Love, death, and false man

Chapter 50. The Post-Apocalypse
10/7—10:05
Emmanuel Monastery, West District, Coastal City.

Because the Lord of Souls became the supreme being who controlled the entire historical narrative, he seriously challenged the authority of the "gods".

Furthermore, based on the timeline of the development of gravitational particle accelerators, religions before and after this timeline are divided into apocalyptic religions and post-apocalyptic religions.

Originally, theology was a description of the gods. In itself, it might contain a theogony, that is, a statement about the genealogical relationships between the gods in a system, and a statement about the power struggles between the gods.

The focus of statements about God is not on providing factual information about God, but rather on serving the political ecosystem. Intellectually, it inherits a large amount of input from ancient philosophy and contains a set of religious truths that maintain or profit from the operation of society. This set of truths is called "revelation theology".

Despite increased productivity, reduced suffering, and fewer believers by 2030, the old religions cannot be completely refuted because there is still no framework that can fully explain the universe.

This is apocalyptic religion.

Religions based on the apocalypse emerged after the invention of gravitational particle accelerators.

It completely abandons the elements of fantasy, educational fiction, and ideology that existed in past religions, and abandons the belief that the world must submit to a greater and better world that is either superior or yet to come.

The doctrine must attempt to ground faith in real physical existence; what can rival the Lord of Souls must be a radical system.

The Church of the Time of Reason is already a very conservative entity among post-apocalyptic religious groups.

Emmanuel Abbey is an old Gothic building located on the edge of the coastal city, but still within the city limits.

Ridges intersect on the building's roof, light is swallowed by the dark spire, the courtyard sinks into shadow, and the rose pattern on the stained glass dissects the sunlight into a sinister dark red.

In the nave where the worship service was taking place, the faces of the saints were no longer recognizable, and the wood grain was visible beneath the worm-eaten robes, as if the flesh was peeling away.

He was a middle-aged man of about forty years old, sitting in a wheelchair with his left leg amputated. He was wearing a rather neat dark brown suit, had a short, clean-shaven haircut, and a centipede-shaped scar around his neck. He was holding a book of poems in his hands.

"Come closer, so I can see it more clearly."

Andy waved to the young man at the door.

Compared to the Legion and the Soul Lord, the Holy See has fewer communication satellites and is at a disadvantage. Therefore, it needs extremely powerful people to act as anchors and allocate server computing power to important personnel as much as possible. Most of the other believers do not need server support according to their functions.

Entering a state of flow in a distracting environment, where runners are excited, in a zone, and focused, can enhance their soul fire intensity.

Similar to advanced meditation, when causality and physical rules fail, it is more like the synchronization of the frequency of "free will" and "cosmic origin consciousness".

Andy is a transcendental member of the Ascetic Order, which is also one of the religions of the Old Gods' Covenant Group.

Becoming a transcendent being is not easy.

Since a person can only die once, only in the most painful death can one achieve ultimate sublimation and transcend the eternal cycle of reincarnation.

The core tenets of the Ascetic Order are about 100,000 words long. After taking a powerful anti-shock drug, one must remain in a ZONE state for two days and one night of torture, without being distracted by physical pain feedback. The body is scientifically and systematically deconstructed, stimulating all nervous system reflexes to their maximum threshold.

To remove a section of finger, you first need to use a sharp needle to pierce the nail, then peel it open and remove the outer skin and connective tissue. Then, you need to rotate the dermis with a blade and sand the finger bone with sandpaper. After this process is complete, you need to cut off the section of finger with scissors to completely separate it.

By applying this principle to all parts of the body, and by concentrating throughout the entire process to silently recite the general outline of the doctrine, one can achieve ultimate transcendence at the moment of death.

The ascetic order will perform an ascension ritual on those who have completed the trials, enabling them to transcend. At the moment of death, they will spend extremely terrifying resources to use an acceleration device to send their head and spine-attached remains back to the past and graft them onto a pre-prepared container, thus completing their ascension.

Simply copying and pasting memories will not grant one the strength and characteristics of a Soulfire. A Soulfire is an independent entity separate from memories; it is not one's own power but can only be "rented" by the individual—a core self that cannot be copied.

If the strategy of the Legion and the Soul Master is to infiltrate every corner of society and be omnipresent.

The old Gods' strategy was different; they directed resources toward a minority of people who served as missionaries and leaders, constantly preaching and recruiting believers, while fighting against both sides.

Andy is the abbot of Emmanuel Monastery, but this is merely a facade; he is one of the priests of the Ascetic Order in 2030, a transcendent who has undergone the incarnation ritual.

