Chapter 2: Pope

"Stop!" the Goddess finally spoke, unable to bear it any longer, "You are copying too much!"

"Ahem!" Chumen coughed lightly and closed the Night Revelation, "When it comes to preaching, who can compare to that person? This is the most suitable path."

"I am not yet a deity, and this is not my path." The Goddess said with a pointed meaning, clearly refusing; this was simply too shameful.

"Oh, it's going to be copied by others anyway, might as well be me." Chumen muttered, his mood somewhat agitated.

"Soon you will be a deity." Chumen said.

"Hmm?" The Goddess already had a profound understanding of this collaborator's bizarre and miraculous nature.

"The Destruction Demon Wolf is about to die!" This single sentence was earth-shattering, and the Goddess's expression also changed.

Chumen had learned about the current state of the world during his chats with the Goddess; the year the Goddess descended here was unclear, and she was very cautious and did not disclose it.

But those eight Ancient Gods, including the Giant King Ormir, the Destruction Demon Wolf Flegrea, and the Alien King Vashitun, had not yet died and were constantly in conflict.

"Madmen will eventually be swept into the grave of history, why don't we give it a push? This is the trend of history." Those Ancient Gods were indeed powerful, but too crazy and beyond saving.

"Why do you know these things?" The Goddess just stared fixedly at Chumen, specks of starlight scattering, clearly unsettled.

Chumen had been here for less than two months and hadn't even walked out of the Deep Darkness City, so how could he know any trend of history?!

"I heard the prayers of all living beings, and your will." Chumen immediately stepped into this position of Pope.

"Is it the source of the Dream Book's power?" The Goddess ignored the second half of the sentence, lost in thought.

Chumen's face turned dark; the Goddess's identity before she transmigrated was not simple, her sense of smell was extremely keen, and even more so now.

"Very well." The Goddess did not ask further, but nodded lightly, accepting this identity for Chumen; the two already had a foundation of trust, making many subsequent things easier to handle.

This Deep Darkness City was protected by the Goddess's Hidden status, and everyone within it was a believer of the Goddess.

But outside this city, it was an extremely bloody and primitive world.

Extraordinary Creatures that ate any Characteristic to the point of madness, and extraordinary races that viewed humans as food—for ordinary humans, this was a hell-difficulty world.

The Deep Darkness City was definitely an exception; apart from this, even those city-states protected by Ancient Gods could not escape various tragedies; after all, it was a crazy era, and the Ancient Gods themselves were unreliable.

From this point of view, this era should indeed end.

"Now, my Pope, what do you want to do?" The Goddess's gaze fell on Chumen, serious and cautious.

"Do what I should do..."

Before long, Chumen, holding the only copy of the Night Revelation in the world, climbed to the peak of Shen'an Weicheng and held the Scripture high.

"The Goddess is above, and will grant us quiet and deep sleep."

"Praise the Goddess!" All believers protected by the Goddess knew they were lucky.

Being in this Deep Darkness City, there was no need to be constantly vigilant against those mad monsters, and no need to be snatched away as food by extraordinary races; these were all gifts from the Goddess!

Hum!

Deep power rippled like waves on water, sweeping over all the believers in the Deep Darkness City; night-fragrant grass and Deep Sleep Flower emitted specks of radiance, and an unprecedented tranquility pacified everyone's hearts.

"Praise the Goddess!" All believers could not help but praise the Goddess.

It was also at this moment that all the believers felt something and looked up at the person standing under the Statue of the Goddess.

He was glowing, his Linen Robe emitting a dim luster, and a Divinity Badge pinned to his left chest, radiating a tranquil power.

"The Goddess's Divine Oracle: I am the Pope of the Deep Darkness City; you may address me as Your Excellency the Pope."

Specks of brilliant starlight fell from the Goddess's Statue, seemingly condensing into a Starry Crown that rested on Chumen's head.

The people of this era were terrifyingly pure, and the miracle just now had shocked everyone's hearts.

"Praise the Goddess, greetings to the Pope!" Similar praises grew louder and more uniform; suddenly, Chumen felt that he had established a connection with these believers in a mysterious sense.

It was also at this time that all the believers understood the meaning of the so-called Pope: he was God's Proxy, who would manage the believers on behalf of the Goddess and would be the "father" of the believers in faith!

"Faith and Anchors?" Chumen pondered the mysterious connection; in his sensing, pure light spots of different colors were condensing, gradually forming a small, slowly flowing galaxy.

"Sure enough, it's correct." Chumen looked at the light spots before him, full of joy, "Deities need Anchors to maintain their humanity, but what I need is to use these Faith Anchors to pry open my Dream Book!"

The power of the Dream Book he could use before was simply negligible, but now with these Faith Anchors, he could pry open more powerful strength.

"I must make the believers maintain sufficient trust, respect, and even awe toward me." Chumen had taken a shortcut this time.

Becoming the Pope allowed him to connect directly with the believers of the Deep Darkness City and directly obtain the believers the Goddess had accumulated over many years.

Picking the Goddess's peaches?

"Praise the Goddess!" Chumen said this sentence sincerely.

