The three-minute duration of the item effect ended quickly, and the fake Pope Iri returned to his original coldness, lowering his head without a word.
Guan Tong and Adam exchanged a glance, both feeling a sense of "not quite satisfied."
Even though the person they faced was only a fake Pope, an impostor, the gains from this mission were actually substantial.
The existence of the fake Pope, combined with the intelligence Scarface had provided, was by itself hugely valuable.
On top of that, Adam had eliminated the remaining bishop Khan, and the two of them had destroyed this underground parish stronghold. The Fire Thief Cult had taken a devastating blow and would find it hard to recover.
But the "Fire Thief Cult" was ultimately just a shell the mastermind used to increase his number of spare lives.
Perhaps the reason the mastermind chose the "Fire Thief Cult" as a shell was simply that the substitute he found happened to be a priest. A priest feeling the call of a new god and founding a new religion is, by nature, a story steeped in mythic flavor.
Guan Tong thought the initial batch of followers were very likely mostly deceived by that story, with only a handful actually being brainwashed by mind control.
After all, at the beginning of the Doomsday Rules, each Ascendant's total Mind Power was limited. For the mastermind to quickly control a large number of people with power alone would be unrealistic.
That guy must have first discovered that Iri was well-suited as his substitute, then used his ability to control Iri, fabricated the story to create the Fire Thief Cult, and slowly, as his Mind Power grew, step by step took control of those followers who had been duped by the story.
When Guan Tong thought of this, he suddenly realized the origin point of the whole affair.
That mastermind might very well know the church priest Iri. If so, then by reverse logic, investigating the neighborhood residents of the church Iri belonged to before the Doomsday Rules descended might reveal traces of the mastermind. If they kept digging, uncovering his true identity might not be impossible....
But in any case, as long as the controller remained alive, sooner or later they would try to create another shell.
Adam then said, "Although it's a pity we couldn't find the true Pope, losing this substitute would have put us at a real disadvantage."
Guan Tong nodded slightly.
It was lucky the mastermind found an Ascendant with the "God's Vessel" ability like Iri, who could perfectly serve as an impostor. Finding another such substitute would not be easy.
Without a substitute, would that mastermind dare show himself?
This guy hadn't even dared reveal his true face when negotiating with Han Qiu or the Prophet. He probably wouldn't move openly again in the short term.
"Shadow, what should we do with this Iri? Although he is also a victim of the true Pope, he's been completely brainwashed and cannot be saved. Besides, if we don't eliminate him, the real Pope will surely use his body again when the chance arises."
"Of course he can't be left alive." Guan Tong had no objection, "and I also want to use this substitute's death to declare to the whole world the destruction of the Fire Thief Cult."
"Mm, good idea!"
Ye Dang's eyes brightened.
"If the real Pope uses only substitutes, it will make all the followers regard the substitute as the Pope. For those who weren't mind-controlled, seeing the Pope dead will dissipate whatever cohesion they had left. The Fire Thief Cult would be finished."
When Adam finished speaking, he understood there was more to be dealt with than just one person.
He turned his head toward Scarface, who was still standing where he was.
"What about me?"
Guan Tong turned to look as well.
They walked over, and Scarface's expression instantly relaxed.
Earlier, although he had stealthily used beast-enhanced hearing to eavesdrop on Guan Tong's interrogation of Iri, he did not actually know what Guan Tong and Adam had been discussing.
Because when the two discussed important matters, they always used the Mind Network to talk; Scarface could not possibly have overheard that.
But now there was no need to pretend—Scarface knew the dust had settled and this was the cleanup stage. His fate would be either exile or death.
Of course he wanted to live.
"Shadow Great Deity, and Adam Great Deity, please don't kill me!" Scarface begged before they spoke.
"You two are heroes, you wouldn't slaughter innocents, right? I'm not a saint, but I never truly wronged you. There's no deep hatred between us!"
