I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 585 For the former master, it's a matter of selling him off without hesitation! (Please subscribe and vote!)

The moment the words were spoken, the entire church suddenly shook violently!
The twelve angel reliefs on the dome lit up simultaneously, and a pillar of holy light, tens of meters in diameter, descended from the sky, completely enveloping Li Chen.

Even more astonishingly, a phantom image of a Judgment Angel wielding a flaming longsword vaguely appeared within the pillar of light, its overwhelming aura causing everyone present to involuntarily prostrate themselves in submission!

Ludwig's monocle fell off in shock, his old face turning bright red: "This...this is...the resonance of the divine word?!"

He hurriedly knelt down, horrified. How could this guard's understanding of doctrine be so pure? He was several levels above me.

Lina looked up at Li Chen in the pillar of light, and for the first time, ripples appeared in her usually cold and aloof blue eyes.

Her chest heaved violently beneath her nun's habit, and her silver hair danced in the holy light.

It wasn't about feelings, but pure faith in God. In her eyes, Li Chen was God at that moment!

After the strange phenomenon subsided, seeing that the believers below did not understand, Ludwig rose shakily and explained, "My Lord Guard is concise and to the point! For those stubborn fools, only judgment is the answer!"

He wiped away his cold sweat. "As the 'End Chapter' says: 'False believers shall fall into the flames.'"

The audience suddenly realized what was happening and began to bang their heads on the ground.

The nuns were so moved that they burst into tears, and some even fainted.

Li Chen himself was dumbfounded. He had just said it casually, how did it cause such a commotion?
And those of you who fainted, you can come to my room to collect your reward after this auditorium session. That's incredibly kind of you.

After this service ended, Li Chen's reputation rose to another level.

The entire city of Holy Radiance was abuzz with the miracle that occurred in the church that day. Even Cardinal Ludwig himself admitted that the Royal Guard's understanding of the Holy Scripture had reached the level of "resonance with the divine word of the Great God."

"This is utterly absurd!" An elderly bishop slammed his fist on the table, angrily rebuking the doubters. "I saw it with my own eyes. The phantom of the angel of judgment summoned by the Royal Guard was even inferior to Lord Ludwig! Why did you people question him in the first place?"

The person being rebuked was speechless. Wasn't it you who questioned us in the first place? Why are you scolding us now?
However, a higher-ranking official can have absolute power, so there was nothing he could do but endure the scolding.

In the square outside the church, the nuns gathered in twos and threes, their faces flushed with excitement.

One of the young nuns clutched her chest: "Did you see that? When the Royal Guard spoke, even the angel statues on the dome were glowing!"

“That’s nothing,” another nun said mysteriously in a low voice. “I heard that Deacon Lina stayed in the Royal Guard’s room for three whole hours last night.”

“Nonsense!” the nun beside her immediately retorted. “That was a discussion! Deacon Lina said it herself!”

These nuns seemed to have a very strong obsession with being alone with Li Chen.

As for Lina, he was naturally filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

At this moment, Li Chen was looking at Ludwig, who was talking non-stop, with a headache.

The cardinal followed him from the end of the service, just like an eager student.

"What you just said, 'kill the heretics,'" Ludwig pushed up his monocle, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism, "does it allude to the 'Judgment by Fire' in Chapter Seven of the 'Final Prophecy'?"

Just as Li Chen was about to deny it, the old bishop suddenly slapped his thigh: "I understand! The old bishop is reminding us that we must be as decisive as we are in dealing with heretics as we are with the plague!"

"Uh"

"Brilliant!" Ludwig exclaimed, his beard trembling with excitement. "What is your interpretation of the parable of the 'lost lamb' in the Gospels, sir?"

Li Chen casually replied, "If the sheep is lost, it's lost."

Ludwig gasped, frozen in place.

After a long while, he suddenly burst into tears: "So that's how it is! So that's how it is! The Lord is warning us that it's not worth wasting holy light on the stubborn and unyielding!"

Li Chen: "."

Anyway, I'm just saying whatever comes to mind, you can interpret it yourself, right?

Okay, okay, let’s play like this, right?

Just then, the hem of a silver nun's habit appeared at the end of the corridor.

