Unlike the pitch-black, narrow tunnel, the Fire Thief Worship Cult's underground stronghold was a relatively bright, spacious warehouse.
That's right, Scarface had noticed it the first time he came here—during the war, this place had been used as an underground warehouse. It was massive, large enough to hold over a thousand people and tons of supplies.
Now, after the Fire Thief Worship Cult had renovated it, the large warehouse was divided into multiple zones: a storage area, a living area, and a small, hastily built chapel where Your Holiness stayed. Back when Han Qiu was here, the group had discussed matters in that chapel.
As soon as Scarface entered, he headed straight for the chapel. On the way, he saw the robed cultists, and his face naturally twisted with disgust.
As a former leader of the Three Beasts Army, he had also been the boss. He knew that being a boss relied on strength, prestige, and even charisma. But Your Holiness of the Fire Thief Worship Cult controlled people entirely through his ability, which Scarface utterly despised.
In his eyes, even an organization where the boss and subordinates suspected each other, where subordinates rebelled and fought the boss in a bloody power struggle, was better than this cult. The Fire Thief Worship Cult seemed like an iron barrel, impenetrable, but it was nothing more than a childish game held together by Your Holiness's ability.
At least the former were still normal people. These cultists, on the other hand, had essentially become no different from parasitized forms. The only difference between the two sides was their nature.
When Scarface reached the entrance of the small chapel, a towering figure appeared and blocked his way.
"You. What business." Bishop Khan asked.
"I need to talk to Your Holiness."
"What about?"
Scarface shot Khan a sidelong glance. "Is that any of your business? Don't you know a good dog doesn't block the path?"
Khan's eyes flashed with anger. Just then, Your Holiness's voice came from inside the small chapel. "Khan, let him in."
"... ..."
Khan let out a cold snort and stepped aside.
Scarface walked into the small chapel with disdain. Your Holiness was standing in front of the statue, seemingly praying.
"Hey, I gotta say, you really think it's meaningful, bowing and scraping to the Fire Thief's Terminal Panel every day?" Scarface couldn't understand Your Holiness's behavior.
The statue the Fire Thief Worship Cult had erected was, to put it bluntly, a black rectangular block that looked just like a Terminal Panel. Every time Scarface saw the cultists worshiping that thing, he wanted to laugh.
"What did you come to see me about?" Your Holiness asked without even turning around, as if he didn't want to exchange any pleasantries with Scarface.
"Nothing. Han Qiu asked me to pass on a message to you." Seeing Your Holiness's attitude, Scarface's face soured even more. "He said King Bruce of Suroma wants him to hand you over, but he doesn't want to. So he wants you to hand over yourself."
"... ..."
"Don't ask me what it means. I don't know either. That's what Han Qiu said. If you want to ask, contact him yourself.
"And another thing, I don't get it. Han Qiu said he can't use electronic devices to contact you because it'll be monitored. But why won't you accept being contacted through items? Don't you have enough 'believers' to buy a Communication Scroll with Ascension Coins? Why did you have to make me run this errand?"
Your Holiness turned around, staring straight at Scarface. His calm, expressionless face inexplicably sent a chill down Scarface's spine.
"Hey, I'm talking to you..."
"I understand." Just as Scarface was about to lose patience, Your Holiness finally spoke. "I will—"
Your Holiness stopped mid-sentence, his face suddenly changing. "You betrayed me?"
"What?" Scarface was baffled. "Who betrayed him?!"
"Khan!"
Bishop Khan strode in from outside and knelt on one knee before Your Holiness. "Please, give the order."
"An outsider has broken into the parish. Take the priests and go intercept them immediately!"
"Yes."
Khan turned and left. Scarface finally realized something was wrong. He remembered the strange smell he had noticed when he first came down to the basement, and his heart trembled.
"Could it be that I was followed?!"
Your Holiness cast him a cold glance, then quickly walked toward the back door of the small chapel.
...
"Great Fire Thief, the all-knowing and all-powerful God, please open the path for those who pray devoutly to you."
Guan Tong recited the password, and a door automatically appeared on the wall.
Adam was surprised. "I know of quite a few barrier tools, but this is the first time I've seen one that can hide an entire area."
As he spoke, Guan Tong, completely covered by the Shadow Battle Suit, pushed the door open and walked inside.
The full scope of the Fire Thief Worship Cult's underground stronghold was revealed. This underground parish, converted from a large, subdivided warehouse, was entirely lit by fluorescent lamps. Dozens of cultists in black robes were moving about within.
At that moment, as if receiving some kind of order, the cultists all stopped in their tracks and began to converge on the entrance where Guan Tong and Adam stood.
"It looks like Your Holiness knows we're here." Adam, aka Ye Dang, watched the cultists closing in and raised his palm slightly, ready to make his move.
Just then, a figure leaped down from a distance, landing with a deafening *boom* on the ground not far in front of the two. The shockwave sent several nearby cultists flying!
"This guy..." Adam squinted, recognizing the cultist with the red sash. "That's Bishop Khan."
"Heretic intruders. Die."
Khan swung his arms, shedding his robe to reveal a form-fitting suit underneath.
Adam stared at Khan for a few seconds, then said, "During the last [Scarlet Fear] rule period, the Human Consortium Joint Force suffered a heavy ambush with massive losses. You had a hand in that."
He turned to Guan Tong and continued, "I spent some time in the front-line forces and made a few friends. They all died in that attack... Leave him to me.
"Shadow, you go find Your Holiness. That kind of bastard who only dares to enslave others through mind control, no matter how high his status, deep down he's a cowardly, timid coward! Now that he knows someone has found his nest, that bastard will probably try to escape using a teleportation-type item."
