I searched and fought in America.

Everyone moved.

The old man with the broken leg was helped up, the girl with blood streaming from both arms gritted her teeth and stood up, and the teenager put down his younger brother's body and went over to help a woman who had fallen.

The four toddlers were helped up by adults and squeezed into the center of the crowd.

The mother, holding her child, stood at the very front.

They helped each other up and stumbled together to the center of the open space, forming a circle.

Caesar, Wang Ling, and Gabak formed a human wall, protecting Rosen behind them.

Cade stood at the edge, gripping his gun tightly. He said nothing, only a sense of loss lingered in his eyes.

Rosen walked to the center of the crowd and unrolled the scroll.

Purple light flowed through his hands, illuminating his dusty face and his incredibly determined eyes.

He raised his head and looked up at the dark dome above.

He spoke, as if reciting a prayer:

"I once asked myself—where is God?"

"If God truly exists, why would He allow these things to happen?"

"If God truly exists, why does He allow good people to suffer and wicked people to run rampant?"

"If God truly exists, why can cultists sacrifice living people? Why can mercenaries kill people at will? Why can the rich drain the blood of the poor and then laugh as they die?"

His voice began to grow louder.

It's like something that's been suppressed for too long finally erupting:

"I've searched for the answer; I've searched for a long time."

"Later I discovered—there was no answer."

"It's not because the problem is too difficult, but because—there is no God."

Caesar paused for a moment.

But then, the fanatic made no comment. To him, such a statement should have been extremely disrespectful, but at this moment, it came from Rosen's mouth, from his great Holy Father, and it only made his blood boil.

Because the person who said this is using his own life to do what God should do.

"No God will come to save you."

"No angels will descend from heaven."

"There are no miracles unless we create them ourselves."

Rosen's voice echoed, making everyone's heart tremble.

The mother held her child tightly, tears streaming down her face. The child was obedient; she didn't open her eyes, but she seemed to have found her own light.

For the first time, the children were no longer afraid; they simply stared blankly at the person speaking in the scroll of light, at the magical light.

"This country, this society, these damned capitalists, these cannibalistic cults—"

They take away your houses, your dignity, your children, your lives—and then tell you it's God's test.

He scoffed and uttered two words:

"fart."

This vulgar word, however, is incredibly powerful at this moment.

The old man with the broken leg listened for a while, and then suddenly laughed.

I was laughing, but then tears streamed down my face.

[WARNING! WARNING! Countdown complete, explosion begins!!!]

Rosen stared at the line of blood-red text, a complex smile playing on his lips. Then, he abruptly tore open the scroll, the sound echoing throughout the underground space:

"What if there were no gods in this world—"

"boom!!!"

The first explosion!

The entire underground transfer station trembled violently!

Then came the second! The third! A series of explosions!

Flames erupted from the central hall, engulfing everything!

The shockwave spread outwards like a tsunami!

Everyone instinctively closed their eyes.

I don't know how much time passed.

It could be a few seconds, or it could be a few minutes.

but.

The expected excruciating pain did not come.

The expected raging fire did not burn.

The expected death did not come.

People slowly opened their eyes.

Then, everyone was stunned.

A purple light shield steadily enveloped them, completely isolating them from the raging flames and shockwaves outside.

Flames cascaded down from the top of the light shield like a waterfall, yet they could not penetrate it even slightly.

The shockwave struck the light shield, creating ripples, but it could not break through.

Outside the light barrier lies hell—

Explosion, flames, collapse, smoke and dust.

Concrete fragments flew everywhere, the makeshift houses were reduced to rubble, the corpses were burned to ashes, and the bloodstains were evaporated.

Inside the light shield, however, all was peaceful.

A group of people, kneeling, standing, and crying, looked at the man in the center.

The mother held her child tightly, tears streaming down her face.

She looked up at the purple light barrier, at the raging flames outside, her lips trembling:

"God... there really is a God..."

The old man with the broken leg knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face. With his useless legs, he knelt with difficulty, making the sign of the cross over and over again.

For the first time, those children smiled. They looked at the magical light, and their eyes shone with a light they had never seen before in their lives.

Caesar knelt on one knee and pounded his chest heavily with his right hand, once, twice, three times.

His voice choked with emotion, yet his roar was deafening:

"Holy Father... Holy Father..."

