Bishop

"That made sense..."

Chen Fan pondered for a moment, then nodded and muttered softly.

"What made sense?"

Gao Yuan looked at Chen Fan in confusion and asked loudly in his booming voice, "What kind of mystical nonsense are you muttering about now, kid?"

Chen Fan's expression stiffened.

Perhaps the long-lost sense of ease he felt around Gao Yuan had made him lower his guard without realizing it, or perhaps he had been too absorbed in thought. Either way, he had accidentally spoken his thoughts aloud.

Chen Fan did his best to maintain a calm expression. "Nothing. Just keep talking."

"Oh..."

Gao Yuan raised a hand and scratched his buzz cut, brushing off the irrelevant question. "I was sitting on the Holy Seat then, and I put on that Holy Crown."

Chen Fan burst into a fit of coughing. "Cough, cough, cough..."

Holy Seat. Holy Crown.

Fuck.

This church and its so-called god really had no shame when it came to glorifying themselves!

"Chen Fan, are you all right?" Gao Yuan looked concerned. "Haven't you recovered yet? Want me to mention it to the Bishop later?"

Chen Fan found it difficult to accept Gao Yuan's enthusiasm for a moment and waved his hands repeatedly in refusal. "No, no, no. Just keep going."

"Oh... After I put on the Holy Crown, my head started spinning, like I was flying through the sky..."

That confirmed it. A common flaw in cheap brain-computer interfaces: the bioelectric signals were not precise enough, so it was easy to overdo the stimulation. Dizziness was only one of its milder side effects.

"Then... then I heard an ethereal female voice calling to me. Right after that, I saw the Goddess. She stood above the God Kingdom and reached out her hand to me..."

They first used audio signals to identify the brain-computer interface user's baseline brainwave frequency. After completing basic frequency modulation, they connected the visual signals. This was also a standard method for cheap brain-computer interfaces.

"..."

Seeing Gao Yuan remain silent, his face full of longing, Chen Fan gave a light cough and interrupted his reverie. "And then?"

"And then? There was no then!"

"That was all there was to the first two Divine Decrees." Gao Yuan looked at Chen Fan as if it were obvious. "But I heard the Third Divine Decree is more important. There might be more content this time."

The CGI animation was not finished yet, so it had to be released in installments.

Yi gave a concise translation and summary.

Chen Fan: "..."

Honestly, he had never been this speechless in his life.

Just as Chen Fan was about to pry more information out of Gao Yuan, the tightly shut metal door opened again.

Three God Chosen—two men and one woman—walked into the room one after another, their expressions solemn.

Behind them, three Black Robe Priests bowed and withdrew from the room in sequence, then reached out to close the metal door.

Unlike Chen Fan and Gao Yuan, the clothes worn by these three God Chosen were exceptionally refined.

Fine golden threads embroidered mysterious patterns onto their platinum robes, giving them an aura of holiness from within.

Perhaps noticing Chen Fan's scrutinizing gaze, one of the God Chosen revealed a perfectly measured smile and nodded at him.

That probably counted as a greeting.

"Tch..."

An extremely faint snort came from beside him.

Chen Fan looked at Gao Yuan in surprise. His face was full of disdain.

Although Gao Yuan's attitude toward the Black Robe Priests was questionable, he truly was an easygoing person.

It was difficult to imagine that Gao Yuan would show such obvious disgust toward the other three, who were also God Chosen.

Chen Fan buried his confusion deep in his heart.

The current situation was somewhat chaotic, forcing him to abandon his original plan to extract information.

What a pity!

What a perfect opportunity to gather intelligence!

Before Chen Fan could lament for long, the tightly shut metal door opened once more, and a clergyman in a purple robe slowly entered the room.

Compared with the black robes worn by the priests, this purple robe was far more magnificent.

Gilded threads embroidered intricate patterns across the deep-purple garment, adding several degrees of nobility to the purple robe.

"Bishop."

Gao Yuan immediately bowed to the clergyman in the purple robe.

A Bishop!

Chen Fan was startled. As he followed suit and bowed, he firmly committed this crucial information to memory.

According to what Carlisle had said before, there should be an Archbishop above a Bishop. It was simply unclear whether there was a position like a pope above the Archbishop.

Just as Chen Fan silently reviewed the various pieces of information he had obtained earlier, the Purple Robe Bishop suddenly reached up and removed his hood.

Chen Fan's pupils rapidly dilated!

A profoundly shocking sight appeared before his eyes!

It was a completely mechanized, smooth head!!

The degree of mechanization in that head far surpassed that of the White Robe Deacon Carlisle and the Black Robe Priest Quinton!

Skin, eyes, nose, ears, mouth...

Every organ had been replaced by a corresponding mechanical device!

Under Chen Fan's gaze, the Bishop's mechanical lips opened and closed, revealing a metal mouth cavity within.

"God Chosen Esteemed Ones, may the Lord be with you."

The voice was synthesized through mechanical vocal cords, carrying a heavy, stiff metallic quality.

Th-this was really a human?

Could he fucking be a robot?!

Looking at the mechanical head before him, which closely resembled a robot, Chen Fan could not help but wonder.

Did that mechanical head truly still contain the brain of a Carbon-Based Lifeform?

Was it really not a CPU controlling its movements?!

This unit just conducted a basic observation. The target still breathed, but his breathing rate was far lower than that of a normal human.

At the same time, infrared observation showed that his chest had not undergone mechanical modification.

Therefore, the target still fell within the category of Carbon-Based Lifeform, though he had undergone an extremely extensive degree of mechanical modification.

Yi's voice sounded in Chen Fan's mind at just the right moment. The comprehensive analysis indicated that the target had basically retained his brain tissue and cardiopulmonary circulatory system.

In addition, most of his other systems, including the digestive and motor systems, had undergone mechanical modification.

Unbelievable!

Yi exclaimed in utter astonishment. Such an aggressive modification plan was difficult to find even in the Human Federation's database!

What a mad civilization!

Chen Fan said nothing. He merely observed the analytical data displayed across his retina.

A vague suspicion gradually arose in his mind.

You suspect that the higher a clergyman's position, the deeper the extent of his mechanical modification?

Yes.

Chen Fan replied inwardly, I roughly recalled the clergymen we encountered along the way. It feels like... no, there really is a pattern to be found.

Yi fell silent, seemingly calculating something.

P.S. Dear readers, please keep following, QAQ...