Watching Odin's figure disappear, Roland Phils' lips curled into a playful smile.
"It looks like the Battle of New York is coming soon."
Time passed quickly, and once again it was the season for the followers to hold their sacrificial rituals.
The number of believers had grown far beyond what it used to be. Under Effie and Vog's management, ten new priests were appointed. Each priest now led thousands of followers, sometimes even more.
With more followers came more offerings, and that made Roland very eager.
On this day, as before, he sat calmly beneath the World Tree, waiting for the sacrifices from his followers.
In the human world, temples of the Church of Life filled with crowds in every city. Ever since the great event of the Hell Dimension's descent, more and more people had turned to worship the Lord of Life. Now, nearly every city had a temple dedicated to Him, all built voluntarily by believers.
At this moment, the ten priests led their congregations, kneeling devoutly before the statue of the Lord of Life. Their prayers were solemn, their faces full of reverence.
"Great Lord of Life, you have given us the hope of existence."
"You light up our path ahead."
"You are the source of our lives."
"You are our faith."
"You are the supreme existence."
Their voices rose again and again. Bodies prostrated, foreheads touching the ground, the believers showed their absolute devotion.
Because of past miracles, few sermons were needed anymore. Many people had already turned into loyal followers on their own.
"Great Lord of Life, you are the master of all existence. Your divine might is supreme!"
"May your power last forever, your divine flame never extinguished!"
"Please accept our offerings."
"Please bless your humble servants!"
As the priests finished, the followers cried out in unison, "Great Lord of Life, please accept our offerings!"
With those words, the link of faith between them and the god above flared open. Roland saw through his divine sense the offerings brought forth.
The first was the Cloak of Invisibility, taken from Mind Magus.
The second was the super serum extracted from Hulk's blood, collected by Laffey.
The third was a carbon steel blade sent by Nick Fury.
The fourth to tenth were nuclear-powered carriers, warships, Quinjet fighters, and tanks that Effie had snatched from the U.S. military days ago.
Of all these, Roland chose seven items worthy enough to be accepted as offerings.
"Let's start with the Cloak of Invisibility."
With a thought, a beam of divine light descended, taking the cloak into his realm.
[Log]: Your followers have held a devout sacrificial ritual.
[Log]: Your followers have offered a demi-god level Cloak of Invisibility.
[Log]: You have received 1,220,323 Faith Points.
[System]: Your offering received a critical reward. Quality increased a hundredfold.
[System]: You have received a sub-True God level Dark Magic Cloak.
[Dark Magic Cloak]: A cloak infused with mighty dark sorcery, granting its wearer power just beneath that of a True God.
"Power equal to a sub-True God of dark magic? Excellent." Roland muttered, pleased.
He already commanded white magic, and with this dark magic cloak, his forces could rival both sides. While the artifact was of little use to him directly as a True God, giving it to a follower would be like gaining a sub-True God ally.
"As for which ship girl should receive this, I'll decide later. For now, let's continue with the other offerings."
His gaze turned to the serum collected from Hulk. "Super serum, don't disappoint me."
This was the one prize he valued most, obtained through Effie's dealings and Laffey's extraction.
[Log]: Your followers have offered a Tier-8 Legendary Super Serum.
[Log]: You have received 1,310,323 Faith Points.
[System]: Your offering received a critical reward. Quality increased ten-thousandfold.
[System]: You have received a True God-level Sentry Serum.
[Sentry Serum]: Grants the user a one-hundred-percent chance of opening a "door" to another universe, obtaining the power of a million suns exploding, strength comparable to a Skyfather.
"It worked… I really got the Sentry Serum!" Even as a god, Roland could not hide his excitement.
The system had once told him of another way to grow stronger beyond faith gathering: the Devouring Law. By consuming equal or greater power, one could grow at a speed faster than faith collection. It was dangerous, but many cosmic entities like Dormammu and Galactus favored it.
Yet this serum was a gift without risk, essentially giving him a free sub-True God level boost. He almost drank it immediately, but with eight offerings left, he forced himself to wait.
"Later. I'll finish this ritual first."
The next was the carbon steel blade.
[Log]: Your followers have offered a Tier-6 Carbon Steel Blade.
[Log]: You have received 1,000,323 Faith Points.
[System]: Offering rewarded with a critical. Quality increased a thousandfold.
[System]: You have received a Tier-8 Legendary Carbon Steel Blade, with regeneration suppression boosted a thousand times.
Then came the military hardware:
A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, upgraded to Tier-8 Legendary. A light cruiser, upgraded to Tier-7. A heavy cruiser, Tier-7. A battleship, Tier-7. An M24 light tank, Tier-6. A Quinjet, Tier-7.
Together, these offerings earned him over fifteen million Faith Points, the equivalent of fifteen threads of divine power. Though far from the one thousand threads needed to advance, the speed of growth was much faster than before.
With the sacrifices complete, beams of divine light placed the warships, tank, and jet within his divine realm.
The ship girls already present rushed over.
"Wow, Commander, such a haul this time!"
"So many ships!"
"And even a tank and a fighter jet. Amazing!"
"Does this mean we'll have new sisters soon?"
"Hehe, I can't wait!"
Bismarck smiled softly. "I hope Tirpitz can come too, so she can stand beside me to serve you."
Roland chuckled. "I thought you might be bored, so I decided to bring in more companions. I assume none of you mind?"
"No problem, as long as there's enough wine," Laffey said, sipping lazily.
"Commander," Icarus blinked innocently, "will the new sisters also serve you?"
"Of course," Enterprise said slyly. "The Commander won't let anyone down."
Icarus frowned a little. "Then won't our turns get fewer?"
"Commander, I want to serve you every day, never apart," Enterprise said with emotion.
"Commander, I'll follow your will, but I hope my time with you is longer," even Bismarck admitted shyly.
Roland's grin turned mischievous. "Don't worry. Even with more sisters, your time won't be less."
"Why not?" they asked, puzzled.
He raised his brows. "Because you can all serve together. It used to be one-on-one, but now we can try one-on-two, one-on-three, or even half-day shifts."
The ship girls' faces immediately turned red.
"Commander, you're so bad!" they cried.
Roland laughed. "If men weren't bad, women wouldn't love them! Enough teasing, it's time to welcome new sisters."
He focused his will on the nuclear carrier. Blue rings of light wrapped around it, spinning rapidly until the ship vanished, replaced by a tall, white-haired woman with a mature and enchanting aura.
[Log]: You spent 100,000 Faith Points to awaken an 8th-tier Legendary Nuclear Carrier.
[Log]: Ship girl personality generated randomly. Awakening successful.
[Log]: You have gained an 8th-tier Legendary Ship Girl: Yorktown.
[System]: Critical reward triggered. Power increased ten-thousandfold. Yorktown upgraded with land-combat boots.
[System]: You have gained a demi-god level Ship Girl: Yorktown.
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1260 Words