Chapter 877 (1/2)

Chapter 877: Vol V Chapter 237

Since the matter had been settled, Fira prepared to set off. But Sui Xiong advised him against rushing and told him that he should at least settle his personal matters at home first.

“Though theoretically, you should be keeping a tight rein on time. Because before the washed powder salt technique is fully spread, if we are able to cognitively produce our belief and consolidate the state of divine creatures before the World’s Origin gives back, the difficulty of becoming a sealed god will be greatly reduced. Otherwise, you might have to spend a lot more time and energy…” Sui Xiong advised. “But currently, this technique is still kept hidden in our research laboratory. When to promote it to the mass is completely up to us to decide, we can delay as long as we want to. So there is no need to worry at all.

“Even if everything does well for this trip to my God Kingdom, it may still take you around a year or so before you are able to thoroughly stabilize and consolidate your new state. If things don’t go well, maybe it will take even longer… it will be a long trip, and your family will be worried. Besides, you’re not young anymore. There must be certain things that need to be taken care of at home. So don’t make haste. Settle these things first.”

Of course, Fira would not reject Sui Xiong’s suggestions. From his point of view, these were the orders given to him by a god and had to be completed to the T.

He was about to take his leave when Palin called out to him again. “Mr. Kenji, I have a suggestion. Don’t tell anyone the real reason for this departure… Just tell them that I’ve arranged a retreat for you. If your luck is good, then maybe you’ll be able to step into the Legendary realm.”

Fira was also considered an experienced and knowledgeable man who had traveled far and wide. It only took him a moment of deliberation for him to understand Palin’s intention. He nodded and became a stream of green light and vanished without a trace.

For an advanced mage like him, rushing off elsewhere via transmission magic was a piece of cake.

After he left, Sui Xiong asked with some degree of curiosity, “What’s wrong about telling people about this matter?”

“Over the years, Your Majesty may have constantly been bestowing kindness to us, but you have never asked us to do anything much for you. To tell you the truth, all of us feel somewhat unsettled about it—though the help we can provide you is indeed so insignificant, yet to do nothing at all would make us feel that we’re simply unimportant. And it has not only been once that I even heard things like ‘What should we do if His Majesty were to get tired of us one fine day…”

“Am I such a person?” Sui Xiong asked and frowned.

“You’re not that kind of person, but people don’t understand you.”

Sui Xiong understood his meaning and sighed silently.

The people who understood Sui Xiong would naturally get that Sui Xiong would never give up on them. But to those who did not understand him, the way they felt about him would always be dictated by their sense of interest in what he had done for the people of the Republic. This was why occasionally, they would get so skeptical—what if there came the day where Sui Xiong’s interest changed?

The other gods demanded faith, or their churches consistently recruited manpower, expanded in scale, or even demanded to be enshrined and worshipped. But the Church of the Void Mask did not ask for anything from the people. Although they often propagated the greatness of their god and the glory of their belief, they would never refuse to help anyone who did not believe in Sui Xiong. Neither would they ever reject—for his followers, especially the clergymen, Sui Xiong always demanded that “goodness” had to come before “belief.” It did not bother him whether other people believed in him or not, but he was very concerned about whether they were kind or not.

And this made the image of the Church of the Void Mask even stranger—they were a group of people who walked about in long robes. They also carried out preaching, but they preferred to be engaged in chivalric acts or policing to maintain peace and order. There are mainly two kinds of impressions that the citizens of the Republic had of them. The first impression was that they could be found patrolling every big and small street, gathering opinions and suggestions from the people with regards to the government. They would also help those in need and punish the troublemakers. The second impression was that they managed the game consoles in the temple and often quarreled or even fought with each other over the contents of the games.

This was a group with no sense of solemnity—upholders of justice, as well as deep game addicts.

It was difficult to make the public feel that such a church was “needed.” They would always feel that they were like charity cases purely living on the alms given by the church. They were constantly gaining and taking but could not give anything. Over time, such unease gradually spread to the grassroots of the Republic of Northwest.