Chapter 102 - Salvation Army, White Emperor’s son, Tian Wenjin, *** (5k words - please follow for more updates)

Chapter 102: Chapter 79: Salvation Army, White Emperor’s son, Tian Wenjin, *** (5k words - please follow for more updates)"Ugh, did I rush into something ominous? Who exactly are these people?"

The distance between the two parties was less than a hundred meters, and with Xu Shu’s sharp eyesight, he could see every detail on their bodies.

These five men, four young and one old, seemed to be led by the old man with white hair.

They all wore open, bright white robes with a conspicuous letter embroidered on the left chest—an oversized "S."

On their white forehead bands, there was a strange cross stitched.

Thus, the two parties stood at a distance, neither of them speaking first.

The open space here was surrounded on all sides, resembling the shape of the character "vessel," with each of the four openings formed by the collapsed ruins of tall buildings.

Xu Shu was in the middle, at the center of the character, and beside him was the passageway where the small Demon had emerged.

The five mysterious men in white robes occupied the ruins at the lower two openings, vaguely blocking the path Xu Shu would take to his shelter.

Huff!

Xu Shu suddenly reached back and pulled Gu Pan to his rear.

His tall and formidable stature was completely capable of shielding the petite Gu Pan behind him.

Was he protecting me?

Gu Pan glanced at the back of Xu Shu’s head, her eyes rippling slightly.

The next second, Xu Shu muttered a curse under his breath, "No good folks, feels like they’re coming for us. Get ready for a deadly fight. I think those five... are all Transcendents."

Gu Pan was startled but quietly said, "It shouldn’t be like that, look at their outfits; they’re from the Salvation Army, and the Salvation Army has a decent reputation."

"Salvation Army?"

Xu Shu paused, then said, "I remember now, isn’t that the group claiming to establish the Doomsday Kingdom, saying the Great Catastrophe was a sin sent by God, and they came to save us sinners? Aren’t they Cultists?"

The name "Salvation Army" was slightly familiar to Xu Shu, a religious organization of sorts he had occasionally heard of in this life.

During his elementary school days, Xiao Xu Shu would sometimes pick up their promotional cards on the street.

The cards proclaimed they would "preach to humanity and save the sinners" and such.

Apparently, they had swindled quite a few naive and elderly people.

But before long, these cards had disappeared from the safety zones.

After the Supervision Bureau assumed control over the new human government, they conducted a thorough cleansing, strictly regulating Esoteric sects and preserving only the three major churches—Sun, Moon, and Stars—among the native major schools.

Among them, the "Sun," or Dawn Church, was now considered a folk religious school. Didn’t everyone praise the sun in the warm morning sunshine?

As for "Moon" and "Stars," were it not for their congregations including many professional Transcendents who made significant contributions to humanity’s foundation, they could hardly have established themselves.

Regarding the concept of "God," the Supervision Bureau had always been dismissive.

It had been eighteen years since the apocalypse, who the hell still believed in God? Forgot how the old world perished?

Of course, trust in Lie Zhenzi! Otherwise, Lie Zhenzi would cut your signal and deny you access to the Ascension network.

At that moment, Gu Pan gave a curious response, "Redeeming sinners? The stories you’re telling are ancient history; they don’t believe in the creator anymore, their reputation is good now."

Xu Shu, surprised, glanced at her, "What do you mean?"

Gu Pan explained, "A useless but secretive piece of knowledge—the original Salvation Army was the Spirit Sect before the Catastrophe, worshipping an omniscient and omnipotent creator.

"After the Catastrophe, the Supervision Bureau tightly controlled the worship of deities, and within a few years, the doctrines of the Spirit Sect could hardly be passed down here. But funny enough, guess what they did later?"

Xu Shu expressionless, continued to stare at the five men in white and without turning his head said:

"I think you’re the funny one, not noticing the situation we’re in? Stop dangling carrots, just spit it out."

"..." Gu Pan was momentarily choked by this retort, and simply said:

"They just changed their beliefs, haha, around New Calendar Year Five, the Salvation Army started distributing small advertisements again, they founded the Five Directions Imperial Army, claiming to change the tough living conditions of the Wasteland Wanderers."

"Changed beliefs?"

"Yeah, when the creator couldn’t protect them anymore, they just switched their faith. Over these years, the Salvation Army has gained a strong reputation in the Wastelands; from the mouths of monsters, they have saved countless refugees and helped establish several large shelters."

"Really? I’ve never heard of that."

"In this D8B3 area, there hasn’t been a Salvation Army refuge established yet; their manpower is limited, probably only recently have they reached this area."

Gu Pan thought for a moment, then added:

"Oh, I get it now. You grew up in a local safe zone, right? Never been to other safe zones when you were a kid?"

Xu Shu: "Nonsense, it’s my first time out of the safe zone, let alone visiting other safe zones. Are you going to take me out beyond the border?"

"Haha, definitely next time, no wonder you’re so uninformed."

As she spoke, Gu Pan poked Xu Shu’s back with her slender finger.

After this "collaboration," she genuinely felt their friendship seemed to have grown closer.

And now, realizing that these men were from the Salvation Army, she also felt relief and a bit bolder, even brave enough to make jokes.

The next second.

Xu Shu said something that shut her up.

"Stop laughing. I think something’s off. These bastards in mourning gear seem to have really taken an interest in us," Xu Shu coldly stated.

"Surely not? Look at the big ’S’ embroidered on their chests, indicating they belong to the ’White Emperor’s son’ division of the Five Directions Imperial Army. That should be correct..."

"So what if it is? Do you think there’s a possibility--" Xu Shu paused.