Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A human’s talents were often proportional to his ambition, and usually, an ambitious person would less likely to worship gods religiously, as they tend to believe in themselves more.
It was not that there was no pious believer with outstanding talents, but it was just that very few people like this exist. For this reason, Zhang Lisheng always practiced pragmatism when it came to choosing his preachers in the mortal world, and the results were exceptionally good.
After completing the fair ‘dealing’ with Habe, the two of them braved the heavy rain and walked to a black Cadillac SUV that had been washed completely clean by the rain among the broken and worn-out cars lining up crookedly by the street.
After entering the back seat, the young man took off the raincoat that strangely had no trace of rainwater on it at all. He glanced through the blurry window to have a final look at the distant crowds walking in an unusually heavy and numb manner before telling the hefty middle-aged white man in the front seat, “Drive me to the fishery, Sayanov.”
“Yes, sir.” The expressionless hefty man with an iron face replied stiffly and started the car, before turning the car onto the road splashing water all over the ground.
When the desperate people around them noticed a black luxury car drove out of the scrap car piles, an inexplicably jealous expression clearly crept upon their faces.
New York was not a petroleum-producing region. At this moment, petroleum had been banned from sale among the people so even if some foresighted smart people had stored it beforehand, they could only use it at the critical moment of escaping. For this reason, a person who drove high-powered SUVs like this was naturally eye-catching.
—And in a situation where most of the people could not even get a proper meal, such a spendthrift person would elicit a lot of hatred as well.
“Old White Dog Sayanov, look at the expressions of these sissies who want to rob us but dare not to. They’re so f*cking hypocrites! All of them are just cowards! Next time when we come here to ‘preach’ again, I alone can handle an entire block by myself!” A big black man with a red flame tattoo on his thick neck sitting in the Cadillac’s co-driver’s seat was enjoying the unfriendly gaze cast by the desperate people around them as he remarked with a sneer unscrupulously.
“Gray Fang, how dare you u speak in such an uneducated tone in front of Sir Messenger?” Habe reprimanded his subordinate. Just one sentence alone and the big black man who was two heads taller than himself timidly shrank and no longer dared to make any sound.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Lisheng put on a forgiving expression and smiled. “Habe, Wizard Li God is a very magnanimous and forgiving god. He doesn’t care about the vulgar attitude of his believers as long as it’s not in a formal prayer ceremony, so let alone me.”
“It’s because you have a noble sentiment, gentleness, and grace, sir.” Habe emphasized on his compliments on the young man in a manner completely different from his ugly appearance and his criminal’s profession. The cold expression on his face eased away as he told his subordinate, Gray Fang! You’re also the follower of the true God now. I’m also thinking of asking God to grant Sayanov and you the priesthood for it’s very likely that the two of you may take charge of things on your own in the future. As a future evangelist, how can you curse like an idiot the moment you open your mouth? Use your brain more when you talk next time and think about your words before you speak! Like today for example, do you think those people outside are really cowardly? Hurmph! We’re now on the Durand Street in the Bronx, an old neighborhood of Mexican origin. Most of the people who live here are already the second or third generation of immigrants. Even though they’ve lost the wild nature of older generations, they are by no means weak. It’s only because they have been staying with each other for decades, and have been neighbors for several generations that they can only get angry by themselves and obey the rules…”
“That’s because this bunch of b*tches aren’t hungry enough!” Upon hearing the softening of his boss’s tone, the black strong man muttered in his unchanged nature.
“That’s right, the reason they’re obeying the rules now is because they aren’t hungry enough.” Habe said spitefully. “However, now that the amount of food that can be distributed is getting less and less, these guys will be hungry enough in a few weeks’ time. By that time, some of them may quietly slice the necks of their ‘old neighbors’ without hesitation just for the sake of a bag of bread so remember, this is a time of war, sometimes it only takes several days, or even in one second, for a human to turn into a devil! Remember, don’t ever look down on anybody when you’re preaching in the future! Otherwise, the person who will suffer will be you yourself!”
“U-Understood, boss.” Gray Fang was stunned, finally understanding Habe’s painstaking effort. After a moment of silence, he replied convincingly and no longer said any more word.
As the car turned left and right on the empty New York highway for a long time, escaping the rain clouds and welcoming the pale white winter sun.
The smell in the air had unwittingly become salty. After rolling down the window to look at the dimly visible old port in front, Zhang Lisheng suddenly voiced out, “Habe, it seems that your insight into human nature is beyond my imagination. How about this, you can pick the people you want to bring to Los Angeles. If that person is not a priest, I’ll ask the God to bestow him with spellcasting ability and not only that, I’ll also give you the same right as Katherine to preach freely across cities and countries. In the end, I’ll give you a piece of advice, don’t worry about it so much. His Majesty Wizard Li is a generous and fair god, and your devotion will always be rewarded. ”
“Sir, although I’m a thug born in a poor black community who sold drugs since young, in truth, my entire life is only about pursuing ‘fairness’.” Upon hearing the words of the black-haired young man beside him, Habe remained silent and finally replied in a low voice when the car stopped in front of the rusty, shabby fence in the old port of Queens, before finally pushing the door open to get down off the car.
