Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 683: Do you know the truth about the law?
However, since most people's memories were erased by the space-time power of the Machine God Alexander, why did old man Pancras still remember it? Moreover, many secret information he mentioned in his words, such as the essence and source of power of the conceived gods, the space-time power of the Machine God Alexander and the characteristics of infinite restart, including the existence of the Genesis Machine series of constructed mechas... It seems that these are not things that an ordinary old man should know, even if he has a deep relationship with the Spirit Prayer Society.

The young man hesitated for a moment, but finally asked the old man about his doubts. He knew that as a guest, it was very impolite to ask such questions, but if he missed the opportunity today, it might be difficult to find an elder who knew the truth of history and could answer their questions in the future.

After listening to Ling's question, old man Pancras stroked his beard and said slowly: "This brings us back to the original topic, which is the power of faith and the emergence of the conceived gods. As the first conceived god, Alexander the God of Steam Engines has undoubtedly demonstrated great power, which is even enough to reverse time and space and restart the origin. Young man, have you ever thought about what kind of greed humans will have when facing this power that far exceeds their imagination?"

The meaning of this sentence was not difficult to understand. The young man frowned deeply: "Someone tried to control the power of the conceived god? But the harm shown by the machine god Alexander is also beyond doubt. Have they not considered the consequences of failure?"

Are we going to repeat the mistakes of the Steam Holy War?

"It is a luxury to expect humans to remain rational forever, young man."

Old man Pancras sighed softly, "People as rational as you are are few and far between. For those who are dominated by greed and ambition, even if the probability of success is only one in ten thousand, they will firmly believe that they are the one who can grasp the one in ten thousand probability. Therefore, since the advent of Alexander, the God of Steam, countless secret societies and religious sects have begun to study the nature of the power of faith, trying to copy and create a controllable imaginary god, laying the foundation for their great cause. This research continued until the end of the Steam Holy War, and the participants were as wide as Martha, the Pope of the former Steam Cult, the Cult Union that excavated Martha's research records from the ruins of the Steam Cult, and even our Spiritual Prayer Society - or, in other words, the entire branch of animism."

Hearing this, Linger was thoughtful: "Do animists also try to create gods? Like the Earth Mother Titan or the Spring Spirit Tifu?"

"No." Old man Pancras shook his head. "What they really want to create is the Holy Spirit. As for the Great Mother Earth or the Great Spring, the spirit gods of all things, they are just parts of the Holy Spirit. They firmly believe that when all the spirit gods are awakened, their wills will merge into one and return to their original form, which is the master of all things, the great Holy Spirit."

A look of reminiscence emerged in the old man's eyes. The emotion contained in that broken eye was not sure whether to say it was sadness or helplessness. "At first, the deer-headed elder Wendigo first proposed this theory and called it the 'Return of the Holy Spirit Day'. Then, in order to practice the truth, he took the initiative to leave the Spirit Prayer Society and established the Druidism that believed in the spirit of nature. Afterwards, countless believers left the Spirit Prayer Society because of his ideas, and successively split into branches such as the Fertile Soil Sect, the Holy Spring Monks, the All Things Return to One Sect, and the Ancestral Spirit Sect. But no matter which sect the believers belong to, they all believe from the bottom of their hearts that when the spirit of all things awakens, it is also the time for the Holy Spirit to return and guide animism to the pinnacle of faith again."

Mother Earth, Spring Spirits, Ancestral Spirits, Father of Mountains, Elders of Ancient Trees, Winter Spirits... Even if the names and deeds of these spiritual gods have never been spread in the world, their believers will spontaneously publicize them to let the world know of their existence. Only in this way can the foundation of faith be formed.

Lingge naturally would not make any inappropriate remarks in front of the old man, so these thoughts only flashed through his mind. In comparison, he was more interested in the so-called Holy Spirit: "Since the ultimate goal of animism is to awaken this one and only Holy Spirit, why have I never heard of His deeds before?"

The saint's gaze still silently and deeply gazes upon every tiny soul under the dome.

"Varied--"

It turns out that this is the truth behind the animism split.

Can a god who has been forgotten by the world still be considered a god? Perhaps he is no different from an ordinary transcendent or magician. Even if a god is conceived, it requires a huge amount of faith to support it.

Countless believers were scattered, believing in different spirit gods, awakening them one by one, and finally shaping the only Holy Spirit... This sounds very much like some kind of religious ritual, but it doesn't feel like a ritual of a true God sect, but rather a sacrificial ritual that cultists like the most. Did those awakened spirit gods really return to the Holy Spirit, or were they used as sacrifices to the spirit of all things to call for the birth of the Holy Spirit?

Is this Holy Spirit the only one who is different?
"No." Old man Pancras looked at him and said meaningfully, "You have already seen Him, in this church."

Lingge was stunned, then seemed to understand something. He suddenly looked up at the tall statue standing behind the altar.

and so.

