Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Harsh winter fell and the vast area of the mainland had been covered with snow. However, the Hellfire Archipelago was still covered in lush green and filled with vitality.
In the Wizard Li ancestral ground, as the place where the legendary miracle first appeared, the dense jungle, which was originally a wilderness inhabited by the natives, had now become the political center of more than 60 million square kilometers of land covered by the Wizard Li faith.
The general public living here had already moved away, with no single tree bark house remained behind. Only the newly built lofty temple colonies and the countless Wizard Li high priests wearing colorful long flowing robes could be seen walking around them.
In the middle of the hundreds of temples that were connected by a zigzag corridor stood a large totem pole towering into the clouds.
Under the stone pillar was a huge animal skin tent. At this time, Zhang Lisheng was sitting on the wooden couch in the middle of the tent, sporting a contemplating expression as he looked at the several dozens of the most elite believers kneeling all around in front of him.
“Tugra, Tuan, your advice is good. According to the ancient books, other than the Green Leaf Mainland, the Gaia World still has three mainlands of Frost, Fecund Soil and Fertility. Among these three mainlands, the Fecund Soil that has the biggest area is not even half the size of the Green Leaf Mainland so right now, I’m almost equal to conquering half of the world already. You can say that the overall situation has been determined so it’s necessary to officially establish the Holy See based on the Holy Scripture. Hmm, Tugra, Aruba and you have been always by my side and the two of you are the two huge pillars that allow me to spread my faith without worries. For this reason, I’ve decided to split the Holy See into three parts: ruling, theology, and adjudication. You will hold the position of chief governor and will become the highest authority of the world nominally. Aruba, on the other hand, will become the chief theologian and be in charge of all seminaries. As for adjudication, I haven’t figured out who will be responsible for it so I’ll leave it as this for the time being…”
At first, when the young man mastered the ability to grant his believers with divine power, the young man’s idea was to make all priests the ‘scientists’ of the Gaia World. Now that his land of domination been increased several times larger than before, he found that such an idea was not realistic. If he wanted to establish a true theocracy, the governors at all levels must have the identity of the clergy so for this reason, he secretly made a compromise.
Upon hearing Wizard Li God’s words, the mainlanders in the tent quietly had a change of expressions, but no one dared to refute him. They could only watch the Wizard Li tribal headman and the chief craftsman crouch happily at Zhang Lisheng’s feet to express their gratitude for his bestowal.
Fortunately, they heard a piece of gratifying news next, “Aruba, my devout theologian, I’ll gather all wisest scholars and craftsmen in my land of faith to be under your command, I hope that you can make Wizard Li civilization to become more glorious and brilliant. Tugra, unlike Aruba, the mundane land ruled by the Holy See is too vast so it’s impossible for you to dictate it completely. I’ll divide the land of faith into eight parishes and the Hellfire Archipelago will be the chief parish, with you governing the government administration. Tuan, as the deputy chief governor of the Holy See, all of the original cities in the Kattaman City State and the Fran Kingdom will be categorized as the second parish, with you presiding the government administration. Yeegan, the oases in Songee Desert and the Atandin Peninsular Wizard Li will become the third parish, with you presiding the government administration… Chaysdo, the Hardstone Plateau will become the eighth parish, with you presiding the government administration. All governors of the parish will jointly form the Privy Council together with the Holy See’s chief governor and the chief theologian to jointly decide on major political affairs. An ordinary governor will have one vote and only can propose a state affair when two are united. The chief governor and the chief theologian hold three votes, while the deputy chief governor holds two votes, just a single person of these three can propose a pivotal discussion…”
Zhang Lisheng combined the various political structures in the history of Earth in his head and balanced the political interests of the Shrimp World No. 2’s barbarians and mainlanders, racking his brain to create a hodgepodge of theocracy system. Finally, when he looked at the crowds that had a vague satisfied expression on their faces, he spontaneously added, “Now that theocracy has just been implemented, all of the parish governors appointed will focus in reassuring the public feelings. It will be rotated ten years later but it will be a permanent case in the future. Also, the Holy See’s adjudication will not only investigate the heresy but also be in charge of punishing all levels of priests who are corrupted and abuse their powers. This will also be established in every parish in the future. As for Holy Scripture, Tugra, Tuan, I’ll let both of you handle the drafting of the imperial edict, oh that’s right. From now on, the attires for the parish governors must be different from ordinary high priests. The robes will be in mainly four colors of aqua blue, khaki, crimson red and green, with flames embroidery on the cuffs. The chief governor, chief theologian, and the deputy chief governor will have a Wizard Li totem on their chests while all adjudicators will wear black robes. that’s all.”
“Yes, Great God!” After kneeling and kowtowing in unison, the crowds left respectfully with mixed expressions.
In the next few days, the Wizard Li God set up a Holy See’s court. After everything was settled and after the situation of his establishment in his land of faith was further stabilized, he began to recruit the holy war army using parish as the unit and wait for an opportunity to attack another mainland. Then, he quietly left the Shrimp World No. 2…
Christmas had just passed by. At this time of the year in the previous years, the cold New York would still be immersed in the pleasant winter time, with rich people enjoying pleasant natural scenery in the resort; with some of the middle-class people leaving the hustle and bustle of the cities to their hometown to celebrate the festival, while some remained in the city to spend their days joyously relying on the food that they had accumulated beforehand, all sorts of electronic entertainment equipment and soap operas. Even the poor vagrants would get to enjoy the sumptuous delicious meals and warm beds provided by various charitable organizations at this time.
