Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 446 I've got your back, you bastard.
"Breaking news! Pope Carlo Esposito delivered a public address at the Cathedral of the Dawn, addressing Doomsday and the return of the goddess of life!"

Before setting off, Ivy thoughtfully prepared a thick stack of newspapers from the far west for Ethan, which included the old man's personal information.

Carlo Esposito was born into an ordinary Papacy family in the far west. He received a theological education in a monastery from a young age. When he was 12, he met Julius, a friend who would have a great influence on his life. Even after Julius left the far west and returned to the empire to become pope, the two maintained a close relationship.

As the ruler of the Papal States in the far west, Carlo advocated for tolerance and inclusiveness among different sects. He maintained long-term relations with leaders of sects such as Voodoo, Spiritualism, and Holy Word, and had long established a power in the far west that even the empire could not underestimate.

This is also the source of Carlo Esposito's confidence in openly resisting the imperial religious reforms.

Under Carlo's guidance, the inhabitants of the far west still believe that Julius was murdered by the followers of an evil god. The evil god has corrupted the empire's soil, turning it into an ominous place that breeds evil and destruction. The followers of the Church of Life who remain in the empire, stubbornly clinging to their beliefs, have been stripped of their status as legitimate believers by the far west.

"The Theological Compatibility Argument argues that the pursuit of 'divine power' by different faiths is essentially the same, and that they are all preparing for the coming day of destruction."

This is a theory that Carlo proposed during his speech.

Ethan acknowledged that Carlo possessed both personal charisma and political acumen. His series of theories firmly bound many sects in the far west to the Church of Life. Moreover, he cleverly exploited people's fear of "Doomsday," convincing the people of the far west that only the Church of Life could protect them from the apocalypse.

Ethan still remembers the look in Ivy's eyes when she handed him the stack of newspapers.

She coughed lightly, emphasizing the desolate and hot climate of the far west, where accidental explosions were quite normal.

Ethan felt that something must have gone wrong.

Why does he seem to be increasingly aligned with terrorists in the eyes of others lately?

He emphasized to Ivy more than once that his trip to the far west was only to keep his appointment to visit Saint Mary, and that he would never shout "My name is Magnetic Pump" and then carry a bomb into the Cathedral of the Dawn to blow Pope Carlo into the sky.

Faced with Ethan's self-justification, Ivy calmly responded, "There's no need to be so direct. We can be more discreet and fake it as a fireplace explosion."

Ugh!
Ivy eventually changed, becoming a ruthless politician.

It's not hard to see from these stacks of newspapers that Carlo has caused her a lot of trouble in international diplomacy. Apart from the Empire, not everyone is willing to buy into "Imperial Truth." After all, each kingdom has its own legends about the right-hand gods and the middle gods, and the Church of Life in the far west is more in line with the laws of historical development.

Diplomatic relations between the Empire and the Far West almost completely ceased after Julius's death. The Church of Life removed all teleportation nodes, so their only way to access the Far West was to reach the western border of the Empire via a teleportation array and then travel to the border of the Far West by the most traditional horse-drawn carriage.

In an attempt to help Ethan infiltrate the far west, Ivy used all her connections and finally made contact with several old friends.

"Moriko."

A soft, mournful call came from the opposite seat of the luxurious carriage. Based on Ethan's experience, whenever Winter used such a form of address, it meant she was somewhat displeased.

"what?"

Why are you so far away from me?

Her bright red eyes stared at him. Winter patted his knee. "Are you afraid I'll eat you up?"

"It's hard to say..."

"Oh?"

Winter tilted her head cutely, but her increasingly sharp gaze made her less adorable. "The journey is still long and bumpy, and you didn't sleep much last night. Why don't you come and rest for a while?"

Upon hearing this, Bazartos III cast a questioning look at the two of them.

So, Old Sen didn't get enough rest last night?
"I also have a box of beehive worm extract here..."

"no need."

Ethan immediately and cautiously hugged Miss Chloe tightly. Miss Chloe had recently molted and her feathers were much fluffier. She felt warm and cozy in his arms, like a giant cushion.

