St. Peter's Cathedral

The water seemed to carry a certain Spirituality, faintly glowing red in the dim interrogation room.

After Abel drank the strange liquid, he seemed much more alert. Even the wrinkles on his forehead, formed from years of frowning, had faded somewhat.

"You'd better pray that you didn't use any Beyonder ability to lie to me just now."

He stood and pointed toward the sky.

The smoke lingering in the room slowly gathered with his movement, forming a dense, pure-white ring.

Instead of continuing to drift toward the ceiling, the ring of smoke slowly descended and enclosed the two men seated at the wooden table.

Gais watched the scene in amazement, but he did not panic.

He had already become somewhat familiar with this Night Watchman's personality. He followed order and valued rules.

Gais believed that he would not resort to violence against him. At that moment, his only thought was:

This power is truly amazing. If I had Beyonder abilities too, would I still make a living through lies and deception...

Probably. After all, it's fun.

He quickly reached an answer, just as Abel spoke again.

"Here, lies shall vanish! Truth shall endure!"

As his words fell, the smoke began to churn endlessly, as though something were moving within it, circling the two of them at high speed.

If Ivan had been present, he would surely have "seen" an even more majestic force of rules surging from Abel and gathering within the ring formed by the smoke.

Gais did not feel any unusual changes. He only knew that he was about to start telling the truth indiscriminately again.

A pale glow appeared at the edge of the sky, spreading inch by inch toward the center of his vision.

The morning mist had yet to disperse, wrapping Trino City like a thin veil.

Ivan slowly regained his vision in midair.

Ugh... So much happened last night that I actually fell asleep in the air.

He hurriedly descended and hid at a street corner. Looking at his tentacles, he was relieved to find that they were still invisible.

In a world where Beyonder powers existed, invisibility was far from reliable. He did not dare gamble on whether others could see through it, or detect his presence in the air by other means.

Could there be people in the church who can see me?

The eyes of God...

He recalled the descriptions of the Church of Divine Grace. If the eyes of God represented another possible Beyonder Aspect, then there was a high chance that the church possessed Beyonders capable of seeing through his invisibility.

Mm, I have no real strength right now. I should avoid entering a Beyonder's sight whenever possible—especially those people from the church.

Ivan viciously berated himself inwardly and decided that from now on, he would be a proper jellyfish—a cautious jellyfish.

Looks like if I want to learn more, I can only observe the church from outside in secret.

He rubbed his forehead, feeling as though his mind were a muddle.

I always feel like the quality of sleep in the air is poor. Even my thinking has become sluggish. Did I not sleep long enough?

Ivan did not know how much sleep a jellyfish needed.

Before this, he had always slept inside a tank, with no idea how much time had passed.

When he checked his mind, he found countless messages from Little George waiting for him to review.

At the same time, he felt that he could track Little George's location through his prayers. He could vaguely sense that Little George was still at the Poorhouse in the south of the city.

This Little George, did he stay awake all night? No wonder it constantly feels like something is bouncing around inside my head.

This tracking effect must be because part of my divided body is lodged within him. It's quite convenient, actually.

A heavy wave of drowsiness struck him again, and he could not help yawning.

With a soft pop, Ivan's body suddenly scattered into countless points of light, then immediately returned to normal.

Mm, much better. Resetting my body's state gets rid of the sleepiness right away.

He had turned this regenerative ability into a tool for resetting his physical condition.

As the division and regeneration ended, Ivan vaguely noticed that the faith energy he had stored seemed to have dropped by a huge amount.

What? Why did it consume so much? It didn't use this much faith energy when I had barely any before.

Could it be that as my life level rises, resetting my life costs more?

Good thing I absorbed quite a lot yesterday. Otherwise, that would have brought me back to zero.

Ivan felt somewhat frustrated. It seemed that he still could not squander his body whenever he pleased...

He shook his head and looked at the discarded Jellyfish Remnant Corpse on the ground, only to find that it still contained a trace of Spirituality.

Ivan hurriedly picked it up and sensed that aura, unable to stop a thought from arising in his heart.

Could every Remnant Corpse left behind after I reset my body grant someone a blessing?

It feels like I'm some kind of Beyonder Aspect wish machine. As long as I receive sufficiently devout prayers, I can fulfill an ordinary person's wish to rise into a Beyonder...

As he thought, he moved through the district below, flying toward the church.

To the west of the church stretched an entire district of clean, orderly streets, dotted with respectable residences and spacious markets.

Carriages often passed along the roads near the residences. Occasionally, gentlemen in morning dress emerged from the houses, wearing tall top hats, checking the time with pocket watches, and lightly tapping the ground with the tips of their canes.

The market had only just begun preparing for the day. Vendors pushed wooden carts and laid fresh flowers and fruit onto their stalls.

Several theater attendants were wiping the shades of gas lamps, and the sign for the Drury Street Royal Theater was faintly visible.

Ivan hurried through those streets and finally stopped in the low air one street away from the church. Peering cautiously through the Romanesque vaulted structure, he could barely make out the scene before him.

Morning sunlight filtered through the stained-glass windows, casting a riot of colors over the church altar.

The morning mist had not fully dispersed, yet the soft patter of footsteps was already rising and falling inside and outside the church.

Inside the church, a middle-aged man dressed in a white robe and looking like a Father had been arranging things before the altar for quite some time.

He meticulously straightened the white cloth on the altar, striving to align its edges with the altar's curves.

Silver vessels were carefully placed and gently polished with soft cloths soaked in warm water.

Some of the vessels held clear water, while others contained an oily substance whose purpose was unknown.

Several nuns walked one after another toward the church's side hall, their dark-blue-and-pure-white habits concealing their graceful figures.

One of the older-looking nuns said to the other two:

"Remember to place the Ode of Divine Blood on the outermost layer, so the choir children can easily take it."

In the church foyer, an elderly nun with graying temples sat behind the reception desk, organizing the believers' prayer records.

Wearing reading glasses, she ran her pen over the list of believers, counting how much sacramental bread and holy wine would be needed that day.

Outside the church, a man who looked like a Deacon pushed a small cart filled with flowers from the garden in the rear courtyard toward the church entrance.

Several bunches of fresh white lilies and purple hyacinths lay in the cart, their petals still covered in undried dew.

The Deacon carefully placed the bouquets into the vases at the church entrance, meticulously adjusting their angles so that every flower bloomed naturally toward the believers.

Everything appeared so orderly, each member of the clergy busily preparing for the morning service.

Now this is what you call professionalism. One day, I have to make Little George come here and learn.

As Ivan curiously examined the scene before him, a figure wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a tattered tailcoat emerged from the main entrance.

There was no trace of all-night fatigue in his eyes. He looked as energetic as though he had just stepped out of his own home.

Hm? The Night Watchman let Gais go?