A Core Ship From The Start Chapter 1114

Chapter 1114: Chapter 763: Fight Poison with Poison Chapter 1114: Chapter 763: Fight Poison with Poison The next morning, Duanmu Huai visited the town again, but this time, his attire was completely different.

“How do I look in this?”

Standing in front of Mash, Duanmu Huai proudly showcased the clothes that the Furvidge Family had made overnight. Simply put, it was a set of ordinary clergy attire, a long robe with a cross, indistinguishable from any other clergy's outfit.

However……

“Uh… I think… it's okay?”

Mash looked at Duanmu Huai, at a loss for words. The clothes, when worn by a clergy member, looked fitting, but on Duanmu Huai, especially with sunglasses added, it instead resembled the style of a gang boss in a movie.

“But MASTER, do you really want to do this?”

This was the result of a discussion with the other three last night. It was not easy to dig three feet into the ground to find the core of this Singularity in such a small town, but Duanmu Huai could do the opposite–intensify the changes in the town. Like a washing machine spinning, the vortex pushes the water to the sides to reveal the bottom; similarly, accelerating the transformation could cause a similar reaction in the town, exposing the core actively.

Naturally, this wasn't an easy task, but… Duanmu Huai was skilled in such methods!

Who was he kidding? He was the Great Judge of the Tribunal, whose targets were Heretics, Aliens, and Demons. Most of Duanmu Huai's time was spent combatting Aliens and Demons, rarely encountering true Heretics. However, that did not mean he didn't know how to deal with Heretics and make judgments.

And this was exactly what Duanmu Huai intended to do in this town.

He would initiate a Heretic trial in this town, in the name of the Church.

Indeed, Witch Hunts and Heretic Trials were two methods from medieval times used to stabilize society. Contrary to what people might think, Witch Hunts mainly originated from the locals and were barely handled by the ecclesiastic courts. This is why Duanmu Huai sarcastically mentioned that if witches really had the power, they would have killed all those peasants, as most witch trials were civil rather than high-stakes political cases like that of the Holy Woman Joan of Arc.

Heretic Trials, on the other hand, were the mainstay of ecclesiastic justice.

After all, Heretics were more detestable than Heresy followers.

Compared to the relatively “simple” Witch Hunts, Heretic Trials were indeed more terrifying and had a broader impact.

Witch Hunts primarily targeted women and required solid evidence, like the peasants accusing Mash, claiming their children got feverish after coming into contact with her. Simply put, it was like a criminal case; no matter how absurd, there must be a victim to prove the existence of a witch.

That is to say, Witch Hunts did focus somewhat on evidence, unreliable as it might be, but at least you needed something tangible, not just empty accusations of someone being a witch.

However, Heretic Trials were completely different.

Because Heretic Trials judged thoughts and words, physical evidence was irrelevant; as soon as you spoke, that was considered evidence.

What defines a Heretic? A Heretic holds views contrary to mainstream thought. So, how do you know your views are contrary to the mainstream?

Actually, believers often resemble fans; they always have their own interpretations and opinions about the religious stories, whether they are shepherds, millers, or beggars by the roadside. For the same story, everyone has different views.

This is perfectly normal. In modern times, a movie, a novel, a comic book–after viewing, everyone has different interpretations. Now with the internet, these interpretations can be shared; in the past, dissemination was limited, confined to local areas. So, the question arises–how would a peasant in a remote village in Italy know what the mainstream thought of the Roman Archbishop's Court is?

He naturally believes whatever makes sense to him.

They say there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes; to the extreme, all these thousand Hamlets are Heretics.

Especially since the people of this town are particularly devout, which makes the situation even more intriguing. Most people think that fanatics are puppets, but the more devoted believers are the ones who genuinely have their own ideas. Those whose faith is not as strong are the ones who tend to follow mainstream thought–after all, they don't care either way.

On the contrary, it's the fanatics who won't recognize this. They are like the fans in anime who will accuse you of being a Heretic, a newbie, an idiot who follows the crowd without understanding anything if you slightly misinterpret their favorite background setting.

After all, who understands XX better than they do?

Even amongst fanatics, disputes erupt, and often more fiercely.

This same principle applies to religion.

If you compare religion to an animation, then most believers are casual fans, while fanatics are the hardcore, blindly loyal fans–and they are the type who would act aggressively offline.

This is why Heretic Trials almost always end in massacres; you can change someone's behavior, but it's much harder to change someone's thoughts. For religious zealots, their belief is tantamount to their life, and if you can change their thoughts, it's almost as good as killing them.

