High-Pressure Management

Watching Gao Yuan's receding back, Chen Fan felt a trace of melancholy.

"Ah..."

He let out a soft sigh.

Don't take these things too seriously.

After detecting Chen Fan's low spirits through various physiological indicators, Yi comforted him:

Such things are common in the religious age.

For the sake of illusory gods, these ignorant intelligent beings are capable of anything.

"No, I just find it a little regrettable."

Regrettable? What was there to regret?

Chen Fan lightly smacked his lips. "Tell me, what a great little source of intelligence he was."

"Yi, if he stops contacting me, where am I supposed to get information so easily in the future?"

You really are a bastard!

Chen Fan shrugged indifferently.

A bastard?

If it means surviving safely in this world, what was wrong with being a little shameless?

"Let's talk business first."

Chen Fan looked up to get his bearings, then quickened his pace toward home.

"What do you think things are like outside the city right now?"

"And..."

Chen Fan's voice paused. "Why did Gao Yuan react so strongly whenever I mentioned outside the city?"

If the disaster in Varrela Year One was caused by a large-scale nuclear war, then...

"A radiation-filled Nuclear Wasteland?"

"...Huh?"

Yi's answer completely exceeded Chen Fan's expectations, and he hurriedly pressed on. "Shouldn't there be Turbid Qi outside? In other words, Nuclear Radiation?"

Think about when that nuclear war happened.

It broke out in Old Calendar 1800. It was already Old Calendar 2067 now.

After a full 267 years, the outside world had long since mostly recovered.

Chen Fan was stunned.

In his imagination, the damage caused by nuclear war should have been enormously destructive and long-lasting.

Yi's words gave him an entirely new understanding.

Don't underestimate nature's ability to heal itself, and don't overestimate the destructive power of Nuclear Bombs.

At the end of the day, Nuclear Bombs are merely the trump card of a Level 1 Civilization.

As for that kid Gao Yuan's reaction...

Yi fell silent for a moment. This unit cannot make an accurate judgment.

However, considering Varrela City's history and its religious system, this unit believes it should be related to the Church.

Varrela City, East District.

Standing on the uneven, poor-quality cement road, Chen Fan carefully examined the low residential building before him, which was only three stories high—his home was here.

The dim yellow glow of the setting sun fell upon the low building, lending it a desolate air.

The faint aroma of food drifted out from inside.

Logically, with mealtime approaching, the residential building should have been quite lively.

But...

Whether it was the building before Chen Fan or the other residential buildings he had passed along the way, all of them were incomparably quiet.

That inexplicable silence even carried a hint of eeriness.

On the road, pedestrians with numb expressions walked quickly in twos and threes.

A woman with a little girl passed Chen Fan, her body slightly hunched.

At the moment they passed, the little girl quietly turned her head. A trace of curiosity shone in her large, blinking eyes, as though she were wondering why Chen Fan was standing there without moving.

Chen Fan instinctively tugged at the corners of his mouth and gave the little girl a smile.

Smack.

A crisp sound suddenly rang out from ahead.

In pain, the little girl hurriedly squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her head back.

"What are you looking at?"

The woman cursed the little girl in a low voice. "Be careful not to offend the Goddess, or the Church will send someone to arrest you!"

After speaking, the woman cautiously turned her head and glanced Chen Fan over.

When she saw that Chen Fan was not wearing the standard robes of the clergy, her tense expression relaxed slightly.

Even so, she did not say anything more. She simply grabbed the little girl's hand and hurried away into the distance.

Chen Fan could not help frowning.

He had not felt much when he had followed Deacon Carlisle to the Main Church earlier.

But now he realized something: the city's silence was built upon the Church's High-Pressure Management.

Under the complete surveillance of the Goddess statues, every believer was terrified of saying the wrong thing.

After all, no one knew whether a single wrong sentence would send them to the Church's Execution Platform.

Just as Chen Fan watched the mother and daughter's receding figures, two sets of footsteps, one heavy and one light, approached from behind him.

"God Chosen Esteemed One?"

A familiar soft, sweet voice reached his ears.

Chen Fan turned around in surprise. When he saw the wide black hood that only reached his chest, a faint smile appeared on his face. "Priest Isha?"

"Why are you here?"

The black hood swayed slightly. "I..."

"We are informing the believers of the date of the Divine Descent Ceremony."

A somewhat aged voice came from behind Isha.

Then Chen Fan noticed the wide white robe and the slightly yellowed skin beneath the hood.

This was another old acquaintance.

"Carlisle?"

"I did not expect the God Chosen Esteemed One to remember me." The yellowed skin beneath the hood twitched slightly, revealing a smile uglier than crying. "It is truly my honor."

"Of course I remember."

Chen Fan smiled and nodded. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you for the warning. At least Priest Quinton didn't come looking for trouble with me."

At those words, the black hood that only reached Chen Fan's chest shifted slightly.

Seeing the smile on Chen Fan's face, Carlisle gradually relaxed. "It was what I should have done."

"God Chosen Esteemed One, the Divine Descent Ceremony will be held at the Land of Divine Descent three days from now. Please be sure to arrive at the Church in advance."

Naturally, Chen Fan readily agreed.

"Oh, right."

"The news about the Divine Descent Ceremony... have you finished notifying everyone?"

As he spoke, Chen Fan glanced at the low residential building beside them.

"We have already finished notifying them." Carlisle instantly "understood" what Chen Fan meant and bent slightly at the waist. "The God Chosen Esteemed One's mother was very cooperative with our work."

"She also asked about the Third Divine Decree ritual."

"She was very happy to hear that you made it in time for the divine decree ritual."

Chen Fan breathed a small sigh of relief.

Honestly, he had truly been afraid that his nominal mother would stab him in the back!

He clasped his hands behind his back and nodded calmly. "Then I won't disturb the rest of your work."

Hearing this, Carlisle also instinctively sighed in relief.

"Lady Isha, we should be going."

There was no response.

Beneath the white hood, Carlisle's mouth twitched slightly. "...Lady Isha? Lady Isha?!"

Chen Fan stared at the scene before him and froze.

This...

What was going on?

Could Isha have something else she wanted to say to him?

Just as Chen Fan sank into thought, the wide black hood moved again.

"...You are right, God Chosen Esteemed One."

Chen Fan: "...???"