On the way to where the fake "Father" was being held, Shang Jianyao said straightforwardly:
"He's so hypocritical. He's clearly very tempted, but he still says he needs to think about it."
"He" referred to Xu Liyan, the city lord of Wildgrass City.
Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao:
"It's normal. Agreeing too quickly would seem cheap."
"Sincerity is paramount between brothers," Shang Jianyao objected.
Jiang Baimian followed his logic and said:
"You and him being brothers doesn't mean the company and him are brothers."
Jiang Baimian had originally wanted to joke, "If you have the ability, make all the directors on the board your brothers, and rounding up, it's equal to the company and Xu Liyan becoming brothers," but considering Shang Jianyao's ability to act, she quickly dismissed the thought.
While they were talking, they arrived at the detention area and met the person in charge.
After showing the other party Xu Liyan's warrant, the two were ushered into a small room.
The main part of the room was a console, with multiple screens above it.
At this time, all the screens showed the same scene: a small room with only a bed and a chair.
Inside the small room, the sickly fake "Father" was sitting on the chair, looking at the wall opposite him, where there seemed to be a large screen as well.
"He has powerful 'hypnosis' abilities. It's best if you two don't have close contact with him. It's safer to be separated by electronic devices," the person in charge briefly explained the reason for the current design.
Jiang Baimian would never tell this person in charge that Shang Jianyao was also an Awakened and could be friends with the fake "Father." She nodded and said:
"This is good."
After she and Shang Jianyao sat down, with the operation of the person in charge, the scenes on the screens were connected together, forming a whole.
This gave the feeling that the two sides were only separated by a pane of glass.
Then, the door of the small room opened, and a silver-gray metal robot walked in to adjust the screen opposite the fake "Father."
Obviously, people can't "hypnotize" machines.
"The power of technology…" Jiang Baimian exclaimed.
Before long, the fake "Father" saw the situation in the monitoring room through the screen.
"It's you," the sickly man said calmly, leaning against the back of the chair.
Jiang Baimian immediately smiled and said:
"You're quite calm."
The fake "Father" slightly raised his head and said:
"Since my nickname is 'Father,' I must have long been prepared to be martyred for the Lord."
His tone was flat, as if he wasn't the one being detained, but Jiang Baimian and the others.
Jiang Baimian knew that these kinds of people had very strong self-logic. If they followed their rhythm and got caught up in their logic, it would be difficult to break their hearts and ask for valuable details.
Of course, if it really didn't work, they could also ask Odick, a member of the "Shang Jianyao Brotherhood," for help.
It was just that this would be more troublesome because dream guidance was obviously directional, and the scope covered wouldn't be too wide, requiring repeated attempts.
Jiang Baimian immediately turned her head and glanced at Shang Jianyao, signaling him to ask first.
This was her strategy, to have Shang Jianyao, who didn't play by the rules, disrupt the other party's rhythm.
Shang Jianyao opened his mouth without hesitation:
"What is the Holy Communion of your 'Anti-Intellect Church'?"
He looked quite serious, as if he were asking a crucial question.
The fake "Father" was stunned for a moment, feeling like his accumulated momentum had fallen into emptiness.
This wasn't something worth caring about, so the fake "Father" casually replied:
"Rice water, lotus root powder, and steamed eggs—things that are relatively easy to eat."
"Do you all consider yourselves babies?" Shang Jianyao asked abruptly.
The fake "Father" was stunned again, and after thinking for a while, he said:
"Human instincts are innate from birth. Our goal is to leave most people with only instincts and experiences."
"Such a Holy Communion is fine for babies to eat, but it won't fill adults' stomachs. It can only be experienced occasionally," Shang Jianyao said to himself, completely ignoring the fake "Father's" response. "Really, you should communicate more with the churches that believe in the Fate Overseer."
The fake "Father" couldn't keep up with this guy's thinking at all and chose to give up, closing his mouth.
"I think these religious organizations are too stuck in their ways. If they could communicate and learn from each other more often, absorb each other's strengths, they would definitely be more attractive to believers than they are now. At least I would consider it," Shang Jianyao suggested.
The veins on the fake "Father's" forehead twitched slightly, and he resisted the urge to refute.
"Speaking of which, are the people in your church all silly? Like you, for example, you went to so much trouble, but in the end, you didn't accomplish anything and even sent yourself here," Shang Jianyao seemed eager to discuss the failure of anti-intellectual education with the fake "Father."
The fake "Father's" breathing became slightly heavier, and he said in a deep voice:
"This time, I was just unlucky to meet you and Odick together."
"Luck?" Jiang Baimian seized the opportunity and said with a smile, "When you knew that Lei Yunsong and the others were from 'Pangu Biology,' and you chose to use them as scapegoats, you should have expected that 'Pangu Biology' would definitely send people to investigate, and they would be quite capable.
"In that case, shouldn't you have implemented the plan as soon as possible?
