Chapter 132: Divine History
Far away in the Kasa Strait, Jack Rabbi never missed a single issue of the People's Daily. Or rather, everyone in the Jaguar Wharf Union, including his second brother, Eske Rabbi, were loyal readers of the People's Daily.
Until one day, he saw the name of his elder brother, Mardell Rabbi, in the Daily News.
Jack immediately burst into tears, with tears and snot streaming down his cheeks. He cried so hard that his second brother threatened to beat him if he cried again. He cried until his youngest sister Nina hugged him and cried with him. Marcyline squatted beside them with a helpless look on her face, wiping their faces - the force was a little too strong, and they both fell all over the place, and their cheeks were sore.
He didn't know why he was crying. Perhaps it was because his poor, gentle, kind eldest brother wasn't a heretic, perhaps it was because of his parents, who hadn't heard back since this needless escape, or perhaps it was because of his own doubts and weakness. His second brother, who had already heard his fragmented account of the whole thing, chewed tobacco, and Jack could faintly see tears glistening in his eyes—but his second brother was still his second brother, as annoying as ever, and he rudely wiped his hands across his face.
"Stop crying! Like a woman!"
"Hey!" Marcylin glared at him in dissatisfaction, waving her fist in front of him threateningly: "A woman can also beat you until you cry out. Do you want to try it?"
Askew reluctantly but quickly fell silent. Marchline took the newspaper and flipped through it. As always, she paused for a long time when she came to the author's column—Jack still remembered her intense reaction when she first saw the name and heard that she had met the author in person.
The red-haired girl smashed down the thick stone wall with one punch, and with a gloomy face, asked him the author's name and where he came from.
She looked so terrifying at that time that Jack was so frightened that he stuttered and his brain was a mess. He only remembered describing how heavy the bag of money the other party handed over was.
"So there's a high probability that there's a photo stone inside." Marcylin sneered, but changed the subject when he asked further questions - but the other party also had never missed any issue of "Lianmin Bao", and Jack couldn't help but carefully ask her if she knew that "Mr. Nova".
"Of course I know her," the red-haired girl replied faintly, and Jack felt she was gritting her teeth. "I know her very well."
"...I think he's a good man." Jack couldn't help but whisper, "He speaks for the poor, while those gentlemen just ignore us or tell us to get lost."
"That's not how you distinguish good from bad." The red-haired girl shook her head slightly, but she couldn't explain why. After seeing the report on the Winter Judgment, she became even more taciturn on the topic. Jack even secretly saw her grinning at a newspaper when no one was around, but she would immediately return to normal when she saw him.
The Winter Judgment caused huge shocks in various senses in the Silver Iris Empire. At the center of this turbulent storm, the once-in-a-decade publication date of "Divine History" is finally approaching.
At this stage, the specific content of "Divine History" could no longer be concealed. After receiving the sample issue, Delos Rabelais almost had a heart attack on the spot. He rushed into his beloved disciple's office in anger, pointed at him, and his lips trembled for a long time, but he didn't say a word.
Fearing that the old man would get angry and hurt himself, Nova quickly stepped forward and helped him sit down. The old man had a dark face and rubbed his chest for a long time to calm down, but he couldn't help but roar and scolded the man viciously.
Don't be fooled by this student's usual cold, serious and reliable appearance - according to him, "his decision-making accuracy rate is almost 100%" - but in fact, once he makes trouble, it is a big deal.
The People's Daily, the Black County Strike, the Judicial Association, and even the current Divine History... Rabelais was by no means blind. The other party's fragile neck was already looming in the noose.
Staring at his troubled student, Rabelais began to feel his age clearly. The other party had concealed this from him, clearly aiming to "act first and report later." If he hadn't been the one being kept in the dark, he would have agreed that this was indeed a form of "maximizing profit." Before the outbreak of the Winter Judgment, no one would have believed that the prestige of the Church would have plummeted to such an unprecedented level. Now was the perfect time to publish a new edition of Divine History.
But although Rabelais had already vaguely anticipated what the young people would do, even the former "prophet" gradually lost the ability and position to stop them. The young sun will surely dispel the cold night of old age, and all he can do is to use up his last remaining heat to try his best to help them burn longer and brighter.
——But this does not mean that Delos Rabelais cannot now teach his students with full energy.
"You knew that a long time ago?"