The instant the chaotic war started, the status of the new New York port connected to the military base rose sharply. Not only that, adding to the fact that the civil navigation industry had been declining due to the blow from the Karlado people’s steam missiles, the old port had been almost deserted since half a year ago. It was only until Wizard Li religion had been spread out to the entire Queens that this port, with the area outside its fence overgrown with weeds, finally regained its vitality.
At this time, a variety of ships ranging from luxury yachts to simple merchant ships from the beginning of the last century to the last ten years with tonnage ranging from a small boat that could only accommodate a few people to large ships that could store hundreds of tons of cargo were floating in the shallow waters outside the harbor.
Driven by the manipulation of the water divine power cast by the Wizard Li high priests who were standing on the deck, these ships with the engine completely empty with fuel sailed magically back and forth on the sea.
Many clumsy men were watching the movement of the sea on the ships, running around in panic and occasionally dropping their fishing nets to harvest an enormous number of sea fishes.
On the shore, women and children were laughing with joy in their eyes in front of the piles of catches as they sliced the stomachs of the fishes that were still wagging their tails to dry it on the concrete floor.
Back then, even with luxurious goods such as expensive branded clothings, French cuisine in high-end restaurants, luxurious homes, and luxurious cars, it was hard to satisfy a New Yorker’s desire but right now, in the face of a chaotic war, these desires could actually be filled with just a few smelly dried fishes. Such a situation was inconceivable unless one went through itself.
An era like this could be said as a complete catastrophe for human beings but was extremely lucky for the gods.
Obtaining devout believers was very simple. Sometimes, by just assuring that a child could be fed well, the Wizard Li God could already obtain two fanatics—the child’s mother and father. This cruel yet beautiful reality made Wizard Li God have a deeper understanding of the importance of the word ‘redemption’…
“If the chaotic war in the Shrimp World No. 2’s Green Leaf Mainland was not caused by me, then I believed the amount of belief that was gained after occupying it could have been multiplied several times. What a pity…” Zhang Lisheng followed Habe into the port and savored the respectful gaze cast by the Earth believers. As he muttered to himself, he put on a smile that said ‘God loves you’ and silently walked across half of the port to go to the first floor of the port’s office building.
Unlike the mottled mossy exterior wall, the furnishings in the office room were unusually extravagant. The floor was covered soft, brown-red fine wool carpet while the sofa placed in the middle of the room was covered with five to six intact bearskins that still had their heads on. An ancient Europe pendant chandelier was shining on the ceiling and elegant antique pieces of furniture could be seen illuminated by the beige-colored light. Just with a simple look at their exquisite workmanship and a heavy sense of history, one could tell that these were not cheap at all.
The instant the young man entered the room, he saw Habe, who was one step ahead of him, went straight to the portrait of a human-headed snake hanging in the middle of the wall directly opposite the iron gate. He first marked an ‘L’ on his chest, before lowering his head to pray softly under his breath.
This statue that had been modified based on Zhang Lisheng’s personal instruction looked more evil and terrifying than the original portrait that resembles the Chinese god. however, it also looked much more mysterious and powerful.
In particular, there was no totem pole or temple on Earth so the portrait that could act as a simple altar after being hung on the wall automatically possessed the ability to store the power of faith. Unwittingly, it added a lot more intimidating mysterious quality onto it.
When Habe was praying to the God, the people who were originally in the room chatting casually, unconsciously held their breaths and made the same ‘L’ gesture in front of their chests with a solemn expression as they lowered their heads in silence.
By the time he finished praying, he walked up with ease to the wine rack next to the wall and selected a red wine to put it in an ice bucket. Somebody immediately voiced out, “Priest Habe, is it okay for you to immediately drink right after you pray to the God?”
“Priest Alonsol, His Majesty Wizard Li is not that kind of a harsh god who advocates strict prayers. On the contrary, he likes his dwelling in the mortal world to be solemn and magnanimous and his believers to live more casually and wealthily. He’s the most benevolent and least hypocritical God, so of course, I can have a drink if I want after praying.”
“That’s just what you think.”
“Yes, this is really just my opinion but I feel that I understand His Majesty Wizard Li’s teaching more than you do, otherwise, I wouldn’t have become a third-ranked priest like you despite converting to his faith 100 days later than you did. Or don’t tell me that He favored me more just because I’ve donated carpets and bearskin to decorate this simple church?” Habe turned his head and looked at the perpetrator in a contemptuous manner, before saying with his hands spread out wide.
