Chapter 249: The Pattern of the Evil God

Chapter 249: The Design of an Evil God

Success!

Karen looked down at the child, Pick, who lay amidst the wheat field, and said:

"Abide by the rules of Order."

"Yes, Boss..."

The next moment, Karen opened his eyes. There was no weariness in them, but rather a strange, brilliant light.

For a long time, he had been using practice to verify a hypothesis: the true relationship between Order and the God of Order. He had already walked this path himself, but this time, it was equivalent to changing the subject and doing it all over again.

This meant that Order truly was Order, and the God of Order—he was merely the God of Order.

Anyone could walk this path, but the God of Order had monopolized it early on. Now, he too could partake in it.

Although the single Pick he had guided was entirely negligible compared to the vast ocean of Order's believers, it was a beginning.

The hardest part was going from zero to one, and he had taken that step.

This was the vista Karen pursued; this was the scenery he wished to behold, and it was also the hope that Dis had entrusted to him.

Karen believed that a day would come when he would return home, laden with the harvests and realizations of his journey. He would cook a meal, awaken Dis, and the grandfather and grandson would eat together while he recounted everything he had seen along the way.

Pick opened his eyes as well. He looked at Karen, placing his hands against his chest:

"Praise Order. Praise the Boss."

Karen also placed his hands against his chest, saying:

"Praise the great God of Order."

This method differed from brainwashing because Karen had not altered Pick's cognition. Pick already believed in Order. In his original understanding, Order was the God of Order; he had no concept of separating the two. But now, he possessed that concept.

If one had to make an analogy, it was equivalent to Karen creating a new sect within the Orthodoxy of Order. The faith remained the same, but the doctrines carried a new interpretation and exposition.

Dinkum watched this scene. He felt that something was amiss, yet he could not put his finger on it.

Alfred nudged Dinkum's arm gently with his elbow and said:

"The gap begins to widen from this very moment."

Hearing this, a massive sense of crisis instantly flared within Dinkum's heart, as if he could already foresee the miserable future where Pick, whom he had always considered a bit slow-witted, left him far behind.

"You have just completed your Divine Enlightenment; go and rest. Alfred will prepare the spells you can attempt to learn at this stage. If there is anything you do not understand, you may ask him directly."

"Yes, Boss."

Pick stood up and turned to bow to Alfred.

When he looked back at Dinkum, a familiarly honest smile appeared on his face as he said, "You are next, Dinkum."

"Mm." Dinkum nodded. He felt that after the Divine Enlightenment, Pick's temperament had indeed changed.

Finally, before stepping out the door, Pick could not help but turn back to Karen once more:

"Um, Boss..."

"Alfred, starting next month, increase Pick's salary fivefold."

Originally, Pick's base salary was one hundred Order vouchers per month, issued by the Orthodoxy of Order. After Karen became the owner of the funeral parlor, Pick and Dinkum received an additional bonus of three hundred Order vouchers each month, not counting the special stipends for the times they had to stay up late working.

Five hundred plus three hundred plus one hundred—that made nine hundred Order vouchers. The monthly stipend for a lowest-ranking Inquisitor was only a thousand Order vouchers.

"Very well, Young Master."

"Thank you, Boss! Thank you, Boss! I will work hard!"

"Good."

Pick and Dinkum both went outside.

Purr immediately spoke up and asked, "Success?"

"Mm, success."

"So, strictly speaking, whose believer is Pick now?"

"He is still a believer of Order."

"But not a believer of the God of Order anymore, right?"

"Mm."

"To think it was actually accomplished... Heavens." Purr widened her feline eyes.

"Woof!"

Karen looked at Alfred, who translated: "That was just a pure 'woof'."

"Heh."

Karen smiled and shook his head. He stood up from his chair, habitually reaching up to stroke his forehead.

Purr looked at Karen and asked, "Are you very tired?"

"A little."

"Then next time we won't choose someone like Pick. Having a beginning is already excellent; in the future, we can find someone more refined."