Wang Ling slowly knelt down.

He didn't speak; he just lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly.

This is only the second time in his life that he has knelt before a stranger. Aside from his parents, he had only ever knelt before Father Kevin. Now, Rosen is the second.

Gabak was already in tears.

He lay prostrate on the ground, repeating the words over and over:

"Thank God... Thank the Father... Thank God... Thank the Father..."

Cade stood there.

He looked at all of this, at the purple light shield, at the hellish scene outside, and at the young man in the center of the light shield.

He suddenly remembered the first time he met this child many years ago.

Back then, he was thin and timid, hiding behind others. He always looked down first when looking at people, and his voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

Later, he taught him how to shoot, how to fight, and how to survive in this rotten world.

He thought he had only trained a survivor who could keep going.

Unexpectedly—

Cade slowly took off his hat, placed it in front of his chest, and lowered his head.

Rosen stood in the center, looking at the flames outside the light shield, listening to the roar of the explosion, and feeling a buzzing in his ears.

His face was pale, his body swayed precariously, his lips were bloodless, and his hands were trembling violently.

That's the price of the reel.

All attributes decrease by 80% for 24 hours.

He felt as if he was being hollowed out, and his legs went weak, but he didn't collapse.

He stood there, his back ramrod straight.

Luo Seng finally uttered the last words of that sentence:

"...Then I am God."

The explosion lasted for a full thirty seconds.

As the final impact subsided and the last roar faded, the purple light shield slowly dissipated.

The group stood in the middle of a pile of ruins.

Everything around was destroyed.

Only the land beneath their feet remained intact.

The mother, holding her child, was the first to kneel down.

She knelt heavily, her knees slamming into the ground, but she felt no pain. She pressed her forehead to the ground, pressed the child in her arms to the ground, and prostrated herself at Rosen's feet.

Immediately afterwards, all the survivors knelt down.

The old man with the broken leg moved his body with difficulty, kneeling on his useless legs, his forehead pressed against the ground, muttering incantations, prayers he hadn't recited in decades.

The girl with blood streaming from both arms no longer covered her wounds; she simply knelt down.

The children were forced to kneel by the adults. They were bewildered and did not understand what was happening, but they knelt obediently, looking at the man standing in the center, as if they saw light.

The teenager knelt beside his younger brother's corpse and also knelt before Rosen.

Caesar, Wang Ling, and Gabak knelt to one side.

Caesar pounded his right fist on his chest and bowed his head.

Wang Ling knelt on one knee, head bowed.

Gabak lay prostrate on the ground, his shoulders still trembling.

Only Cade was standing.

But the way he looked at Rosen had completely changed.

That was no longer the look of an elder looking at a junior, no longer the look of a veteran looking at a new recruit, no longer even the look of an uncle looking at a nephew.

It was a complex look in my eyes, containing pride, shock, and... awe.

Rosen stood still.

He looked down at the kneeling people and remained silent for a very long time.

Then he spoke, his voice hoarse but firm:

Get up.

"I am not a god."

He paused.

His gaze fell on the child in the mother's arms, and then he looked into those eyes that had finally found hope, those eyes that, for the first time, shone with light.

A slight smile played at the corners of his lips:

"But if you're willing—"

"I can try to be your protector."

The mother looked up.

Tears mingled with laughter, her voice trembled but was firm:

"You...you are our god."

Rosen did not refute.

He bent down, reached out, and gently helped the mother up.

He then helped up the elderly person next to him.

Help the girl up.

Help those children up.

They helped the teenager up.

He looked up and saw a sliver of light through the collapsed dome.

That was the light from the ground.

That is the light of freedom.

That's also true—

A ray of hope.

---

(This segment has ended)

---

My god, this part of the plot is really hard to write. I must be incredibly stubborn to even think of writing this kind of plot. This kind of lyrical writing is the ultimate challenge for writers. If there is too little foreshadowing, it will be awkward and unnatural, and you won't know what's going on. If there is too much foreshadowing, it will be cumbersome.

I scrapped nearly 10,000 words of the manuscript and revised it countless times before finally arriving at this version. But I don't know if my writing will satisfy everyone. If you think it's awkward, let me know and I'll think of something else.

If you're quite satisfied, please give it a vote to show your support!