A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 88: Chapter 71: God’s Selected Mission_1

After that, Pastte publicly declared that Archbishop Sigma was an Evil God Cultist, who had fallen into Chaos and was attempting to deceive everyone with his smooth words. He then executed him. He also indicated the mission would continue and would thoroughly investigate the army for any Evil God Cultists. Everyone didn’t have any objections to this – at least for most of the soldiers, this was enough.

After that, under the leadership of Duanmu Huai and the Witch Hunters and other squads, they all came together and captured the city hall and the marketplace, just barely securing a base for the headquarters. Perhaps it was because they had hit hard previously that they didn’t encounter any obstacles this time. Apart from some short-sighted Ratmen who dared to cause trouble, all other forces held their armies in check temporarily.

However, for Duanmu Huai, the troublesome matters were just beginning.

“I really didn’t expect that it would come to this…”

In his room, Duanmu Huai stared at the system in front of him and sighed helplessly.

[God’s Chosen Mission “Sigma’s Glory”]

[Mission Objective: Recover Modheim]

[Return this city to the glory of Sigma and show to the world its divine protection!]

Regarding this mission, Duanmu Huai only wanted to say one sentence …

Oh man … this is really troublesome!

To the people of this world, being chosen by God is a very glorious thing. However, for the players who acted as Judges, God’s chosen missions were very troublesome. That’s because most of God’s chosen missions were long, complex, and those gods were unclear about their own identities. Perhaps the people of this world admired them, but the players wouldn’t really worship them as gods.

Taking a step back, the Judges would only be loyal to order and not to any specific god. If it was a Judge from the Heretic Tribunal, they wouldn’t swear loyalty, not directly crushing these heretic false gods would be considered a tolerance.

Of course, God’s chosen missions also had their benefits. Almost every God’s chosen mission would reward special talents and skills, exclusive weapons, equipment, and even grant you some followers.

These were quite useful for other Judge professions, but for the Soul Walker, these mission rewards were somewhat insignificant. After all, for things like these, Duanmu Huai could easily gain a heap of them by diving into the Soul Shard. Just like the exclusive skill and reward he obtained after completing the mission in the Holy City, they were no worse than those from God’s chosen missions, were they?

Therefore, compared to these long and stinking God’s Chosen missions, Duanmu Huai preferred the kind that said: “I don’t know where I am, I don’t know who I am, all I know is I want to kill happily.”

Enough said, just do it and it’s over.

But now that he had accepted the mission, what more could Duanmu Huai do?

However, there was one thing that caught Duanmu Huai’s attention.

This mission was not triggered after he arrived in Modheim, but after Sigma’s Holy Light shone on his body and blessed him.

It now seemed that the Great Crown Prince and Sigma had the same goal, but the system only confirmed Sigma’s mission and ignored the Great Crown Prince’s mission … Well, this was interesting.

But that’s also good, since you’ve assigned me a mission, then it wouldn’t be unreasonable to take some of your holy artifacts as payment, right?

Well then, I won’t be shy.

Duanmu Huai turned off the system, left his room, and walked out into the square.

After regaining the market square, it became the temporary camp for the Imperial Army. The entire market square was a great plaza, surrounded by shops built in a circle around it. A statue stood in the middle, probably a statue of some noble who initially built the city. At this moment, the soldiers were running in circles around the plaza.

Of course, this was not unusual, the unusual part was the small figure in a white robe running at the front.

That was none other than Lorena.

At this moment, she was running swiftly around the market square with her fists clenched. The soldiers following Lorena were all out of breath and dripping in sweat… yes, their expressions reminded Duanmu Huai of his classmates during the long-distance marathon runs in his Physical Education classes.

“Ah, Sir Knight!”

After running another lap, Lorena finally noticed Duanmu Huai, she smiled and waved at him, then ran over. Seeing Lorena leave, the soldiers immediately collapsed on the ground like a pile of mud, unable to move at all.

“Such a, such a monster …”

“She’s run a hundred laps already … Is she even human?”

“I can’t do it anymore …”

The soldiers’ complaints were heard here and there, but at this moment, a man who appeared to be the captain stepped forward.

“What a useless bunch! A group of grown men and you can’t outrun a little girl! If you still have energy to complain, then you’re not working out hard enough! Get up and keep running!”

“Argh ——— !”

Amidst the sobbing and wailing of a group of soldiers, Lorena arrived in front of Duanmu Huai.

“You don’t seem to be affected at all.”

