"Friendly Hand" Archbishop Derro, accompanied by Chug, Shao Liang, Mu Chi, and others, met with the local Bishop Antoniola under the watchful eye of the Vigilant Emblem.

This clergyman, over six feet tall, cloaked in black, wearing a minimalist mask, and completely bald, looked quite robust. He raised his arms, crossed them over his chest, and took a step back:

"Vigilance is a hint from God.

"Archbishop Derro, your rooms have been prepared."

Archbishop Derro, with his thinning hair, had intended to give Antoniola an embrace, following the most formal and sincere etiquette of the "Friendly Hand," but seeing his undisguised display of vigilance, he turned his body, exposing his back to the other man, and said in Red River language:

"Friendliness towards people, trust in each other."

The division between the two major denominations was immediately apparent.

Moreover, unlike the Vigilant Church and the Fear Cult, which each focused on different aspects of doctrine, the "Friendly Hand" had completely struck out on its own, bearing no resemblance to the other two.

The only thing they had in common was that the "Friendly Hand" also worshipped "You Gu," the Grand Arbiter of October.

If the Vigilant Church and the Fear Cult were born of the same source, then the "Friendly Hand" was something picked up from the outside.

In a sense, this was also somewhat true.

During the Chaotic Era, the "Friendly Hand" originated from those who needed to unite to fight against the "Heartless" and various mutated creatures. These people, relying on mutual help and sincere cooperation, barely managed to carve out a bloody path, establishing different settlements and spreading this belief in "You Gu."

The philosophy of the "Friendly Hand" shared a fundamental similarity with that of the "Salvation Army," and the two indeed had a long and close history of cooperation.

It was not until the New Calendar year 10, due to the divine revelation of "You Gu," that the "Friendly Hand" regularly sent representatives to the general synod between the Vigilant Church and the Fear Cult.

It was precisely because of their presence that the Vigilant Church and the Fear Cult had not repeated their previous disputes, which had escalated into violent clashes, almost leading to bloodshed.

In Chug's self-deprecating words along the way:

The Grand Arbiter couldn't bear to see her believers suffer unnecessary casualties due to doctrinal disputes, so she specifically sent people from the "Friendly Hand" to mediate.

After the members following him had all turned around and bowed towards Vigilant Church Bishop Antoniola, Archbishop Derro of the "Friendly Hand" spoke in a gentle and soothing tone:

"I have visited Redstone Collection before and had contact with the one from the 'Underground Ark,' an old friend.

"I wonder how he is now; may I pay him a visit?"

Antoniola, wearing the white minimalist mask, said in a deep voice:

"DiMarco is dead; the 'Underground Ark' has changed its owner."

"Did you do it?" Derro acted as if he was hearing this for the first time.

Antoniola shook his head:

"No.

"It was five outsiders."

"Are they also believers of the Grand Arbiter?" Derro asked, feigning surprise.

Antoniola shook his head again:

"I am not very clear about their beliefs, but they are definitely not believers of the Grand Arbiter, and they usually do not live in Redstone Collection, only coming occasionally.

"In fact, you should have seen them earlier. When you entered the church, they were just leaving the hall and returning to the underground."

"..." Chug thought carefully for a moment before realizing that Bishop Antoniola was probably referring to Bai Chen and the other three.

Them?

They killed an Awakened that Archbishop Derro considered stronger than himself?

When did Bai Chen become so powerful?

Although her companions seemed to come from a large force, they shouldn't be that strong, right?

Too young...

As thoughts flashed through his mind, Chug, driven by instinctive doubt, asked:

"Bishop, didn't you say that there were five people who killed the original owner of the 'Underground Ark'?

"We only saw four earlier..."

Antoniola did not conceal anything:

"One is an intelligent robot; it didn't come this time."

Bai Chen's intelligent robot? Chug felt that things were adding up.

But he still didn't want to believe it.

It had only been a few years, and Bai Chen had grown to a point where he needed to look up to her, and she had joined a team with unfathomable strength? Moreover, he hadn't been idle over the years; he was vastly different from what he was before.

Archbishop Derro deliberated for a moment before asking:

"Is the main force the intelligent robot?"

That's right, intelligent robots are very good at countering Awakened in certain areas, even if the other party has entered the "Mind Corridor"... Remembering this, Chug subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that it was still reasonable.

