Quadruple split.

Chapter 2700 Elimination
Game time AM07:02
Southeastern Continent, vast wilderness, Rolling Stone Town
"Let the child get a good night's sleep when we get home. If he sweats in the afternoon, there shouldn't be any major problems."

Standing in front of the old building that looked more like a dilapidated house than a 'church', the girl with shoulder-length light golden hair, whose fingertips had just lost their glow, breathed a sigh of relief and said softly to the orc woman holding a child in front of her, "You should also take care of yourself. I know the harvests haven't been good these past two years, but if you also fall ill, there will be no one to take care of the child."

The orc woman, her face slightly haggard, nodded vigorously as she held the child tightly in her arms, saying repeatedly, "Thank you, nun, thank you, nun. I will take good care of this child. Come on, little Sa, quickly say thank you to Sister Nunnery."

"Thank you, Sister Nuns."

Although still somewhat weak, the child, whose body temperature had finally returned to normal, groggily opened his eyes and reached out his little hand to the nun: "I'm all grown up... I want to marry you, Sister Sister..."

The orc mother immediately patted her child's head gently and said anxiously, "What are you saying, you silly child!"

"It's okay, it's okay."

The nun shook her head, then gently poked the orc child's cheek and smiled, "But girls can't marry girls, so let's just be good friends, okay?"

"Ugh."

Although she seemed somewhat reluctant, the orc girl nodded gently and said weakly, "Okay, Sister Sister."

Although she was a priest in principle, the distinction between 'nun,' 'priest,' and 'priest' among the lower and middle-ranking clergy was rather blurred. The nun didn't seem to mind that the mother and daughter kept calling her by the wrong title. She simply took a candy out of her pocket and put it in the girl's hand, then took out a small paper packet and handed it to the orc mother: "These are some pills that can replenish your energy. Although they don't taste or have any great effect, they do have some effect."

"How can this be done?"

The orc mother shook her head vigorously and said repeatedly, "You have already helped my daughter and me so much, we really can't take anything more from you."

The nun shook her head and rather firmly stuffed the small paper packet into the other person's hand, saying gently but firmly, "This is nothing precious, just ordinary pills made from some common plants. Although I haven't quite figured it out yet, I have learned some medical knowledge related to pharmacy. I don't need these byproducts of my studies, so please don't refuse them."

"..."

After a long silence, the orc woman, who clearly needed these things, pursed her lips, bowed deeply to the nun in front of her, and then turned and left with red eyes.

As a mother raising her child alone, with no skills other than cultivating fruit trees, and who has suffered two consecutive years of poor harvests, even if this orc woman has a high probability of surviving this year, her frail and sickly daughter will probably not be able to make it through the next harsh winter.

The pills given by the nun were indeed something that could potentially save the child's life.

Therefore, forcing herself to decline even once was already the limit of what this orc woman could do.

The town is located in the Vast Wilderness, one of the countless no-man's-land areas on the continent of Innocence without strict affiliation. It is home to many ordinary people who would never normally appear in bard stories. Unlike the Cassero Grassland and the Wilderness of Spirits, which have slightly similar environments, the Vast Wilderness is not favored by the major powers. Even the Violet Empire, which is closest to this region, would rather turn its attention to places like the Dark Swamp than to a place that has already formed a vicious cycle and is difficult to 'digest' in all aspects.

Unlike the world outside the game, where everyone is eager to expand their territory and increase their control, in the Realm of Innocence, expanding territory is not an easy or profitable endeavor. In many cases, blindly expanding one's power can easily become the trigger for losing control.

The Lake Nesmont region of the southwestern continent, most of the land of the northwestern continent, the vast mountainous areas of the northeastern continent, and the boundless forests in the center of the continent, are all, like the Cangmang Wilderness, unclaimed lands with no apparent affiliation.

