Chapter 365: [Church of Truth]
Everyone was stunned by Nate’s proposal.
Jura, shocked, asked, “You want to pardon Hades?”
After a moment’s thought, he realized it wasn’t a bad idea.
“Hades’s strength rivals that of the Four Heavenly Kings. As a combat asset, he’d be invaluable. I agree…”
“Hold on!” Wolfheim interrupted Jura’s agreement. “Hades is indeed powerful, but how can we ensure he’ll follow orders after being released?”
Hyberion nodded in agreement. “It’s a valid concern. Keeping him locked up is also troublesome.”
Nate, resting his chin on one hand, replied nonchalantly, “Nirvana’s transformation is irreversible. You can rest assured.”
Even he couldn’t reverse the effects of Nirvana, though theoretically, Reverse Magic might work.
“Let me take responsibility for him. I’ll ensure everything goes smoothly.”
Nate concluded, “Let’s put it to a vote.”
Ur, acting as chairperson, took charge.
“Let’s vote on the proposal to release Hades. A majority vote will pass the motion. Those in favor, raise your hand.”
Within seconds, the results were clear.
Nate and Makarov raised their hands, as did Warrod, Hades’s old friend.@@novelbin@@
Jura hesitated briefly but ultimately raised his hand as well.
Four votes in favor.
Ur silently noted that this was essentially Nate’s “one-man show.” With her own vote as chairperson, they had a majority of five.
She proceeded, “Those opposed, raise your hand.”
Wolfheim immediately raised his hand, but no one joined him.
“And the remaining two abstain?”
Ur nodded and declared, “Four in favor, one against, two abstentions. The motion to release Hades is approved.”
Wolfheim sighed. “If something goes wrong, Nate, you’ll bear full responsibility.”
“Nothing will go wrong,” Nate said confidently. “Now, let’s move on to the next topic. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home and sleep.”
Hyberion turned to Nate. “About Tartaros—did you find their base?”
Nate opened Magic Net and projected a map, revealing the moving Underworld Island.
“Here it is.”
Jura smiled. “Impressive, Nate. Now that we know their location, let’s act immediately!”
What’s the rush? It’s the middle of the night, Nate thought.
Makarov, ever cautious, suggested, “We should gather intelligence first. A hasty attack could lead to unforeseen consequences.”
Wolfheim, his temper flaring, dismissed the idea.
“No need. Tartaros is an ancient dark guild. The only reason they’ve survived this long is their ability to hide.”
Unlike Grimoire Heart and Oración Seis, Tartaros had existed long before the first wizard guild, Magia Dragon, was founded.
After much debate, the group decided to act in two days, allowing time to prepare.
The discussion shifted to Grimoire Heart. With its members reduced to Jellal and two of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, that group was no longer a significant threat.
The council unanimously agreed to focus all efforts on Tartaros.
With the meeting adjourned, Nate left first, followed closely by Ultear.
“What are you doing with all that negative energy you’ve been collecting?” she asked, linking her arm with his and smiling slyly.
“Converting it into curse energy. Want to learn? Curse techniques are much harder than magic to master.”
“I’d like to try,” Ultear replied. She then smiled playfully. “Want to come to my house tonight?”
Ultear’s house, a luxurious mansion near the council headquarters, had been vacant for nearly six months since she joined Fairy Tail.
The two arrived and found the house covered in dust. They spent half an hour cleaning it before Ultear stretched and said, “I’m going to take a bath. Want to join me?”
Nate declined, pouring himself a glass of water and settling on the couch. He opened the Magic Net backend and started coding.
After a long day, coding felt almost relaxing. Nate joked to himself, When did writing code become entertainment?
This time, he was creating something important: [The Church of Truth].
Using the power of the Gate of Truth, he was developing a simple AI that would function like a searchable database, similar to an encyclopedia.
Followers could ask the AI questions. Depending on their accumulated faith points, the AI would provide answers based on the cost determined by the Gate of Truth.
Nate set the exchange rate at 1 star of magic power = 100 faith points.
If the cost of a question exceeded a follower’s faith points, the AI would encourage them to pray and accumulate more faith.
After half an hour, Nate completed the program’s demo. It was basic but functional.
“Now there’s a problem,” Nate muttered. “How do I quantify faith?”
He currently had zero faith points to test the system.
Ultear, wrapped in a white towel, walked into the room, drying her hair.
“What’s up?” she asked, sitting beside Nate and glancing at the screen displaying [The Church of Truth].
“What’s this?”
“An artificial intelligence,” Nate replied.
“Artificial… intelligence?” Ultear tilted her head, intrigued by the unfamiliar term.
“It’s a program. You can ask it anything, and it’ll give you an answer—if you can pay the price. Want to try?”
Ultear accepted the demo and opened it. The interface was a simple chat screen.
“Anything?” she asked, curiosity gleaming in her eyes.
She typed a message:
Witch of Pain: “Hello, artificial intelligence.”
Church of Truth: “Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Nate sighed. “It’s not great at understanding natural language yet.”
Ultear grinned and typed again:
Witch of Pain: “Church of Truth, tell me, who is the most beautiful woman in the world?”
What do you think?
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