Chapter 294: Internal Strife
Not long after the six major powers finalized their plan to colonize the Moon, an unprecedented schism erupted within the Luminous Holy Church. Chris Ding, the Saintess, led a large contingent of her followers into the Pope's Palace, directly forcing Pope Gang Duo to abdicate.
"Old Man Gang Duo, your faith is too extreme; it's utterly unsuitable for managing a church. It would be far better to entrust it to us, to let us spread the Lord's radiance."
"Do not trot out that charade of yours. You merely wish to steal faith, to walk the so-called path to godhood. All who falsely claim to be gods in this world are but mortals. The Lord's existence requires no proof from us; all personified gods are nothing but false deities." Gang Duo paid no mind to the others who had intruded upon the Pope's Palace, focusing instead on his debate with Chris Ding.
"It is precisely because of your outdated notions that our growth has stagnated! Otherwise, with nearly eight hundred million believers, why would we need an outsider to defeat these heretics?!" Chris Ding, still hoping to leverage the overwhelming momentum to persuade Gang Duo to yield, continued her argument.
"You have, like Ramdo, become lost in the pursuit of power. Believers are not our property; we are merely servants of the Lord."
"I'll tell you this one last time: times have changed. Let go, Gang Duo. You should be a saint, not a Pope! You are too devout, but running an organization well doesn't require piety; it requires realism, it requires keeping pace with the times!" Chris Ding delivered her ultimatum.
"The Church is merely a place to spread the Lord's gospel; it should not become a tool for ambitious schemers to seize power and profit!" As a devout believer, Gang Duo never compromised on this point.
After losing the One-Wheel Cult, their greatest external enemy, both the internal conflicts within the Luminous Holy Church and the tensions between the European Union and the Luminous Holy Church began to fully erupt.
The European Union, intending to preemptively strike, secretly contacted Chris Ding, who had long harbored rebellious intentions. They provided her with substantial support, enabling today's coup attempt to proceed. This was because, regardless of victory or defeat, the Luminous Holy Church would suffer severe internal strife, and a church too weakened to interfere in politics was precisely the kind of church they desired.
"Chris Ding, you have merely been influenced by a demon from hell. It's still not too late to turn back," Gang Duo stated, directly pinpointing her greatest secret.
Over the past ten years, he had naturally noticed some clues, and correspondingly, he had prepared contingencies. Gang Duo was a devout believer, but not an idiot. If he truly understood nothing, he wouldn't have been able to remain in the position of Pope for so many years.
Hearing Gang Duo's words, Chris Ding knew that things would not end peacefully today. Anyone whose secret had been exposed like hers would immediately think of eliminating the witness. She feigned calmness, but in her heart, she had already begun to silently chant incantations, simultaneously issuing mental commands to her subordinates to attack.
A mere half-second later, several giant birds, their forms outlined by runes, suddenly appeared from behind her, streaking towards Gang Duo with lightning speed, attempting to kill him in a sneak attack. Behind the rune birds followed a barrage of colorful magical missiles of various attributes, launched by her subordinates.
Meanwhile, several powerfully built young men began to radiate dazzling light from their bodies, erupting with something akin to battle aura, preparing for the impending fight.
Paladins specializing in close combat, relying on this radiance, could unleash terrifying power, effortlessly slicing through tanks with their battle aura-infused longswords, and even leaping hundreds of meters high to cleave low-flying helicopters in two.
No one knew why, bathed in the same Spirit Qi environment, the same humans would diverge onto entirely different paths.
Bai Mo had also once attempted to research this question, but aside from discovering that he could simultaneously cultivate their arcane battle aura system as long as there were no conflicts in bodily structure, and they too could cultivate his Spirit Hub Martial Path system, he had obtained no other substantial results.
"This is the Pope's Palace!" Gang Duo made a downward pressing motion with his right hand, and then an extremely stable energy barrier materialized before him. Whether it was the rune birds or the diverse magical missiles, all were shattered upon this barrier.
Under Chris Ding's control, the rune birds, almost imbued with life, attempted to tear open the barrier with their sharp talons. But alas, as soon as they gouged out a few small holes, their talons were melted away by the violent white energy, and the openings promptly resealed.
The energy shield, powered by the entire Pope's Palace's energy supply, successfully halted the rebel army's advance.
After the barrier appeared, Gang Duo quickly moved to the Pope's Palace's rear courtyard and began to marshal his loyal Pope's Guard to suppress this seemingly formidable rebel force.
In order to breach this barrier, Chris Ding had her subordinates bombard it with spells for a full minute, but they still couldn't truly break through the extremely powerful, self-recovering barrier for more than two seconds. This caused a hint of doubt to creep into the minds of those who had intended to seize power in a single decisive strike.
Just then, an inconspicuous young man wearing black-rimmed glasses, who had been blended into the crowd, pulled ten black orbs, their surfaces covered in runes, from his backpack and threw them one by one towards the barrier.
Everyone else found this young man quite unfamiliar, but as they were all part of the same team and even the leading Saintess had said nothing, they held back from questioning him.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Each orb, the instant it touched the energy barrier, produced a slight explosion, followed by a few muffled thuds. But no one dared underestimate its power, because after these nondescript black objects detonated, strange corrosive substances adhered to the barrier, continuously devouring the surrounding structure and rapidly weakening the barrier's strength.
This rune weapon, capable of devouring energy shields and known as the energy-eroding bomb, was precisely what Chris Ding had obtained from the European Union. It was a targeted weapon specifically designed to counter the Pope's Palace's defensive system.
For two minutes after its explosion, it could absorb all surrounding energy at an extremely high speed, temporarily blasting a hole in the re-energized shield. It was reportedly invented by White, one of the three great rune masters.
Each of the ten bombs created a half-meter diameter hole in the giant barrier, and when connected, they formed an opening wide enough for two or three people to pass through simultaneously.
"Seize the moment, charge!" Only a few of Chris Ding's trusted confidantes, those responsible for liaising with the European Union, knew of this secret weapon's existence. Thus, they were not stunned by the effects of the energy-eroding bomb but instead urged the others to quickly pass through the large hole temporarily corroded through the shield and continue their pursuit of Gang Duo.
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