Chapter 281 - 233: Black-robed Angels

’But there’s no point in thinking about this now.’ Chu Bamboo shook his head, refusing to dwell on it. The logic was simple: if the Bright Pope was really a problem, did that mean the Giant of the Mo Family was clean? Were all the others definitely fine?

This endless thinking and constant suspicion was just a waste of time!

Chu Bamboo stared at his phone, then suddenly looked up and asked, "Nuwa No. 17, I have a question... with my current authority, can I directly contact the Nuwa Mainframe in the Imperial Capital’s Grand Ancestral Temple? And what’s the mainframe’s current status?"

In the past, Chu Bamboo had tried to make contact through Nuwa No. 17.

But back then, the answer she gave was that connecting to the mainframe required authorization from three of the highest-level Authorities. By that standard, Chu Bamboo still didn’t meet the requirements. ’But the timeline has changed, hasn’t it? What if this has changed too...’

"Checking permissions. You are not authorized to issue this command!" Little Mushroom Head’s voice was the same as always. "The Nuwa Mainframe is currently in a low-power hibernation state."

"...Why is it in that state?" Chu Bamboo asked again.

"The Third Celestial Court War..." Little Mushroom Head got halfway through the sentence before its voice abruptly cut off. It was as if it had crashed, completely frozen. A moment later, wisps of steam began to rise from its head. "Your current power level does not meet the requirements for this query! Re-evaluating... Your current power level..."

"...Alright, I withdraw the question." The corner of Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched. Only then did Little Mushroom Head quiet down.

’Celestial Court Wars.’ Chu Bamboo murmured the term. It seemed there had been three confirmed Celestial Court Wars so far. ’Do these three wars symbolize humanity’s official rise as the masters of this world? The enemy was suspected to be certain Extraordinary Creatures that had formed their own societies!’

Moreover, countless automated war machines had been used up as consumables in these three wars!

It wasn’t just automated machinery, either. Many contingencies left behind from the Real World were also expended. For example, a series of satellite programs in outer space that sounded utterly absurd... all of them were written off because of the Celestial Court Wars.

Chu Bamboo had no doubt that a large portion of these had been set up by members of the Time Club, intended to be his starting capital for his current development... except it had all been spent!

’The next time I wake up in the Real World, should I... set up some more? For instance, stipulate that no matter how critical the situation gets, some contingencies cannot be deployed! They must require my personal authorization?’ Chu Bamboo mused, deciding he would give it a try.

Time ticked by.

Chu Bamboo frowned as he checked the time. It was eleven o’clock. He looked toward the factory again, but everything was still quiet.

’Does it have to happen right at midnight? Or maybe just ten minutes before, like last time? An abrupt incident? It can’t be that Eleven is going to suddenly intervene and start a massacre, can it?’

Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared.

Chu Bamboo’s pupils constricted slightly as he looked at the holographic interface projected by Little Mushroom Head. It was a map of the entire Jinghai City.

One red dot after another began to appear...

’Are... are large numbers of people learning about the Extraordinary?’ A wave of understanding washed over Chu Bamboo. Then, he watched in astonishment as several drones above the factory district were struck from the sky.

Without any prompting from Chu Bamboo, Little Mushroom Head immediately maneuvered the remaining drones to climb rapidly into the sky.

Chu Bamboo saw the attackers: several men in black robes. They wore strange masks—classic All-Powerful style.

But what truly caught Chu Bamboo’s eye... were the wings on their backs!

"Their style is so similar to the God Worship Sect’s!" Chu Bamboo remarked. The only difference was the color. The wings on these figures were either pale red or pale black, whereas the wings he’d seen from the God Worship Sect were all white—though, admittedly, he had only ever seen Zhang Hai.

’But wait, aren’t wings a feature of the mythological form... something only a Fourth Realm Powerhouse should have? Are all of these people at that level?’ Chu Bamboo was confused, but he quickly dismissed the idea. ’Perhaps it’s a type of Divine Technique? Or maybe a kind of Artifact...’

If they were truly Fourth Realm Powerhouses, how could they have only managed to take down a few drones? Based on the power Zhang Hai had displayed... their opening move should have been to instantly wipe out at least half of the dozens of drones in the air.

Soon, the workers below spotted them.

The workers were, of course, shocked and incredulous. After whispering amongst themselves, many of them fell to their knees and began to kowtow, obviously followers of the God Worship Sect. They believed the members of All-Powerful in the sky were Divine Envoys sent by God.

At the same time, the red alert dots on Little Mushroom Head’s display began appearing over the factory area... a dense, spreading cluster of them.

The black-robed men made the sign of an Inverted Cross over their chests. Then, each took a White Bead from his robes, crushed it, and a blinding white light instantly bathed the ground below.

Amidst screams of pain, the vast number of workers who had caught sight of the white light all collapsed to the ground, clutching their eyes and writhing in agony.

The black-robed men looked up again at the drones soaring into the sky. The wings of one of them fluttered slightly, and he shot upward at incredible speed.

The drones shot up to an altitude of over a thousand meters almost instantly. In the Real World, such an ascent speed would be enough to leave anyone speechless.

Of course, some of the slower-ascending civilian drones were destroyed on the spot by the Black-robed Angels. But after a brief chase, they gave up on the pointless task and flew off in other directions.

"The white light," Chu Bamboo murmured. ’Isn’t that the same thing from the church incident? From Zhang Hai’s death? Logically, that thing should only work on Transcendents... hmm?’

’Wait, I guess no one ever said it *only* works on Transcendents!’ Chu Bamboo’s mind raced faster than ever. ’It’s just... compared to capturing Transcendents for experiments, capturing ordinary people would be much easier! They must have already tested it... which is why I have no idea what this thing does to normal people!’

Chu Bamboo watched calmly as the workers soon stopped struggling. Then, one by one, they rose to their feet, their faces stiff and blank.

Then, some of them began to shamble unsteadily into the factory, while others slit their own wrists and started using their blood to draw bizarre patterns on the ground.

It was the symbol of All-Powerful!

It was the same symbol he and Zhang Hai had seen painted in the center of the hall when they’d crashed the Mass.

Even Chu Bamboo himself knew how to draw it.

’They’re being controlled?’ Chu Bamboo surmised. It was obvious. These workers couldn’t possibly have known this symbol before... ’So, it was the white light!’

’As for drawing these things... could this be some kind of ritual?’