Chapter 722

Although the pilot truly didn't understand why the father of this wealthy CEO would choose to vacation in this place, in his view, the wealthy all had somewhat strange hobbies to some degree, so he didn't dare to ask too much.

After Ning Chen got off the helicopter, he stretched his shoulders and wrists; his limbs were still somewhat sore, but since he had been on the ground for so long, he had actually almost recovered, so he walked slowly forward, observing the scenery and situation around him.

A rough glance revealed nothing abnormal.

Actually, to say it was abnormal wouldn't be accurate; it was just that when Ning Chen glanced over, he suddenly felt something was wrong, but he couldn't say exactly where the problem lay at that moment.

He stopped, casting a glance toward the distance.

It must be said that the scenery here was indeed very good; due to geographical reasons, the location was very suitable, the temperature was pleasant, flowers and grass covered the ground, and a glance revealed fresh green everywhere, making it very suitable for a vacation.

It's just that Ning Chen didn't come here for a vacation; he only wanted to finish those headache-inducing matters and then return to rest.

A long sleep would be good, or staying up late to finish those unfinished things would be good; in any case, he wouldn't have to live in the current state anymore, worrying about everything and needing to solve everything.

Ning Chen finally took a step; this was a country where the Ye Lisi Headquarters was located, but Ning Chen wasn't sure if Li Yu would come here.

But it didn't matter; after dismantling their headquarters, Ning Chen could still go find the Ye Lisi branches; he had time, opportunity, and strength to drag it out with Ye Lisi.

It's just that Ning Chen didn't want to drag it out anymore; he only wanted a quick battle and a quick resolution.

This country had a considerable land area; to approach the Ye Lisi Headquarters, one would undoubtedly have to cross numerous provinces and states. As a foreigner acting here, Ning Chen faced many inconveniences, so he could only use the Space Tear skill.

This time using the skill, he had to ensure he teleported accurately and quickly to the entrance of the Ye Lisi Headquarters. Otherwise, if he landed somewhere he shouldn't be, before even approaching Ye Lisi, Ning Chen would fall into a situation from which he couldn't save himself.

Before coming, Ning Chen didn't know what Ye Lisi symbolized for this country, but to Ning Chen's surprise, the System actually took the initiative to introduce it to him.

"The domain represented by Ye Lisi is one of the two forces in this country; Ye Lisi is involved in the religious sphere and has close ties with the country's Holy See. This country has a Royal Family, but the Royal Family's power is suppressed by the Holy See and is getting worse day by day. The ordinary people here are doubly oppressed by the Royal Family and the Holy See, merely waiting for a moment of explosion. The surface of Sato is calm, but who knows if the inside has already begun to boil and rot."

Ning Chen rubbed his chin; after listening to what the System said, his first thought was actually: so the System has such a kind moment too.

The System seemed to know what Ning Chen was thinking, returned to its usual cold demeanor, and said, "My purpose in telling you these things is simple; these things will absolutely not be easily searchable on browsers, and similarly, you cannot just ask some passerby on the street to find out the current situation of Sato. I just don't want you to die here."

Ning Chen paused, took a deep breath: "Do I have a hidden mission again?"

Every time the System told him these things, nothing good happened; Ning Chen felt he could already guess what the System's next sentence should be, but such hidden missions were generally extremely dangerous; if completed, there would be many rewards, but if not completed, although there were no penalties, failing a hidden mission meant the outcome was either death or disability.

Although Ning Chen felt he wasn't unable to accept the hidden mission, there was a different feeling between actively accepting and passively accepting; by actively taking it on, Ning Chen could at least ensure his life remained in his own hands, rather than having his fate changed according to the System's arrangements.

However, since the System had explained things to him, the following matters wouldn't be difficult to resolve.

Ning Chen didn't expect Ye Lisi to have ties with the Holy See; in his view, that was just an ordinary organization, at most ranked higher and stronger in power, with no essential difference from other organizations.

But once this organization had ties with the Holy See, things became much more complicated. Things with religious significance were often pursued by believers, especially since Sato was a world-famous nation of believers.

This meant that at least half the people in this country had converted to the Holy See; Ye Lisi having ties with the Holy See meant they would hold supreme power in this country.

No wonder capturing Hu Di brought such a huge reaction; perhaps the role Hu Di represented in their country wasn't just an ordinary Holy See personnel, but an envoy spreading faith.

This also explained why Hu Di and others hid in the forest, and why no country dared to investigate or track them; ultimately, it was because they didn't dare to anger Ye Lisi, and they didn't dare to anger the country behind Ye Lisi.

