Chapter 577: Thief

Inside the Harvest Church in the southern district of the Beckland Bridge, countless massive pure knowledge surged from the spirit realm, converged in the prayer hall, and reconstituted Lei Kedun's body.

Emilin White, clad in a loose gray‑white cleric robe, instinctively stepped back several meters; after he saw that the suddenly appearing figure was Lei Kedun, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and muttered in a low voice:

"It's still daytime; anyone could come to the church to pray at any moment. If you just pop out of the spirit realm so casually and get seen by ordinary people, what will you do?"

"Ordinary people can't see me."

Lei Kedun replied calmly, his gaze lingering for a moment on the candlestick and cloth in Emilin's hand and on the cleric robe he wore, then chuckled aloud: "Looks like you're doing well in the Harvest Church, all dressed in a cleric robe. When do you plan to push Father Wutelefusi out and become the bishop here?"

"Don't talk nonsense; I would never abandon the Moon. This is just a necessary disguise—yes, a disguise!"

Seeming to have convinced himself, Emilin's words grew smoother: "In the Harvest Church, whether it's blood clan, official extraordinary beings, or other forces, none dare investigate me deeply, nor even approach. This place is my natural sanctuary."

"You've become a bit smarter," Lei Kedun remarked, then stepped directly past Emilin and approached the Life Holy Emblem on the altar.

"What do you mean 'a bit smarter'? Are you questioning the intelligence of a noble blood clan?" Emilin's expression twisted slightly.

Then he saw Lei Kedun sit before the Life Holy Emblem, hands clasped and held up to his mouth and nose, in a solemn praying posture; his expression suddenly turned odd as he said:

"Are you planning to convert to the Mother God?"

"Disturbing others' prayers is impolite."

Lei Kedun whispered a line, then ignored Emilin and began praying earnestly.

Emilin pursed his lips at the words, took the candlestick and cloth, and sat on a seat at the back of the church.

When the prayer ended, Lei Kedun remained seated before the Life Holy Emblem for a while, never sensing any oddity or revelation.

After rising from the seat, he left several one‑pound banknotes in the offering box ahead, then greeted Father Wutelefusi, who was praying earnestly nearby, and prepared to turn away.

Father Wutelefusi suddenly raised his hand to stop him, his voice serious as he said:

"Please wait a moment; the Mother God has a revelation to deliver to you."

From the back of the prayer hall, Emilin quickly moved closer, his tone exaggerated: "The Mother God has a revelation for him? Impossible—he's not a follower of the Mother God."

After a two‑second pause, as if something suddenly occurred to him, he looked at Lei Kedun with a strange expression and said: "Wait, you aren't really changing your faith, are you?"

Glancing sideways at Emilin, Lei Kedun shook his head lightly: "No."

Emilin almost instinctively said, "Then it must be that you haven't yet grasped the joy of the Harvest and the preciousness of life!"

Lei Kedun chuckled lightly: "Are you trying to proselytize me?"

"Of course not; my faith belongs only to the Moon!" Emilin glared at Lei Kedun, placed the cleaned candlestick back on the table, and turned toward the clergy lounge at the back of the church.

Father Wutelefusi watched Emilin's swiftly vanishing back, smiled and shook his head; in truth, he wanted to tell the awkward vampire that there was no need to hide the Mother God's revelation from him.

Seeing that Emilin had already left the prayer hall, Father Wutelefusi lowered his gaze slightly and said to Lei Kedun:

"The Mother God asks me to tell you that you may go to the Jade Jungle whenever you feel ready to request that item from Him; if you choose to wait, He will deliver it to you at the proper time."

"I understand, thank you for the information," Lei Kedun bowed to Father Wutelefusi in gratitude.

Father Wutelefusi gave a slight nod and continued: "The Mother God asks me to remind you that a thief has infiltrated Beckland."

"A thief?" Lei Kedun raised an eyebrow slightly, then nodded as if a realization struck. "A Meng and I have no major conflict; Lilith wasn't trying to remind me, a goodwill toward the 'Fool'?" After thanking Father Wutelefusi again, his body disintegrated into streams of massive pure information, disappearing in the Harvest Church's prayer hall.

Deep within the spirit realm, a faint luminous disc formed by the information torrent hovered here, creating a massive slowly rotating vortex that continuously observed and analyzed information from the surrounding spirit‑realm zones.

About ten minutes later, the vortex formed by the information torrent suddenly collapsed inward, and countless massive pure pieces of knowledge converged and reassembled Lei Kedun's body.

