Wearing black silk for a foreign woman

"I can try to pray to Mamiel, the Goddess of Magic that I believe in, and ask her to give me an answer, but maybe it's been too long since I stepped down as a saint, and Lady Mamiel no longer responds to my prayers."

"Just forget about the response. Don't ask anyone for help, even if it's God." Lind immediately advised Ilufa not to ask God for help, and then looked at the last person present, Efit.

"Um..." Everyone's eyes were focused on Efit, which made Efit a little confused. "Excuse me, Master, why are you asking me this?"

Not only Efit, Cynthia and Ilufa also had similar doubts. Cynthia was a battle nun, and Ilufa was a former Holy Maiden of the Magic World. They were both considered high-level intellectuals, so it might not be surprising that they knew about this. But Efit was just a tavern owner, so why was he asking her?

"Didn't your family run a tavern before, Efit? The tavern was always busy with guests from all over the world. I remember you once said that dwarves had come to your tavern? Maybe you've heard of it before." Lind also gave his own explanation to Efit's question.

Because his family runs a pub, there are many customers, and there are many sources of customers, and there are more sources of information, so he might know things that others don’t know. This explanation made Efit feel relieved. It was not that Linde suspected him or something.

Of course, Linde's real reason was Efit's identity as a cultist. Even if Efit didn't know, in order to gain his trust, he could ask the evil god behind her about things she didn't know.

"Let me think..." Under Lind's expectant gaze, Efit began to recall. "It seems... I've heard of it."

"Really?!" Lind's eyes lit up.

"Let me think..." Efit crossed his arms across his chest, and like Ilufa, his size that didn't match his age was particularly eye-catching. "Once there was a group of sailors who came to our tavern to drink. They seemed to have talked about similar topics while chatting."

"Oh? Tell me in detail." Linde said hurriedly.

"Those sailors were heading for the New World. According to them, they found some magnificent cities in the dense forests of the southern continent of the New World. The inhabitants of those cities were a group of beastmen who looked like reptiles."

"There are no reptiles among beastmen," Cynthia corrected.

"I don't know about that, but those sailors regarded the residents of those cities as beastmen." Efit smiled and continued. "Among those beastmen, there are those that look like lizards, some that look like snakes, and some that look like frogs."

"Maybe they are the Demonic Toads?" Efit concluded.

After listening to what Efit said, Lind had only one thought in his mind: it was indeed a wise choice for him not to expose Efit.

Whether it was really heard from the tavern or asked from the God of Evil, Efit was a reliable source of information.

After listening to the story told by the maiden Efit, the lady Cynthia and the mature lady Ilfa both lowered their heads in deep thought, pondering the credibility of Efit's statement.

"Residents of the New World..." Illufa repeated softly. "If what those sailors said is true, then why would residents of the New World appear here? This place is very far away from the New World, and there is also the island of Atlantis in between."

“And the buildings in the mountains, were they also built by them?” Cynthia added.

"That's unknown." Linde shrugged helplessly. "Who built this building and why? I asked the puppet, but it doesn't know. According to it, its storage space is limited and it can't store so much data. Some old memories that are meaningless to its work have been deleted by it."

"Ah? Memories can be deleted?" Ilfa was stunned.

"Of course you can." Linde said as a matter of course. "Press the right button."

Ilfa blinked. Linde was speaking incomprehensible words again.

Ilufa also took the black silk stockings that Linde blurted out last time to heart. As the saying goes, the speaker is unintentional but the listener is intentional. Although it was something that was said subconsciously, Ilufa, a woman, felt intuitively that whoever could find this thing would be able to truly get Linde.

According to Efit, the people in the building inside the mountain might be a race from the New World, and more useful information could not be obtained from the golem. After a short rest, Lind and his party prepared to set off and head to the ruins in the mountain again.

Chapter 305 Divine Arts and Magic

"Have you all rested well? If so, we'll be ready to set off." After almost an hour's rest, Lind stood up and shouted to everyone.

