Is My Reputation Really That Good?

[Mute: Faith? I haven't really thought about that.] Aige's Silent Night Pirates were powerful, but few in number. The crew members merely admired Aige; they did not worship him. Occasionally, some ignorant folk from across the sea would develop awe for the pirate fleet, even offering sacrifices. However, their numbers were far too small to have any real impact. Now that Anbaixiu brought it up, Aige found his interest piqued. Ever since the Kingdom of the Unholy Hymn vanished, the entire continent had gained a brand-new appreciation for divination wizards. To play two Hell Lords like fiddles, shifting the clouds and rain between them, and to send an entire kingdom along with tens of millions of people to another world—that was nothing short of a miracle. In fact, none of the miracles recorded in history were quite so absurd. Just imagine if, instead of ascending, that kingdom had been dropped right onto another kingdom's head... Tsk, tsk. The so-called eleventh-circle Move Mountain spell paled in comparison. Before this, Aige had merely considered Anbaixiu a lich with plenty of tricks up his sleeve, but now he viewed him in an entirely new light. One couldn't blame Aige for being pragmatic. That was simply how the world worked: only when you possessed sufficient ability did your words carry weight. [Mute: I'm not sure if the power of faith is of any use to me, but it doesn't hurt to try. What do you plan to do? Where will the faith come from?] Anbaixiu replied: [I think you could consider bringing those fishmen under your command. In this world, there are kingdoms on the surface and kingdoms underground, but none in the sea. Why not give it a shot?] Pitting those fishmen against the Githyanki should also delay the dragons' return. And if it helped Aige ascend to godhood, Anbaixiu would make a killing. The God of Alchemy, the Lady of Mists, plus Aige and the Elven Gods—his backing would be ridiculously formidable. If Lolth the Spider Queen had the guts to come seeking vengeance, he'd hammer her to death! [Mute: I don't really know how to gain followers.] [Ultraman Tiga: That depends on what kind of god you want to be.] Aige fell silent for a long while before finally sending: [Come to my place. We'll sit down and talk things through.] Aige wasn't keen on discussing his private affairs in a group chat, especially something as momentous as attaining godhood. Anbaixiu agreed readily. Going to sea was inevitable anyway, and with Aige's help, dealing with the Githyanki and the red dragons from the Astral Plane would be much easier. [Ultraman Tiga: Then let's discuss it in person. Still, I'm only throwing out an idea; there's no guarantee of success.] [Mute: Haha, why be so modest? Who doesn't know by now that divination wizards can work miracles? I believe whatever you say can be done.] Anbaixiu felt a little sheepish. Vladimir was the one who had actually pulled off that feat; he had merely ridden the coattails of the hype. Just as he was about to make a modest reply, the vampire Heji Stone suddenly chimed in: [What are you guys talking about? What miracle? What divination wizard?] [Crown of the Headless Horseman: You don't know? Such a huge deal.] [Dislikes Humans: I really don't. I've been holed up writing my book lately, just finished the prologue and came out to catch my breath. What did this lich do this time?] Anbaixiu had no choice but to explain: [I screwed over Tiamat and Zariel, saved tens of millions of tieflings, and incidentally banished the entire Kingdom of the Unholy Hymn to the Lands of Chaos. I have a friend over there who can look after the tieflings.] [Dislikes Humans: Banished an entire kingdom? The land plus the whole population?] [Ultraman Tiga: Yes.] [Dislikes Humans: Heh, impressive. Nowadays, your boasting can fool not just me, but even the senior members.] Anbaixiu was speechless. This dwarf never believed him. For someone as honest as him, there wasn't the slightest exaggeration in what he'd said! Yet without Anbaixiu having to explain himself, the other members jumped in one after another to back him up. [Crown of the Headless Horseman: It's true, Brother Heji. Wake up to reality. When has he ever bragged about something that didn't happen?] [Rose of Decay: Not only that, he also inflicted heavy losses on Ryan. I'm still thinking about how to thank him.] [Pale Little Skeleton: Not only that, the dragon race put him on their blacklist precisely because of the massive commotion he caused.] Heji Stone went through his customary silence before finally offering a sigh of resignation: [I was wrong. From now on, I will never doubt a single word he says.] [Ultraman Tiga: Really? I happen to have a project here that needs investment. An annual return of up to twenty percent. Want in? The initial phase only requires ten million gold coins.] [Dislikes Humans: Get lost! You think I haven't heard of such a classic scam? You're insulting my intelligence.] Anbaixiu sighed helplessly. He had actually wanted to reserve a share of the international logistics venture for him; after all, Heji had turned the dwarf king into a vampire, giving him rock-solid connections. Turns out this dwarf vampire harbored far too much prejudice against him. Anbaixiu quickly redirected his attention to what the Bone Dragon Eldest Miss had said. [Ultraman Tiga: Bone Dragon Eldest Miss, what do you mean I'm on the dragons' blacklist? I didn't do anything to dragonkind. I was still hoping to do business with you guys.] [Pale Little Skeleton: You banished an entire kingdom! And you sabotaged the Githyanki's Astral portal. Alan Watson crippled several red dragons using a magic weapon you gifted him—rumor has it that it's a magic weapon forged specifically against dragons, designed to pierce right into their eyes.] How had that rumor gotten out? Damn it, had that kid Alan leaked it on purpose to screw him over? Had that thick-eyebrowed, big-eyed kid turned traitor too? Anbaixiu could only explain: [Rumors! Pure slander! When would I ever craft a weapon like that? That was all Alan's own doing.] [Pale Little Skeleton: Say whatever you want, but the dragons won't believe you anyway. They've already concluded that you are the greatest obstacle to their return to the continent.] [Ultraman Tiga: On what grounds?! I didn't do anything! I'm just a completely ordinary, unremarkable lich.] [Pale Little Skeleton: The entire world knows you've betrayed your own kind by now. You resolved the crisis in the City of Alchemy, you snuffed out the war between dwarves and elves, and you saved the elven race—though no one knows the details, they even gave you their Elven Queen. [You ran off to the Raging Tide Kingdom to rescue the heroic spirit of Ryan's founding emperor, and you put an end to Senior Mute's plundering of the Raging Tide Kingdom. Then you stopped Ryan's invasion, and saved the Kingdom of the Unholy Hymn from the clutches of an Archduke of Hell... And you're telling me you're an unremarkable lich? You're a lich who saves the world! You're the single greatest obstacle to the dragons' return!] [Crown of the Headless Horseman: My wife is right. Brother, you're just too absurd. You even keep a bunch of humans in your territory, and word has it you only charge them sixty percent in taxes. Brother, you've fallen into goodness!] Anbaixiu: ... They made it sound so shockingly reasonable that Anbaixiu couldn't even formulate a rebuttal for the moment. Still... since his reputation was so stellar and his achievements so numerous, couldn't he exploit this a little? For instance, praying to the Lord of the Dawn or something, and becoming an undead paladin...