Chapter 739: The Protestant Faith

Caspar City.

Upon the ruins of the old city, a brand new Church of the God of Redemption was built.

Because preparations had started early, many of the original general believers had survived the great crisis. With stored supplies, they completed their emergence to the surface ahead of others.

At this time, a large crowd gathered inside the church, led by a priest wearing white robes, praying to the statue of the God of Redemption: “Omnipotent God… I have sinned! We are all sinners, and that’s why we must suffer in this world!”

Wu Ming performed miracles to relocate believers, naturally not treating everyone equally. Basically, fanatical and true believers were certainly moved into the main godspace, while the majority of general believers were merely directed to the underground shelters prepared by the Church of Redemption for refuge.

These general believers had always harbored doubts about the God of Redemption. Even when Wu Ming claimed he would send them into the divine kingdom, most of them likely did not believe him. Now, they faced the consequences.

When they first ventured outside to explore and saw the devastated world, they nearly broke down, soon overwhelmed by intense regret and remorse.

They regretted not following the path of the God of Redemption to the legendary divine kingdom, and now they truly had to suffer in a hellish world.

Under such a mindset, their faith strangely became more devout. They even elevated a priest who had failed the clergy examination to the position of pastor to lead their prayers.

Under their fanciful imaginations, they even came up with concepts like “original sin,” which even made Wu Ming shake his head in amusement.

“Omnipotent God of Redemption, you hold the authority of redemption; the divine kingdom is the final resting place for believers’ souls!”

“Believers who follow your path shall become holy, journeying with you to the divine kingdom, thus escaping hunger, disease, and pain… gaining eternal happiness!”

According to legend, the miracle-working Pope Steven relocated some believers into the divine kingdom through miracles, and then mysteriously disappeared along with several high-ranking church officials.

Although several senior priests expressed willingness to stay behind to shepherd the “lost sheep” for the God of Redemption, Wu Ming, considering their safety, resolutely refused.

After all, the faith power provided by ten general believers could not match that of a single true believer.

This naturally caused resentment among those who were “abandoned,” making it very normal for them to want to start something new.

Of course, they dared not abandon the faith of the God of Redemption because of the miracles, but they did modify many aspects of the Pope’s doctrines.

The most important theoretical weapon among the revised doctrines was the “original sin” theory.

In the new doctrine, humans were born sinful, which was why they had to suffer in this nuclear wasteland. However, if they were extremely devoted to the God of Redemption, their souls could ascend to the divine kingdom after death. Moreover, the saints would ride the Noah’s Ark, achieving bodily sanctification and journeying with their families to the divine kingdom.

— Unfortunately, Wu Ming’s influence on the Church of Redemption was too profound for later generations to completely overthrow his theories. They could only make additions to the original doctrines, trying to mix things in.

As for Wu Ming’s attitude toward this, he simply did not care.

After all, the essence of the church had already been completely moved into the main godspace. No matter how much the outside believers stirred, there was no need to worry.

Moreover, as long as the faith in the God of Redemption remained unchanged, they would still provide spiritual power, which, due to the arrival of the apocalypse, actually increased significantly in both quality and quantity.

“May your way be done on earth as it is in heaven!”

At the end, the self-proclaimed priest Jay piously concluded the praise.

“Excellent!”

Feeling the power coming from the void, forming several rune seeds within his body—these were the daily blessings granted as long as the priest prayed—Jay couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction: “I have received divine power from our God! Now that the Pope is gone, as the only priest, I am now the regional bishop of Caspar City!”

Although they had long planned to establish a new system, the methods were still very important.

Jay had grand ambitions and would not be foolish enough to completely overthrow the previous practices, thereby destroying his own foundation.

“Our Lord is indeed the true God! Such a disaster cannot affect Him at all!”

Several people nearby immediately showed delight: “Pastor Jay, have you received divine magic?”

“Indeed!”

Jay slightly raised his hand, casting a light spell that enveloped him in a mysterious and dignified aura.

At this moment, he felt not only the possession of basic low-level priest spells like the light spell and holy aura but also the ability to cast mid-level spells like healing minor injuries and group bravery.

Such divine favor, according to the previous standards of the church, had already reached the rank of a mid-level priest, qualifying him to be a regional bishop.

“If only I had been this devout back then, I probably wouldn’t have failed the priest exam!”

Jay sighed inwardly.

Previously, he had only been a general believer pretending to be sincere, naturally unable to deceive the true God during the priest examination.