And at this moment, the Dream Book disguised as the Night Revelation trembled slightly, and Dream Phosphor spilled from it, drifting onto the believers and merging into them.

Tonight's Deep Darkness City could also be called the City of Dreams; in their dreams, these believers would obtain what they desired most in their hearts and heal the deepest wounds in their hearts.

But the greatest benefit was that the Corruption that inevitably accumulated on them daily was all calmed down, and their mental state reached its fullest.

"May your and my dreams come true!" The Pure One, Saint Chumen, said so.

The next day, having not slept all night, the clear-headed Chumen led thousands upon thousands of believers to pray together.

"Thank you, Goddess, for granting me food!"

The goal Chumen set for himself was to make this city-state, and even the Orthodox Church in the future, forever remember his name; this all started from every aspect of life, and the most important of which was naturally "eating."

The Goddess was indeed very good to this Deep Darkness City; an Abundance Stone equivalent to a Sequence 4 Saint of later generations was placed at the feet of the Goddess's Statue, and its radiation covered the entire city, making food like melons, fruits, and milk countless in this city.

Such a city-state could already be called a Kingdom of God in this era.

Afterward, Chumen performed various operations, truly making the believers feel the omnipresence of the God in their daily lives, and formulated a set of somewhat cumbersome prayer procedures, which he compiled into the Night Revelation in the name of the Pope.

At the same time, he also moved things that originally appeared in the true "Night Revelation" of later generations over, rewriting them according to the era.

"The Creator woke up from chaos, broke the darkness, and created the first ray of light..."

"In the Second Epoch, the Goddess woke up from the darkness and will eventually take back the Authority that was usurped..."

"Praise the Goddess!"

Basically, the framework of the "Night Revelation" had been set by Chumen, and all future Popes could only make minor repairs.

He even offered a copy to the Goddess, only he didn't know if She would feel embarrassed after reading it...

On this day, Chumen dutifully led all the believers in prayer, having already established a simple mass procedure, which was enough for his title of Saint Chumen to be passed down to future generations along with the development and changes of Deep Darkness City.

"The Goddess is summoning me." Not long after, Saint Chumen, who had basically laid the foundation for the future Evernight Church, disappeared, leaving only this sentence behind.

Chumen had not lied to this group of innocent lambs; it really was the Goddess looking for him!

The Goddess was moved after all, though it was more likely that the Goddess had actually planned it long ago, and Chumen's appearance simply provided Her with a better choice.

After all, She was a subordinate god of the Destruction Demon Wolf, and Her ability of Hidden was completely countered by the Destruction Demon Wolf, making many things inconvenient.

"……I leave it to you!" The Goddess's soft voice rang out beneath the Statue.

Two items appeared before Chumen's eyes through the method of Anti-Hidden, gradually becoming real.

A glove and a dark robe.

"Ancient One's Glove, capable of summoning me from the fog of history, and also capable of letting you go to any place in the world."

"Sage's Robe, the controller of knowledge, can also transform into an Information Being."

"This is what the Pope deserves."

"Hiss!" Chumen's eyes lit up as he took the two items into his hands, "A fusion of Traveler and Ancient Scholar, plus the knowledge of a Sage!"

Hiss! How did an Ancient Scholar get mixed up with a Traveler?

Hmm... well, in this era where everything is consumed, it seems not entirely incomprehensible.

And the Sage's Robe is also a good thing!

Now that Chumen had come to this world and possessed the Dream Book, self-preservation was sufficient, but as for combat power, it was too unstable; with these two items added, as long as he didn't provoke those subordinate gods and Ancient Gods, the world was his to roam!

As someone known as a Pure One, he did not fear Corruption, so naturally, he did not need to worry about any side effects.

"I will certainly not fail the commission!" Chumen said solemnly. In the time that followed, Chumen kept adapting to the two Magical Items; his Spirituality was provided by the Dream Book, which could be called endless, and he didn't need to worry about negative effects, even being able to use the abilities within them at will.

"I cannot drink Potion, so could it be that I am destined to become the strongest collector?"

Imagining the scene of pulling out countless Magical Items to crush enemies upon encountering them, Chumen raised an eyebrow slightly, "That doesn't seem bad either."

"But it is not a long-term solution after all..."

Chumen toyed with the two items, looking at the Dream Book as he fell into deep thought.

Several days later, with everything prepared, Chumen arrived beneath the Goddess's Statue.

Specks of brilliant starlight fell, and the Goddess sent Chumen out of this Deep Darkness City.

Chumen appeared in a vast, endless primeval forest that stretched to the horizon.

Now he had changed into the Sage's Robe, the dark robe dotted with brilliant starlight; in one hand he held the Dream Book disguised as the Night Revelation, and on the other hand, he wore the Ancient One's Glove with its Hidden and eerie patterns.

His black short hair was sufficiently elegant, his inner temperament as a Pure One was even more outstanding, his face was fair, his eyes were bright, and on the level of Spirit Vision, there even existed Angel wings—a true Angel had descended.

In short, his appearance was excellent, making people feel favorable toward him and unable to help but want to draw close.