Although the “Four-Unlikes” hadn’t been focusing on the “delicacies” scurrying beneath its feet due to the impact of the Penguin Building explosion, as it charged toward the building, its trunk—more agile than any tentacle—kept sweeping downward. After Shen Ge blocked two attacks in a row, it shifted its target to another combat vehicle.
There were five people in that vehicle, all clad in the black cloaks of the New God Cult. The one sitting in the center of the back seat wore a cloak with a golden sun emblem at the top, surrounded by tentacles. The other four had similar emblems, but theirs had only four tentacles, whereas this man’s sun was encircled by a full thirteen.
Seeing the “Four-Unlikes” launch another assault, the man didn’t even look up. He said calmly, “Turn left. Leave the space on the right open. Try to get as close as possible to the left two legs of the Weird.”
“Yes.” The driver responded with almost no hesitation, his tone carrying a numbed obedience, like a puppet stripped of human emotion.
The follower in the passenger seat held a strange device, continuously spraying a black gas out the window.
The follower at the rear gunner position, much like A-Pao in the other vehicle, was firing rocket launchers at the “Four-Unlikes”—whether to draw its attention or disrupt its movements, it was hard to tell.
These two, along with the driver, all wore eerily “calm” expressions, as if they felt nothing but indifference toward everything around them.
That kind of emotional state was clearly abnormal for a group of people fleeing for their lives. Compared to the situation in the neighboring vehicle, they seemed like puppets being controlled.
As for the fifth person on the vehicle, she was curled up in a corner, clutching a “map” covered in various markings. She alternated between glancing at the map and reporting road conditions to the driver in a trembling voice.
Her fear of the Weird and her visible emotional fluctuation stood in stark contrast to the other three. Whether it was her quivering voice that annoyed the priest or he simply disliked her cowardly demeanor, he let out a cold snort and said flatly, “The New God will protect us. The fear before your eyes is merely an illusion. Under the New God’s shelter, even if our flesh perishes, our souls will endure forever, never fading away.”
“…”
After a brief silence, the follower studying the map muttered, “Who knows if souls really last forever? I just want my body to stay alive and well.”
“Liang Yin, you are a candidate for the Saintess. You should not harbor such emotions. Remember, your conduct will affect whether you successfully inherit the role of Saintess. You must show courage beyond that of ordinary people. I brought you along on this mission precisely to clear the last obstacles for you. Do not question my orders, and do not harbor any doubts about our faith. Understood?” the priest said in a deep voice.
The woman called Liang Yin bit her lip and remained silent, her eyes burning with resentment. She had never wanted to become some “Saintess,” but unfortunately, her parents had long been completely brainwashed by the New God Cult. The moment they heard she had a chance to become Saintess, they offered her up to the cult without hesitation.
But only Liang Yin herself knew the truth: it wasn’t the New God Cult that had taken a liking to her as “Saintess”—it was the priest before her who had set his sights on her, trying to turn her into one of the playthings he toyed with at will.
Liang Yin had once accidentally witnessed Priest Jiang and his followers’ “baptism ceremony.” The girls who were labeled “Saintess candidates” were cruelly abused by them, and Priest Jiang even had the audacity to claim that the Saintess candidates were their toys, while the Saintess herself was the bishop’s toy.
He’d had his fun with all kinds of women, but they were all leftovers from the bishop. That was why he wanted to cultivate a Saintess of his own this time.
And Liang Yin was that target.
Liang Yin had been looking for opportunities to escape, but the maids assigned to serve her had all been thoroughly brainwashed by Priest Jiang, constantly monitoring her every move.
With Liang Yin’s own “baptism” ceremony drawing closer, she had hoped to take advantage of this mission to flee. Instead, she was dragged back by Priest Jiang.
Recalling the horrific scene she had accidentally witnessed—those girls tortured beyond endurance—Liang Yin would rather die than serve that demon.
The map Liang Yin held was a special route chart from the New God Cult, detailing the surrounding road conditions and the anti-Weird traps left behind by shelters.
While giving directions, Liang Yin secretly guided the driver toward some inconspicuous traps, hoping to drag these demons down with her.
Unfortunately, her intentions seemed to have been detected by Priest Jiang. Every time at a critical moment, he would speak up to change the route, “coincidentally” avoiding the anti-Weird traps along the way.
Liang Yin steeled herself, ready to directly interfere with the driver’s controls, sending them all to their doom beneath the skyscraper-sized legs of the “Four-Unlikes.”
