The hotel where the Rhine Empire delegation was staying.
Monica is interrogating Jason.
There weren't many people in the room: Jason, his family of three, and Jason's older brother Barek.
As for the others, they were too frightened to approach.
"Tell me! When exactly did you break through to the Deity-level! Why do Mom and Uncle know, but I don't!" Monica put her hands on her hips and looked at Jason sitting in front of her.
Jason scratched his cheek, looking nonchalant. "A stroke of good fortune! You already knew from your investigation that I was hailed as a genius~ I broke through without even realizing it."
Veronica and Barek watched the spectacle while drinking tea.
Seeing Jason's smiling face, Monica paused for a moment, then her eyes suddenly reddened, and tears welled up in her eyes. "We agreed that you and Mom were being hunted down by the two major Vatican councils, and that so many Baruch Clan had disappeared over the centuries. I always thought you were powerless to help."
All these years, I've poured so much effort into this, hoping you wouldn't have to hide anymore, wouldn't have to fear being hunted down by enemies, and could live openly and honestly. I never imagined you just didn't want to help!! Ugh~~~ Bad dad!"
Jason panicked when he saw his daughter crying.
Jason helped the sobbing Monica to a chair, then knelt down to comfort her, "It's alright, it's alright, don't cry. I just wanted you to get some exercise while you're young, I didn't mean it."
"But the Baruch Clan —hiss—and three other families—whoosh—so many people have died, and you don't care at all!~~" Monica had left home as a child and had been secretly investigating for so many years. She must have accumulated too many grievances, and for a moment she burst into tears.
Veronica couldn't stand it anymore and came over to hug her daughter from behind. "Alright, you're not a member of the Baruch Clan. As for your father not helping the Baruch Clan, that was my decision—I was kicked out of the house and stripped of my surname by them!"
Veronica briefly recounted her past grievances with the Baruch Clan.
Barek, standing to the side, nodded slightly. He had investigated these matters before, but due to the passage of time, he only knew the general outline. However, he had unexpectedly discovered quite a few of the sordid affairs between the two Vatican councils.
Jason sighed and said to Monica, "Don't feel wronged. Although the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans have had a tough time over the past thousand years, have you ever thought about how many people they bullied when they were at their peak over a thousand years ago?"
The productivity on the continent hasn't changed much in tens of thousands of years, but the prosperity of the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans back then can be seen from the size of the Baruch Clan's mansion. Weren't those resources stolen from the weak?
Furthermore, because of their low fertility rate, almost every adult in their tribe has several wives in order to increase the population; while the human male-to-female ratio is one to one, weren't those women taken from weaker families by them?"
"But many large families do this," Monica said softly.
"Yes, so if you bully the weak when you are strong, you should be prepared to be retaliated against when you decline."
Despite the fact that the Baruch Clan and the Radiant Church are allies, the latter would rather kick them when they're down than help them.
Given the Baruch Clan's talent, simply helping them through their centuries of weakness would have secured them an invincible ally below the Deity-level! Yet, the Radiant Church still chose the inefficient method of using the Baruch Clan as vessels for angels. This was because they were far too arrogant, so arrogant that even their allies couldn't tolerate them.
Moreover, your mother has already left the Baruch Clan and hasn't fought in her Dragon Transformation form for hundreds of years, so naturally I won't offer any protection to the Baruch Clan."
Monica had stopped crying and pouted, "So, you don't want to protect the Baruch Clan, and the other three families?"
"If you want me to protect them, that's fine, but you must promise me to control their behavior. I don't want a family that grows up under my protection to end up as bullies who prey on the weak."
Monica wiped away her tears, stood up, and nodded solemnly. "I promise."
"Hehe, you silly child." Jason chuckled and pinched his daughter's cheek.
The Radiant Church, the ninth floor of the Temple of Light.
"Jason Rhein, born nine hundred years ago, is the Deity-level being left behind by the Rhine Clan to oversee things," Heidens murmured as he sat on the papal throne.
The main hall was surrounded by the Saint-level of the Radiant Church, and all those remaining on the Holy Union's home turf were present. Regarding Deity-level secrets, those below the Saint-level were simply not qualified to participate.
Kuye wasn't sure if Jason had used a Deity-level domain at the time, but there were special detection instruments around the Radiant Temple, which were enough to detect it at such a close distance.
"Is it the one who stayed behind, or the one who broke through later?" asked Leiming, the leader of the fanatics who was over two meters tall and quite conspicuous.
An angel with four wings on its back, clearly Two-Winged Angel with Saint Realm Middle Stage strength, replied, "Since nine hundred years ago, the Church has not detected any signs of godhood, but the possibility that the Rhine Clan left behind Divine Spark for their descendants to refine cannot be ruled out."
Subconsciously, they still didn't quite believe that Jason could break through to Deity-level on his own in less than a thousand years, especially since, according to intelligence analysis, Jason might have become a god nine hundred years ago, when he was less than a hundred years old.
Unbeknownst to them, Jason had already attained godhood through multiple laws over the past few hundred years, and even his Fate Divine Clone had broken through to the Midgod.
Thanks to Jason's study of some magic array knowledge after arriving in the Netherworld, although he wasn't an expert, he could still easily conceal his godhood aura.
It's not difficult to deceive some Saint-level and Lowgod. Of course, it's impossible to deceive Beirut and the three Purple-Gold Rat King.
Kuye, still dressed in tattered clothes, remained calm. "That's not what you're really concerned about, is it?"
Those around them breathed a sigh of relief, clearly as if their prediction had come true.
The existence of Deity-level being in the Rhine Clan was already known to the major powers on the continent. They also knew that the War God and the High Priest were very hostile to this Deity-level, and it was because of the mutual hostility between the three parties that they were able to maintain their existence.
The only change now is that the true identity of this Deity-level has been confirmed; the Radiant Church's foreign policy will not change as a result.
"So, how do we keep Linley here?" Heidens asked.
As a pope devoted to the Radiant Sovereign, he naturally wanted to win over Linley, who had the potential to reach the Saint-level. Jason's arrival made them realize that they did not have the power to keep Linley there.
"Should we join forces with the envoy from the Yulan Empire?" the Four-Winged Angel suggested.
The only group that showed interest in Linley and had the confidence to oppose Deity-level being was the Yulan Empire delegation. As for the O'Brien Empire, it seemed to have little interest in Linley.
The other Saint-level around remained silent.
Regarding Linley's matter, there were not many people in the Saint-level who were genuinely concerned. It was just Pope Heidens, a few Saint-level angels, the fanatic Leiming, and his few subordinates—only a handful of people.
Most of them came this time because they heard about the news of Deity-level. As Saint-level, they have an instinctive desire for Deity-level beings, which is why so many Saint-level have gathered here for the first time.
As for Linley, he's just a teenager with the potential to reach the Saint-level. What does he have to do with them? Would befriending him help them break through to the Deity-level?
The reason these Saint-level in the hall are affiliated with the Radiant Church is simply because they were born in the Holy Union, receive good treatment here, and have access to angels descended from the Light God Plane, which allows them to obtain information that is not available on the Yulan Continent.
Aside from Pope Heidens and fanatics, which Saint-level truly believes in the Radiant Sovereign?
Oh, those angels created by the Radiant Sovereign.
The Pope and several Saint-level truly loyal to the Radiant Sovereign began a heated discussion about the feasibility of using the Yulan Empire to restrain the Rhine Empire.
As for the other Saint-level, they merely watched coldly from the sidelines.