Chương 97: Destroying the Temple

What is the Church of the Goddess of Life? To understand this question clearly, one first needs to define the Goddess of Life. The mere mention of a god evokes associations with omnipotence. However, to Li Qinwu, who came from the Atomic Age, humanity had already mastered authorities that even deities could not possess. Therefore, Li Qinwu harbored no dread toward deities, nor did he even possess much respect; they were mere utility gods.

Li Qinwu defined the extraordinary creatures and gods of this world through the lenses of productivity and destructive power. Take Leon the Hero, for instance; in Li Qinwu's eyes, his destructive power was roughly on par with a light infantry regiment capable of high-speed infiltration and penetration.

As for the Goddess of Life, legends never mentioned this deity personally descending onto the battlefield to fight, but it was estimated that her upper limit was at most the strength of a few army groups by World War II standards. Furthermore, given that this entity had been unable to manifest in the mortal realm for over 3, 000 years, her fire-projection capability was highly questionable. On the contrary, the productivity controlled by the Goddess of Life was what left Li Qinwu deeply wary.

According to the records of official history seized from Young Master Lance—note that it was official history—the Goddess of Life had bestowed her grace multiple times, sending down torrential rains during periods of drought to rescue the populace from famine. The Goddess of Life had also mastered methods to extend human lifespan; for example, the current king of the Kingdom of Thasos was 120 years old this year.

Young Master Lance's family had been exiled to the Magic Forest precisely because they participated in the first prince's rebellion and ultimately failed. Rainmaking technology elevated agricultural production, while lifespan-extension technology controlled the human upper echelon, which could in turn effectively mobilize national power to serve the Goddess of Life.

Regardless of whether the existence of this entity known as the Goddess of Life was good or bad for the human kingdoms, to Li Qinwu, the natural relationship between the two sides was -100. The death of the Goblin God could be simply understood as an armed bloc, represented by the Goddess of Life, surrounding and wiping out the supreme armed force of the Goblin collective.

The Goddess of Life's bloodline curse on the Goblin race, which rendered them unable to birth females, could be understood as her practicing genocide on the Goblins. However, she had failed; the Goblin God had mounted a final struggle before his death, preserving the bloodline of the Goblin race. Left with a chaotic heritage, the Goblins degenerated into mindless monsters, hunted down and killed, bearing a thousand years of humiliation. Racial contradictions could not be reconciled!

Historical hatred was deeply entrenched! Conflicts existed over realistic interests! Communication had lost all meaning; war was the sole method of communication! Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp! Military boots crafted from Horned-Crocodile leather stepped upon the smooth marble floor as squad after squad of Punisher Army soldiers ran rapidly through the darkness. In the black night, only pair after pair of glowing green eyes could be seen.

"Spread out! Find cover! Beware of the enemy's large-scale area attacks!"

"Watch the temple windows! Watch the temple windows!"

"Artillery! Deploy at this position!" The Punisher Army soldiers spread out rapidly amidst the shouting of their officers, setting up their offensive fire points. The Temple of the Goddess of Life was exceptionally large and grand. The main body of the temple was a pristine white marble building with a circular dome, its walls adorned with a massive amount of exquisite sculptures. The perimeter of the building featured an open space roughly the size of a basketball court.

The open space contained nothing at all—just a bare plaza, its ground paved with smooth, brownish-green marble. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. In the center of the plaza was a square pool containing plants resembling lotuses. In the center of the pool stood a massive statue, around 10 meters tall, depicting a goddess with long hair and a long dress. She cradled a jar with one hand, out of which water flowed, while her other hand was raised high, holding a torch.

This was the manifestation of the dualistic life theory of the Goddess of Life sect, which roughly held that the union of fire and water gave birth to life. Four cannons were pushed up, and sandbags were thrown beneath the tires to secure them as the artillerymen began loading. While the artillerymen made preparations for the strike, a splendidly dressed old timer stepped out onto a balcony of the tall temple dome, supported by clergy members. The old timer was so aged he looked completely shriveled.

