Distinguishing Friend from Foe

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Click, click, click, click, click.

This lord-level aberration, resembling a stone statue, stiffly twisted its neck, turning its head bit by bit as if intending to attack Colin from behind.

However—

The very instant it laid eyes on Colin, a terrifying mental shock instantly erupted, blowing its stone head into fragments.

"Who told you to look at me?"

Colin's gaze was cold. Having significantly boosted his stats, his mental skills had also received massive enhancements, proving sufficient to deal truly "unignorable" damage to these lord-level aberrations.

[You realize that the vast majority of any damage dealt to it can be transferred to the stone slab beneath your feet. Luring it into deep water might be a good method.]

[However, for you at this moment, such a method is unnecessary.]

[Stomp it to death!]

"Too violent, might that be a bit inappropriate..."

Though Colin said otherwise, his body was very honest as he raised his foot and brought it down. Descending with the force of a collapsing mountain, an irresistible power surged from his back, driving the "Fallen Statue" deep into the ground.

Dust flew into the air, and the sound thundered like rolling drums.

The figure beneath was utterly unable to withstand such a brutal impact. It was driven downward, pinned into the earth by its own stone slab.

Witnessing this scene, the temporary army of the "GIFT" wore expressions of profound shock.

Ignoring them, Colin could still feel something writhing beneath the stone slab, squirming like an insect.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With one brutal stomp after another, the stone slab showed no cracks, but at its base, blood was continually squeezed out...

"The 'prompt' said to throw it into deep water—is that to use the water pressure to minimize the stone slab's effect? Then, attacking the main body directly would truly harm the core of it... Tsk, throwing it a few thousand meters deep into the ocean wouldn't that crush it to death directly?"

Colin lifted his foot once more.

Amidst the savage and tyrannical trampling, the aura of this lord-level aberration, known as the "Blasphemous Statue," grew increasingly faint. Finally, it was simply stomped to death.

"This turtle shell really is quite tough. Yet another rare and precious goodie..."

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Colin glanced down at the stone slab beneath his feet. Without rushing to harvest the spoils of victory, he withdrew his gaze, lifted his head, and looked toward Jimino, who was not far away, along with the numerous remains of the "living olive trees."

His eyes narrowed. The train of thought that had just been interrupted reconnected. After a brief and rapid contemplation, he vaguely realized the reason behind "Jimino's" appearance.

This could be regarded as a "gift," a "gift" from the indigenous people of this world.

Colin could be certain that all the "living olive trees" appearing on this battlefield had come under the control of "Jimino."

It had nothing to do with the innate will of the "living olive trees" themselves.

They were originally extremely "pure" guardians without the brains to offer timely help in a crisis, so they must have been influenced by some external force.

Coupled with the fact that all the "living olive trees" shared a similar emotion, a conclusion could be drawn—

They came under Jimino's control.

"This indicates that 'Jimino' did indeed retain a certain degree of sanity at the time. He seemingly did not want our battle to fail. But what good would helping us do for him?"

Colin couldn't help pondering this. It wasn't that he was indulging in conspiracy theories; rather, he knew very well that simple "good intentions" were by no means enough for Jimino to maintain his sanity...

Most people could be moved by emotion, but as a "lord," he could not be, nor was he permitted to be easily swayed by sentiment. He had to know the underlying reason for this event, lest he fall into another trap and lead more people to their deaths...

One must remember that retaining sanity after turning into an aberration is, in itself, another kind of "miracle."

In the past era of suffering in this world, intense emotions and obsessions could trigger miracles. So, what kind of conviction gave rise to this miracle within him?

A momentary impulse of kindness?

No, that was far from enough.

Colin knew full well that "kindness" might prompt a miracle to descend, but such a person certainly had nothing to do with "Jimino"...

Looking at it from another angle, aside from "Englaria," there was someone else who had influenced Jimino—

[Perhaps, from the deeds the priest wished to accomplish in his later years, you might understand why they do not wish for your failure...]

Sure enough, a realization dawned on Colin, and he continued his train of thought.

"In his later years, the priest was ostracized by the entire Church of Suffering, yet he was believed in and followed by the general public..."

"Put simply, it was a struggle for power, except that he hadn't read enough books to realize how important the class of 'gentry' or nobles was at that time, and failed to pull them to his side. The ordinary populace not only lacked power, but they probably didn't even know they were being exploited..."

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"Not every world's history features people shouting slogans like 'The Yellow Sky shall be established, the blue sky is already dead,' or 'Are kings and nobles born with a superior seed?'"

"Ordinary people lacked the consciousness to rebel, and in the end, they probably even betrayed him. Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why he was doing just fine before suddenly being besieged..."

"However, now, the matter might still be the same, but the specific undertaking he wished to carry out was likely far more than simply betraying his own family. He probably betrayed the entire upper class—'nobles,' the 'church,' the 'royal family,' and various other factions that looked harmonious on the surface while fighting each other more viciously than anyone else behind the scenes. Tsk, to think these factions actually united to deal with him..."

Colin recalled the "Fallen Nobility," where there were virtually no ornaments belonging to the "Church of Suffering," and even if there were, they had been destroyed as if to vent grievances. This alone demonstrated how terrible the relationship between the two sides was.

"This also implies that what the priest set out to do made him an enemy of the upper classes of the old era. Not a single person who followed him came from a noble background, but because his reputation was too great, they ultimately couldn't kill him and could only exile him..."

"Does this mean our very existence allows the priest's long-cherished wish to be fulfilled to a certain extent?"

"But what specifically is it?"

Colin pondered briefly without arriving at any definitive answer, but one point was clear:

Everyone who embarked on the path of triggering "miracles" centered around extreme "suffering" was destined to become an enemy of Colin and humanity itself...

From this perspective, the group led by the priest shared the exact same plight as Colin and his companions.

They were all enemies of the church.

They might not necessarily be friends, but based on the deduced results, their current goals were aligned.

Namely, to oppose the Church of Suffering.

For no apparent reason, looking at the massive remains of the olive tree, a thought popped into Colin's mind: "Does he think the Church of Suffering is still alive? That someone needs to overthrow it? Never mind... That's not very important."

Having roughly determined the reason behind "Jimino's" appearance, Colin did not waste excessive energy pondering it further.

Right now, there were still four lord-level aberrations left unresolved.

After waiting for about a minute to provide emergency treatment to the status of the vast majority of the severely wounded, Colin reached out and gestured toward that "sun."

After summoning the "sun" into his grasp, Colin's figure transformed into a streak of flowing light and vanished from the spot.

(End of this chapter)

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