“Ah, Miss Molly… you… hello.” Hank turned his head, quickly recognized the woman, and stammered a greeting.

“I’ve told you so many times, Hank, just call me Molly.” The woman looked to be about the same age as Hank, though a bit shorter. Her white clothing indicated that she was a resident of the Third District.

“Are these two your friends? Hey? Why are they wearing protective suits?” Molly asked, puzzled.

“Miss Molly.” Hank looked tense, sweat dripping from his temples. He summoned his courage and spoke before Feng Bujue could open his mouth. “My friends and I have some business to attend to, we don’t have time right now. Please forgive us, I’ll come back and apologize and explain after we’re done…” He said, preparing to move forward.

“Business?” Molly looked at Hank, puzzled. “In the Third District?” Her gaze quickly shifted to Feng Bujue and Kuang Zong Jian Ying. “Why haven’t you changed out of your protective suits?” Her eyes moved upward, the two players’ unusually tall statures further arousing her suspicion. “Are you scavengers too? What kind of business are you taking care of?”

Hank glared. “These are orders from superiors.” He emphasized. “Please just mind your own business, Miss Molly.”

“Hank, what’s wrong with you?” Molly replied. “You never talk like that.”

“Sigh…” Feng Bujue spoke up at this point. “Actually, he wants to help you.” He paused. “Unfortunately, I’ve already decided I can’t let you leave.”

“This is on the street, if you kill someone, you’ll be surrounded immediately!” Hank said to Feng Bujue in a low voice.

“Miss Molly,” Feng Bujue ignored Hank and addressed Molly instead. “I’m very sorry, but we’ll have to invite you to come with us.”

Molly instinctively took two steps back. “Who exactly are you?” She looked at Hank. “Hank, what’s going on?”

“Hank has been taken hostage by us. If you shout, run, or do anything that might attract the patrolmen, Hank will be killed.” Feng Bujue stated his threat first, preventing any rash actions. “I know you might not believe what I’m saying right now, but please calmly consider the situation based on what you know about Hank, and judge whether what I’m about to say is true.”

Feng Bujue continued, “We have a weapon that can quickly and effectively kill anyone, and we ourselves possess abilities beyond your imagination. Our running speed, jumping ability, and survivability have all exceeded your understanding of humans.

“If we’re exposed, Hank will die immediately, and then we’ll kill every villager who tries to approach or stop us. Your village will suffer a loss of at least a thousand people, not to mention material losses.

“But if you cooperate and take us on a tour of the areas ahead, we’ll leave quietly after we’ve achieved our goal.

“Now, you can choose to cooperate with us, or start shouting.”

…

Five minutes later, inside the Third District.

“Unbelievable, you actually brought outsiders into the village.” Molly spoke quietly to Hank in a tone of complaint.

Hank walked beside her, also replying softly, “I was taken hostage… just like our current situation.”

“What ‘our’… From now on, I want to draw a line between us.” Molly replied unhappily. “I should have listened to my family and not associated with people from the First District.”

“Sigh…” Hank opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he didn’t say anything. Many times, he had a thousand words to say, but they could only be turned into a sigh.

At this moment, Feng Bujue and Kuang Zong Jian Ying walked behind the two of them. Ever since Molly had been walking in front, no patrolmen on the street had come forward to question them. It seemed that finding a resident of the Third District to lead the way was indeed effective.

“Don’t worry, Miss Molly, you only need to walk with us to the border between the Third and Fourth Districts.” Feng Bujue said at this point. “Then, you can leave.”

Molly was clearly stunned upon hearing this. “You want to enter the Fourth District?” She asked immediately. “What about Hank? Will you let him go too?”

“Hmph… I’m afraid not, and can’t.” Feng Bujue replied.

“Heh… well, thank you.” Hank replied with a bitter smile.

This answer startled Molly, but the next sentence Hank said in a self-abandoning tone explained everything: “I think… from the moment I brought you into the village, I couldn’t possibly stay in this village any longer.”

“Oh? Finally realized it, huh.” Feng Bujue said.

“I should have thought of it when you didn’t let me go back to report, but I was still tricked by you.” Hank said. “I was really too slow, I only just understood.”

Feng Bujue said, “In that case, I can also be frank. Regardless of the outcome of this matter, you’ll definitely die if you fall into the hands of Koben’s lackeys. Only if we succeed will you have a chance to live.”

“I don’t even know what you’re trying to do.” Hank replied.

Kuang Zong Jian Ying put on a dead fish face, looked at Feng Bujue, and said, “Yeah… I’m not too clear either. Can you explain it?”