Guan Tong said, "I'm no hero, and you are indeed not a good person. But it's true we don't have a blood feud. Still, give us a reason why we should spare you and let you go back to warn others."
Adam didn't speak, but his expression carried the same implication.
Scarface hesitated, then his brain raced as he thought up a reason.
"I can gather intelligence for you, be a spy! You want to deal with Han Qiu and Bruce, right? As long as I get useful information in the New Covenant, I'll immediately send it to you through Ascendant Home's private message!"
Guan Tong and Adam exchanged a glance, considering.
A fence-sitter like him was, of course, not trustworthy. Now he acted repentant, but once he was out of danger he would likely revert.
However, being unloyal didn't mean he was useless. Precisely because such a person had no loyalty, he could sell both sides for personal benefit.
So what could he sell about Guan Tong and Adam? Their cooperation would soon be known to everyone anyway.
Moreover, with tensions between Beixing and Suroma worsening, some of Beixing's previous official scruples had already been dropped.
If Beixing had previously hesitated to publicly accept wanted individuals from other Human Consortium member states due to protocol, with relations now sharp, preserving face was no longer a concern.
In fact, since Han Qiu could guess Adam was in Beixing, Suroma's intelligence agencies likely already had that information as well.
Seeing the two still deliberating, Scarface hurriedly tried to strike while the iron was hot, "You don't need to worry I'll go back on my word. Really, you think I extorted the Human Consortium for millions of Ascension Coins—of course I'm not on good terms with national officials, so it's impossible I'd sell you out to Suroma!"
Had he not said anything, fine. But once he spoke, Adam's eyes flicked and he smiled faintly, extending his hand, "Right, you remind me. Scarface, transfer those millions of Ascension Coins you extorted from the Human Consortium over here first."
"...Huh?"
"Huh? You think being a double agent means you can talk your way into saving your life? It's not that easy."
As Adam spoke he extended his hand again. Scarface's face fell, "But... I've already spent those coins."
"Are you sure?" Adam pointed to Guan Tong, "Shadow has interrogation tools on him. If you use them up and what you say later differs from what you say now... I'll kill you immediately."
Adam's final sentence carried a killing intent with no joke. Terror surged in Scarface; he understood that without his life, Ascension Coins were meaningless.
He didn't know Guan Tong's Truth Serum was a one-time item. Helpless, he had to bargain with Adam and trade everything he had over.
Guan Tong watched nearby. He knew Adam intended to let Scarface return to the New Covenant—not for those millions of Ascension Coins, but to try to get possible intelligence about Bruce from Scarface.
Of course Adam couldn't decide this alone. After getting the Ascension Coins he spoke through the Mind Network to Guan Tong:
"Shadow, I think we can let him go back to provide intelligence. Even if he's a double agent, as long as we obtain useful information it's worth it, and there's little he can actually sell about us. If we kill him here, we get nothing."
"Mm, let's do that."
Besides the intelligence factor, Guan Tong had another consideration: Scarface going back would see Han Qiu.
For Guan Tong, Han Qiu was even more troublesome than Bruce.
Bruce, as king of Suroma, was the sort of person who could be cornered by protocol—just go to the New Covenant, to the Senate, and fear that Bruce would have to appear. Much of Bruce's power derived from resources he could mobilize as king. If someone caused a commotion at the Senate and Bruce didn't show, his kingship would be in question and his authority would vanish.
Han Qiu, by contrast, had no fixed "temple" like that. He could leave for other places anytime.
He was even more minimalistic than Guan Tong—Guan Tong at least had a few friends. According to Beixing's earlier investigation on Han Qiu, apart from a non-blood-related younger sister Han Ling from their orphanage days, he had no relatives or friends.
A mind like that—cunning, with no attachments—is always the most dangerous.
So Guan Tong's reason for letting Scarface go back had nothing to do with Bruce; he wanted to use the opportunity to find Han Qiu and settle matters with him permanently.
