Before leaving work, the boss held an impromptu meeting.

The general content of the meeting was about the economic downturn, so the company needed to cut some expenses. The boss encouraged everyone to work from home and face the difficulties together. For employees working from home, the company would pay them according to the minimum wage standard of the city.

In simple terms, it meant that the company had no money and allowed everyone to stay at home, receiving the statutory minimum wage. As for when things would improve, it depended on luck.

Lu Yao was excited when he heard this.

This was perfect for his current situation.

As soon as the meeting ended, he hurriedly found the boss and expressed his willingness to work from home and stand with the company!

“What are you doing here?”

“This has nothing to do with you. Come to work on time every day.”

“Working from home is a policy for the elderly. As a young person, you need money for everything. What can you do with that minimum wage? Can you find a girlfriend? Can you buy a house?”

Boss Huang scolded him angrily, then immediately gave him an additional 300 yuan in salary and asked him to go to the finance department to collect it.

Afterwards, he earnestly said, “Lu, I also went through my youth. Don’t act impulsively. Persistence, persistence is victory. We all need to persevere!”

Lu Yao couldn’t help but laugh and cry.

What he was thinking was that working from home meant less money, but at least he wouldn’t starve. He would have more time to focus on the simulator.

Boss Huang thought he had lost his fighting spirit and wanted to take it easy.

In short, the boss didn’t give him the opportunity to work from home.

Lu Yao had no choice.

At least he got 300 yuan, which was not nothing.

After work, he happily bought two catties of pork ribs and ingredients, ready to cook them at home with a small fire.

…

In the kitchen, Xianrenqiu was busy.

Lu Yao sat in front of the computer, focusing on the simulator.

The underground battlefield in Dongdaolu was still sealed off, and the follow-up work had not been completed.

Lu Yao gave the order for Isabella to conduct further investigation.

She used “Mi Liu Qi Dao” to summon a black ball of the deceased from the ruins of the underground statue, and then began simultaneous translation.

“Master, Catalo said that the Thaumaturge used all the faith props to ignite the Fire of Faith, so there is no residue left.”

Lu Yao was not surprised.

The statues had self-destructed, so there was no reason for the other party to leave anything behind.

“As for the reason, Catalo is also unclear.”

“Catalo is not very intelligent and often cannot accurately understand the will of the gods. Most of the time, Catalo carries the statue and protects its safety.”

“The one really responsible for the affairs is Honer, who is smarter and wiser. Honer is another Apostle and the most capable assistant of the Thaumaturge. The strains and fungus people are all under his command.”

Lu Yao became alert.

– Where is Honer?

“When Aegir’s Fire fell, Honer died among the fungus people.”

That’s good then.

Apostle Catalo didn’t know much about the details of the Thaumaturge. His position under the Thaumaturge was similar to that of the Blood Knight under Lu Yao, both being direct executors.

Although Catalo’s data and abilities were not outstanding, his “Advanced Exemption” still made Lu Yao a little envious.

…

[Advanced Exemption Level 1]

There is a chance to avoid damage and a high probability of not being affected by magical abilities.

…

It was this ability that was triggered, allowing Catalo to luckily avoid the bombardment of Aegir’s Fire and escape underground with the statue.

Unfortunately, Lu Yao had used up all his Apostle imprints now.

With the current consumption of faith, unless there were individuals with special advantages, he didn’t consider increasing the number of Apostles for the time being.

The formation had to be strictly controlled.

Since he was already here, Lu Yao had Isabella come to the surface battlefield and summon Honer, who was like muddy sludge.

Honer provided new intelligence.

“…In the Shrine of the Whistleblower, the Thaumaturge ranks 19th, while the Skeleton God ranks 18th. They are the two weakest gods in the Shrine, so they were ordered by the Whistleblower to descend and enter this fragmented world.”

“After descending, the gods fell from the Temple of the Gods, so the Shrine also cannot obtain specific information from this side.”

“The Thaumaturge has a faith prop called the ‘One-Way Door,’ which can be used to send the key out of this world through low-level creatures, such as fungus people.”

“Because the key has not been found yet, Lord Thaumaturge has not activated this prop. Once opened, the door will be fixed in one position and cannot be moved, and it will be very conspicuous.”

Lu Yao had seen the one-way door in the Salt Pool Castle.

This special teleportation door only allowed exit and not entry, and had some restrictions.

Even the teleportation doors to the Golden Plains and the Black Abyss were the same. Once opened, the door would be fixed in place and unable to hide, making it easy to attract attention.

Unfortunately, the “One-Way Door” had already been destroyed by the Thaumaturge’s self-destruction.

“Master, when an Apostle loses their physical body, their souls gradually sink into the Sea of Farewell and can no longer be awakened.”

Isabella asked, “Should we persuade Honer and Catalo to be sent to Sanilo?”

