Facing such a group of pre-teen children and an injured disabled human, those middle-aged people holding bricks and sharp weapons and were full of hostility, completely lost their aura and awkwardly lowered their heads.
Jiang Jianming was supported by Kevin and walked into the center of the Glorious Cathedral, where he saw hundreds of civilians sitting around under the lights.
And mixed among them…were the Crystal Religion clergy, both men and women, who were barefoot and wearing white robes with indifferent expressions.
These people were all watching him. Some looked at his wrist symbolizing a disabled human being, some looked at the wound on his forehead, some looked at the Golden Sun Wheel emblem on his military uniform…there were various kinds of emotions involved.
Being stared at by so many eyes, Jiang Jianming was not nervous at all and spoke first.
“Let’s all calm down for a moment. I know what you are guarding against, but I am not your enemy, and the reason for coming in has nothing to do with the current conflict.”
He then found a random place to sit down. Kevin took off his coat and pressed the fabric on his wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
“Perhaps some of you may have seen me before.”
Jiang Jianming glanced around and said, “I am Jiang Jianming, the temporary inspector of Golden Sun Wheel’s branch in Aslan Star City. I am under orders from the military department to investigate a serious rebellion within the empire.”
“Yes, I have seen this inspector before!”
A woman in a cloth skirt spoke up. She looked at Jiang Jianming in surprise, “That day… that day it was him who blocked a mecha cannon for Little Lily from next door. It was him, I saw it all.”
Jiang Jianming smiled at her, then randomly lowered his voice and continued, “At present, I suspect that the rebel party discovered a few days ago——the remnants of the former Staff Officer of the Golden Sun Wheel, Duke’s faction has hidden a batch of high-risk bombs inside the Glorious Cathedral.”
The crowd immediately exclaimed in uproar. Many people who were sitting comfortably or even lying on their backs jumped up and turned blue.
For ordinary people who were accustomed to peaceful times, the word “bomb” was enough to tighten their nerves, and was even a hundred times more effective than the illusory “real crystal ore”.
“Although I am sorry to disturb your gathering, however, in the final analysis…we have to put the stability of this star city and the personal safety of tens of thousands of empire citizens in this area as our top priority.”
Jiang Jianming placed his hand on his chest and lowered his head slightly, “Therefore, I hereby ask you to temporarily evacuate this place and give the Golden Sun Wheel army room to search.”
“We will complete the search as soon as possible. As for the reason why you’re all gathered here, it has nothing to do with me, the security of the star city is not under my jurisdiction. After checking for dangers, you can come in. I will never stop you.”
Before his words died down, the first to stand up was not these ordinary civilians, but the clergy of the church.
A woman wearing a white crystal robe came out coldly, her fine eyebrows raised. “Your Excellency Military Officer, you all soldiers have been in and out of the church many times, disturbing the peace of the sacred place.”
Jiang Jianming: “At present, we have other internal evidence. Just because the stolen goods were not found before does not mean that there will be none tonight. After all, stolen goods can be transferred at any time, right?”
The words were like water poured out into a lake, and the devout Crystal Religion members in the crowd became furious. “His Excellency suspects that the Crystal Religion is collaborating with the enemy and committing treason?”
“These words, Can I understand it as blasphemy against the church!?”
“The radiance, benevolence, and equality of Crystal Particles, the fact that the church is now open to everyone overnight for free is proof!!”
Seeing the smell of gunpowder getting thicker, Kevin panicked and wanted to reach out to protect Jiang Jianming, but was pulled by the latter and pushed into his arms. (TL: a fight was about to broke out)
Jiang Jianming glanced at him, “What are you doing? Kid, don’t rush forward when encountering situations.”
Then he raised his eyes and said lightly. “No offense, but as it concerns the safety of thousands of people’s lives, I have to be cautious.”
A figure walked out from the inside. It was a man with a young face but with gray temples. He held a sacrificial candlestick in his hand, was also wrapped in a white robe, and with eyes that were a little cold.
