Chapter 59: Mimic Heretic

The four members of the squad crowded onto the felyne cart, moving at a moderate pace toward the Hanshui Ruins, while Xie Liu, sitting in the back, held the radio and continuously adjusted its frequency.

A moment later, the radio clicked on, the channel connected, and after a brief silence, Xie Liu began to call out.

"Xu Lie, this is Xie Liu."

"Are you there?"

"Xu Lie, this is Xie Liu."

"We've been attacked. What on earth is going on?"

"Xu Lie..."

"I'm here!"

Xu Lie's voice came through the radio, sounding somewhat exasperated as he said:

"What do you mean you were attacked? You were the ones who attacked us!"

"You killed dozens of city guards, and the injured number over a hundred!"

"What on earth have you done? Who on earth are those Chosen Ones?!"

As his voice trailed off, Xie Liu furrowed her brow and replied in a stern tone:

"You were the ones who initiated the attack on us first! The Chosen Ones were merely trying to rescue us!"

"If you hadn't opened fire first..."

"We! It was us!"

Xu Lie interrupted Xie Liu, then demanded:

"Whose side are you actually on? You still belong to the Holy Blood Cathedral!"

"Since you know that, why did you still take the initiative to attack us? Li Shi is severely wounded; if not for these Chosen Ones, he would already be dead!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Lie on the other end seemed to finally calm down.

After a single sigh, he continued speaking:

"We attacked those mimetic heretics, not you."

"What do you mean by mimetic heretics? What on earth are you talking about? I've never heard---"

"Give it to me."

Before Xie Liu could finish, a deeper, hoarser male voice came through the radio.

Subsequently, the man stated his identity.

"In the name of the Holy Father, I hereby reveal my identity to you."

"I am the Attendant before the Holy Father, and the Chief Councilor of Hanshui City, Zhou Yan."

"You have committed a grave mistake, but the Holy Blood still protects you."

"Return to me, and I will tell you the truth."

"The Attendant??"

Xie Liu did not answer immediately. Instead, she turned to Chen Jian and lowered her voice:

"He is the spokesperson for the Holy Blood Cathedral in Hanshui City, and the highest-ranking Holy Blood member here."

"Understood."

Chen Jian nodded and said:

"Keep talking. Let's hear what he has to say."

Xie Liu nodded as well, then spoke into the radio microphone:

"We cannot return right now. Li Shi is severely wounded and must receive medical treatment first."

"Besides, we still don't understand what has happened."

"Lord Attendant, why did the city guards attack us? What on earth are mimetic heretics?"

"There are no mimetic heretics. That is merely an excuse."

Attendant Zhou Yan answered without the slightest hesitation.

The people on the felyne cart fell silent all at once, and even Chen Jian could not help but look at Xie Liu, his gaze filled with disbelief.

Was he really being that blunt?

Before Xie Liu could question further, Zhou Yan on the other end continued:

"We originally only intended to eliminate those you call the Chosen Ones."

"The monsters of the Hanshui Ruins can be killed, but they cannot be killed by them."

"......Why?"

Xie Liu's voice grew cold, and any reverence she held for the so-called Holy Blood Attendant vanished instantly.

The Chosen Ones killed the monster, so you're going to kill them?

Just because of such a ridiculous reason as "monsters cannot be killed by them"??

You don't know where they came from, nor do you know what their ancestors did for this world.

Is the only thing you care about your so-called doctrine and your so-called rule?

Her anger had reached an undisguised level, and Chen Jian suspected that if the Attendant had said those words to her face-to-face, the two of them would likely be fighting to the death right now.

From Xie Liu's reaction, Chen Jian formed a further assessment of her.

Impulsive, righteous, and trustworthy, but perhaps overly emotional. In the future, she would need more tempering to forge a firmer will.

He observed the changes in Xie Liu's expression, while on the other end, Zhou Yan had already given his reply.

"The Blood Prelate already conveyed this to you last time: they can only be partners, not friends."

"When they begin to exhibit a clear threat, taking the initiative to attack is a necessary choice we make for the survival of the majority."

"Killing a Tier 3 monster constitutes a clear threat to us."

"Therefore, we made our move."

"Is this a declaration of war against them?"

Xie Liu took a deep breath, questioning with an unkind tone.

After a brief pause, Zhou Yan replied:

"On the contrary, this is an appeal for peace."

"I believe the Chosen Ones are right beside you. If not, you can relay what I just said to them."

"At the same time, I hope you will convey our latest decision to them."

"We believe that given the existing strength of both sides, if we continue to fight, it will inevitably result in mutual destruction."

"Therefore, we are willing to set aside our disputes and achieve cooperation."

