Chapter 354 - 296: The Oracle Received by the Golden Dawn

In a virtual meeting room.

"Still haven’t captured the Son of Satan?" Demon leaned on his cane, his sharp gaze fixed on the expressionless James Raven as he mocked, "And to think you dared to say everything was under your control!"

"He is the Son of Satan, the counterpart to the Saint. It’s normal that he can’t be captured easily." James’s voice was completely steady. He paused briefly before continuing, "Besides, the Oracle came too suddenly. It’s even different from what was originally recorded in the Holy Bible..."

"How dare you!" the Pope interjected, his expression turning sour. "Priest, are you questioning God?"

James’s eyelid twitched several times. He quickly shook his head and made the sign of the cross over his chest with a pious expression. "No, no, no! I was merely stating the reasons. I meant nothing else."

Lovers, still wearing her mask, remained silent. Her pure eyes glinted thoughtfully as she stayed out of the discussion from beginning to end.

"Priest!" Tank Howard spoke up. "Celestial Net has found the target’s trail! Hmm, it seems they really do have an AI to counter Celestial Net—they hacked a Tesla and are now using it to flee toward New York."

"Excellent... Now, mobilize the FBI immediately! Intercept them." James breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly added, "If the situation becomes critical, we can use our people embedded in the National Guard units along the route. Mobilize the National Guard on an emergency basis..."

"I think," Lovers spoke up suddenly, "it would be best to capture the Son of Satan alive. We don’t know if the Oracle has some hidden meaning... After all, compared to what was originally written in the Holy Bible, things have already changed... No one can guarantee there won’t be more changes in the future."

As soon as she said this, the room fell silent.

Many of them exchanged glances and sank into thought. ’Yes... It’s common knowledge that the God recorded in the Holy Bible is notoriously willful and capricious... If there are more changes in the future, then perhaps...’

"I support it!" Justice nodded grimly.

"Fuck!" James laughed in exasperation. "What do you support? The Son of Satan, counterpart to the Saint, is suspected of having the power to control crows! And we still don’t know... what special abilities the three Sacred Artifacts he stole possess!"

"If it comes to a real fight, we’ll be lucky to kill him... And you want to capture him alive? How many casualties are you prepared to accept?!"

"...Do you care?" With that one question, Justice ended the debate.

James narrowed his eyes, staring at Justice.

"Even if thousands from a state’s National Guard are killed or wounded, that’s a problem for the people in the White House! What does it have to do with us?" Justice sneered. "All we have to do is follow God’s will to the fullest extent... Or are you saying, Your Excellency the Priest, that you are not loyal?"

James gave Justice a long, hard look but said nothing more. With a slight wave of his hand, Celestial Net obeyed his will, conjuring one video feed after another.

They were video feeds filmed from a squadron of helicopters!

The Tesla was completely locked on.

The bulletproof-grade Tesla sped down the highway.

Soon.

Police cars moved to block the road ahead, but the Tesla swerved sharply. Like something out of a movie, inertia sent the car tilting onto its side as it threaded into a narrow alley. Two of its wheels rolled violently along a wall, its chassis grinding against the gravel and asphalt, sending sparks flying.

Finally, the Tesla slammed back down onto all four wheels.

Emerging from the other side of the alley, the Tesla sped off into the distance.

"???"

"!!!"

"Is this a movie...?" Lovers asked in shock.

"He must have used the power of a Sacred Artifact!" declared the man in the small, round hat, his tone certain.

"Since it’s a Tesla..." Justice paused to think, then asked hesitantly, "do we really need to pursue them so aggressively? We could just follow them from a distance until the car runs out of battery... wouldn’t that work?"

The room instantly fell silent again.

James nodded, his expression unchanged. "That’s exactly what I was thinking!"

He said it with such confidence, as if he weren’t the one who had just ordered an emergency mobilization of the National Guard.

Time ticked by.

Finally.

The Tesla ran out of power. Surrounded by countless police cars, it slowed to a crawl... and finally came to a stop.

Under the gazes of the Golden Dawn members—some cold, some intrigued, some troubled, some secretly worried—the doors of the Tesla were forced open by the police.

"Chu Bamboo" and "Hodges" were dragged out from inside. But the key problem was...

"...What do you mean, they’re unconscious???" After receiving the notification from Celestial Net, James’s pupils constricted. An extremely bad feeling washed over him.

’Unconscious... Why would they be unconscious? How could they possibly be unconscious... If they were out cold, who was driving...? No, even if an AI was driving, why would they be unconscious? Did they pass out from sheer terror and panic? That’s ridiculous! No matter how you look at it, something is wrong here...’

The other Golden Dawn members, who had seen the matter conclude and were already considering a trip to the White-headed Eagle’s territory to get a piece of the action, all had their expressions change at this news.

"Are you certain that this man is the Son of Satan?" the Pope asked after a long moment of contemplation.

"Based on his appearance, yes, it’s him..." James’s expression shifted several times before he forced a smile. "Gentlemen, I’m going to go check on the situation!"

Without a moment’s hesitation, he left the chat room. Tank followed close behind! Then, the other members of the White-headed Eagle Faction also logged off.

The remaining Golden Dawn members were left with varying expressions.

"Hmph!" Lovers grunted noncommittally and also left. The members of the Rose Faction followed suit!

It was like a chain reaction. One after another, many of them logged off...

"Do you believe him?" Justice asked, looking at Demon.

"Perhaps," said Demon from England, his words vague as he too logged off.

Justice raised an eyebrow and sighed. "And here I thought I could record Demon’s words to show the Priest and his crew later... Enjoy some of that ’fatherly love, filial piety’ drama. Tsk, tsk! How boring."

...

Meanwhile.

James stormed out of the villa, his face grim. He ground out through clenched teeth, "Celestial Net, mobilize medical personnel immediately... run a genetic analysis on them! Also, continue high-intensity surveillance on Miami... No, put the surrounding states under high-intensity surveillance as well!"

James was beginning to realize that perhaps... this Son of Satan possessed the ability to change his appearance.

But...

This was a huge problem!