The Crystal Religion clergy all bowed their heads and called him, “Bishop Su.”
Su placed the candlestick next to the sculpture, “——The Golden Sun Wheel Army has long been a weapon of oppression for the nobles and the crystal race. We have reason to believe that you want to use your good words to trick the people here into leaving, and then implement a force blockade.”
He gazed deeply at Jiang Jianming with eyes like that of a poisonous snake, and continued, “For this purpose, you will not hesitate in slandering the devout believers in my church.”
Jiang Jianming was neither humble nor arrogant. He lowered his head and glanced at his wrist device. “Her Majesty’s imperial carriage will depart at dawn. It will take about two hours for the chariot to pass by here… We only need one hour to search.”
“If there is no abnormality in the search results, I am willing to solemnly apologize and return stability to the people and its faith.”
In the dimly lit main hall of the church, the eyes of hundreds of people hesitantly flickered back and forth between Jiang Jianming and the Crystal Religion.
“This……”
The two verbally confronted, with the disabled Officer Jiang being neither humble nor overbearing, and while protecting a group of scared boys and girls in his arms.
The dazzling blood on his forehead made him look more like an earthly deity who sacrificed his life to enlighten all sentient beings than the so-called bishop.
Finally someone whispered, “I want to trust the Inspector.”
Some people nodded one after another, and soon the second and third people responded, and finally it turned into a chorus of enthusiastic agreement.
“What if there really is a bomb? My parents are still waiting for me to go back to celebrate the New Year.”
“We are here to petition, not to fight. It’s not worth taking the risk, right?”
“We won’t go far. We’ll block the door of the church and keep an eye on them searching.”
“Yes, everyone can come in after the search is completed.”
Bishop Su’s face looked a little ugly, and several clergy members were even more angry, but they were stopped by Su’s gaze.
People walked out one after another, and someone even patted Jiang Jianming on the shoulder, with an apologetic tone. “Young man, let’s go, you should go out and bandage the wound. Oh dear! You are bleeding so much, it’s making me feel flustered and short of breath just looking at it.”
“Thank you.” Jiang Jianming chuckled.
He let Kevin stand up, his eyes wandering intentionally or unintentionally, and leisurely passed by the bishop named Su, seemingly with a hint of ridicule.
…The so-called backlash of playing with people’s hearts was nothing more than that. If there were only the Crystal Religion in the church, he would definitely not be allowed to send troops in to search and perhaps in the end, force would still be used, causing a major conflict.
But now…due to the self-inflicted consequences of those behind the scenes, there were more ordinary people in the church.
As soon as this group of people rushed out, the Crystal Religion members couldn’t stop them even if they wanted to, not to mention that they had no position to stop them at all. Their faces were all livid.
“Your Excellency the Bishop,” Jiang Jianming lowered his head, his eyes sharp under his black hair, “May I ask, can we start sending people into the church now?”
“You!” A white-robed clergy woman was so angry that the veins on her forehead jumped.
The other members of the Crystal Religion stared at Jiang Jianming with cannibalistic eyes, stubbornly refusing to move a step.
“Just let them search.”
Finally, Bishop Su waved his hand coldly, “Those who are clean will clean themselves.” (TL: The innocent will be proven innocent even if he does not say anything to clarify himself)
****
“You……how did you do it?”
After a moment, watching the orderly evacuation of the crowd, a group of Golden Sun Wheel generals led by Lieutenant General Luther were all stunned.
“I said, use your brain.” Jiang Jianming leaned on the soft seat inside the air vehicle and asked Zheng Yue to bandage his wounds.
“If you don’t have any brains, then compare your feelings with the others. We are all human beings, and we are all compatriots in the same star city. There is nothing we can’t communicate with each other.”
He waved his hand. “According to the church area division map I sent, there are ten people in a team. Each team is responsible for an area. If you find anything, report it immediately and don’t miss any details.”
“Pay attention to environmental anomalies, especially the floors, if there are any interlayers in the walls and ceilings. Also, pay attention to the emotional changes of the surrounding clergy.”
