Chapter 705: Pseudohuman Society

“But does a world like this have any meaning?”

If they really built a society of Pseudohumans, it would be no different from a line of code typed on a computer.

What would be the point of letting such a society function?

“At the very least, no one here would ever betray you.”

“Humans are a vile species. They don’t deserve a god like you.”

The Pseudohumans spoke with nothing but reverence for Loren, but he knew it meant nothing.

They revered him not because they truly worshipped him, but because it was part of their fundamental programming. Gabriel had written their reverence for Loren into their code. They never considered whether it made sense. They simply obeyed.

“If you think our disguises aren’t convincing enough, that’s all right.

“As we replace more and more people, we’ll gradually evolve. Once we’ve completely replaced all of humanity, we’ll be indistinguishable from humans. You can rest assured.”

“But you still won’t be human…”

Even if Loren said something like that, these Pseudohumans wouldn’t care. No matter how much anyone insulted them, they had no feelings at all.

“Forget it. Stop spreading. My orders take precedence over Gabriel’s, right?”

“Yes. When your orders conflict with Gabriel’s, we will obey yours first.”

“Good. Then that settles it.

“How many Pseudohumans are here now?”

“At present, there are only enough to make up a few families. We planned to keep spreading, and soon we would have filled the whole city.

“Many Pseudohumans haven’t disguised themselves yet.”

As they spoke, many eerie black figures crawled out through the cracks in the cake shop. Each had something that could barely be called a face.

They did their best to make their faces resemble humans, but the harder they tried, the more disturbing they looked.

“Fine, I’m leaving. Don’t spread any further.”

The sight of these things made Loren feel physically ill, so he hurriedly pulled Anna away.

The Pseudohumans had caused Loren plenty of trouble before. If Movila hadn’t suddenly come to his aid, they might really have caught him off guard.

Even as he felt disgusted, Loren was also considering what the Pseudohumans could be used for.

He could have them impersonate some high-ranking officials to gather information for him, but that wouldn’t be much use.

That information wouldn’t do him much good. The only ones Loren had to worry about now were the Orthodox Gods. That wasn’t somewhere a high-ranking official could get access to, and Pseudohumans couldn’t replace Angels either. If he really wanted them to take an Angel’s place, Gabriel would have to do it herself.

There was no point in replacing ordinary people. If Loren wanted information, he could just break in and interrogate someone. There was no need to send Pseudohumans.

“Do you think the Pseudohumans could impersonate us and draw enemy fire?”

Anna had come up with one possible use for them, and Loren considered whether it would work.

“It’s possible, but there’s not much point. We’ve done a good job hiding our tracks, and the Church really doesn’t have time to deal with us.

“Especially after I demonstrated Heavenly Fire. The Church is even less willing to provoke us now.

“With my mobility, I could wipe out a country in the time it takes to eat a meal. The Orthodox Gods really don’t have many ways to deal with me.

“Their focus is on the Divine War. They have to win it and become higher-level gods if they want to stand against me.

“But…”

Loren changed tack and continued:

“After everything’s settled, we could put some Pseudohumans among the officials. Pseudohumans wouldn’t be corrupt.

“Until we figure out some other way to govern humanity, we can make temporary use of them.

“But that’s all for later. There’s no point thinking about it now.”

After leaving the cake shop, Loren took Anna around to have a look. The Pseudohumans had already taken over many places, and just like the ones in the cake shop, they obeyed Loren without question.

Loren couldn’t be bothered to tell them one by one, so he simply had the Pseudohumans pass his plan along to each other.

“With all these Pseudohumans here, this place should get back on its feet soon. At least it won’t look like a dead city anymore.”

The Pseudohumans were only pretending and imitating, but they were still getting things done.

The ones disguised as farmers went out to work the fields, while those disguised as laborers set about repairing houses. The Pseudohumans really were gradually making things better here.

Loren and Anna stayed out until the afternoon before heading back. They hadn’t actually been out that long, since it had already been noon when Loren woke up.

They got back just in time for dinner, and Loren took the opportunity to tell the others about the Pseudohumans.

The Pseudohumans posed no threat to Loren and the others now. Even if they disobeyed his orders, not one person there could be replaced by a Pseudohuman.

“Pseudohumans aren’t so bad. At least they’re better than certain humans.”

Laila made a sarcastic remark. During the time Loren had been away, she had traveled around and witnessed quite a few things.

As a result, her disgust for certain humans had reached a whole new level.

Just because Loren had taken in the Witches, people had instantly erased all his contributions from their minds, even though he had saved them so many times.

The other Witches agreed with Laila. They could accept being shunned themselves, but they would never accept Loren being slandered.

No one there was particularly opposed to the Pseudohumans, especially after learning that Seraphina was Gabriel.

In that case, the Pseudohumans could be considered their own people.

Unfortunately, the Pseudohumans didn’t seem able to provide Loren with faith, so he wasn’t sure whether they would be considered fuel for the Chariot card. In the end, he decided not to use the Chariot card lightly.

After dinner, Loren started studying the Tarot cards. The more Tarot cards he obtained, the more complete the musical score hidden behind them became.

Before long, Loren had filled in more of the score than he had last time.

It still wasn’t complete, but it might produce some remarkable effect. Loren planned to have all the Witches learn it, just in case.

Loren put the score away, intending to have the Witches memorize it when the time came.

The score was too dangerous. If it got out, it could easily cause some kind of crisis.

“Good evening, Master Mentor.”

Just as Loren was about to go to bed, Anna gently pushed open his door and walked in.

“…”

Loren said nothing. Anna’s reason for coming was obvious. She had even specially changed into a new pair of white stockings.

But this time, she didn’t get started right away. Instead, she first called Reflection Naclis out of Loren’s shadow.

“What are you doing?”

Loren was at a loss for words. The two of them had already crossed that line with him, but even so, he still wasn’t used to this.

“With you and me, sisters fighting side by side, what enemy could possibly withstand a single round?”

Anna shouted a line from a Three Kingdoms card game and charged at him with Reflection Naclis.

This time, Anna had also brought a camera and took a group photo of the three of them...