"Perhaps both sides have some ideological conflicts, but I believe that after this friction, they too will realize that cooperation is the choice that maximizes their interests."

"On behalf of the Holy Blood Cathedral, and also on behalf of the Mechanicus, I formally make this promise to them."

"We pledge that within the next ten years, we will never proactively provoke new conflicts."

"The resources on this land are abundant, and the main enemy we compete for resources with is those monsters."

"Therefore, we should unite."

"Even if there are contradictions, we should still unite—just like the alliance between the Holy Blood Cathedral and the Mechanicus."

"......Understood, I will relay your words."

Xie Liu turned off the radio, looked up at Chen Jian, took a deep breath, and said:

"They are despicable, but please trust us, we..."

"No need to say more."

Chen Jian raised a hand to interrupt her, then stated:

"They are even more despicable than you think."

"This so-called Attendant has not told the whole truth."

"There are two flaws in his logic."

"First, the monster wasn't killed solely by us in the first place; it was killed through a joint effort between you Holy Blood members and us."

"If what they were after was the 'fame' of killing the monster, we could easily have let them have it. After all, we already did that once when we killed General Blood Sun, and Xu Lie is fully aware of that."

"They shouldn't have launched a rash attack without any probing; it defies logic."

"Second, if they had intended to kill us from the very beginning, the best approach would have been to establish contact with you first—especially to contact Zeng Yi as an insider, and arrange an assassination through him. Wouldn't that have been much more effective than making a grand display of force?"

"They had no way of knowing that Zeng Yi had already revealed his identity... You didn't mention that to them, did you?"

Chen Jian patted Zeng Yi on the shoulder, and the latter immediately replied:

"Absolutely not, I swear on my life."

"There you have it then."

Chen Jian looked back at Xie Liu, his expression turning serious.

"Their target isn't just us; it's you as well."

"The so-called 'mimetic heretics' is definitely not just an excuse; such things might actually exist, and they believe that we—and you—have become such things."

"This so-called temporary reconciliation must be a lie; they are merely buying time."

"The pursuit won't end so quickly... Heoshuo, have you arrived?"

"We are loading the vehicles and will return for extraction in three minutes."

Chen Jian let out a breath and continued giving orders:

"Launch the drones first to scout ahead and provide me with low-altitude visibility."

"The battle is far from over."

"Tonight is probably not going to be a quiet one..."

Meanwhile, inside the Hanshui City Council Hall.

Xu Lie stood beside Zhou Yan, a worried expression on his face.

After a long silence between the two, Xu Lie finally could not help but ask:

"Lord Attendant, do you truly believe that Xie Liu and the others have become mimetic heretics?"

"Without a doubt."

Zhou Yan nodded slowly, then said:

"You have already read the records I gave you. The exact same thing happened a hundred and fifty years ago."

"The same outsiders, the same formidable power, the same corruption of the Holy Blood members' minds."

"In your opinion, how are this time's 'Chosen Ones' any different from them?"

"......Yet judging from the records of the Holy Blood Cathedral, those mimetic heretics are not the same as the Chosen Ones."

"Even their appearances are different, not to mention that while they are equally powerful, they could never possess the combat capability of the Chosen Ones..."

"That is not the point."

Zhou Yan interrupted Xu Lie, speaking with solemnity:

"There is only one criterion for judging whether they are mimetic heretics."

"And that is whether they are spreading the plague of ideology."

"Clearly, they are, and your three teammates have already been infected. Otherwise, how could they possibly have abandoned you?"

"Mimetic heretics must be eradicated. They are walking cancers that will devour all the order and bright future we have built."

"This is indisputable. Do you understand?"

"......I understand."

Xu Lie lowered his head. A moment later, he suddenly asked:

"Is there any possibility... that they are right?"

"What if the plague of ideology is not a plague at all, but a truth we failed to understand?"

"Time will prove everything."

Zhou Yan patted Xu Lie on the shoulder and said gently:

"The ideological plague triggered by the mimetic heretics last time claimed the lives of over twenty thousand people."

"How many lives will they take this time?"

"I don't know whether their ideology is correct or not. I can only tell you that those you call Chosen Ones are not some 'phantoms from before the Cataclysm.' The legends of phantoms are merely absurd stories passed down from the deep mountains in the north."

"They are mimetic heretics, no different from those heretics of 150 years ago."

With that, Zhou Yan waved his hand and gave the order with a face full of fatigue:

"Very well, the tracking squad should have reached their vicinity by now."

"Go select three new team members and lead them to catch up."

"Now is precisely the moment when those heretics will have their guard down the most. We must seize the opportunity... and completely eliminate them!"