Chapter 528 One Place Is Destroyed, Another Place Is Saved

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Although Backlund's curfew has ended in name, in fact it is still an unspoken rule.

Under the current economic conditions, more and more people are unemployed, and there are more and more homeless people on the road. It is said that the economic downturn caused by the war caused a large number of people to move into the East End, almost refilling the residences that had been emptied due to the "Great Smog".

Not only that, but there are also frequent cases of hungry people going astray. News of street girls, vagrants, and men and women living alone being killed appear in newspapers again and again, along with looted property and food. This made the people in Backlund feel numb and panic-stricken at the same time. Therefore, not many people will take the risk to travel at night, and even those who have to go out for work often go together.

but now--

Among the first wave of people who rushed out were members of the Thunder Church, and some rushed to nearby food distribution points with the mentality of "Give it a try" and "There is no way someone would dare to use the name of the Thunder Church to deceive people, right?"

Mrs. Starling Summer was among them. She ran panting with the lady she knew well, and quickly rushed to the target street with the crowd. As they were older and housewives, it was difficult for them to outrun other workers or young people. Although they came out very early, when they reached the food distribution point with their hands on their waists, there was already a long queue. Team.

After arriving at the destination, Starling hurriedly distanced herself from her friend before she could catch her breath.

When it comes to food and life, even the best friends have to avoid suspicion. This is one of the ways not to destroy friendship.

“Middle class” is simply a scam to paralyze oneself. Nobles and factory owners have enough funds, connections and channels to deal with risks. People at the bottom have become accustomed to surviving risks. Only they live an above-average life, interact with small nobles, and lack the ability to deal with large-scale risks. The class with sufficient funds and connections are the ones who will suffer the most from this long-term change. Housewives like them felt even more devastated. With the reduction of necessary social interactions such as banquets and dances, the contacts between them and their friends disappeared.

——The lady also distanced herself from Starling in a tacit understanding, and each used their own abilities to compete for the position at the front of the team.

Soon, Starling squeezed into the unformed crowd and stood more than ten meters away from the food distribution point. Looking at the more than 20 people in front of her, Starling couldn't help but feel a little nervous. The bad memory of waiting for a long time in the morning but getting nothing came back to her mind.

While waiting, Starling looked around nervously. She was pleasantly surprised to see several priests in the distance wearing dark clothes of the Church of Thunder, with the holy emblem of thunder and towers embroidered on their chests. Each of them is tall, and it seems effortless for each of them to push a cart. Most of the carts are filled with grain crops, as well as a lot of flour and bread.

"so much!"

I’ve never given out so much food before!

The team erupted with cheers and praise, and Starling's breath hitched - so much! She'll definitely be able to take some back with her! ——But the church said that the division is based on head. What if the people in front of you are from a large family, with more than a dozen family members? I'm not a believer in the God of Thunder. What if they don't give me the food? Starling's mind was dizzy. People around her began to pray to the God of Thunder for various reasons, and she subconsciously followed suit. The priests distributed food, and she inexplicably began to look forward to this god.

The first man left with a small bag of flour, some unseen crops and a bag of bread.

The second man took away two bags of bread and a small bag of flour.

One of the two priests at the front was responsible for distributing the food, while the other kept recording in his notebook, and occasionally pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Starling craned her neck to look forward. Not only her, but everyone was looking attentively at the goods on the cart. People's eyes widened, fearing that the food would have glowed before it reached them.

What made them even more frightened was that this time the supplies seemed to be richer than usual, which made people sweat even more.

In an uneasy mood, the food on the first cart began to glow after the ninth person in the team left. People watched nervously as the Extraordinaries of the Thunder Church pushed the second cart up, and from above Get food. Seeing these priests pushing the cart away while talking and laughing, people couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope in their hearts.

Finally, someone couldn't help it and said loudly:

"Dear Bishop!"

Although I don't know what positions these priests hold, there is definitely no problem in calling them bishop.

"I am a devout believer in the God of Thunder."

The man who spoke nervously licked his lower lips. He emphasized that he was pious, but he was a little nervous because he had never seen these priests who seemed to have high positions in front of him: "I, I donated twenty pounds to the church, please." , Excuse me, how much food is left in this batch?"

Upon hearing the donations and devout believers, the people in the team immediately started buzzing with discussion.

Starling's expression changed slightly.

