Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!-Chapter 2206: Goddess

The Goddess Statue that had always been stored in the Divine Temple was moved to the square. Although it was still covered, the fabric on its surface had been replaced with a prop. A layer of mist enveloped the Goddess Statue, faintly glowing with a golden light, making it even more divine.

The bell ringing marked only the beginning of the Divine Birthday. From this moment, the Divine Envoys, who normally remain unseen, would conduct two rounds of divine sacrifices. Meanwhile, the Saintess’s task was to perform a circumambulation ritual at the same time. However, this circumambulation ritual was slightly different from usual, as six altars would rise within the Divine Temple. The Saintesses from the Holy Land City and the other five Satellite Cities would perform their circumambulation activities on the altars.

These procedures were heard from the believers, "Compared to previous circumambulation rituals, today’s seems to be simpler."

The players didn’t have to crowd the streets; they could watch from various buildings. The players in different zones would not stop them, only arranging personnel and equipment in places where players concentrated — that’s right, today’s Holy Land City has imposed restrictions on spatial artifacts. Regular teleportation props and equipment couldn’t function effectively under interference.

"I found out that previous circumambulation rituals involved walking, while today’s ritual involves kneeling," Huang Mao pointed to the central grand altar, "Look at that, how ruthless, even pregnant women are made to kneel."

In the Holy Land City and its Satellite Cities, there were only a few hundred Saintesses, some of whom were pregnant. The Saintess who had conversed with Xu Huo several times before was also on the central altar, while A Hai, still a recruit, was on a left-side altar.

They knelt and prostrated around the altar, with a Divine Envoy seated at the altar’s center. The first sacrifice had already begun. The Divine Envoys, dressed in oversized robes and with heads and faces covered, were praying in an obscure and incomprehensible language.

After listening for a while, Xu Huo saw the kneeling Saintess stand, walk halfway around the altar, and then kneel down again.

There were sound systems on the street, so the words of the Divine Envoys could be accurately transmitted to the believers’ ears, who listened with fascination, as if immersed in a world isolated from reality.

Among the crowd, Xu Huo spotted the female player from the Outer Zone who had informed him about the baby swap upbringing. Several players accompanied her. Noticing his gaze, she lifted her head and gave him a slight smile, calm yet oddly similar to how she appeared beneath the Goddess Statue previously.

Although it was unclear what they intended to do, a lot of preparation was evident on the Divine Temple’s side as well. Apart from the players from the local zone who were all around, several advanced players followed each of the Divine Envoys, both locals and those from other zones. Apart from the one on the central altar, the others all wore props, making it difficult to distinguish whether they were players or not.

However, the one on the central altar was just an ordinary person.

In this highly enthusiastic atmosphere, it reached noon, which was also when the sun shone brightest. Many believers were sunburned, their faces flushed, and sweat poured like rain. Still, it didn’t dampen their enthusiasm, as they didn’t even plan to go for lunch, resorting to dry rations they carried with them for a meal.

The Divine Envoys and Saintesses on the altar were no different. While others rested, they remained seated in place.

"Pop! Pop!" High above, the floating balloon burst continuously in the heat, with fragments occasionally falling down. The eye patterns on them swayed with the drifting pieces, and occasionally, these fallen eyes appeared to blink.

Xu Huo caught one, feeling a faint psychic power as it landed in his hand.

Did the psychic power of the instance Goddess disperse on it, or was it the handiwork of the Divine Temple players?

Soon, the time reached the afternoon, and the second round of sacrifice and circumambulation began. Amid the proceedings, the Divine Envoy on the central altar suddenly stood up and bowed his head, requesting the Goddess’s blessing.

The arrival of the blessing phase caused the entire city to cheer. Suddenly, heavy rain fell from the sky, and they raised their heads, opened their mouths, and used both hands and mouths to catch the raindrops. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"These seem to be evolution potions," Huang Mao tasted a bit, "After all this, it’s not the Goddess’s blessing but a player’s blessing."

No matter who provided the blessing, this "nectar" revitalized the citizens’ energy after a whole day’s drain.

Then it was time for the communication between the Saintess and the Goddess.

Xu Huo had researched past Divine Birthday arrangements. During the Saintess and Goddess communication process, the questions were usually standard, such as inquiring about the Goddess’s wellbeing, asking whether the zones would remain safe, and then requesting the Goddess to bless all Saintesses — representing dual-gendered Saintesses is the dual-gender who founded the Goddess Church. Those people are closer to the Goddess than other believers, and unlike the Divine Envoys who specialize as messengers, they are favored by the Goddess.

But today this process changed.

The Saintess who had conversed with Xu Huo stood up, looked at the Goddess Statue in the square ahead, then slowly knelt again, saying, "Goddess above, believer Xue Yi, with one hundred and one Saintesses, prostrate themselves in worship."

As her words fell, all the Saintesses on the altar changed directions, kneeling towards the Divine Hall’s Main Gate.

Saintess Snow Robe gazed steadily at the Goddess Statue and continued, "If you’ve heard our voices, please reveal your true form."

The effects of the prop on the Goddess Statue were removed, and as the mist dissipated, the complete Goddess Statue was revealed. But it was more than just a simple statue; originally positioned facing the square, the face also pointed in that direction. Yet, after removing the props, no matter which direction people observed the Goddess Statue from, it seemed to face them directly, as if multiple holographic images layered over the statue.

Of course, in other people’s eyes, the Goddess’s visage was singular and always facing them. She appeared solemn and majestic, exuding a sanctity one couldn’t bear to look at directly.

In Xu Huo’s view, the Goddess Statue appeared differently.

It could no longer be called a human statue, more like a human form carved full of eyes and disordered patterns; the entire head, including the face, was covered similarly. The densely packed eyes opened and closed intermittently, inherently prompting avoidance even without launching an attack.

Among the crowd, several Super Evolvers or players using props to avoid mental interference displayed pained expressions the moment they gazed at the Goddess Statue, compelled to put some distance between themselves and the statue.

Standing beside him, Huang Mao cursed under his breath, shielding his eyes and retreating repeatedly, "I’m going blind! Is this the true power of the Goddess?"

"Not even close," Xu Huo replied calmly. The Goddess appeared similar to the object seen earlier in the Inquiry Hall, with absolute spiritual intensity forcing tremendous information influx in an eye contact’s brief moment — by merely stuffing something random into a person’s mind, an advanced player could suffer brain damage in short order, possibly faint or perish on the spot if severely impacted.

It didn’t even require a variety of interference processes.