However, this year, everything was completely different.
Zhang Lisheng quietly crossed the light curtain that separated the two ‘worlds’, sneaking underwater to dodge away from the ‘microphoton broad spectrum isolation braiding instrument’ that had thousands of thin mechanical arms stretching out dancing constantly in the air vainly preventing the space door from further expanding. At that moment when he stepped on the land in the suburbs of New York, he could feel that something was wrong.
On the beach filled with undulating waves, he looked at his slaughterhouse under his name, that would always be brightly lit in the dark and had long traffic outside the door, that was now shrouded in the gloomy night completely without any single light. At once, a look of suspicion appeared on his face.
“Even if the slaughtering business on Christmas holidays is not good, it is impossible for even the billboards to not be lit up…” The young man muttered and did not sneak back to the office as planned. Instead, he walked cautiously to the suburban road. Staring at the cold wind of the wilderness, he raised his thumb up and aimlessly walked swayingly to New York City.
Even though it was already in the early hours of the morning, the ‘Big Apple’ that used to be nightless would still attract many travelers to drive along the interstate highway at this time in the past but today, despite walking for more than ten kilometers and his hand turning stiff in the cold wind, the young man only saw three cars flashing headlights passing by him, with no intention to stop by at all.
Fortunately, when the fourth car that was blasting with rap music sped past him, it suddenly stopped and reversed slowly. A fellow who had a skin color blending in with the night but a mouthful of white teeth stretched out his head and shouted crazily from the co-driver seat. “Hey, buddy, do you really want to hitchhike or are you planning to rob us?”
“Of course I want a hitchhike. I’m supposed to go to Boston with my friends tonight but who knows those idiots actually left me when we stopped by the roadside to take a pee. Sh*t! This is really the worst prank that I’ve ever encountered in my whole life, particularly in this unfortunate time…” Zhang Lisheng raised his hands to make a harmless look and approached the car as he randomly made up an excuse.
“Aha! Boston? That’s not a good idea! We just came from there. Even though the Tuen troop has been defeated already, the entire city had become a garbage dump now. Your friends who left you behind can be said as having done a good job!” The black young man with his head stretched out waved his hand and said loudly with a chuckle, “C’mon, just hop in! We’re heading to New York too so we can give you a ride.”
Upon hearing the words ‘Tuen’, Zhang Lisheng’s heart clenched tightly but he walked to the backseat of the car with an unchanged expression.
“Thank you very much, sir.” He smelled the heavy cigarette smell and glanced from the corner of his eyes. He could clearly see the young black man in the co-driver seat taking his head back in while putting a carbine back beside his feet.
It made sense as well. If it was not a reckless young man armed with a weapon, it was impossible for someone to kindly invite strangers to take a ride in the wilderness in the middle of this night that was basically vacated. For this reason, Zhang Lisheng nonchalantly opened the car door and entered the car.
The car was just an old blue Ford Fiesta and was not too spacious. There were already two passengers on the back seat but fortunately, they were both slender women so the young man did not have to huddle himself tight after squeezing his way in.
“Thank you for your help, my name is Lisheng Zhang. You can call me Lisheng.” Zhang Lisheng who had prepared his speech at the moment he entered the car began to introduce himself in a friendly manner.
“Oh, are you planning to run for the US president in the future? Look at how well-behaved you talk!” The black young man in the front seat raised a ‘bong’ self-made with a large plastic Coke bottle and spat out a mouthful of smoke as he laughed heartily, “C’mon, have some weed and relax yourself. This is a top good that I planted myself, you can call me ‘gardening expert’…”
As he was speaking noisily, a deep voice suddenly resonated from the driver’s seat. “Stop Bob, we’ll enter the city soon so throw your ‘bong’ away! Open the window and let the air in too! New York should also be in a semi-military state now too. I don’t want any trouble, nor do I want to be shot by those big white soldiers!”
“Shot? Oh, my dear Darwin, I’ve already told you that I’m not a pure ‘black’! I have a quarter of white blood too! Those big white soldiers will definitely think that I’m their brother when they see my chocolate skin color.” The black man in the passenger seat yelled with a chuckle but he still opened the window and threw the makeshift ‘bong’ out.
All four windows of the speeding car rolled down, allowing the old wind to pour in. In just a few seconds, the smoke in the car disappeared entirely, together with the warmth in the car. When the windows were once again rolled up, the passengers traveling from afar seemed to have sobered up a lot.
Bob turned the air-conditioner to its warmest. When the temperature was slowly increased, he who always had a cheeky smile on smacked his own shoulders and said to himself, “Ah sh*t, it’s finally warm now.”
Without warning, he turned to look at Zhang Lisheng and asked, “Hey buddy, didn’t you just come out from New York just now? How’s the situation there now?”