Of course, what's on the surface is one thing, but whether someone is controlling things behind the scenes is another. For example, the people in charge of the Wilderness can basically be understood as the market regulatory bureau of Anka Market and the few forces that occupy the largest market share, plus a few influential figures in the Gold Rush Triangle area.

However, in the Cangmang Wilderness, although Prince Xiu Blaisen, the regent of the Violet Empire, has begun to arrange infiltration and has even sent a large number of specialists to investigate, the Violet Empire, which has not yet completed its integration, will most likely not set its sights on this region for at least three years.

The reason is simple: although the population of Cangmangye is not small, neither its geological conditions nor its resource reserves are ideal. Even though the regent of the Violet Empire is a very farsighted and ambitious person, it is impossible for him to swallow this hot potato without making sufficient preparations.

In conclusion, the desolate wilderness is a place where people are not sparsely populated, but most of them are not doing well. As we all know, such places are rarely used in any stories except as background. Even if there are some outstanding talents, they will mostly choose to leave with their families in the end, rather than making up their minds to revitalize their hometown or debut as idols.

Without a doubt, this is a lifeless place.

However, it is precisely in such lifeless places that more hope, more blessings, and more grace are needed.

……

creak-

Accompanied by a piercing noise, Ai Vanye returned to the church, which had not been repaired for at least two hundred years. In fact, it was not even the church of the sun god Tissus.

But it doesn't matter, because no one has maintained or prayed here for over a century, so there is no divine grace here anymore. So all Xiao Ai needs to do is place the statue of the sun god Tisu in the center of the church, paste the sun god emblems (which can be bought for two silver coins in the City of Light) in every corner, and then pray devoutly for a day and a night. Then this place can be a church under the blessing of the sun god.

A slightly chilly wind brushed against her hair, causing the girl to furrow her brows slightly.

Xiao Ai turned to look at the stained glass window behind her, which had a large hole and whose color was no longer discernible. She took a deep breath and made up her mind to stay up all night to fix it, at least to the point that there was no draft.

Admittedly, his strength had reached a high level. Although he wasn't very strong, he was at least able to warm himself with his Yang Flame at any time. Priest Ai Vanye wasn't afraid of the cold wind. However, the children who had promised to come to the morning service tomorrow couldn't stand the cold wind, especially little Sa, whose fever had just subsided. If she could get out of bed tomorrow, she would definitely cry and beg her mother to bring her here to sing praises to the gods with the 'sister'.

Although children may not even know what a god is, let alone distinguish between the dawn, justice, knowledge, mist, melody, abundance, and sun god, one thing is certain: if the nun who is very, very good in their hearts says that the 'sun god' is the best and greatest, then the sun god must be the best and greatest.

After all, children are just that innocent.

As for the adults...

Xiao Ai opened the window from the inside, smiled and greeted the fruit farmers who had deliberately taken a detour past the church, and began her work for the day.

First, clean the pulpit. Although it was difficult to clean it all at once because of the accumulated dust, it was reassuring that the insect corpses could be disposed of with the Sunfire spell, so theoretically it shouldn't take too much time.

There's no rush in the confessional room. After all, there are far more ways to bring comfort to people now than listening to them confess about the trivial things in their daily lives.

Creating the prayer room was a huge undertaking. Although I'd managed to cobble together a bed that I could sleep in, the cramped room, which had been used as an abandoned warehouse for a long time, was beyond chaotic. So, I'd start with a simple categorization today, and then spend about three days cleaning it thoroughly. "Phew..."

Xiao Ai, who had originally planned to stay here for only three days but had now changed her plans to half a month, breathed a sigh of relief. While carefully wiping the pulpit, which was no longer covered in mosquitoes, she unconsciously drifted off into thought.

I wonder how things are going on your end, sir.

The new base in the Violet Imperial Capital has started recruiting. I wonder how it's going. The person in charge called "Bad Girl" should be on Futaba's side, but judging from Mr.'s attitude, there are probably some complicated inside stories. I shouldn't think too much about it.

