Followers: 108,182,843,96.
A day passed quickly.
Even Feng Lin, usually calm, was stunned as he looked at his current follower count.
He'd gone viral!
But it was so explosively viral that it made his heart race!
His follower count had reached 10.8 billion.
He could now be called a hundred-billion-level mythical big V.
With the interstellar population in the trillions upon trillions, once someone blew up, their follower counts became astronomical, incomparable to the so-called celebrities and influencers of ancient Earth times.
A hundred-billion big V was nothing in the vast interstellar realm, just a mid-tier one.
The Myth Forum was full of trillion-level top-tier big Vs.
But for Feng Lin, it was already impressive.
A hundred billion followers was absurd—ancient Earth's entire population hadn't even been that many.
If just one in a hundred people sent a harassing private message, he'd get a hundred million messages, driving him insane.
He seemed to have underestimated that fat guy's influence; he might have overdone it.
Going viral was a happy kind of trouble.
Private messages kept flooding in, so Feng Lin simply set his account to reject all incoming messages, finally finding peace.
Beep beep beep!
Just as he was about to shut down his identity chip and start cultivating, it rang again.
Feng Lin was puzzled—he'd already blocked all strangers' messages, so how could someone still reach him?
Assuming his Hongjun persona, he opened it. The chip projected a young white-skinned man, full of arrogance, not even bothering to hide his true face.
"Are you Hongjun?" The white man looked Feng Lin up and down, his gaze condescending and scrutinizing.
Feng Lin felt a surge of displeasure.
"You're not bad! Finding an evolutionary path for the obesity gene—I'm impressed by your ability! I, Eurynomos, am giving you a chance to become my subordinate god in the Pantheon! My time is precious, so send me your info quickly! If you're slow, don't bother wanting this opportunity!" The white man, Eurynomos, seemed impatient.
Feng Lin looked at him like he was an idiot.
Who the hell are you?
A brain is a good thing—hope you have one too.
Pantheon?
Feng Lin noted the term he'd mentioned, vaguely recalling a series of Western myths.
The Pantheon was said to be where gods convened; any deity who ignited their divine flame, raised their throne, and became a true god would leave their true name there, able to manifest and connect with other gods at any time.
That name, dripping with prestige, seemed to refer to some massive secret organization in the interstellar realm. Seeing he'd gone viral, they wanted to recruit him?
What bothered Feng Lin was Eurynomos's tone, dripping with superiority, as if he were doing him a favor.
"How did you find me?" he asked the uninvited guest calmly.
"Simple, just traced your StarNet IP. Hongjun, I value your talent as a gene martial artist! Our Pantheon is one of the few mythical gene research associations in the interstellar realm, specializing in gene equipment and potions. Slots are rare. As a main god-level member of the Pantheon, I have the right to recruit subordinate gods! I'm generously giving you a slot—don't be ungrateful!" Seeing Feng Lin's lack of reaction to his offer, Eurynomos's face darkened, his words laced with warning.
Feng Lin laughed, full of sarcasm.
Subordinate god?
If there are subordinate gods, there are main gods. You want to be my main god?
I named myself Hongjun, the Heavenly Dao sage and mythical ancestor of Daoism in Chinese lore—become your subordinate god?
Can you handle that?
What arrogance!
Feng Lin was about to refuse outright when his eyes suddenly flickered with a mischievous idea.
Let's see what trick you're pulling.
He feigned delight, "Such a good deal? As a subordinate god, what obligations do I have?"
Seeming pleased with Feng Lin's reaction, Eurynomos smiled, "As your main god, I can guide you in various gene knowledge, but you must fully assist me and give me 60% of the profits from gene work! Pretty good deal, right? Just pay 60%, and you can join the Pantheon, learn valuable gene knowledge—where else can you find this?"
He wore an expression like Feng Lin had hit the jackpot and should thank him.
Thank you, my foot!
Feng Lin's smile turned icy. He stopped playing along with this guy. Since the man was disrespectful, he wouldn't be polite either, cutting straight to the sarcasm: "A brain is a good thing—hope you have one too!"
"What? Say that again!" Eurynomos looked shocked, wondering if he'd misheard.
Feng Lin laughed. He'd never heard of such a weird request, so he obliged.
This time, he spoke word by word, enunciating each syllable clearly, afraid Eurynomos might miss it again.
"A... brain... is... a... good... thing... hope... you... have... one... too?" This time, Eurynomos finally heard it, his face dark as a ghost, exuding a chilling, sinister aura.
If eyes could kill, Feng Lin would have been sliced to pieces.
Feng Lin didn't back down, firing back directly: "Do I need you to teach me gene knowledge? And taking 60% of my income—are you living in the Stone Age?"
Without a single curse word, Feng Lin left Eurynomos stunned.
It took him a long time to snap out of it, his face flushed red, as if experiencing such humiliation for the first time, completely bewildered.
Feng Lin inwardly scolded himself—had he been too harsh?
Look at the poor kid, so furious he might run crying to his mom!
"You're dead! You really think becoming a mere hundred-billion big V in the Myth Forum makes you someone! How dare you refuse our Pantheon's recruitment! I, Eurynomos, will make you regret this!" The white man Eurynomos was about to explode with rage.
Smack!
Before he could finish, Feng Lin shut down his identity chip.
He couldn't be bothered to listen to this nonsense anymore. What use were such clichéd threats?
Where did this guy get his superiority? What a lunatic!
Sure enough, the interstellar realm was vast, full of all kinds of beings, utterly unreasonable.
There were far more bizarre people than in ancient Earth's tech era, and Feng Lin figured he'd have to get used to it.
Beep beep beep!
Just as he was about to cultivate, the identity chip rang again, flashing a piercing red light at a rapid, urgent pace.
An automatic message popped up.
"Warning! Warning! Warning!... The chip's firewall is under attack from an unknown virus, suspected to be an interstellar hacker!"