After hearing Lind's call, those who were eating grass, taking a nap, or chatting and bragging all stopped and gathered towards Lind.

"Where do we go in?" Cynthia asked Lind before setting off. "There are two entrances here, one halfway up the mountain and one at the foot of the mountain. Which one do we go in from?"

"Go in from the one at the foot of the mountain," Linde replied. "The one halfway up the mountain requires passing through a magic teleportation array, and once you enter, it's a space with almost no magic power, and it can also block the divine senses, which is very disadvantageous to magicians. And if the other party closes the magic array, we will be trapped in there like those demons."

Cynthia nodded in agreement with Lind's judgment. Although from the standpoint of a war sister, Cynthia would rather go to the place where the demon remains were, it was indeed more dangerous to go that way.

"Also, if I'm not mistaken, there should be a passage leading to the building at the foot of the mountain." Lind looked at the silent puppet. "Isn't that right, Mr. Puppet?"

"Sir!?" The puppet, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised his voice. "How dare you assume my gender!?"

"Ah?" Linde raised his head kindly. The puppet's answer aroused Linde's murderous intent.

"…It's up to you." Feeling Lind's murderous intent, the puppet immediately gave in. "Puppets don't have genders. You can call me Mr. or Ms. whatever you want."

"It's been so long, and I still don't know your name." Linde's heart moved. "What's your name? I can't keep calling you a puppet, right?"

"Just call me Puppet. We won't meet again in a while anyway...if you keep your word." The Puppet did not comment on his own name.

Although Lind said he would return it to the people living in the ruins, the puppet actually did not trust Lind and his party, so it has not been very cooperative until now.

For example, the puppet refused to tell anyone about the purpose of the ruins in the mountains or the detailed route map. Even when Lind put the magic sword on its neck, it still remained stubborn.

Linde had no choice. After all, he really intended to use it to exchange for a meeting with the otaku girl in the ruins and some support, such as a possible way to create an artificial magic crystal. If he really chopped the puppet with a knife and held the two broken halves of the puppet, how would he communicate with it?

After the route was decided, the group prepared to set off. Based on the previous experience, Lind knew that the tunnel was narrow, so he couldn't take everyone with him. After a brief discussion, they finally decided to take four pigs and two rabbits with them in addition to Efit, Cynthia and Ilufa.

The new beastmen who were chosen were ecstatic. After all, it meant fighting alongside the Son of God, which was the highest honor for them. And if they performed well, the Son of God might even reward them with something.

This is how the current pig beastman Faith got her position as chief. In terms of fighting effort, the other pig beastmen were not much worse than Faith, but because Faith was standing close to the Son of God, she was seen and was the first to be given a name, and then promoted to the position of chief.

When everything was ready, the two pig beastmen lifted the puppet like a pig amid the puppet's protests of "I can walk by myself!" and the team set off.

The team had a total of ten people, twice as many as the last time they came in, and the rest of the people were guarding the entrance of the cave. Like last time, Lind lit a torch, which was not used for lighting, but for detecting the oxygen content in the cave. Lighting was done by other methods.

In the narrow corridor, Ilufa's lighting technique and Cynthia's holy light ball provided illumination. The light from the two light balls illuminated the originally dark tunnel clearly.

"This is much brighter than Elisa's magic." Efit exclaimed upon seeing this. She had come in together last time, and only Elisa provided the lighting. But it was obvious that compared to her mature mother, Elisa's magic was still not bright enough.

"So bright~" Little rabbit Judy looked at the two balls of light, her big eyes full of curiosity. "Is there a difference between these two balls of light?"

"Of course there is a difference." It was Cynthia who answered Judy. The nun of the Divine Emperor said proudly: "Madam's is magic, and mine is divine art. They are completely different."

"Is... that so?" Judy tilted her head, not being able to tell the difference between the two.

