Goddess Kaleidoscope

Therefore, Lud is now eager to force the imposter hiding in the shadows and secretly "molting" to show himself as soon as possible.

As Lude gathered more and more intelligence, he became increasingly suspicious that the mysterious former chairman was an imposter, using a mortal body to personally manage his church. Hume himself had used similar methods; that's how the original Brotherhood of the Black Hand was established. However, Hume's management skills were terrible, and it was only after a change in management that it reached its current scale.

The reason the other party wants to step down may be related to a breakthrough; they want to take the opportunity to give up this identity and simply be a high-ranking thief god.

As Lud was walking and thinking, Aylvit, who was walking beside him, suddenly stepped forward and whispered a few words in his ear. Lud's expression changed drastically after hearing them.

"When?"

"Just now, Lady Aina immediately notified me with her divine sense, asking me to pass on the message to her."

"Let's go! Let's go to the tavern."

End of this chapter

When Ludd learned that Hume had suddenly collapsed and that his symptoms were far more severe than before, he was terrified. However, when he rushed back to the tavern, he saw Hume, who was supposedly lying on the ground convulsing, sitting there with his legs crossed, eating and drinking and chatting with others, showing no signs of illness whatsoever.

When the other person saw Lude running back panting, waving a half-eaten roasted lamb kidney in his hand, he said in a very provocative tone.

"Hey, you're back! Have you eaten yet? Let's grab some skewers together!"

"you……"

"It's nothing. That silly girl Aina is worrying too much. It's similar to the previous times, except she was just unlucky this time. She had an attack while walking on the stairs and fell down. I'm a god, even if I'm sealed away, it's just a cricket rolling down the stairs. It didn't even break her skin."

"..."

Seeing Hume's smiling, feigned ease, Lude frowned and came up to her, looking her up and down. Then, he suddenly grabbed Hume's hand and lifted her off the chair with a gentle tug. Her limp arms were as weak and powerless as an ordinary person's.

“You can’t call this being okay.”

Clearly, Hume was gradually losing his divine blessing, which also indicated that the imposter had passed the stalemate and was gradually replacing Hume as the orthodox object of worship for the "theft god".

To put it simply, if faith itself is a forum website, then believers are the users of this website, bringing traffic called faith to the website through clicks. The deity is like the administrator of this website, and divine power is the authority possessed by the deity.

So in reality, it is faith that creates deities, and deities represent faith to a certain extent, but they are not faith itself.

As for the curse of the God of War, it can be understood as a "hacker attack," which stripped Hume of his privileges, leaving him with only an administrator's identity. But it was precisely this curse that indirectly led to the emergence and growth of imposters!

In fact, without the curse, Hume could have detected the imposter's presence the moment it appeared, and then used his authority to eliminate it or recruit it as a subordinate like a divine messenger. Other gods use these two strategies when dealing with occasional "alien beings".

But the curse rendered Hume powerless, preventing her from noticing the imposter in time. By the time she finally discovered it, the imposter had grown strong enough to threaten her position.

Once the imposter has usurped the throne, Hume will no longer be the god of thievery; his fate will then depend entirely on the other side's decision.

Seeing how serious Hume's situation had become, Ludd realized that they needed to speed up their actions and launch the next phase of the operation ahead of schedule.

Lude's original plan was twofold: first, to change the structure of the Thief God's faith circle in Yanmu City; second, to instigate infighting within the Black Hand Brotherhood; and third, to weaken the opponent to a certain extent and force the imposter to reveal himself, at which point they would launch a final all-out attack, and, referencing the God of War's actions, seal the imposter away.

The first step has been very successful, thanks in large part to Servis and her Rainbow Dance Troupe. The second step is underway, with tensions rising between the elders of the Black Hand Brotherhood over the position of chairman. However, the imposter has not yet shown up, and now it is time to launch an offensive ahead of schedule.

Lude's plan was to strike at the very source of faith, directly at the imposters' root. "Your Black Hand Brotherhood attracts followers with 'divine liquor,' right? Well, I'll destroy your secret factory that produces it, then write a report to a righteous priest of the Cult of War, ordering him to lead his knights to smash those harmful meeting places."

In that case, although the final commotion will definitely be quite significant, this is no longer the time to worry about getting burned.

Without hesitation, Ludger immediately assembled the Heroic Spirit Squad and prepared to launch a surprise attack on the Brotherhood's drug lab, the Mil Mine, after nightfall.

The Mir Mine is an old mine located north of Flamewood City. The Navarro family bought the mine from the dwarves and then converted it into a poison factory to produce "divine liquor".

While reading Hu En's research notes, Lude accidentally discovered the recipe for the Divine Wine. One of the ingredients, called "Ghost Glow Mushroom," only grows in dark and damp cave environments, so it can be artificially cultivated in mines.

