Phil Gray and Eli, along with the Skeleton Lord, arrived at Iron City, next to Gaza, the next morning.
To avoid frightening ordinary people, the Skeleton Lord deliberately wore a black cloak, covering himself completely.
Pingtie City's gates remained tightly shut until they revealed their identities. Only then did the city lord of Pingtie City hurriedly come over and open the gates, respectfully leading them to the city lord's mansion.
"Your Holiness, are you saying that the archbishop who worships disease is dead?" the city lord of Pingtie City asked incredulously.
"Yes, not only that, but all the 'Disease Masters' he brought with him have also died."
"Oh, that's wonderful! Praise be to the God of Destiny! Praise be to Your Majesty! You are truly our savior! On behalf of all the people of Pingtie City, I thank you for your kindness!" The city lord of Pingtie City was so excited that he was almost incoherent, his eyes filled with tears of gratitude.
Just a moment ago, they were still in a state of panic, everyone trembling with fear that the disease cult would once again attack the city. But now, His Holiness the Pope's arrival and the news of his victory have undoubtedly given the city and its residents great comfort and hope.
Phil Gray shook hands with him, revealing a humble smile: "Protecting believers is the responsibility of the Church of Destiny. I am merely fulfilling the duties of a pope. It is you, Lord, who has faced danger without fear and protected the people. You have worked very hard. Also, due to the damage caused by the disease worship in Gaza, some reconstruction work needs to be done. We need your help, Lord."
"Of course, of course, I will send some supplies over there, and see if there is anything else I can do to help."
His Holiness the Pope was so approachable, humble and polite that the Lord of Pingtie City was deeply moved.
“Where are Bishop Joshua and the Knight Commander?” Phil Gray asked, a hint of worry in his mind as he recalled their injuries sustained when they faced the Archbishop of Disease.
“They are resting at my residence. Yesterday, we invited a chosen one of the Church of Life to treat them. They should be much better today. I will go and invite them over. You can rest here for a while.”
"good."
Phil Gray took his seat at the head of the council chamber and discussed the next steps with Eli.
The Skeleton Lord surveyed the surroundings. The council hall of the Pingtie City Lord's Mansion was simply yet solemnly decorated, with a holy image of the God of Fate hanging in the center of the wall, giving people a sense of tranquility and peace.
He was pondering the differences between the decoration style of his city lord's mansion and those of city lords in the human world, and where he could learn from them.
A short while later, the city lord of Pingtie City led two people in.
Joshua and Ernest seemed to walk with a brisk pace, their faces somewhat pale, yet they could hardly contain their urge to see His Holiness the Pope immediately.
"Your Majesty, you're all better? That's wonderful!" Ernest looked Phil Gray up and down, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was standing in front of him healthy.
Joshua's expression also improved.
When they left, His Holiness the Pope was still asleep. Although they wanted to stay by His Holiness's side, the disease cult was raging, so they had no choice but to leave His Holiness and come here to fight the enemy.
"It's alright, I'm sorry to have worried you." Phil Gray smiled.
"I heard from the city lord that you resolved the issue of the archbishop who worshipped the disease and his men?" Joshua asked.
“Yes, there are no more disease worshippers in Gaza City now. The perpetrators will eventually reap what they sow. Our next step is to retaliate against them. Wasn’t the disease worshippers trying to take advantage of fate? Now, their five cities will all become the domain of fate!” Phil Gray said with a smile.
He could roughly guess why the disease worship was targeting him. It was because Fate had no divine followers and felt that Fate was easy to control. In addition, the undercover agent told them that Fate had lost many divine followers due to the purge of traitors, and its strength had greatly declined. Moreover, Fate was geographically very close, so they wanted to take over Fate to strengthen their power.
However, their attempt to steal a chicken backfired. Most of the followers of the Disease Cult have now died in Gaza City, and there are probably not many followers left in their territory. It is the perfect time to completely wipe them out.
“Yes, when shall we make our move?” Ernest and Joshua, of course, had no objections.