As Ethan said, alchemists are the most dangerous people in the world.

This journey to the far west is extremely dangerous, and Miss Chloe is the only good companion he can trust.

Before setting off, Ethan paid Miss Chloe five legs of lamb as payment to serve as his alchemy advisor for the trip.

"I'll just read the newspaper here for a while. It's not convenient for me to lie down while I'm holding Miss Chloe."

Miss Chloe, who was used as a shield, looked around innocently and made a few soft "cooing" sounds. Just now, Winter had given her a fierce look, which made her feel that perhaps the reward of five lamb legs would be less.

As for Ethan's other personal bodyguard, Little Dark, he was taken down by the evil alchemist Winter before he even set off this morning.

Ethan witnessed Winter give Dark a bottle of amber-colored drink and lie to her, saying it was apple juice.

After drinking a glass of "apple juice," Xiao An fell asleep immediately and hasn't woken up since.

This fully demonstrates the terrifying nature of the Winter Witch; the potions she creates can even harm powerful elemental spirits.

The somber atmosphere persisted until evening. As the sun set, the small town in the desert appeared and disappeared on the horizon. Ethan flipped through a map. The town was known locally as "Dust End," located between the far west and the border of the Empire. Its only source of water was a half-dried-up ancient well, surrounded by wind-eroded rock formations and shifting sands.

The atmosphere in the small town was much more somber than in the car.

Evening should be the liveliest time at the post station. In other places, adventurers from all over the world would gather in the town's inn, and after a few drinks, they would start talking loudly and boasting about their experiences on the road.

Ethan peered through the carriage window at the lifeless town and warned the others, "Be careful, it's said the Vatican has planted many spies here."

This is why "Dust End" is always shrouded in a somber atmosphere.

Reporting an Imperial citizen can earn you entry to the far west, or a large bounty from the border clergy.

Carlo Esposito believes that the people of the Empire have now become the minions of the evil god, and that the book "Imperial Truth" is a genuine cult classic. He will do everything in his power to keep the followers of the evil god out of the far west.

In the town, don't trust anyone, and don't tell anyone about your origins.

However, this is also the last stop for many people traveling to the far west.

Before entering the border checkpoint, they need to prepare all their documents here.

Smugglers, papal agents, MI7 agents, document dealers, and even smugglers—the town is a melting pot of all sorts of people. A single misstep could cost you your life or make you someone else's bounty.

According to the laws of the far west, Ethan and his companions are essentially easy prey. "Perhaps a Vatican agent will disguise himself as a contact to extract information from us."

When the carriage stopped outside the town's inn, Ethan also became a little nervous under the influence of the atmosphere.

You see, Old Ba is traveling with them this time. If any fool in town dares to mess with them...

In the worst-case scenario, the people of the town may be forced to undergo an evolution, in which all their bodies are pieced together into a single mass of flesh, at which point the Heavenly Father will grant them eternal life and a shared consciousness.

To make matters worse, they almost immediately became the focus of attention for passersby in the town. Since most of the people staying in the town were illegal immigrants, they rarely saw anyone arriving in a luxury carriage.

Just as Ethan was deeply worried about the physical and mental health of the townspeople, a vibrant voice rang out.

"Hey—! Moriko, Fuyuko!"

This enthusiastic shout was completely out of place with the overall atmosphere of the small town.

Ethan looked in the direction of the sound and saw an orange figure waiting for them in front of the town inn. The girl had a pair of pointed cat ears on her head, and her equally orange tail stood up excitedly.

Before Ethan could speak, the orange figure darted over to the group. The agility inherent in demi-humans was on full display. She first approached Winter, standing on tiptoe and sniffing her closely. "That's right, that's right, Winter, you still smell nice!"

"Miss Ginny (see Chapter 191 of Volume 1)."

Ethan took the initiative to greet the enthusiastic Miss Lion.

No wonder Ivy was so mysterious before he left, refusing to reveal the name of the person he was supposed to meet, saying that they would recognize him at a glance when they arrived at their destination.