But there were still many people who weren't afraid of death, such as investigation teams coming from all over the world, such as the police officers like the uncle Ning Chen met, and such as himself.

If Ning Chen guessed correctly, by this time Ye Lisi should have become alert and tried to find him.

After all, the name "Ning Chen" was loud enough worldwide; many people had heard Ning Chen's name, let alone an organization like Ye Lisi that ranked high globally?

Ning Chen looked at the road ahead, stopped thinking, stretched his wrists, and planned to directly increase his speed to reach the destination before anyone could capture him.

But before Ning Chen could use the skill, several people suddenly appeared ahead, blocking his path.

Ning Chen knew the newcomers had ill intentions, so he stood still; at this time, he wasn't wearing anything to hide his face, so whoever found him must know him.

Ning Chen frowned, looked at those few people a few times, counted that there were seven of them, each with a gun at their waist, all tall and burly and looking formidable, but Ning Chen didn't show fear; instead, looking at them, he asked, "What's the matter?"

When he spoke, he had already automatically switched to the Sato language.

The seven people opposite seemed somewhat surprised that Ning Chen spoke the native language; one of them asked Ning Chen, "Are you from abroad?"

Ning Chen's brain quickly thought of the most suitable answer; in the end, Ning Chen simply nodded: "Mm, I am."

Although the two groups had different skin colors, if Ning Chen said he was, then he was.

The opposite side obviously didn't believe it, staring at Ning Chen with wide eyes: "You have yellow skin and are of the yellow race; you definitely aren't from our country."

At first, Ning Chen thought these seven people would be sent by Ye Lisi to trouble him; he didn't expect it wasn't them, and looking at their appearance, they seemed a bit silly.

Ning Chen raised an eyebrow and said, "If I weren't a Sato person, how could I speak Sato? Our country isn't some famous great power; if I were truly a foreigner, I wouldn't come to learn the Sato language."

Ning Chen rambled on with a chaotic explanation, not caring whether the opposite side believed it or not; mainly, he demonstrated his fluency in the Sato language to prove he wasn't the so-called "foreigner."

After listening to Ning Chen's few sentences, the people opposite actually believed eighty percent; Ning Chen didn't know they were really so easily deceived, so he rubbed the back of his head and laughed.

The leader said, "It's very chaotic inside; foreigners wanting to enter need someone to protect them. We seven brothers know nothing, but we are just hard to mess with; give us some money and we can solve most problems for you, guaranteeing no one dares to bully you... but since you are one of our countrymen, we won't stop you."

That person, speaking, led his brothers to the side, as if going elsewhere to wait for someone.

Ning Chen watched their backs thoughtfully, then realized they must have come to rob.

However, the phrase "it's very chaotic inside" spoken by that person did pique Ning Chen's interest; he had long heard the System talk about the "love-hate entanglement" regarding the Sato Royal Family, the Holy See, and the masses; now that things were like this, it would be a real pity not to go inquire and observe.

So Ning Chen gave up the idea of using a skill to enter; instead, he walked straight in, strutting boldly as if afraid no one would see him.

This was Ning Chen's style, and this country indeed had a very small population; on one street there were only a few stalls, and a rough glance showed it didn't even have as many people as a small town Ning Chen had stayed in before.

So this made it convenient for Ning Chen to act.

Even if Ning Chen just walked down the street, no one would notice him; under the condition that no one noticed Ning Chen, he could come and go freely.

Ning Chen walked in on foot, and indeed very few people noticed him. Perhaps one could say people noticed him, but not a single one stopped to ask or spared the energy to pay attention, as if Ning Chen were the most ordinary person in this country, even though Ning Chen's skin color was different from theirs and the style of Ning Chen's clothes was different from theirs.

He himself felt out of place; together with those wearing uniform black clothes, his white hoodie was the most obvious; even though Ning Chen had a big heart, in such a situation, he couldn't help but put his hands into his pockets, wanting to pull his clothes together.

Fortunately, indeed no one would notice Ning Chen; Ning Chen breathed a sigh of relief, then casually stopped a person and asked him in very fluent Sato: "Where is the Holy See?"

Although Ning Chen's communication made it impossible for those Sato people to distinguish any difference, the question he asked still made people in Sato notice something was wrong. That person, dressed entirely in white, looked Ning Chen up and down, his eyes scrutinizing, as if judging whether he was Sato or not.

Ning Chen let him stare openly and magnanimously, then noticed the other's gaze was a bit too intense, so he rubbed his nose and had to explain: "I left Sato twenty years ago and only have a very vague impression of this place... I just happened to come back once; besides wanting to come here to see my mother, I also wanted to visit the church, after all, I went there every day since I was young."

