Thinking about this, a new idea popped into [ Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger ]'s mind.
He stood in the crowd and asked a question in the tone of a passerby:
"Is there a laboratory beneath your church?"
The tax official hesitated for a moment, then chose to tell the truth:
"Indeed, sir..."
[ Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger ] continued to ask:
Did you participate in the experiment?
The tax official was quick-witted; he knew that participating would definitely lead to a bad end, so he frantically waved his hands in front of his chest.
"No, sir, they did it all! We... we didn't do it!"
After saying this, he looked around, and the other surrendered priests nodded in agreement. The tax collector named one person after another, saying that those people were the ones who did the bad things, as if those things really had nothing to do with them.
Quite coincidentally, none of the priests whose names were mentioned were present. Some had died in the fighting on the second and third floors, some had been captured and taken to the Soul Returner' camp outside, and others had already committed suicide in front of the icon...
[ Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger ] nodded, thoughtfully summarizing:
"You mean, by sheer coincidence, we killed and captured all the bad guys, and just happened to leave you good guys alone?"
The tax official realized the huge flaw in his answer, but he had made the mistake in haste and couldn't admit to being a fraud. He could only awkwardly look at the Soul Returner and force a fake smile.
"Your summary is spot on."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a change in the expressions on the faces of the enemies in front of him.
The pity that had arisen earlier because of their surrender seemed to be rapidly fading, replaced by undisguised disgust.
[ The Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger ]'s little trick succeeded.
The reason why the Soul Returner changed their tune so quickly is simple: now it's clear to everyone that the bishop used his own death to buy a way out for his subordinates.
Even if such a person is not on the same side, he still has some backbone, and people will always respect him to some extent, and might even help find an empty place to bury him.
If these priests had obediently confessed at this point, it would have been fine, since there were precedents for dealing with the Stained Ones, and they wouldn't actually have to die (they would just have to face things that are even more terrible than death).
But the group of people the bishop protected with his life not only refused to confess, but also shifted the blame onto the dead, resorting to any means necessary to survive.
This really annoyed the players—telling such a clumsy lie, were they treating them like idiots?
Then don't blame the Calamity for being merciless.
So what if you can't kill them?
It's just a simple rule; the players have plenty of cunning and tricks up their sleeves to make sure these fools in front of them are satisfied.
Soon, the Soul Returner surrounded them, and for the first time, the dozens of surrendered priests realized that surrendering in a world without the Geneva Conventions would actually bring them nothing.
[ Zhong Lele ] wanted to join in and film some videos, but [ Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger ] politely asked him to leave.
"Let's not film this part yet, it's not going to be broadcast anyway."
"... Actually, I wanted to see that bishop."
This way, please.
After sending the prisoners to the White Wax Town concentration camp—no, the premium charcoal factory—the players began a thorough search of the church in Black Locust Town.
One by one, the young experimental subjects were brought out from underground. What came into their eyes was not the magnificent and solemn cathedral that secretly devoured life, but an empty building that remained intact with only the basic wooden and stone structure.
The boys almost thought the whole world had changed drastically and that the ground was no longer that church, until they saw the icon of the World Tree and realized that they were still in the church.
Apart from things like walls and pillars that couldn't be moved, and large items like the World Tree statue that might cause controversy if moved, everything else was swept away by the players.
In just half a day, the players had already devised their own robbery logic to prove that they weren't actually robbing anyone.
If this thing is mine, isn't it perfectly normal for me to take it home?
If you say this is yours, that's even stranger. Why would my things be with you?
Nuolun and the others were naturally shocked by what the players had done, but a few quick-thinking players soon came to a reasonable conclusion—
The entire Black Locust Town has become corrupt and decadent. The Son of God Child's intention is that there is no need to preserve the church here, and it should be temporarily abolished and re-established later.
Nuolun briefly put himself in Ed's shoes and felt that this was indeed the best course of action at the moment.
That's good, that's good. It turns out it was just the demolition of churches. She thought it was powerful and devout elders robbing people...
Thus, the battle for the church in Black Locust Town finally came to an end.
The moment the Territory Secret Pact was delivered to Ed, a new notification appeared in front of all players participating in the mission:
[The covert side quest – Two-Front Battle – has been completed and is currently processing the results...]
At this moment, not only the players in Black Locust Town, but also those who stayed in the other towns, cheered wildly.
The high level of immersion and lengthy quest process have caused some players to forget what they are actually doing.
But when they saw the task settlement section, they were still happy about the task rewards that were about to be credited to their accounts.
As for the players who participated in the battle of Black Locust Town, they made a lot of money. Not only did they receive a normal mission reward, but they also gained some extra benefits during the attack on the church. This trip was truly a lucrative one.
Some players who completed the hidden side quests chose to stay in towns to maintain stability, while others turned to participate in a new phase of the main quest, which was to create a 50-kilometer-wide safe zone in the Wilderness of Chaos near the Second Holy See.
Ed was actually quite satisfied with this assignment of tasks.
He knew that the players couldn't stay idle, so he had to constantly find things for them to do.
Now that the "Crazy Aduolin Mini Bread" project is complete, the next step should be a short period of farming and development, followed by new expansion.
As for the target, it was naturally Fir City, which was still not fully aware of the situation here.
As the capital of the Aduolin Province, Fir City serves as a springboard to other provinces.
It has a vast area and a large population, and also has a considerable standing army.
But none of these things made Ed wary; what truly concerned him was—
At this point, it's unlikely that the Second Holy See's affairs can be concealed any longer.