Now, however, he truly believed in the God of Redemption, and his mindset had completely changed.

“My God, I am a sinner for doubting your authority! You are the only true God, the sole savior!”

Jay murmured inwardly. As the saying goes, to deceive others, one must first deceive oneself. He had now almost brainwashed himself with his own ideology.

Nevertheless, his ambition to seize the highest secular power within the church remained unchanged.

After all, the true God is one thing; the secular world is another!

The Pope Steven’s act of leaving the ordinary believers during the world crisis must have incurred the God’s displeasure! The divine favor and spells he now received were clear evidence!

Jay firmly believed in this without any doubt.

“Hail, Bishop!”

The leaders of the remaining general believers exchanged glances and immediately bowed in respect.

After some initial exploration, they also realized that the current situation of the world was quite grim, not only harsh in environment but also full of dangers.

In such circumstances, it was indeed impossible to do anything without the priest’s divine spells.

Jay had both the ability and the means, and now he had gained the recognition of the God of Redemption, making him a regional bishop quite naturally.

“Very well! Later, you all should go out and inform the believers of this news!”

Jay felt a slight excitement inside: “Roland, how is the reconnaissance of the city’s reserves going?”

“Most of Caspar City has been destroyed, with ruins and corpses everywhere. We must clean up and bury them quickly, or I fear an epidemic will break out!”

Roland was not actually a believer in the God of Redemption, but rather the leader of a prominent family in Caspar City. On the day of the disaster, he had brought his entire family, who had generously donated to the Church of Redemption, and thus secured the opportunity to enter the shelter,侥幸 surviving.

Of course, he had immediately asked Jay to baptize him and convert to the faith of the God of Redemption afterward.

“So, most of the buildings are uninhabitable?”

Jay furrowed his brow: “How about food supplies?”

“This is another issue we are facing!”

A man with a thick beard spoke up beside him, his voice booming like thunder, making the eardrums of those around him buzz.

“The food stored in the shelter has already been completely consumed, and I have seen some of the city’s supplies. Most of them are rotten, some are too radioactive, with the measuring instruments going off the charts. We dare not use them casually. The only things we have found are some wheat and canned food, which should be enough to sustain our entire shelter of believers for about half a year!”

“Half a year?”

Jay frowned even more deeply.

Although this period seemed long, looking at the vast dead forests and vegetation, it was clear that whether the current land could still grow crops was a huge question.

Once the supplies ran out and there was no follow-up, a great famine would be enough to destroy this small survivor camp.

“Have you checked all the large warehouses in the city?”

He looked at the bearded man: “I remember there should be quite a few warehouses and military supplies in the military district outside. After a while, once the church’s paladin order is re-established, we will go there to take a look!”

“Military warehouses?”

The senior members exchanged glances and all saw the greed in each other’s eyes.

Of course, what they were eyeing was not just food supplies, but also ammunition.

The whole world had undoubtedly been reshuffled. Although there were still many survivors, those who possessed power would certainly gain the most authority.

They had not yet made contact with the outside world and naturally did not know about the existence of the Hermit Society, which obviously did not have the manpower and resources to search every city.

If viewed from the perspective of God, one could see that across the dark land, tiny lights like fireflies flickered—these were the locations of survivor camps, yet they were separated from each other, making it difficult to make contact.

The incident in Dor City involving Shelver was actually a very rare occurrence.

…

“Hmm?”

Of course, what was happening here could not be hidden from Wu Ming.

If Jay knew that the God of Redemption he was now serving with complete devotion was actually Pope Steven himself, he would probably have a breakdown of some sort.

“Unexpected… those who were abandoned can still perform like this. But it makes sense. People are naturally changeable. After such a great upheaval, even those without faith would become devout…”

Through the temple and the statue, Wu Ming’s gaze instantly reached the square of the newly built temple in Caspar City.

“In the name of God, Jay has become a priest and received divine favor, thus becoming the regional bishop!”

Under the manipulation of a few, Jay donned the white robe and crown, accepting the congratulations and cheers of the believers. In reality, however, the scale and ceremony had far exceeded the norms for a regional bishop.

In secret, a boy about sixteen or seventeen years old watched this scene with clenched teeth: “The teachings and grace of God are absolutely not like this. These are false believers, devils who have infiltrated!”

This scene also caught Wu Ming’s attention. He spoke in a calm voice: “Foolish people, trying to change the doctrine and seize power, unaware that the seeds of new unrest have already been sown…”