Chapter 157: Curtain Fall

Silas looked at the crowd, his expression very composed. He slightly raised his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down, and explained, "Our Evening Bell Church doesn't care about power, money, or the number of believers. Our goal is solely to eliminate those dangerous existences. Precisely because of this, our numbers are few, and we don't have conventional clergymen. This is one reason for refusal: we don't have enough manpower to protect all of you. If we rashly accept believers without providing protection, it will tarnish our Lord's divine might, which is a grave sin."

Everyone, upon hearing this, looked up at these few people. There were only five people wearing masks belonging to the Evening Bell Church; their numbers were indeed very scarce.

"Secondly: we are not a registered church, which means that although we have done many good deeds, in terms of law, we are still an unrecognized cult. If you rashly join and preach publicly, you might be judged as cultists. You should all be very clear about the punitive measures the Three Moon Church takes against cultists."

Hearing this, everyone's heart trembled. Their minds gradually calmed down from that fervor, a wave of fear washing over them.

Silas nodded with satisfaction in his heart and continued, "As for the last point, our church frequently comes into contact with mysticism. Our main task at this stage is to eliminate major events that threaten the world. This situation will inevitably offend many cult groups. Some of them already know our name and intend to retaliate. If you join, you are very likely to be implicated. Therefore, for your safety, we can only refuse your request for now."

Everyone, upon hearing this, immediately showed immense gratitude on their faces, bowing with tears of gratitude. "Thank you! Thank you for His Holiness Pope's reminder. Truly worthy of being an incarnation of a deity. Such wisdom, such mercy, it's truly great."

Behind him, Helles and Bernice looked at Silas's back with adoration. How could they not have thought of such a perfect reason just now!

Adeline looked at Silas's back, her mind recalling the young man she had just met a few months ago, still very reserved and callow.

Coming back to her senses, Adeline sighed, "It's still good to be young; a change every few months."

Luke, at this moment, stood with Clausen, turned his head, and said in a low voice, "See? This is a natural-born charlatan."

Clausen nodded in deep agreement. "Indeed. That tone, that intonation, that look of compassion for all beings – it's more on point than many old priests."

"Well, interested in joining?" Luke tempted in a low voice.

Clausen gave a wry smile and shook his head. "Let's forget about that. I don't plan to join any organization for the time being. After this incident, I will leave the Cold Church and go for a walk, see the current world, and experience a brand new heaven and earth."

Luke, upon hearing this, didn't try to persuade him further, patted his shoulder, and said no more.

Here, Silas continued his sincere and heartfelt speech.

"At the same time, I also hope that everyone present can temporarily help us keep it a secret. At least before we apply to become an official church, please do not spread our existence and name."

Everyone simultaneously nodded in agreement. With your current status and so many enemies, who would want to spread this name and cause trouble!

After dealing with the ordinary people, Silas looked at the clergymen beside him and sighed, "I hope you can understand our difficulties and help us keep it a secret. I believe our Lord will also be pleased with your silence."

Thump!

Hearing Silas's last sentence, all the clergymen's hearts suddenly skipped a beat.

That was a living deity, a deity who could descend to this place at any time.

No matter how stubborn they were, they wouldn't dare to provoke such an existence.

"Rest assured, Your Holiness Pope! Rest assured! We swear by the Three Moon Goddess, absolute secrecy! Absolute secrecy!" Everyone said in unison with a serious expression.

Silas nodded with satisfaction. "That's for the best. Next, everyone should do what they need to do!"

With that, he walked into the Holy Blood Library.

At the entrance, Father Walter smiled and nodded at Silas.

Silas bowed very politely. "Thank you."

Father Walter smiled and said in a hoarse voice, "It's what I should do. Go and see those little fellows!"

Silas nodded, led the people through the main door, and saw ten "wild men" tied to pillars.

These people had disheveled hair, wore dirty and tattered clothes, and were as thin as firewood, looking very miserable.

It could be seen that among the ten people, four were female and six were male.

They were all unrecognizable; their messy long hair covered their heads like a chicken coop.

"Luke, do you have anything to say?" Silas didn't approach, first asking for Luke's advice.

Luke said in a low voice, "I have already spoken with all of them. They are all very willing to join the Evening Bell Church to express their gratitude for Him awakening them from chaos."

Silas nodded slightly, turned to look at the crowd, and asked, "If you don't mind the current scale of the Evening Bell Church, the Church welcomes you."

The ten people seemed to have already learned about Silas's situation from Luke and had communicated with each other.

After Silas finished speaking, the ten people nodded simultaneously. The woman on the far right said in a hoarse and unpleasant voice, "We are willing to join and offer a lifetime of faith to the great Lord of Death and Storm."

The others followed, nodding. "We are willing to join!"

Silas nodded. "Mr. Logan, please untie them. I will take them away later."

Logan did not stop him and said in a low voice, "I hope you can take good care of them."

"Rest assured. I can take good care of Demonesses and vampires, let alone humans," Silas said confidently.

Logan smiled, took out the keys, and unlocked the shackles on the ten people.

After everything was arranged here, Silas, along with the ten dungeon personnel, Luke, Virginia, and others, disappeared into the ruins of the city under everyone's gaze.

Everything ended. The remaining clergymen gathered together.

Logan, Marx, Bobby, Hank, Anthony, Marlene, Harden, Ivan, and other relatively core personnel discussed their next actions.

"First, we must request aid from the capital city, notifying them at the highest Holy Blood level," Logan said in a low voice.

Anthony warned gravely, "No one can leak this matter. We have all witnessed His might. I believe everyone is clear about the consequences of leaking it. That is an existence that controls the authority of death. At that time, what awaits us might be something more terrifying than death."

Everyone, upon hearing this, nodded with extremely grave expressions, indicating they understood.

And at this moment, the remaining dozen or so ordinary clergymen walked over and said together, "We are preparing to leave the Church."

Regarding this decision, the crowd was not surprised.

Faced with such a huge event, ordinary people did not have the firm will of clergymen; quitting was also a natural choice.

Father Hank said with a hint of pleading on his face, "Alright, but manpower is rather scarce right now. Please persevere for a while. After the Church's support arrives, you can leave at any time. Is that okay?"

Everyone looked at Father Hank's pale and aged appearance, and felt unbearable. They looked at each other and nodded. "Alright!"

"Finally, all of us need to unify our story. How did this incident begin, what was the process, how did it end, who was the core figure in this incident, and where does the credit lie? This must be made clear!" the meticulous Sister Marlene reminded.

The story of this entire stage ends here. A new chapter begins tomorrow! Thank you, brothers, for your monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, rewards, and subscriptions. Wild Hunt kowtows in thanks here! I will work hard to write this book even better!