The Beginning of Earthly Heaven

The cellar reeked of dust and the acidic tang of old rusted metal. Its only source of light was an acetylene lantern hanging in the center. Its flickering flame stretched and shrank the shadows of the bound figures like trapped beasts in cages.

Korfalon's eleven attendants were tied separately to support pillars or abandoned mechanical wreckage. The terror had not yet fully faded from their faces, replaced by a deeper dread of their unknown fate.

Zhou Beichen did not sit in a chair. He merely stood quietly at the boundary between shadow and light, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his coarse linen robe, his calm gaze sweeping across every face. Lorgar stood slightly ahead at his side, his towering body nearly brushing the cellar's low ceiling. The compassion and gentleness he usually displayed while preaching were gone from his face. His violet eyes held a complicated mix of emotions—discomfort with killing, gravity toward their current situation, and a trace of the calm perspective Zhou Beichen had instilled in him.

"You saw it," Zhou Beichen finally said. His voice was not loud, yet it pierced clearly into everyone's ears. "Pastor Korfalon misunderstood the true meaning of the Covenant and attempted to profane the Son of God. He has received divine punishment."

A younger-looking attendant began to tremble uncontrollably, his lips moving as though he wanted to beg for mercy.

Zhou Beichen's gaze settled on him like an icy probe. "Now, I need the truth. Your entire purpose in coming here, the Covenant Church's internal situation—everything." He paused, his tone still even. "Who is willing to help us sort out this... misunderstanding?"

No one answered. Only harsh breathing echoed through the sealed space.

Lorgar took a small step forward at the right moment. The shadows slipped from his face, and the acetylene lamp illuminated those features that were both divine and human—especially his violet eyes, which seemed to glow faintly in the darkness. He looked down at the trembling young attendant, his deep voice carrying a strange resonance that soothed the heart.

"Lost brother, has fear blinded your soul?" His words did not sound like an interrogation, but more like a sigh. "The Father God's mercy is boundless, but it shines only upon honest souls. Concealment and deceit will only lead a soul further down the wrong path, until it finally falls into eternal darkness. Speak the truth. It is both cleansing and redemption."

His voice seemed magical. The young attendant's trembling strangely eased, and he raised his head, staring blankly into Lorgar's eyes as if they could see through everything. His mental defenses began to loosen.

Just then, another middle-aged attendant with a scarred face, tied to a pillar, suddenly spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and roared, "Don't listen to him! He's a heretic! A blasphemer! The Covenant will judge them! We—"

"It seems this brother is still trapped by misguided loyalty." Zhou Beichen's voice abruptly rang out, cutting off the scarred man's shouting. His tone remained flat, but his words instantly dropped the cellar's temperature. "Lorgar, he needs to see... the road ahead more clearly."

Lorgar frowned slightly, seemingly reluctant, but he still closed his eyes as instructed. Several seconds later, he opened them again and looked at the scarred man. A glint like cracking ice flashed through his violet eyes.

"Your old injury in your left shoulder aches to the bone whenever the night is cold and damp," Lorgar said with unquestionable certainty. "You treasure a stone from your homeland, marked with white veins like a flying bird. You... once saw, in a dream—or perhaps not in a dream—Pastor Korfalon drive a dagger into the back of an old man who questioned his orders."

The scarred man's vicious expression froze instantly, turning into utter horror. The old wound and the stone were private matters, while that dream... was a buried doubt about Korfalon's character that he had never mentioned, not even in confession. How could he know?!

"You... you..." The scarred man's lips trembled, unable to form a complete sentence. The other attendants also looked horrified, their eyes fixed on Lorgar with terrified disbelief. This was no longer deduction. This was... mind-reading?!

"The Son of God has glimpsed the mist within your soul," Zhou Beichen added coldly. "Now, do you still believe blindly following a wrong path is loyalty?"

First bewilder them with obscure words, then terrify them with the suffering of hell.

The scarred man's mind completely collapsed. He went limp in his ropes, his face ashen.

Once the breach was opened, it was like a dam collapsing.

Under Lorgar's "guidance," which combined comfort and intimidation, and Zhou Beichen's occasional cold questions that precisely exposed the key contradictions, the remaining attendants rushed to reveal everything they knew.

The situation broadly matched Zhou Beichen's guesses, though the details were clearer.