Lu Yao’s eyes lit up.

He almost forgot about Sanilo, the retirement home for ghosts.

This was a good idea.

There was another round of chaotic code communication from Isabella’s side.

“…”She turned her face and knelt on one knee, “Sir, I’m very sorry. Gatero refuses to join… It claims to be an Apostle of the Old God and would follow the Old God even in death. It wants to go to the Sea of Dying, to perish together with the Old God.”

Lu Yao felt it was a pity.

He quite liked this earth elemental, but it turned out to be a die-hard Apostle. It just wasn’t meant to be.

“Horna, on the other hand, wishes to join you, sir.”

Isabella continued to relay, “It hopes to become your Apostle. Horna claims to be wiser than Gatero and has been more favored by the Old God’s artifacts in the past.”

Lu Yao frowned.

Was this a job competition?

It seemed that the higher the intelligence of individuals in the pixel world, the better they could judge the situation. Heroes of the wild, blood knights, snowmen, and earth elementals with lower intelligence were more pure, loyal, and dedicated.

Lu Yao rejected Horna, who had actively applied for the position.

He had no interest in someone who tried to elevate themselves by belittling their former companions. He even revoked Horna’s qualification to enter the ghost city of Sanilo, telling it to go back to the Sea of Dying for a remake.

……

Having dealt with the two gods sent by the “Whistleblower”, Lu Yao immediately started the next project.

This was a hidden danger that had existed since he started using the Simulator.

The God of the Forest.

Lu Yao mobilized the blood knights, snowmen, and skeleton Phileas, instructing them to lead a team of corruptors to conduct a deep excavation of the forest cabin in the underground of the western continent. They quickly dug a tunnel.

Phileas led the way with the Bone King, and Lu Yao locked his perspective on its head.

Upon entering the underground, the game interface switched to a completely new scene.

A cabin wrapped in tree roots appeared on the screen. The cabin was located in an underground cavern, built of stones, with a roof covered in soft yellow straw, and some moss and ivy growing on the walls.

Even though it was buried deep underground, everything around the cabin was full of life.

The stone house was labeled as “Forest Cabin”.

Lu Yao manually controlled the blood knight to move to the entrance, and a LV30 “Jungle Giant Lizard” rushed out from inside. He controlled the blood knight and easily knocked down the small monster.

The door slowly opened.

Lu Yao manipulated the blood knight to enter the cabin.

The screen switched again, showing an overhead view of the inside of the cabin.

A thick green leather book was floating in the room.

Underneath the book was a hammock, on which lay a woman in a black cloak. Her figure was hazy, more like a phantom.

It couldn’t be said that she looked like Isabella, but rather, she was exactly the same.

Even though the pixel resolution wasn’t clear, Lu Yao could tell at a glance.

As expected.

There was a direct connection between Isabella and the God of the Forest.

Lu Yao clicked on the flying green book.

It showed “Book of Memories”.

He clicked again, and the Book of Memories flew around in the air, like a large green butterfly, and the phantom of the woman on the ground disappeared without a trace.

The blood knight swung his sword at it, but it passed through the book, unable to cause any damage.

Was there a specific method to read the Book of Memories?

Lu Yao pondered.

Could it be that they wanted Isabella to read it? Then do something like a resurrection of the God of the Forest.

Read the book?

Read my ass!

Lu Yao directly cast a miracle.

Lightning!

The “Book of Memories” dodged under the power of the miracle, fleeing in panic.

Lu Yao increased his efforts.

The Forest Cabin was not spacious, and the Book of Memories had limited space to move. It was also bound by some rules and could not leave the cabin. The green book dodged back and forth, increasingly struggling.

Under the range bombardment of lightning, the Book of Memories finally crashed and fell, scattering into a pile of white paper. Most of the paper was burned to ashes by the lightning, and Lu Yao stopped just in time, leaving only three pages intact.

Lu Yao clicked on one of the papers.

The paper filled the screen, and words appeared on it.

“……At that time, I was not living in the forest, and was admired by a king and a prince at the same time.”

“They dueled for me. Seeing them fight each other, I was troubled, so I could only tell them that I loved neither men nor women, but only the gods.”

“How should I put it? The king and the prince always thought that my becoming a court wizard was a sign of my affection for them. If I had to say, I actually preferred the queen, who gave me a box full of love letters and poems.”

“Being admired and loved by too many people is also a kind of trouble.”

“In the end, I secluded myself in the forest, wanting to live a peaceful life. That’s how I became the Forest Witch. But people still came to sing for me, give me roses and nightingales, ask me to marry them, or want to marry me… Ah, sometimes they were so annoying that I turned them into frogs and sparrows.”

“This way, even if they continued to chirp their love, I wouldn’t be bothered, and everyone was happy……”

Lu Yao was completely baffled.

What the hell!

Was this the secret love diary of the Forest Goddess?