"Who are you..."

Xiao Long was experiencing the most bizarre days of his life. He felt like he was going crazy, just like being entangled with a mind control organization on the Internet. He was frequently followed and monitored until the last day of his holiday when he was forcibly kidnapped by a group of people and sent to this place.

“I will tell you, child, relax. You said you saw monsters with deformed bodies, right?”

Andy pushed his wheelchair himself and slowly came to Xiao Long's side, speaking in a kind tone.

Although the church was well-equipped and clean, it exuded an indescribable, chilling gloom, and there was a strange man in a wheelchair in front of them, radiating a strong sense of terror.

"It's a battle between Ultimate Level 1 ability users... Eliminating the imposters, those who are killed, the world will forget about them."

Xiao Long felt a chill run down his spine, realizing that he had to answer all of this person's questions unconditionally and fulfill all of his requests.

"Hmm... I think it wasn't a battle between some so-called Ultimate Level 10 espers. It was just a despicable enemy who set the recruitment age at seventeen. But in my time, fourteen is already considered an adult. To fight the greatest heresy, too many precious things need to be sacrificed, even the most valuable years of youth."

"Your era?"

“That’s right, I’m not from 2030. I come from the future and have undergone difficult rituals and surgeries, using medical techniques beyond your current understanding. You are in a dangerous situation, but we will protect you.”

"Is it because I saw them?"

"You could say that the standard base station's memory erasure is ineffective against you because your soul fire intensity exceeds 1024 joules. It's quite difficult to explain and very perplexing; you won't understand it in a short time. All you need to know is that they will kill you."

Andy said calmly, handing the poetry collection in his hand to Xiao Long.

Xiao Long opened the document and glanced at it. It was full of words and phrases that were difficult to understand. He then looked at the various tools on the altar: scissors, tweezers, knives, hole openers, hand saws... all stained with dark red blood. He felt inexplicably uneasy.

"Can I go back now? I'll ask the police for help..."

Xiao Long timidly returned the poetry collection to Andy.

Instantly, the atmosphere in the entire church turned gloomy to freezing point, and the pale-faced group of people who had kidnapped him stared straight at him.

"Do you want to return to the nightmare of cruelty and tyranny? Deep down, you yearn for rebellion; you try to break free from the shackles imposed upon you by the world. I know everything about you, understand your loves and hates, your thoughts and feelings. Those people watch you coldly, like tourists admiring a madman. Do you like that feeling?"

Andy stood up from his wheelchair, and his empty left leg instantly became solid. However, his left foot was not real flesh and blood, but semi-transparent, yet it still had skin, muscles, tendons, tubes, skeleton structure, and flowing blood. He walked around Xiao Long, carefully examining him.

Almost every ascetic monastic has this characteristic of spiritual fire, which forms a physical body and, through long-term self-torture, creates a fixed channel between conscious and subconscious consciousness.

"I don't understand what you're saying... Please let me leave, I beg you."

Xiao Long just wanted to go home, his voice trembling.

"In this horrific war that spans history, no one had a choice; we were all caught up in it. It seems... I'll have to teach you a lesson, and I deeply regret that."

Pain itself is meaningless. Just like Joan of Arc's burning at the stake, it was at most an oxidation reaction, and we must treat it objectively.

But hidden within suffering are some precious things, things that can test a person's character. "My sense of smell is very keen; I can even smell the neurotransmitters released by the brain in response to fear. I smelled it; hopefully, it won't be too boring." With a compassionate heart, Andy chose the most peaceful knife from the dazzling array of tools at the altar—perfect for a beginner.

"I beg you!"

He even knelt down and wailed.

"It's too ugly... The suffering in the world is limited, and the only thing we can do is to bear more suffering for others. This is one of the doctrines of the Order of the Monastics. Remember it."

The intelligence gathered about you suggests you're a die-hard fan of gore films, craving brutal madness. Is that really true? We'll find out soon enough.

So… let’s begin. Like the protagonist, face the trial. It’s very basic; you can do it.”

The resounding declaration sounded even more desolate to Xiao Long than the guillotine.

……

……

……

10/8—11:12
With the long holiday over, Binhai No. 6 Middle School has officially returned to its high-pressure rhythm.

The third period of the morning has already ended.

Because someone died in the performance hall, the police have been investigating the case for some time, and the scene has been sealed off.

The smokers had no choice but to move to a new location: the fire escape of the stadium.

