The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

"Uh, because? Common sense?"

The old knight burst into laughter again, this time until tears welled up in his eyes. "Yes, common sense. The Lord's shepherds must believe in Him. I thought the same thing before I was excommunicated."

"Do you know that among the cardinals who are eligible to run for the Pope, half are conservatives, and the other half are called radicals?"

Li Shanze nodded: "Ah, I understand. Those who believe in religion are conservatives, and those who don't are radicals."

Li Shanze thought that he had seen this kind of thing many times.

"No, quite the opposite." The old knight shook his head.

"He doesn't believe in the existence of God. He only has knowledge of management, manipulation of public opinion, and finance. He is more like a professional manager than a bishop. This bishop is a conservative."

"And I, who believe that priests must believe in the existence of God, am a radical."

Huh? Is it radical to proclaim the existence of God in the church?

Do you want to listen to what you are saying?

Li Shanze was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

"The current universal church is more like a multinational corporation managing 1.5 billion customers than a shepherd of 1.5 billion sheep. The only difference is that the business they run is called faith."

The old knight sneered.

"As for what I did... I simply gathered evidence that the 'conservatives' didn't believe in God and threw it before the Pope."

No, there is something wrong with your struggle strategy.

How could half of the senior clergy be pushed to the opposite side at once?

Li Shanze asked tentatively, "Is this your 'radicals' showdown with the Pope?"

"No, those guys are just cowards who are greedy for money. I was the one who threw all the evidence in front of the Pope." The old knight said proudly.

Good man, you are even using one faction to fight against another.

If you act blindly based on your faith and get involved in political struggles, who else will the Pope excommunicate if not you?

Li Shanze finally understood why this old man wanted to kill him as soon as they met. He was just so extreme and violent in his actions.

Since Li Shanze thought so, he naturally asked this question.

The old knight then said proudly, "Why should I seek the support of those cowardly fools? I have the Lord's favor, and I can fight those termites alone!"

Damn, this guy is really a fanatic.

"Then you failed, didn't you? You were excommunicated by the Pope and expelled from the Catholic Church." Li Shanze asked with a frown.

"That was merely a test from the Lord on my path to success," the old knight said disdainfully. "How can I manage the Church with these insects? One day I'm going to return to the Vatican and slay these termites with my own hands!"

Is this the logic of fanatics?

Success is a gift from God, win! Failure is a test given by God on the way to success, also win!

This is what they mean by winning by faith.

Therefore, Li Shanze said sarcastically: "Although you were a knight of the Vatican before, it seems that the United States is more suitable for you."

The old knight nodded. "Yes, that's right! That's why I love America!"

Why do you still agree?

"After being excommunicated by the Pope, I once lost the power of God's favor." The old knight recalled the past and said with deep emotion.

So can the Pope's excommunication really deprive the knight of the use of his willpower?

Are knights some kind of armed force within a system, rather than a wizard who gathers great power within himself? What about the Pope?

"Dejected and disheartened, I stumbled upon America to relax and unwind. I unexpectedly discovered the people here were warm, simple, and pious, and they welcomed my preaching. I began preaching in rural areas of many states, and to my surprise, I quickly regained the Lord's favor."

So what is this power of vows? If someone believes that you can do it, then you can really do it?

No wonder there are so many messy cults emerging in the United States.

"Sure enough, that was just a test from the Lord. And to protect these devout Americans, and to protect this paradise on earth, I constantly check for gaps and clear the pollution for them."

The words were very beautiful, and judging by his expression, he seemed to really believe it.

Li Shanze finally couldn't help himself and asked this modern crusader from another world, "Is this why you're cleaning up the mess at the docks for the smuggling ring?"

The moral torture of Li Shanze, a pagan from the East, triggered a stress response in the old knight.

"The sweat of the saints is not divided between the rich and the poor!" The old knight's eyes burned with the fire of Philippians. "Have you not heard that 'Christ emptied himself, taking the form of a servant'? Even the crumbs carried by mice are worthy to be grains of wheat on God's millstone!"