"Who knew, you actually dragged it out for a month and a half, until we came before you officially started. Do you have procrastination issues? Or are you subconsciously suicidal?
"If neither of those is the case, then I can only regretfully conclude that your brain has already been sacrificed to the Doom Overseer."
The fake "Father" took a deep breath and said in a muffled voice:
"To wait for the weather to get colder and for a large number of wasteland wanderers to gather."
"You could have changed to another plan. Why be so rigid? Your goal is to assassinate Xu Liyan, not to mess up Wildgrass City," Jiang Baimian said like an instructor, sharply attacking the trainee's confidence.
Then, she changed the subject and asked with a smile:
"Did someone instill in you the idea that you had to do it this way?"
The fake "Father" trembled slightly, and his eyes involuntarily widened a little.
Jiang Baimian didn't give the fake "Father" a chance to find a reason, laughed, and pressed on, "Don't you know that when you were dealing with Odick, Xu Liyan was attacked and almost lost his life?"
"What?" The fake "Father's" expression changed significantly.
Jiang Baimian told the story of the real "Father's" attack and the goals he wanted to achieve, and finally asked:
"If it weren't for the coincidence, all the great nobles of Wildgrass City would have gone to heaven with a bang. Then, the regular army of 'First City' would use the excuse of quelling the riots and forcibly move in.
"Isn't that more crazy, more imaginative, and closer to success than your plan?"
The fake "Father" lowered his head with a gloomy face, not responding, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Compared to him, I think you're like a fake 'Father'," Jiang Baimian finally said after a series of setups.
The fake "Father's" gaze suddenly froze, and his body trembled more and more violently.
Jiang Baimian continued:
"That person's nickname might be 'Mute,' or it might be something else.
"Do you remember someone telling you that from now on, you would be 'Father'?
"Uh, something like that."
The fake "Father's" pupils dilated, and a layer of cold sweat seeped out of his forehead.
After a few seconds, he let out a beast-like roar, raised his hands, and covered his face.
Then, he stood up, revealing a terrified expression.
"Yes, yes, yes!" He said "yes" three times in a row, his voice getting louder and louder.
*Huff…* Jiang Baimian exhaled silently:
"Now do you know who you are?"
The fake "Father," whose false pride had been completely shattered, could no longer organize his psychological defenses and sat down weakly:
"Guo Zheng, my name is Guo Zheng.
"I am a member of the 'Anti-Intellect Church,' and I was chosen to be bathed in divine grace and became an Awakened."
Jiang Baimian immediately interrupted Guo Zheng:
"Did you Awaken through the Doom Overseer?"
This was the most important question.
Guo Zheng panted and said:
"Yes, we were chosen and entered a dark cave. According to the instructions, we each found a place to lie down and fall asleep.
"Not long after falling asleep, I saw the 'Hall of Stars.'"
Jiang Baimian pressed on:
"How many people were chosen in total, and how many Awakened?"
"Many people were chosen. I didn't count specifically, but there were probably hundreds," Guo Zheng said, recalling. "In the end, four or five Awakened…"
As he spoke, he frowned, as if he were enduring some kind of pain.
"What are the aftereffects for those who didn't Awaken?" Jiang Baimian asked thoughtfully.
Guo Zheng thought for a moment:
"Some went crazy, some died on the spot, and some were fine. The latter was the majority."
Jiang Baimian turned her head to look at Shang Jianyao and asked again with a smile:
"How did you determine that those who looked fine or crazy hadn't Awakened?"
Guo Zheng revealed obvious fear:
"At the time, an elder of the church presided over it.
"He could look through everyone's memories on a large scale."
As expected, the "Anti-Intellect Church's" strength lies in the field of memory and hypnosis… Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao exchanged glances, both a little excited.
This was the excitement of slowly figuring something out.
"Elder? How are the levels within your church divided?" Jiang Baimian continued to ask.
Guo Zheng took a breath and slowly said:
"The leader of the church is the Pope, but I've never seen him. It is said that he has gone to the New World, where he serves the Lord and is responsible for guiding the subsequent chosen ones.
"Below the Pope is the 'Council of Eight,' which has eight elders who govern different regions.
"Below the elders are bishops, who are responsible for specific tasks. Below the bishops are pastors, who are the executors of the plan and the disseminators of doctrine."
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly:
"Which level does 'Father' belong to?"
"I am a bishop, he… I don't know," Guo Zheng recalled with some pain.
Jiang Baimian seized the opportunity to ask:
"Do you remember who 'hypnotized' you? Do you remember what he looked like?"
Guo Zheng's brows furrowed once again:
"He, he, he's a man, no, she's a woman, no, he's very handsome, no, he has a shaved head…"
"No, no…" Guo Zheng's lips moved, and he screamed frantically and fearfully, "He tampered with my memory!"
ps: Happy Spring Festival, there's more tonight.