Chapter 1 The Doors Between Divine Wills

The door to the Chamber of Divine Wills opened, and a man who looked somewhat like Haviez stood in the room. He was York Corbin. Beside him stood a boy of twelve or thirteen, presumably his son. This family was quite recognizable, with similar facial features and hair and eye color. They were all on the plump side, but this was probably less about genetics and more about lifestyle.

Feng Bujue was the first to step into the room, with Crazy Wolf Sword and Hank following behind. When Feng Bujue saw the scene inside, he immediately understood why the Corbin family didn't allow outsiders to enter. This so-called "Chamber of Divine Wills" had nothing to do with religion. The room was filled with control panels and monitors, clearly the core control room of the starship.

[Hidden Mission Completed]

The system prompt sounded in the ears of the two players. The moment they saw York Corbin, the mission was considered a success.

"Your expression is quite interesting," Feng Bujue said. "Seeing us at the door, you seem very calm. Aren't you concerned about Haviez's life or death?"

York replied calmly, "If you killed him, I'd like to thank you."

"I see…" Feng Bujue said. "It seems your brotherly relationship is quite poor, hehe… Did he steal the woman you fancied, or did he covet your position as the Divine Son?"

"You're clever," York responded, "and sharp-tongued…"

"Sharp-tongued?" Feng Bujue said, smiling as he pulled out his gun and pulled the trigger, shooting York's son in the head. The other three in the room were completely dumbfounded.

Blood and brains splattered everywhere, and the boy's body slumped to the ground, dying at his father's feet.

Hank's eyes widened, stunned. Even Crazy Wolf Sword was shocked. Although this was just a game, Feng Bujue's behavior – unwavering and decisive – was something few could actually do.

For the next ten seconds or so, the room was silent, with only the sound of everyone's breathing.

"Hmm… your reaction is quite interesting," Feng Bujue said, looking at York's face.

"You're a madman…" York's expression began to change.

"That's your son, right?" Feng Bujue pointed the gun at the corpse on the ground.

"Yes," York replied.

"I killed him in front of you, but you didn't even frown," Feng Bujue said. "But when you realized that I killed him just to observe your reaction, you showed a hint of unease." He put the gun away. "Forgive me for being blunt, Mr. Corbin, but as for being sharp-tongued, the depravity of your character far exceeds the description."

"Does a man who shoots a child without hesitation have the right to judge me?" York retorted.

Crazy Wolf Sword interjected, "Hmm… I have to agree with that."

Feng Bujue shrugged and looked at York, saying, "For me, it was just shooting a stranger, but for you, it was the death of a loved one. As for who's more cruel, it remains to be seen based on your subsequent reactions."

"I won't waste time arguing with you," York replied. "Since…"

"Since things have come to this, let's talk about conditions… right?" Feng Bujue continued where he left off.

York said, "How did you…"

"Did you need to say it yourself?" Feng Bujue said. "Your brother dies, you're unmoved; your son dies, you don't care." He sneered. "All you care about is yourself. As long as the green hills remain, there's no need to worry about firewood… But from the actual situation, you understand that armed resistance is futile. So, when we appeared at the door, you were already prepared to negotiate with us.

But my actions just now… made you think I might be a madman. Then you showed panic, because you know that only a sane person will negotiate with you, and a madman won't."

York's face was horrified. He hadn't expected that the other party would see through so many of his psychological activities just by observing his facial expressions and reactions to a few sentences. "Just who are you?"

"Yeah, Crazy Bro… I'd like to ask, what's your background?" Crazy Wolf Sword chimed in again.

"Why are you joining in the fun?" Feng Bujue replied to Crazy Wolf Sword, then looked at York again. "Mr. Corbin, I noticed that the control panel behind you has been destroyed. If I'm not mistaken, that's the only set of communication equipment that can connect the Divine Grace Village to the outside world, right?"

"So what?" York replied. Just before Feng Bujue and the others came in, York had punched the screen on that console with his modified arm.

"That's quite interesting… you did that before we came in," Feng Bujue said. "It's clear that you knew from the beginning that Haviez couldn't stop us. That's evident in the expression on your face after the door opened."

"I'm wondering, how many things can you think about in the moment you encounter a situation…" Crazy Wolf Sword said again. He no longer cared about how the script would end; at this moment, his greatest interest was seeing what Feng Bujue would do next.

"Mr. Corbin, I think you're a pretty smart person, at least your calculations are quite reliable," Feng Bujue said as he walked past York, straight to the damaged console, bending down to check the extent of the damage. "When we arrived at the main entrance of the temple, you were already watching, right?"

York remained silent, but cold sweat trickled down his temples.

"Your village doesn't even have things like photographs, let alone video recording equipment. But I dare say, this spaceship has everything," Feng Bujue said unhurriedly. "Surveillance is a very common device in the outside world's technological level, but in this Divine Grace Village, it's probably the top secret that only you know. If I were you, I would keep this technology strictly confidential, not even telling the priests, sharing it only with my own people.

Monitoring is a very effective method. The villagers will feel that their every move is being watched, but they don't understand the principle, as if some deity is watching them at all times. It's too perfect, isn't it?"

While speaking, Feng Bujue had already sat down on a folding stool (the one he brought). He fiddled with the console and continued, "Of course, you can't sit in this room all day watching the surveillance footage. The village probably has a limited number of cameras. But… today, when you received a communication that three intruders had entered the fourth area, you must have rushed here anxiously and quickly locked onto our movements."

