Chapter 601 Loren was in so much pain
"Today is the forty-second day since you came to this shadow world."
"The Honing Empire not only successfully occupied its neighboring Kingdom of Bliss, but also the Fuklo Kingdom and Edith Kingdom on the east and west sides have been infiltrated. The Polant Empire is losing ground on the front battlefield. In this battle, our army suffered 30,000 casualties and nearly a thousand magic cannons. The ports in the northern continental strait have also fallen into the hands of the blood clan. It is an established fact that the Honing Empire will launch a new offensive against our country or neighboring countries."
"What's worse is that the parliament's trust in you has fallen to an all-time low. You will be impeached in the no-confidence vote tomorrow."
"This afternoon's speech is your last chance."
"Success or failure depends on this move. Your fate is tied to Loren."
Boss Cat stood on Lanky's desk, fiddling with his Nixie timer and reporting to him.
It was noon in the Prime Minister's office in Hersharem.
After the curtains were drawn, the room became slightly dim, and the Nixie tube timer lamp emitted a saturated orange-red light, lighting up the final countdown like magma.
Lanqi sat alone behind an old wooden desk, surrounded by piles of documents and file bags.
"It is indeed time for me to address the House of Commons."
Lanch's face was illuminated obliquely by the Nixie tube on the table. No one knew what he was thinking, but his eyes seemed to penetrate the direction of the Capitol.
Two days passed after returning to the capital, Hershalom, from Birkinghe County on the northern border. Lanqi had already completed all the coordination work with his stand-in and arranged the final agenda.
The wartime cabinet's support for the resistance no longer exists and it is currently drafting a peace agreement, even adopting the right to postpone its approval, and has not yet approved the alliance with the demons.
Lanqi stood up, walked around the long table, and took off his coat from the coat rack.
Next, before he picked up Boss Cat, he took down a magic device box full of prohibitions from the cabinet on the side of the room.
After opening it, there was only a small communication device inside, and on top of it was a button made of three holy patterns twisted and spliced together.
"Cat, press this button."
Lanqi stroked the cat boss's head and said to it.
The faint buzz of the timer echoed in the silent room, reminding them of the passage of precious time.
"What is this, meow!"
Boss Cat curiously circled around the communication device.
"If you press this button, your contribution to the Shadow World will soar, and you might even get an epic reward that matches your rank."
Lanci said with a smile.
“Meow?!”
The cat boss rolled over in happiness.
It thought Lanqi was just trying to please it by saying he would help it gain contribution points, but it didn't expect Lanqi to have kept it in mind. He liked him so much! "Really? If I press it, will I have a chance to get the epic reward?"
After rolling over on the table, Boss Cat confirmed again.
It always felt that the high-level epic cards that were said to be far away in the sky were too simple. After all, it had never dared to dream of getting epic items before!
"Yes, press it, and many people will be happy."
Lanqi nodded, opened a copy of "The Sacred Ritual Gospels" on the table, and said with certainty.
The concept of the Trinity represents the community between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, a community of love.
It reveals that love is the essence of God and that God's love is unconditional, perfect, and eternal.
Istitutos are encouraged to emulate God’s love and strive to embody love and harmony.
The concept of the Trinity is also related to the Sacred Liturgy Church's concept of salvation.
The Father sent the Son to save humanity, and the Holy Spirit’s work in individuals and in the Church helps to fulfill this plan of salvation.
Redemption is the joint action of all persons of the Godhead to save the world.
And this button is the final step to achieve great love.
"Meow!"
The cat boss raised his paw and pressed the button without hesitation.
"And then? What will happen after pressing it?"
Boss Cat asked, looking around nervously.
It feels like nothing happens when you press the button.
Judging from Lanqi's mysterious tone, something should change after pressing this button.
"Somewhere in the Horning Empire, ten thousand suns will rise."
Lanqi picked up the cat boss and spoke to it kindly.
"Meow?"
The cat boss opened his bright cat eyes.
It doesn't understand.