“First of all, what we’re going to do is definitely not slaughter the villagers. If we were going to do that, we could have started a massacre as soon as we entered the residential area.” Feng Bujue said. “Secondly, it’s impossible that we’re just here to see the sights and customs, I don’t think you’d really believe that reason.” He smiled. “My main purpose is to obtain the technological knowledge in the temple. My secondary purpose is to change the social system of this village.”

“What technology are you talking about? There’s no technological knowledge in the temple at all, it records the scriptures passed down by the gods, and only a very few priests are qualified to study them.” Molly interjected at this point.

“These are all lies that you’ve been instilled with from an age when you couldn’t distinguish right from wrong.” Feng Bujue said. “The Koben family is just monopolizing some natural science knowledge that you don’t know about. They don’t let you come into contact with that knowledge in order to enslave you with religious lies.” He sighed with compassion. “Ignorance and panic are two perpetually hungry beasts that dwell in the human heart. Only civilization can defeat them, and they guard the steps of human progress, constantly devouring pioneers.

“In the era you live in, a thousand years ago, people burned innocent women as witches, just so they could sleep soundly or have a good harvest next year. Five hundred years ago, people took Darwin’s theory out of context and shouted ‘We are not monkeys!’ prohibiting the teaching of evolution in schools. Heh… I think there’s not much difference between these people and monkeys.

“And two hundred years ago… the Koben family firmly grasped the sparks of knowledge in their hands, keeping you who live in darkness and cold in fear and ignorance, so that they could carry out long-term rule and enslavement.”

“I don’t believe your nonsense. The priests have warned us long ago that outsiders are devils who are full of lies. Don’t even think about distorting my faith with those blasphemous words.” Molly replied.

“Ah~ They’re just trying to make sure… that when you encounter people who know the truth, you won’t be influenced by those words.” Feng Bujue sneered. “They also tell you to unconditionally kill outsiders, don’t they?”

“Give up, you’re dead if you run into the guards. Their equipment is different from the patrolmen’s, they’ll kill anyone who tries to break into the Fourth District, regardless of whether you have hostages or not…” Molly still didn’t buy Feng Bujue’s line. “As long as you promise to let me and Hank go, I can find a way to get you out of the village.”

“Hmm… you’re better at negotiating than Hank.” Feng Bujue said. “But unfortunately, our goal won’t change.” He chuckled. “And… Hank can’t stand on Koben’s side anymore, can he? Buddy.”

Molly turned to look at Hank in surprise. The latter showed an unprecedented calmness. “Sorry, Miss Molly, I only have one path in front of me, and that is to act with them. I can’t go back.”

“Hank…” Molly murmured. “Have you been bewitched by these two outsiders with evil witchcraft?”

“No, I’m very clear-headed, never been so clear-headed.” Hank replied. “Although these two outsiders have repeatedly threatened to kill me, at least they haven’t used any gods or the like to manipulate my thoughts.” He said firmly, “If everything the Son of God tells us is true, then I am a sinner who helps outsiders and tries to subvert the gods. I don’t know what the result will be, but at most I’ll die. Even if I personally kill these two outsiders right now, what can I do? Will the priests let me go? I’ll still be convicted and sentenced to death. Instead of dying like that, I might as well take a gamble.”

Kuang Zong Jian Ying smiled for some reason. “Well said, Hank, keep talking.”

Hank continued, “And what if these two outsiders are right? What if the so-called Son of God and the priests are all lies?”

“Do you know what you’re saying, Hank? That’s impossib…” Molly tried to interrupt him.

But Hank retorted, “Why is it impossible?” He turned to look at Molly. “I was born being told that I am a child of God, and that I must obey the arrangements of the Koben family and the priests in everything. As long as I violate what they say, it is violating the will of God and I will be punished. My father and brother work and labor at the risk of their lives, but they can only barely make a living. But the priests live a life of luxury, and they don’t have to do anything.

“I can only learn what they tell me to learn, say what they allow me to say, do what they send me to do, and praise and worship them.

“If this is the will of God, then such a god is not worthy of my dedication, because he obviously doesn’t want to reward us believers, he just treats us like donkeys and horses, and only the Koben family and the priests are human.”

Molly looked at Hank with astonished eyes. “You’re crazy…”

“Maybe.” Hank said. “But I feel great, never felt so good. For the first time, I feel like my destiny is in my own hands, and even if the price of getting this feeling is death, I won’t regret it.”

“That feeling is called ‘freedom’.” Feng Bujue said. “When the shackles they’ve placed on your mind are broken, whether you’re trapped in prison or on your deathbed, at least from this moment on, you’re free. As long as you have a breath left, no one can take your freedom away again.” Feng Bujue said in a very inflammatory tone, “As long as you help us, overthrow the Koben family and the priests’ monopoly on knowledge, and expose their lies… Hank, not only can you survive, but you will become a hero. All your compatriots, including this Miss Molly, can taste the taste of freedom.”