In the steampunk world, ordinary people suddenly experienced an illusion, as if the world had instantly become unfamiliar, differing from the past beyond their imagination.
Firstly, the emergence of werewolves triggered a wave of mysticism across various countries. Mystical clubs sprouted like mushrooms after rain, and mysteriously, several cults worshipping vampires and werewolves appeared.
They claimed that this world would eventually be destroyed, with werewolves or vampires becoming the future rulers.
For certain considerations, the authorities did not completely ban these groups, seemingly intending to use them as bait to see if they could catch something bigger.
If these were considered minor issues, then something more directly concerning was the rapid deterioration of public security.
Frequent appearances of metahumans, coupled with some gossip tabloids’ malicious reporting, caused many people to develop the illusion that “the apocalypse is coming soon.” Criminals reveled in the chaos, and indeed, some discovered reincarnators violently resisting authority, causing the society’s security to deteriorate rapidly.
Religious groups like the Church of Redemption happily noticed that more and more confused souls were seeking their salvation.
Regarding this situation, Wu Ming remained calm, merely increasing the number of priests being trained but otherwise unmoved.
After all, the social unrest was clear to him. He knew quite well that neither the Kingdom nor the Federation’s military or city halls had fallen into chaos, indicating that those in power still firmly held control.
So who would be foolish enough to stick their head out and become a target?
As for turning members of parliament or the prime minister into reincarnators, he hadn’t even considered it.
After all, both the Golden Oak Kingdom and the Federation had mature administrative systems. Naturally, their leaders were extremely busy managing state affairs. If they suddenly disappeared for several days as reincarnators, it would cause massive political earthquakes and prompt the parliament to initiate votes for their removal.
What the world certainly didn’t lack were bureaucrats eager to become president or prime minister.
In contrast, there remained some hope of infiltration in the Pandorn Empire or the royal family of the Golden Oak Kingdom.
Even so, at most, half of the Pandorn Empire could be controlled, while the Golden Oak Kingdom’s imperial family was as powerless as a rubber stamp.
But why only half of the Pandorn Empire? Because pushed by revolutionaries, it was nearly finished, with half of its territory already lost, and the remaining half shared between the emperor and bureaucrats. Such power wasn’t worth having.
Wu Ming now occupied the dominant trend. As long as he continued developing systematically, nothing could stop his rise. He treated ordinary people equally, indifferent to their affairs, like straw dogs in the eyes of heaven and earth. He certainly wouldn’t grant even a chance to the Pandorn emperor.
“Speaking of which… once the current Primordial God Space upgrades again, it will automatically obtain primal energy from the world and the chaotic source sea. The spiritual energy of ordinary people will only be a minor supplement, no longer essential…”
Wu Ming silently pondered.
How could the Primordial God Space be constrained by others? Currently, developing the church still required believers’ spiritual energy to sustain the entire space’s development. However, after the next upgrade, the demand for faith power wouldn’t be so urgent anymore.
He had a premonition that this day wouldn’t be far off.
“Your Holiness!”
At this moment, the door opened, and Carter and Lina came together, their expressions very serious: “The Purple Goldflower Federation has sent an invitation, hoping you will go there to preach!”
“Oh?”
Wu Ming raised his eyebrows: “Is this information reliable?”
“This intelligence comes from the Dewey family, absolutely reliable! The notice has already been sent to our branch church there. Formal diplomatic documents will soon arrive!”
Carter appeared quite excited: “This is a great opportunity to spread the glory of our Lord!”
“Haha… Carter, do you really think so?”
Wu Ming’s face showed no excitement.
How the Church of Redemption had developed was something the Pope understood best. Its foundation lay in the Golden Oak Kingdom, where believers had already surpassed the million mark, and its influence had expanded to unimaginable proportions, even drawing unified hostility from many established religions.
In the Purple Goldflower Federation, although some priests had preached, attracted believers, and built several churches, its influence had not yet reached the level seen in the Golden Oak Kingdom.
Yet even so, Wu Ming had received no invitations from the Golden Oak Kingdom’s royal family.
This alone was enough for Wu Ming to judge that there must be some hidden agenda.
Still… a formal invitation from the Federation was the best opportunity for any religion to gain fame. Any Pope receiving such an invitation would have to consider it carefully.
“Your Holiness, could there be something wrong?”
For the current Carter, the Redeemer was his god, and the Pope, as the earthly representative of the deity, was undoubtedly the incarnation and will of the god.
Even if Wu Ming said the planet was square, he would believe it without hesitation.
