Looking at the crazy believers of mechanics and steam, Gus felt that he was faced with a surging ocean and could not control himself.
He glanced at his sister and found that Grey was at a loss, too.
“We—we want to look for the ‘Steam Legion’ in the south.”
Gus summoned his courage and asked Luo Xinglong, “Can you find a boat for us?”
“They also said that you are not ‘saint sons’ or ‘saint daughters’.”
Luo Xinglong said happily, “If not, why did you go to the south to look for the Steam Legion? It seems that you’ve realized your destiny, haven’t you?”
His words made the believers cheer again.
Gus blushed and replied noncommittally, “We—we do have something important to discuss with the leader of the ‘Steam Legion’. Can you send us there and introduce him to us?”
“Of course.”
Luo Xinglong waved his hands and agreed readily. He paused for a moment, before he suddenly changed the topic and said, “However, we have to wait until we rise up and take over Heavenly Essence City!”
“Huh?”
Gus and Grey were both dumbfounded. The siblings looked at each other in bewilderment. Gus stammered, “You—you really want to take over Heavenly Essence City? That’s—that’s impossible!”
“Nothing is impossible. The lightning in the sky, the appearance of the saint children and saintesses, the heavy damage to the Red Gold Fist Hall—these are all signs of the arrival of the True God. With the blessing of the True God, we will definitely win!”
Luo Xinglong’s giant hand slashed down heavily, as if he were pulling down the lever of a steam-powered war machine. He looked at the two siblings and said with a smile, “Besides, if you want to sail all the way to the south, you have to take over Qianyuan City. Right now, Qianyuan City is on full alert under the control of the Fist God Hall. Almost ten sentry posts have been deployed along the river. Ships coming and going must be searched carefully.
“On one hand, they are scared that the believers of machinery and steam from the south will come to the north. On the other hand, they must be wary of ‘dangerous people’ such as you who have fled to the south. All the checks are very thorough. Everybody must take off their clothes and scrub them with hot water and iron wires. Whatever disguise you put on will be removed.
“Over the past half month, many believers who went north and south have been captured. Some of them have been locked in dark prisons, and some have been sent to the stake!
“Therefore, if the city is safe, there will be enough soldiers at the sentry posts along the river, and there will be enough time for inspection. It will be impossible for you to pass through them easily.
“Only when a fierce battle breaks out inside the city, when reinforcements are summoned from the sentry posts along the river, when countless people are fleeing out of the city, or when you are escaping to the lower reaches of the river by boat, can you take advantage of the chaos to mix in with them. The enemy is not strong enough, and there is no time to check each and every one of them. Only then can you have a safe journey to the south.”
Gus and Grey were shocked. They did not know that there were so many checkpoints along the river.
However, could the crazy believers of machines and steam really overthrow the statue of the Fist God that had stood for ten thousand years?
“Rest assured. We’ve been preparing for this day for years. In another ten days to half a month, the last batch of serial crossbows, steam guns, and steam cannons will be shipped to Heavenly Essence City under the escort of the elites of the Southern Steam Legion. The sacred battle will begin!”
Luo Xinglong was so excited that every pore on his face was glowing. He said straightforwardly, “When the time comes, I will introduce the commander of the reinforcements from the south to you. Then, he will ask his trusted subordinates to bring you to the commander of the south. Isn’t that the most straightforward way?”
Gus and Grey thought about it and agreed.
If he could meet the key personnel of the support team in the north of the Flying Star Sector in Luo Xinglong’s place, he would be saved a lot of trouble. Chances were that he would be able to find the commander-in-chief of the Flying Star Sector as soon as he arrived in the south.
At that time, whatever the devil Lu Qingchen wanted could be achieved.
As long as Lu Qingchen kept his promise, he would tell them the truth of the world and avenge his father together with the commander-in-chief of the Steam Legion.
Thinking of this, Gus was about to nod his head.
Suddenly, amid the noises, a man covered in blood stumbled into the secret tunnel, leaving bloody footprints behind him.
“Andrew!”
Luo Xinglong’s face suddenly changed when he saw the man. “What happened? How are you so wounded?”
The man was on the verge of collapse.
Thankfully, two believers were quick enough to support him.
Another believer came forward to stop the bleeding and treat his wounds for some painkillers and tonics.
It was not until then that the believer named ‘Andrew’ managed to concentrate a bit. Struggling hard, he hissed, “Not good. Mao Qi and Mao Qi have been captured. They should’ve betrayed the real gods under the interrogation of the enemy. I saw a team of Iron Fist Soldiers of the Temple of Fist marching toward Mao Qi’s home unstoppably. His father and brothers were captured one after another!
“What?”
Luo Xinglong’s face suddenly changed color. He clenched his fists so hard that his bones were cracking.
Realizing that he shouldn’t have panicked, he gritted his teeth and tried to control his emotions.
Luo Xinglong and Andrew communicated quickly in a low voice, but they did not avoid Gus and Grey and told them what had happened.
As it turned out, everything began when the two siblings saw the young man who was throwing the flyers in the morning.
Speaking of which, it had something to do with Gus and Grey.
It was because in half a month’s time, a large batch of military equipment and elites of the Southern Steam Army would reinforce the north in secret.
Therefore, over the past few days, Luo Xinglong had been reminding the believers of machinery and steam in Qianyuan City to keep a low profile and not to mess around with the Temple of Fist.
However, the details of the ‘big event’ could not be told to the outside believers.
The peripheral believers were too passionate to consider the consequences of their actions. They had long been frustrated.
Gus and Grey had demonstrated their strength in the heavy rain deep inside the mountains and wiped out the entire hunting team, which almost paralyzed the strength of the Temple of Fist in Red Gold Town. When the news reached Heavenly Essence City, the peripheral believers were all injected with drugs.
Therefore, this morning, an outer believer who couldn’t hold it any longer was willing to sacrifice himself for his beliefs and went to distribute flyers outside of Heavenly Essence City.
As it turned out, after a round of interrogation, the believer discovered that his belief in the true gods was not as loyal as he had imagined.
He finally explained the origin of the flyer to a companion named ‘Mao Qi’.
Mao Qi’s home, on the other hand, was the largest secret printing center of the Mechanical and Steam Guilds in Qian Yuan City. Two printing presses were hidden below the ground. Mao Qi’s father and brother were both printing workers secretly trained by the Mechanical and Steam Guilds. They were the most valuable technical talents and knew a lot of secrets. They had met almost all the core believers of the Mechanical and Steam Guilds in Qian Yuan City and knew their real identities.
Right now, the peripheral believers who were distributing the flyers had been captured, and Mao Qi was involved. Mao Qi had been captured, and his father and brothers were involved. The secret printing center had been seized, too. A lot of files and even the names of some of the believers would be leaked. Even this place was no longer safe. The underground forces of Heavenly Essence City were no longer able to hide themselves!
