Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1458 - 1019: The Disadvantage of Never Having Eaten a Demon’s Contract

Chapter 1458: Chapter 1019: The Disadvantage of Never Having Eaten a Demon’s Contract

The space in this area changes according to a certain pattern. Within the same grid, the coordinates shift periodically, and the Goddess of Dawn has only managed to calculate a small portion of them. Beyond that range, she remains clueless.

When the coordinates exceed this range, external objects can no longer be transported inside. Hence the concept of a transmission window—it will take another three to six months for the grid to rotate back to a position she understands, at which point the window will reopen.

And why is it three to six months? Because she doesn’t understand the pattern either. But this human in front of her... He managed to transport here even after the transmission window closed. Could it be that he knows the changing patterns?

Anthony silently muttered to himself: Uh, could it really be like Nage said? The Goddess of Dawn herself can’t figure out the pattern of the grid’s movements, which is why the transmission window has this limitation. If that’s the case, her abilities need to be re-evaluated.

As he pondered, Anthony scrutinized the Goddess of Dawn standing before him. Her upper body was a cold white light silhouette, while her lower body formed an oversized skirt of multicolored dawn energy. The skirt’s proportions were several times larger than her upper body, exaggerated to the point of resembling one of those caricatured sculptures.

Sculptures often use exaggerated features to convey tension—for instance, excessively thin and long limbs to evoke a sense of speed, or an oversized belly to suggest clumsiness. This oversized skirt was exactly such an exaggerated feature.

Ordinary people might find this detail jarring, but as an Old God Stick himself, Anthony could discern much more—this was a Native God.

And what is a Native God? It’s a deity that’s been divine since the moment it was born, right from the start.

Most gods actually ascend from other species by igniting the Divine Fire, like Ange, Nagri, and the Gods of Light. This means they retain their original physical forms.

No matter what power Ange holds, he mostly maintains the appearance of a skeleton. His current constructed form exists purely due to his avatars.

Native Gods, however, have quite abstract appearances. Their forms often follow the collective imagination of their believers. But believers have wildly differing imaginations—there’s no uniformity. Essentially, the way the statues are sculpted becomes the shared visual reference, so Native Gods end up resembling sculptures.

Moreover, Native Gods are remarkably "pure," lacking extensive human characteristics. So, when dealing with them, it’s best to be direct.

Although Ange isn’t a Native God, his lack of "human traits" makes him very similar. When interacting with him, just get straight to the point. On the other hand, if it’s Nagri, a few compliments will make his tail wag, making him easier to negotiate with.

Thus, upon confirming that she was an Original God, Anthony immediately decided on his persuasion strategy. He asked her directly: "Are you unable to transport outside the transmission window? Why?"

The Goddess of Dawn blinked warily, avoiding the question.

Anthony kept pressing: "Is it because you can’t calculate the coordinates beyond the transmission window?"

The Goddess of Dawn nodded: "The space here is chaotic; I can’t calculate it."

"Understandable. There are a total of seven hundred and thirty-six thousand nine hundred and twenty-one transformation methods in this space. Most people wouldn’t be able to calculate them." Anthony remarked nonchalantly.

The Goddess of Dawn’s eyes widened in shock: "Seven hundred thousand methods? That many? You can calculate them?"

"Heh, child’s play. Too simple. Our alliance of the gods includes all sorts of deities, including the God of Knowledge, who specializes in computations and has already deciphered all seven hundred thousand coordinate variations. Would you like to join our alliance? Membership comes with full board, five insurances, one fund, and a free bonus: the calculation of coordinate variations..." Anthony explained.

"..." The Goddess of Dawn was stupefied. What are you even talking about?

She was a Native God, only half-understanding matters of social relationships. And here he was talking about full board and lodging?

But this was precisely Anthony’s intent—to overwhelm her with chatter. "Your priest must’ve mentioned my purpose for visiting, right?"

The Goddess of Dawn nodded.

"Here’s the situation: The Friel Empire has produced a Godslayer specializing in killing deities. Many gods have fallen to him, and the survivors fled to the Divine Light Alliance, where the Great Speaker has sheltered them and permitted us to spread faith within the alliance’s territory."

"An individual god is weak, but if we unite, our power becomes limitless. So, before arriving at the alliance, one hundred and two surviving deities convened on an airship to sign the Gods’ Covenant, forming the alliance of the gods and pledging mutual development and faith-sharing."

"After arriving, I contacted your priest, the one named Faradi, and noticed her situation wasn’t great. As the priest of the Goddess of Dawn, her clothes are worn down to frayed edges. Don’t you issue uniforms for your priests?" Anthony asked.

"What?" The Goddess of Dawn stared wide-eyed.

"Her residence is also in shambles, boiling water through sunlight—so pitiful. Do you even pay her a salary?" Anthony continued.

"I..." The Goddess of Dawn was utterly baffled. Her followers had been transporting offerings here, yet she herself had never sent anything out. Well... strictly speaking, she couldn’t. And... she didn’t even have anything to send.

Anthony showed just the right amount of disdainful expression: "Nothing at all? They’re working for you without compensation, serving you while earning their own living? You’ve got remarkable followers. How many believers do you have?"

The Goddess of Dawn meekly replied: "About fifty thousand."

"Pfft—" This time Anthony truly spat out, not feigning: "Fifty thousand?"

The Goddess of Dawn nodded, her eyes filled with hopeful curiosity. "Is that... a lot? Or a little?"

Anthony was speechless. She didn’t even have a grasp on this? Merely fifty thousand believers—a figure embarrassingly worse than that of the Harvest Goddess. Anthony suddenly felt reluctant to recruit her.

After all this effort, a single visit to a major plane’s villages and towns distributing eggs could net more generic followers than this.

Still, Anthony kept his patience intact—Ange needed the Power of Dawn. "Too few. Far too few. At its peak, the Temple of Light had over four hundred million believers. No wonder your priest is so destitute, wearing frayed clothes. At the Temple of Light, such clothing would be used as rags. Usually, we dress in full sets like this."

Anthony waved his hand and summoned his crownrobe scepter, then asked: "Would you like to join our alliance of the gods?"

After a round of persuasion, the Goddess of Dawn was already dazed, completely forgetting that Anthony was merely here to visit. How did it fast-forward into joining the alliance?

"What... what does the Gods’ Covenant entail?" she asked.

"It’s about mutual development, shared faith, mutual assistance, and collective defense." Anthony replied.

"That simple?" The Goddess of Dawn was stunned by the brevity of the covenant. "Alright, I’ll sign."

Anthony raised his palm in front of him.

The Goddess of Dawn stared cluelessly at his hand.

"Clap hands, clap hands—like this." Anthony painstakingly demonstrated, and after some effort, she finally grasped the motion. Their hands met with a resounding slap, and oath imprints started glowing: Mutual development, shared faith, mutual assistance, collective defense—Lord of Light.

"Leave your imprint." Anthony guided.

"Oh, oh." The Goddess of Dawn etched her own imprint, then said, "Mutual assistance—it’s your turn to help me leave this place."

At this, the Goddess of Dawn’s face finally showed a hint of cunning.

Anthony cooperatively displayed an ’exasperated’ expression, though internally he was grinning: Still too immature—never experienced the sting of a demon contract.