"There is no other way. This can only work on those around me before their Divine Enlightenment. It wouldn't work on strangers, because when faced with me and the God of Order, they would certainly choose the God of Order over me."

Purr said, "Then the cost-performance ratio is terribly low. Don't tell me we have to open an orphanage to cultivate affection from childhood?"

Alfred spoke up: "Perhaps this is the price of proselytization. When any new church first rises, it faces this kind of problem. The starting phase is always the hardest. Only after forming a baseline scale can it enter a virtuous cycle and begin to snowball.

However, please rest assured, Young Master. Helping you proselytize and allowing the light of your thought to illuminate more places is inherently my duty and mission. I can undertake this task. In fact, once conditions are ample, I can open an orphanage."

Purr glanced at Alfred and said, "Radio sprite, you are thinking too simply. Do you think you can just proselytize whenever you want?"

Alfred smiled and said, "What we believe in is Order."

"Oh, true enough. Then there is no problem. You propagate the concepts of Order, and then slip in your own hidden cargo. But Karen will still have to show his face there from time to time.

Ah, how tedious. Looking at it now, the family belief system is still the best—you just have to keep having children."

"Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!"

It was rare for Kevin to "woof" so many times at once.

Astonishment registered on both Alfred's and Purr's faces.

Karen, who had been waiting for the translation, could not help but remind them: "Was it still just a simple 'woof'?"

Alfred spoke: "Kevin means that although rumors of the impending emergence of the gods have been circulating, whether the gods can actually descend again remains unknown. Even if they do, it might be a very long time from now. On this premise, things can be made much simpler.

That is, for you to climb upward with all your might, Young Master, until you reach the position of High Priest. Use your merits and deeds to establish your status and influence within the Orthodoxy of Order, binding your own existence to that of the God of Order, just as the church alters mythological narratives.

For instance, define yourself as the Son of Order, the earthly incarnation of the God of Order, the spokesman for the God of Order.

In this way, when the servants of the Orthodoxy of Order pass through their Divine Enlightenment phase in the future, they can enter your realm in massive batches.

In a hundred years, or two hundred years, when the old fogies are all gone, the Orthodoxy of Order will have actually completed... the clearing of the cage for new birds."

Having listened to Kevin's suggestion, Karen pursed his lips as well, because he, too, was thoroughly shaken.

Perhaps this was the vision and the grand design of an evil god.

While others were still thinking of starting from an "orphanage," the Evil God was contemplating a top-down "blood transfusion" from the very peak, allowing himself to steal the home of the God of Order.

If that truly came to pass, then perhaps centuries later, when the gods awakened and the God of Order returned once more, looking at the Church of Order of that time, would he find it entirely unrecognizable?

"Woof! Woof!"

Purr translated, "The stupid dog says, if this plan succeeds, then can the God of Order even continue to be the God of Order?"

"Woof! Woof!"

Alfred translated, "The disappearance of the God of Light led to the fall of the Church of Light. The existence of a deity can influence the existence of the church, but all influence is mutual; the existence of the church will inevitably affect the foundation of the god."

Purr sat on the desk, looking at Cullen, and said, "In this way, the real God of Order will become the fake one, and you, Cullen, will become..."

"The young master will become the true God of Order."

Kevin immediately followed up, "Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Cullen raised his hand, first stopping Purr and Alfred's translations, and asked:

"Did Kevin just say that when the time comes, we could even give the God of Order a judgment, declaring him an evil god, and then he would be an evil god?"

"Yes, young master."

Kevin wagged his dog tail frantically; clearly, this hypothesis made it incredibly excited, because it was the one that had been judged as an evil god by Order.

Cullen picked up the water on the desk, which was no longer so cold, and took a sip.

"Heh."

Cullen smiled, waving his hand:

"It is not even time for a midday nap, yet we have all started dreaming together, heh."

"Heh."

"Heh-meow."

"Woof."

Everyone laughed.