Just then, the rocket fire seemed to have thoroughly enraged the “Four-Unlikes.” Its trunk exploded into dozens of tentacles in midair, all shooting toward the vehicle. Strangely, just as the tentacles were about to strike the vehicle, an invisible barrier seemed to appear in the air. The tentacles bounced off it, veering into the buildings on both sides of the road and collapsing them.
“Focus on your own tasks. The New God will shield us,” Priest Jiang said flatly, as if the “miracle” that had just occurred was nothing more than a trivial matter.
Liang Yin lowered her head, her resentment burning even hotter—but there was nothing she could do. How could an ordinary person like her stand against a “priest”?
Although the New God Cult was a fraudulent organization, the bishops and priests did possess genuine abilities to perform “miracles.” It was said that each priest had different powers.
Priest Jiang’s ability was “immunity to all attacks.” Liang Yin still remembered the first time she saw him—he was dealing with a team of rebels, and they fired rockets at him. Yet Priest Jiang walked calmly out of the flames, completely unscathed.
Had she not personally witnessed Priest Jiang’s atrocities, Liang Yin might have believed, like her parents, that the priests and bishops were true “spokespersons of the New God.”
“Liang Yin, nothing in this world escapes the New God’s control. Stop your futile struggles. My patience with you has limits. You may indeed be a rare work of art, but if you thoroughly provoke me, I will show you what true hell looks like.”
“Be obedient. Otherwise, it won’t just be you—your parents will also face the ‘New God’s’ wrath. The New God has granted me the power to save the world and to see through all things.”
Priest Jiang seemed about to continue his psychological manipulation of Liang Yin, but then an unfamiliar man’s voice suddenly rang out inside the vehicle: “Then did your New God tell you that today would be the day you die?”
The driver in the front seat, the two operating the weird-controlling device, and the one manning the cannon in the back—all of them showed no change in expression at the sudden appearance of an extra person in the vehicle.
The ones whose expressions did change were Priest Jiang and Liang Yin. The former frowned, his face grave, clearly unable to figure out where Shen Ge had come from.
Liang Yin, on the other hand, was utterly shocked. In her eyes, Priest Jiang’s supernatural ability was already akin to a “miracle” close to divinity—and this man, who had appeared like a phantom, was even more astounding.
In Liang Yin’s view, unless Shen Ge was a “ghost,” there was no way he could have silently slipped into a speeding combat vehicle.
“Grab him!” Priest Jiang ordered flatly. The moment the words left his mouth, the follower at the cannon and the one in the passenger seat lunged at Shen Ge.
Liang Yin swallowed the word “Careful” back down. Though she desperately wanted Priest Jiang and his men dead, she had no idea whether this suddenly appearing phantom was friend or foe.
Liang Yin shrank into the corner, not daring to move, afraid that even a small gesture would draw the attention of both sides and make her an example.
But the next second, Liang Yin realized her “worry” was unnecessary. The phantom-like man didn’t need her warning at all. She barely saw a blur before the two followers were inexplicably “flung” out of the vehicle. One landed in a crowd of parasitized victims in the distance and was instantly devoured; the other was buried under a building collapsed by one of the “Four-Unlikes'” elephantine legs.
“Who sent you? Why are you attacking our New God Cult?” Priest Jiang remained motionless in his seat, his icy gaze fixed on Shen Ge, who was now sitting across from him.
But the furrow in Priest Jiang’s brow and the cold sweat on his forehead betrayed that he was far from as “calm” as he appeared.
Bang!
Before Shen Ge could answer, a gunshot rang out behind him. The driver, who had been driving, had twisted around and fired a shot at the back of his head.
Liang Yin covered her mouth in terror. At such close range, a shot like that was surely fatal. But before she could even recover from her shock, she heard a soft clink—a bullet fell from behind Shen Ge, rolled across the floor of the vehicle, and stopped at her feet.
“Th-That’s impossible…” Liang Yin remembered that Priest Jiang’s confidants were equipped with special firearms—weapons powerful enough to blow off a parasitized victim’s head with a single shot.
And this man, who seemed ordinary aside from his striking looks, had taken a shot at point-blank range and come out completely unharmed?
Did he have an ability like Priest Jiang’s?
At that moment, Priest Jiang was equally stunned. He had acted so composed precisely to distract Shen Ge while his confidant struck with a lethal sneak attack.
He had assumed Shen Ge was completely unaware, but in reality, the man simply hadn’t taken them seriously at all—or rather, he had been fully prepared.
