After leaving the house, Buzhachi couldn’t help but say, “Those people were all forced down there by the goblins. You could have tried to take them with you…”
Muxuan just shook his head when he heard this.
Of course, he knew that the goblin Elder was very likely lying, but he had no way to take those people away.
The goblins were probably scheming something with this as well.
However, Muxuan had no intention of getting involved further. In fact, he was even considering moving their base.
Though it was quite a distance away, if anything broke out, the current Church absolutely wouldn’t be able to withstand it. But who could say if there were even more dangerous things elsewhere?
On the bright side, at least the goblins were still wary of him, and wouldn’t act rashly for now. He still had some time to develop.
“You must also realize, those goblins won’t ever let them go…”
Buzhachi opened his mouth, but still said nothing.
He was also reminded of what the goblin Elder had said.
The strange thing in slumber…
Let Buzhachi worry about it himself. Muxuan turned his attention to the scepter.
Just a moment ago, he’d sensed a few more wisps of Faith Power accumulating within the scepter, and his own height seemed to have shrunk a little more.
Muxuan’s face darkened, but he quickly composed himself again.
Growing shorter was inevitable; the only thing unknown was just how short he’d eventually become.
But as for the increase in faith—what could have caused it this time…?
With this in mind, Muxuan led Gryffind and the others, and hurried back along the way they had come.
The black mist was still thick, but as Muxuan and his companions pressed onward, a faint glimmer of light gradually appeared ahead.
Buzhachi paused for a moment, pulled Nair along in silence, and closely followed Muxuan.
“Your Eminence! Captain!”
As the path formed by the pillar of light appeared before the four of them, the knights within the beam spotted Muxuan and Gryffind.
They immediately saluted.
“Has anything happened here?”
Hearing Gryffind’s question, the knight replied at once, “A group of refugees arrived. A few among them, relying on their possession of Pollutants, openly challenged the authority of the Church. We have already executed them, and the remaining refugees have been accepted. They are following the passage toward the base.”
So, it seemed the light pillar did have some use—there was a good chance of encountering these fleeing people.
However, the Pollutants…
“Where are the Pollutants now?”
Gryffind continued asking.
“Captain, those Pollutants are extremely dangerous. Though suppressed within the light, they can instantly kill several people inside the black mist… Bohr has taken the Pollutants with the refugees back to hand over to Bishop Beckerze.”
Gryffind nodded and glanced at Muxuan.
“It’s fine, prepare to bring the team back.”
Muxuan said nothing further. Pollutants being suppressed by the power of Light—Muxuan had already drawn that conclusion a long time ago.
Muxuan didn’t plan to return here for a while, but the Church of Light’s outpost still needed to be built.
With that thought, he continued onward. The knight swiftly retracted the wooden staff and followed behind Gryffind.
Passing by an empty light pillar, Gryffind casually retrieved the staff.
There were several strange corpses and human bodies scattered about, making it easy to deduce that a battle had occurred here.
“How many refugees were there?”
Muxuan considered for a moment and asked.
“We didn’t take an exact count, but by eye there should be about a hundred,” said a knight behind Gryffind.
About a hundred?
“Were there many Pollutants? Or perhaps any particularly powerful ones?” Muxuan asked.
The knight thought for a moment and replied, “Not many, but very potent. Bohr was wounded in the left eye during the conflict… That’s also why we suggested he take the Pollutants back and tend to his wound at the same time…”
“Mm, you did well.”
Hearing Muxuan’s words, the knight instantly breathed a sigh of relief, afraid His Eminence would be displeased by their actions.
Muxuan quickened his pace.
Although Pollutants were temporarily suppressed by the power of Light, it had to be admitted that they could indeed be valuable for strengthening oneself.
They might be foreign objects, but sometimes they were vital for survival. Compared to one’s life, some costs were negligible.
For example, the blade Buzhachi still held. With a single finger sacrificed, it could unleash a force strong enough to slay a Gray-White-class anomaly and heavily injure a Deep-Black-class one.
Now, identifying the effects of Pollutants was far easier than before—no need to risk lives in testing. One merely had to call upon the Goddess, and let Her take a look.
Marveling at the Goddess’s convenience, Muxuan and his companions soon returned to the village.
At the village entrance, a large crowd was gathered. Beckerze and another person were busy tallying the refugees, while Carmani and a few others kept a close watch on the crowd.
“Your Eminence.” Beckerze glanced at Muxuan, greeted him, then lowered his head and continued counting—there was too much to do.
To others, Beckerze might seem disrespectful toward Muxuan, but Muxuan didn’t mind.
After all, he worshipped the Goddess, not Muxuan himself. Why demand such reverence? As long as he was obedient and capable, Muxuan rather liked him.
He issued Gryffind orders to maintain order, let Buzhachi make his own arrangements, and then walked over to Carmani.
At the moment, all the Pollutants were in Carmani’s care.
The refugees looked uneasy as Muxuan approached.
Just now, they’d heard the bishop at the registry call him “Your Eminence.”
This wasn’t some petty tyrant flaunting his Pollutants—this was the real Pope!
And those armored knights beside him—they looked like trouble, too. Naturally, the refugees were fearful.
Seeing the anxious crowd, Muxuan simply stopped in his tracks.
“There’s no need to worry. Since you’ve come here, it must be by the guidance of the Goddess. We will punish evildoers, but the followers of the Goddess will always be welcomed.”
“Look—the Light here has driven away the black mist. Here, by the Goddess’s power, Light will shine equally upon all! As long as you are willing to work hard, you can live here in peace. There’s no need to fear the horrors within the black mist, nor worry about food!”
“The warmth of the Light will always shelter you!”
As soon as he finished, the crowd erupted in jubilant cheers, voices shouting “Praise the Goddess!” and “Praise the Light!” one after another.
The cold of the black mist had nearly numbed their bodies. Having grown accustomed to life in darkness, suddenly arriving at the fabled land of Light, they couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
But standing in the Light, they could sense a newfound comfort in their bodies.
Now, after Muxuan’s words, they had no more doubts. Some of the elders, seeing the Light again after so long, even knelt in excitement, tears streaming down their faces.
Indeed, it was no easy feat to find such Light amidst the calamity of the black mist.
The knights maintaining order couldn’t help but stand up straighter, pride shining in their expressions.
After all, this place—they’d built it together, under the leadership of His Eminence the Pope!