How come you can justify anything and even quote from classics?

"Heh, you're violating federal law." Li Shanze asked out of spite. He simply wanted to hear how the fanatic would refute this statement.

"The Lord warns us in Deuteronomy: You shall not make a king except one of your brothers," the old knight said with great clarity. He spoke of the Commonwealth with disdain, "The so-called Commonwealth is but the remains of the Tower of Babel!"

In fact, this is just bullying Li Shanze because he does not understand the Bible.

Deuteronomy is the last book of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament. The book is centered on Moses' last sermon before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, emphasizing loyalty to God, obedience to the law, and renewal of the covenant.

This allusion comes from Deuteronomy 17:15, which simply talks about the Jews passing the throne to the Jews.

Using it to negate federal law is completely irrelevant.

Old Knight, this is not just my annotation of the Bible, it is the Bible's annotation of me.

If Kate had heard him quoting Deuteronomy in this way, she would probably have immediately realized that the Pope's excommunication of this lunatic was the most appropriate punishment.

However, in the United States, a magical land full of cults, a lunatic like the old knight is like a fish in water, and has achieved a second life of sainthood.

Although Li Shanze thought that this old knight was crazy, he was a complete layman in theology, so he had no idea how crazy this old knight was.

He is gradually closing the circle and approaching his goal.

"Didn't you say earlier that America is heaven on earth? Why are you denying the federation and its laws again?"

"Foolish son of man!" The old knight became more and more exaggerated, as if he had entered some kind of mad state.

Li Shanze suspected that he was getting into the role and entering the exaggerated performance state he usually performed when preaching.

"How can the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth be contained by a federation filled with fools and idiots? Especially in a big city like Philadelphia, there are still many fools!"

The old knight said crazily, his hair disheveled, as if he felt sad for Li Shanze's stubbornness.

“In Galatians, St. Paul warns us that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.”

"If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

Justification by faith, right? Because you believe in Christ, even doing something illegal is right?

Li Shanze finally understood why Christianity was so popular in the West.

People who do animalistic things do need a little bit of comfort in their hearts.

Despite his complaints, Li Shanze calmly approached his target: "Can you call it righteousness to launder smuggled goods from that country on the other side of the Pacific?"

"How is it not justice? How do you think Americans can guarantee their lives?" the old knight said disdainfully.

"I'm not the only one doing this. There are plenty of clergy who purify goods for the Federation. I just don't want to work for this corrupt Federation."

Uh, so the US government wants to officially import Chinese goods and require priests to consecrate and "purify" them on a large scale, right?

Li Shanze felt that these words contained a lot of information.

Author's Note: Finally home...

Thanks to the original soundtrack chicken for the reward and the ticket for urging more updates

Thanks to Yinzhishisan, Fenghua brother, book friend 3688408655, Polar Bear, and Little Apple 112633 for their recommendation votes

200 Magic Circle and Past Events

Is the body of water between East Asia and America the Pacific Ocean or Yangcheng Lake?

Li Shanze almost laughed when he thought of the scene of countless priests sprinkling holy water on the goods and chanting scriptures at the dock.

However, he continued to prod the old knight, hoping he would reveal more information in his anger. "To put it bluntly, you're just an excommunicated knight. The US government is too disdainful to cooperate with you, right? Instead, they've recruited a number of officially legitimate monks to launder their wares."

“Heh, those monks’ control over holy power is far inferior to mine. Most of them can even be called ridiculous, just like two or three-year-old children holding a pistol with the safety bolt opened.” The old knight commented sharply to his companions.

Li Shanze actually believed this. Such a lunatic obviously didn't have a very bright brain, and he only relied on the control over his willpower to get to a high position in the Catholic Church.

Although his mind is crazy, his fighting skills are definitely solid.

"It's a pity that the federal government would not look for a broken knight like you even if it were looking for a two or three-year-old child." Li Shanze continued to provoke.

The old knight was indeed furious.

