Chapter 35: Confession and Collapse

!!!

Only now did Zilan, sitting in the position of the Priestess, realize who the person in front of her was!!!

It was that Rich Man who had caused her parents’ deaths and her sister’s paralysis!!!

So…

None of it was an accident…

Her parents’ deaths…

Her sister’s paralysis, was it all caused by this bastard!!!

Zilan’s blood surged.

She wanted nothing more than to push open the Confession Chamber door right now and kill that Rich Man.

The Rich Man’s voice choked as he spoke.

“I… I made it so their whole family couldn’t even become Priests…”

“Priestess… I’m a sinner…”

Listening to the Rich Man’s tone, it sounded like he’d had some drinks…

Zilan looked at her hand.

All she had was a Statue of the Goddess holding a Torch.

The tip of the Torch was as sharp as a dagger.

She gripped the Statue of the Goddess tightly, ready to charge in and kill that Rich Man…

But the Rich Man continued his confession.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve defiled the Church…”

“Because I… previously had quite a history of bribery with Church members.”

“That girl’s mother was also one of them.”

“!!!”

Zilan’s eyes widened.

Impossible, the Church and my mother… how could they accept bribes!

This vile person not only killed my family, but now is slandering my faith and my dead mother.

“It was supposed to be a simple relationship of mutual benefit…”

“But the girl’s father seduced me. After I had relations with him, the girl’s mother came out to blackmail me.”

“The price was agreed upon at first, but then the girl’s father had an accident, slipping off the third-floor balcony of my house.”

“Seeing this, the girl’s mother actually raised the price on me!”

“We negotiated several times but couldn’t agree, so in anger she threatened to expose my business dealings and the evidence of bribery with the Church!!”

“I…”

“I was forced to… I’m a businessman… destroying someone’s livelihood is as good as killing them!!”

At this point, the Rich Man’s voice was trembling with tears.

Liar… liar liar liar liar liar liar liar liar!!!

Zilan would never believe her parents would do such things.

Faced with the Rich Man’s slander of her parents, her hands began to tremble…

So she caressed the Statue of the Goddess by her hand…

But in Zilan’s eyes, the shadow of the Goddess no longer appeared…

She spoke to the Rich Man:

“The Goddess… will forgive you…”

“Thank you… thank you… thank you so much, Priestess, after all these years, I’ve finally said it…”

“I feel so much better now.”

The Rich Man on the other side of the Confession Chamber wiped away his tears, let out a breath, and was about to calm himself and leave…

But at the entrance of the Confession Chamber, a pale hand reached out from the curtain…

Then came the sharp tip of a Torch from a small Statue of the Goddess…

“Pu!”

That was the only sound from outside the curtain.

Then Zilan walked out from the Rich Man’s side of the Confession Chamber, covered in blood.

But the Rich Man never walked out again.

For Zilan, the only option now was… to run!

Taking advantage of the darkness, she rushed home, took a shower, changed out of her dirty clothes, and began packing her belongings.

While gathering her money, she discovered her mother’s diary…

Zilan opened the diary…

And saw her mother’s account books and records of bribes with the Rich Man…

And there was more evidence…

Not only her mother, but even the City-level Mother Superior… the Cardinal, all had dealings with the Rich Man!!

That Rich Man…

Was telling the truth???

Zilan’s faith collapsed in an instant…

There was no Goddess in this world…

There were only filthy exchanges of profit…

That night, Zilan stared at the evidence left by her mother… frozen for a long time…

A week later…

The Rich Man’s corpse was found in the river.

Everyone said he got drunk, fell in, and drowned.

No one investigated Zilan.

Because with the evidence in her hand, Zilan became the City-level Cardinal.

She gradually came to understand…

Those who became Cardinals were not those with purer faith, but those with more cunning methods…

Ten years flew by…

Now, Zilan had become the Archbishop, second only to the Pope.

Joey naturally didn’t know any of this.

At this moment, he had just returned to the Demon World.

“I saw your message and came… yawn!!!”

Joey sneezed, standing in the laboratory with Arya and her Grandma.

“Couldn’t you have just told me through the Crystal Ball? Did I really have to come all the way back…”

Next to him, Aiki handed Joey a tissue to wipe his nose.

“You don’t know how fast that damned Demon Dragon can fly.”

Joey pointed at Chiyang nearby.

At this time, Chiyang was curiously poking and prodding at the new gadgets in Arya’s lab, completely ignoring their conversation.

“Sorry, Joey, but I thought it would be better for you to witness this invention in person.”

Arya, wearing a hood and holding a wrench, looked much more energetic than when Joey first met her.

“It’s fine… Anyway, tomorrow and the day after are Academy rest days.”

Joey waved his hand.

“Anyway… when you see this invention, your jaw will definitely drop…”

“Ah, stop teasing me. I’m still waiting in anticipation here…”

Joey responded enthusiastically.

Arya raised an expectant smile, then, together with the Dwarven Grandma, pulled the cover off a large piece of equipment.

Beneath the cloth stood a three-meter-tall, two-meter-wide rectangular structure, filled with gears and steam devices.

“Now then… standing before Demon Lord-sama is…”

Arya drew out her words mischievously:

“Steam Deconstruction and Reconstruction Stainless Steel Invention 2000!”

“…”

Joey was stunned for two seconds.

He didn’t know what expression to make…

“So… what exactly is this thing?”

Beside him, Chiyang’s face was full of shock.

“Wow! Arya! This thing looks just like the toilet in my dorm! You’re amazing!”

“Ah… ignore that idiot, just take it as her complimenting you.”

Joey glanced at Chiyang and consoled Arya.

“So…”

“What exactly does this thing do?”

Arya instantly became lively. She picked up an apple and said, “I got the idea from Zixuan!”

“Because Zixuan’s ability is Regeneration, plus she really likes disassembling things…”

Hearing this, Joey frowned.

He never knew Zixuan had such a hobby…

“So I thought, why not disassemble something in one place and reconstruct it elsewhere.”

“For example, Joey, look!”

Arya held up the apple, then picked up a round button, aiming it at the apple.

“Shu!”

The apple instantly disappeared from its spot.

Then, gears and steam engines on the rectangular invention started up…

Next…

The apple reappeared out of thin air from another part of the rectangular machine!

Arya proudly took a bite of the apple.

“It tastes exactly like the original.”

“Impressive, right!”

Joey stared at the device in silence for a while…

“This apple disappeared and was disassembled from your button, then reappeared from the machine beside it, right?”

“That’s right, Joey, you’re so smart…” Arya nodded in agreement.

“So…”

“Why not just call it a Transmission Device?”