Chapter 691: Underestimation

The Bauhinia Federation, the capital.

Inside the Presidential Office.

A blizzard was blowing outside the window while the indoor heating was turned up to maximum, making people feel as if they were being steamed by hot air.

Outside the secretary’s office, a middle-aged man in his thirties to forties, wearing a black trench coat and with a stern expression, was waiting anxiously.

“I’ve told you how many times already!” several hours later, the office door opened and a presidential secretary walked out, “The President is very busy and has no time to listen to a special report by a mere police superintendent like you! You should go to your superiors!”

“I already did!” The middle-aged man, whose eyes were sharp as an eagle, spoke with urgency, “But our chief simply won’t listen to me, completely ignoring the intelligence we obtained at the cost of many of our comrades’ lives and injuries. Mar, you’re my best friend, you believe me, right? Just take a look…”

He eagerly displayed a large stack of documents. They detailed various supernatural incidents and terrifying destruction that occurred during criminal pursuits. On the top page were rumors about the Three-Eyed Cult and a lion creature, along with a photograph of the lion’s corpse.

“Lucius, you indeed are my best friend, otherwise do you think you’d be able to sit here so calmly?” Mar shook his head, his tone urgent, “But you must understand, I have a bright future ahead of me. Going to the secretary general for you is already the limit. What do you expect me to do? Go directly to the President and say there’s a guy who wants to tell you about some ‘non-human existence’… Ha! Do you want me to lose my job?”

“Sorry…” Knowing it was a bit much to ask, Lucius blushed slightly.

“Besides…”

Mar flipped through the documents he had brought, “The evidence is insufficient. S-class criminals naturally possess strong abilities, and there’s no proof linking them to supernatural powers… Look, this is just a lion, albeit a bit bigger than usual!”

“Damn it!” Lucius was quite frustrated, “Have you ever seen lion skin that bullets can’t penetrate? Unfortunately, this incident happened in the territory of the Golden Oak Kingdom, otherwise I would definitely bring that hide here to shut you up!”

“Alright! Alright!” Mar helplessly stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, “I’ve already reported for you. My boss made you wait until now and then asked me to inform you that he’s too busy. You can make another appointment! Sorry…”

“I’m sorry too!” Lucius knew how much pressure his friend was under. He said firmly, “But one day, you’ll realize I was right! The International Special Investigation Agency is no longer sufficient to deal with the increasingly frequent appearances of non-human entities. We need a more powerful and faster-responding organization!”

“You can talk about all this after you climb to the top of the Special Investigation Agency!”

Mar was somewhat speechless.

“I’m leaving now…”

Lucius remained silent for a moment, then walked out of the office, his figure disappearing into the heavy snowfall, looking somewhat desolate.

…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Amidst the heavy snowfall, Lucius arrived at a research institute on the outskirts of the capital.

This institute was not only very small in scale but also appeared quite dilapidated. The brass sign swayed precariously in the wind, showing a bit of greenish rust, and faintly revealing the words “Center for Abnormal Human Research.”

“Teacher, I’m back!”

Inside the institute, an old boiler roared noisily, making one worry that it might fall apart at any moment.

In the center of the laboratory, there was an elderly white-haired man intently staring through a microscope.

“Oh, it’s Lucius!” The old professor turned around, rubbing his eyes. His lab coat seemed to have not been washed for a long time, with a collar full of grime, but his spirit was excellent, “What you’ve brought this time is very valuable!”

He spoke with an enthusiastic tone, “This world is full of mysteries. Whether it’s the giant wolves in the Siberian forest, mermaids in the deep sea, or the metahumans among us, they all share a commonality—the trigger that induces their mutations and grants them supernatural abilities. I call it the X factor. Unfortunately, no experiment to date has proven the existence of the X factor, unless I can get a live specimen…”

“Sorry, Teacher!” Lucius said apologetically, “The lion creature from the Three-Eyed Cult this time was seized by the Golden Oak Kingdom!”

He felt particularly regretful, as this was the closest they had ever come to obtaining an abnormal sample.

“Our Bauhinia Federation has undergone a revolution and completely abolished the monarchy, advocating science and freedom…”

The old professor changed the subject, “Precisely because of this, we lag behind the Golden Oak Kingdom and the Pandorn Empire in recognizing the mysterious phenomena. Even religion can’t develop well here. This is a good thing for liberating people’s minds, but it also has its drawbacks…”

“You mean…” Lucius was startled, “The Golden Oak Kingdom also has specialized institutions researching the supernatural and receives official support?”