His face flushed crimson. "That's a sorcerous alchemical technique meticulously devised by heretics who attempt to steal the Lord's power! It doesn't require any sophisticated manipulation of the Holy Light! That's why it doesn't need a truly devout believer like me!"

"I say the United States is a good country, a paradise on earth, because of the large number of devout people here! Not because of the federal government that has been infiltrated and corrupted by all kinds of evil!"

"The tragedy is that even though they knew it was alchemical sorcery, those cowardly shepherds of the Lord still succumbed to it, kneeling down to collaborate with these thieves, and disregarding the Lord's dignity and mercy!"

Although the words were a bit confusing, Li Shanze still roughly understood what the old knight meant.

The gist of it is that the U.S. Customs has set up a whitewashing array, so there is no need for clergy who are particularly good at manipulating willpower to "de-Sinicize" the goods.

So "professionals" like the old knight are only needed for smuggling...

"Alchemical evil? What is that?" Although he already had some guesses in his mind, seeing that the old knight had already opened the conversation, Li Shanze still pretended to be confused.

"Oh, when I was in the Vatican, I once read secret histories and discovered that many thieves in Europe who attempted to steal the Lord's authority fled to the New World in fear of the glory of the Knights Templar and the Inquisition."

"I originally traveled across the ocean just to hunt down the remnants of the bandits in North America, but after some investigation, I discovered they had become so powerful that they nearly stole the promised land given by the Lord!"

Oh, you came to North America hoping to kill wizards and heretics to regain the Lord's favor, but you failed—or maybe you killed a heretic or two—and ended up being wanted, right?

Li Shanze understood what the old knight meant.

No wonder you sounded condescending and sympathetic when you recognized I was Chinese, but as soon as I revealed my FBI identity, you decided to kill me.

The reason you can talk to me nicely now is because I am a "test" given to you by God, and you are trying to find a way out of this trouble in order to buy time, right?

You are trying to escape, and I am trying to get information. This is a win-win situation for both of us.

Li Shanze thought with amusement.

"Those cunning thieves consider stealing the Lord's authority to be modern alchemy! They even pretend to have created a school called the Seething Sages!"

Wait, Charlie’s teacher is the great wizard of the Boiling Sage.

Li Shanze became more energetic.

"Boiling Sage? What did you find out?"

"I traced their holy land to the Chicago Board of Trade!"

I know this, let me tell you something I don’t know.

"Well, then what?" Li Shanze frowned and continued to ask.

Then the old knight looked at Li Shanze with an expression as if to say, "Why are you so stupid?"

"Don't you understand yet? This so-called modern alchemy is just some kind of numbers game! It's just manipulating people's cognition through numbers, just like the so-called 125% tariff national defense array!"

Li Shanze almost spit it out.

"What is this 125% tariff national defense array? What the hell is this? Can 125% be called a tariff?"

It was too early for Li Shanze to travel through time and he had no idea that the golden-haired milk dragon was going crazy.

"Humph, that's just a numbers game, used to block Americans' understanding of your country." The old knight said coldly.

"I'm really confused. Aren't people from your country labeled ogres and sent to concentration camps? How come you're able to become an FBI agent? I see your ID isn't fake."

You ask me, who should I ask?

No, what is going on in this world? In 1991, the Kingdom of God on Earth started to change the calendar, and then China and the United States decoupled?

Is that the time when China and the United States will decouple in this world?

"Kill them into ogres and eliminate them? How come I don't know that?" Li Shanze asked in surprise.

"Ah, that was decades ago." The old knight suddenly realized. "It's normal that young people today don't know the harm of 'ogres' and can't even recognize you as the 'ogre' they criticize every day. Even you think you're an American, huh."

Oh, it seems that the decoupling of China and the United States in this world is indeed about 1991...

When decoupling, the Run people were sent to concentration camps and shot to death. Is there such a good thing?

As for this 125% national defense magic circle, if it really exists, then Xia Li's teacher must have contributed a lot to it.