Warhammer, I'm a nanny, not your father!

Because the priests' failure was obvious to all. They lost to Perturabo, and they could not deny the existence of gods in any way. They could only interpret Perturabo's victory as a blessing from the gods.

The news quickly spread throughout Olympia. The defeat of the priest of Locus not only failed to end the debate, but instead attracted wise men and priests from various city-states to come to Locus. They flocked to Locus just to compete with Perturabo.

The wise men were curious about how miraculous this child was, while the priest had a mission.

They must defeat Perturabo and prove the existence of the gods, otherwise the foundation of their faith will be shaken.

When one priest failed, another would take his place.

Perturabo strode into the theater. When his figure appeared in the shadows under the arch, the originally noisy venue immediately quieted down, and thousands of eyes in the stands looked at him.

The initial debates were held only in the royal palace, with only a handful of powerful people, such as Dammecus, in attendance.

But as the confrontation between the two sides became increasingly fierce, the priests proposed to set up the debate venue in the Rocks Theater so that all citizens could attend.

Perturabo agreed.

The priests wanted to defeat the blasphemous Perturabo in public, but Perturabo was annoyed by this and could not waste his limited time on meaningless debates.

He had to thoroughly refute these priests in public and sow the seeds of doubt in the hearts of the people.

Sooner or later, the seeds will take root and sprout, and the Olympians will eventually stop believing in the gods.

"Are you Perturabo?" asked the man in the colorful cloak of the Farakite sect proudly in the center of the circular theater.

Perturabo: "I am."

The man raised his right arm, his cloak gracefully folded over it, and bowed to Perturabo. "Nice to meet you. I am Lodusk of Baizelon."

"Are you here to debate with my child?"

On the high platform, Dammex's voice was carried throughout the theater through the loudspeaker, his tone filled with undisguised pride.

He deliberately emphasized the word 'my child', fearing that others would not know that Perturabo was his son.

"No," Lodusk said with a triumphant smile, "I'm here to convince him of the gods!"

Perturabo: "I've heard that too many times."

Lodusk: "They lost, and I will win, for I have the gods' mission!"

"Perturabo, you deny the existence of the gods?"

Perturabo: "This is not a statement of fact, but a balancing of two hypotheses. You argue that the Olympians existed, while I propose the alternative hypothesis that they may never have existed."

Lodusk opened his arms. "Why should we seek proof of the gods' existence? Their mark is etched upon all things. The very stones of the earth, the shape of the rain, the rising of the sun—all are the work of the gods!"

Perturabo: "What you have listed are merely objective natural phenomena. How do you prove that there are so-called gods behind these phenomena?"

"My faithful, do you hear that?" the priest immediately turned to the audience and incited them. "He acknowledges the great deeds of the gods, but denies the gods who created them!"

"Let me illustrate this by saying, 'Suppose someone offers to sell you a piece of fine cloth.' This cloth is from a distant, exotic country, woven by a master craftsman in a historic city, speaking a language you don't understand."

"When you bought this piece of cloth, just because you had never seen the craftsman, could you conclude that the cloth appeared out of thin air?"

Perturabo shook his head. "Your reasoning is poor."

Priest: “Why?”

"It is a fact that the cloth was woven by artisans, just as it is an indisputable fact that my father ruled Locus, even if people have never met him."

"But you claim that the gods created everything, but you fail to provide any substantial evidence."

"You're conflating unproven assumptions with established facts to prove that the assumptions are also true. Is this your logic?"

"You can't explain the rising sun, so you attribute its origin to the divine. Where's the evidence?"

The priest asked in return, "Then how do you prove that the gods do not exist?"

"I can explain the Rising Sun," Perturabo asked calmly. "Let's use a simple analogy. I'm standing before you right now. How tall do I appear to you?"

The priest looked him up and down. "About two and a half meters tall."

"If I'm standing 500 meters away, what does that mean for my appearance in your field of vision?"

“Like ants.”

Perturabo: "Precisely."

"Our sun is essentially the same as the stars that twinkle in the night sky; they are all stars. But the sun is as far away from our world as I am standing in front of you, so when we look at it, it appears to be a large pancake."

"The stars are as distant from our world as I am from our world, five hundred meters away, the size of an ant."

"This stems from the principle we are all accustomed to: things that are closer are bigger and things that are farther away are smaller."

“It’s like you light a bonfire at night. Only when you sit by the bonfire can you enjoy its light and heat.”

"If you were a hundred meters away, this bonfire would be nothing more than a tiny ray of light in the darkness."

Priest: "What does this have to do with the rising sun?"

"Please be patient. My argument has not yet begun." Perturabo held out his arm, and the priest noticed the iron block strapped to his wrist.

Perturabo lifted the lid of the iron cube and pressed lightly on the small cube underneath.

"Snapped!"

There was an immediate burst of exclamations from the audience.

A vivid holographic star map was suspended above Perturabo's palm, and a miniature model of the Olympia galaxy was slowly moving in it.

Perturabo pointed to the blazing yellow ball of light. "This is our sun."

His fingertips moved slightly, pointing to the green ball of light, "And this is Olympia!"

"Our world is not stationary; it revolves around the sun in this elliptical orbit."

"But when it reaches perihelion, summer arrives at Olympia. When it reaches aphelion, winter arrives."

"Our world is rotating every moment, and when the side we are on faces the sun, it is daytime."

"But when our side faces away from the sun, Olympia enters darkness."

“This is the truth about how the world works!”

