Chapter 201: Counterattack

Chapter 201: Counterstrike

An hour later, on the third floor of the Great Library.

Jin Cheng paced back and forth in the dim basement, his face a portrait of frantic desperation.

"It's chaos, the whole city is in chaos."

"Those brainless believers are spreading rumors of the 'anomalous omen'; no matter how we try to suppress it, it will not be silenced."

"Zhang Tao has already turned. How could he betray!"

"He was once one of the most loyal commanders of the Guard Brigade, even a candidate for bishop!"

"And now he has defected to the Huaxia army."

"He dares to defy my edict!"

"He even dares to enlist the power of those Huaxia troops to reject my decree!"

"This is unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable."

Seeing Jin Cheng's expression teeter on the brink of madness, the black-robed Grand Archbishop hurried forward, seized him, led him to a chair, and only then spoke soothingly:

"Perhaps Zhang Tao has not truly betrayed."

"Perhaps he was merely coerced by those heretics—indeed, even he himself seemed terribly frightened."

"It was not a premeditated plot on their part; rather, the heretics chose him."

"But that does not erase the fact that he has already betrayed!"

Jin Cheng thundered:

"The moment the heretical war-machines stood behind him, he had already committed treason!"

"We must react; the traitor must be punished!"

"But what can we do?"

The Grand Archbishop sighed gravely, then said:

"Our strength cannot match theirs; even knowing they intend to force you to step down, we have no recourse."

"No!"

Jin Cheng cut him off, his demeanor suddenly calm.

"We have a way."

"I now understand what they seek."

"They desire a stable Jinling City; otherwise, they would not have expended such effort to elevate Zhang Tao."

"They will not strike us directly, for they fear that without the Mechanical Church's governance, the whole of Jinling would descend into chaos."

"That is their Achilles' heel."

"Consequently, they will not pursue an armed overthrow."

"Their tricks may fool the common folk, but they cannot deceive the Guard Brigade nor the most devout of the Holy Hall."

"As long as we refuse to relinquish the throne, their scheme cannot advance."

"All we need to do is rally the core faithful to withstand their onslaught."

At that, Jin Cheng paused.

After a moment of careful thought, he spoke:

"We must find a way to win over everyone we can—no matter the cost, we must court them."

"Moreover, we must prove we are not the 'sinners' they claim; on the contrary, Zhang Tao is the true sinner."

"And my safety must be guaranteed; I have a premonition that they have already arranged a trial for me."

"But I will never accept a judgment from those heretics."

"From this day forward, I shall not leave the Great Library again."

"It is the safest place in all of Jinling. See to it that it is sealed, that no soul may enter or exit."

"That is not enough. We must devise a method to bind my position to the very fate of Jinling City."

When Jin Cheng's words faded, the Grand Archbishop's gaze shifted slightly.

He did not grasp what 'binding' entailed, yet he sensed Jin Cheng's meaning: should he be stripped of the holy seat, the whole city would be sacrificed with him.

It was, in fact, a shrewd option.

The question, however, remained: how could such a feat be accomplished??

Bury the entire city of Jinling in gunpowder?

What a joke—does the Church even possess that much powder?

Even if it did, there would be no time to deploy it.

Their plan is already nocked; they will not grant the Saint any ample reaction time.

All physical 'bindings' are futile, but if we bind by faith—our opponents have already moved ahead.

"I cannot conceive of any good solution."

"Originally, the bond of faith was our greatest trump card, yet if they seek not to shake the foundations of belief but merely to 'replace'—"

"—then we must demonstrate the replaced one's wickedness."

Jin Cheng spoke slowly:

"A devotee of the Holy Trinity cannot accept an impious man upon the saint's throne; no matter how wondrous the 'miracle' before us, if it points to the wicked, that so‑called miracle is nothing but heretical trickery."

"That is the core of the binding."

"They accuse me of sin, yet they possess no proof."

"Failure and error are never evidence of 'wickedness'; only apostasy and blasphemy are."

"I now need to know: do we have any evidence of Zhang Tao's sacrilege?"

"Perhaps not."

The Grand Archbishop shook his head, then quickly turned the question back:

"But does it matter?"

"Indeed, does it matter?"

A faint smile finally curled at Jin Cheng's mouth.

He exhaled deeply, then said:

"These Huaxia troops may understand machinery, but they know nothing of faith."

"That is our winning trump card."

"Countless years have passed, and countless hands have sought to dissect and bury the great Church, yet faith has repeatedly bound us together, guiding us through every crisis."

"This time shall be no different."

“We must make them understand that the most powerful weapon in this world is not their unmanned machines, nor cannons or bullets, but our faith.”

“Go, compile the evidence of the traitors.”

“I suppose you know what must be done.”

“I know.”

The archbishop bowed slightly, and after straightening, spoke again:

“But I wish to confirm one more thing.”

“Sir, must the evidence we seek also include the Huaxia troops?”

“No.”

Jin Cheng said firmly:

“On the contrary, let every citizen of Jinling know that the ‘Holy Eight-One’ are also victims.”

“They too have been blinded by the traitors, they too do not see the truth.”

“This is not merely for our own safety; more importantly, I want the Huaxia forces to know who truly holds power.”

“I want them to know that only I can give them what they need.”

“Stability? I can grant it to them as a charity.”

“But when I refuse to give, they must never be allowed to seize it!”

“Otherwise, even if we perish together, I will ensure they get nothing at all!”

After Jin Cheng’s plan was set, the archbishop swiftly summoned the core members of the church to convey the orders.

Soon, the Mechanical Cult’s retaliation arrived, and the archbishop’s strategy mirrored that devised by He Shuo.

They likewise avoided any official church channels, instead spreading rumors about the “unrighteous one” in secret.