Back at the headquarters of the City of Freedom, it's safe to say that Ms. Futaba, who can stand up to Mr. right, has already begun the second phase of her plan after integrating Bella Street. She is preparing to further expand the control of the Joker Card, not only to maximize the advantage of the Queen of Hearts, but also to use more 'deep' resources to forcibly lay a solid foundation. I really can't learn this amazing operation.

However, everything is moving in a positive direction, and that's enough.

As long as the man gets closer and closer to what he wants and what he wants to see, that's good.

As for myself...

"..."

The girl squatted down, placing the dusty rag into the basin while watching the water instantly turn murky. Her eyes, reflecting her image, became slightly misty.

Is Rona alright?
Although she hasn't fully recovered, will she be able to get along well with everyone now that she's "back"?

After Mr. Futaba leaves, will she take care of Rona as she took care of herself?

Although the Countess has some conflicts with Lady Futaba, she should give her some face and treat Rona well after receiving the letter.

Although Mr. Cholera said he only liked two-dimensional characters, I heard from the otherworldly people that both he and Rona were considered two-dimensional characters in their eyes. Rona is so beautiful, will she be entangled with him?

Probably not. After all, Mr. Cholera is a very nice and gentlemanly person, and he has a good relationship with Cole. As long as he knows that Cole likes Lorna, he definitely won't fall for her.

Cole...

Honestly, I had already decided not to think about that guy anymore.

"It's all Mr. Cholera's fault."

He casually grumbled about the cholera that hadn't bothered anyone, then slowly stood up and began wiping the psalm stand with a clean rag.

Out of respect for the gods, clergy are generally not allowed to use divine magic when cleaning, tidying or arranging churches. This level of 'asceticism' is practiced by almost every believer in orthodox theological sects. However, for Xiao Ai now, the amount of work to do all of this is really too much.

Although the gentleman had assigned himself helpers, and even in the nearby city, the [Clown Card] had already established a temporary base, although it was small in scale and had a limited number of members, both in terms of quality and funding, it was top-notch.

With a budget specially approved by the gentleman, and collaborators arranged solely by the King of Hearts, the entire process was kept completely secret, without even Ms. Futaba's involvement. The secrecy measures were practically flawless.

Of course, this secrecy probably has little to do with Ms. Futaba herself. After all, as one of the two leaders of the "Clown Card", if she really wanted to know about her current situation, she would definitely have a way to find out. Her current feigned ignorance is probably just a tacit understanding reached with Mr. Futaba.

The main reason, besides the fact that the gentleman controls the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, is probably because he has completely handed over the headquarters of the Free City to Ms. Futaba, which is why Ms. Futaba was willing to reach an agreement with the gentleman.

Oh no, why am I thinking about these things again?

"..."

Despite deciding to give her brain a break, Xiao Ai's mind remained active, constantly pondering various things. She sighed, gently tapped her unruly head, and silently prayed for nearly two minutes before regaining inner peace.

She still believes in the sun without a doubt.

She was, of course, also a sun priestess.

only……

After someone secretly conducted a series of 'experiments' on Cole Shuren, Al Vanye, as a clergyman, broke free from a narrow, petty, and extreme mindset and began to reinterpret the faith in a different and ingenious way.

For example, although her faith in the sun remained as strong as ever, even stronger than before, she subconsciously removed a certain condition from her faith that was not entirely necessary.

After all, beliefs are complex and diverse. Just like the Sun Dynasty of that time, who also used the sun as a totem, they originally only used the blazing sun as a concrete representation of a certain concept, trying to implement a certain positive and active spirit, but in the end they regarded themselves as the supreme sun.

Although it was not a belief in deities, there is no doubt that the people of the Sun Dynasty had indeed removed that spirit, which was originally the essence of their faith, from their beliefs.

The same reason.

As a clergyman of the Sun Cult, he removed the sun god Tisu from his faith...

It's probably not that difficult.

Chapter 2691: The End

(End of this chapter)