To do that, he needed to leave a Mind Power-related object on Scarface, so that at the critical moment he could teleport via Body Swap straight to the location, giving Han Qiu no time to prepare.
After Guan Tong and Adam finished communicating, Scarface received his final verdict.
"Scarface, we don't trust your word, but we trust your greed," Guan Tong said. "We can let you go back. If you provide valuable intelligence, we'll even pay you handsomely."
"Of course, of course!"
"I have another question—do you know where Han Qiu lives?"
Scarface shook his head. "I don't know exactly, but he had someone arrange a villa for me. He always met me there. Han Qiu is very cautious—he doesn't even trust officially bought hidden rule information. He buys a separate copy himself every time."
Guan Tong was surprised, "You mean Han Qiu buys the Administrator's sold hidden-rule info on Ascendant Home?"
"Yes, he told me so himself, said he leaves no piece out. But even so he distrusts Ascendant Home. He never uses its private message function to contact people."
Guan Tong thought: so Han Qiu must have been one of his small-number 'regular customers.' If this guy bought every time, where did he get so many Ascension Coins?
Could it be that some of the massive Ascension Coin assets the Qingmei Society accumulated ended up in his hands?
Guan Tong thought it quite possible. Han Ling becoming the manager of the Yongzhou base for the Qingmei Society meant she was a confidante of "Big Sister" Jiang Lanying. As Han Qiu's brother, he might have ties to the Qingmei Society too, only he was cautious enough to avoid detection.
Han Qiu's behavior did make sense: since he viewed Guan Tong as an enemy and the Ascendant Home Administrator was known to be close to Shadow, of course he wouldn't trust the site's private message feature.
Thus, the account Han Qiu used to buy hidden rules must have been someone else's account; he likely never logged into his own device, perhaps remotely having others handle purchases.
Guan Tong thought for a moment, then pulled a Communication Scroll from his Storage Box and handed it to Scarface.
"When you see Han Qiu, use this to contact me immediately. I'll remotely install an item tracker on him. Remember, contact me right away so the tracker can be installed successfully."
Of course the so-called "tracker" was a lie. Guan Tong could not tell Scarface that he would actually Body Swap to teleport straight there.
That would risk Scarface and Han Qiu setting a teleportation trap for him.
In short, Guan Tong would never trust Scarface. Letting him go was only to use him to find Han Qiu.
"I understand. Once I see him I'll tell him to contact you. Leave it to me!" Scarface agreed at once, his expression sincere.
"If you do well, I'll give you one million Ascension Coins," Guan Tong said lightly. "If you fail, I'll kill you."
"...Deal."
Scarface had been half-hearted before, but hearing there was a million Ascension Coins at stake, plus a death threat from Shadow, he immediately resolved to do it.
"Leave right now, and quickly. Otherwise if news of the Pope's death reaches Han Qiu, he might suspect you and won't meet you again easily," Guan Tong said.
"Got it, I'm off now!"
Scarface could not wait to get away from Guan Tong. At Guan Tong's signal he ran off so fast it was as if he might transform into an eagle and fly.
Then Guan Tong and Adam took the fake Pope Iri and left the wrecked underground parish to the surface.
One hour, two hours, five hours... eight hours passed, and something stirred in the blood-scented underground suburb.
Crack...
A hairline fracture appeared on a rectangular black stone tablet set in the ground.
This stone tablet was none other than the "sacred stele" that had been erected in the small church's worship hall—the object symbolizing the "Fire Thief," used by the Pope and followers for prayer. Inside the church they called it the "sacred stele."
Now, this stele modeled after a Terminal Panel rapidly split open, and someone crawled out.
"So terrifying..." The person was pale all over, face full of fear, voice extremely weak, "Ye Dang, Shadow... they actually killed my substitute. Terrible... luckily I've been hiding in the sacred stele the whole time, no one ever found me..."