The old man finally stopped to catch his breath and drank some water to replenish his strength. Seeing that the student had become listless after being scolded by him, he finally angrily changed his target.
The annoying jerk who stayed beside the student always maintained a gentle and perfect smile. Hearing this, he curled his eyes innocently and said, "It's just a little earlier than you know."
And he knew even more - of course, it was not a good idea to reveal this to the old man who was visibly getting angrier because the student's elbows were turned outward.
The moment he learned of the professor's entire plan, the savior's rage was no less than that of Delos Rabelais now - it was a mixture of emotions, anger and heartache, and he wanted to pin the man down and spank him.
However, due to his personality and his promise not to get angry at anyone, he did not show any anger at the time. He had to suppress his temper and gently explain the entire plan to his nemesis who was alert and waiting for his reaction. It was indeed a "perfect" plan, highly feasible and fault-tolerant. Apart from the fact that the professor himself, who was at the core of the plan, was in danger, there was almost no flaw.
He had no right to blame the other party. This was undoubtedly the "best option." Even a savior couldn't come up with a better plan. From an outsider's perspective, he would even applaud it. Given this, he absolutely could not add further pressure to this person who already bore a heavy responsibility.
——Although he wanted to hold the person in his arms, bite the pale and fragile neck with his teeth, and swallow all the tears and struggles mixed with blood and flesh.
…Whether in the past life or this life, his nemesis always makes “Azuka” feel the frustration and pain of powerlessness, even though he has become the strongest person in the secular definition.
The publication date of "Divine History" fell on a perfectly ordinary winter day in the Silver Iris Empire. As always, it should have had nothing to do with the lowest commoners. Whether it was the chimney-smoker sleeping in the ashes of an extinguished stove, the laundress with chilblained hands, or the cleaner shivering in thin clothing in the winter wind—the vast majority of them could not afford the daunting tome that cost three silver coins per copy. Their only possible access to it was during weekly worship, when they would watch from afar as the clergy of their respective churches or temples extolled the merits of their gods, citing fragments from the "Divine History."
However, the editor-in-chief of the Limin Daily announced in advance that he would open a page in the newspaper to serialize the latest edition of the Divine History. A newspaper that only cost one or two copper coins was naturally much cheaper than buying a whole thick book directly. The sales of the Limin Daily on the first day of the special edition of the Divine History soared by nearly one-fold. In addition to the loyal readership of the newspaper itself, there was also a group of devout and poor believers.
This also led to the fact that when the Holy See and the major temples actually saw the latest edition of "History of the Gods", the content of the chapter named "Origin: The Human Age" had almost spread throughout the entire Silver Iris Empire.
Later historians described it as "a huge fireball roaring and smashing into the dark and restless wilderness."
It's well known that the theologians who compiled the Divine History signed the Effec Pact and swore to the Okunsele River to ensure absolute fairness and not to lie or fabricate. This also means that the extremely blasphemous idea that "the gods were once human" is very likely "true."
Believers nationwide, and even the Vatican and the Temple, were immediately plunged into unprecedented turmoil. Conservatives demanded the immediate execution of the author of such blasphemous texts and the abolition of seminaries. More progressive clergy demanded an investigation into whether heretics within the Vatican had provided false historical materials to theologians.
But without exception, they all demanded that the Okensele Society hand over all the theologians responsible for compiling the "Divine History", especially the author of the first chapter.
After a brief moment of panic, students from Baita University's seminary openly took to the streets and read the first chapter of "History of the Gods" to all civilians for free. This section covers almost all the mainstream gods with names, with the length of the text varying depending on the abundance of relevant historical materials.
Many believers angrily called it blasphemy, but they soon discovered that the historical materials selected in the divine history were all stories that had more or less been told by priests. However, when compared with historical materials in their own field or other fields, some terrible associations emerged that became increasingly irrefutable the more they thought about it.
The spokespeople of today's mainstream temples all claim that "the gods are simply asleep." Only the successive popes of the Church of Light request the arrival of the God of Light during the succession ceremony and personally appoint the next pope. But are the gods really just "asleep"?
A cardinal's accountability order completely broke the deadlock. It specifically requested Nova, a theology professor at Baita University's theology school, to appear at the Guangming Church in Baita Town, the seat of the diocese, for questioning within three days.
Although the person who came was not a judge from the Inquisition and their method could be considered "polite", everyone knew that the journey was dangerous and there was a high possibility that they would not return.
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