But it still has the sign for the emergency exit of the underworld, and the entire passage is a ghostly green like in a horror movie. The only thing that has changed is that the piled-up items have been replaced from performance props with various discarded sports equipment and rotten balls.

"Are the messages online true or false? Some people say they can shoot seven or eight times a day, but I can't really do it after the third shot, and the fourth shot is my limit. Am I just too weak?"

Is it continuous or intermittent?

"Continuous".

"Hmm... it's indeed very difficult to do it continuously, but I think there's still a chance if we do it intermittently."

"Seven or eight times? Sleep can replenish energy. I can make forty-two times a day by combining normal sleep with the Da Vinci sleep method."

"Holy crap, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, here we go again, the bragging contest."

"The story begins during the Cold War, the space race. Do you know the truth about the moon landing?"

"Damn, this one's even more important. Did you send him up?"

"Can I tell you something that people don't know? Of course, it's because it's so far away that even I have to take some blue pills."

A group of senior high school students gathered in the fire escape of the gymnasium, smoking, chatting, and joking around, creating a cheerful atmosphere.

Fang Yan was also smoking Hongtashan cigarettes here. He was speechless, wondering if only the seniors from No. 6 Middle School were this abnormal, or if other universities were like this.

The news has reported that a Mercury Electric business jet, a Bombardier Global 7500, crashed after a failed emergency landing, with all crew and passengers missing.

It was an infiltration operation, the identities were not disclosed, and with the satellite cleanup, all the impact could be completely eliminated.

Although he was the "Ultimate Scandalous Boyfriend," a so-called influential figure, Fang Yan didn't feel that he had changed much during his time at school; he was still as lonely as before.

The urban legend website includes students from all the high schools in Binhai, with a total number of probably over 200,000. If we only consider No. 6 High School, not many people know about Soda Revolution. The rumors haven't spread. Only a few people know that there's a guy in Class 2 of Grade 11 whose girlfriend is a member of a rock band.

Fang Yan believes this is the best approach—to keep a low profile.

The intelligence from the last time-coordinated operation, as well as the information about the [time structure] deduced by the female doctor in the community, has been summarized and organized in the red-covered notebook.

Living in constant fear is not a solution; one must break free from it. Obtaining a higher military rank seems to bring one closer to the truth.

A non-commissioned officer needs 10000 merit points, but I only have 3000 right now.

The 10th is Military Supplies Day, and Fang Yan has also customized a special weapon based on the characteristics of the Sinful Equipment. I wonder if it will be useful.

Standard supplies are available, as well as supplies of other types of firearms and ammunition, and an additional 50,000 yuan.

The 20,000 yuan I received last time hasn't been used up yet. I bought a high-end computer for monitoring, and I still have more than 4,000 yuan left.

To circumvent the algorithm, Fang Yan didn't want to be too ostentatious with his money. He would order meat like crazy at hot pot restaurants but not vegetables, and he wasn't interested in so-called trendy clothing brands. So he simply went straight to investing in stocks, using satellite servers to learn inside information, and aimed to become the world's richest man by the end of the year.

Of course, this is just wishful thinking. A server could do it, but only if you're alive to spend the money; otherwise, your identity would be exposed in a heartbeat.

It's not good to keep driving Xia Bing's car, so I might as well get a new one. But I can't drive it to school. Where am I supposed to spend the money? Should I just recharge it in the game?

It's strange that I didn't see Wang Ying today. Did he secretly quit smoking during the holidays?
Fang Yan lingered until 11:20, when the school bell had already rung, but he didn't care and was thinking about what to eat for lunch.

The two students in the class were being monitored in real time. Su Ci seemed to be fine, and it appeared to be a purely girls' high school.

Xiao Long's words are a bit strange. He wasn't seen on the surveillance footage yesterday, and he wasn't seen at school this morning either.

Just as Fang Yan was thinking this...

By this time, all the students had left, leaving only him, but then he heard footsteps.

Xiao Long doesn't smoke, yet he appeared in the fire escape at this moment. The eerie green EXIT light shone on him, making his excessively tall and thin figure look like a ghost.

Fang Yan became alert and immediately attempted to read the mind, but all he got was a string of gibberish. What was going on? This guy's soul fire peak intensity was 1024 joules?

He immediately placed his hand on the Colt M2000 hanging on his waist.

Xiao Long looked very strange, his eyes were empty and lifeless, like an animal that had been trained to be completely insensitive to violence, and he seemed somewhat mentally impaired.

Can I... ask you a question?

"explain."

Are you an Ultimate Level 3 Ability User?

[You have been redirected to the [Hunter Channel]]

(End of this chapter)