“There probably isn’t a major conspiracy, considering it’s an official document. If I encountered any misfortune, it would be equivalent to slapping the entire Purple Goldflower Federation in the face…”
Wu Ming smiled lightly: “Such a good opportunity might just be a test. Accept it!”
“I understand!”
Both Carter and Priestess Lina bowed: “If that’s the case, for Your Majesty’s safety, please be sure to bring Bob and the Punishment Corps!”
Although they also knew that the current Steven was unfathomable, almost like those legendary saints, even allowing the Pope to be startled would be their sin as priests.
When it came to dealing with danger, how could the Pope personally intervene?
…
Almost simultaneously, in the Purple Goldflower Federation’s Office for Supernatural Phenomena Handling.
Lucius’s hair was disheveled, his eyes full of bloodshot veins, as he slammed a file onto the desk: “This target is suspicious!”
Professor Luther opened the case file, revealing a very clear front photo—the very appearance of Wu Ming in this world!
“Steven Stralin! A citizen of the Golden Oak Kingdom, born in Yinchao City, studied at Binfu Business University, currently serving as the Pope of the Church of Redemption…”
Professor Luther pushed up his glasses: “Quite an extraordinary background!”
“Not only that! After we recruited reincarnators, many things are no longer mysteries!”
Lucius said solemnly: “For example… in this world, besides reincarnators, there are also supernatural beings passed down from ancient times. Moreover, the priests of the Church of Redemption all possess ‘divine magic’…”
“Divine magic?”
Professor Luther was puzzled: “Is this the reason you previously asked about true gods?”
“Exactly!”
Lucius nodded: “In the Golden Oak Kingdom, there was an incident where a reincarnator mistakenly believed that those Redemption priests were reincarnators, thus exposing themselves…”
“This is really… ridiculous!”
Professor Luther muttered.
“Indeed… the reincarnator’s fate wasn’t very good, and those friends who wanted to avenge him suffered the same fate… This sufficiently demonstrates the enormous power of the Church of Redemption, which is undoubtedly a gathering of supernatural beings—an extremely dangerous organization!”
Lucius slapped the table: “And this Pope Steven is the most dangerous one of all!”
“My informant within the Dewey family has already sent intelligence, the detector you developed, teacher, has no effect on this Steven, but any priest can make it go off the charts…”
“Wait a minute!”
Lucius originally wanted to say more, but Professor Luther immediately interrupted: “Why didn’t you inform me of such important intelligence earlier?”
“Because you were conducting a more important experiment at that time!”
Lucius scratched his head. Actually, he feared that if Professor Luther went crazy and devoted himself entirely to modifying the detector, several important tasks at the research institute would come to a standstill.
“This is impossible…”
Indeed, upon hearing this, Professor Luther’s face was already full of confusion, pulling at his hair: “The detector goes off the charts? Is it because the X-factor concentration of the other party is too strong? Should we increase the scale or approach it from other aspects?”
“Alright, alright, Professor, we can think about the project after returning!”
Lucius waved the file of Steven in his hand: “What do you think? Are you interested in him?”
“What? Do you plan to deal with this Pope just like those senior advisors?”
Although Professor Luther had previously been just a researcher, he was certainly not a fool.
The other party was the Pope of a major religion in the Golden Oak Kingdom. The Federation couldn’t openly do anything to him. Furthermore, even within the Federation, he had many “good friends.”
“Professor, don’t you want to study him?”
Lucius’s gaze was burning, as if containing flames.
“Of course, I’m very interested!”
Professor Luther pushed up his glasses: “But what excuse do you plan to use to convince your superiors? Just because he is a powerful supernatural being, should we take action against him?”
“I think this Steven is quite mysterious; perhaps he is deeply connected to that Primordial God Space!”
Lucius took a deep breath, revealing his final guess.
“Why do you have such a thought?”
This time, Professor Luther was genuinely surprised.
“I collected all available reincarnator data and found that although they differ in age, gender, and birthplace, the earliest among them became reincarnators only a year ago!”
Lucius stared into Luther’s eyes: “At that time, Steven suddenly began to change, claiming to have received divine inspiration and establishing this Church of Redemption. Doesn’t this make you think of something? Perhaps… he was among the earliest reincarnators and successfully used the power obtained from the Primordial God Space to develop his church in the secular world! The timeline is just too coincidental!”
“Pity…”
A glimmer of sharpness flashed in Professor Luther’s eyes, soon fading: “It’s all just speculation, without a shred of evidence…”
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