Why Aren't You Running?

The Church had sent someone!

Chen Fan felt his heart skip a beat, and a faint unease appeared on his face.

"Alright, I understand. I'll be right there."

He took a deep breath, hid his unease, then rose and headed for the tightly shut door.

Beside him,

Gao Yuan's face had gone pale, and his bloodless lips trembled slightly.

Though he had earlier boldly uttered the blasphemous words of overthrowing the Church, now that the Church had truly come knocking, memories of its past methods inevitably surfaced in the mind of someone who had grown up in Varrela City.

"It's over, it's over..."

He muttered under his breath, "Chen Fan, they must have found out."

Chen Fan could not help but laugh at the sight before him.

What was this?

Tough online, timid in real life?

Even so, seeing Gao Yuan like this made Chen Fan raise his guard once more—judging solely from the authority the Church had built up in the hearts of its believers, it was clearly no harmless organization!

He reached out and gently patted Gao Yuan on the shoulder.

"Calm down. Nothing will happen."

"Do you remember what I told you before?"

"As God Chosen, the Church won't make a move against us without solid evidence."

With Chen Fan's reassurance, the expression on Gao Yuan's face gradually returned to normal.

He gritted his teeth and struggled to rise from the floor. "I'll go out with you."

"If they really try to frame you..."

"I'll testify for you!"

The living room.

The noon sunlight streamed in through the open side window, forming pathways of light through the slightly murky air.

A priest in black robes stood silently in the living room, staring at the tightly shut door some distance away.

The wide black robes and black hood concealed the priest's body completely, adding an air of mystery to the figure.

Beneath the hem of the robe, a small section of a Mechanical Prosthetic covered in intricate patterns gleamed with a cold, silvery-white reflection in the sunlight.

"P-Priest, please... please sit."

A wrinkled middle-aged woman cautiously carried a wooden chair behind the Black Robe Priest and spoke in a respectful, humble voice.

The Black Robe Priest did not move at all, as if she had not heard the woman's words.

A chill emanated from the Black Robe Priest, and the woman's expression gradually froze.

A deep unease flashed through her eyes as she silently carried the chair away to one side.

At that moment, beneath the wide black hood,

Isa pressed her pale lips tightly together. Her lively right eye was filled with unease and apprehension, while the Mechanical Eye on her left trembled faintly.

Was she really doing the right thing?

Did this count as betraying the Church?

If the Church found out, would she also be sent to the Holy Tower between the four Main Churches to be executed?

Wait, had Chen Fan's mother just spoken to her?

Oh no, oh no. She had spaced out again. What was she supposed to do now?

Should she use the method Carlisle had taught her?

No, no, no. Carlisle had said that was for Church clergy. She could not do that to a believer...

As she thought this, Isa's already troubled mind became even more chaotic.

Of course, to the woman beside her, the aura radiating from the short Black Robe Priest only grew colder.

She turned to look at the tightly shut door, bitterness filling her eyes.

"Creak..."

Just as the atmosphere in the living room became increasingly tense, the tightly shut door was pulled open from within, and the old metal hinges let out a harsh groan.

A familiar face appeared before her, and the woman's tense expression eased somewhat. "Xiao Fan..."

"...Isa?"

Chen Fan looked at the little black-robed potato before him and cried out in surprise, "Why are you here?"

At the same time, the cold aura around Isa vanished completely.

She stepped forward, her tone incomparably urgent. "Chen Fan, I have something urgent to tell you."

At Isa's insistent request, Chen Fan brought her into his room.

The moment she saw Gao Yuan, Isa's body stiffened, and a hint of panic appeared in the eyes hidden beneath her black hood—she recognized him as that difficult God Chosen.

"Go on. What is so important that you had to avoid the divine statue to say it?"

Though Chen Fan had already guessed why Isa had come, he still pretended to know nothing as he asked, "What you're doing should violate Church regulations, shouldn't it?"

Isa fell silent for a moment, then reached up and removed her hood, revealing her lovely face.

She stared straight at Chen Fan, her eyes full of urgency. "Chen Fan, the Church may move against you soon."

Gao Yuan's expression changed slightly, and he quickly turned to Chen Fan.

Under their gazes, Chen Fan maintained his calm expression. "Oh? Why?"

Isa took a deep breath. "Last night, the Church discovered prohibited books in the library."

"The Archbishop has ordered Wallis Bishop to conduct a strict investigation of you. If any problems are found..."

Chen Fan picked up where she left off. "They'll send me to the Church's Execution Platform?"

Isa froze.

"H-How did you know?"

Chen Fan shrugged, a relaxed smile on his lips. "Isn't that how the Church has always done things?"

Isa blinked, her small face full of confusion.

He knew he might be sent to the Execution Platform, yet he was still so calm?

After serving as a God Chosen for so many years, this was the first time she had seen one this bold!

After a brief daze, Isa came back to herself, anxiety appearing on her face. "You already know the outcome, so why aren't you running?"

"You don't think being a God Chosen can exempt you from punishment, do you?"

"Impossible! Once the truth is uncovered, the Church will definitely strip you of your status as a God Chosen!"

Seeing how anxious this Mechanical Little Potato looked, the smile on Chen Fan's face grew even brighter.

"The truth?"

"What truth?"

"I merely looked through some books in the library. That is a right I have as a God Chosen."

"B-But..." Isa felt that something was off, but she could not put it into words.

"But that book was prohibited, right?"

Chen Fan said it for her.

Isa's eyes lit up. "Right, that's what I wanted to say!"

Chen Fan spread his hands cheerfully. "But I didn't see any prohibited information in it."

"What, can the Church now slander even God Chosen at will?"

Isa: "???"

Something was wrong. Very wrong—twelve kinds of wrong.

"Why don't you think carefully about it? If the Church had truly discovered that I deliberately sought out prohibited information, would you still have had the chance to come warn me?"

Isa: "??!"

Watching the Mechanical Little Potato's dazed expression, Chen Fan dropped another bombshell. "Do you believe that the Church already knows you came to my house without authorization?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Wallis Bishop should be arriving here soon."

Isa: "?!!"