But this was merely Shen Ge’s “habit” when he didn’t have his Red Mist Armor or Xiao Qi by his side: when faced with uncertain threats, he always stayed out of his Weird Domain. The moment something felt off, he would immediately dual-activate his Immovable Weird Domain, using “bullet time” to turn the tide.
Shen Ge was fully alert, bracing himself for Priest Jiang’s “miracle” ability. Yet in the end, the man’s grand plan was just a “feint to the east, strike to the west” trick, having his underling attack from behind. It felt like a tiger encountering a lion—expecting a worthy battle, only to find the opponent was a sickly kitten.
No—not even a sick cat. A kitten.
“Sigh.”
Shen Ge let out a sigh. In truth, he had already discerned that Priest Jiang was fundamentally a “Strange Human.” His so-called miracles were merely the result of his unique abilities combined with Weird Energy equipment.
The ability looked intimidating enough, but in reality, it was far inferior to the Strange Humans of the Twelve Branches. Shen Ge couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
“Hey, do you know how to drive a combat vehicle?” Shen Ge turned to look at Liang Yin, still curled up in the corner.
Liang Yin was startled: “Huh?”
But before she could react, there was a smack. The driver, who had been steering with one hand and shooting with the other, had his head burst open in a spray of blood. Then Liang Yin felt her body lift, and the next second, she was shoved into the driver’s seat.
“I-I-I-I can’t drive a combat vehicle, ahhhhhhh…” Liang Yin screamed in terror, gripping the steering wheel with all her might.
But Shen Ge paid her no mind. Empowered by his “Hypnosis,” he threw a punch straight at the head of Priest Jiang, who was sitting across from him.
Strangely, just as Shen Ge’s fist was about to connect with Priest Jiang’s head, he felt it blocked by an invisible resistance. The punch veered off course, grazing past Priest Jiang’s face and slamming into the cannon mount behind him.
Boom!
The force of that punch completely deformed the cannon mount, sending the entire welded platform flying out of the vehicle.
“Heh, that ability of yours is pretty interesting.” Shen Ge raised an eyebrow, finally showing a flicker of interest in Priest Jiang’s performance.
Yet Priest Jiang remained as steady as a mountain, sitting there with an unshakable composure, as if facing Shen Ge’s attacks and taunts with the calm of one unmoved even if Mount Tai crumbled before him.
Why didn’t he dodge?
Because he wasn’t afraid?
But clearly, the “waterfall of cold sweat” on Priest Jiang’s forehead had already betrayed him—he was nowhere near as calm as he pretended to be.
Then why?
Shen Ge couldn’t quite figure it out. That punch earlier—if not for the man’s special ability, it wouldn’t have just taken his head off; it would have obliterated his entire body. The cannon mount was a perfect example of what would have happened.
“Hey, don’t tell me that to maintain this weird ability, you have to stay completely still in that posture? Is your move called ‘Immovable as a Mountain’?” Shen Ge teased.
Priest Jiang’s expression drastically shifted. Ever since Shen Ge had tanked that bullet at close range without a scratch, he had suspected this mysterious man was his “kind.” Now that the man had seen through his abilities in one glance, he was even more certain… Could this person be a newly appointed priest?
Had the bishop detected his ambitions to usurp the position and sent this man to eliminate him?
“Did the bishop send you?” Priest Jiang asked in a low voice.
Shen Ge couldn’t be bothered with idle chatter. He had actually been on this vehicle long before Priest Jiang and the others had noticed him, maintaining his “Invisible + Silent” traits so that none of them had detected his presence.
Through Priest Jiang and Liang Yin’s conversation, Shen Ge had already grasped the situation of the people on board. Among them, the resentment in Liang Yin’s eyes toward Priest Jiang and his men was impossible to hide—it was the same kind of anger he’d seen in Qian Weiguo in the other vehicle.
As for the other confidants, their behavior made it clear that their brainwashing had penetrated too deep for any redemption. That left Liang Yin as the only usable one.
“No—Jesus sent me!” Shen Ge opened the Weird Eye on his forehead. As he had guessed, the reason Priest Jiang remained “immovable as a mountain” was that his Weird Domain wasn’t fully matured. He couldn’t freely manipulate his domain like Shen Ge could, expanding or contracting it at will.
Instead, Priest Jiang’s Weird Domain relied on his Weird Energy equipment for power. In essence, this Strange Human was nothing more than a battery—the seat cushion beneath him, connected to the vehicle, was the true core of his Weird Domain.
