It's no secret that those Stained Ones?
This was quite an eye-opener for Xilǐ'er and the Soul Returner; they had never heard such an outrageous claim before.
After all, according to the internal situation of the Tree Worship Church, the Stained Ones ' plan was being carried out in secret.
Although it has been going on for decades, and those who join the Stained Ones are not good people, at least they have done a good job in keeping it secret.
Even in the original White Wax Town, the few remaining Pure Ones priests who had not yet been corrupted were completely unaware that there was a laboratory and a prison beneath their church.
Those Stained Ones will remain hidden most of the time, while their recruits are constantly eroding the Pure Ones. The two sides are in a state where one knows the other but the other doesn't know the other.
This holds true for the lowest-ranking priests and Holy Crusaders, and even some who have become captains or bishops are unaware of it.
For example, even though Duolin was a squad leader, he had no idea that the Stained Ones existed before he came to the Aduolin Province.
In Ed's mouth, guys like him had a special code name—"the Foolish Pure Ones ".
Now, the two of them had learned, from the other side of a mountain range Stained Ones in the Yiluo'en Province was no secret. How could they not be astonished?
Upon seeing this, the fat bishop quickly explained:
"Alas, this is a long story, but if you two want to know what happened, you must first believe that I am truly not Stained Ones."
[Kunjinkao Tangtangtang] thought for a moment and uttered a code word that most Pure Ones didn't know, but which was very familiar to players:
"Stained with sin--"
"Forehead."
A genuine look of confusion flashed across the fat bishop's face, before he realized that the other party was still testing him.
He shook his head repeatedly and said:
"I have no idea."
It seems he really isn't Stained Ones...
[Kunjinkao Tangtangtang] Carefully observing the fat bishop's subtle expressions, he decided to trust him this once; at worst, he'd just kill him if he got scammed.
He was just a Stained Ones bishop, whom the Second Holy See no longer valued as much. Consider it revenge for the children who were experimented on.
The bishop looked at the two of them and slowly began to speak:
About four or five years ago, a prison break occurred in White Sand Town, south of the provincial capital.
"At that time, a total of seven or eight test subjects escaped from the basement of the church in White Sand Town, and then disappeared without a trace."
" The Yiluo'en Province is densely forested and contains many mountains, making it very difficult to find these people. Their group has been growing steadily over time and now seems to number nearly a hundred."
"These guys appear out of nowhere in the mountains, and they often raid various towns for supplies..."
One hundred people?
[ The Kunjinkao Tangtangtang:]
"Were they all escaped experimental subjects?"
The Soul Returner keenly recognized the importance of this matter, and if necessary, he would immediately log off and report it to Ed through his friends in Valhalla.
The fat bishop shook his head and said:
"Not all of them. Although they always found various opportunities to rescue their companions, their direct combat capabilities were completely inadequate, so they didn't succeed many times... Instead, they escalated the situation, and eventually, the Stained Ones became an open secret throughout the entire Yiluo'en Province..."
"Then where did their companions, who weren't experimental subjects, come from?"
The fat bishop's eyes darted around.
"Of course, it's their family and friends."
That makes sense. The Soul Returner nodded and looked at the fat bishop, asking:
"Since you are not Stained Ones, what is the current situation of the prison and laboratory beneath the Hibiscus Town Church?"
The portly bishop was drenched in sweat. He spoke cautiously:
"Because I, as the bishop, am not Stained Ones, the number of Stained Ones in Hibiscus Town has never been very large, so... Hibiscus Town is one of the locations where those two successful prison breaks took place."
As the fat bishop spoke, he pulled open a bookshelf that seemed to fit perfectly into the wall, revealing a collapsed tunnel behind it.
"Therefore, as you two can see, there are no experimental subjects here now, and the underground area has long been abandoned."
"And what about those Stained Ones?"
The Soul Returner asked in confusion.
"Well, after that incident, the Stained Ones here knew they couldn't survive here, and in the end, the archbishop of Golden Leaf City, the provincial capital, transferred them all away..."
These words truly amused Xilǐ'er, who rarely showed a genuine smile.
He didn't know much about the inner workings of the Tree Worship Church, so from the very beginning, it was always the Soul Returner who was asking the other party questions.
Upon hearing this, he finally understood why the fat bishop was more terrified than the average priest.
Logically speaking, even the priests who knew their identities weren't this afraid of them, so this bishop shouldn't be either.
But now he already has the answer in his heart.
So that's how it is. Although this fat man isn't Stained Ones, he's certainly as slippery as his symbiotic plant.
This guy seemed very flustered, but in reality, he was trying to smooth things over and brush the matter off.
It seems he hasn't yet determined which side the so-called " Son of God " is on.
Since that's the case, I might as well give him another reassurance--
"Cough cough."
Xilǐ'er coughed twice, interrupting their conversation:
"May I ask your name, Bishop?"
"You're too kind, envoy. I graduated from seminary fifteen years ago; just call me Alter."
"Yes, Bishop Alter, I think I know what you're really thinking."
Xilǐ'er gave a very formal smile, one that couldn't hide his authority:
" The Son of God despises the Stained Ones the most. In the Second Holy See, even the Stained Ones with the least serious crimes have to work for years without pay to atone for their sins, and they suffer the pain of having fingers cut off every day."
"As for those who conducted the experiments themselves, their hands stained with the children's blood, they were punished by being assigned to the ' Wild Hunt ' legion, forever teetering between life and death."
Bishop Alter's jaw nearly dropped to the ground upon hearing this. He knew that a Son of God had emerged on the other side of the mountains, but he had only regarded him as a rebel. He never expected this guy to be so powerful.
Xilǐ'er smiled at his expression and continued:
"Therefore, you have not done anything wrong in the matter of the Stained Ones and the children. The Son of God will reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have made mistakes."
"Since your decision to align with the Second Holy See depends on your archbishop's opinion, let's leave it at that for now and wait until we confirm his stance. What do you think?"
Upon hearing this Alter bowed repeatedly, overjoyed.
"Thank you for your understanding, Your Excellency..."
"Then we won't stay any longer. Let's set off for Golden Leaf City now to inquire about the Archbishop's opinion."
"Very well, this is a map of the Yiluo'en Province. Please don't find it offensive, envoys."
Bishop Alter handed a yellowed map to the Soul Returner, watching as the two mounted their warhorses and left Hibiscus Town through the south gate.
Standing behind the stained glass, confirming that the two had gone far away, Alter straightened his back little by little.
He returned to the study, opened the bookshelf in another corner, and stepped through the hidden door that had been revealed.