It’s getting late, and even the War God Temple has closing hours, so Sandora and I, under Mr. Lei’s guidance, prepared to leave the temple (which could also be called a church). Before we left, we said goodbye to Eva: she wouldn’t be leaving, as she lived in the church. It’s not because the War God’s maid must strictly adhere to so strict code of conduct or can’t leave the temple because of their holy status, but simply because the rent in the capital is too expensive. Eva, having grown up in the Temple District, just decided to live in the church...
As for Mr. Lei, the High Priest of the War God, whose status is second only to the Pope, he stays in a dormitory: both he and his granddaughter are from out of town.
This explains why two of the most revered religious spiritual leaders on Azure Star choose to live in the Church District throughout the year.
I honestly feel the above situation shouldn’t appear in such a holy passage, nor should it be associated with words like "God, Holy Girl, Priest, Church," yet why does a supposedly solemn background sound to like sothing happening in the dormitory of a small garnt factory thirty miles outside the city suburbs?
I was also curious about why religious leaders like Lei and Eva, who are almost under one person and above a million, would choose to reside in the church dormitory for the "rent in the capital is too expensive" reason. After leaving the church, I couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, but I didn’t expect Mr. Lei to respond so matter-of-factly, "Because we don’t have money."
Seeing the surprised expressions on Sandora and my face, the always slightly serious old gentleman earnestly repeated, "We don’t have money. Most of God’s servants choose to live in the Church District because it provides free accommodation and daily necessities for missionaries. This is the only benefit we can obtain in God’s na. Other than that, any resources beyond basic survival necessities have to be resolved on their own. Is it very incredible?"
"Well, in so ways, it is," I shrugged with a smile. "Looking at your War God Temple, my first impression was that the church should be one of the wealthiest entities in the world, but I didn’t expect it to be like this."
"Of course, the church owns wealth," Lei spread his hands as if lifting the whole world, "because we manage this planet for God. As the stewards of God, we hold the keys to the master’s treasure vault, and the church as a whole is built on the wealth granted to humanity by God. Therefore, the temple and divine statues should be resplendent, as it is the gratitude that mortals must return to God for granting us this world. Yet missionaries must separate themselves from these riches, realizing we are rely custodians without the right to enjoy them. Compared to material wealth, we are already imnsely rich in spirit and soul, as we stand closest to God. Moreover, compared to those who toil day and night to make a living, we only need to pray and preach to be worry-free about food and clothing — this is already a great blessing."
When Lei spoke these words, he was utterly natural, with no pretense nor exaggerated fervor, yet I was even more profoundly shocked at the spiritual power faith can bring: it can completely elevate a person—as long as this faith is genuine enough, it can even let a mortal transcend the shackles of the material world. Perhaps on Azure Star, there may not be many like Lei among ordinary believers with such devout faith, and most flesh-and-blood worshippers may ultimately not escape worldly temptations, but Lei’s living example has shown how "Promoters" who enter the Star Domain Divine Realm and live alongside real gods co to be.
Perhaps, after being called by the Lord, this elderly man before will beco like a Divine Servant, who has ascended from mortal believers in the Star Domain Divine Realm, and serve loyally beside Yelsen, his master...
...Unfortunately, as soon as I thought of that guy 123, all the emotions built up in the previous over a hundred words instantly crumbled. Mr. Lei, are you really willing to be summoned by that fool of a Lord?
You’d be better off being summoned by Dingdang! At least the Life Goddess has many moe girls under her! The Divine Servant troupe under that guy 123 reportedly starts with a waistline of three feet three; old sir, can your body handle it... Apologies, it seems Yelsen indeed cos with a built-in remote trolling halo, despite being a hundred and eight thousand miles away, just his na popping into my head has instantly derailed my thoughts...
This reminds of the Tiaozi Five who laze around at ho, mooch off , and help spend my money. I never really thought about it before, but now suddenly coming across an old man who seems to shine with brilliance, I instantly realize how gluttonous, lazy, idle, mischievous, frivolous, and morally bankrupt that bunch of gods at ho are. Seeing a mortal believer with more spiritually rich character than those role models of a wealthy new era, I, as the landlord, am heartbroken. How is it that guy 123 has lower moral and ntal awareness than an old man under his command? Compared to those five, the only thing separating this old man before from instant enlightennt to beco a Buddha is that his back of the head can’t glow...
"Ah Jun, I truly think you overthink," Sandora suddenly nudged my arm, "and to be honest, whenever those five are causing a ruckus, how often are you less rambunctious yourself?"
: "..."
Right, I’m still bearing the title of Holy Dad, but I don’t seem to have done anything a Holy Dad should do: except for taking care of kids.
