I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

Lu Yuan fell silent, inexplicably feeling a hint of chill.

He suddenly recalled information about the Meida Civilization: conflicts between civilizations were common, and there were indeed deeper reasons for them.

Now, he had discovered one of those reasons.

Just one of them.

"This Divine Skill is really quite evil," he said.

"However, if it can really enslave a ’Monster,’ the temptation is indeed strong..."

If it had been the Lu Yuan of the past, he would have considered the "trolley problem"—imagine a trolley that suddenly breaks down and can’t brake. At that moment, there are two paths in front of it: the trolley will kill five people on the established track, or the driver can switch to a side track, which would kill one person.

Which one to choose?

The Lu Yuan of the past would be in a dilemma.

Now, he would still hesitate, but in the end, he might, probably, possibly choose to kill one person to save more, as long as that person wasn’t his relative... because this era was a bloody one of slaughter, with no time to be entangled in moral issues.

"In the Ninth Epoch, does the ability to control still exist?"

"How would I know... but the world is so big, I think it exists."

"Maybe it exists among you humans."

Old Cat twisted its body and left.

It didn’t care about these things; it just said whatever came to mind.

When Lu Yuan wanted to look at the next mural, he found it no longer existed... The technological power of this civilization might really not have been up to much, as the gilded murals were also damaged.

He felt like he was reading a novel with chapters missing, somewhat frustrated.

"Someday when the power is in my hands, I’ll kill all those chapter-interrupting dogs!"

After moving stones for quite a while, he only found some broken flakes of gold.

He took a deep sigh.

"It seems that this is all the information there is."

This was his first encounter with a civilization almost entirely forgotten.

Not a bone to be found, only the last few pieces of broken walls remained.

Perhaps they had been devoured by ’Monsters,’ or maybe something else had happened that led to their complete disappearance...

This made Lu Yuan, the Crash Artist, reflect deeply on the smallness of life. This small cave was like an hourglass, marking the order of time, burying insignificant data. When everything turned to dust, who would witness the stories that once occurred?

...

...

In the Pangu Continent, within the Safe Zone.

The Ninth Branch of human civilization, Lingbo City.

The sky was filled with a grey-black haze, obscuring the bright sun, so that even at midday, it seemed as if night had fallen, with darkness so deep that one could not see their own hands.

Most of the light was devoured, clearly, this was a Field-level Ability.

No one knew what that mass of black clouds outside was.

The more one knew, the more terrifying it became for the leadership of Lingbo City.

Especially after human civilization made contact with the Rize Civilization and exchanged information, the leadership of Lingbo City became even more anxious.

Lingbo City was unlucky from the start, arriving with a skull-like cloud of fog blocking the outside of the Safe Zone.

It seemed to have discovered the existence of the Safe Zone, watching intently, and periodically drifting over to gaze for a while.

The luck of Lingbo City was mediocre at best; at least, the anomaly like the dark clouds outside didn’t seem to have the Superpower to breach the Safe Zone.

As long as they stayed inside the Safe Zone, there wouldn’t be much risk.

"It doesn’t look like a ’Demon,’ so what could it be?"

"Don’t expect help from other branches of civilization! We can only rely on ourselves!"

"You think too highly of those higher-ups! They’d only cast token votes, then choose an outcome that entails doing nothing, and thus, making no mistakes!"

"We’re going to end up as a trash civilization cowering in the Safe Zone, our national dignity long gone!"

"All the resources are controlled by conglomerates, and we’re nothing but crawling servants!"

In the barracks, a group of patrolling soldiers was angrily discussing.

Just as the soldiers said, the future of Lingbo City was already gone.

The government’s actions were as slow as a snail, no different from headless flies, and they still hadn’t stabilized the city.

Many citizens were on the verge of starvation.

Keep in mind, it has been over forty days now, not just the first day!

What was more frightening was that the current government consisted of various political parties, with divergent opinions among them.

Still squabbling over trivial matters...

Even more absurd was that what many had in mind for the most important issue—was voting!

Yes, they were actually thinking of democratic voting, to establish a new government.

It was ridiculous!

The anger of the populace had been ignited, and even ordinary soldiers couldn’t help but complain about these absurd matters.

"What a bunch of idiots, even a pig as a leader would be better than those fools!"

