Lord of Prayer

The door to the special passage appeared to be a portal; upon entering, everyone found themselves in a vast, resplendent hall.

The hall was lavishly decorated. Masterpiece paintings adorned the walls, which were inlaid with golden patterns and priceless reliefs. A soft, plush carpet covered the marble floor. The classical sofas and tables were intricately carved and gilded. Firewood crackled in the hearth. It was clearly an exquisite lounge reserved for royalty and nobility.

Yet in this place of extreme luxury stood a hideous, five-meter-tall monster with wings sprouting from its back. It loomed like a dark-red demonic wall, its head nearly scraping the ceiling, projecting an overwhelming sense of pressure. The light throughout the hall seemed to drain away into it, plunging the room into dimness.

Terrified screams erupted.

"Quickly! Kill that Corrupter!"

"How did it get in?! Keep it away from me! Guards!"

"He-he-he-help... Help me!"

The members of the North Carolina Royal Family scrambled away, cowering behind the Royal Guard Team. They lived lives of pampered indulgence and had rarely even seen blood. To them, the grotesque Corrupter was as horrifying as a monster from a nightmare. Some of the more cowardly ones even fainted on the spot.

The guards gripped their weapons, cold sweat beading on their foreheads as they stared nervously at Zhou Chen. They had watched his fight with the "Painter" from a distance and knew all too well that they stood no chance against this monster. They could only wait for the slaughter.

In the silence, Zhou Chen looked down, his gaze sweeping impassively over everyone present. He was trying to spot the members of Fallen Paradise or the Abyss Church hiding among them, but he failed. Their disguises were perfect; he couldn’t find a single flaw.

’In that case...’

’...I’ll just have to beat them all up!’

Just then, one of the guards, unable to bear the immense psychological pressure, screamed in terror and pulled the trigger. The muzzle of his Alchemy Automatic Rifle spat fire, and a stream of Alchemy Bullets slammed into Zhou Chen. However, apart from a shower of sparks upon impact, they caused no real damage. His current body was strong enough to be immune to conventional-caliber firearms.

Just as Zhou Chen was about to act, the unexpected occurred.

THUMP!

A deep, muffled sound resounded. The guard who had opened fire was instantly crushed by a Mysterious Power, flattened into a nearly perfect, circular patty of flesh. Blood dyed the expensive plush carpet a deep crimson. Panicked screams filled the air as the entire hall erupted into chaos.

Zhou Chen froze, startled, not daring to make another move. After a few seconds passed with no further incident, he relaxed, having guessed the "Rule" of this place.

’No fighting.’

’The Rule is actually quite reasonable. Hiding in the Royal Tower means the situation has become extremely dangerous, possibly threatening the very existence of the kingdom. If survivors were to start fighting amongst themselves, or if an enemy like me managed to infiltrate as I have, the royal bloodline could be extinguished.’

’The North Carolina Royal Family must have foreseen such scenarios when they built the Royal Tower, which is why they established the Rule. Violating it brings a death sentence, all to protect the royals hiding inside.’

’No fighting, and probably no brainwashing either...’ Zhou Chen mentally asked Eva, and the answer from her divination confirmed it. No harmful actions of any kind were permitted within the Royal Tower, otherwise the offender would end up a meat patty just like that guard.

To lift this Rule in the Royal Tower would cost 50,000 Wish Points. To disable the Royal Tower completely would require a terrifying 250,000 points. The cost was so astronomical because the Matrix Core of the Overthrowing Matrix was linked to the Royal Tower’s Power Furnace. Shutting down the tower meant shutting down the Matrix. To say nothing of the fact that the Royal Tower was a structure capable of withstanding attacks from a Tier Five - Crowned King; disabling it was far from simple.

’I can’t perform any harmful acts, but the rules don’t forbid using Extraordinary Abilities. I should be able to find the infiltrators...’ The thought flashed through Zhou Chen’s mind. He asked Eva about the feasibility of a wish. After her divination confirmed it was safe, he made his request.

"Show me where the two infiltrators are."

The next moment, two dazzling golden lights flared up from within the crowd.

’Found you!’

Zhou Chen stared intently. The light emanated from a man and a woman whose faces he recognized. The man was North Carolina’s Minister of Agriculture, and the woman was the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council. Both were cowering in the crowd, screaming in terror as if genuinely frightened.

But it was all an act. He made another wish, this time to see through their disguises. Beneath them, the man had an unfamiliar face, while the woman was the artsy "Painter." Their disguises appeared to be nothing more than a layer of paper she had painted.

Strangely, the man’s eyeballs were pure, translucent crystals that glittered with a divine light.

’I’ve never seen this guy before, and neither Sea Monster nor Joker mentioned him... Is he from the Abyss Church? Or maybe someone Fallen Paradise sent later?’ Zhou Chen didn’t let his gaze linger on them. He couldn’t fight here, so exposing them would be pointless and would only put them on guard. ’Better to play dumb for now and wait for an opportunity.’