This was already inside the Church District, the most sacred place on Azure Star. Walking here with Sandora on the quiet roads, I felt those "curious little eyes" from afar had drastically reduced, and even if there were, they could only watch from a distance. Perhaps Azure Star’s authority and those scientists (including Old Master Qiao, who had not been seen since leaving the church) are still intensely discussing things about the aliens, but for Sandora and now, those are completely trivial and unworthy of attention. Knowing that this world is 123’s territory has further diminished the interest value of the local natives’ actions for us, as knowing that whatever they stir up, it surely won’t cause much of a splash.
But just need to think carefully about the sudden intrusion of the Fifth Fleet, and what far-reaching influence it might have on this world: perhaps it could even change their entire civilization’s progression. But again, well... Anyway, with that suffering master 123 having to worry about it, why should I bother thinking about it so much, right?
"I don’t care where we sleep today, I just want to know when dinner will be served..."
As I was sowhat lost in thought, Sandora suddenly pinched my arm again, whispering pitifully, "Ah Jun, I’ve been saying I’m hungry for half a century now..."
I broke out in cold sweat: We had just barely left the church, and Sandora was already like this, truly a tribute to her appetite. So, I hastily waved to Mr. Lei: "Hey, let’s not waste any more ti, seems like my girlfriend is really hungry—do you have a al prepared?"
Mr. Lei was stunned for a mont, still probably not quite used to the very distinctive way aliens speak, but then he saw Sandora grinding her teeth and hurriedly nodded: "Oh, oh, of course, arrangents have been made, but please understand that your side is a bit... special, and our expert team seems to be having a headache trying to figure out what food to serve you. Joe thinks alien organisms must have completely different digestive processes from humans on Azure Star, perhaps the food on our planet may not suit your appetite, but because there was no opportunity to ask about this detail before... Anyway, right now, the expert team is collecting all available food samples worldwide, and perhaps—"
"No need to go through so much trouble," I proudly patted Sandora’s slender waist, "my girlfriend eats anything, and I’ve got Master Kong with —seriously, you guys should have just asked directly if the expert team couldn’t figure it out, right?"
Mr. Lei glanced at , "Please understand, after all, your side is a bit... special, our expert team seems quite troubled about what type of food would be suitable for you. Qiao surmised that alien organisms might have a completely different digestive system from humans on Azure Star, and perhaps the food on our planet might not agree with you, but then one of the chefs at the academy had this idea..." At this point, Lei awkwardly spread his hands: "There’s a specialization in every field, normal scientists are all busy studying how your spaceship managed to jump out of the Constant Star System in an instant."
When I heard this, it made sense. There are plenty of aliens in Hollywood blockbusters, but have you ever seen a national governnt thinking about what dishes to cook the first ti they encounter aliens?
I glanced at Sandora beside , thinking perhaps the experts and scholars from Azure Star weren’t just concerned with frying "a few" dishes...
Upon hearing Sandora’s and my request, Mr. Lei didn’t hesitate at all. He imdiately pulled out a small oval device and pressed it to his ear—it might be a phone—then began instructing staff to prepare als for our extraterrestrial guests. I kept reminding him from the side, "Prepare more, prepare more, just make it banquet-level."
Sandora was behind twisting my arm playfully because it was so embarrassing. Indeed, my performance was basically embarrassing the Empire if viewed politically—but what could I do? It’s no big deal to lose face; I just couldn’t let Sandora go hungry.
Then Mr. Lei subtly instructed his staff to bring out all the prepared items and led us to a large canteen inside the Church District.
More elegantly put, it’s called the "Holy al Church."
"This is the place for holding holy als during the rest days blessed by the War God." After leading us to the dod building, Mr. Lei proudly pointed to the circular dining room. A feast was already prepared—although aside from the plates, I recognized none of the items on the table—and several familiar faces accompanied us. Many junior clergy in monastic robes continued to bring various vibrantly colored foods in strange dishes to the table, and Elder Qiao, previously unseen after exiting the church, stood by the table, warmly gesturing to Sandora and . "Oh, we’ve been waiting for you a long ti. You must try my personally crafted dish, which I’ve spent years perfecting: a universal cosmic flavor fried egg..."
"If not for his remarkable contribution in researching the anti-gravity balancer, he’d definitely be the first senior clergy mber fired by the Space Detection General Bureau." Lei whispered to .
I finally understood how that eccentric old man who’d researched alien dandruff for half a year, stayed in the research team.
By this ti, Sandora showed complete disregard for Mr. Lei’s words. The scope of her world view rapidly diminished to just the size of the table, then quickly expanded again to encompass the entire great dining hall... Holy al Church. It was a process of world view transition, and within half a minute, Sandora successfully applied her perception of the world to everything in front of her: edible.
I suddenly thought I should go up and hang so "not edible" signs on those serious-looking receptionists to prevent Sandora, driven crazy by hunger, from causing a dining disaster...