“How are you feeling?” Phil Gray didn’t answer, but instead asked about their health.
“Yes, how’s your arm growing back? Let me see.” Eli pulled up Ernest’s sleeve. Before leaving, he had given Ernest the flower that had helped him regrow his severed limb; it was one of the few he had left.
Seeing the well-recovered arm, Eli clicked his tongue, somewhat regretting not having stockpiled more when he was a chosen one of the God of Life.
“Much better. We were struck by Agnus’s staff yesterday and contracted some viruses, but a Life-Benefactor living in Gaza helped us treat them. We’ll be fine after another day of rest,” Joshua replied. The situation was looking very good, and he felt his illness had lessened.
Ernest nodded in agreement.
“No need to rush. I’ve had Patrick order a batch of protective gear from the Commercial Church. It will be delivered here in three days. You all need to rest and recuperate during these three days, and also give our chosen ones some time to recover. Once the gear arrives, we will crush the disease worship!” Phil Gray’s eyes shone with a look of certainty.
May destiny be everlasting, and may glory endure forever!
Praise be to fate!
Others chimed in.
After the arrangements were finalized, Phil Gray, having nothing else to do, decided to keep his promise and took the Skeleton Lord for a stroll around Iron City.
Pingtie City is famous for its iron ore. One-third of the iron ore used by the Church of Destiny comes from this city, which gives the city a sense of stability and reliability.
"It's been too long, I've forgotten where I lived before I died, but all the worlds are like this, so there doesn't seem to be any need to search for it." The Skeleton City Lord looked around at the city's dark gray buildings and squares, vaguely remembering that the place where he used to live was a village full of birdsong and fragrant flowers, completely different from this place.
However, the two are essentially no different; neither belongs to him, a dead man, and neither can give him the abyss-like sense of belonging.
“Now that you have your own territory and can be with the gods, it’s normal that you look down on the mortal world,” Phil Gray laughed.
"I just don't understand why Frank would want to be so worldly."
"Not everyone can leave this world without regrets. Although for the deceased it is an early return to the embrace of the gods, they will eventually be separated from their relatives and friends by life and death, and it is inevitable that some attachments will remain."
Phil Gray told the Skeleton Lord the story of Eli and his sister, and the lord seemed to understand something.
"And what about you? Will you go to the Abyss afterward, Your Holiness the Pope of Fate?"
The Skeleton Lords stopped in their tracks; they now stood beneath the high walls of the city gate.
"I'm very sorry I didn't tell you the truth before. Besides being a chosen one of the God of Death, I am also a chosen one of the God of Destiny, and I am currently serving as the Pope of the Church of Destiny."
Phil Gray had planned to be honest before asking the Skeleton Lord for help, but he didn't expect him to ask now.
"A chosen one of two gods? That's incredible. I shouldn't have underestimated that Death Knight's friend." The Skeleton Lord exclaimed in surprise. Even after experiencing countless strange and bizarre things in the abyss, he had never heard of anyone becoming a chosen one of two gods.
“It’s all God’s arrangement; I need to do something,” Phil Gray said ambiguously.
"Oh, I see. So your backer isn't some death knight, but a god. I take back what I said earlier. When you meet the god of death, please give him my greetings." The Skeleton Lord laughed.
“Of course you can.” Phil Gray said, both amused and exasperated.
But right now, he probably doesn't want to see the God of Death.
...
"Set off!"
"Open the city gates!"
"The air here is terrible. I dare say I would have caught a disease if it weren't for the mask bestowed upon me by His Holiness the Pope."
"Look at the people here, every single one of them looks sickly and weak, it's truly pitiful!"
"Are we really going to be stationed here? Good heavens, this place is more like our prison!"
"Don't worry, once there are no more disease-causing people polluting the city, the air will be restored in a few days. Then, plant some plants, and it will be able to become the next Gaza City."
"Don't even mention Gaza City. It's been overrun by disease worship, and even the flowers, plants, and trees on the streets have withered. They won't grow back until next spring."
"There are five cities in the disease-worshipping region, and we have already conquered three of them!"
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