A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 87: Chapter 70: A Change in Situation_1

Upon discovering that the elderly bishop was a devotee of the Evil God, the situation took an immediate turn. The soldiers quickly restrained and detained the bishop, their faces awash with shock… Never did they expect the bishop of Sigma Church would be a follower of the Evil God.

A Witch Hunter immediately volunteered to interrogate the elderly bishop. The three Combat Nuns, of course, were released – now that it was clear that the bishop himself was an Evil God Cultist, the validity of his words was straightforward.

The fact that the elderly bishop was an Evil God Cultist didn’t surprise Duanmu Huai. He knew that followers of the Four Great Evil Gods each had their own domains.

The Brutal God’s followers were essentially warriors with brains full of muscles.

The followers of the God of Lust tended to concentrate in the realm of culture and entertainment, such as writers, artists, and students of the Humanities and Arts.

Although the God of Plague can be considered altruistic, its followers were primarily among the lower classes and those in the fields of biology and medicine. If a biologist were to produce a T-virus claiming it has the potential to cure diseases, there would be no doubt that he or she was a follower of the God of Plague.

The God of Trickery’s believers, however, took the upper route, and most of them were powerful elites and spellcasters. They had a knack for turning simple things complicated, much like those bored murderers in Conan, who liked arranging fake scenes, inventing killing methods, even adding mechanisms —— whether they were useful or not wasn’t the point; the critical thing was to make things extraordinarily complex.

If you made it too simple, you shouldn’t even call yourself a Trickery believer; it’d be embarrassing to admit.

Hence, the appearance of any Trickery follower signified multilayered, intricate, and twisted conspiracies behind them —— regardless of whether they actually succeeded or not.

This old man in front of them was a high-ranking bishop in Sigma Church. The infiltration of the God of Trickery was not surprising, but…the problem lay precisely there.

“The interrogation is over.”

At this moment, the Witch Hunter appeared before Duanmu Huai and muttered in a low voice.

“What did you find?”

Looking at the Witch Hunter in front of him, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and always hiding his face under a turban, Duanmu Huai asked. He trusted this Witch Hunter, who was essentially a localized version of a Judge. They could cooperate well in this area.

“He is a member of The Hand of Uzi. His mission here this time was to secretly take over the command of the Imperial Army and then seize control of Modheim. As for what is to be done next, he doesn’t know. If successful, The Hand of Uzi will send people to complete subsequent assignments.”

“Mysterious indeed, a typical move for these idiots.”

When he heard this, Duanmu Huai snorted coldly.

“What’s the plan?”

“Report to General Pastte truthfully, let him worry about it.”

Facing the words of the Witch Hunter, Duanmu Huai immediately made his decision. He had dealt with the followers of the God of Trickery for more than a day or two and naturally knew how to handle these bastards. The moment you discovered the conspiracy of the God of Trickery and planned to intervene, you unwittingly stepped onto their chessboard. This was like you trying to find hidden treasure in a castle; the moment you tried to unlock the secret, you’d already lost.

So what should he do then?

Why not just turn the castle upside down?

Against Trickery believers, you can’t play their game. Just flip the chessboard and hit them straight. Once you join their game, regardless of whether you win or lose, you’re still lost.

That’s why Duanmu Huai immediately handed over the hot potato. As for how General Pastte will handle it, that’s his business.

Of course, there was a possibility that General Pastte himself was a Trickery believer, but…based on his previous behavior, Duanmu Huai doubted whether the God of Trickery would have been impressed by him.

“Then I’ll go.”

The Witch Hunter spoke solemnly, and Duanmu Huai didn’t have much to say. After all, it was an important matter. They couldn’t casually send a lower-ranked soldier to report it, could they?

General Pastte’s reaction was much faster than Duanmu Huai had expected. After learning of the situation, he followed the Witch Hunter to the temple overnight. Therefore, Duanmu Huai, yawning uncontrollably, had to attend another emergency meeting held by General Pastte.

“I’ve already been informed of the situation.”

Inside the room, under the candlelight, General Pastte looked very serious.

“Who else knows about this?”

“At least the people here know… What is the issue?”

“……”

Facing Duanmu Huai, General Pastte frowned, but in the end, he still spoke.

“Actually… this time’s plan was persuaded by the people of Sigma Church to His Majesty The Emperor, thus we came to reclaim Modheim…”

“Oh…..”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai gave a meaningful “oh”, suddenly understood what General Pastte meant. The Witch Hunter also snorted coldly and said.

“I’ve long heard that The Hand of Uzi has been trying to replace the Emperor and control the Empire. Even the sudden death of the previous Emperor has something to do with them…”

Speaking to this part, the three people present understood what it means. Sigma Church convinced the Great Crown Prince to dispatch people to reclaim Modheim, and the senior representative in the Sigma Church is a follower of the God of Trickery. Then is the Great Crown Prince also a believer of the God of Trickery? After all, the throne he is currently sitting on is not very stable, it’s possible for him to seek help from the Evil God. Compared to the unremarkable Plague God and the mindless Brutal God, the God of Trickery is a better choice.

Connecting this together, could the sudden death of the Emperor on the expedition be the doing of the followers of the God of Trickery?

Thinking deeper, it could be that the Great Crown Prince has joined hands with The Hand of Uzi, this cult of the Evil God…

Well, there is no need to think further.

“I’m surprised, I thought you would kill us to silence us.”

Duanmu Huai looked at General Pastte with some surprise, although there is currently no evidence that the Great Crown Prince has anything to do with The Hand of Uzi and the God of Trickery, there is also no evidence of his innocence. He had originally thought that General Pastte would deal with them covertly while the matter had not escalated.

“I am an Imperial General and a follower of Sigma, perhaps I’m not so devout, but I’ve not stooped so low as to fraternize with the Chaos Evil God.”

Pastte stroked his beard and spoke firmly. Of course, for his words… Duanmu Huai just listened.

“So, what should we do next?”

“There’s nothing that can be done.”

Pastte shook his head.

“I must take Modheim, that was a direct order from His Majesty The Emperor.”

“Oh?”

“My family is in Aldorf.”

“Oh……”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai immediately understood why Pastte, after learning about this, came directly to discuss it with them.

“So you mean, let us suppress this matter?”

“Yes, I understand His Majesty The Emperor’s temper well, he would never admit to being deceived by the followers of the Evil God, even if he knows there’s a problem, he will still persist. And… frankly speaking, I have no other way.”

“……”

Duanmu Huai and the Witch Hunter looked at each other, then Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders.

“Well then, after all, we have no other clues for now. Let it be for a while, after all, reclaiming this city and liberating it from the hands of Chaos isn’t a bad thing. As for the problems it may have… we’ll deal with them when the time comes.”

Deal with soldiers if they come, fight the water if it floods. However, Duanmu Huai would rather the Great Crown Prince have connections with the Chaos Evil God. In such a way, when he tries to steal the Holy Artifact, he won’t have any guilt.

As for now… Let’s wait and see.