He paused and continued, "In the fourth area, we only encountered sporadic resistance, but that kind of confrontation was enough to show a lot. You quickly realized… our strength was extraordinary. Knowing that resistance was likely futile, you came up with a plan."

"Then, you called two family members over, brought your son with you into this 'Chamber of Divine Wills,' and had Haviez guard the door. I don't know exactly what words you used to fool your brother into guarding the door, but with his intelligence, I think any deception would work.

From Haviez's performance, you certainly didn't tell him our true strength, so he was still quite confident before he was killed, not even knowing he had fallen into a trap.

In fact, you played a game of borrowed knife to kill. As you initially said, Haviez being killed by us was exactly what you expected."

Feng Bujue said, turning around from the console to face York. "You kept your son by your side as insurance. It's good to have a child as a shield at a critical moment. When normal people enter, seeing someone with a child and no signs of resistance, they are unlikely to kill them without saying a word."

"Are you indirectly admitting that you're not normal?" Crazy Wolf Sword chuckled.

"Don't interrupt," Feng Bujue said. "Mr. Corbin, I know what you're up to. If Haviez hadn't died, or even successfully killed us, you would have taken the opportunity to kill him and blame it on us intruders. That would be the best outcome.

But you also know that things probably won't go that smoothly. The most likely scenario is that the three of us kill Haviez and come to you. According to this development, you have to consider how to deal with us.

In any case, it's absolutely impossible for us to contact humans outside. Once the existence of Divine Grace Village is known to the outside world, your Corbin family's dictatorial rule, which you have painstakingly managed for so many years, will come to an end. Even in death, you wouldn't want to see that happen.

So, you prioritized destroying the communication equipment with the outside world to ensure nothing could go wrong. Then, as long as you stabilize us, the conditions can be negotiated slowly."

"Hehe… hahaha…" York laughed. "I really want to applaud you, hahaha…" He suddenly seemed very relaxed. "You've said it beautifully, but you're not exactly a noble person, are you? You didn't kill me, but instead revealed all of this to me, just to increase your bargaining chips." He snorted. "Alright, you win, two guests, and you…" He looked at Hank. "You can get what you want. The women and resources in this village, you can enjoy them freely."

York kicked his son's corpse aside. "I can make up a reason, saying that you are messengers of God, and let you live in this 'temple.'" He made quotation marks with his hands, showing that he himself found the term "temple" ridiculous. "Anyway, those ignorant people believe anything. Just show them some small tricks they've never seen before, and they'll think it's a miracle, hehe…

What do you think? Consider it. I know what you outsiders are thinking. My ancestors also encountered several outsiders. Perhaps their initial idea was to bring the people in this village back to the so-called civilized society outside, but in the end, they compromised."

Feng Bujue interrupted at this time, "A lot of the equipment in this Chamber of Divine Wills was repaired or updated by those outsiders, right?"

"Hehe… that's right," York didn't deny it. "They did build these communication devices that can connect to the outside world. Of course, these devices have never been used. Unless this place encounters another doomsday disaster like a nuclear war, it's impossible for me and my descendants to use them."

"You can also use these devices to capture signals from human spaceships outside, right?" Feng Bujue asked again.

"You even know that?" York replied, his expression gloomy.

"I thought of this on the way here in the Sand Shark pod," Feng Bujue said. "At the time, I was wondering, how did the scavengers find the Crystal Lake Lab? Where did the coordinates in the automatic navigation system come from? I quickly thought of a possibility… in this village, there are some people, most likely the rulers… who are fully capable of tracking signals from outside ships.

Because humans from outside occasionally come to old Earth to conduct some exploration and archaeological activities. As long as you secretly observe the signals of these teams, remember their travel routes and stay times, you can roughly deduce the coordinates of the ruins they discovered. After these archaeological teams leave, you send the coordinates to the relevant departments and let them send people to pick up the leftovers. The orders are passed down level by level, and the final execution end is the scavengers."

Hank heard this and suddenly understood, "So that's the truth about those coordinates!" He had always been puzzled about where those ruin coordinates that his superiors sent them came from. Now he finally had the answer.

"You bastard! Your Corbin family has always had the ability to contact the outside world! But you have enslaved us with lies for generations! Imprisoning our minds, not letting us know the truth!" The more Hank thought about it, the more angry he became. He and his family, and his ancestors, their lives were simply pathetic, controlled by others from birth to death.

"Hmph… the truth?" York sneered. "There's no such thing. The people in this village are living quite well, aren't they?" He even raised his voice and tone, saying righteously, "It is our Corbin family that gave you a goal in life, gave you faith. From birth to death, as long as you are law-abiding and do the work you are supposed to do, you can have a house to live in, clothes to wear, food to eat, marry and have children, and die peacefully, without any confusion or dissatisfaction in your heart. What's wrong with that?" He faced Hank and sneered, "Do you understand the outside world? Do you really think the outside is better than here? I have read the true history of old Earth, and I know very well that humans today still haven't learned their lesson. They are the same as in the past. As long as there are people, desire and struggle never stop, whether the stage is on Earth or in the universe.

Only Divine Grace Village is paradise! It is our Corbin family that gave you this isolated paradise!"