"I am not sure; I did not participate, and no surveillance footage was left at the scene," Antoniola replied calmly.

Seeing this, Archbishop Derro of the "Friendly Hand" could no longer suppress his doubts:

"They are outsiders, and they do not believe in the Grand Arbiter. You just watched them break into the depths of the church and kill the owner of the Ark?

"The owner of the Ark was a believer of the Grand Arbiter."

Even his own denomination, known for its friendliness, wouldn't do such a thing as opening the door to let thieves in!

Antoniola lowered his voice slightly:

"The Grand Arbiter acquiesced."

Derro was shocked and looked around:

"The Grand Arbiter acquiesced to the killing of the owner of the Ark?

"Then why didn't you do it yourselves? With the strength of your denomination, completing this task would have been more than enough.

"Was it because the incident happened suddenly, and there was no time to request support from the Fear Bishops?"

Antoniola made no reply, only raising his hand again and giving a salute:

"Vigilance is a hint from God."

............

In the afternoon, the "Old Task Force" followed another smuggling team deep into Iron Mountain.

They had spent the morning screening the remaining books in the Ark, but they didn't find any valuable clues. In addition, they took the time to visit the Vigilant Church, visiting the Watcher Song He and Bishop Antoniola, and obtained some information about the Iron City ruins from them.

The meeting point agreed upon by the "Underground Ark" Management Committee and the Hill Men was at a bend in a mountain road.

Here, one side was a cliff face, and the other side was a precipice, making the terrain extremely dangerous.

For the Hill Men, if the smugglers showed any hostility, their companions hidden on the cliff face would push down boulders to stir up the situation, while they themselves would rely on their talent to climb down the cliff and disappear into the dense forest.

The four members of the "Old Task Force" got out of the jeep one after another and waited beside the vehicle.

After about ten minutes, a group of Hill Men with bluish skin, sharp teeth, and a rather eerie, green-faced appearance swung down from the cliff face on vines.

Like the Fishmen, they were also sufficiently vigilant, and after a brief look, they discovered that there were four strangers this time.

Before they could speak, Shang Jianyao had already raised the blue and white megaphone and shouted weakly:

"Don't be nervous:

"You are people, and we are also people;

"You are here to trade resources, and we are also here to trade resources;

"So..."

To conserve his energy, Shang Jianyao used his more familiar "Reasoning Clown" persona this time.

The Hill Men were instantly "persuaded" and elected a representative who took the initiative to ask:

"What resources do you want to trade?"

He used Gray Earth language with a somewhat dialectal accent.

Jiang Baimian took two steps forward and said:

"We will trade three boxes of flour for information about the Iron City ruins."

These three boxes of flour were what they got from the "Underground Ark" in exchange for surplus munitions.

The Hill Man representative was stunned for several seconds before saying:

"Ask."

Jiang Baimian started with the simplest question:

"Did your tribe explore the Iron City ruins during the Chaotic Era?"

"Not at the beginning. It was too dangerous there. Only after the 'Heartless' had been cleared out a lot did our elders try to scavenge for food," the Hill Man representative replied quite skillfully.

Jiang Baimian immediately followed up:

"Did your elders encounter any strange things there? Did they collect any useful items or information?"

The Hill Man representative shook his head like a rattle:

"All along, we have mainly been looking for food, clothing, and bedding. Occasionally, other items that were brought back were sold after someone came up the mountain to trade.

"Uh... there were many powerful 'Heartless' in the Iron City ruins at that time, with terrible abilities. We only dared to go around them. There was nothing strange in other places."

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said:

"Did you bring back any newspapers, magazines, or books?"

Generally speaking, unless they met a scholar who studied the Old World, it was difficult to trade such items.

The Hill Man representative's bluish face showed a slightly strange expression:

"We did have some, which we used for lighting fires, plastering walls, as mattresses for the ground, and as teaching materials for the children.

"But someone asked about this a few days ago, and they even looked at the items in person, but they didn't pick out any books."

Someone asked? Just a few days ago? Jiang Baimian's eyes suddenly became sharp:

"Who were they?"

Shang Jianyao followed suit, speaking with extraordinary "shock" and regret:

"You, you are not vigilant enough!

"How can you bring strangers back to your tribal settlement?"

The group of Hill Men were simultaneously silent, seemingly realizing only at this moment that this was a very serious problem.