All the guests felt awe.

In their words, the old workers had exhausted their entire youth and all their energy for the construction and prosperity of the Void Mask Land. Now that they were old, they could no longer work as they had done before, so it was time that the Land should return something to them.

According to the rules set by Sui Xiong, every employee of the Land would automatically get a small amount of money in their personal pension account when they received their salary. After a long period of accumulation, one year after another, they would have gained a considerable amount of wealth.

The money would not be paid in a lump sum when they retired but would be paid out with an average on a monthly basis in ten years.

The reason why the time was set to ten years was that the ordinary people in this world generally could live to be around 60 years old. If they retired at the age of 50, it would be exactly ten years when they reached 60 years old.

Of course, there might be people who couldn't live to 60 years old, and there might be ones who could live more than 60 years old. Sui Xiong's solution was that, if someone failed to live to 60 years old, the extra pension would be merged into the funeral expenses and distributed to their designated heirs. If someone lived to be more than 60 years old, there would be no need to worry. The Land had a lot of money, so it didn't mind paying them more than a few months. Even if someone had the ability to live to 100 years old, it was nothing more than paying for more pension of 480 months. For Sui Xiong, he really didn't care about such little money.

When the hosts had elaborated on the system formulated by Sui Xiong in detail, it was totally silent off the stage. The guests, as well as the audience, were all stunned there.

Not only them, but almost all the gods who cared about this ceremony were also lost in thought.

After a while, the Goddess of Spring Water first promulgated the Oracles, asking the church to choose a region to try to promote the retirement pension system as the practice of the Church of the Void Mask. Then one after another, kind gods promulgate Oracles, trying to learn from Sui Xiong.

The gods had lived a long time, accumulating rich experience. They couldn't think of a lot of things at first. However, once there were examples in front of them, they could quickly sort out the clues in them, analyzing the pros and cons and drawing conclusions that were useful to them.

The retirement pension system proposed by the Void Mask seemed to increase spending, but it could greatly enhance the cohesiveness and the centripetal force of the church and enhance the status of the church in the hearts of ordinary people.

When a person knew that they had support and dependency at their old age, they would certainly be grateful to the church that provided this benefit. Not only that, the world's affairs were caused by unfairness, not a lack of welfare. Some churches could provide a retirement pension, but some churches couldn't. Ordinary people would naturally have a tendency of choosing the churches that could provide them a retirement pension; they would naturally make the choices beneficial to them.

This was the greatest benefit of this system for the kind gods!