His gaze easily pierced the spirit realm toward the real‑world Beckland, the 'Capital of Ten Thousand Cities', sweeping across its streets. "The spirit realm's information is overwhelming and chaotic; even filtering just the data about single‑lens glasses requires this much effort," he thought.

With a sigh, he emanated a spiritual aura that enveloped him, stepped forward, and his body instantly pierced the spirit realm, returning to Beckland in the material world.

Dock District, near East Bairang Shipyard.

A mail carrier, slinging a cross‑body bag and riding a bicycle through the crowd, suddenly straightened his back, released his right hand from the bike handle, pinched the single‑lens glasses perched over his right eye, a faint smile curling his mouth, and murmured softly:

"Trying to search the spirit realm for information about single‑lens glasses—how naive. I've known that long‑winged old lizard for millennia; how could I not be wary of such a method?"

"Since your reaction is so strong, it proves Beckland indeed has the person I'm looking for. I wonder if it's Parles or that 'Fool'..."

A Meng's smile broadened; both hands gripping the handlebars, he pedaled swiftly through the street, his figure soon swallowed by the crowd.

Shortly after he departed, a faint glow invisible to the naked eye streaked through the air, drifting toward the eastern district.

North District, underground of Saint Samuel Church, Leonard was attending an internal meeting with members of the Red Glove Squad.

Squad leader Sost scanned the members on both sides of the conference table, cleared his throat, and said: "Headquarters has sent a sealed letter requesting that we pull personnel from Red Glove Squads across the lands to conduct preliminary surveys in the Pas River Valley of the Southern Continent. If all goes well, additional staff will be sent later for missionary work."

"Members of the War God Church seem to have started moving weeks ago; we must get ahead of them. Once the War God's faith takes root there, it will be hard for us to spread the Goddess's faith."

Across from Leonard, a Red Glove Squad member in his thirties raised a hand and asked: "Although the Fusak Empire is farther from the Southern Continent, the few weeks' time lag is still hard for us to make up, right?"

Sost pressed a fingertip to his temple, and in a calm tone said: "The sealed letter didn't specify, but senior staff are already coordinating with the Southern Continent. We just need to complete our own mission."

"Because this mission's location is distant and the timing uncertain, you may volunteer. If we still lack numbers, I'll select a few of you to go with me to the Southern Continent."

Leonard, leaning back in his chair, was diligently noting the meeting's details. He suddenly paused, a hint of surprise flashing across his face before he concealed it, one hand on his ear, his head tilted slightly as if listening intently.

At his ear, Parles's hoarse voice whispered: "That impolite youngster has arrived; he hasn't concealed his presence."

"Strange, the archbishop of the Night Church stationed at Saint Samuel Church should have noticed him, yet gave no response. No wonder the Night Church suddenly sent missionaries to Pas River Valley; they've reached some sort of agreement."

Leonard restrained the urge to press further, glanced up at Sost seated at the head of the table, and a cascade of thoughts flashed through his mind: based on prior intel, the Morse Ascetic Order has been very active around the Pas River Valley of the Southern Continent; did the Goddess strike a pact with the Hidden Sage? But isn't that figure an evil deity?

"Ha, what do you think distinguishes an evil god from a righteous god? Is it evil versus justice?" Parles's voice echoed again beside his ear.

Isn't that so? Leonard subconsciously asked himself.

"Naïve!" Parles scoffed, then fell silent.

Wasn't the old man supposed to be asleep? Why did he suddenly awaken? He never communicated with me beneath the church before; perhaps this period of slumber has restored some of his faculties. Leonard took a deep breath, steadied his thoughts, and refocused on the meeting.

Soon, the impromptu meeting drew to a close.

"Take the next two days to consider it; anyone willing to go to the Southern Continent can come find me," Sost said, then after a brief bow, the Red Glove Squad members filed out of the conference room.

Leonard deliberately avoided the two teammates who wanted to talk to him, walking at a measured pace out of the basement into the church's prayer hall.

Scanning the room, he soon spotted Lei Kedun seated toward the back. He slowed his steps slightly, passed directly by Lei Kedun, and continued out of the church without looking back.

He walked to the edge of the plaza outside the church, then stopped, deftly pulling a handful of husked wheat from his coat pocket and extending his hand forward.

Within moments, two white doves descended from mid‑air onto his hand, pecking at the wheat one after another.

Lei Kedun's silhouette appeared silently beside them; Lei Kedun looked at the two pigeons pecking at the wheat and chuckled, "Aren't you worried that the right eyes of these two pigeons will suddenly, suddenly sprout a ring of black circles?"

(End of chapter)