The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

Hearing that, the Archbishop’s brow also tightened slightly.

“But there is no helping it now. We can only force our way through. Please rest assured, Your Holiness. Everyone in the Earth Church will stand firmly by your side.”

Time soon reached the next morning.

At dawn, dense rows of believers gathered in the church hall.

Freya stood at the very front and rose slightly onto her toes, only to realize that she could still see only the first few rows. The average height of Earth Church believers was simply too high.

Rumble.

With a soft sound, the stone slab beneath Freya’s feet suddenly rose upward, slowly lifting into a small stone platform.

Freya could not help turning to look at the two people beside her.

One was Archbishop Pantheon. The other was Atticus, the believer who had previously called her Mother.

Aside from Freya and the Archbishop, Atticus was one of only three Rank Four practitioners in the Earth Church. He followed the Earth Branch, so the small stone platform beneath Freya’s feet was undoubtedly his work.

Freya glanced at him, then looked away.

Her round heels settled back onto the stone platform as she faced the believers in front of her.

There were roughly forty or fifty of them.

For a major city and a large church, that number seemed a little small.

In truth, it was not.

These forty or fifty people were all core believers who had taken Earth Path potions. Every one of them was a practitioner. Half were Rank One, half were Rank Two, and a few had reached Rank Three.

Beyond them, the Earth Church actually had many ordinary members and even more believers whose numbers were impossible to count.

But those ordinary people had no need to take part in this operation.

It was also worth noting that Auxerre City had eight Special Affairs teams in total, and even among official practitioners, there were only a little over a hundred people.

The church had been warned by the authorities before. Its numbers had to be strictly controlled and could not grow too large.

In short, Freya looked at the people before her and took a deep breath.

Then she gathered her strength and raised her voice.

“A villain is plotting a disaster large enough to overturn this entire city. He intends to turn Auxerre City into a sea of fire and slaughter tens of thousands of ordinary citizens.”

“I have already confirmed this person’s identity. He is Jerome, a Rank Five War Path General. I also know the exact locations of his three bases. Now, I ask for your help. Help me stop this villain and save this city.”

There was no extra emotional speech.

There was no so-called encouragement.

She did not even raise the banner of the gods.

Freya simply stated the facts and explained the situation.

The instant her voice fell, the believers below raised their hands and shouted one after another.

“Bring down the villain!”

“Protect this city!”

“Follow in Her Holiness’s footsteps!”

“For the Heavenly Father! For the Earth God! For the Mother Goddess!”

Freya had clearly said that the enemy was a Rank Five General.

Even so, not a single believer present showed any fear.

It would not even be an exaggeration to say that if Freya ordered them to charge General Jerome directly, none of them would hesitate for even a moment.

Everyone set out immediately.

Freya first led the group to a location three blocks away from Special Affairs. Through Mind Sense, she could see that a large crowd had gathered inside Special Affairs as well, including every official practitioner in the city and the Mobile Unit that had arrived not long ago.

It was worth mentioning that although Freya, the Archbishop, and Atticus were all Rank Four, neither the Giant Branch nor the Earth Branch enhanced Mind Sense.

Only Freya could see that far with Mind Sense.

Because of that, she was the only one who could keep watch on Special Affairs.

Soon, once Special Affairs finished gathering, they also set out immediately with Euphemia leading the way.

Their first destination was Jerome’s residence.

Two large groups advanced through the streets in grand formation.

On the way, most civilians immediately made room when they saw so many police officers, all wearing grim expressions as if they were marching to war.

Some street punks and petty thugs were so frightened by the sight that they turned and ran.

Only after Special Affairs had passed through in force did the thugs reappear from various corners, muttering among themselves.

“Damn. That’s the first time I’ve seen that many cops move together. Did something huge happen?”

“No idea. Maybe some gang got busted?”

“I doubt it. Would they really need that many people for a gang?”

“Who knows?”

As they were discussing it, another wave of footsteps sounded.

This time, it was a large group of Earth Church believers.

Normally, a group of police officers should have been more intimidating than a group of believers.

But every Earth Church believer was tall and powerfully built. When they gathered together like this, they were frightening in their own right.

The thugs who had just come out scattered again and hid back in their corners.

“Damn. What the hell is going on today?”

“Good Lord. I feel like today is a bad day to be outside. I’m done. I’m going home, guys.”

Soon, the members of Special Affairs arrived near General Jerome’s residence.

The Mobile Unit that had come this time was the same one from the previous simulation.

The captain was still the white-haired, blue-eyed woman.

Her name was Jessica, and she was a Rank Five [Listener] of the Law Path.

Before they even approached, they could see row after row of [Soldiers] standing in front of General Jerome’s door, fully prepared for battle.

They almost filled the entire street.

Each [Soldier] was dressed differently.

Some looked like ordinary workers. Some looked like thugs. Others wore suits and appeared polite and refined, almost like noble gentlemen.

Before this, it had been these people of all kinds who hid throughout the city, serving as contact points and distributing Demon Path potions everywhere.

Euphemia counted them roughly.

There were ten [Soldiers] in each row, and ten rows in total.

Exactly one hundred people.

She remembered very clearly what her grandfather’s letter had said. They must not fight a fully prepared [General], and they had to reduce the number of his soldiers as much as possible.

The current situation was simply terrible.

Jessica, the captain of the Mobile Unit, wore a grave expression.

She had also read the letter from Euphemia’s grandfather.

She did not act recklessly. Instead, she shouted first.

“General Jerome, do you understand what you are doing? As a general of this kingdom, not only have you failed to serve your country, but you have also plotted a disaster to overturn an entire city and murder tens of thousands of innocent civilians. It is not too late to turn back. I can take you to His Majesty and speak on your behalf. Since you have not yet caused an irreversible disaster, I believe His Majesty will not be overly harsh toward a general.”

The moment Jessica finished speaking, hysterical laughter came from within the crowd.

“Haha. Hahahahaha! You say I have not served my country?”

The [Soldiers] split open down the middle, creating a path.

General Jerome, with red hair and red eyes, slowly walked out from among them.

Then his laughter stopped abruptly.

He glared at every member of Special Affairs before him and roared, “You know nothing about how much I have sacrificed for this country!”

“When we still did not know whether the War Path potions were even correct, I volunteered to become one of the first test subjects. For the next eight years, I stayed stationed on the front lines. Not once did I return home. Even when my mother died of illness, even when my wife gave birth to a child whose father I did not even know, I still did not go back.”

“My corps and I repelled at least fifty terrorist attacks for the Kingdom of Tarapaca. We handled at least thirty border clashes with the Pentagram Alliance. In battle, I have been close to death nearly ten times, yet I never retreated even half a step. I gave my life to this country long ago. What right do you have to say I never gave anything for it?”

Jessica, the members of Special Affairs, Euphemia, and even Freya, who was eavesdropping from a distance, all fell silent.

Everything General Jerome had just said was true.

But precisely because it was true, Freya became even more confused.

Why would such a general do something like this now?