The captain leading them, named "Digdit," quietly listened to the opinions of his soldiers, a faint red light flickering in his eyes.

Divine Skill: Domination.

This ability let Digdit spiritually dominate nearly all life forms!

Of course, such a powerful ability came with a price.

It required the consumption of something called "Spirit," which was akin to life force yet not exactly the same.

"Spirit" was a term coined by Digdit himself.

Only upon intelligent life forms could "Spirit" be obtained.

Ordinary animals had almost no Spirit.

He speculated that the quantity of Spirit was greatly related to the "God" attribute.

Even the most powerful ability users couldn’t control all their subordinates, for the application of great trends and the manipulation of public sentiment were essential lessons for every single ambitious person.

Every citizen of Lingbo City was angry.

That was good, anger was better than doing nothing at all.

To date, Digdit had "controlled" just one person, his immediate superior. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The sole Major General of Lingbo City.

An old man in his seventies.

On the surface, he was a General’s underling.

In reality, it was the other way around; the General was obedient to his commands.

"General, the Cabinet Council is about to start."

"Alright, I’m coming."

Digdit played the role of a driver, while the esteemed General sat in the back seat.

Nobody knew that the driver was the master and the General was nothing more than a dominated servant…

This form of control was subtle, not destroying one’s free will. The general idea was to implant a subconscious goal into a person’s mind, with the subconscious guiding them to make corresponding choices.

"How are the preparations for the various works coming along?"

"Everything is as expected, Mr. Digdit!" said the General with a smile. "Many residents are on the verge of starvation, beginning to harbor hatred for the past political structure."

"This absurd democratic vote has further intensified this hatred, fueling their rage and rebellion!"

"They are starting to crave a strong power, one that can crush everything, one that can lead them on the right path."

His voice grew more impassioned: "Your emergence perfectly aligns with the psychological expectations of the people. You are destined to succeed!"

Digdit laughed heartily, "No matter how strong my abilities are, I can’t control everyone, and my current rank as a Captain is not convincing enough. Therefore, you need to serve as the first leader."

"I will need at least five or even ten years before I can step into the limelight."

"No problem, sir… but the key issue is that many conglomerates have private armed forces. Our military power is not absolutely dominant either."

"In this council session, I will mentally control some key figures," Digdit declared.

The Major General fell silent.

After all, the current power structure was built up layer by layer, like a pyramid, based on vested interests.

Mere control of the figure at the very top of the pyramid might not suffice.

Because if you go against class interests, the class will naturally abandon you.

"Then just control a few more people. It’s bound to work," Digdit’s voice was like frost from the Antarctic, "General, you must believe in my power."

"What about the anomalies outside?"

"Just give me enough power, and I will be able to control the anomalies!"

"We can conquer the Pangu Continent."

"Zzzt!"

The sound of brakes signalled their arrival at the destination.

This was a large prison, holding criminals of various offenses.

Lingbo City had long abolished the death penalty, but now, the good days for these prisoners were over.

Digdit began to personally execute these criminals, to seize the Spirit within them.

"On what authority do you judge us?"

"You demon, you truly belong in Hell!"

"You murderer! Oh God!"

The criminals, faced with the barrels of guns, were scared to the point of wetting themselves, their shouts erupting one after another.

Digdit proclaimed loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, the world is no longer as it once was; it is a world filled with competition, brimming with malice. Our nation should cast off the shackles in our minds!"

"We should not be a nation groaning in humiliation."

"We should not be a domesticated nation."

"Instead, we should strive to become a nation that can stand atop the world!"

"Now, I shall use your sinful lives to welcome a bright future."

His speech seemed to be an attempt to justify his own righteousness.

He fired his gun repeatedly—"Bang, bang, bang"—as crimson blood splattered and dripped down the walls, making the whole prison look like a real-life Hell.

In Digdit’s view, Spirit permeated the small room.

It was like fragments of souls, flickering and floating like fireflies.

If not collected swiftly, they would soon dissipate into the world.

Only a rare few abilities could see and collect "Spirit," and "control" was one of them.

Globules of light, like little tadpoles, gathered into Digdit’s hands.

The more powerful the life form you sought to dominate, the more Spirit you needed.

Those were not strong, easy to dominate without much effort.

Digdit was satisfied, murmuring, "Now, with the Spirit in my hands, I have enough to stir up a storm in this city."