Korfalon was indeed an itinerant pastor of the Covenant Church. However, years ago, he had taken the wrong side in a doctrinal dispute and offended a high-ranking figure. He was squeezed out of the core dioceses and sent to spread the Covenant in the frontier regions. He desperately wanted to return to the center of power and needed an achievement significant enough to do so.

Rumors of a Son of God falling from the heavens had spread through several caravans and wandering drifters. Though distorted several times along the way, they still caught Korfalon's attention. He keenly realized this might be an opportunity—an unprecedented miracle that could let him redeem himself and perhaps even rise another step higher.

Their objective was very clear: confirm whether the Son of God was real. If he was fake, they would eliminate this heretical stronghold on the spot. If he was real, they would take Lorgar away at any cost. And to ensure the miracle's uniqueness and prevent interference, they had to purify everyone who knew of it—in other words, slaughter the entire settlement.

The attendants also revealed the rough location of the Covenant Church's center, its military composition, and some vague movements among its current upper ranks—the archbishop was advanced in age, while several bishops were openly and secretly fighting one another.

The interrogation lasted nearly two hours. By the time only harsh panting and the scrape of ropes remained in the cellar, Zhou Beichen had obtained most of the information he needed.

He signaled the Faith Guard to give the prisoners small amounts of water and food and keep them under close watch, but no further torture was inflicted. These people—especially the mentally broken young attendant and the scarred man whose faith had been shaken—might still prove useful as converts in the future.

When they left the cellar and returned to the surface, the light of the Colchis Twin Stars had already dimmed and softened. The long dusk was about to descend.

Zhou Beichen and Lorgar stood side by side at the edge of the high ground, looking down at the settlement beginning to take shape below and the fallen land farther beyond.

"You heard everything, Lorgar." Zhou Beichen's voice carried a hint of fatigue, but even more calm calculation. "We have no way back. The Covenant Church is like a massive monopoly trust. It will never allow a startup with core technology like ours to remain independent. Korfalon was merely the first vulture to catch the scent. He will not be the last."

Lorgar remained silent. His violet eyes gazed over the wasteland stained blood-red by the setting sun. After a long while, he said quietly, "They... treat human lives as worthless grass."

"Before absolute power and faith, individuals are often just consumable materials. It was like that even when labor laws existed—let alone now." Zhou Beichen spoke lightly. "So we must seize power and define faith."

He turned to face Lorgar, and that familiar gleam belonging to a planner rekindled in his eyes.

"Our foundations are too shallow, and we are too weak. So we need a new plan."

He pointed to the high ground beneath their feet and the surrounding valleys, which were relatively fertile and easy to defend.

"This will be our starting point. We will use this place as our base. It will no longer merely be a settlement struggling to survive. We will build a true, visible Earthly Heaven!"

"Earthly Heaven?" Lorgar savored the words.

"That's right." Zhou Beichen's tone was firm. "We will make this place the only oasis in the Colchis Desert—not merely an oasis of water and food, but one of order, hope, and divine grace. The miracles you display cannot merely predict disasters. They must bring tangible blessings as well—your abilities must become tools for building this heaven."

He paused, then continued explaining his vision.

"We will cultivate this land deeply and consolidate our foundations. We will absorb the scattered tribes and refugees around us, drawing them in with real divine grace and a better life far beyond what the Covenant Church promises. We will strengthen the Faith Guard's training and equipment, turning them into the sword that defends heaven. At the same time, we will subtly spread a new doctrine—the purer true meaning of the Covenant, centered on you, Loga Aurelian."

"When our heaven is prosperous enough, powerful enough, and our influence seeps into every corner of Colchis like spilled mercury..." Zhou Beichen's lips curved into a cold smile. "We will expand step by step from the countryside to surround the cities, dismantling the Covenant Church's influence in the frontier regions without bloodshed, until we stand beneath the walls of Nuo City."

"By then, what we possess will not merely be military strength. We will have the people's support, indisputable miracles, and the righteous cause needed to overturn the old order."

"I understand, Father." Lorgar's voice was steady and resolute. "I will do everything I can to make this land into the... heaven you speak of."

Zhou Beichen nodded and looked toward the horizon as it was gradually swallowed by dusk.

"The plan is set. All that remains is execution," he said softly, as though making a promise to himself.

"Now, let us begin building."