Deacon Lina, holding a thick "Holy Scripture," walked up to Li Chen with a blank expression: "My lord, I have thirty-seven questions to ask about what you said this morning, 'Just kill him.'"

Looking into Lina's fervent blue eyes, Li Chen suddenly felt his legs go weak. The way this girl looked at him was like a hungry wolf eyeing a fat sheep—though there wasn't a trace of lust, it was even more terrifying!

“The first question,” Lina opened the Bible, her silver hair falling across the pages, “does the adults believe that all heretics should be executed immediately? Including infants and…”

Li Chen quickly interrupted, "Well, it depends on the situation."

"I understand!" Lina suddenly closed the book. "The lord means to analyze each situation specifically! As expected of the royal guard, he is indeed more flexible than the Holy Scripture!"

Li Chen: "???"

Did I say anything? At least your boss is the one who interprets my random words.

I didn't say anything, so how did you understand?

And just like that, Li Chen inexplicably gained two more enthusiastic "students".

Ludwig told everyone that the Royal Guard was unfathomable, and Lina even wrote down every word Li Chen casually said in her notebook, which she named "The Royal Guard's Holy Words".

However, amidst this peaceful atmosphere, a farce is unfolding at Drake Estate.

"Are you all insane?!" Carlos grabbed Lilith by the collar, his dark red eyes filled with terror. "Sending your personal guards to kill the guild master? Do you even know what you're saying?!"

Nymeria's silver hair shimmered with golden strands. "Anyway, the guild master doesn't treat us like human beings." She sneered, "If it weren't for the blood pact, we would have..."

"Shut up!" Carlos quickly covered her mouth, glancing around warily. "Do you want to kill everyone?"

The reason things turned out this way was because the two sisters, Lilith and Nymeria, 'ruined' their plan. They intended for Li Chen to kill the Blood Demon Society's leader and for Veronica to find out where the leader was. However, because the two sisters were not capable enough, Carlos found out about it.

Carlos dared not expose them, because if they were exposed and turned around to bite him, wouldn't he also die?

This is what's known as a "pig teammate".

Lilith broke free, her dark red curly hair exploding like flames: "Then what better idea do you have? Go back and have the guild master turn us into blood golems?"

Carlos fell silent. He recalled the phantom of the angel of judgment in the church that day, and Mordred's sinister face.

After a long pause, he slumped into a chair and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

“It’s simple,” Nymeria whispered in his ear, “Veronica has found out that the chairman will complete the trap in the Black Pine Forest in three days. We’ll have the Royal Guard deal with him then.”

"Veronica?! So it was her doing." Carlos looked up abruptly, feeling that Lilith and Nymeria definitely didn't have the intelligence to pull this off.

“Shh—” Lilith put a finger to her lips. “Now we’re in the same boat, dear Deacon Carlos.”

Carlos's expression changed several times before he finally sighed and said, "Give me a day to consider it."

However, that very night, this "loyal" steward knelt before Li Chen and sold himself off without hesitation.

"My lord!" Carlos pressed his forehead to the ground, "After investigating day and night, I have finally discovered the Blood Demon Society's whereabouts!"

Li Chen raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

Li Chen was speechless. "I wasn't planning on working, but now I have things to do?"
"In three days, Mordred, the guild master of the Blood Demon Society, will hold a blood sacrifice ceremony in the Black Pine Forest!" Carlos's voice was filled with a sense of justice. "Your subordinate is willing to personally lead the way and help you, my lord, to wipe out these heretics!"

Li Chen looked at him with a half-smile: "You are indeed commendably loyal."

Subtext: You're crazy, you're really good at causing me trouble.

Carlos's back was soaked with cold sweat.

He knew he was playing with fire, of course, but he was willing to take the gamble rather than face Mordred's wrath.

After all, this bodyguard seems quite approachable?
Meanwhile, atop the highest bell tower in Holy Radiance City, Deacon Lina knelt in the moonlight, devoutly recording today's "Sacred Words of the Guard."

Her silver hair danced in the night wind, and her body, clad in a nun's habit, stood ramrod straight.

“The Lord has breathed twenty-one times today,” she wrote earnestly, “and the intervals between each breath are almost exactly the same, which must be a hint at Chapter Twenty-One of the Bible.”

The poor girl, she's completely obsessed.

(End of this chapter)