Chapter 116: A Negligible Hostile Alliance

Of course, Link would never stoop to the kind of overbearing, obnoxious behavior that invites trouble. Even though his strength was enough to crush every church in the Red Moon Province, he could not afford to act too recklessly. For one, going too far would prompt the other churches to unite against him. Furthermore, the government would not permit it. Although the Bass family would offer their full support, they were merely one representative of the regime and could not speak for the entire Star Kingdom. Currently, all the major churches in the Star Kingdom were watching from the sidelines; if the Father God Church acted too aggressively, it would surely become the nail that sticks out, drawing the focused "attention" of the kingdom.

Therefore, even with the power to steamroll other churches, Link had to wait—wait for the true tides of change to arrive. When they did, those powerful churches currently biding their time just like the Father God Church would emerge one by one. Who would emerge victorious on this land would depend entirely on their own abilities.

However, although Link did not yet wish to reveal the true strength of the Father God Church, its momentum had already caused a sense of crisis among those keeping a close eye on it. At this juncture, a shocking piece of intelligence leaked out: the news that the father and son of the Bass family were followers of Link had spread.

It seemed that the strong stance Link displayed while rescuing Saga, combined with the attitude of the Bass family, had aroused the suspicions of the major churches. After a series of investigations and witnessing the Father God Church provide a large amount of high-end combat power to assist the Bass family, their status as Link’s followers was confirmed, triggering a wave of panic among the major churches.

Faced with a church that had a lord as a follower and protector, even if the power of the kingdom were to wane in the future, the Father God Church would still hold an advantage over them. Since the Father God Church was already formidable enough, would they still be able to suppress this rising power once chaos broke out?

As a result, several major churches held an emergency meeting to discuss their stance on the Father God Church. In the end, aside from the top three ambitious churches—who refrained because they were strong enough on their own and wary of the others—the two remaining churches led by Popes united with several others to form an "Anti-Father God Church Alliance," aiming to suppress the rapidly growing church.

Among this alliance were the Father God Church’s old rivals: the War God Church and the Palace of the Mad God. The war from a few months prior had left them struggling to recover, especially the War God Church, which had plummeted to a third-rate status. Even their King of Assassins, Altair, had defected to the enemy, causing their former Archbishop to die of anger. The enmity between the two churches was absolute, so they were arguably the most enthusiastic participants in this coalition.

However, it was precisely because the War God Church was so active that most people within their ranks became aware of the matter. Among these people were several whom Link had converted and placed as moles. As soon as they learned of the alliance, they quietly reported it to Link.

Upon learning of the Anti-Father God Church Alliance, Link was startled at first, then burst into laughter. The alliance sounded intimidating, but in reality, it was fragile and weak. Although they had united, there were likely few who would actually put in real effort. This included the two churches led by Popes who organized the alliance; they were certainly harboring the intention of using the others as pawns, while the other churches were wary of these "leaders" and planned to go through the motions without exerting themselves. The threat to the Father God Church was virtually negligible.

The only ones likely to exert real effort were the Palace of the Mad God and the War God Church. As for the latter, Link had his moles, so they were nothing to fear. As for the Palace of the Mad God, their overall strength had been thoroughly investigated by Altair over the past few months and posed no major problem. Link even dared to shout: "I'm not afraid of you coming; I'm afraid you won't. Once you come, you won't be leaving."

Thinking back to just half a year ago, when he was walking on thin ice and nearly crushed by the pressure from these two churches, Link felt a wave of melancholy. The growth of the Father God Church had truly exceeded his expectations. He had originally thought it would take at least two or three years to reach this scale; he never imagined that in just eight months, they would stand at the pinnacle of the Red Moon Province. Truly, the ways of the world are unpredictable.

Link did not take this fragile hostile alliance to heart. When he informed others, they shared his sentiment and didn't pay much heed, merely telling the congregation to be careful. If it came to force, the Father God Church feared no one; as for schemes and plots, it remained to be seen if those fellows had the capability.

Before long, the enemy's schemes arrived. After the expeditionary forces and branch churches demonstrated superior combat power, the alliance abandoned the idea of direct confrontation, turning instead to rumors and slander in an attempt to smear the reputation of the Father God Church.

But the Father God Church was well-prepared. Link made rare use of his advantages as a transmigrator; in the realm of public opinion warfare, he was far more cunning than the information-deprived people of Solakoon. When the enemy spread rumors to slander them, he had Altair’s spies spread their own rumors. These rumors were absurd—some claimed Link was the reincarnation of a demon, others that he was a god descended from heaven, some that the Father God Church was evil, and others that they were moles for super-churches from abroad. In short, the less credible they were, the better. After enough were spread, the public simply took them as jokes, and the alliance's rumors became useless.

