“Troken Church?”
Bres heard a name that was completely beyond his predictions.
He quickly searched through his decades of memories for information about this sect, but found nothing.
Besides the world’s most popular religions, there were more small sects than homeless people on the streets of the Lower City District. How could he know them all?
Seeing Bres’s confused expression, the nun also shrunk back dejectedly.
“Ah, just as I thought… So you got the wrong door too? Well, the exterior decoration hasn’t been changed due to schedule delays, so anyone would think that…”
Her face was covered in a shadow.
Seeing the nun’s spirits sinking lower, Bres and Qiao Anni also felt embarrassed.
“Sorry, we really haven’t heard of the Troken Church… How about you explain it to us?”
“Please?”
The nun, curled up in her chair, lifted her head.
“Really?”
She looked at the two of them with half-belief, half-doubt.
“Really.”
Bres had no choice. According to Rat, this was his only lead to high-level weapons—even though this place looked like a cult, a very low-grade one at that.
‘Even though the woman in front of him seemed mentally unstable, for now he should try to go along with her to earn some goodwill.’
‘What if it really was a legitimate religion?’
“Then, could you please explain it to us? The history of the Troken Church and its doctrines and such.”
bang!
She somehow pulled out a huge blackboard from nowhere.
crack!
Then she pulled out a long pointer from nowhere as well.
“Where did she pull that out from…”
“Then, allow me, Leila the nun, a faithful believer of the God of Troken, to explain.”
Leila changed her tone. At that moment, she finally looked like a real believer, not just some crazy person in a nun cosplay costume you’d meet on the street.
“The God of Troken is the creator of all guns, cannons, and gunpowder in heaven and earth. He is the one and only, infinite, omnipotent, unchanging, incomprehensible, and ineffable holy God.”
“He is the great creator who granted us gunpowder and ironware. All creations of iron and fire are related to Him.”
“God loves humanity, so He did not wish for humans to continue suffering in this world. Therefore, five years ago, God descended to the world and came before our compatriot and leader, Frederick Simmons.”
“‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Iron and Fire, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.’”
“Simmons received the divine revelation. Under God’s inspiration, he began to gather disciples and spread the greatness of the God of Iron and Fire everywhere, from the distant western islands to the eastern deep mountains, so that the honored name of Iron and Fire would resound throughout the world, and the grace of Iron and Fire could benefit every believer—”
Sister Leila passionately preached about this so-called “Troken Church,” and before long, the huge blackboard was filled with dense text and drawings, so Leila had to bring out another blackboard—it was really curious where she pulled those out from.
Finally, in front of three fully packed blackboards, Sister Leila stopped.
“That’s it. The deeper doctrines and creeds are only open to those who join the church! Well? Are you interested? Isn’t it great?”
After saying that, she looked at Bres and Qiao Anni expectantly.
Whether it was intentional ignorance or the excitement of preaching blinded her, in any case, Leila did not notice during the sermon that the two had already wandered off, their pupils nearly unfocused.
“Hmm… Oh? It’s over?”
Bres straightened his back.
“It’s indeed… a very charming sect!”
Qiao Anni was also nodding vigorously beside him. She had just timely wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth.
“Then, are you considering joining the church?”
Leila produced two membership application forms—Bres no longer wanted to investigate their origin.
‘In summary, the Troken Church is a new religion founded five years ago by that Simmons guy, a weird cult that worships gunpowder and steel products.’
“If you join now, you’ll also get a Troken amulet and special benefits for believers?”
Leila took out two necklaces. On them was an iron rifle cross, with a man whose head was a revolver nailed onto it in a position of suffering.
“…Let’s look at the application forms first.”
Qiao Anni took the application forms. From the feel, the paper was also of quite ordinary quality. It had the words “Iron and Fire” printed in the most basic free font from the internet, along with a cross made of two rifles. Below were personal information fields to fill in for joining the church.
‘The decoration here, the member who received us, this application form—everything reeks of a makeshift operation from start to finish.’
Bres tilted his head back and covered his face.
Only now did he understand the expression Rat had earlier and what he meant by “payment.”
Was he trying to trick him into some cult?
Thinking back, he really did owe him a consultation fee that he hadn’t paid…
“What do you two think?”
Impatient Leila interrupted Bres’s random thoughts.
Bres looked at the bewildered Qiao Anni, and Qiao Anni looked at the bewildered Bres.
Their eyes met and collided in the air. At that moment, both saw the only consensus and answer in each other’s eyes: we should run.
The crazy nun in front of them was still amiable now, but once they refused her, she might do something extreme.
This is deadly.
Bres looked for a pretext while adjusting his sitting posture, preparing to find the best angle to turn around and run.
Weapons are valuable, but life is more so.
He neither wanted to tie himself to a cult and end up thrown into jail by the police someday, nor did he want to become the second “ball” to roll out of the church.
“Um, Sister Leila…”
“Yes?”
She still had a smile on her face.
“We two…”
Bres took a deep breath. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, literally and figuratively.
“We are indeed very interested in the Troken Church, but—”
crack!
A crisp breaking sound came from outside the church.
“What’s that sound?”
Bres and Qiao Anni warily placed their hands on their waists. Before the two could get up, Sister Leila rushed out like the wind.
“Hey, Leila—”
Before he could finish speaking, Leila had already turned the corner and disappeared.
“Why do the women I meet never listen to reason?”
“That’s slander, you know.”
“I wasn’t talking about you.”
Qiao Anni stuck out her tongue.
Bres sighed, took Qiao Anni’s hand, and followed.