Full-Time Public Enemy

Charles was secretly gasping for breath, but Chen Gu wasn’t finished yet. He looked at Joe Igor and the others, speaking again, "My God will also warn those with treacherous hearts; if their souls are not pure, the mortal world itself is a glacial hell!"

The Glacier Spirit, Joseph, was always prepared, just waiting for this command. He had to coordinate with Big Brother to put on a show! He wasn’t like those rebels, Boluo and Charles! From the moment he joined the Bureau of Mystic Security, he’d been Big Brother Chen’s loyal little brother! One word from Big Brother, and this little brother would go through fire and flood, no questions asked! Even if Big Brother had abandoned him once, hadn’t Big Brother later brought his little brother along when he ascended, chickens, dogs, and all! For unwavering loyalty, count on Joseph!

Beneath the feet of Joe Igor and the others, a layer of ice rapidly formed!

Although Joseph, following his big brother’s instructions, didn’t freeze them completely, a chill still rose from the soles of their feet, causing these powerful figures from the headquarters to shiver uncontrollably. The ice underfoot was also treacherous, and several people slipped, sending them sprawling to the ground.

The long-headed people, with their large craniums, had unstable centers of gravity. This sudden fall made them shriek in agony. These powerful figures were not young; their tailbones were likely cracked from the fall.

Compared to the physical pain, their hearts were filled with even greater fear.

If the earlier sunshine piercing the clouds could have been a coincidence, this "glacial hell" absolutely could not. The rainy season was muggy; for ice to suddenly appear in such temperatures...

The surrounding believers had also heard the Prophet’s words. They now looked at these usually high-and-mighty clergy with eyes full of distrust!

As for Chen Gu, after aptly performing his charlatan’s grand trick of "words becoming reality" twice, he paid Joe Igor and the others no further mind. He walked leisurely through the path cleared by the believers, heading towards the inner city.

The believers were actually the first to react. They prostrated themselves en masse, their mixed prayers, praises, and confessions thundering like the rumble before a downpour.

As these "thunderous sounds" resonated, several lightning bolts streaked across the sky, and heavy rain began to pour. Yet, the area bathed in "sunshine," where the believers were gathered, remained completely dry.

Joe Igor and his group only snapped back to their senses after Chen Gu had walked several dozen meters away. Aided by their confidants, they carefully navigated the icy ground and then hurried after him. This time, however, their earlier "enthusiasm" was gone. Instead, they followed cautiously behind Chen Gu, heads bowed, treading carefully. Old Charles and the others sneered inwardly. Now you see the Prophet’s power, don’t you? A bunch of foolish false believers!

Only when they reached the city gate did Joe Igor dare to approach and ask, "Prophet, shall we visit the shrine first?"

Chen Gu nodded. "Lead the way."

"Yes." Joe Igor scrambled to the front to lead, sweat already beading on his temples. As he walked, his mind raced. He was still unsure how to handle the current predicament. The only thing he knew for sure was that the plans laid in the shrine to discredit the Prophet could no longer be executed.

He shot a look at a confidant, who then dropped a few paces behind. Once sure no one was watching, the confidant immediately bolted, taking a shortcut back to the shrine to dismantle those arrangements.

The old man who had secretly hired Cyclops and his men to assassinate Chen Gu was named Tanbudo Augustine. Standing on the ice, he felt not a shred of repentance, only a deepening hatred.

After Chen Gu entered the city, Tanbudo turned to instruct his subordinates, "Disperse the believers."

But his orders were futile. The believers ignored the clergy’s attempts at persuasion. Thousands of them spontaneously followed Chen Gu, even jostling to be at the very front, eager to walk in the footprints he left behind—as if such contact could bring them closer to "Our God." They had descended into a state of fervent fanaticism.

Tanbudo glanced back, nearly apoplectic with rage. A bunch of ignorant fools! he cursed inwardly.

「The city of Potsdam did indeed have a "shrine"; the Citadel did not.」

The faith in the "Great True God" was, after all, still spreading in secret, making it unfeasible to openly construct shrines everywhere. In reality, however, the royal families either turned a blind eye to this cult or had their own ulterior motives. As long as it didn’t interfere with mining operations or their pursuit of wealth and pleasure, they had no intention of suppressing it. Doesn’t suppression cost money, after all?

The shrine within the main city was quite large. Besides a main hall, two or three stories high, which served a function similar to a church, there were dozens of ancillary stone buildings, all sturdily built and aesthetically pleasing. Constructing a shrine right under the noses of Potsdam’s royalty also suggested that the city’s nobles were indeed secretly colluding with the church.

The confidant rushed back, sending the shrine into a flurry of activity as they hastily removed the previously prepared "arrangements," lest they embarrass themselves before the Prophet.

When Chen Gu arrived, he prayed with such devoutness before the statue of the Great True God that his performance deserved an Oscar for piety!

The shrine authorities trailing behind him, like Joe Igor and Tanbudo, witnessed with their own eyes how the statue, carved from ordinary wood, suddenly erupted with thousands of golden rays. It was as if this light was punishing their "impurity," making them feel intensely uncomfortable as they bathed in the radiance of Our God.