The Garden of Eden, the Pale Church Holy See, the highest tower symbolizing the papacy's divine authority and exalted status.
Norton stood atop the magnificent tower, three thousand meters high, gazing down at the human city below.
The rain and mist swirled around the waist of the tower, obscuring the entire view. Above the tower, the sky was cloudless and the sun shone directly, while below, a torrential downpour blanketed the area in gloom.
The Human Federation in Norton's 4K era is fundamentally different from that in the 3K era.
The neon-lit cities of the past, those glamorous and sprawling metropolises reminiscent of cyberpunk, have long since fallen into dust. The Human Federation Government has been practicing wartime communism for a thousand years, and now resources are scarce, leaving very little room for city repairs.
Moreover, with the front lines being pushed forward step by step, the cities in the rear will fall sooner or later, which makes them even less likely to spend effort repairing these places that will fall sooner or later.
As a result, the city's original neon lights have long been damaged or turned off. The city is filled with skyscrapers, some hundreds or even thousands of meters tall. They still look magnificent, but in reality, they are dilapidated. The annual reinforcements have made their appearance even more rugged. They no longer have the beauty of buildings and are left with only practicality as their sole and last feature.
The rain and fog were thick, but what came into view was not the rain curtain, but towering buildings that broke through the clouds. Some were skyscrapers, and some were magnificent wonders. The density of these buildings was extremely dense. Even though the rain curtain had covered the ground, all that could be seen were the domes of skyscrapers or huge spires piercing through the clouds.
Over the course of a thousand years, even though these buildings were constructed with the goal of maintaining stability for thousands of years, their exteriors have long since fallen into disrepair, with peeling paint, forcing the establishment of a restricted area on the ground to ensure the safety of those below.
Even so, this magnificent and colossal metropolis remains a symbol of humanity's pinnacle and its glory!
However, the glory belonged to 3K. The peak has fallen, and humanity has declined. This devastated city is a symbol of this decline.
If even the surface of the body is decaying to this extent, how rotten must the inside be?
"Halaluno, our faith is steadfast. Hallelujah, our most beloved God. Hallelujah, behold our resilience. Hallelujah, hear our gratitude..."
Soaring songs echoed throughout every monastery in the city, as priests in power armor waved their long staffs, directing the faithful below in chanting hymns of thanksgiving.
Hallelujah, where Hallelujah means praise and Norde refers to Norton.
As the priest in front waved his hand, the singing below grew even louder. Surprisingly, the believers who sang were all Church knights dressed in power armor. Their voices were loud and clear, their voices were firm, and even their eyes were exceptionally resolute.
As they sang in unison, a buzzing, complex chorus of songs also rose outside the monastery.
The streets outside the monastery were packed with people, with countless ordinary citizens gathering near the monastery, singing along with the songs from inside, demonstrating the holiness of the Church!
Garden of Eden and Warhammer are ultimately different. Warhammer features other non-human races or the Four Merchants. While humanity's situation is desperate, not all of them need to be loyal to the Empire.
However, Garden of Eden was different. The battle between humans and the Aberration race did not involve any possibility of rebellion. After all, since their birth, Aberration had not shown any intelligence except for their insane infection. This meant that even if opportunists in the human group wanted to rebel, they would not be able to find any way to do so.
Even if they wanted to rebuild the government and escape the rule of the Pale Church, they would still have to face the same enemy as the Pale Church, which made it impossible for the faction to split.
Aside from the possibility of them defecting to other factions, the noble sacrifice of the Pale God Norton also established a national faith based on the Pale God. Coupled with the Pale Church's years of missionary work and indoctrination, this makes it impossible for the Human Federation to split.
Under the premise of non-division, the endless death and suffering brought about by a thousand years of war will only cause the people to vent their hatred on the Aberration.
After all, apart from the Aberration, they had no other targets to complain about.
Such a distorted society, and such a distorted social mentality, also brought an increasingly devout faith to the Human Federation.
People place their hopes on the Pale God Norton day after day, yet they know that he suppresses Heaven and Garden of Eden and cannot manifest himself. Therefore, they are not disappointed by the ineffectiveness of their prayers; on the contrary, they become more devoted to this sole spiritual sustenance in their hearts.
The streets were dilapidated, and the surrounding high-rise buildings were also gray and worn. The neon lights of yesteryear no longer flickered, but the light of human faith shone like a blazing bonfire, casting a sublime glow on this ruined city with devout faith.
It appears dilapidated, yet it is full of a spirit of resistance.
In reality, it is merely the most human-like manifestation that the Human Federation currently possesses.
A little further away from this cannery, which embodies the light of faith, true extremism is revealed.
"Buzz..." As the machine continued to run, various fleshy parts poured down from the funnel above the compressor. A large amount of blood mixed with the naked human bodies, the arms and legs that had been cut off and rendered unusable, and even the dissected intestines, liver, kidneys, heart, and other parts that were covered in feces, were poured into the compressor.
"Pfft!" As the compressor ran, the powerful pressure crushed flesh and blood, and blood instantly splashed out from the opening at the top of the machine, mixed with some bits of flesh that splashed around.
Flies buzzed around the machine and the surrounding area. The machine, which hadn't been cleaned in who knows how long, and the ground around it were covered with rotting and decaying blood and flesh mixed in with mud.
Maggots crawled densely in the foul-smelling blood and mud, looking utterly disgusting. They were even found inside the machine, crushed into the flesh and mixed into the meat paste.
The shaped meat paste is transported from the conveyor belt below and then into the baking oven in front. In just five minutes, the extremely high temperature bakes the meat until it is cooked through. After that, the machine fills it with a flavorful sauce and then sends it to the canning and packaging workshop.
That's right, these canned goods, made from human bodies and maggots, are federal products shipped to the front lines and even distributed to people in the rear for consumption.
These unused human bodies were taken from an even more extreme institution—a military factory.