The official relief provided by the Church of the God of Thunder has always been the largest in Loen, but the conditions for receiving it at that time were that only believers had to convert on the spot.

In the beginning, not many people of other faiths went to receive relief food. However, as changes occurred one after another and the emperor was lost, the number of relief points set up by the state gradually decreased, and charitable foundations without political stance gradually became unable to protect themselves. The former "rich Mr. Dantès" who was quite famous in Backlund was used to relieve orphans and patients, and some charity foundations for war wounded were forced to stop distributing relief because part of the financial chain was broken. I heard that several of the directors have resigned and left.

The extraordinary person in question looked at the believer, but not because of the insignificant 20 pounds:

"There are a lot more."

Seeing that the surrounding civilians turned their attention, the extraordinary man also cleared his throat and said loudly:

"These foods are all shipped from Feneport - you should know Feneport, right? It is a famously fertile country!"

"Oh! Fenebote, I know! It is said that the wheat there can ripen several times a year, and everyone can afford bread..." Someone in the crowd immediately agreed.

"I remembered the Grain Act. The quality of grain from Fenebort is better than that of Loen, and the price is relatively cheaper. Therefore, with these imported grains, Loen's grain cannot be sold... Someone else whispered, "I know a grain merchant. He couldn't sell the grain, so it all rotted in the barn. In the end, his family was ruined and he committed suicide."

Starling listened attentively to the conversations of the people around her. She was annoyed to find that she actually didn't understand any of these topics that had frequently appeared at banquets in the past.

"From Feneport?"

Starling asked blankly: "Where is Fenebaud? It seems to be on the far left of the map? It's so far away. Just transporting the food here and distributing it to different relief points will take several days, right?" "

The male believer was very surprised by the answer:

"Why does Fenebaud give us food?"

If I remember correctly, at the beginning of the war, when the Feysac Empire declared war on Loen with great fanfare, Fenebaud seemed to show his intention to agree? Why do you give yourself food aid?

After finally hearing this question, the priests of the Thunder Church around them straightened their backs involuntarily, with proud and proud smiles on their faces. The Extraordinary who answered this question could not help but raise the corners of his mouth:

"Of course it's because of the power of the God of Thunder!"

"His divine power shook the sky and the earth, and also shocked the goddess who protected Fenebaud. That goddess decided to form an alliance with the great lord and become an ally with Rune, so we used an airship to transport Fenebaud overnight. There was a lot of food coming.”

"For a long time in the future, people will not have to worry about their livelihood. Praise the great God of Thunder, praise the Lord!"

What?

The crowd fell silent, almost in disbelief.

Starling's head was also dizzy, filled with all kinds of things: airship? Of course she knew about airships, but she heard about them when Backlund was bombed. It turns out that this terrifying military weapon can actually be used to transport food? In addition, the God of Thunder really impressed the Mother Goddess of Fenebaud, causing Fenebaud to abandon Fusac and choose Roen as his ally, providing Roen with a lot of food. ? The God of Thunder saved us? This, is this true?

The Beyonders said something else, and the cheers in her ears recalled Starling's thoughts.

While she couldn't help but feel excited, Starlin suddenly became frightened again:

She is not a believer in the God of Thunder.

Now, will the other party give relief food to him?

Under this situation, most people had to change their beliefs, convert, and attend at least two services in the church of the God of Thunder. Gradually, they developed true faith through food and relief, and completely moved toward the God of Thunder and Truth.

But both Starling and Luke are believers of the goddess of the night. Although it cannot be said that he is very pious, it is also a habit that has been passed down from generation to generation in the family... Time waits for no one, and Starlin made up her mind after a little hesitation.

Lying about her faith was punishable by God, and she was willing to change her faith for the sake of her children and to get food to tide her over.

In this way, she can come to receive relief on a per capita basis in the future. Luke does not need to change his faith if he does not want to... Anyway, after Mrs. Starling married Luke, she also chose to follow his surname, because she is like those who believe in Thunder women also have no jobs.

"Next!" the priest in charge of recording shouted, "Next!"

The man behind Starling almost took the first step, but Starling broke away from her thoughts first, suppressed her nervousness and excitement, and walked quickly to the small table with her skirt in hand.

"Name?"

"Starlyn Summer."

The bespectacled priest read the name once, and then quickly found the corresponding information from the thick manual in his hand.

"Four people?" the "reader" said to Starling as if talking to himself. "Four people, two adults and two children, can receive one portion of flour, two portions of bread, and one portion of corn. pink."

