Lord of Prayer

·

「The next day, at noon.」

Zhou Chen went to the hospital room to visit Sasha.

Thanks to the Star Association’s superb medical technology, all the shocking scars on Sasha’s body had been removed, but she still couldn’t remember her past.

Last night, a Dreamwalker had entered Sasha’s subconscious. Inside, there were only fragmented and blurry memory shards, all of them scenes of her being tortured by Ghost. It was a pitch-black void, with no useful information to be found.

This morning, a top-tier psychologist had a session with Sasha. The psychologist attempted to use hypnosis to gradually break down her mental defenses, hoping to activate the memory center of her brain and uncover her forgotten implicit memories. However, this also ended in failure. Sasha couldn’t recall her past, only that she had been locked away in a place without sunlight and was subjected to excruciating torment from time to time.

After these two treatment attempts, Sasha’s condition was confirmed to be memory erasure, not simple amnesia.

Memory erasure was undoubtedly a far more severe condition. With amnesia, there was still a chance of remembering the past, but someone with memory erasure could never recall their past, no matter what. They had completely lost their former memories.

If memories were like a sheet of paper filled with writing, then amnesia was like temporarily covering that paper. As long as you removed the covering, the memories could be restored. Memory erasure, on the other hand, was like cutting a piece out of that paper. The cut-out section became a blank and empty void, completely gone.

Many Physicians in the medical department were filled with righteous indignation, cursing the perpetrator’s cruelty. To torture a young girl to the point of a mental breakdown and memory erasure was simply inhuman.

Beyond this, Zhou Chen felt a sliver of curiosity. ’Ghost had once been a high-ranking member of the Life Church, so he must have been a kind and compassionate person in the past. I wonder what could have happened to turn him into this.’

Regarding Sasha’s memory erasure, it seemed the Star Association and the Life Church might still have other methods to try. Nothing was absolute; certain Forbidden Objects and Extraordinary Artifacts might be able to cure her condition.

"Is that the sky?" Sasha asked from her bed, staring blankly out the window at the blue sky.

"The blue part is the sky, and the white parts are clouds," Zhou Chen said as he cut a few apple slices for her. "This is called an apple."

Sasha took a bite and crunched on it crisply. A look of amazement spread across her face. "It’s so good."

"If you like it, have some more. These are all for you."

"Thank you." Sasha smiled happily, two faint dimples appearing on her cheeks. She turned back to the blue sky and white clouds outside the window. She was innocent and ignorant, filled with curiosity about everything.

"What’s that?"

"Those are birds."

"Birds... Is that a bird, too?"

"That’s an airplane. People can sit inside it and fly into the sky, to places far away."

"Fly into the sky... Can I ride in an airplane?" Sasha looked at Zhou Chen, her big eyes full of anticipation.

"You’ll get the chance," Zhou Chen said with a smile.

A short while later, a medical staff member knocked on the door and called Zhou Chen out.

"We’ve checked the databases, but we can’t find anyone named Sasha," the medical staff member said.

"Nothing?" Zhou Chen raised his eyebrows in surprise. "That can’t be right."

The staff member shook their head. "Really, nothing. We’ve searched all kinds of databases several times. Zero results. Maybe she was born in the countryside and was never registered, or maybe she’s the illegitimate child of a powerful family who didn’t dare register her. We’re running a DNA big data analysis for her now, but it’ll take a few days to get the results."

’Those are all possibilities...’ Zhou Chen nodded. "I have to leave for a few days. I’ll leave her in your care."

"Don’t worry."

·

Just after lunch, Zhou Chen received a call from Wang Yaoting. Another Knight Order had already set out for Ghost’s current location, while Zhou Chen’s group was to remain and guard Feng City in case Ghost tried to circle back for a surprise attack.

Zhou Chen didn’t depart immediately. He needed to make some preparations.

’Ghost has already witnessed the power of the Bonds Ring, so he’ll definitely be on guard next time we meet. If I can’t summon Li Xiye, I’m screwed nine times out of ten.’

Therefore, he had to prepare some backup plans.

Zhou Chen opened the Prayer panel, anonymously posted a bounty mission, and broadcast it server-wide. The next second, every owner of the Prayer System received a notification.

[Anonymous member has posted a request for help:

Might be hunted by a Tier Four Ascender. Looking for a Tier Four expert to act as a bodyguard. Just need you to secretly ensure I don’t die. Room and board provided, all legal.]

[Mission Reward: 2000 Prayer Points]

The moment the mission was posted, the discussion board exploded. Countless people spammed exclamation marks.

"!"

"!!!"

"HOLY SHIT!"

"DAMN!"

"My god, the reward is two thousand Prayer Points!"

"How’d you save all that, Boss? Can you teach me? I’m a girl, pale-skinned, pretty, long legs. Already bent over and waiting for you to carry me!"

"Add me, Boss! Pweaseee!"

Thanks to Zhou Chen’s deliberate manipulation, Prayer Points had become the most precious "currency" in the eyes of the Prayer System’s owners. Two thousand Prayer Points was an astronomical sum to anyone, so this help request was like a depth charge, setting off a massive explosion of interest.

Before long, the very person Zhou Chen had been hoping for contacted him.

—Marvin, who had just advanced to Tier Four on the North Carolina battlefield!

Marvin was also currently the only Tier Four in the Round Table Hall. There were a few others at Tier Three Peak, but who knew when they would ever advance to Tier Four.

Back then, Marvin had interfered with Merchant’s Advancement ceremony, indirectly leading to Merchant being killed by Tang Ling, thus avenging a great wrong. Afterward, he was recruited by the Star Association and rushed off to fight in Crystal Hell without a moment’s rest. Once everything was over, he returned to running his intelligence agency. Becoming a Tier Four Ascender had elevated his agency by several levels. He was currently in a period of rapid growth, doing exceptionally well for himself.

On the surface, he was just posting a mission. In reality, Zhou Chen was waiting for Marvin to come knocking. This ace was a man of many talents; he knew the secret arts of the five major Churches and the Curse Techniques of the Abyss Church. Even as a newly advanced Tier Four, he was not to be underestimated. At the very least, protecting Zhou Chen’s life would be no problem for him.

Of course, hiring Marvin meant exposing himself as an owner of the Prayer System, but this was also part of his plan.

With more and more people gaining the Prayer System, the Lamp God’s existence would be exposed sooner or later. So, before that happened, Zhou Chen needed to wrap himself in a disguise for a rainy day.

’You think I’m just an owner of the Prayer System?’

’Wrong. I’m actually the boss!’

"Hello," Marvin sent in a private message. "I’ll take this mission. Where are you?"

"Eastern Continent. I’ll send you my location. You should get here as soon as possible."

"That’s a bit far. I can only guarantee I’ll arrive within five hours."

"No problem. We’ll talk more when we meet."