Lord of Prayer

Chapter 465: Chapter 295: Rebuilding Eden (Part 2)

’Admirable, yet lamentable.’

Composing himself, Zhou Chen pushed open the lab door. The Sea Monster on the operating table and the Siren in the bathtub immediately lowered their heads respectfully and spoke in unison:

"Master!"

"Mm," Zhou Chen responded noncommittally. He pulled over a chair, sat down, and asked bluntly, "How many other members of Fallen Paradise are in North Carolina?"

"Five," the Sea Monster answered.

’Five... Besides the ’Merchant’ and the ’Poison Master’ I already know of, there are three others. I wonder what tier they are...’ Zhou Chen asked, "Who are they?"

"The only five I know of are the ’Pope,’ the ’Merchant,’ the ’Painter,’ the ’Joker,’ and the ’Poison Master,’" the Sea Monster answered truthfully.

’This is the first I’m hearing of ’Painter’ and ’Joker.’ They weren’t in the files. I wonder if they’re new recruits... The ’Pope’ is a Tier Five and a core member of Fallen Paradise, but there isn’t much information on him either...’ Zhou Chen nodded. "Tell me more."

"Our primary purpose in coming to North Carolina was for Advancement. The Poison Master has already advanced to Tier Four. The final step of his Advancement ritual was to create a massive plague that would kill three hundred thousand people. The Crystal Disease was his handiwork.

The Merchant wants to advance to Tier Five, but I don’t know the specifics of what he’ll do.

The Painter and the Joker are both Tier Two Ascenders. They came to North Carolina looking for an opportunity to advance. I ran into the ’Joker’ a few days ago. He said he was going to try and infiltrate one of North Carolina’s major cities, but I don’t know if he succeeded.

The Pope is in charge of this operation. He won’t contact us unless it’s absolutely necessary."

Outside the observation window, Catherine and the others were stunned. The Crystal Disease was created by Fallen Paradise?

"I’m going to kill that Poison Master!" the man in sunglasses growled, grinding his teeth. Several of his friends had died from the Crystal Disease. Tens of millions of others had lost their families and homes because of it.

Bruce, standing beside him, threw cold water on his anger. "The Poison Master has already advanced to Tier Four. How are you going to get revenge? Go get yourself killed?"

"..." The man in sunglasses’s expression shifted, and he was left speechless. He was only a Tier Two, not even close to Tier Three. Getting revenge on a Tier Four was nothing but a pipe dream.

"Don’t worry. The Poison Master won’t get away," Bruce said calmly.

Inside the lab, Zhou Chen continued his questioning. "Why did the Poison Master choose North Carolina to release the Crystal Virus?"

The Sea Monster answered, "It was for the ’Rebuilding Eden’ plan. We urgently need to develop a method for achieving immortality and severing our connection to the Abyss. Researching such things requires a massive number of live experiments to collect data and analyze the most suitable mutation paths.

After considering all the factors, we determined that North Carolina was the best location for our experiments, so we entered into a collaboration with the North Carolina Government.

The North Carolina Government agreed readily. There are too many low-life scum in this country. A great purge was needed—to cut away the bloated flesh and drain the filthy blood—so the nation could develop in a healthy way. That’s why the North Carolina Government turned a blind eye to the Crystal Disease and allowed the virus to spread. The Poison Master used this opportunity to advance to Tier Four.

A while ago, the Pope contacted me and told me to speed up my search for the Siren. Our plan is about to enter its next phase, and many variables will emerge then."

The Sea Monster paused, then continued to explain, "As we envision it, the final state of the Crystal Virus will cause the human Soul to undergo a stable transformation toward Crystallization. This will greatly increase resistance to contamination from the Abyss and allow individuals to retain their Souls intact. After combining with the Apostle Factor, they can become immortal Apostles—the eternal cornerstones of the Rebuilding Eden project.