Calmness returned to Cullen’s face, and he asked, "But the problem is, if this dream really continues in this manner, then what difference is there between me and the God of Order?"

Kevin scratched his dog head, a look of agony appearing on his face.

Purr spoke up, "This question, we really cannot answer..."

Alfred, however, showed a look of reverence, saying, "This is precisely where the young master differs from those gods. I believe the young master will walk a path entirely distinct from theirs, just like the feeling that song gives."

"Which song?" Purr asked.

"The song that conquered me. I still do not understand the lyrics now, but I can feel its inner substance and power."

"Alright, I am tired. I will take a bath,

Watching Mrs. Lake’s retreating figure as she walked toward the kitchen, Teacher Daisy blinked, mulling over the woman's earlier words: *Without him, I don't know what life would have become.*

But what about your husband, ma'am? Isn't your husband still around?

Those words,

they hardly sounded like something a wife would say while her husband was still alive; instead, they sounded like...

...

Karen lay in bed as Dora and Doreen knocked on the door, and Pu'er helped call out:

"Come in."

Dora and Doreen walked inside, long accustomed to Pu'er’s ability to speak. After all, their father was an Inquisitor, and they themselves had suffered the torment of contamination, giving them a broader perspective. Furthermore, Pu'er had previously examined them and formulated new medicine for them—how could one inquire about an illness and ask after symptoms without speaking?

Sitting in bed in his pajamas with a newspaper in hand, Karen put the paper down and nodded to them.

Dora and Doreen bowed to Karen together, saying in unison:

"Thank you, Mr. Karen."

"You are welcome."

The two girls entered the bathroom and closed the door. The older sister, Dora, hesitated for a moment but did not lock it.

It was not that they were harboring any illicit expectations, but rather, they simply felt that the sound of a locking door would be a form of disrespect toward Mr. Karen.

The two girls set their things down, shed their clothes, and slid into the bathtub together, their faces instantly relaxing into expressions of sheer comfort.

...

Though there were two girls bathing in his master bedroom's bathroom, Karen did not harbor a single improper thought. Both girls were entirely pure, and to entertain any sordid desires would only make him feel incredibly cheap.

Lying across Karen's chest, Pu'er said, "I won't go push the door open for you. I know you don't like them too skinny; you prefer them a bit more voluptuous, hehe."

Karen had noticed that Pu'er took great pleasure in teasing him about such matters—an eccentricity seemingly shared by every self-appointed elder who utterly lacked the dignity of one.

"Indeed, I prefer them a bit more voluptuous. Like the one I saw last time, lying on a white bed."

"Is it Eunice? The bed in her bedroom seems to be white."

"Wearing a hood, sporting boots, with her thighs exposed, and a touch of baby fat on her face..."

"Mm..." Pu'er snapped her head up, then extended a paw to clamp it directly over Karen's mouth. "Damn it, damn it, oh my god, damn it! I am not fat, I am not round!"

Karen reached up to gently push Pu'er away, saying, "It seems someone has been a cat for far too long, completely forgetting what she used to look like."

"You still dare say it! You still dare say it!"

Just then, Alfred arrived at the bedroom door and knocked:

"Young master, a phone call has come. A mission notice. In two hours, Fanny will drive to the funeral parlor entrance to pick you up."

"Alright, I understand."

Karen sat up from the bed and said, "It is time to go to Dark Moon Island."

Pu'er stopped using Miss Ophelia as a teasing point. Instead, she looked at Karen and said:

"You are traveling far. You must stay safe."

"I know."

"If you feel homesick during this time, you can have Alfred drive you back to stay at the manor."

"No need. I will just stay at home and wait for you to return."

Pu'er seemed to realize that her words carried an atmosphere that was a bit too intimate, so she immediately added:

"After all, I am still waiting for my puppet body. I want to go street-strolling, I want to go shopping!"

"Alright, as long as you are happy."

"By the way, you absolutely must not forget that matter. You must do it, do not forget!"

"Pah."

[End of this volume.]