"There have never been any gods. These are the physical laws that govern the universe."

"If the gods you're talking about live on Mount Telephas, how could they create a universe outside of this world, or something greater than themselves?"

The priest's face turned pale. If he was shameless enough, he could continue to argue that these were the great deeds of the gods.

After all, while he couldn't prove it, Perturabo couldn't disprove it either.

But if they all argue with lies, the debate will be meaningless.

Thousands of eyes were staring at them, including many wise men, so it was obvious who was lying.

Even if he lied, Perturabo would be able to expose it.

Today's debate will spread throughout the twelve Olympian cities. He is the priest of the gods, so why should the gods need lies as evidence?

The priest pointed to the iron on his arm and asked, "What is this?"

Perturabo declared, "The Thinker, it is the culmination of human technology, and I have seen its creator!"

"What about you? You keep on preaching the existence of gods, but has anyone ever seen them with their own eyes?"

Priest: "The gods are in a different realm from us. How can mortals see them?"

Perturabo asked, "You claim I came from Mount Telephas, a gift from the gods. Then why have I never seen the true faces of the gods?"

Perturabo addressed the thousands of citizens gathered in the auditorium. "The priests claim I am a blasphemer. Why then has the gods not punished me? Why are only mortal priests standing here? Where are the gods?"

Perturabo's questioning was so deafening that it made Lodusk's ears ring.

"If the gods existed, why would they allow these mortal priests to come one after another and defend their dignity with incoherent logic?"

"You...you..." The priest's face was twisted with anger, and he pointed a trembling finger at Perturabo.

Perturabo scolded him, "You will attempt to incite the citizens by claiming that I will bring disaster upon Locus!"

Lodask's face turned pale as paper and he took a step back involuntarily. How did he know?

Perturabo: "I have defeated a hundred priests here. Your faith has been completely disgraced. Where are the gods?"

"They only need to bring down miracles on the world to prove their greatness and punish me for my ignorance and blasphemy. But where are the gods?"

"According to your logic, I can already prove that the gods do not exist."

Perturabo spoke slowly. "A group of prisoners lived in a cave. Their hands and feet were bound, unable to turn around, and they had to face their backs to the cave entrance. In front of them was a wall, and behind them burned a bonfire. They saw their own shadows and the shadows of things on the wall, believing these shadows to be real."

"These shadows, this cave is their entire world."

"So they regarded shadows and campfires as gods."

"Then one day, a prisoner climbed out of the cave and discovered the real world."

"He saw another fire in the sky. It was so big and so hot that it burned his eyes. The vastness of the world was beyond his comprehension. It was tens of millions, hundreds of millions of times the size of the cave!"

"But he also realized that the cave was not the real world. They were just a group of prisoners trapped in the cave!"

"However, this world is also a cave."

"The sun in the sky is a larger bonfire, and we are prisoners of the world."

"The truth lies among the stars. That is where we should pursue it!"

"And you—" Perturabo took a step toward the priest. "You and the other priests, you weave a web of lies in the name of the gods, imprisoning mankind in the cave of ignorance. You want the world to believe that this small space, this bonfire, these shadows, is the whole truth of the universe!"

"You are afraid of the sun because it will expose your lies!"

"Whenever someone attempts to lead the people out of the cave, or to tell the world the truth they know, you are quick to raise the knife called heresy and kill them all to maintain your self-satisfied ignorance!"

The priest stumbled back two steps. He had completely lost his composure, his lips trembling as he couldn't utter a complete word. "This, this..."

Perturabo: "You mean to say this is the will of the gods?"

The priest nodded reflexively, then his face suddenly changed as he realized he had fallen into a trap.

"You claim that the gods commanded you to weave lies and imprison humanity in a cave of ignorance."

"Then tell me, please. Are you telling lies to the gods? Or do the gods take pleasure in fooling the world?"

"If it's the former, you are blaspheming the gods!"

"If it's the latter, why do people need to kneel down and worship them?"

"If the king cannot make the people prosperous, the people will overthrow the tyrant!"

"If the gods cannot lead humanity to progress, what should we do?"

Overthrow God!

Perturabo guided this thought into everyone's mind, and panic appeared on their faces at the same time.

They still believed in the gods to a certain extent, even though the gods never brought down miracles or divine punishment.

But what if it's true?

Now, it is blasphemy for them to have such thoughts!

The theater fell into an eerie silence. No one made a sound, leaving only the intermittent gasps.

The priests secretly worried for themselves, Lodusk, you have to stand up!

Come on and debate him to death!

Lodusk closed his eyes in pain. He wanted to accuse Perturabo of blasphemy, but his accusations were blocked by Perturabo.

Now he is also a blasphemer.

Even if he rebuked Perturabo in the name of the gods, the world would only regard him as a laughing stock.

"Next," Perturabo said, looking around the hushed audience. "Whether it's a priest or a wise man, they can take over and continue the debate."

"But with all due respect, debating with you will neither enrich the people nor bring about a good harvest."

"Such a debate is meaningless except to satisfy your own ignorance."

He waited for a long time, but no one responded.

None of them wanted to take over the mess left by Lodusk, but if they put aside the previous debate and restarted it.

Wouldn't that be a tacit acknowledgement of Perturabo's victory?

After a long silence, Perturabo bowed to the audience. "My time is valuable. Since no one has accepted the challenge, I cannot accompany you."

When Perturabo disappeared into the shadows of the archway, the crowd remained shrouded in silence for a long time.