Guan Tong nodded. He thought the same.
Your Holiness never showed himself in public. He only hid in the shadows, using his ability to manipulate others into charging into battle for him. This kind of person, as Adam said, no matter how strong his ability or how high his status, was still a weakling at heart.
And when a weakling faces a sudden battle they cannot control, their instinct is never to fight, but to run.
"Be careful."
Guan Tong said quickly, then shot off deeper into the stronghold. Khan and the other cultists naturally wouldn't let him pass and moved to intercept.
But Adam wasn't going to let them interfere.
"All of you, stay put."
He raised his hand and pressed down. The spreading gravity field immediately pinned Khan and the other cultists in place, unable to move.
Many of the weaker cultists, subjected to the intense gravity, were directly crushed to the ground, their bones snapping with sharp cracks.
However, Bishop Khan let out a sudden roar and charged forward against the gravity field, throwing a punch aimed at Adam's face!
Adam shifted gravity from pull to repulsion, launching his body into the air and dodging Khan's heavy punch. A flicker of surprise crossed his expression in midair. He hadn't expected Khan to fight so fluidly under ten times gravity. His physical strength was clearly impressive.
"Ten times isn't enough. Then, how about twenty?"
Adam activated his gravity field again from midair. This time, twenty times gravity pressed down. The remaining cultists who had barely managed to endure ten times gravity were instantly crushed, their bodies erupting in gore as they died on the spot.
Even Khan seemed to struggle under this gravity. His muscles groaned, and faint traces of blood appeared on his skin. But he still hadn't reached his limit.
He let out another roar, his right hand reaching out and grasping. A brown stone hammer, longer than his own body, materialized out of thin air.
The moment Khan grabbed the hammer, his power multiplied several times over. He broke free from the gravity field's suppression in an instant, leaped from the ground, and swung the giant hammer!
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Khan swung the massive hammer in rapid succession, crashing down. Adam continuously used repulsion to bounce his body out of the way, all while assessing his opponent's strength.
Watching Khan's bulging frame, Adam thought, *So this big stone hammer is his exclusive item. Its effect seems to be more than just power amplification; it also comprehensively strengthens physical constitution and toughness.*
*...I shouldn't drag this out too long. While I don't need to worry about Shadow's strength, an extra hand would be safer when dealing with Your Holiness.*
With that thought, Adam decided not to waste any more time sparring with Khan.
As a former top-tier Ascendant of Suroma, he didn't believe Khan was a match for him.
"I'll send you off the same way I eliminated another bishop. It's what you deserve."
Remembering Amanda, who had died at the hands of another bishop, Adam felt his hatred extend to all of them. He wouldn't show any mercy to Khan or any other cultist of the Fire Thief Worship Cult. That was also why his gravity field had covered every single cultist in the vicinity from the very beginning.
He raised his right hand high, then pressed down forcefully, releasing a massive amount of Mind Power.
"Gravity. Fifty times!"
*PFFF—!*
The few remaining cultists were instantly crushed to a pulp under the fiftyfold gravity. Khan, still holding his giant stone hammer, had blood burst from his entire body. Then, with a heavy *CRACK*, both his knees slammed into the ground, shattering the floor into a wide web of cracks.
Seeing this, Adam lowered his hand and prepared to go find Guan Tong. But the moment he turned around, a furious roar erupted behind him.
"Aaaaaaadam!!!——!"
Adam turned around in shock. He saw Khan, covered in blood, standing up again!
...
Meanwhile, Guan Tong had already arrived at the small, makeshift chapel at the heart of the stronghold.
He could tell this was the core of the entire Fire Thief Worship Cult's underground base. If Your Holiness was in this underground stronghold, he would be in this small chapel.
Just then, Khan's furious roar echoed from far behind him. Guan Tong tilted his head slightly, frowning, and quickly shared the vision from the Shadow he had left near Adam.
He saw the bishop named Khan. He no longer looked human. He was more like a monster bathed in blood, wielding a giant hammer. The clothes on his body had long been burst apart by his muscles, which had swollen to several times their normal size. His entire body was nothing but congested, blood-engorged flesh.
Guan Tong took a single glance and then withdrew his attention. He believed Adam could handle that guy.
The reason was simple. It was Adam. Even if he had been severely injured and disabled on Eden Island, he was still Adam, an Ascendant who had entered the Second Stage of Ascension and could manipulate force fields.
*Creak—crack—crack—*
Just as Guan Tong was about to make his move, the chapel's main door suddenly swung open on its own. A man walked out, every scar on his face radiating fury.
Scarface glared hatefully at the man not far in front of him. Seeing him covered in a "flowing blackness," with even his face completely hidden, Scarface's heart churned with unease. He spat out, "So it was you who followed me?!"
Guan Tong looked at Scarface, wondering why only this guy had come out. Why didn't Your Holiness come out with him? Wouldn't they have a better chance if they fought together?
"I'm talking to you! You... huh? Wait..."
Just as Guan Tong was wondering whether he should take care of Scarface first before entering the chapel, the latter suddenly seemed to realize something.
Scarface looked at Guan Tong's entire body and the pitch-black shadows surrounding him. His voice trembled. "You... Could you be... 'Shadow'?!"
Having recognized Guan Tong's identity, Scarface's entire body went limp. His attitude did a complete one-eighty.
"Damn it... I'm not fighting! I surrender! Don't kill me! You're looking for that cult leader, right? He's hiding inside the chapel!"