She really did use all her connections. After the flood in the Western Continent, Ginny and the group of demi-humans who followed her left Ophira and began their great seafaring life.

"What 'Miss Ginny'? That's too formal. Just call me Nizi!"

Ginny, whom we hadn't seen in a long time, casually put her hands on her hips and corrected him.

The townspeople, who had initially seen them as easy targets, all started walking away after seeing Ginny.

"I heard you were coming, so I let the caravan go into the city first. I'll stay here and wait for you."

As Ginny led the group, she glanced at the silent, seven-eyed woman and asked, "And who is this?"

"Just call me Bazi."

Bazarus volunteered that he wished his form of address to be the same as Ethan and Winter.

"Huh? You're pretty savvy, kid! If you run into trouble in the far west, just say my name, I'll protect you!"

The enthusiastic lion lady patted Bazatos on the shoulder.

She had the honor of becoming the first demi-human in thousands of years to pat an old god on the shoulder and claim that she would protect him. If her great-grandmother knew about this, she would surely give Ginny a thumbs up from the afterlife and say that her great-granddaughter had made something of herself.

Barzatos didn't mind; it was his first time traveling with other people, and all the experiences were new and exciting.

According to the proper procedures, entering the far west requires obtaining a series of permits and going through multiple layers of review.

"Don't worry, our chamber of commerce has bought the entire hotel."

As soon as they arrived on the second floor, the aroma of food wafted over them. Ginny had already prepared a sumptuous meal for them, but the entire table was filled with meat dishes, and there wasn't even a single vegetable leaf in sight.

At the dinner table, Ginny recounted her experiences after she and her demi-human friends left Ophira.

While aimlessly sailing, they unexpectedly discovered a lost treasure at sea, which appeared to be a shipwreck belonging to the Lofik Consortium. Not only did it contain a large amount of treasure, but it also had many trade catalogs for various ports. Ginny, with a try-it-out mentality, began her business journey by following the trade catalogs.

The demi-humans' attempt was a great success. Ginny's enthusiasm and sincerity won her the favor of many buyers. In addition, the demi-humans' strong fighting power made them not afraid of pirate attacks. In just one year, the "Golden Glitter Merchant Guild" became the leading neutral merchant guild.

They also have many businesses in the far west.

"In our community, this is called 'a gift from nature'!"

Ginny's smile is infectious, and she exudes a cool and capable aura.

However, Ethan had heard about the reason for the loss of the Lofik merchant fleet—the tycoon Lofik thought he was in complete control and ordered his sailors to move the ships toward Old Ann. Unfortunately, he made many mistakes at the negotiating table and angered Old Ann. As a result, he was sent back home with his fleet by a tentacle from Eliom.

Strictly speaking, this should be considered a gift from Lofik.

It was after this incident that Lofik was suspected by other members of the conglomerate of having a mental illness, was impeached by other factions, and lost his position as the top leader.

"Here you are your entry permits. From now on, you are members of the 'Golden Glitter Merchant Guild'."

At this point, Ginny paused slightly, "However, our merchant guild only recruits demi-humans. You should be able to show the characteristics of a demi-human race when you enter the country, right? First of all, Bazi, you'll definitely be fine. You can tell at a glance that you're a spider-race."

"Bam—!"

Winter responded with her actions. As the white smoke dissipated, two soft white cat ears appeared on her head, and a fluffy tail grew behind her. Her teeth, which were used to chew meat patties, had two sharp little tiger teeth. It was clear at a glance that she was a catgirl of the purest bloodline.

As a result, everyone's eyes were drawn to Ethan.

"Ah, uh, well..."

Ethan's face stiffened.

He didn't understand the spells of the Transmutation type; that was the skill of magicians. Rowena didn't participate in this trip because she was busy with guild affairs and also because she didn't get along with the people of the far west.

While deep in thought, Ethan's gaze suddenly fell on Little Dark, who had just woken up and was still a little dazed.

He suddenly had an idea and immediately took action, lifting Xiao An from behind and placing it on his head.

He cleared his throat and reintroduced himself:
"The Black Cat Clan, Moriko."

(End of this chapter)