Perhaps they understood that among the ignorant masses, gossip often carries more credibility than top‑down testimony.

Thus a whisper began to circulate through Jinling.

When the sun rose the next day, merchants, commoners, mercenaries, even the ji women, were all debating the same topic.

“Did you hear? The sinner has been found.”

“He is a traitor who betrayed the Mechanical Cult.”

“What kind of traitor? How would I know?”

“They say his blood is no longer pure.”

“No, I heard he desecrated the machine soul, causing it to abandon us.”

“Now the Holy Eight-One has returned with the machine soul, and the returned soul has exposed the traitor’s crimes.”

“Who is it? Who exactly is the traitor?”

“No one knows, but perhaps the commander of the Fifteenth Guard Brigade has been chosen as the arbiter.”

“He? By what right?”

Truth and falsehood tangled together, yet no report pointed clearly.

That, precisely, was Jin Cheng’s brilliance.

From the start he never openly opposed the “phenomena” He Shuo fabricated; instead he turned them into a trial for the “unrighteous one.”

Clearly, the populace already brain‑washed by doctrine swallowed it whole.

Yet that alone was insufficient.

Their motivation still fell far short.

The church had to give them more reasons.

More reasons to “continue the quest.”

Consequently, rumors of disaster wrought by the unrighteous one began to spread.

Secret records that had never left the Great Library that day seemed to become bedtime stories for all.

In just one morning, many in Jinling had the tale of “the unrighteous one bringing divine punishment, causing the ruin of Chuansha City” etched in memory.

Of course, there were also stories of “the unrighteous Zhang He slain by the saint with the holy Fate‑gun,” and “the unrighteous betrayer buried by the most loyal Trinity Knight.”

Some of these sprang from doctrine and scripture; others appeared from thin air.

Yet no one questioned their veracity.

Even the most devout believers only doubted that their grasp of doctrine was incomplete, that their study of the tangled history was lacking.

After all, how could anything tied to the church be false?

Moreover, everything circulating thus far aligned perfectly with doctrine.

So, in a very short time, everyone firmly believed the unrighteous one had indeed emerged.

He simply had not yet been found, had not yet been punished.

But who was he, truly?

All eyes turned once more to Zhang Tao.

He had become the legendary “Arbiter,” and all hoped for his swift action, all awaited his exposing the traitor before the Holy Trinity, to avert the looming “Divine Retribution.”

Yet the more eyes gathered upon him, the more of his past was laid bare.

His résumé, his identity, his childhood, the battles he had commanded

Gradually, dissenting voices began to rise.

No one knew where the first question originated,

but someone finally asked the crucial opening line:

“Does he truly deserve to be the Arbiter?”

Perhaps not.

Some said he once lost hundreds of elite guard warriors in Jinghai through a blunder, but that seemed less a mistake than a sacrifice to heresy.

Others claimed his blood had been tainted by monsters, that even his mind had become unhinged.

Still others argued the siege of Huadu was tied to him; why else would he arrive at that “coincidental” moment?

More and more people began to doubt Zhang Tao, yet no one questioned the source of the rumors.

Unwittingly, public opinion about Zhang Tao reversed.

And the “truth” that followed the reversal seemed all the more credible.

He had been nailed as the “unrighteous one.”

He had become the sinner who deceived the Holy Trinity, the church, the saint, and the God of Machines.

No one knew why.

Zealous believers simply laid every hardship upon his shoulders, demanding he explain and prove his innocence.

And as those cries grew louder, explanation seemed no longer necessary.

The believers set aside their labors, gathering before the cathedral to shout slogans, as if a softer voice would summon the apocalypse at once.

"Judge the unjust! Calm the wrath of the God of Ten Thousand Affairs!"

"The wicked must be punished! Let the Holy Trinity hear the faithful's plea!"

"O Saint! Pray to the God of Ten Thousand Affairs!"

"Holy Trinity, Holy Eight-One, render justice for the loyal subjects of the God of Ten Thousand Affairs!"

"Unjust one, step forward! Embrace your destiny!"

The clamor echoed through the whole city of Jinling, and unrest had already erupted.

Yet at that moment, the Mechanical Cathedral offered no response.

The Saint merely dispatched his most loyal Guard Brigade and Imperial Guard to the streets, maintaining order and suppressing the enraged populace.

But faced with the swelling crowd of over a thousand believers, the unarmed Defenders of the Faith began to feel their strength wane.

The situation teetered on the brink of chaos, like a tower about to collapse.

At last, the Cathedral was forced to act.

Clad in black robes, the Grand Archbishop emerged solemnly from the great hall of the Mechanical Cathedral, raising his hands high before the assembly.

Then his voice, amplified countlessfold by a wondrous mechanical contrivance beyond the people's comprehension, rang out.

"The Holy Trinity teaches that no faithful shall defame the righteous, nor shall they pardon the sinner."

"Before the Tribunal's judgment, no private vengeance may be taken."

"The matter concerning the suspected treachery of the Fifteenth Guard Brigade's commander remains under investigation by the Tribunal."

"Until the Tribunal renders its verdict, let all devout believers pray in peace and await further word."

"By the sacred utterance of the Holy Trinity, the Tribunal shall battle every heretic, aberration, and malevolent spirit until the return to the Divine Kingdom is secured."

"Though the inquiry now faces indescribable obstacles, the Tribunal shall press on."

"Moreover, every warrior of the Guard Brigade is a devout, virtuous child of the divine."

"I trust they will not shy away from revealing themselves, to prove the steadfastness of their faith and the purity of their names."

With those words spoken, the Grand Archbishop turned and retreated into the cathedral.

In the next breath, a tsunami of cries surged toward the headquarters of the Fifteenth Guard Brigade where Zhang Tao stood.

"Prove your faith!"

"Prove your innocence!"

(End of Chapter)