But it's okay, as long as it can get the reward.
…
Three hours later.
Present world.
In the heart of the Kingdom of Hutton, the Old Bree Courthouse along the wall of Ikerite, a building steeped in history, was gently brushed by a hint of the grayish blue of dawn in the dark hours of the early morning.
At this moment, the world has not yet fully awakened, but the Old Bri Court has been silently waiting on the edge of time, preparing for an emergency hearing held the next day.
The time zone of the seventh-level shadow world's darkest solar eclipse realm is about twelve hours different from the real world. If the real world is at five or six in the morning, then the shadow world is at five or six in the evening.
There are less than seventy-two hours left in the Shadow World, and basically everything has been decided.
Inside the courtroom, traditional wooden paneling and heavy red curtains towered tall, and the statue of the God of Light and Law stood at the end of the hall, as if her eyes were also watching the hearing that was about to unfold.
On this solemn morning, Loren was already standing alone in the center of the courtroom.
He is now a frequent visitor to the judge's bench. The rare stubble on his tired and weathered face makes his former gentleness and handsomeness seem more worldly.
As an eighth-rank high priest, he felt like he was walking on thin ice.
"This seventh-order shadow world is basically hopeless. Not to mention 1%, even 0.1% is out of reach."
"From the video that Loren's students opened last time, it seems like it's complete nonsense."
There was almost no natural light outside the courthouse windows, and the chatter in the jury box echoed like the whispers of ghosts.
"This may be the last hearing today. Are you ready, Loren?"
The judge's gavel rang, and the discussions stopped abruptly, with dead silence enveloping every corner.
The presiding judge, Duke Acares, waved his hand gently, and the crystal ball-shaped magic devices on one side of the courtroom lit up at the same time, projecting the last image of the shadow world.
In the thick fog, the outline of the Polant capital, Hersharem, was vaguely visible.
The bells of Hull's clock tower rang in the quiet and tense atmosphere, reminding the Polant people that the darkest hour had arrived.
The scene then shifts to the Polant Capitol, where the tension is almost palpable.
The politicians were no longer engaged in heated debates; their faces looked particularly serious in the dim light.
The sky was covered with dark clouds, and occasionally one could see the flying dragon war horses of the Horning Empire flying across the sky. The streets were already filled with trenches.
This is the Shadow World message left by Loren's students when they last opened the live broadcast -
[Mission Objective 1: Find the key to defeating the vampires, completed.]
[Mission Objective 2: At the end of the Shadow World, increase the chances of the human race winning against the vampire race to more than 1%. The current winning rate is 0.0007%.]
[Mission Objective 3: All challengers survive until the end of the 45-day time limit, and currently 3/3 survive. ]
Among them, mission objective 1 has been completed.
But the most core task 2 has not only made no progress, but has even regressed.
[Current Status of the Polant Empire]
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
[Public support: 586→705/1000 (popular support and cohesion)]
[House of Representatives: 175→32/1000 (Support rate among the top leaders of the Polant Empire)]
[Military Strength: 199/1000 (with the Honing Empire as a reference)]
[Finance: 325→337/1000 (Current productivity of the Polant Empire)]
[Diplomacy: 232/1000 (diplomatic relations with the Demon Realm and surrounding countries that have not surrendered)]
【Overall odds: 0.0007%】
After Lanqi returned to the Polant Empire, [public opinion] was still growing steadily, but it was of no avail.
The three aspects of [military power], [finance], and [diplomacy] have basically remained stagnant.
The most fatal thing is that the [House] item directly fell below the warning line of 100, which means that the shadow world has entered an uncontrollable rampage mode.
The odds of winning fell back from 0.0074% to 0.0007%.
If nothing unexpected happens, the isolated and helpless Loren student will soon be impeached, and then this seventh-order shadow world will come to an end! And a terrible natural disaster will befall somewhere in the present world.
"I... know what's going on."
Loren looked at the cold film, took a deep breath, and tried to calm the waves in his heart.
