The Glorious Saint Body had been preserved through desiccation, leaving it with virtually no moisture. After centuries, the shrunken flesh had grown brittle and was instantly shattered by Shen Feng’s sonic blast, scattering into a pile of fragments on the ground.
Everyone present had been stunned by Shen Feng’s sonic blast and thrown into chaos. But now, seeing the Glorious Saint Body collapse and shatter, they all stared blankly, their expressions frozen as if they had been turned to stone.
Amidst the battle cries and explosions filling the Glory Market, it was now so quiet only the surging of the waves could be heard. Even Witch Tower, Ivanka, and the other Minstrels widened their eyes, staring dumbfounded at the fragments of the Glorious Saint Body.
The supreme Glorious Saint Body... shattered just like that?!
The Saint Body... destroyed?!
Everyone in the Glory Market was dumbstruck, petrified in place, unable to believe their own eyes.
Even Ivanka and her followers hadn’t anticipated this at all. They stared with mouths agape, their minds completely blank.
Witch Tower was the first to react. She glanced at the Glorious Saint Body, now shattered to bits, then at Shen Feng on the water’s surface, and quickly shouted:
"Ivanka, seizing a warship is one thing, but you dare to destroy the Saint Body? That is an unforgivable sin! The ship’s owner is here, so stop this at once! It’s not too late for you to back down. Otherwise, you’ll tarnish the entire glorious legacy of the Salvation Army!"
She knew Shen Feng’s sonic blast had destroyed the Glorious Saint Body, but this was a time to turn the tables with a false accusation. Otherwise, Shen Feng would be a dead man, and her enemies’ claim to the Sail Warship would be perfectly justified.
The blame for destroying the Saint Body had to be pinned on Ivanka and her followers!
Sure enough, as she spoke, the crowd snapped out of their shock. Their gazes turned toward Ivanka and her followers, growing hostile.
Destroying the Saint Body was an absolutely unforgivable sin!
It was an insult to the Salvation Army and an insult to the great Savior!
To insult the Savior was to insult all of human civilization!
Hearing Witch Tower pin the destruction of the Glorious Saint Body on her, Ivanka was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. She pointed at Shen Feng, who was standing in his Submersible, and said:
"Witch Tower, trying to twist the truth? It was clearly this outsider of yours who destroyed the Glorious Saint Body with noise! That was obviously an ancient Acoustic Weapon! I say this man is a spy from the Purification Church, sent to destroy humanity’s faith! How dare you shelter him? This is a betrayal of the Minstrels, a betrayal of the Savior!"
Her expression was one of inviolable righteousness, her voice ringing with conviction. Once again, the crowd’s opinion swayed, their eyes shifting to Witch Tower and Shen Feng.
’That’s right, how could it be such a coincidence? The man shouts a few times, and the Glorious Saint Body shatters? And that voice was so loud, his words so arrogant... It really is suspicious.’
Hearing Ivanka mention the Savior, Witch Tower quickly retorted:
"Ivanka, you don’t understand! Shen arrived on an Iron Ship and has now resurfaced from the depths of the sea! This fulfills the line from the Savior’s prophecy: ’He will arrive on an Iron Ship and breathe beneath the waves’! I believe he may be the legendary reincarnation of the Savior!"
Then, she yelled to Shen Feng:
"Shen, get on the ship! Tell them where you’re from!"
In a matter of seconds, Witch Tower had her plan.
’With the Glorious Saint Body destroyed, they couldn’t stay in Glory Market. Luckily, they could use the Sail Warship’s sturdy metal hull to ram through the surrounding small boats and escape.
’As long as they could get away from the docks and out of the range of enemy cannon fire,
’the sea was vast enough that they could plan their next move. They could even make for the mysterious Cordillera Islands.
’We just have to fight our way out!’
’As for where Shen Feng really came from, that wasn’t important right now. They could figure that out once they were clear of this place.’
But Shen Feng just stood there as if dumbstruck, completely motionless. He ignored Witch Tower’s frantic signals, simply offering a small smile and wagging a finger at her.
Ivanka sneered, her voice turning grim.
"Witch Tower, I thought you were just naive, but I see now I underestimated your treachery. You’d use the Savior’s prophecy to cook up such a story, and for this... this nobody from who-knows-where? What’s really behind this? Your own ambition, or the Purification Church? You think you can rule the world with this ship and this man? What a pipe dream! I was going to let you live, but now, I see that’s a mistake I can’t afford to make!"
With a wave of her hand, the surrounding Guard regrouped and charged the Sail Warship. Simultaneously, several smaller boats broke off and headed for Shen Feng, intent on capturing the outsider.
The Guard members still hesitated to act too rashly against a Minstrel like Witch Tower. But for the outsider who destroyed the Glorious Saint Body, they would show no mercy and go for the kill.
"Who dares!" Witch Tower’s eyes blazed as she roared. "Ivanka denies the Savior’s prophecy, which means she denies the Savior himself! Her actions are a betrayal of human civilization! All who have heard the prophecy of the Savior, take up your weapons and defend His glory with me!"
Witch Tower’s words had deeply shaken many in the crowd. The Savior’s prophetic poem was something almost everyone knew; for many, it was the spiritual bedrock of their lives, a firm belief that the Savior would one day return.
Now, hearing Witch Tower suggest Shen Feng might be the reincarnated Savior—combined with the massive Iron Ship and his mysterious appearance from beneath the sea—had caused many to waver.
Upon hearing Witch Tower’s call, nearly half the people present moved to block Ivanka’s Guard, creating a standoff.
A few even placed themselves directly in front of Shen Feng, attempting to shield him from the charging enemy. They did this even though they stood no chance, even though they would soon be cut to pieces.
Their eyes, when they looked at Shen Feng, were filled with hope.
When it came to this, they’d rather believe it and be wrong than dismiss it and be right. They were just that desperate for the Savior’s return, that eager to see if this theory held any truth!
All for that one-in-a-million chance!
With both sides at daggers drawn, a brutal, bloody battle was about to erupt once more!
Ivanka, however, was certain of her victory. A flash of glee crossed her eyes. She could tell the warship’s guns and cannons were out of ammunition; otherwise, Witch Tower would have ordered her crew to fire long ago.
Victory was on her side!
And in her eyes, the outsider was already a dead man.
’He hadn’t done anything wrong. His only mistake was possessing such a powerful warship!’
Shen Feng watched the crowd preparing to fight and couldn’t help but feel a sense of an outsider’s absurdity.
’So my life and death aren’t in my hands anymore?’
’How strange...’
"I didn’t expect the Salvation Army to have fallen so far. Not much world-saving skill left, but you’re all experts at slinging accusations..."
Shen Feng shook his head and muttered to himself, but his voice broadcast over a loudspeaker, echoing through the Glory Market and stunning the crowd once more.
’Just putting on a show...’ Ivanka sneered, ready to watch him make a fool of himself.
Just then, Shen Feng looked at the small enemy boats that had rushed up to him, sighed, and said:
"Didn’t I tell you to get lost?"
The moment he finished speaking, a violent pillar of water erupted from the sea, instantly tearing the small boats to splinters. The men on board were flung dozens of meters into the air before falling back into the distant water.
Where the boats had been a moment ago, there was now only splintered wood, planks, and plastic parts. In their place stood a thick metal pillar, dozens of meters long, rising from the water and soaring toward the sky like a column holding up the heavens.
Ivanka froze, then sucked in a sharp breath. Her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to her knees.
That was a finger of the Steel Glory!!!