Coincidentally, Link utilized the "sticky note" style of advertising from Earth, having notices posted everywhere stating that evil people were slandering the church. He even captured several enemy spies spreading rumors and held public trials, which only increased the credibility of the Father God Church. Through endless propaganda, people voluntarily or involuntarily accepted one truth: the Father God Church was being framed by a group of wicked individuals, and while the church sincerely wished to save and help the world, the villains were the ones who meant to harm it.

In this situation, while other regions might be beyond his influence, the dozen or so towns under the Father God Church’s control—centered around God’s Grace City—did not look down on the church because of the rumors. Instead, the church’s reputation grew even higher. Coupled with the fact that they were tangibly helping people, the end result was an increase in followers. Finally, on November 12th, Link’s faith points crossed the 100,000 threshold, and the Spirit Pet Mall was unlocked.

However, when the mall opened that evening, Link calmly closed the interface after seeing the prices of the spirit pets, sighing sincerely: "The wretched system really wouldn't let me become a powerhouse with unlimited pets right away. Even the weakest pet costs twenty divine power points, and only low-level pets are available. To become a powerhouse, I'll have to take it slow!"

Three days passed quietly, and the time for the new routine draw arrived. It seemed that recent months were "Construction Giveaway Days," as one of the two draws resulted in a building—and a rather unique one at that: the "Assassin’s Chamber," used for training powerful assassins.

For the Father God Church, this building was a necessary asset that had to remain in the shadows. Although Altair could train assassins, his own strength was limited; after some cultivation, he had only just reached the fourth tier, dropping from a top-tier combatant to a mid-tier one within the church.

Although Altair didn't express anything, he was likely quite frustrated inside. Moreover, as the scale of the church expanded, the various affairs were becoming too much for him. Now, with the Assassin’s Chamber, Altair would certainly be relieved of some burden and see his strength increase significantly, as the chamber, like other primary training buildings, could provide aid to those below the seventh tier.

Since the Assassin’s Chamber had to remain hidden, it was not a standard building but one meant to be constructed underground. Link placed it deep within the monastery and designated the area as a restricted zone accessible only by those holding a token, ensuring its secrecy and serving as a representative of the shadow side of the Father God Church.

In addition to the Assassin’s Chamber, Link also drew a Bronze Cloth—the Unicorn Constellation. Link bestowed it upon a brat named Manigoldo. He called him a "brat" because, unlike the other apprentice Saints, he always wore a wild, wicked grin and was particularly mischievous and arrogant, much like a young punk. Yet, while acting like a hooligan, he was a fanatic whose faith and loyalty were the strongest, and his strength and potential were the greatest. Link felt it would be wrong to deny him the role of a Saint simply due to his personality, so he handed him the Unicorn Constellation.

It turned out that although this brat had a unique personality, he was an excellent candidate for a Saint in terms of strength, faith, courage, and potential. Having received guidance from Saga and the others, the moment the boy put on the Cloth, he realized his Cosmo, reaching the early third tier. This far surpassed the state of the brothers Saga and Aiolos when they first donned their Cloths, which even surprised Link.

However, the brat seemed to love showing off. While demonstrating his burning Cosmo, he proudly tilted his chin at Link, hands on his hips, and said arrogantly: "Well? Archbishop, I didn't let you down, did I? I told you, as long as I can become a Saint, I will definitely make it all the way to the position of a Gold Saint. My talent won't lose to those 'seniors' like Saga."

Link couldn't help but laugh at Manigoldo. Yet, this personality wasn't actually dislikeable. Though arrogant, he gave the proper respect where it was due. Furthermore, his arrogance felt as if he disregarded everything except the Father God and Link. Link estimated that even if he faced a seventh-tier powerhouse or even a Holy Spirit, as long as he wasn't suppressed by their aura, he would fight back wildly to the end, never lowering his head.

As he thought about this, a strange idea occurred to Link: *Could it be that I’ve raised someone who might one day kill a god?*

Thinking of this, Link smiled faintly, telling himself he was overthinking it. There were no gods in this world, at most only Holy Spirits. For a mortal to oppose a Holy Spirit was nothing more than a pipe dream; the power of a Holy Spirit was indistinguishable from that of a god to a mortal.