It's worth mentioning that while the Mir mine is nominally owned by the Navarro family, it's actually public property of the Black Hand Brotherhood. Security here is extremely tight, and Leopold the Evil's mage tower is also located here, making him part of the guard force. Rudd wanted to sabotage the drug lab and also take care of this guy while he was at it.

Lude had previously investigated Leopold's past, and he was expelled from the Tower of Three for his obsession with forbidden human transmutation.

From the perspective of this world in this day and age, desecrating corpses is a heinous crime, and Leopold is undoubtedly a master in this field. He has used at least seven or eight thousand human bodies as experimental subjects.

If it were for medical research purposes, that would be one thing; Ludd would still respect him as a remarkable pioneer. But Leopold's research on the human body was clearly not for the advancement of medicine in this world. Rather, this bastard wanted to create his ideal "perfect creature" with his own hands.

A near-perfect, mad scientist, the kind of scum of humanity desperately in need of being humanely and quickly annihilated.

Lude took stock of his "usable troops." In addition to the Heroic Spirit Squad, there were Shanis, Hydra, Fallen Leaf, and Kanna. Aina and the three sisters provided logistical support, while Lude was the operations commander.

Hume could have been considered a fighting force, but given her current poor physical condition, Ludwig was genuinely worried about her joining the battle.

The attack, codenamed "Operation Anti-Drug," was scheduled to take place late at night two days later. Before that, Lud wrote two letters of denunciation and attached a map of Flamewood City showing the locations of all the meeting places. He then had Fallen Leaves deliver the letters to the Temple of War and the Duke's Mansion in the city.

Before leaving, Lud specifically instructed Fallen Leaf not to put it in the mailbox, but to place it in the most conspicuous place on the desk, so that Priest Norman and Duke Krud could see it as soon as they arrived at work the next morning.

Lude then summoned the three sisters and pulled out several design blueprints he had prepared beforehand, instructing them to start production overnight and try to finish the equipment before nightfall the day after tomorrow, so that the Heroic Spirit Squad would be able to use it when the "anti-drug operation" began.

End of this chapter

At the Duke's residence, the diligent Duke Kruder, as usual, went to his study to handle official business after breakfast every day.

Recently, since his eldest son Jacob, who had been stationed at the border fortress, returned, the Duke, intending to let the boy get involved in the affairs of the territory as soon as possible, ordered him to serve as an aide while at home, so that he could learn from him how to be a good duke.

By the way, I'll keep this kid under my nose so he doesn't have the time or opportunity to gamble.

Jacob, terrified of his father's autocratic rule, only dared to grumble inwardly, never daring to show the slightest reluctance on his face. After all, the Duke was a strict father who believed in "spare the rod and spoil the child," and Jacob had been "educated" countless times by the Duke's ancestral seven-wolf belt since childhood. Whenever he saw that belt, his body would instinctively bend over on the ground, based on muscle memory.

After breakfast, the father and son went to the study together, only to find a large envelope on the desk that hadn't been there the day before.

Upon seeing this, Duke Kruder frowned and cautiously glanced around. This envelope was clearly not for the Duke's personal use, nor did it resemble a document submitted by his officials.

The Duke realized that someone had broken in and put it there last night.

The Duke then raised his hand to stop his son from reaching for the envelope, and turned to call in the two guards standing at the study door.

"Have the magician in the manor examine this envelope, and then summon all the guards who were on patrol last night."

The cautious Duke quickly made a series of arrangements. The magician who rushed over first checked the envelope and confirmed that there was nothing unusual inside, only a map and an anonymous letter. Then the Duke questioned the guards who were on duty last night, and everyone said that they had not noticed anything unusual, and nothing was missing from the manor.

The Duke understood that the messenger must be a skilled stealth operator and most likely had no hostile intentions.

So he took the envelope, looked through its contents, and his brows furrowed.

"Father, what is this?"

"Take a look too, and then share your thoughts."

Jacob handed the letter and map to his son. Seeing this, Jacob knew that his father was testing him, so he picked them up and looked at them carefully.

In terms of content, this is an anonymous whistleblower letter, alleging that several local organizations and chambers of commerce are privately selling an addictive drug called "Divine Wine," accumulating large sums of ill-gotten gains and harming the health of the residents of Yanmu City. All locations where the Divine Wine is sold are marked on the accompanying map, and the letter hopes the Duke can uphold justice and protect his people from this poison.

After reading the letter, Jacob pondered for a moment, then spoke to his father.

“Father, if what this letter says is true, then we should indeed take immediate action to wipe out all these drug dens and then impose the most severe punishment on the chambers of commerce involved, as a warning to others!”

"Is this your judgment?"

"Yes, I believe this is a lord's responsibility."

