Qin Shilei, seated on the sofa, smirked and chuckled, "You dream if you think you can find me using the Phantom's connection."
The moment he sensed the powerful aura emanating from Jima, he understood that she must be the Son of God.
Now that the Son of God lurking in the shadows had been identified, Qin Shilei naturally wouldn't continue to entangle with her, as any slip-up could easily reveal his true identity.
Coincidentally, the cooldown for the Phantom was up.
He once again controlled the Phantom to attack the Golden experts in the city.
After swiftly eliminating another five Golden experts, he voluntarily dispelled the Phantom.
Just as Qin Shilei wondered why Shiva wasn't manifesting again through the divine statue this time, he suddenly noticed a figure rapidly flying from the direction of the temple.
"What a cunning fellow, actually knows how to conceal his aura before approaching."
Qin Shilei cursed inwardly and turned back to his residence.
"Ah!"
Only then did a powerful aura surge from behind him, followed by a roar.
Subsequently, the sounds of collapsing buildings and explosions ensued.
It was clearly Shiva venting his rage.
Lyle and the dozen or so others returned with grim expressions.
Upon learning that five Golden experts in the city had also been killed, many turned pale, and thoughts of retreat began to form in their minds.
"Lord Lyle, can Lord Shiva truly deal with King Qin An?" someone couldn't help but ask.
"Of course," Lyle affirmed with certainty. "King Qin An doesn't dare to face Lord Shiva head-on, which shows that it would be as easy as pie for Shiva to kill him."
He paused and added, "However, King Qin An's hidden presence is indeed troublesome. I will head to the temple now to discuss countermeasures with Lord Shiva."
After Lyle's departure, everyone gathered and conversed in hushed tones.
Soon, eleven individuals, divided into three groups, flew out of the city from different directions.
Remaining in the city, they might be assassinated by King Qin An at any moment. Only by leaving Tianzhu far behind could they preserve their lives.
Qin Shilei immediately hid in his room and took out a千里传音符 (Qiān lǐ chuán yīn fú - Thousand-mile sound transmission talisman), speaking a few words in a low voice.
Not long after, he received replies from Ding Teng and An Qian, "The enemies have all been eliminated."
When Qin Shilei returned to the meeting room from his room, Lyle had already returned from the temple.
"Fool!"
Upon learning that eleven people had left Gastonia, Lyle cursed under his breath and then gathered all the remaining twenty-two Golden experts.
"I have discussed countermeasures with Lord Shiva and we plan to pool the strength of many believers to empower Lord Shiva to perform a secret technique, thereby thoroughly exposing King Qin An. I hope you will all assist Lord Shiva in completing this secret technique."
Qin Shilei asked curiously, "What kind of secret technique is Lord Shiva planning to perform? What will be the effect upon completion, and how exactly are we to assist?"
Lyle chose his words carefully. "Lord Shiva intends to draw upon the faith of a large number of believers to forcefully empower one individual, granting them sufficient strength to contend with King Qin An and the zombie emperor outside."
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and they began to inquire, "Who will this person be?"
Lyle smiled. "Any one of us could be. We will immediately proceed to the temple. As long as we pass Shiva's selection, we can become that fortunate one."
Qin Shilei, however, felt a sense of unease. "I fear Shiva intends to perform some wicked ritual."
He maintained his composure and followed the crowd to the temple.
Shiva's divine avatar soon appeared before them.
A pair of sharp eyes swept over everyone.
"You shall receive this deity's grace and gain immense power."
The one pointed to by Shiva was a plain-looking middle-aged man, whose eyes towards Shiva were filled with fanatical worship.
Upon hearing that he was the fortunate one, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground, incessantly chanting Shiva's great deeds.
The rest of the crowd displayed expressions of envy or relief.
The fortunate one had been chosen, and then Lyle explained how Lord Shiva would harness the faith of the believers.
The elegant phrasing was to allow the believers to return to their main god's embrace.
The blunt truth was to harvest the souls of these believers, taking all their faith power at once.
Qin Shilei and the others' task was to suppress the believers and prevent any disturbances.
Someone inquired, "Lord Lyle, when you mention a large number of believers, how many are we talking about?"
"At least a million," Lyle stated calmly.
As soon as his words fell, a chill crept up everyone's spines.
"I said he was an evil god, and it seems I was not wrong."
Qin Shilei mused.
To complete some secret technique, he was willing to sacrifice a million humans who believed in him.
It seemed that in the eyes of these so-called gods, their followers were merely ants to be manipulated at will.
Qin Shilei did not consider himself a good person, but he would not slaughter millions of humans for his own gain.
The best way to prevent Shiva from descending to Blue Star would have been to kill all the people of Tianzhu without exception.
However, this thought flashed through his mind and was immediately discarded.
Firstly, Qin Shilei did not wish to become a demon who only knew how to kill.
Secondly, although many people in Tianzhu were detestable, they did not deserve death. Why easily strip tens of millions of lives just to stop Shiva?
Even with the zombies surrounding the city, he had instructed Ding Teng to exercise restraint, not allowing the zombies to rush into the city and slaughter indiscriminately.
Soon, Shiva's divine statue was moved onto a football field.
Lyle had already arranged for a formation to be laid out on the field using special materials.
Tens of thousands of believers were arranged on the football field, surrounding the divine statue from the grass to the seats above, chanting scriptures with murmurs.
As the believers chanted, a black smoke emerged from the divine statue and quickly drifted towards the surrounding believers.
As the black smoke passed, one believer after another collapsed.
This phenomenon immediately drew the attention of some, and a few, in panic, tried to flee.
"Up!"
Lyle gave the order, and the thousands of elites by his side immediately rushed out, drawing their bows and shooting at the fleeing believers.
The Golden experts also took to the air, targeting the skilled among the escapees.
"You are all demons!" someone shouted in madness.
As soon as he cried out, an arrow pierced his head.
However, his cry awakened more people who had been meditating with closed eyes.
The entire football field descended into chaos.
No one had the heart to chant scriptures anymore; they all madly tried to escape.
As they ran, they shouted, "They're killing people!" "The demons are killing people!"
However, the entire football field was surrounded by numerous experts, and the believers were basically all evolvers with only Bronze-level strength.
They were completely incapable of escaping the football field, either being caught by the black smoke or shot by Lyle's subordinates.
Soon, the entire football field turned into a living hell, with scattered limbs and the thick smell of blood making it almost impossible to breathe.