Chapter 21 : Sinhe Church

Yuhui leisurely picked up a piece of green pepper and put it in his mouth.
“Recently, news has been circulating that some of our military-industrial data has been leaked. They say L1st did it.”

Rachel had heard of L1st.
It seemed to be a powerful department under the Federation, responsible for foreign intelligence, counter-espionage, domestic security, and border protection.
In short, it was a big deal.

“What kind of data?”

“I don’t know, it’s not a field I have access to,” Yuhui said.
“The news that’s out now is that it’s related to the military and weapons, and even to land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.”

‘That’s right, this world also has nuclear weapons.’
Rachel was also surprised by this at first.

Those were nuclear weapons.
Whether you were a psionic, a sorcerer, or any other kind of superhuman, you’d be instantly annihilated by a nuclear weapon.

Let alone nuclear bombs, she feared that you couldn’t even find a few superhumans who could withstand a tank with their bare bodies without any external help.

“Then do you think it’s true?”

“Who knows… besides, for this kind of thing, whether it’s true or false isn’t that important.”

“Then tell me,” Rachel continued to ask, “which is more powerful, the Federation’s L1st or the Empire’s Holy See?”

“Logically, they shouldn’t be compared like that. Their functions are quite different, so it’s not easy to compare them directly,” Yuhui said, eating a mouthful of noodles.
“But no matter what, they are powers that directly clash. I personally think they’re about the same, but L1st has a slight edge. But on a broader level, the Empire has a greater advantage.”

This conversation didn’t last long.
After eating, the two went their separate ways.
Rachel went straight home, and Yuhui went to the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs, where he was staying for the time being.

They still had no intelligence on Blake Morton’s whereabouts.
According to Yuhui, a wanted criminal of this level was very difficult to track and arrest.
In this situation, it was basically difficult to take the initiative.
They could only wait for the other party to act.

As long as the other party acted, there was a chance for them to make a mistake.
If they made a mistake, their side would have a chance.
In short, the initiative was still in the other party’s hands.

Either they could wait for a chance to launch a defensive counterattack, or the other party would be determined to hide or run, and their side could only give up.
Basically, these were the two situations every year.
There were still many superhuman wanted criminals who had not yet been arrested.

Sinhe, inside the church.

This was the only church in Sinhe.
Inside, there was a large hall for the faithful to attend Mass.
Behind the altar was a huge crucifix with the corpus of Jesus hanging on it.

On the surrounding walls hung fourteen oil paintings depicting the events Jesus experienced on his way to Calvary, carrying the cross—the fourteen stations of the cross, the fourteen sufferings Jesus experienced before being crucified.

Blake, dressed in a red coat, knelt before the altar, murmuring something.
In his arms lay a woman in a white dress, her eyes tightly closed.

The priest walked into the hall and saw the kneeling Blake.
He was stunned for a second, then asked:

“Are you here for Mass? It’s not the right time… or are you here to pray?”

“Forgive my sins, Father,” Blake said, his back to the priest, facing the crucifix on the wall.
“I have committed a crime. I am here to confess.”

The priest clutched the rosary in his hand and took two steps forward, but then he stopped—he saw the woman in the man’s arms.
The woman’s lower legs were not visible under her dress; the area below her knees was indented.

Blake turned his head and looked at the priest.

The priest trembled and raised the crucifix on his rosary, muttering something.
The surroundings grew dark.
Black claw-like shadows were cast on the stained-glass windows, and the shadows slowly covered the windows.
A low growl came from the shadows, like a threat from a beast’s throat.

Blake stood up and slowly walked towards the priest.
He left bloody footprints behind him.

“The church is protected by Almighty God. No blasphemous or malicious soul may enter,” the priest said, pointing the crucifix at Blake.
His voice trembled, but he tried his best to make his tone firm.

“Sinner, why do you not repent?”

“Because there is no god in this church, Father,” Blake said as he walked.
“As for why that is, I think it’s because the god you dedicate everything to is just a selfish, stingy miser who doesn’t love you at all.”

The priest clearly sensed that the low growls in the shadows were getting closer and closer to him.
A cold wind carrying the smell of blood blew across his face.
The priest’s back was covered in cold sweat.
He could feel the threat of death.
Perhaps in the next moment, his head would be separated from his body.

When Blake walked up to the priest, the light in the church had almost completely disappeared.
The whole world, except for the large patches of black, was left with only the two standing people.

The priest trembled.
He clutched the rosary in his hand and muttered:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…”

The man-eating shadows in the darkness pounced on him excitedly.

The next day, Rachel woke up early.
She took out the multigrain porridge she had made in the pressure cooker beforehand from the refrigerator and heated a bowl in the microwave for breakfast.

It wasn’t that she particularly liked multigrain porridge, but her mother liked it—it seemed to be helpful for anemia—so she had also developed the habit of drinking multigrain porridge.
After breakfast, she went to the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs.

When Rachel entered the lobby, she saw a man and a woman in the same white uniforms crowded in the lobby of the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs.
A group of colleagues were blocking their way.

“You can’t go up!”

Rachel raised her eyebrows and wanted to ask someone what was going on.
Just then, she noticed Yuhui in the crowd—his trench coat made him stand out from the surrounding crowd.
So Rachel walked over and asked him:

“Who are they? What happened?”

“They are Inquisitors from the Church. They’re here because of Blake.”

“Inquisitors? Inquisitors are here, for Blake? What’s going on?”

“It’s like this,” Yuhui scratched his forehead a little helplessly.
“Last night, Blake committed his third atrocity, at the Sinhe Church.”

“The deceased include a woman—her knee joints and the parts below were severed—as well as a priest, two nuns, and one Inquisitor. That Inquisitor sent out a distress signal before he died. The Holy See gave orders to the two city churches closest to Sinhe to have their Inquisitors come here to handle this matter.”

“Another one? And so many people died?” Rachel said in shock.
“Is there an end to this? I don’t think Blake has any intention of stopping. This will only make things worse, and we still can’t catch him!”

“The situation is indeed very bad now. Even the Church has been dragged into this. The mayor and Luo Hao will be under a lot of pressure.”