Looking at his son, who was staring directly at him, the Duke couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. He thought to himself that although the boy had picked up some bad habits and hadn't fully inherited his intelligence, he hadn't disgraced the family and was an upright and responsible knight.

Unfortunately, the boy probably wouldn't like what he was about to teach him. So the Duke first dismissed his men, then turned to Jacob and asked.

"Jacob, I have a question for you. Do you think I knew about what's in this whistleblower letter or not?"

"You...you probably don't know, right? Or you've heard about it, but you've never had any concrete evidence..."

"No! My child, I know all about these things perfectly well."

"Uh, this..."

Seeing Jacob's surprised expression as he had expected, the Duke looked at the family crest hanging on the wall and said.

“Jacob, I have taught you since you were a child to be honest, kind and compassionate. But as a lord and a nobleman who is loyal to King Durand, we have an even more important mission: to protect this land that our family has ruled for generations and not to give up even a fraction of it.”

“Father, of course I understand that. You sent me to the frontier to guard the border so that I could personally understand this principle, right? But that shouldn’t conflict with what we’re dealing with now, should it?”

“Protecting this land is not something that can be done with just passion. We need a strong army, sturdy walls, and more fortresses to fight against the empire from the south. And to have all of these, we need money, lots and lots of money.”

In front of his son, the Duke showed Jacob two ledgers: one detailing the ever-increasing military expenditures over the years, and the other listing the "tribute" from various wealthy families in the city. The Duke made it clear to his son that he not only knew about many of the city's dirty dealings, but also received equally dirty bribes from these filthy men, which he then used to subsidize military expenses.

It is no exaggeration to say that without the Duke's indulgence, Yanmu City would not be in its current state of corruption and filth.

Ironically, the current prosperity of Yanmu City is indeed thanks to these demons and monsters. Without their large sums of money, Duke Kruder would not have had sufficient funds to build the border fortress complex and maintain a standing army of several thousand men.

If that were the case, Jacob might not need to go south to the border fortress nearly a hundred kilometers away to guard the frontier, because the walls of Yanmu City would become their front line in confrontation with the Imperial Army.

After listening to his father's story, Jacob's expression became somewhat solemn. Although he found this absurd fact unacceptable, he could understand why his father would make such a compromise.

"Father, is this really the only option?"

"If I had any other choice, I would certainly not have joined forces with those villains. The kingdom is not like the empire. Although those damned imperialists are greedy and aggressive, their centralized system is indeed more advanced than our kingdom's fragmented feudal system. Our Krud family is almost fighting against the entire empire alone. Only the king and a few neighboring territories will give us some support. Other lords will not send us a single soldier unless there is a real war."

Faced with the harshest reality, Jacob fell completely silent. His father had no choice but to compromise. But Jacob couldn't help but keep asking himself the same question.

Is there really no other way?

End of this chapter

Duke Crude's attitude toward the whistleblower's letter was clear: he would continue to play dumb and pretend he had never seen it.

The Duke had considered cracking down on organized crime and supporting the development of legitimate industry and commerce, but unfortunately, the situation in Yanmu City was already deeply entrenched and beyond redemption. This situation had already taken shape under previous dukes. In his generation, the military threat from the Southern Empire was growing stronger every day, and the Duke needed not only military funding but also stability.

So even the worst order is still an order. Rashly breaking the old order is what can be a truly fatal problem!

However, just because the Duke didn't want to get involved didn't mean others wouldn't. Just as Batan Krud finished explaining the situation to his son Jacob, a subordinate rushed in and reported some "bad news."

The War God Cult of Yanmu City suddenly assembled their Guardian Knights and, led by Priest Nomen, launched a surprise attack on a tavern located in the north of the city.

Upon hearing this news, Jacob subconsciously glanced at the map full of markings. There was indeed a circled tavern in the north of the city, and he vaguely guessed what was going on.

The same letter of complaint and map were also received by the War God Cult in Yanmu City, and were even "precisely delivered" to Nomen himself. Luo Ye, from hundreds of meters away, accurately threw the envelope into Nomen's bedroom window, hitting Nomen right in the face as he was praying in the room.

Unlike the Duke, who had illicit dealings with gangs, Nomen was upright and honest. After reading the contents of the whistleblower's letter, despite the swelling on the back of his head not yet subsided, he immediately summoned all the Guardian Knights to investigate the cult meeting place closest to them, as mentioned in the whistleblower's letter.

If the contents of the letter are true, then Nomon will certainly not stand idly by.

The news of the War God Cult's actions quickly reached the Duke. He knew Nomen well; when his father was still the bishop of Yanmu City, he had complained to the Duke that his son was stubborn and inflexible. Being honest was a good thing, but Nomen was obviously too honest, which gave the old bishop a lot of headaches.

If he really makes a scene, it's unlikely to end easily.

"Father, should we stop that guy?"