Chapter 22
On the way to the Bandacia Shrine, the gray wolf warrior Wolberly and the golden lion warrior Beriman were both pondering the same question—would they become sinners of Bandacia, condemned after today to be nailed to the fiery pillars in the shrine’s square, spat upon by all the beast tribes of Bandacia?
...
Indeed, the mighty gray wolf and golden lion warriors ultimately succumbed to the psychic pressure of the cub—though the cub seemed to do nothing outwardly, under the influence of the cub Su You’s resolute desire to go, Wolberly finally swept the cub onto his back with his furry tail, then howled lowly toward the Bandacia Shrine, before charging wildly in that direction.
Not only Wolberly, but Beriman also set aside all distractions and ran toward Bandacia.
Behind these two noble beasts, the half-orc warrior Salvador, who had silently guarded the cub throughout, seemed to feel a summons erupting from deep within his soul; he began to chase after his young master and the gray and golden figures.
At the same time, across the entire plane designated 12768, countless high-level beast tribes that sensed the call of the Bandacia Shrine began moving toward the same goal.
***
Meanwhile, within the subspaces of all the Warrior King candidates watching the ambush and counter-ambush battles between the candidates and the high-level beasts on the main virtual broadcast sphere of the Prime Universe, audiences suddenly noticed the ferocious beasts, previously locked in fierce combat with the candidates, abruptly gazing toward an unknown direction. Following that, even those beasts still engaged in battle ceased fighting and began sprinting full speed in that same direction—
“What’s happening?”
“Hey, let me see—did the prey of your candidates run off too?”
“Oh wow, contestant No. 099 is really lucky—just now those hyenas almost tore him apart! But something happened… some sort of summons that had a crucial effect on these beasts rang out, and those hyenas abandoned No. 099 just as he was about to be shredded!”
“Ah, the exciting scenes have diminished a bit, what a pity.”
“Hey, isn’t anyone going to check the main stage’s big screen? It’s spectacular! Unbelievable, every single beast appearing in all the subspace live feeds is running in the same direction!”
“Not only the opponents of the candidates, but look at the main system’s perspective—oh, my friends, we’re witnessing a wild beast frenzy! What on earth are they doing?”
“The main system has already identified the final destination based on these wild beasts’ paths—it’s a dense forest, and the regular cameras deployed by the system apparently cannot penetrate it!”
“Oh my, an impenetrable forest? Could it be a sacred place? Isn’t this just an ordinary beast-tribe plane? Could it be a world that still preserves a complete tradition of faith?”
On the chaotic main stage of the virtual broadcast sphere, the spectral audience was abuzz with discussions loud enough to make one’s ears ache.
For the Prime Universe’s spectators living in the age of entertainment, “faith” had become a concept thoroughly deconstructed and reconstructed by entertainment and science—the lifeforms of the Prime Universe no longer believed in faith. For these spirits who could roam and play across the cosmic light web through mental projection devices, their ordinary lives had long surpassed the power of “gods” from ancient beliefs.
Even if they were merely ordinary diode viewers in this grand cosmic entertainment era, their lives were something the beings of the old era could scarcely imagine.
As for the spiritual needs once fulfilled by faith?
In today’s cosmic entertainment age, with an endless array of intellectually rich, thrilling, heartwarming, emotionally nurturing, and mindless venting variety shows, besides a small minority of beings who pursued extreme retro tastes and still sought “faith” as a vintage trend, the rest of the spirits led lives so rich and stimulating they no longer required “faith” for solace.
Of course, these spirits knew that long ago, the Prime Universe was once dominated by “theocracy,” when “divine authority” and faith were the mainstream ideologies.
But that was a tale from the very distant past; now, entertainment had long since replaced faith!
---
For today’s Prime Universe viewers, even when watching various entertainment content, they rarely encountered anything related to “faith”—because whether it was the Black Universe Group or the Metropolitan Group, all those controlling the discourse power tacitly removed all elements related to “faith” from their programs.
As the current victors of the cosmic era, these group leaders did not wish for theocratic power to revive unnecessarily.
So...