At this moment, the terrified crowd gradually began to calm down. Those who could still think clearly looked at the patty of flesh oozing blood onto the carpet and more or less figured out what had happened.

"Th-That’s right! I remember now!"

The Minister of Alchemy yelled, "Fighting is forbidden inside the Royal Tower! Anyone who violates this ironclad rule is killed instantly by the tower itself! That means we’re safe!"

"Idiot!" an old man in a wheelchair muttered. He had just handed the enemy a valuable piece of intelligence. ’...Then again,’ he thought, ’it looks like that Corrupter has already figured it out.’

THUD, THUD, THUD... Zhou Chen began to walk through the hall, each heavy footstep sending a tremor through the floor and striking fear into everyone’s hearts.

Soon, he found a tightly shut door. He shrank himself back down to normal human size and tried to push it open.

The door didn’t budge.

He paused in thought, then turned his head. The officials screamed and shrank back into a terrified huddle.

Zhou Chen’s body swelled once more, his every step shaking the hall. He walked right up to the officials, ignoring the posturing Royal Guard Team, and casually snatched a royal noble by the collar, hoisting the man into the air. Zhou Chen grinned, revealing a mouth full of sharp, steel-like teeth.

"Don’t resist," he said. "If you hurt me, the Rule will kill you."

Zhou Chen had only lifted the man, an act that wasn’t considered harmful. However, if the man were to struggle violently and cause him injury, he would be the one judged to have violated the Rule, and he would be the one to receive the death penalty.

Realizing this, the pale-faced royal gave up all resistance, letting himself be held limply by Zhou Chen.

Even with the Rule in place, those with the biggest fists and the greatest Power could still dominate all.

Zhou Chen set the royal down in front of the door and snarled an order.

"Open it."

Terrified by his vicious tone, the man scrambled to push the door.

The next second, the door that Zhou Chen had been unable to budge was opened with ease. It seemed the Royal Tower had its own "authentication system," allowing only members of the royal family to move freely.

The door opened to reveal another luxurious hall with another door on the far side. Zhou Chen carried the royal family member over to it and had him open that one as well.

The second door opened into a kitchen, fully stocked with all manner of delicacies. The fruits and vegetables were all fresh, seemingly purchased recently. On the cutting boards were ingredients left half-chopped. From the clues scattered about the scene, it appeared the chefs had vanished in an instant, abandoning their work mid-task.

"Where did everyone here go?" Zhou Chen demanded harshly.

"I-I don’t know..." the man whimpered, a dark, wet patch spreading across his trousers. He had long since been scared witless.

"The Royal Tower automatically ejects any non-royalty when it activates," a voice called out from behind them.

Zhou Chen spun around, shocked. It was the Minister of Agriculture of North Carolina—the mysterious man with the crystal eyes!

"What do you want?" Zhou Chen asked warily.

"I can help you," the Minister of Agriculture said with a solemn expression. "I have long been dissatisfied with this government. These powerful elites care only for their own pleasure, even at the cost of pushing North Carolina step by step into the Abyss. The crisis we face today is the direct result of their mistakes.

"If my ears don’t deceive me, I heard someone call you ’Siegfried’ earlier. I never imagined you were the Mr. Siegfried.

"Mr. Siegfried, I have always supported the ideals of the Salvation Army, and I admire you greatly. Your speeches were inspiring and marked the crucial turning point in this civil war. To me, you are a hero to the common folk.

"I came from the common folk as well, and I swore an oath to change all of this. So please—let me help you!"

The emotion in the crystal-eyed man’s voice was so genuine that even Zhou Chen found himself moved, a favorable impression forming in his mind. He subconsciously felt that this was a man of lofty ideals, someone he could trust.

But just as quickly, a chill shot up his spine, and Zhou Chen snapped out of whatever state he had been in. His favorable impression of the crystal-eyed man vanished without a trace.

Zhou Chen knew, of course, that the crystal-eyed man was acting—it was a trick he often used himself when infiltrating enemy ranks. He just hadn’t expected this man to be so insidiously effective. His every gesture exuded a supernaturally powerful charisma, making anything he said instantly convincing and likable. This Ability was far more terrifying than "Charm."

Zhou Chen himself had nearly fallen for it. An ordinary person would likely have been completely won over after just a few sentences, ready to worship the man and sacrifice everything for him.

’He’s definitely trying to get close to the Overthrowing Matrix and release his corruption without arousing my suspicion. That’s why he’s putting on this act. I might as well play along and have him lead me right to it...’

The thought flashed through his mind. The hostility in Zhou Chen’s eyes vanished, replaced by a flicker of joy.

"That’s wonderful, comrade! I need your help!"

Zhou Chen put his own considerable acting skills on display, pretending to have been won over by the man’s charisma and accepting him as an ally. "I’m going to destroy the Overthrowing Matrix. Do you know where it is?"

The crystal-eyed man pointed upward.

"The Royal Tower’s Power Furnace and the Matrix Core are both located in the King of North Carolina’s bedchamber. It’s the most secure location in all of North Carolina. His chambers are at the very top of the Royal Tower."