Ling Ge felt his lips were dry, and even the words he spoke were dry, as if he was too surprised to be numb: "The so-called Holy Spirit Return Day... is it actually the resurrection of Saint Tumi?"

Moreover, he was not resurrected as a human, but as a god. The old man nodded silently.

The church was silent, no one spoke, perhaps they didn't know what to say to express their current feelings. Even the three photon elf sisters heard this secret for the first time, they opened their mouths in surprise, and floated in the air stupidly, looking very funny.

If it were before, Shemi would definitely take the opportunity to laugh at them - especially at that little sister Beimin with a bad attitude. Who made her so rude to Metien?
But now, the little fairy became the only one who couldn't understand this conversation. She was not interested in history, so she had been distracted from the beginning until now. She was either distracted by when Metien would accompany her to play, or distracted by when Beimin would quarrel with her again. This time, she would definitely win... As a result, when she came to her senses, the key information she captured was only "Saint Tumi" and "resurrection". She hurriedly asked in a panic: "W-what does it mean? Is Saint Tumi going to be resurrected!?"

Lingge ignored her and turned a questioning look to the elder, trying to get an answer: Is this just a theory, or does it have the possibility of becoming a reality?

If Saint Tumi is really resurrected, the impact will not be as simple as adding another god to the world. Saint Tumi is also the source of all existing civilizations, countries and history of mankind, the origin of the religious world, and the extraordinary person and alchemist who created the magic potion system. In a sense, he is also the culprit of the catastrophe of the change of the sky. The entire Mirror Star World, from the Western Continent to the Eastern Continent, is full of believers in animism, how many can be estimated? The Holy Kingdom of Nordon in the Eastern Continent is said to have been established by Saint Tumi himself. If these believers are willing to listen to the call of the Holy Spirit and fight for him, then... it is not impossible that the ruling position of the united church will be shaken.

Perhaps, this is why the united religious orders issued the Religious Decree to persecute animists?

This thought couldn't help but emerge in Ling'er's mind, and the next moment, Pancras's answer confirmed his guess.

"No one has yet been able to give an accurate answer to when the Day of the Return of the Holy Spirit will come. In the past, no matter how devout the animists were, the spirit of all things never responded to their expectations and came to the world. From this perspective, the Day of the Return of the Holy Spirit seemed to be just a theory and could not be realized. However, the discovery of the power of faith allowed them to see the possibility of turning theory into reality. Therefore, during the Steam Holy War, the animists actively sought research materials on the power of faith, hoping to gain inspiration from it."

"Due to the strict blockade of the Steam Cult and the Cult Union, this attempt has never been successful. It was not until the 70s that a person in charge of the Faith Power Research Project in the Cult Union defected and handed over this part of the confidential information to one of the branches of Animism: the Mist Mountain Hermit Society. The Mist Mountain Hermit Society shared the information with other branches, and thus, the development of the ritual of summoning gods and the practice of the Holy Spirit's Return Day were put on the agenda. Most of the secret truths I just told you came from this."

Elder Pancras's answer explained Ling's previous doubts, and then he continued, "However, the united sects would not allow dangerous research data to leak out, nor would they allow animists to use the ritual to summon the imaginary spirit. So, they issued the "Religious Decree" to crack down on the belief in animism, intending to nip the hidden danger in the bud. At that time, the united sects were powerful, and even if the animists united, they were no match for them, and they could not give up this part of the research data and the great plan of the return of the Holy Spirit. So, in the 30s of this century, the Pope of the Spiritual Prayer Society made a bold decision."

"What decision?" Ling Ge asked hurriedly. He had a vague feeling that this decision was the source of the current situation.

Old man Pancras said word by word: "He gave away the information about 'Power of Faith' and 'Conceived God' to other religions for free, dragging them into this storm, and turning the confrontation between the United Churches and Animism into a confrontation between the Seven Orthodox Churches and all other sects. In the Pope's vision, if the United Churches cannot withstand this huge pressure and voluntarily abandons the 'Religious Decree', that would naturally be the best outcome."

However, is it so easy for the religious order to give up?

This is impossible.

"So, there was a supplementary decree to the Religious Decree..." Linger muttered. He finally understood the truth. All the confusion in the past and present was answered: "It's not because they want to suppress other churches and monopolize people's beliefs, but because all churches other than them may have the power of faith and information about the ritual of summoning gods, and may summon imaginary gods, posing a huge threat to the country and society."

Those churches that have obtained the information may also be able to obtain pardon from the united church groups if they are willing to give it up. However, facing the temptation of conceiving gods, even the believers of animism cannot resist, let alone them?
Only one church is innocent.

It had too few believers to meet the minimum requirements of the ritual of summoning gods, so it did not obtain any so-called research materials at all, had no involvement with the mysterious world, and did not even know the purpose and target of the implementation of the "Religious Decree". However, it was still involved in this storm and was forced to close its last church.

That is, the Holy Goddess Cult.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)