This live broadcast today must be an accident, right?!
Green-skinned Makamaka, the host of the “Super Warrior King Battle Royale Season 2” live show, though not much smarter than the diode viewers, had managed to break through the ranks to host a B-level variety show under the Black Universe Group, which meant he was no fool.
He was well aware of the “faith blackout rule” in this cosmic entertainment era.
But now...
Oh, damn it!
Why were elements related to faith repeatedly appearing in this plane 12768 of the high-level beast tribes?!
If the half-orc Salvador’s appearance was an accident that wouldn’t draw much attention, then this scene of wild beasts stampeding en masse was simply too much!
Though variety shows nowadays were unrestrained, and many featured “explorations of ancient faith” as curiosity-driven themes, this show’s focus was not on faith exploration.
Their show was a combat-themed warrior king training variety show!
While sporting a broad smile introducing the grand scene to the live audience on the main stage, Green Makamaka kept stroking his miniature earpiece, trying to get the program directors to send him some hints.
At last, just as his face nearly turned pale with anxiety, his superior sent feedback through the earpiece—
“Normal broadcast, don’t worry, dear. If any footage can’t be aired, the main system will promptly block it—just like with broadcasts 001 and 098. I trust you can handle it all. Keep it up, Makamaka!”
Makamaka: [!!!]
Keep it up? What kind of encouragement was that?!
Makamaka was about to lose his temper; as an insectoid being, he felt his antennae nearly wilted from that phrase.
He just knew it! He knew the previous broadcast signal issues were suspicious!
So... now that a plane 12768 with a complete faith tradition appeared, the variety crew still refused to halt the broadcast?
Looking at the audience below, Makamaka felt as if his green blood were freezing solid.
---
As a host, Makamaka had no idea how else he could manage such a crisis.
But there was no choice... this damned predicament was exactly the kind of scenario he must confront as a host!
Poor green insectoid Makamaka adjusted his three-piece suit with his two pairs of humanoid arms holding the microphone, then loudly praised the audience:
“Oh yes! Such clever viewers you all are—congratulations on spotting the little Easter egg we prepared for you during the elimination rounds!”
“This plane 12768 was painstakingly selected by our production team because it possesses a fully preserved faith tradition—I know, you all must be curious about such rare ancient customs, right?”
“To give our audience a visual feast, we specially arranged this exciting Easter egg—now, let’s explore together the influence of ‘faith’ on a beastly world!”
“Oh, of course, since plane 12768 is quite primitive and isolated, to protect its native culture, some live footage will be cut off—I believe all of you present are the most civilized viewers in the universe and can understand this small inconvenience... right?”
Though he spoke as if he was managing the situation, clever Makamaka barely covered the chaos—any deeper bugs?
Aha, that could be dealt with later!
Watching the scene before him, Makamaka only hoped no more bizarre events would unfold—if more problems arose, even his wit would fail him.
***
While the Prime Universe virtual broadcast host Makamaka nervously tried to smooth things over, the live audience in the main broadcast hall was witnessing the scene of all the beasts in plane 12768 charging toward the Bandacia Shrine.
Though these viewers did not understand the value of “faith,” it did not prevent them from being moved by the sight of these wild beasts recklessly running toward the same direction.
“Though I don’t understand why they run, it’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it?”
“Oh, I must say, this scene really packs a punch!”
In fact, appearing in these scenes were not only the beasts of plane 12768—the Warrior King candidates originally scattered across different regions of the plane also began converging toward the same direction, chasing the wild beasts.
When the first viewer spirit discovered this and shared it with nearby spectators, the main broadcast hall erupted again in lively discussion—
“So this is all part of the production team’s plan?”
“Oh, using the natural beast pilgrimage to faith to guide the Warrior King elimination candidates to gather? That’s a truly genius idea!”
“This is so marvelous! Oh, I declare my utmost admiration for this production team’s creativity—this elimination round candidate gathering is the best I’ve ever seen in any talent show!”
“If there’s a best moments vote for talent shows this year, I’ll certainly cast my vote for this candidate gathering scene! The production team is incredibly smart!”