“Go in and search.”
With an order, Golden Sun Wheel officers and soldiers carrying weapons on their waists, rushed into the church in rows, and began to search with all their concentration.
Lieutenant General Luther murmured and sighed, “I am old and useless, getting old ah…”
But then, another difficulty lay before everyone.
Half an hour passed and the search still turned up nothing.
Golden Sun Wheel’s well-trained soldiers have searched every room in the church and every wall in the room, but have not found any interlayer.
Someone climbed up to the ceiling, knocked and probed from outside to inside, and even removed a few bricks, but nothing.
Someone even brought the most advanced underground detector. This thing came from the Black Shark Base and even underground command posts that couldn’t be detected by radars could be locked. At this moment, it showed that the underground of the church was indeed just an ordinary surface.
Time passed minute by minute. Inside the air vehicle, Jiang Jianming and Lieutenant General Luther sat side by side, using a virtual blue screen to check the information from each team one by one.
After a while, Lieutenant General Luther turned off the screen, sighed, and then wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Although he didn’t say anything, his nervousness was already palpable.
“I’ll go see a few places.” Jiang Jianming stood up and draped his military coat on his shoulders again.
“Lieutenant General Luther, please ensure that the people stay in a safe area behind the Golden Sun Wheel army. Old Zheng, follow me.”
“Yes!” Zheng Yue responded immediately, and at the same time presented the holster containing the Wings of Venus with both hands.
Now, he had discovered that sometimes it was more important to listen to Little Excellency Jiang’s words than to listen to Lieutenant General Luther’s words.
Walking through the night and snow, the two walked into the church.
It was as bright as day inside, and the Golden Sun Wheel army were still searching in an orderly manner, with footsteps echoing everywhere.
Jiang Jianming first went to see the prayer room with Zheng Yue.
At the moment, the prayer room was no longer peaceful, and there were soldiers rummaging and searching around. Under the stained glass, standing gracefully was Margaret, the beautiful young bishop who was quite famous in Aslan. Behind her was a rather large sculpture, or statue. Its surface was translucent, and crystals were clustered messily on the base, giving people the impression of grandeur, disorder, and madness.
Currently, several clergymen were kneeling before it, muttering and praying with their hands clasped together, begging the Crystal Particles to forgive the intruder’s rudeness.
Jiang Jianming stepped on the steps and walked under the statue that was two people tall. Its shadow enveloped him silently.
Upon closer inspection, three lines of words were engraved under the “Crystal Nest Statue”.
Death is eternity.
Destruction is forever.
Chaos is the truth.
He turned back, “Is this sculpture made of real crystal ores?”
Margaret nodded gently. After a few seconds, she suddenly realized, then with a soft tone, continued with a retort, “The purity is within the specifications.”
Zheng Yue handed over the crystal particle concentration monitoring machine in his hand. Jiang Jianming lowered his eyes and scanned the numbers. Indeed, it only showed the data of low-purity real crystal ore.
“……” Jiang Jianming raised his hand and touched the statue. His skin touched the cold temperature, and his eyes darkened.
Crystal Nest.
He really didn’t have any good impression of this thing.
There were only fifteen minutes left.
Jiang Jianming was not in a hurry. He turned back and asked the young female bishop, “Can I ask what these three sentences mean?”
Unexpectedly, Margaret showed a trace of confusion in her eyes.
She tilted her head slightly, and her long white hair swayed with the motion. Her expression resembled that of a student faced with a question beyond the syllabus, appearing both aggrieved and pitiable.
After a moment, Margaret put one hand on her heart and said in a preaching tone, “Don’t be afraid of worldly sufferings. When the Ultimate comes, our souls will return to the radiance of Crystal Particles and gain eternal peace….…”
Jiang Jianming and Zheng Yue looked at each other in astonishment.
What is she talking about?
Jiang Jianming couldn’t help but laugh. “Bishop Excellency? Are you answering something unrelated to the question?”