"Judy, this beautiful lady uses magic, which is a kind of... technology." Lind explained to Judy. "Just like forging iron or chopping trees, it is a skill that can be mastered through learning."

"And this handsome lady in armor uses divine arts, which is the power gained from believing in God."

"Ah! Is this the fighting power bestowed upon me by the Mother Goddess of Earth?!" Judy immediately raised her dagger, with a red light flashing in her eyes.

Observing Judy's magic from a close distance, Linde was confused. Was this power really bestowed by the Earth Mother Goddess, and not by the Blood God?

"Yes, yes, it's the same power." Lind continued to explain what Judy said. "God gives different believers different powers, and that's what the light ball does."

"I understand! Your Highness the Son of God!" Judy acted as if something had suddenly dawned on her.

Judy understood Lind's explanation, but Cynthia frowned subconsciously. In Cynthia's opinion, Lind's statement put the God Emperor and the Mother Earth on the same level.

In the eyes of almost all believers, the god they believe in is the greatest. Some fanatical believers believe that the god they believe in is the only true God. This situation is particularly prominent in the Divine Emperor Church. Linde's statement made Cynthia feel a little unhappy, but when she thought of Linde's revelation by the Divine Emperor, Cynthia held back.

But then, the next sentence from the little rabbit Judy almost made Cynthia unable to hold back.

"Your Highness, Son of God, if they are different, then why do these two light balls look exactly the same?" Judy asked innocently.

Linde was also stumped by this question, because he didn't know the answer to it. What is the difference between divine arts and magic?

Like magic, Lind has also tried to analyze the use of divine arts, but unlike logical magic, divine arts work in a completely different way.

"I don't know that either." In response, Lind told the truth and frankly admitted his ignorance.

"Eh!? Is there something that the Son of God doesn't know!?" Judy exclaimed.

"Of course." Linde smiled and patted Judy's head. "Not only is God the Son of God, but God is not omnipotent either~"

Chapter 306 God is not omnipotent

God is not omnipotent. Lind said in an extremely ordinary tone, words that were enough to cause an earthquake in the world.

God is omniscient and omnipotent. This is an axiom that needs no proof in this world. Although God has different powers, God as a whole is omniscient and omnipotent.

In addition, some gods are also considered by their believers to be omniscient and omnipotent, and not limited by their power. The most typical example is the God-Emperor Neos.

God is omnipotent and omniscient. This should be an axiom that needs no further explanation. However, someone suddenly says that God is not omnipotent. Most importantly, the person who said this is the Son of God.

As soon as the words fell, everyone stopped, regardless of race or age. Everyone present was a believer of a certain god, with only the depth of their faith varying at best. When they heard these words suddenly, one could imagine the shock they felt.

"Huh?" Noticing that everyone else had stopped, Lind stopped too. "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

"Sir Linde..." The first to speak was Cynthia, the nun of the Emperor. "Why do you have such a ridiculous idea?"

"Ah?" Linde was stunned.

"God is omniscient and omnipotent. This has long been proven by countless scholars." Cynthia said seriously. "I know you have a lot of special ideas, but I didn't expect... I hope you can change this wrong idea."

"Then Sister Cynthia, if God is omnipotent, can God create a stone that even God cannot lift?" Linde smiled slightly and directly stated a very famous paradox from his previous life.

"Of course..." Cynthia was about to answer yes, but then she got stuck. No matter whether she answered yes or no, it would not work.

"This, this is sophistry." But Cynthia quickly gave her answer. "God is omnipotent, so the condition that he cannot lift it is wrong in itself, so this question is meaningless."

"Sister Cynthia, your answer presupposes that God is omnipotent, and then proves that this is a wrong question. This is sophistry and an evasion of answering the question." Linde said with a smile. "But if God is really omnipotent, then God must not be all-good."

“Ah?” Cynthia was stunned again. Still coming?

