Are You Questioning the Church?

Beneath her broad black hood, Isa's eyes shifted as she watched the tall figure clad in a red robe.

The broad, magnificent red robe was engraved with dense, mysterious purple-gold patterns.

That was the Archbishop of the Church.

In a sense, the Archbishop was the highest-ranking person within the Church—in Isa's memories, the Pope resided in the North Main Church year-round, and ordinarily, only the Archbishop could enter and leave that mysterious church.

Even setting aside the crimson robe that symbolized his identity and status, the Archbishop was the most conspicuous figure in the Church.

His towering stature, far beyond that of ordinary people, signified that he had received the Goddess's greatest blessing.

Across the entire Church, this blessing was in a class of its own.

Isa looked up at the crimson figure, her eyes gleaming with admiration and reverence.

Under Isa's gaze, amid a burst of mechanical humming, the Archbishop walked with incomparably steady steps to stand before the clergy.

"Everyone."

"The Goddess has bestowed a divine oracle."

A stiff Electronic Synthesized Voice came from beneath the crimson robe, echoing through the empty side hall. "Three days from now, the Lord will act to adjust the laws governing the movement of the sun and moon."

"The Varrela Calendar will also turn to a new chapter."

"By order of the Pope, the Church will hold the Divine Descent Ceremony in the Land of Divine Descent to welcome the Lord's arrival."

Under Isa's gaze, the Archbishop slowly spread his arms, his stiff Electronic Synthesized Voice growing more impassioned. "All deacons and priests, from this day onward, announce the Divine Descent Ceremony to believers throughout the city..."

"The Land of Divine Descent?!"

"The Goddess is descending?!!"

Looking at Gao Yuan before him, Chen Fan felt half his body go numb. "You're not screwing with me, are you?"

Gao Yuan said nothing. He merely tilted his head and gestured with his lips toward the Main Church not far behind him.

Chen Fan followed Gao Yuan's gaze.

One by one, deacons and priests in white and black robes streamed out through the metal arched gates of the East Main Church.

After pausing briefly, the clergy scattered in all directions.

"Preparations for the Divine Descent Ceremony have already begun."

"The deacons and priests need to inform all believers in the city within three days."

At that moment, Chen Fan's last shred of wishful thinking was utterly crushed.

The good news.

He had roughly figured out the truth behind the God Chosen Ceremony and what the Church was trying to hide. Under the original plan, he needed to find Xu Huai, gather more intelligence, and find a way out before the God Chosen Ceremony if possible.

The bad news.

There was no need to wait for the God Chosen Ceremony.

The Goddess was about to personally "descend" to find him!

Thinking that she was very likely an alien from another planet, Chen Fan's mind automatically filled with countless horrifying scenes from movies about close encounters of the third kind.

Tentacles, slime, mysterious human experiments...

Yi was right. The human brain's ability to fill in details was simply too powerful.

Just thinking about it made Chen Fan feel his SAN value plummeting.

Calm down.

Yi's voice rang out in Chen Fan's mind. This unit thinks this is a good opportunity.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. At the very least, we can use this chance to find out the Goddess's true identity.

The corner of Chen Fan's eye twitched.

Easy for you to say when you're not the one in danger!

Chen Fan took a deep breath, calmed the agitation in his heart, and swiftly adjusted his original plan.

He needed to move faster!

He couldn't just stupidly wait for the so-called Goddess to descend, could he?

What if that Goddess took a liking to him and decided to bring him to the God Kingdom early to enjoy its blessings?

"Let's not talk about the Divine Descent Ceremony for now."

Chen Fan looked around.

When he noticed several priests in black robes walking toward them, he grabbed Gao Yuan beside him and quickened his pace away from the Main Church. "There's something I wanted to ask you back in the library."

"What?"

"The entire Church library only contains history books from after Old Calendar year 1800. Not only that, those history books only record information related to Varrela City." Chen Fan's expression turned grave. "What about the earlier history? Other than Varrela City, are there really no other regions in this world?"

"Don't you think that's strange?"

"Strange?"

Gao Yuan shot Chen Fan a surprised look. "What's strange about that? The Archbishop already said that the disaster in Varrela Year One destroyed all the earlier records."

Chen Fan sighed helplessly.

The fragrance in the library really was harmful.

Such an obvious logical loophole, yet Gao Yuan had failed to notice it!

"The records were all destroyed, but what about the people?"

"Surely everyone who knew anything wasn't killed by the disaster in Varrela Year One?"

"Why didn't they leave behind any writings describing the time before Varrela Year One?"

At those words, Gao Yuan immediately fell silent.

His brows furrowed tightly as he began considering a question he had never noticed before.

For some reason, Gao Yuan always felt there was a thick fog in his mind.

That fog obstructed his thought process and brought him even deeper confusion.

"I... I don't know."

After thinking for a long time, Gao Yuan raised a hand and scratched his scalp hard. Frowning, he asked bluntly, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Chen Fan hesitated for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Don't you think the Church is deliberately hiding something?"

Gao Yuan swallowed and looked at Chen Fan with a strange, somewhat frightened expression.

"Chen Fan, you..."

"Are you questioning the Church?"

Questioning the Church?

No, no, no. It was far more than just the Church that he suspected!

Considering Gao Yuan's ability to accept such things, and for his own safety, Chen Fan did not reveal his true thoughts.

He nodded and went along with Gao Yuan's implication. "Yes. Don't you think there's something wrong with the Church doing this?"

Gao Yuan had completely lost his composure.

If those words questioning the Church had come from an ordinary believer, Gao Yuan would have unhesitatingly regarded that believer as a heretic and notified the Church to burn that heretic, invaded by an Evil Spirit, alive!

But Chen Fan was no ordinary believer.

He was God Chosen!

A God Chosen with lofty status within the Church!!

What was this called?

Why was His Majesty rebelling?

"I... I don't know."

Gao Yuan subconsciously took half a step back, his eyes unfocused as he shook his head repeatedly.

"Stop talking. I don't want to know either."

Seeing Gao Yuan's enemy-facing attitude, Chen Fan helplessly raised a hand and rubbed his nose. "Fine. I have one last question."

"Ask."

Gao Yuan took several deep breaths in succession. Calmness returned to his face, but his eyes showed that his feelings remained extremely complicated.

"Outside Varrela City..."

"What's it like now?"

Gao Yuan's expression, which had just returned to normal, suddenly changed drastically.

"Shh!"

"Are you insane?!"

"You dare ask about that?!"

He quickly looked around. Once he had made sure no one was nearby, Gao Yuan took several more steps back, widening the distance between himself and Chen Fan.

"Chen Fan, I'll pretend I never heard any of this. Don't you dare tell anyone else!"

"Otherwise..."

Gao Yuan seemed to think of something, and his face became even uglier. "Remember this—never say those things again!"