For the first time, a crack appeared on the eternally gentle smile on Luo Ning Feng's face.
It was like a tiny crack was knocked open in the perfect sugar shell.
He blinked, seemingly not fully understanding Mark's overly "worldly" reason for refusal.
Sweet? Bad? This is almost an incomprehensible concept in the world he built, which is based on sweetness.
"...don't like...sweet things?"
He repeated Mark's words, and for the first time there was a hint of confusion in his tone, like a grain of sand that didn't fit the specifications being stuck in a precise gear.
The golden-red honey light flowing around him seemed to ripple slightly with the fluctuations of his emotions.
But this confusion was fleeting, replaced by a deeper, more "compassionate" emotion.
He shook his head slightly, as if feeling sorry for Mark's narrow-mindedness:
"Taste preferences are but trivial obsessions borne before the soul's clarity. Clergyman, tell me, in your opinion, are the believers under the Holy Light Church... happy?"
Here we come!
Mark's heart was filled with alarm.
Sure enough, he is following the classic brainwashing route of the evil god of "exposing the sufferings of the world and highlighting my own beauty"!
He could almost imagine in his mind how the other party would denounce the hypocrisy and incompetence of the Holy Light Church.
How to depict the struggles of believers in war, poverty, and disease, and use this to contrast the superiority of Maple Leaf Town's "eternal peace."
It’s just like the large number of videos and recruitment advertisements about high salaries in Southeast Asia that appeared on the Internet before the previous life was exposed.
Mark took a deep breath and didn't follow the other party's rhythm.
He looked directly into those eyes that seemed gentle but were actually so empty that it was frightening.
The tone was decisive, with an almost rude bluntness:
"Your Excellency, whether the believers are happy or not is a matter of the Holy Light, of the Church, and of themselves!"
"I can't control others, and I'm too lazy to care too much! I only care about the people around me. My teammates, my friends. I hope they can have enough food and clothes, less trouble, and more freedom. That's enough! This is what I call 'happiness'!"
He deliberately distinguished himself from the Church of Holy Light, with a strong personal color and sense of boundaries.
These words obviously completely shattered the grand narrative that Luo Ning Feng was trying to guide.
His gentle mask finally broke, and an imperceptible twist of anxiety and displeasure crept up the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
The surrounding honey-colored space began to produce more obvious ripples, the colorful "stars" rotated faster, and the flowing light bands became more viscous, emitting a suffocating sense of oppression.
"You're still stubborn!" He tried to maintain a gentle voice, but underneath it was a chill like the friction of metal. "You've been blinded by the shackles of the world and can't feel how precious the eternal peace brought by this 'sweetness' is!"
"Let go of your unnecessary vigilance and prejudice, let go of your narrow 'taste'. With just a thought, transform yourself into a 'maple syrup chef' and join this happy cycle...true satisfaction and peace are within your reach!"
"Isn't this better than struggling to survive in the strife and filth of the outside world?"
His words were like a physical honey spider web, carrying a strong spiritual induction, trying to directly penetrate Mark's will.
Mark felt that even the two marks from the Holy Light and the Seraph deep in his soul were burning, as if resisting the erosion of this sweetness.
But the greater pressure Mark faced came from the spiritual level. An impulse to give up thinking and indulge in this illusory warmth constantly impacted his reason.
"From now on, I can only eat sweet food?" Mark practically roared, with an almost absurd anger, which became his anchor to resist the erosion of his spirit. "Then I will never be happy! Not even for a single day! I will want to vomit just by looking at sugar! You call that happiness?!"
He used the most mundane, most down-to-earth, and most "Mark-esque" reasons to smash the other party's carefully constructed blueprint for "happiness."
Luo Ning Feng's expression completely froze.
The eternal smile froze on his face, and for the first time, an expression of incomprehensible astonishment clearly emerged in the depths of his eyes.
Even... a hint of offended anger.
Sweets... want to vomit?
This is simply a blasphemy against the foundation of his existence!
The surrounding honey-colored space began to fluctuate violently, and fine black cracks like shattered sugar shells began to appear in the golden-red sky. The dreamy colorful starlight became dazzling and chaotic.
The ultimate sense of happiness and satisfaction in the air was instantly mixed with anxiety, anger, and a panic of being denied.
Just when the spiritual struggle between Mark and "Ronin Feng" reached a climax and the sweet frenzy was about to completely overwhelm Mark's will.
Another equally powerful spiritual wave erupted from the campfire!
Monica!
She kept hugging Xiao Mu tightly, and deep in her wine-red pupils, the identification array had rotated to its limit and was almost burning.
The pressure she was under was no less than that of Mark.
Luo Ning Feng's seductive whisper also echoed in her mind, showing her the illusion of the "perfect state" that can be achieved after forgetting all painful knowledge and retaining only pure identification instinct.
That is the sweetest trap in the appraiser's pursuit of "pure knowledge".
But Monica is not Roning Feng!
Her thirst for knowledge comes from the desire to explore the unknown and the sense of accomplishment in solving puzzles, rather than escaping pain!
If we lose the struggle in the process of seeking knowledge, lose the awe of the unknown, and lose the joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness brought by exploration...is it still "knowledge"?
That's just the sugar residue that was chewed and fed!
She held on to her core understanding with strong will.
While Monica insisted on her original intention, Roning's focus was still on Mark, who offered barbecue as the protagonist of this sacrifice.
Mark's declaration that he "felt like vomiting when he saw sugar" was like a hot iron that burned the sweet fantasy that Luo Ning Feng had carefully constructed.
"What? Did I hit your sore spot? You also think it's impossible to be happy by eating only sweet things!" Facing the mental pressure on Roning, Mark spoke again.
The eternal gentle smile on Luo Ning Feng's face completely shattered, replaced by an offended, almost childish anger.
The surrounding honey-colored space was violently distorted, the golden-red sky was covered with spider-web-like black cracks, and the colorful stars flickered wildly, making a shrill scream similar to the friction of sugar crystals.
"Stupid! Naughty!" Roning's voice lost its mellow soothing quality and became sharp and cold, filled with anger and shame at having his disguise exposed.
"You are too deeply tainted by the filth of this world to even appreciate the purest sweetness! You are unworthy of the responsibilities bestowed by the Holy Light, and even less worthy of experiencing true eternal peace!"
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