So it's not worth wasting time, better to just burn them quickly–simple, efficient, clean… well, maybe still somewhat polluting.

For Duanmu Huai, he was here to turn this town into a crematorium.

“So, I'm off.”

“Please be careful, MASTER.”

The previous two operations had triggered witch trials due to either Fiore or Mash, so naturally, this time Duanmu Huai could not continue having her accompany him. Only Medea and Alice Phil, who could spiritualize, remained by Duanmu Huai's side, while Mash was responsible for support from the outside.

As he entered the town again, everything appeared the same as before, with the people still busy at work. But to Duanmu Huai, this resembled an NPC in a sandbox game. When a player enters a town, they also move around, giving an impression of a bustling city. But in reality, what these NPCs were doing…
That depended on whether the production team had really put in the effort.

Duanmu Huai raised his eyebrows slightly, then withdrew his gaze and followed the street until he reached the central square at the crossroad, then entered the church's main door.

“Hello, stranger.”

Upon entering the church, the priest who had led the team last night approached him; however, he seemed not to recognize Duanmu Huai at all this time.

“May I help you?”

“I am a Judge from the Tribunal.”

As Duanmu Huai spoke, he stepped forward and pulled a letter of appointment from underneath his cloak–of course, it was forged, which was a trivial issue for a magician several centuries ago.

“The Tribunal received accusations of a Heretic hidden here, and I am tasked to investigate this matter.”

Such situations were actually very common in the past, as communication and transportation were undeveloped, thus making complaints to the church a substantial effort. Simply put, no one would risk the dangers of bandits on a long road to the church for some trivial reason, unlike nowadays where anyone can make a false call, so the church always took such reports seriously.

“Heretic?”

As expected, the word made the priest panic.

“Great Judge, I assure you, everyone here is a loyal believer, we…”

“That is for me to determine, not you.”

Duanmu Huai gave the priest a cold stare.

“Relay this, I am going to start the investigation and gather evidence immediately.”

“…Yes…”
The priest had no choice but to remain silent, as he certainly did not want to be regarded as a conspirator of the Heretic.

Good, it appears the rules of this place are indeed as prescribed.

Noticing that the priest obediently complied, Duanmu Huai also breathed a sigh of relief. According to Alice Phil and Medea, every step of any magician's ritual had intrinsic significance. Since this town was emulating religious belief, they had to be consistent in all aspects with the religious belief they were imitating.

If this was the case, then Duanmu Huai's forged appointment letter would face no opposition or overturn, and instead, it would help him “integrate” into the operational ritual.

Now, it seemed that their advice was right.

“Ding… Ding… Ding…”
Accompanied by the sound of bells, the busy townsfolk gathered at the church's entrance forming a circle, anxiously watching Duanmu Huai and the priest. Amidst their gaze, Duanmu Huai stepped forward and addressed the crowd.

“Children of the Lord! Listen carefully, I am Duanmu Huai, the Great Judge from the Tribunal, and there is only one reason I have come here–the church has received accusations that in this town, there exists a Heretic who blasphemes the glory of the Lord!”

Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, the crowd immediately stirred, everyone shocked and watching each other anxiously. Duanmu Huai stood before them, watching them.

“The glory of the Lord cannot be blasphemed! Any Heretic will ultimately be totally destroyed! If your faith in the Lord remains unshakable, then tell me everything you know! Remember, Heretics are cunning and evil! They wrap their inner evil with sweet lies and hide their blasphemous thoughts with noble words! And a Heretic is among you! I will immediately begin the investigation to find those who insult the glory and majesty of the Lord!”

“…”
At this point, the crowd fell silent, and Duanmu Huai snorted coldly.

“Anyone with information can come to the church and report to me, remember, even a single word or phrase of information matters, the sooner a Heretic is found, the sooner this town can regain the Lord's grace and glory!”

Having said this, Duanmu Huai turned and walked back into the church.

The crowd watched Duanmu Huai's retreating figure, and only after he had left did they quietly disperse, whispering amongst themselves.

“What should we do next, MASTER?”

Back in his room, the voice of Alice Phil emerged next to Duanmu Huai's ear, to which he chuckled coldly.

“It's simple, just find the Heretic.”

“But what if there isn't one?”

“That's irrelevant.”

Duanmu Huai waved his hand dismissively.

“Whoever I say is a Heretic will be a Heretic.”

Saying this, Duanmu Huai revealed a ferocious smile.

“Trust me, in this matter, the Tribunal is professional.”

Chapter end

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