What Do You Mean I Have To Comprehend Dao As A Mortal God?

Olivia and I showed up at the campsite where the bunny girls, or the Bunarfs, had settled themselves into.

As expected, there wasn’t enough space in the buildings for all of them so there were a few who ended up camping out in tents in the area outside.

At least they still managed to fit everyone within this space so that’s good.

It seems like there were already a few of them up and about though most of them were just looking around the area, probably because they didn’t get a chance to do it last night.

Maylene and Sagia approached us as we got to the edge of the campsite, as though they were already expecting us.

”Good morning,” I greeted them.

Both of them waved at me enthusiastically.

”Good morning!”

”Good morning, Qing! Olivia!”

”How are things here?” Olivia asked, eyeing the campsite behind them.

Sagia made a face, ”It’s definitely different from what we’re used to... This... Sky? Is that what it’s called?”

Maylene nodded, ”It’s so high!! We can jump all the way up and still not hit the ceiling! And there’s light! The... Sun? Right? The sun is so shiny!”

”Please do not look directly at the sun. It will damage your eyes...” I warned them.

Maylene giggled, ”Ehehe~ It’s alright Qing, Olivia already warned us yesterday with the introductory video so we know.”

Oh good.

But the fact that they included that in the video meant that there were other worlders who have done it before...

Sagia then looked around, ”So... This island is supposed to belong to your country’s Mortal God, right? Are we going to meet them?”

I realised that Olivia must have told them about my situation but did not reveal my identity to them for now.

Olivia shook her head, ”Unfortunately, the identity of our Mortal God is a national secret. You might get the chance to meet them eventually after the island is secured.”

”Right, right. They’re supposed to be busy dealing with those Rock M-- I mean... Those Anomalies, right?”

Oh? For her to call it that, they’re already doing their best to integrate with us I see.

Olivia nodded, ”There are other portals as well and those need to be dealt with. But there’s no need for you all to worry about that of course. That is if...”

Maylene grinned and puffed up her chest, ”Don’t worry, Olivia! We aren’t people who would forget about our benefactors!! The plan is to turn this island into a base of operations that is worthy for the Mortal God, right? You can leave that to us! Once we prospect the island, we can figure out what we can work with!”

Olivia cleared her throat, ”Ahem... I will have to warn you that there are certain parts of the island that need to remain untouched. They’re meant to be sanctuaries or protected areas for wildlife. I will give you a map of where we are allowed to exploit and expand.”

Sagia nodded, ”We understand. For a place like this... It’s literally paradise isn’t it? And the Mortal God has granted us the privilege of living on this island as well. We would need to be completely out of our mind to even think about tarnishing it. Although... I have to ask... Where would we get our materials?”

Olivia pointed in the direction of the mainland, ”Do you see the land across the sea? That’s the mainland of our country. We would send over the required building materials once you give me the list of materials you need.”

Both bunny girls widened their eyes.

”Wait... You’re telling me... That this place isn’t the entire country?”

”No? It’s just a small island off the coast of the country itself. I believe that was highlighted in your introduction, was it not?”

”I... I thought this was the mainland... I even thought that place across from us was just some kind of illusion!”

Hmm... I guess for them who had always lived underground, the idea that there’s land across a large body of water might be alien to them... Well, they’ll get used to it I suppose?

I know there’s other civilisations who come from planets where they didn’t have large bodies of water too and it took time for them to adjust as well.

Maylene shuffled excitedly, ”So... So... Will we be building the base here?”

Olivia shook her head, ”We have another location set aside for that. Bring whatever tools and people you need to mark out the place and meet me here.”

The two bunny girls ran off excitedly, disappearing into one of the buildings and leaving me alone with Olivia.

”Where are we planning to build the base?” I asked.

”Technically, it would involve the whole island as we plan to also house support personnel here. But if my Lord is asking about where you would be spending most of your time at... We intend to make use of Kias Island.”

Oh, that part...

So first thing’s first... This place is actually a combination of four islands that had been expanded and connected together through land reclamation to form what we call the Southern Islands cluster.

Namely, we have St John’s Island which is the western most island and it connects to Lazarus island to the north east through a land bridge between them.

Lazarus island is in turn connected to Pulau Seringat via a sand bank which practically turns them into a single large landmass by itself.

Then to the north west lies Kias island which is a triangular shaped island that was reclaimed from the sea to form a relatively flat piece of land and connected to Pulau Seringat through a land bridge as well.

That last island was the one that Olivia apparently wants to build the main base on.

Before the portal appeared on the island, this place used to be a holiday camp and an aquaculture research centre but they were abandoned shortly after the portal appeared.

Thankfully, it never got to the point of a rift breakout and I’m here to make sure that it would be permanently closed this time.

”Is this really alright though? I know I’m a Mortal God and everything but... Giving me an entire island? That’s a lot of land you know?”

Olivia shook her head, ”If I may be allowed to be honest, my Lord... There’s, of course, several expectations that are tied to giving this island to you.”

That’s not surprising...

I nodded at her to go ahead.

She lifted her index finger, ”The first is, of course, the expectation that you will clear out that rift. After all, the island would remain unusable if it is not cleared.”

Well... That makes sense I guess?

She lifted up a second finger, ”The second is a little unofficial but it’s still something that is expected of us. Remember how part of our plan is to basically only hire people that are from other worlds instead of our own?”

I sucked in a breath when I realised what she was suggesting, ”Wait... Really? They’re going to use this island to house the other worlders?”

She nodded, ”Essentially, yes. Or at least the idea was to move a portion of the population here to free up space.”

”Wait... I thought we didn’t have a housing problem to begin with since most of the foreigners have returned to their own countries?”

”That is when we didn’t have a Mortal God, my Lord... And now that we do...”

”Ah... I see... We’re expecting foreign investors to return here... And our government wants them to stay if possible... Which means we would also need more space...”

”That’s right, my Lord. And I believe you know that this island isn’t exactly developed for long term residence...”

”They want me to develop it for them? I don’t even have the know-how or resources though?”

”Oh but we do, my Lord... We have something on this very island that we can make use of to gain a lot of resources to develop it.”

I smacked my palm with my fist, ”The Mana Crystals...”

”Yes, my Lord. We would be trading the Mana Crystals for building materials and resources that we will need to develop this island. And we already have a work force in the form of the Bunarfs. And if there are other worlders who wish to be under your permanent employment, they would also join that same work force as well.”

I see...

I gave her an impressed look, ”You’ve worked hard.”

She bowed her head slightly, ”You honour me, my Lord. This is just what is expected of me... After all... I am your first Guardian.”

Hmm? Something tells me that she’s going to wear that title as a form of badge of honour now...

I didn’t get to ask her about it as Sagia and Maylene soon returned with a handful of other bunny girls in tow.

Sagia hopped in front of us excitedly, ”We’re ready! Let’s go, let’s go!”

Right... Let’s take them there and see what they can do.