The Steel Glory's enormous finger was like an iron tower bursting from the surface of the sea, rising far higher than any of the warships in the Glory Market. The resulting column of water shot hundreds of meters into the air, creating a drizzling rain.
It was impossible to know how long the massive metal cylinder had been submerged, but its anti-rust coating had prevented any sign of decay. Only a few shellfish clung to its surface. It was a sight that overflowed with power and ancient mystery.
The moment the crowd saw the giant finger, they were once again dumbfounded. Even Witch Tower was too shocked to speak.
For the people who lived here, the Steel Glory, a Holy Corpse from an ancient war, had not moved an inch in their entire lives.
Everyone had always thought of it as a statue, or even a small island, never imagining it could still move.
But now, right before their very eyes, the Steel Glory had raised a finger!
With a mere flick of that finger, a dozen warships were annihilated. The people who had been most disrespectful to the man were torn into a bloody pulp by the immense force!
"The Holy Corpse moved... The Holy Corpse moved... He came on an Iron Ship, he can breathe underwater... Could he really be... Could he really be..."
Witch Tower gripped the ship's rail, muttering to himself. As he stared at the enormous finger, his legs felt weak, his chest burned, and his mouth went dry.
Though no one had ever seen the Holy Corpse move, there was a common understanding among them all: besides the dead heroes, the Saint Bodies, there was only one person who could reawaken these giant weapons of ancient warfare.
And that person was—the Savior!!!
"Impossible... Impossible... This must be a trick by the Purification Church... A scheme by the Purification Church to seize the Holy Corpse!" Ivanka collapsed to the ground, her hair in disarray, and mumbled before suddenly shouting:
"This is a conspiracy by the Purification Church! Seize this outsider and force his true purpose out of him!"
The Guard members below exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.
Just as the crowd was struggling to recover from the shocking scene, another great change occurred. A massive amount of seawater surged upward and then parted, and the finger continued to rise, revealing a palm as enormous as a reef from beneath the waves.
Only then did everyone see clearly that this was merely the middle finger of the Steel Glory.
Before this gigantic hand, even the behemoth warship they had just been fighting over now seemed like a tiny paper boat.
The massive palm continued its ascent, lifting the outsider on the strange ship high into the air. Ivanka's Guard, who had been about to charge, lunged at empty space. The crowd could only crane their necks and watch as Shen Feng rose into the sky.
At this point, everyone understood. It was this outsider who was controlling the long-dormant Holy Corpse of the Glorious!
"Who are you?! Are you a Purifier? One of the Undersea People? Or a Minstrel from the Eastern Hidden Island? What is your purpose!?" Chris finally recovered from her shock, stood up, and shouted at Shen Feng in the sky, her chest heaving.
Compared to Ivanka's almost paranoid obsession with power, she was actually a bit calmer.
Shen Feng ignored her shouts. With a wave of his hand, he made the Steel Glory's arm hover a hundred meters in the air. Then, from his high vantage point, he looked down upon the crowd with an expression of compassion.
The people present were all terrified and confused. But Old Bill and the others, recalling what Witch Tower had just said, trembled with an excitement they could barely contain.
'Could it be... Could it be...'
Just then, the Steel Glory's head moved slightly, and the core area of the Glory Market above experienced a minor earthquake.
As the crowd panicked, two brilliant beams of light suddenly shot out from the Steel Glory's eyes, which had been dark for untold years!
One of those eyes had even been converted by later generations into a repository for a pilot's Saint Body. Now it too began to flash with light, as if a person were blinking!
Immediately after, two beams of light shot from the Steel Glory's cavernous eyes, forming a holographic projection in midair. The surrounding scenery transformed, making everyone feel as if they were standing on an ancient battlefield.
The image displayed dozens of uniquely designed Super Giant War Armors, led by a single War Armor at the front, locked in a brutal battle against hundreds upon thousands of World Beasts!
What a tragic yet glorious battle it was, like a primeval war between gods and demons from ancient myths.