His dim, yellowish eyes glared down at the Goblins below as he barked in fury, "Filthy and defiled monsters!! How dare you step upon the domain of Her Goddess Grace! Disperse at once, or you shall bear Her Goddess Grace's divine retribution!!" He ranted a whole barrage of curses, but no one paid him any heed. For one thing, the musket Goblins could not understand the human common tongue; for another, the greatest contempt was the refusal to communicate!

Seeing the old timer cursing so happily, Li Qinwu let out a cold sneer. He hooked his finger toward Gobu Run, who rode his spider mount over to his side. Li Qinwu pointed at the statue of the Goddess of Life.

"Pull it down!" Gobu Run complied with an affirmative cry and tossed out a rope to lasso the statue's neck. Twenty cavalrymen threw out several ropes and exerted strength together, pulling the statue until it swayed precariously before suddenly toppling over. With a booming crash, the 10-meter-tall statue slammed heavily against the marble ground, shattering into several segments, its head even rolling several dozen meters away like a ball.

"Ah! Her Goddess Grace! Her Goddess Grace!!!" The old timer on the balcony howled, his voice hoarse and shrill. He extended a withered finger, pointing down at the Goblins below.

"You!!! Damned bastards, you..." Bang!! A gunshot rang out, and the old timer's head exploded like a watermelon into the open air.

"Fire!!" Boom, boom, boom, boom!!! Immediately following were four blasts of artillery. The cannonballs slammed into the temple's main gates, blasting several large holes into them until the gates collapsed with a resounding crash. Li Qinwu drew his greatsword.

"Warriors! The anti-intelligent-species element, Leon, was a blessed Hero of the Goddess of Life. Leon's actions brought indelible harm to the Union, resulting in the total annihilation of the Punisher Army's old 10th Company. Soldiers! Use the enemy's blood to wash away the hatred, and tell your predecessors that you are qualified to take over the company flags! Attack!!"

"Kill, kill, kill!!!" The soldiers let out a chorus of roars and vied to lead the charge. Amidst the surging ranks of the charge, ten coarse company flags loomed indistinctly. The crowd rushed through the blasted gates, firing directly at the enemies inside the temple. The ping-ponging cracks of gunfire resounded continuously, and the enemies amassed inside the temple were cut down in droves. The four cannons were loaded with buckshot.

The artillerymen dragged the cannons and pushed them right up to the main entrance, blasting over a hundred rounds of buckshot into the enemy crowd almost face-to-face, carving out paths of flesh and blood. There was no high-end combat power inside the temple, but there was a large number of ordinary armed forces. Aside from fewer than a hundred fully armored Temple Guards, the rest were fanatical believers who had voluntarily brought weapons and rushed over, numbering close to a thousand.

They hoped to display bravery within the dwelling of the Goddess of Life during this critical period to earn a sliver of the goddess's attention. Unfortunately, the flying pellets and bayonet thrusts shattered their bravery; even up until their deaths, they failed to receive a single sliver of attention. The sound of gunfire echoed all the way into the deep night until every last enemy was annihilated. However, the operation was not yet over.

Soldiers, ogres, and artillery began utilizing various methods to attack the heavy load-bearing pillars of the temple, digging out crevices and stuffing bangalore torpedoes inside. This engineering project was not completed until the early morning. The fuses were ignited. Responding to the first light of dawn, the Temple of the Goddess of Life vanished into nothingness amidst the roaring explosions. Li Qinwu watched the temple turn into a plot of garbage.

Turning around, he walked through the morning sun to the side of the stone statue's head. He unbuttoned his trousers and relieved himself. Listening to the system notifications of Goddess of Life Favorability -100, Goddess of Life Favorability -100, Goddess of Life Favorability -100... echoing repeatedly, he smiled with extreme malice.

"Heh, though I don't know why, as a deity, you have no way to project fire into the material world. Since that's the case, you're nothing at all." Li Qinwu gave a couple of shakes, pulled up his trousers, and waved a hand to his soldiers.

"Let's go. Next stop, the Governor's Manor!"