Chapter 90: More Gods

“How were you able to pilot that wrecked alien ship?” Finn asked. He had already secured the World Nucleus, but plenty of questions remained.

Holy Pontiff Alistair let out a long sigh. He knew he had lost, so he stopped trying to hide anything.

“When I was young, I explored the wreckage of the Heaven-sent Objects. After I ran out of food and water, I had no choice but to eat a peyote cactus.

“I fell into a strange hallucination, and suddenly found myself able to control objects within the wreckage. Later, I discovered that once you learned the trick, you could manipulate alien technology with your brainwaves.

“Eventually, I stumbled upon the remains of a spaceship and discovered it could still fly.

“I used it to destroy a Refuge City. From that day on, it became my Divine Ark—the instrument I used to punish anyone who dared defy me.”

“Are the devices the Radiant Path uses to cleanse nuclear radiation also alien technology?” Finn asked.

“That’s right. We collected all of them from the Heaven-sent Objects.”

“Heaven-sent Objects?” Finn said without mincing words. “They’re wrecked alien ships that fell to the ground. To put it more harshly, they’re space junk.”

Alistair gave a bitter smile. “That may be what they are in essence, but the Heaven-sent Objects fall so frequently. How could they be anything but gifts from Heaven?”

“So after discovering how to operate alien technology, you taught the technique to others and claimed it was a blessing from the Holy Radiance.

“That was how you founded the Radiant Path and became its Holy Pontiff? Ridiculous. Does a religion built on lies have any reason to exist?”

Anger flared in Alistair’s cloudy eyes. He had spent his entire life building the Radiant Path, only to see it crumble around him. Now Finn was dismissing everything he had ever accomplished. How could he accept that?

“This land is filthy and lawless. Everyone lives from one day to the next, never knowing if they’ll see tomorrow!” Alistair snapped. “I founded the Radiant Path. I brought order. I brought hope.

“And now you’ve destroyed it all! Do you think exposing the truth makes you some righteous hero?

“Hah! You’re nothing but a thug who uses brute force to crush dissent and trample on religious freedom!”

“Religious freedom?” Finn shook his head. “Religious freedom includes the freedom not to believe.”

Alistair sighed and stopped arguing.

“Did you initiate contact with these aliens?” Finn continued curiously. “And how did you know there was a cubic crystal in the Alderon Sea?”

“One day, while I was experimenting with the Divine Ark’s functions, I accidentally established contact with them. I spoke with them and asked them to come to this land—to help us and teach us.

“But they told me this planet had an anomalous gravitational field and asked me to investigate it. Their decommissioned spacecraft had originally been abandoned in space, only to be captured by a strange gravitational force. That’s why wreckage keeps falling onto this planet.”

A strange gravitational force...

Finn thought of the World Nucleus in his storage space.

“They sent me precise coordinates and told me to recover something from the Alderon Sea.” Alistair smiled bitterly. “It seems they don’t possess the technology to descend into the ocean.

“They were extremely interested in whatever was causing the gravitational anomaly. Once I retrieved it, they came in their ship to collect it.

“But then you interfered and ruined everything. That miraculous cubic crystal must be in your hands now, isn’t it? Can you tell me what it actually is?”

Finn gave no direct answer. “It exists on a level far beyond your reach. There’s no point in telling you.”

In the distance, a slender figure came running toward them. It was Olivia Hill. She sprinted toward them, only letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that Finn was safe.

“Why didn’t you drive the off-road vehicle over?” Finn asked casually.

Olivia lowered her head, guilt written across her face. “I’m sorry, Master. I did drive here to look for you, but the radiation was too intense. It fried the electronics, and the vehicle broke down.”

“It’s fine,” Finn said calmly. “We won’t need the car much longer.”

Olivia spotted the Holy Pontiff slumped on the ground, and fury instantly blazed in her eyes. She wanted to demand why he had plotted to destroy Black Mountain.

Then she remembered that Finn had already nuked two or three of the Radiant Path’s Refuge Cities off the map, and her anger quickly faded.

“Wait... What’s that thing in the crater?” Olivia pointed at the nuclear blast crater in surprise.

Finn walked over and found the alien he had kicked away earlier. The short creature was enclosed in a cylindrical spacesuit, making it look like a walking capsule.

It was huddled inside the crater, trembling uncontrollably.

Olivia’s bright blue eyes widened with curiosity. “Master, what is that? I’ve never seen anything like it before. Its internal structure is so strange!”

Finn grabbed the alien and dragged it out.

“This,” he said with a smile, “is the Holy Radiance.”

“The Holy Radiance?!” Olivia’s red lips parted in disbelief.

Finn drew the gleaming Skybearer Sword. “Maybe we should dissect it and take a closer look.”

White light suddenly rippled across the alien’s spacesuit, and a synthesized voice emerged.

“Do not harm me. I am useful to you.”

“Oh? An alien that can talk!” Now Finn was interested. “And how exactly are you useful to me?”

“You can use me as a hostage.”

“What do you mean?” Finn narrowed his eyes as a bad feeling came over him.

“I sent a distress signal moments ago. A fleet stationed in a nearby star system is coming to rescue me. They will kill you and your companions,” the alien said, enunciating each word in its flat, mechanical voice.

An alien fleet?

Finn’s heart sank.

This was a civilization capable of interstellar travel. If they really sent an entire fleet, Finn’s current strength would be nowhere near enough. He would be nothing but a target waiting to be bombarded.

There was no other choice. He had to run immediately.

He needed to contact Su-Jin, the envoy from the Spacetime Destruction Bureau, and have her come pick him, Olivia, and Jimmy up so they could jump to another world.

Unfortunately, Su-Jin was anything but punctual. Her procrastination had reached the terminal stage, and her laziness was practically incurable. She was a champion slacker and a grandmaster freeloader.

If he contacted her today, she usually wouldn’t show up until tomorrow—maybe even the day after.

If she ever arrived on time, it could only mean she was desperately short on money. Poverty was the only shot of adrenaline strong enough to suppress the symptoms for a while.

“How long until the alien fleet arrives?” Finn asked with a deep frown.

“Five seconds,” the alien replied in its mechanical voice.

“Olivia, get beside me. We’re in trouble.”

Finn raised his head and stared into the sky, his expression grim.

Five seconds passed in the blink of an eye.

Sure enough, the gray sky was suddenly torn open, and dazzling white light flooded the heavens.

When the light faded, dozens of disc-shaped spacecraft appeared in the sky. There were nearly forty of them, forming an overwhelming fleet. Several were enormous ships that stretched across the heavens, each almost a kilometer in diameter.

They maneuvered through the air before coming to a halt directly above Finn. Their crushing presence loomed over the land. Vast shadows swallowed the ground as the ships themselves blotted out the sky.

“Hahaha! Hahahahaha!” Holy Pontiff Alistair threw back his head and laughed.

“Finn, do you see this? The Holy Radiance has not abandoned me! This is the power of the Holy Radiance! This is its divine might! How can you possibly resist it?”

As though every disc-shaped craft were resonating as one, a flat, mechanical voice thundered across the sky:

“Inferior life-forms on the surface, cease threatening our astronaut immediately. Otherwise, we will exterminate every living creature.”