The lead Super Giant War Armor was in the shape of an ancient warrior clad in Golden Armor. On its chest was a giant Chinese character: "Zero."
The Minstrels in the crowd cried out again. Many recognized it—the Super Giant War Armor with the Chinese character on its chest was the Savior's own machine from the epics, the Zero Armor!
Unlike the other War Armors, this one didn't seem to have a cockpit. Instead, a figure stood atop its head.
The view zoomed in, and the image of a slender young man appeared before them.
With just a single glance, everyone present understood. This was the legendary Savior, the man who had once led the Salvation Army and fought with all his might to save the world!
His gaze was as deep and resolute as a torch, as if it could cut through any fog and fear no hardship.
In the hologram, a World Beast towering ten thousand meters high slowly emerged from the distant sea. Behind it, more World Beasts gathered, like a range of moving mountains and dark clouds.
The Super Giant War Armors fighting fiercely broke away from their opponents, having also spotted the newly arrived enemies.
Behind the War Armors, thousands upon thousands of warships sailed across the sea, leaving wakes behind them. They were scattered by the waves churned up by the World Beasts, only to struggle to regroup.
A great war was about to begin!
Atop the Zero Armor, the young man's expression was calm as he slowly spoke:
"Salvation Army... assemble!"
The next moment, the holographic image shifted. This time, it showed the depths of the ocean. A Space Wormhole tens of thousands of meters wide glowed with a faint blue light. Through it, the brilliant starlight of a distant, unfamiliar Star Realm was visible.
Rows of massive Submersibles and several Super Giant War Armors were assembled by the underwater Space Wormhole, ready to depart. Many of the Submersibles and War Armors were towing huge, oval-shaped metal spheres marked with nuclear radiation hazard symbols.
This time, the Zero Armor had a cockpit. Inside the transparent cockpit, the young-looking Savior wore a solemn expression as he spoke to his comrades in the surrounding vehicles.
"Comrades, the fate of humanity rests on our shoulders. Though our path forward is uncertain, a hundred years from now, people will lay bouquets on our graves. Salvation Army... assemble!"
The moment he finished speaking, led by three battle-worn Super Giant War Armors, the massive Submersibles began towing the metal spheres through the Space Wormhole and out into the vast, boundless sea of stars!
The final scene of the holographic recording showed the young Savior piloting his War Armor through the Space Wormhole, gazing at the face of Earth from the other side.
His expression was resolute, decisive, calm, rational, fierce, and fearless, yet held a trace of gentleness deep within his eyes.
That was the final image.
The hologram flickered several times and then vanished. The chilling depths of the sea and the boundless ocean of stars disappeared, replaced once more by the vast ocean and the Glory Market.
But where the image of the Savior had disappeared, the outsider from the East now stood.
The crowd suddenly realized that this man looked exactly the same as the Savior in the hologram, though his eyes seemed somewhat clearer.
But his gaze held the same compassion as the Savior's in the recording, along with that same trace of gentleness.
Seeing this, Witch Tower, Hezi, Chris, and the other Minstrels—even Ivanka—had eyes that gleamed with an ecstasy bordering on madness. They trembled all over, their faces flushed, unable to contain themselves.
The same expression appeared on the faces of others in the crowd. Many even slapped their own faces, trying to confirm they weren't dreaming.
Shen Feng remained silent, merely sweeping his gentle gaze across the crowd.
"Commander!" Witch Tower suddenly dropped to one knee, crying out to Shen Feng high in the air.
"Commander!" Hezi, Chris, and the other Minstrels also dropped to one knee. They pressed their hands to their hearts and looked up at Shen Feng, tears of excitement streaming down their faces.
"Savior!" Old Bill and the sailors of the *Hope* knelt on one knee in ecstatic reverence.
Like a ripple spreading outward, the people in the Glory Market knelt one by one, weeping with joy as they paid homage to the man in the sky and shouted.
"Savior!" The ancient prophecy had come true this day.
"Savior!" Humanity's glory will finally shine.
"Savior!" We offer every drop of our blood to you.
"Savior!"