Chapter 380 322: Saving Private Hu Kaikang! Tear of Light

「Inside the nuclear facility.」

Wall Announcements crept cautiously behind the drone, his eyes darting around warily. He was flanked by several robotic guard dogs—when the facility's main gate was opened earlier, a horde of monsters had poured out. Though the many escort drones had shot them all down, most were too large to follow him inside. Now, only a few trailed behind him.

'With just these few robotic dogs... If another swarm of monsters appears, my chances of survival are slim,' Wall Announcements thought.

The only reason he'd even dared to enter was his absolute trust in Chu Bamboo.

"...Phew, I'm okay!" Finally, Wall Announcements emerged from the corridor. Wiping sweat from his brow, he scanned the area, and a look of astonishment spread across his face. "This is..."

"Hey!" Chu Bamboo's voice suddenly crackled from the civilian drone. He ignored the stunned Wall Announcements, who was seeing the facility's interior for the first time. He piloted the drone into a steep dive, stopping right in front of the Two-headed Scale People.

The Two-headed Scale People looked dismissive, but Chu Bamboo paid it no mind and got straight to the point. "I killed the Fifth Apostle, and I've already spoken with the Pope. From now on, Hu Kaikang, you will follow my orders."

The Two-headed Scale People: "???"

Both of his heads were completely dumbfounded, almost suspecting they were hallucinating. The left head had just started to react, its lips twitching, when it saw the drone shoot back up into the air. "???"

"Wall Announcements, get down there and unlock this guy's chains! Oh, and come right back up as soon as you're done... there's contamination down there. Also, you're going to lock your captain down here in a minute!"

"?!" Wall Announcements's expression went blank, his mind reeling. He instinctively opened his mouth to ask a question, but then he heard Chu Bamboo's voice again. "We're short on time, I'll explain later! Just follow my orders for now."

"...Alright." After a moment's hesitation, Wall Announcements's expression hardened, and he headed down the stairs.

"Hey, about these chains on me..." the Two-headed Scale People began, but trailed off. He watched as Wall Announcements's palm slid over the keyhole on his shackles. With a CLANG, they simply fell open. "?!"

Both of the Two-headed Scale People's heads were stunned. The locks on his body didn't have keys. To be more precise, the shackles on every monster imprisoned in this forbidden land were deadlocks that were impossible to open. The only way to get free was to sever the chains with brute force!

But...

'A Divine Technique?' Realizing this, the Two-headed Scale People's left eyelid twitched. He glanced at his right head, which was still looking dumbfounded, and all thoughts of resistance vanished. He quietly got his body moving and followed Wall Announcements, who was already hurrying back outside.

After exiting the forbidden land, the Two-headed Scale People stared up at the sky. The dazzling sunlight stabbed at his eyes, but he didn't flinch, gazing blankly as if he'd been reborn into a different world...

"What are you staring at? Give me a hand... and lock him up with the chains that were just on you!"

"..." After a brief silence, the Two-headed Scale People stiffly turned his heads. He automatically took hold of Li Kang, who was bound to a frame. His expression became incredibly complicated. He opened his mouths a few times as if to speak, but in the end, simply nodded and quickly headed back inside.

「A moment later.」

The Two-headed Scale People emerged from the nuclear facility. With a solemn expression, Wall Announcements activated his Divine Technique, and the massive gate sealed shut once more.

"...Excuse me, sir! Could you please sit in the back?" Wall Announcements said, sitting ramrod straight in the driver's seat, eyes fixed forward.

To be honest, the Two-headed Scale People's appearance was putting Wall Announcements under immense psychological stress. Even knowing he probably wasn't an enemy, it was hard to get over that mental block.

"Of course!" the Two-headed Scale People said, being very understanding. Although it seemed Wall Announcements was just a puppet for the mastermind, he was still willing to treat the man before him as his savior.

"Alright, Your Excellency." The Two-headed Scale People extended a palm, catching the tiny civilian drone as it landed. He felt the maglev car vibrate slightly before lifting into the air. His four eyes gradually sharpened. "Now... can we have a frank discussion?"

"Well, it's like this..." Chu Bamboo smoothly delivered the explanation he had already given several times before. He concluded, "So, do you understand now?"

"Understood!" The Two-headed Scale People nodded. "From now on, I'll follow all your orders... but if I get caught, I'll have to insist I'm only following you because you saved my life. It has absolutely nothing to do with His Holiness the Pope!"

"But..." The Two-headed Scale People's right head broke into an honest-looking smile. "Could you let me contact His Holiness the Pope, just for a moment...?"

"Give him a phone!" Chu Bamboo sneered through the drone. "Go ahead, make the call! Just don't blame me for tattling on you to the Pope afterward..."

The Two-headed Scale People: "..."

"You know, I do believe you after all!" the Two-headed Scale People said with a bashful tone.

"For an old guy, you're not very honest," Chu Bamboo said noncommittally. 'With Lao Hu's intelligence, he must realize the healing item sent by the Pope is all the proof he needs... So he's just trying to negotiate for more autonomy.'

Clearly, Hu Kaikang wasn't ready to unconditionally trust a Chu Bamboo he'd never even seen. On the contrary, he was still apprehensive and unwilling to agree to obey every order without question. 'Which is normal, of course—but I'm not playing along!' Chu Bamboo thought. 'There's no time for him to have doubts. I just need to shut him down directly.'

Lao Hu not making the call was his subtle way of backing down. In other words, after wrestling with his doubts, he had ultimately chosen to trust the person the Pope trusted: Chu Bamboo.

...

「Third District Church.」

The maglev car descended from the sky.

Zhang Hai, who had been waiting by the entrance, immediately rushed forward. He opened the car door and saw the Two-headed Scale People in the back seat, but his gaze remained fixed forward. He stared at Wall Announcements and handed over an item. "This is the... Tear of Light. It was sent via emergency teleportation using a Forbidden Artifact."

"? The Tear... of Light?" Hu Kaikang repeated the name, his expression shifting. His left head showed immense gratitude, while his right head turned to look west as tears streamed uncontrollably from its eyes. His voice choked with a sob. "Your Holiness the Pope, you..."

The so-called Tear of Light was exactly that: a tear from the Bright Pope! It was an exceptionally special Forbidden Artifact. Even after the Bright Pope's Cultivation reached the Transformation Realm, his heart remained so pure that he would still weep whenever he heard of great disasters befalling the world and the suffering of its people.

Perhaps it was a case of an extreme reversing itself, but these tears, shed in moments of great sorrow, possessed the power of Purification over evil and could heal any wound. Not even the Bright Pope himself could explain the principle behind it, which was why he couldn't mass-produce them.

Just seeing how it was delivered was enough to understand how incredibly rare and precious the item was, not only to the God Worship Sect but to the entire world.

"This... How could I possibly accept..."

"Use it right now!" Chu Bamboo cut Hu Kaikang off, not caring whether his hesitation was genuine or just for show. "Obey all my commands! This is an order from the Pope... Don't waste time!"