Looking at Lorena who was just slightly blushing and panting slightly in front of him and then at the nearly zombie-like soldiers who couldn’t get up behind him, Duanmu Huai could only comment with emotion.

“Are you sure you’re okay working out like this?”

“Of course!”

Lorena nodded vigorously.

“If we get injured, it would make the gods sad, so we have to work hard to keep fit and stay healthy! And our efforts will surely be seen by the gods!”

“Ah…well, keep up the good work.”

Admittedly, Duanmu Huai was left speechless by Lorena’s logic. He could somewhat understand her train of thought. In fact…compared to those believers who kneel down all day praying for the deity’s mercy, this kind of thinking seemed much healthier.

Assuming, of course, you can withstand doing five hundred push-ups and throwing punches every day.

“Ah, right. Sir Knight, Miss Merlot was looking for you earlier. She said the Archbishop has something to discuss with you.”

“Something?”

Hearing Lorena’s message, Duanmu Huai was taken aback for a moment, then he nodded.

“Alright, I’ll go have a look.”

After chatting with Lorena for a bit, Duanmu Huai returned to his room. He instructed Ogis (who was reading) not to let anyone disturb him, then he opened the gateway to the Holy City and returned there once again.

“Phew…”

Necessarily, the feeling of being back in the Holy City was truly wonderful. Looking at the clear blue sky, lush green grassland, bustling crowd in the streets, and the clean city, it did stir a desire to stay here forever. As far as living standards go, the Holy City was much better than Modheim, a place cursed and shrouded in evil filth, gloom, and oppressive clouds.

“Ah, Sir Knight!”

“Sir Knight, long time no see!”

Everyone on the street greeted Duanmu Huai warmly, as he walked on the road. They were no longer as fearful of him as they had been. After all, he had saved their city and all the inhabitants knew it. Even though Duanmu Huai’s Power Armor looked somewhat intimidating, everybody was still happy to greet him.

Duanmu Huai greeted everyone with a nod while making his way to the Cathedral to meet the Archbishop.

“I heard you wanted to see me?”

Looking at the Archbishop, Duanmu Huai curiously asked.

“Indeed, Sir Knight, I have a pressing matter to discuss with you.”

Before Duanmu Huai was a woman with long, wavy platinum hair, dressed in an elegant white dress. She was Relia, Archbishop of the Cathedral. Duanmu Huai did not know her intimately but had spoken to her briefly after the fighting had ended. She had somewhat made an impression on him as dedicated and professional clergy. However, they weren’t particularly close, so Duanmu Huai wasn’t sure why she wanted to see him.

“What is it?”

“It’s about the Mechanical Believers.”

Relia looked slightly somber… Well, Duanmu Huai could understand her woes to some extent.

After all, having your followers deceived by a devil was nothing to boast about.

“We have examined all the Mechanical Believers. Most of them have been misled by Iver, with only a few choosing to follow him on this path of destruction. We have purified them thoroughly… hoping their souls find redemption.”

“…………”

Duanmu Huai wanted to express his condolences, but thought better of it given the circumstances, and held his tongue.

However, what Relia said next took Duanmu Huai by surprise.

“As for the rest of the Mechanical Believers… Can I entrust them to you, Sir Knight?”

“…………?”

Undeniably, when Duanmu Huai heard this, he was taken aback.

“Why?”

“After Iver’s scheme was exposed, these believers found themselves lost. If the road they have been walking on was just a part of the devil’s plan, they wouldn’t even know how to proceed. Especially…as they have sacrificed a lot for it.”

“I see… I understand.”

Reflecting on his encounter with the Mechanical Believers in the church, Duanmu Huai nodded in agreement. Many of them obeyed the teachings of the Mechanical Religion to the point where they even replaced their arms and legs with machinery… This was indeed a huge sacrifice. At the time, Duanmu Huai joked about leading them to worship the God of All Machines and becoming Mecha Servants.

But…

“Why me??”

Duanmu Huai expressed his confusion. He didn’t even know members of the Mechanical Religion!

“When they were lost, they saw you. They believe they have found a new path through you… I hope you can talk with their representatives.”

Offering this explanation, the Archbishop glanced at Duanmu Huai’s Power Armor.

The meaning behind her gaze was all too clear.

“Um…alright, I’ll give it a try.”

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai was left speechless. As the current master of the World Fragment, he was indeed obliged to manage the affairs within it.

If all else fails, he’ll convince them to be Mecha Servants.