Even if Sandora was overwhelmingly hungry, she still maintained her dignity, sitting with grace in the lead, only indicating with a glance that others could be seated. Normally, she’s quite friendly when dining with strangers, but the "rigid spirit" of the experts, scholars, and receptionists evidently left the Queen slightly dissatisfied, so she chose an attitude befitting theirs. After being seated, everyone, whether or not they wore divine robes, placed their hands folded on their chests, bowed their heads, and closed their eyes in prayer. Lei and Qiao, sitting relatively close, let their prayer voices reach my ears: "...Thank the Lord for granting us peace, and for these divinely bestowed bountiful foods..."
I silently glanced at the two old n and thought that your Lord should be sitting at soone else’s table eating their food, watching their TV, and teasing their child, even playing with their pet... Oh, the pet might not fully count as "soone else’s," but the first three certainly do. Yet, here you are praying, thanking your Lord for granting you food: if this logic holds, 123 should thank the landlord for granting him so much...
"Alright, the prayer is over, so let’s enjoy the Holy al with our alien guests... shall we?"
Mr. Lei opened his eyes first after completing his prayer, habitually said the first half of the statent, and then gawked at the empty table in a daze: sociologically speaking, he probably didn’t understand what "the Holy al disappearing in the sound of prayer" ant. Sandora, on the other hand, smacked her lips and comnted, "Prayers are too slow."
I looked in horror at my girlfriend: her eating speed at ho is nowhere near this fast! Does this an this is her true ability, and the Queen usually restrains herself at ho?
"The... the Holy al is gone!" A middle-aged woman, looking like a high priest, blinked, suddenly clasped her hands, looked up and shouted, "God! The Lord must have descended to share the Holy al with us!"
No, your Lord doesn’t have such a huge appetite, nor do you think that God descending to imdiately grab all the food from the faithful is sothing worth boasting about? Although with 123’s character, it indeed fits the narrative sowhat.
In the end, it was Lei who noticed the movents in Sandora’s mouth, looking over with a face full of surprise. I chuckled and patted Sandora’s hair: "She has a hearty appetite—please prepare another table for us. And if possible, another table while you’re at it."
That day, Sandora ate happily. By her standards, the food on Azure Star seed to suit her taste. Thanks to the adequately prepared als (the staff had practically gathered every edible, supposedly edible, or rumored-to-be-edible item from the entire planet for this al), the table and utensils at the Holy al Church were spared. However, due to my lack of adaptation to local food, I decisively ate Master Kong: had I known, I should have asked Anwina to prepare a bunch of boxed als to carry along before the trip. Other attendees, including Lei and Qiao, had a morable impression of this Holy al: it was the only ti in their mory where they left the table with an amount of food enough to feed three elephants, yet left with hungry bellies.
Sandora’s spectacular eating astonished everyone, and by the ti Lei and the others reacted, the kitchen was almost down to boiling brooms for soup.
Sandora expressed a moderate degree of apology and regretted that ordinary humans couldn’t digest forks and glass cups, otherwise, others present wouldn’t have gone hungry.
I have to say, although that group of alien enthusiasts and so over-nervous leaders sotis left one aghast, they were at least better than those who imdiately resort to conspiracy theories without a second thought upon encountering aliens (which really happens quite commonly). Perhaps because 123 has long utilized faith guidance to instill a proper worldview in his faithful, despite Azure Star being a "nascent civilization" just starting to move freely within its own star system, many of their perspectives seem quite advanced to : they could rightly perceive the potential dangers of a blind approach to extraterrestrial civilizations and understand that the universe might not be so friendly after leaving the cradle planet. Yet, given this premise, they still actively took the first step, and quickly cald down after the Fifth Fleet appeared, taking many asures that, although naive, truly helped to avoid a "first contact conflict." After Sandora and I were finally full and settled in a room provided by the Church, the latter began analyzing the "value" of these native civilizations on Azure Star as if suffering from a professional affliction and concluded in the end: though 123 is tricky, Azure Star turned out surprisingly not too bad.
I sotis think Sandora has a bit of a professional disorder: even when out traveling, she would always ticulously analyze any native civilization she occasionally encounters, fiddling until the end to calculate the years it would take for the native civilization to develop normally and rapidly to have value as an Empire vassal, how long those natives could support if the Abyss invaded their world, and estimating the benefits of fully ruling over the target civilization... these sowhat cold calculations are Sandora’s favorite work. Despite her lack of malice, this habit truly makes knock on the Queen’s head from ti to ti—co on, being alone together, it’s still honeymoon travel (according to Qianqian), and most importantly, troubleso Dingdang isn’t nearby, there are many things to do in a long night, yet here she is calculating the projected lifespan of human civilization with a data terminal... (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you’re welco to visit Qidian (qidian) to vote with recomndation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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