“I have several good friends, and we’ve exchanged some views on this topic through telegrams… From their occasional remarks, I get the feeling that the Golden Oak Kingdom is far ahead of us in this field of research!”

The old professor smiled bitterly, “Of course, it’s also possible that I’m just overthinking. After all, it hasn’t been many years since the Golden Oak Kingdom and our Federation ended their state of war, so mutual hostility is inevitable. Who made the International Special Investigation Agency, which claims to be an international inspector, set its headquarters in the Bauhinia Federation anyway?”

Lucius fell silent.

In this world, the three largest nations that first completed the steam revolution and industrialization, Pandorn and Golden Oak, are monarchies—one an empire and the other a constitutional monarchy. Only the Bauhinia Federation completely overthrew the corrupt rule of kings and became a beacon of freedom.

But at this time, in the context of many surrounding colonies and neighboring monarchies, even the people of the Federation themselves felt somewhat uneasy.

In a world full of madmen, the only sane person is often regarded as an outcast!

…

Almost at the same time, within the Golden Oak Kingdom.

“We are not completely ignorant of the supernatural world,” Wu Ming looked at the nobleman before him, his expression unreadable, showing neither joy nor worry, let alone concern or panic.

“He can hide his emotions to such an extent; even some old foxes in politics can’t match him!” thought Andarniel. Aloud, he said proudly, “Of course! The strength of the Kingdom is beyond what you can imagine now! Although those fools in the Bauhinia Federation keep shouting that our system is outdated and backward, what do those upstarts without historical depth know?”

“Our nobility and the monarchy, due to our long heritage, even after the catastrophe of the Dark Age, still have some understanding of supernatural powers. Although some people are skeptical, as long as there are believers, establishing a few research institutions is nothing…”

“With the support of the Kingdom’s machinery and the latest steam-powered computers, they have already made some discoveries.”

Andarniel paused here on purpose, looking at Wu Ming expectantly.

But to his surprise, Wu Ming merely said “Oh” indifferently, showing no reaction at all.

As for other anomalies, he didn’t know, but regarding his own side’s priestly divine magic, it was entirely based on mental power, with faith as the channel, granted by the Lord God Space to the priests.

The priests and paladins themselves were merely large signal receivers, with their physical condition slightly better than ordinary people, but until they reached a high level, they were still within the range of normal humans. Unless the Kingdom’s technology had advanced to a level comparable to Wu Ming’s housekeeper AI, otherwise, it would be a miracle if they could discover anything.

The domain of the mind was still beyond the reach of the material world at present.

However, if they did capture and dissect some vampires or werewolves, there was a good chance they might discover something.

“Alright, you’re really boring, Your Holiness!” Seeing that Wu Ming was completely unresponsive, like an impervious rock, Lord Andarniel could only surrender first, “I want to join the Church of Redemption. I wonder what conditions are required?”

“Oh? Why do you have this idea?” Wu Ming smiled.

“That’s naturally because this church seems to have a strong backing, and I’m also quite interested in the impressive physical strength of those paladins!” Andarniel gave a knowing, lewd smile like any man would, “Of course, I’ve heard from Carter that the priests have various amazing abilities later on. I want the light of the God of Redemption to shine upon my family. There’s no problem with that, right?”

No matter how wild and free-spirited he was, he was still a nobleman who had to consider his family and interests.

“So it seems… this Lord Andarniel might just be a test after all!” Wu Ming thought to himself, “Using a nobleman to test whether the church is genuine. Behind him, even if it’s not the entire kingdom, it must be some powerful noble family!”

But for him, this matter was not necessarily a bad thing.

Wu Ming’s greatest strength was that his “God of Redemption” was real, capable of protecting the souls of believers and bestowing divine powers on a large scale, something no other religion had yet achieved.

Another point was that his church’s doctrine and approval procedures were legitimate, making it open and aboveboard and unafraid of any investigation.

“Originally, I was thinking that after the church reached this scale, it was time to settle down, quietly accumulate strength, and consolidate the foundation. But now, if there is the backing of a major noble family, at least within the Golden Oak Kingdom, spreading the church freely won’t be a problem!”

After all, promoting a paladin was just a thought away for him.

Thinking thus, Wu Ming had already internally agreed, but he still said, “I personally would be very pleased with your joining, Lord, but the God of Redemption has a requirement—that you at least understand the doctrine. Can you do that?”

He did not require Andarniel to become a devout believer, but at least some superficial compliance, a level of general adherence, was necessary. This was the rule!