Enforcer Manual
Chapter 596: Welcome to the First Cricket Fighting Contest_1

Chapter 596: Chapter 596: Welcome to the First Cricket Fighting Contest_1

Under the blood-red Sky Curtain, two fated enemies met on a piece of unfamiliar land.

Archbishop Helifis held her staff, her eyes devoid of hostility, only deep pity.

She saw the First Army Corp commander’s corrupted and mutated exoskeleton armor. The virus had long penetrated his body, the ink-gold metallic coating pitted and dented, and from those holes one could faintly see wounds deep enough to reveal bone. Even his bones were not spared; the virus seemed to have spread into his marrow, causing abnormal bone spurs to sprout.

The helmet of the exoskeleton armor was also corrupted, revealing the commander’s half-face, a blurred mass of flesh and blood.

As for the two individuals next to the commander, their mutations were even more thorough.

Their bodies bore no resemblance to human form but had completely distorted into creatures almost insect-like.

To say that these were her enemies was less accurate than saying they were souls tormented by mutation.

The only one yet untouched by radiation and virus was Yeying.

Helifis extended her right hand towards Yeying, her tone as calm as ever, "Child, come back to my side."

Yeying did not hesitate at the Archbishop’s call.

She cheerfully ran towards the world cloaked in flowers and hope ahead, a sight she had never seen in the Neutral Country.

This time, the First Army Corp commander did not stop Yeying. He simply stood there, watching as Yeying plunged into the hellish creation of flesh, waving tentacles catching her figure, and then, like dealing with a sacrifice, pulled her into the fissure.

This, indeed, saved him a lot of trouble.

His journey had led him to discover that the Bug Swarm queen seemed very interested in the girl, and having Helifis personally eliminate this trouble was undoubtedly the best way.

"Don’t underestimate her, she is a formidable foe like no other," the commander cautioned himself and his two allies, adjusting himself to the optimum state for battle.

Helifis had mutated very thoroughly, appearing no different from the twisted constructs they had encountered before, yet it was his first time seeing a mutated construct that retained its own reason and even communicated in human language.

She did not immediately attack the remaining three people, but spoke with a tone of pity, "I will save your souls."

At this moment, Song Lan, who was merely an onlooker, seemed to finally understand Helifis’s actions.

Unlike Father Aige, who sought power for his own gains and met a tragic end, she, as the Archbishop of the Lunar Eclipse Sect, had indeed been constantly searching for a way to heal the suffering of the country.

Only, the solution she finally found seemed rather absurd to normal people.

By implanting the seeds of genetic mutation into her Believers, to eventually turn them into twisted Mutants, she granted them complete immunity to radiation, disease, and the suffering brought by other mutants.

Being a Mutant indeed had many advantages.

They would no longer fear the threat of radiation and possessed a physique far superior to humans, capable of mending themselves in a short time even if their arms were cut off or their hearts pierced, returning quickly to their optimal state.

Aside from their grotesque appearance and the side effect of mindlessness, this could indeed be considered a form of "evolution."

Perhaps for those who had lived their entire lives in suffering, being mindless might be a relief; without thought or emotion, they would never again be troubled by pain.

In her long quest, Helifis, guided by the principle of "if you can’t beat them, join them," found a path for the people of the Neutral Country to combat radiation and suffering.

Of course, to normal people, the Archbishop must have seemed mad, and even those Believers not particularly devout might question her methods of solving the problem.

Song Lan had originally thought so too.

But when he witnessed the changes in the First Army Corp commander and Yeying, he suddenly considered another possibility.

For the First Army Corp Commander, one more step forward was hell, a fall into the abyss from which there would be no salvation; for Yeying, the future held an Archbishop-created world brimming with hope, so upon hearing the Archbishop’s summons, she had rushed toward him unhesitatingly.

What, then, did Helifis see in this world?

When this question arose in Song Lan’s mind, the answer seemed imminent.

Perhaps to her, the transformation from human to mutant was a process of liberation from suffering, explaining the Lunar Eclipse Sect’s interpretation of this world.

Helifis believed humans were already in hell and her mission was to rescue them from their torment.

Therefore, to her, the figures of humans and mutants might very well be inverted.

Everything happening before them stemmed from that unknown Consciousness Entity the First Army Corp Commander had mentioned, which had planted a seed in Helifis’s body, altering her entire perception of the world.

The First Army Corp Commander was no different.

The genetic warriors’ defiance of fate only served to ensnare them deeper within its vortex, leading them by destiny’s path to this terminus.

They seemed unaware that some consciousness was projecting upon this land, observing all that transpired from another dimension.

In this moment, Song Lan finally grasped the meaning of the terminal rite.

The century-spanning commerce-religion wars, the obsession to save this wretched land, or the unbowed spirit to defy the Creator, were merely the spectacle of this ceremony.

Indeed, the Barrosa Group had neared the correct answer. The Third Legion Commander had said during the negotiations, "God might indeed exist, but it certainly loves none of us."

Nor would it truly care about Helifis’s or the First Army Corp Commander’s fate, let alone the entirety of the Neutral Country, which was but a chessboard in its hands.

All that had happened over decades and all that people had endured were merely in anticipation of the "First Great Cricket Duel."

And now, two crickets highly favored by "God" had arrived at the stage "God" had personally set for them.

Through an intense and thrilling combat to come, one of the two would emerge as the champion of the "First Great Cricket Duel."

From Helifis and the First Army Corp Commander, Song Lan saw the true face of "fate" and faintly understood his own reason for detesting it.

For humanity, a capricious thought from a higher life form could dominate their entire lives.

"Get ready, it’s time."

Unaware of these thoughts, the First Army Corp Commander completed the final adjustment to his exoskeleton armor. He harbored no fear in his heart—having prepared for death the moment he left his airship.

In fact, for those like him, born with the genes of sin, dying in battle was the best possible end.

"Alright, it’s time."

Out of politeness, Song Lan responded.

For some reason, the First Army Corp Commander’s resignation stirred an inexplicable anger in him. He saw the commander bend over, ready to launch himself at Helifis.

The next moment, he kicked the commander’s butt.

Caught completely off guard, the First Army Corp Commander was thus kicked into the massive pit.

Even Helifis was shocked by the scene before her.

And Song Lan, standing atop the hill, watched indifferently as the First Army Corp Commander tumbled down the pit and uttered words beyond her comprehension.

—"A bunch of foolish geese."

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