Starlin's heart suddenly burst into ecstasy, but it was extinguished by the other party's next words.

"You are not a believer in the Lord."

The reader raised his head and looked at Starling through the gap above his glasses: "Your whole family is a believer in the goddess of the night. Well, you have never received supplies from the relief points set up by the Thunder Church before."

"I have decided to convert!" Starlin said immediately, "I have decided to convert, and I will also persuade my family to convert!"

The reader laughed noncommittally, his movements slow and not caring about Starling's nervousness.

"Logically speaking, the relief food we have here should only be distributed to believers in the Lord, or compatriots who have attended at least one church activity and are willing to convert..."

He lengthened his voice, and Starling's heart was swallowed up by despair bit by bit.

At this moment, the reader quickly wrote her name on her hand, along with the names of Luke and her two children. Then, he smiled at the lady whose face was a mixture of shock and sadness, and asked his companions to help carry the food:

"Take these back to your home, madam, where your children should be waiting for their mother's return."

"I shouldn't have done this, I had to take risks. Moreover, if we give more to other believers, our compatriots will have less food. But since you have converted, I will make an exception and give you these foods - Mrs. Sammer, there will be a collective prayer ceremony at the Holy Wind Cathedral this Wednesday to thank God for giving us food, saving us from fire and water, and also welcoming a new goddess to become our ally. I hope that you and your family and children We can all appear in the seats of Holy Wind Cathedral or in the square outside on that day."

"Yes, yes, thank you!"

Starling was so moved that she tightened her grip on her clothes. Soon both of her hands were used to hold large portions of bread, and her pockets were filled with things. She had no hands to wipe away the tears of joy and emotion.

"Thank you, thank you, praise the God of Thunder, praise the God of Thunder, He is the benefactor of our family, I will definitely bring them to the Holy Wind Cathedral!"

"You're welcome, Mrs. Summer."

The reader smiled and said humorously:

"I hope you have understood the purpose of our doctrine in advance - the wife is the guardian angel of the family. The Lord has protected us. Now you, the guardian angel, should distribute the salvation given by the Lord to the family members who are waiting for you."

She smelled the unique aroma of cereals exuding from the bread in her hand, which was so exciting that she couldn't help but swallow. She had not eaten for a day, but at this moment, the first thing that came to Starling's mind was not the delicious bread, but the belief and gratitude to the God of Thunder.

The reader politely bids her farewell, then shouts, "Next!"

The street lights also lit up one after another due to emergencies at night. There were many people on the street, as if time had gone back to the afternoon. Starling walked quickly holding the bread for a long distance. On the road were people who had received the food and were praising the God of Thunder loudly. In this atmosphere, Starling soon stopped being nervous, as if As long as the God of Thunder remains, there is nothing to fear.

Soon, Starling saw her husband coming towards her.

"Luke!"

Unable to wave, she happily ran towards her husband and stood on tiptoes:

"Look, these are all given to us by the God of Thunder!"

She happily showed the food in her hands, imagining the children smiling, imagining the children's faces full of blood, calling their mother beside her. But Luke remained silent. Starling noticed the unnaturalness in his expression and said tentatively:

"Luke, let's convert to the God of Thunder. Together with our children, let's go to the Thunder Church service this week."

"Luke, look at these foods... He has given them to us, and He alone will save us."

Luke, whose face had become much thinner, was silent. His eyes swept over the fluffy, soft and fragrant bread, and over his wife's expectant face. Finally, he nodded slightly disappointedly and said:

"……good."

…

"Benson Moretti? He's a government employee. Why are we arresting him?"

A police officer turned over the information in his hand and looked at the two "senior police inspectors" with dark blue hair in front of him with suspicion. It was probably not his imagination. He felt that these two people were more like priests from the Church of Thunder than police inspectors.

"It's confidential."

One of them said:

"Benson Moretti is involved in a national secret incident, so we need to protect him and his family member Melissa Moretti to prevent them from having accidents or being threatened as hostages, causing the secret to be leaked .”

The police officers were doubtful, but the two certificates from the senior police inspector were genuine and could not be deceived.

In order not to be charged with obstructing national government affairs, he still nodded, entered the police station with the two police inspectors who made a sudden late night visit, opened the map, and pointed out the location on it.

TBC

——————

I found a problem, and I have to complain about Klein in this article. (End of chapter)