He then checked the information on his wrist device, and walked outside the prayer room to check the next location.
Margaret followed Jiang Jianming step by step, and said even more confusedly, “Generally, ordinary believers will not walk in front of the statue, thus they couldn’t see these words…His Excellency the Archbishop has never taught about it.”
Zheng Yue exclaimed, “Bishop Margaret? Don’t tell me that those usually preaching words were memorized?”
Margaret said seriously. “Yes, strive hard to memorize.”
Amidst the idle chatter, they walked through the corridors of the church, their shadows cast on the church columns, and their footsteps echoed in the void.
“His Excellency the Archbishop,” Jiang Jianming asked casually, “What is his name?”
“…Gaius.” Margaret whispered, “It’s His Excellency Archbishop Gaius.”
“Where is he now?”
“Already left. But shrouded in the light of the Crystal Particles, all believers can meet again in the Ultimate Land.”
The three of them took turns examining the various buildings from front to back, left to right, which was equivalent to strolling through the entire church.
Still no gain.
There were only the last five minutes left.
Zheng Yue became a little anxious and whispered to Jiang Jianming secretly, “Little Excellency, this…”
Jiang Jianming looked at him and calmly said, “Now the perimeter of the church, including the empty airway above, is blocked by the Golden Sun Wheel. It is impossible for the enemy to transport the real crystal ores again. The things must be inside the church.”
“Why are you so certain, Little Excellency?”
Zheng Yue looked left and right then lowered his voice and said, “What if this commotion has nothing to do with the theft of the true crystal ores?”
If so, it would be a huge shame.
Moreover, how should we explain it to the people?
Is it a waste of all previous efforts before letting people in, or is it a breach of trust by sealing off the church?
No matter what is done, if nothing goes right, at any rate Little Excellency’s reputation will be ruined…
“Why are you certain…”
Jiang Jianming pondered thoughtfully, and finally smiled, “Intuition.”
He stopped his steps and looked up in front of him.
The door was open, showing the familiar stained glass and the statue.
They circled around and made a detour back to the prayer room.
Jiang Jianming lowered his eyes and looked at his wrist device. There was only the last minute left from the set one-hour timer.
It was almost dawn, the wind was no longer so bone-chilling, and the dark night in the distance also vaguely revealed the traces of daybreak.
Dawn is approaching, this is the last moment before light arrives.
In the prayer room, what was waiting for them was no longer the few clergymen and the Golden Sun Wheel soldiers.
Bishop Su was standing there. It must have been his order. The doors from the prayer room to the main hall to the main door were all wide open, including even the windows.
This means that people with sharp eyes could directly see what was going on inside from the outside.
Many people were pointing and looking in curiosity.
“Have they finished searching?”
“It doesn’t seem like there’s anything, ho, just as I said.”
The worried faces of Kevin and a few of his companions were also mixed in. Farther away was the gray-faced old Lieutenant General Luther, as if crying out in sorrow that everything was over.
Golden Sun Wheel soldiers looked at their inspector in embarrassment.
Obviously, the church wanted to put pressure on the people of Aslan Star City. If the military broke its promise, this basin of sewage would forever spill on the military emblem of the Golden Sun Wheel and would never be washed off.
Su waved for Margaret to come behind him, and then coldly said, “Please abide by the agreement and lead the army out of here.”
Jiang Jianming calmly walked forward without fear.
The atmosphere was extremely solemn that all the Golden Sun Wheel soldiers present held their breath.
“I’m sorry,” the young inspector said, “there’s actually one more place that wasn’t investigated yet. I saved it for last because I thought it was the most suspicious, so I wanted to take a look myself.”
After saying that, Jiang Jianming raised his eyes and settled it in front of him——
In the prayer room, the Crystal Nest statue made of low-purity real crystal ore exuded an eerie beauty, glowing faintly under the stained glass.
“Major Zheng.” Jiang Jianming raised his hand at it with a resolute tone.
“This thing is not solid, break it open for me.”