"Loren, your student has now completely destroyed this shadow world. Do you admit that he was taught by you, and that you have an unshirkable responsibility for his rash entry into the shadow world and his failure?"
The Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Hutton, Duke Akares, had a serious expression.
"……yes."
Loren choked up a little.
In fact, Lanqi was not really taught by him, but at this time it was even more impossible for him to shift the responsibility to his students, because Lanqi could not bear this responsibility, and he did not want to ruin Lanqi's future.
"I ordered everything."
Loren bowed his head.
His words seemed to be arguing with reality, and every word carried a thousand pounds of weight.
"Okay, Loren, since you said that, I won't ask you any more questions or explain too much about the cause, process, and results. The joint investigation team composed of the United Parliament of the South Continent Kingdom, the Shadow World Management Association, the South Continent Disaster Prevention Agency, the Hutton Kingdom Security Bureau and other departments has already produced a very detailed investigation report."
The presiding judge, Duke Acares, continued.
The conclusion was like a heavy hammer, hitting the hearts of everyone in the court time and time again.
The trial bells of Oldbury Court rang, and the thin light and heavy air intertwined.
People's eyes were focused on Loren, as if the entire weight of the hearing was placed on him.
The entire Hutton Kingdom was also waiting with bated breath for this moment, and even early in the morning, they began broadcasting the crucial hearing.
Even in the courtroom and in the audience, there were still a few people who looked at him with concern, but these were just a drop in the ocean and could not reverse the torrent of public opinion.
At the judgement seat, the Chief Paladin of the Church of the Goddess of Destiny, who had come all the way from the Kingdom of Canberra, clenched his hands tightly.
At this moment, she was not wearing the heavy armor she usually wore, but a light dress, so Loren did not recognize her at all.
"Best friend..."
Until now, the Chief Paladin still believed that her best friend was a mature and stable person who would not make such a mistake. Although she wanted to stand up and say a few words for Loren, she came to the Kingdom of Hutton with the important task of investigating the mysterious cardinal for the United Parliament of the Kingdom. She could not favor her own people at this moment without distinguishing between public and private, and drag the entire Church of the Goddess of Destiny into the water.
She turned her head away with an inner struggle, no longer looking at Loren.
At this moment I just feel like everything is over and I'm sitting on pins and needles.
The hearing was coming to an end before the first rays of morning sun appeared, and everything returned to silence.
Just when people thought that the great and noble priest was about to be disgraced.
The giant outdoor screen in the Kingdom of Hutton that had been broadcasting the morning news turned dark and began to show an urgent movie world scene.
It immediately attracted a lot of attention.
The fact that the movie world can be interrupted at this time must not be a trivial matter.
Hearing the voice, more and more people in the courtroom looked towards the projection screen.
It was indeed Lanqi who opened the Shadow World Live again! "This should be the last Shadow World Live."
"I think Loren's students probably mean the same thing."
“Is there any need to struggle with a 0.0007% win rate?”
The hearing was temporarily suspended, and whispers gradually filled the courtroom and the audience seats.
In the picture, the setting sun gradually sinks to the west, and the afterglow shines on the Hersareem River. The golden light and the rippling river surface, while the spire of the Capitol next to it is still shrouded in an uneasy shadow against the backdrop of the sunset.
The sound of air raid sirens could be heard from time to time, bringing a bit of horror and uncertainty to this quiet evening.
The usual bustling scene around the Capitol was gone, replaced by heavy troops and sparse reporters.
They either stopped to gaze at the afterglow of the setting sun on the Hersareem River, or silently looked up at the Capitol and prayed for the empire in their hearts.
This afternoon, Prime Minister Wilford will give a speech in the House of Commons in Hershalom, which will be broadcast nationwide.
Three days before the speech, various media began to report enthusiastically, and people from all walks of life were eagerly waiting for its arrival.
Everyone in the Polant Empire knows the Prime Minister's current situation in the wartime cabinet.
This speech.
Also referred to by the media as a possible prime minister——
The last speech.
(End of this chapter)