Ning Chen's words were watertight; even the residents here didn't notice anything wrong. The resident stared at Ning Chen's face: "Are you a mixed-race child?"

Ning Chen nodded: "My father is from Huaguo."

"So that's it," the resident's expression softened a bit, and he said, "Then fine, since you haven't come for twenty years, I'll take you there."

Ning Chen smiled and thanked him.

It was clear that this country placed great trust and reverence in religion; there was a church every few steps. Ning Chen had already lost count of how many churches he had passed. He asked, "Which church are you taking me to?"

The resident said, "Since you are from outside, I must take you to the largest church in Saduo to undergo a grand baptism ceremony."

Ning Chen paused for a moment: "Why?"

"You have not lived in Saduo for twenty years. Everything in Saduo is strange to you, and to us, you are merely a stranger. To join Saduo, you must receive baptism; only then can we acknowledge your existence."

After hearing him say this, Ning Chen finally understood why Saduo was a religious powerhouse.

But this country's territory was truly small. Before Ning Chen had walked long, the resident led him to that "largest church."

From the outside, the church was indeed huge and decorated brilliantly and beautifully. Ning Chen followed the resident, brushing past a group of people dressed in white. His gaze lingered on them for a moment before being drawn away by the sound of a door opening.

When the resident pushed open the church doors, Ning Chen instinctively looked inside.

He sighed inwardly; this was indeed Saduo's largest church.

Besides its vast area, the interior was beautifully decorated. Several nuns stood scattered within the entrance, while other residents of the country stood before the pews. At the very front, a Father bowed his head, seemingly chanting something.

Ning Chen himself did not believe in any religion and had never been to a church from childhood to adulthood. He did not know what the upcoming procedure would be. Just as he hesitated, the resident pushed him: "Go stand before the Father."

Ning Chen glanced at the resident. Seeing his serious expression, and after the resident slowly walked to the front of the pews and bowed his head to chant along with the other residents, Ning Chen no longer hesitated and slowly walked to stand before the Father.

The Father's eyes were not open. Hearing the obscure and difficult-to-understand words echoing inside the church, and not knowing what to do, Ning Chen could only lower his head along with the others, pretending to read along by mimicking their lip movements, though he never actually made a sound.

The Father finally opened his eyes. At the same moment, Ning Chen sensed it, so he raised his head at the same time, locking eyes with the Father's deep green eyes. His heart unconsciously skipped a beat.

Eyes of such a color were truly rare. Adhering to his appreciation for these eyes, Ning Chen gently nodded to the Father.

The corner of the Father's mouth turned up, revealing a faint smile, but the meaning of that smile left Ning Chen somewhat puzzled. He only heard the Father say, "My child, you have returned from afar covered in dust, bearing some uncleanable aura. Please allow me to prepare a baptism for you."

Ning Chen originally wanted to turn back and see the resident's reaction, but since the Father had spoken, Ning Chen had no opportunity to decline. So he opened his mouth, nodded, and said, "Good."

Next, the nuns and the Father seemed to be preparing something, but Ning Chen was uninterested in these things and had never seen them before. He stood with his hands hanging by his sides, doing nothing, until the Father stood before him again, the smile that made Ning Chen feel startled still hanging on his face.

"My child," the Father spoke, dipping his hand into a drop of water, and began chanting those words Ning Chen could not understand at all, "..."

Ning Chen continued to stand motionless in place.

648 changed strategy.

Ning Chen felt a slight coolness appear on his forehead, as if someone had dipped some water and touched it to his head. Finally, he chanted in a low voice, speaking entirely in a string of words that even Ning Chen himself did not understand.

The Father spoke a great deal, ending with a few prayer verses. Ning Chen was led away by a nun and walked behind the rear partition to receive a black robe.

The nun asked Ning Chen to change out of his white hoodie and put on this black robe. Ning Chen complied, obediently taking off the hoodie, and then put on the long black garment.

However, after changing into this outfit, walking became quite inconvenient and unsuitable for movement. Even if he wanted to walk, he had to lift the hem of the robe.

It was somewhat troublesome. While the nun was not paying attention, Ning Chen rolled up his own clothes and tucked them onto his person, planning to sneak them out later and change back out of the black robe.

After the nun led Ning Chen out, the Father stood before Ning Chen, still wearing a benevolent smile: "You have truly become a member of Saduo. Congratulations."

Ning Chen tugged at the corners of his mouth to reveal a smile, though the expression was somewhat forced.

In fact, Ning Chen did not know at all how things had developed to this point.