I observed the Crystal Disease patients in Red River City. During that time, there have been seven or eight cases of patients undergoing Soul Crystallization, but none of them could adapt, and they all died. However, it won’t be long before someone successfully adapts to a crystallized Soul... When the Pope said the plan was about to enter its next phase, he was affirming this very point.

I would venture to guess that the Poison Master has very likely already found someone who can adapt and is studying them.

If my guess is correct, then in less than half a month, the Poison Master will be able to evolve the Crystal Virus into the state we require. Soul Crystallization will also stabilize and become the norm. At that point, all of North Carolina will be filled with ’Neo-Humans.’ This is the inevitable trend of the future, and not even the Star Association can stop it."

Zhou Chen had long known the inside story of the Crystal Disease, but the Poisonous Sore Gang and the Salvation Army were still in the dark. It was time to bring them into the fold—both the North Carolina Government and Fallen Paradise were obstacles standing in their way.

"I don’t get what it’s saying, but immortality and severing the connection to the Abyss... Is that for real?" Ted scratched his head, looking completely lost.

"It’s fake," Bruce said without hesitation. "From now on, if anyone tells you they can make you immortal, just walk up and slap them. It’s like someone claiming they can build a perpetual motion machine—it’s absolutely impossible. Havier told me that even the Star Association can only create something that ’approaches’ a perpetual motion machine. Immortality is even more of a fantasy.

All things have an end. Even Gods can fall.

As for whether the contamination from the Abyss can be severed... I don’t know, but I have a feeling it’s a lie, just like immortality."

"What about Soul Crystallization?" the woman with the ponytail asked.

"That might be real," Bruce said after a moment of thought. "The Soul can have many forms. At Tier Four, the Soul and the physical body merge into one. That’s actually another form of the Soul. Havier told me our research into the Extraordinary is still far from profound. Who knows, maybe the Soul has even more forms."

Back in the lab, Zhou Chen’s expression turned serious as he asked the question he’d been wanting to ask all along:

"What is the ’Rebuilding Eden’ plan?"

The expressions on the Sea Monster and the Siren turned solemn, filled with longing.

Then, the Sea Monster began to speak with impassioned fervor, "Eden Garden is the original home of Adam and Eve in the Holy Bible. It is a place with no pain, death, suffering, despair, or Darkness; no war, scheming, violence, or intrigue... People can live there, free from all worries.

Resources there are abundant, endless, and inexhaustible. The land flows with milk and honey, strewn with gold, pearls, and carnelians. All kinds of trees grow from the earth, blooming with exotic flowers. There are beautiful gardens, castles and manors, countless landscaped structures, and all sorts of beautiful sights. From the smallest rural cottage to the grandest Alps, it has everything imaginable.

The sun shines brightly there, full of peace and tranquility. People can enjoy a happy and beautiful life forever.

And Rebuilding Eden, as the name implies, means we are going to rebuild the Eden Garden—to build a Heaven far removed from suffering!"

’What the hell?’

Zhou Chen was stunned.

’This is Fallen Paradise’s fucking plan?’

’Aren’t these bastards just a bunch of out-and-out anti-human terrorists? Every single one of them is a great demon who has slaughtered countless people. Who knows how many inhuman and heinous atrocities they’ve committed throughout history. And their grand plan is this noble? They want to create a fucking Heaven?’

’What a joke!’

’Never mind the others, just look at the Sea Monster and Siren right in front of him. This couple was responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each. Zhou Chen could clearly feel the baleful energy clinging to them, and even the wails and shrieks of countless Resentful Souls from beyond the grave.’

’When they ate people, it was one after another with a crunch, without a moment’s hesitation. They were the ones behind the world-shocking Aegean Sea Massacre and the Yingzhou Tsunami Incident. For creatures like this to long for peace... was as unbelievable as an American not loving oil.’

"You... long for... Heaven?"

"Yes. This World is beyond saving. Only the Eden Garden is the ultimate pure land of this World. There, we can obtain everything we desire,"

the Sea Monster said fanatically, "—just like God!"