"If God is truly omniscient and omnipotent, then why would God let so many devout believers endure suffering?" Lind smiled. "Of course, this can be explained as a test from God to believers, but if God is omniscient and omnipotent, then what is the meaning of this test? Would God not know whether the believers are devout?"

"On the other hand, if God is all-good, why would He watch His followers suffer?"

“If God is truly omnipotent, then He is not all-good. If God is all-good, then He is not omnipotent,” Lind concluded with a smile.

What Lind said was a very simple thought experiment, adhering to the principle of using your logic to defeat you. Before crossing over, Lind had done similar things, and the results he got were usually three kinds: accusation, incompetent rage, and changing the subject.

However, in this world, the same logic is very easy to crack, because there is more than one God in this world. Except for those fanatical believers who only believe in the God of their own faith and do not recognize any other gods, it is easy to get rid of it.

But in this way, reason would be introduced into religion.

Obviously, everyone present was not a fanatic. Even the uneducated beastmen did not get stuck in a dead end because it was the Son of God who said this. As for Cynthia, who asked the question, she looked thoughtful, as if she was thinking about the credibility of Lind's theory.

The beastmen would not think too much. Cynthia seemed to be thinking about something. Ilu Fazal felt that Lind's idea was very interesting. As for Efit, he felt deeply shocked in his heart.

She had never thought about whether God was omnipotent, but now that Lind said this...

"What you say, barbarian, is quite interesting." The puppet, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke, scaring everyone.

The question about God was just an episode, and this was not a good place to hold a theological seminar. The group continued walking forward, following the same path they had taken last time, and came to the fork they had been to last time.

"This is it." Linde stopped and said to everyone. "Last time we reached this point, and that was the limit. Because Alisa's magic power was not enough to last us back, we did not continue to explore."

"Madam, sister, how long can you hold on?"

"Don't worry, I can maintain this low-level lighting magic for a whole day." Ilfa said confidently.

"For a nun who is loyal to the Emperor, this short period of time is nothing." Cynthia said confidently. Since the Emperor appeared again yesterday to bless her, Cynthia's reserves of divine power have increased a lot.

Lind nodded and pointed to the fork in the road on the left and said, "This road is where we found the puppet. There is a large independent room inside, with a lot of machinery of unknown purpose."

"Puppet, what are those machines used for?" Lind asked the puppet.

"Don't you already know that? Why are you asking me?" the puppet said unhappily.

"Is it really used to make magic crystals?" Lind nodded with an excited smile on his face.

During the interrogation in the camp, the puppet said that it came here because it did not have enough magic power and wanted to replace the magic crystals. However, when our group came here that day, we did not see any ready-made magic crystals. It was obvious that the magic crystals there had to be made on the spot.

After getting a clear answer, Linde was so excited that he wanted to rush over immediately. Resisting his impulse, Linde continued to ask the puppet: "Where does the road on the right lead to?"

"Why don't you go and take a look yourself and find out?" The puppet still refused to cooperate and had a rude attitude.

"We have sent you here, and you still don't trust us?"

"Put me down and I will believe you."

“…Put it down.”

At Lind's command, the two sows lowered the puppet from the stick and loosened the ropes.

"You really let me down." After regaining its freedom, the puppet looked at Lind in surprise.

"I have let you down, now it's your turn to fulfill your promise." Lind said to the puppet.

The puppet paused, then headed straight for the fork in the road on the right.

"Follow me." The puppet said. "Also, I remind you that the master here is very, very powerful. He can handle hundreds of demons at the same time. Don't play tricks."

"Yeah, yeah, we won't play any tricks." Lind nodded.

Led by the puppet, the group headed towards the fork in the road on the right. After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived in front of a big gate.

"Wait for me here." said the puppet, and was about to crawl into the small hole next to the door.

Chapter 307 Laboratory

At the fork in the road they visited last time, everyone, led by the puppet, took the fork to the right. Not long after, they arrived at a sealed gate.