Heaven Is Not Worthy of You (Tenth Extra Chapter, Added for the Chapter-Request Invitation Event!!!!)

"Senator Charles!"

"Billy Charles. His younger brother, Kobe Charles, is the chairman of Charles Petroleum Supply Group. In 2002, Charles invested all his liquid assets into the overseas oil industry. At first, the locals’ noncooperation caused the funds to become trapped, but those problems were soon resolved."

"Resolved?"

Lake let out a laugh and shook his head. "He had the fate of big capital, but not the illness of big capital."

Did he really think just anyone could learn from big capital? I can’t solve the trouble, but I can solve the core ability of the person who dares to cause that trouble?

Under the Department of Homeland Security’s massive data search, Billy Charles and his younger brother, Kobe Charles, had nowhere to hide. It hadn’t taken long to strip them down to their underwear.

And now?

Lake said, "Connect me to the Department of Homeland Security in Washington."

Soon.

Secretary Kelly came online.

"Secretary!"

Lake spoke directly to Secretary Kelly, who was working in his office. "Isaac and the police officer who framed Swagg have confessed. The mastermind was Senator Billy Charles. His purpose was to help his brother bury the massacre he caused in a certain overseas country. I’ve already sent the detailed information and testimonies to your email."

Secretary Kelly looked slightly surprised. "That fast?"

Before Lake could say anything, Secretary Kelly smiled. "Listen to me. Well done, Lake."

Lake smiled faintly.

Secretary Kelly went offline.

Lake said to Tiffany beside him, "Give Isaac some basic treatment. Once the people from Quantico arrive, transfer him over immediately. Hold a press conference, conceal what happened overseas, and let those media reporters go cause trouble for Washington."

Tiffany nodded.

It was unlikely that this case would be handled leniently. Not only would the president refuse to let that happen, but the Vatican certainly wouldn’t agree either.

Why had the archbishop and the president come to New York?

To show that God still favored the Big Apple. Instead, God’s servant—the cardinal—had been shot in the head right in the middle of his speech.

What did that mean?

At the very least, in the eyes of certain people, this was clearly the strongest evidence yet that God had abandoned the Big Apple. If they didn’t explain the situation to the public as soon as possible, who knew how many hell-worshipping believers would take to the streets and start spreading panic again?

After speaking, Lake turned around and left the Homeland Building.

As he drove away from the building, he saw the numerous media reporters who had just been preparing to leave suddenly return and rush toward the Homeland Building, where another emergency press conference was being held.

The scene…

Was practically a marathon.

New York JFK International Airport.

After getting out of the car, Lake walked toward Karen, who was in the parking garage, holding her Cross in one hand and covering her mouth with the other as she watched the coffin being loaded onto the Vatican’s private plane. "Mother."

Karen came back to herself and looked at Lake, her expression complicated. "So the archbishop came to you because of this."

Lake said, "This was the only way to expose the truth. The archbishop was a good man. Mother, please forgive me. He didn’t want me to tell you."

Saint Mother types were annoying, because most of them were all talk.

But the archbishop was different.

For the sake of justice for a group of unrelated people—even a group of little blacks better off dead than alive—he had been willing to give his life to bring them truth and justice. Lake couldn’t bring himself to hate a Saint Mother like that.

Actions were often the strongest and most powerful proof.

Karen covered her mouth. "I don’t blame you, Lake. It was the archbishop’s choice. I admire him."

Lake apologized to Karen, then walked toward the Templar Knights, who had finished the ceremony and were preparing to board the plane with the coffin.

Karen came from a major family, after all, and naturally had well-informed connections. By the time Lake had driven over, she had already learned the truth about the assassination through Washington’s network.

Therefore, Karen also understood that for this matter to be exposed, someone had to die—or a heavyweight had to die. Even if they went to the media, the mastermind wouldn’t be punished otherwise. Just as Lake had said, it had happened in another country, and one without the power to avenge its own people.

Unless the Federation handled it out of conscience, exposing the matter would only make it sink without a trace.

But did the Federation have a conscience?

Heh.

However, now that an archbishop had died—and had died while preparing to show that God still favored the Federation—the impact was completely different.

At the very least, after the archbishop sacrificed himself, he had the power to uphold justice.

But Lake still couldn’t understand one thing.

Cardinals weren’t exactly rare. The entire Vatican had quite a few of them. Moreover, Lake could sense that the cardinal here wasn’t merely an honorary archbishop. He possessed extraordinary abilities.

They had given their faith to a God whose existence they didn’t even know for certain, and God had bestowed extraordinary power upon them.

"Knight Commander!"

Lake called out to a Templar Knight whose face was filled with determination and courage. "Please wait!"

The Knight Commander was the deputy of the Templar Knights’ legion commander, responsible for commanding ten Templar Knights. Basically, any cardinal who went out into the world was assigned a Knight Commander for protection.

So Lake couldn’t understand. What had this Knight Commander protected?

Poverty?

The Knight Commander seemed to know what Lake wanted to ask. As they walked aside to talk, he said directly, "The archbishop was diagnosed with cancer three months ago. The doctors determined that he had, at most, half a year left."

Lake raised his eyebrows.

The supernatural.

Cancer.

Could a supernatural being get cancer?

The Knight Commander continued, "The archbishop learned about it last year, but due to certain secular rules, we had no way to interfere… Then came the cancer. Perhaps this was the archbishop’s final wish. We wouldn’t interfere. Besides, because of this, the archbishop has already gone to the Lord’s heaven."

The corner of Lake’s mouth twitched.

Half an hour later.

The Vatican’s private plane, carrying the archbishop’s coffin, shot into the sky. In the Vatican, a solemn ceremony would be held to welcome this archbishop, who had, in a sense, achieved his wish.

But…

Late at night.

Lake lay in his bed, thinking about what the Knight Commander had said.

The supernatural and cancer were completely unrelated.

Unless…

The archbishop’s faith had collapsed.

That could be inferred from the cancer that had appeared in a supernatural being. The archbishop might have told the Vatican about it, only for the Vatican, after weighing all sorts of considerations, to choose not to intervene under the pretext of separating the supernatural from the secular.

Lake didn’t know many other people in the Vatican, but the archbishop’s devotion was undeniable: holiness, justice, and love.

…Wait.

It seemed that he had lost his faith.

Lake blinked. That explained everything. Most supernatural powers in the Marvel Universe were obtained through exchange. The archbishop gave God his faith, and God granted him supernatural power. Once the archbishop no longer believed, God naturally reclaimed that power—and perhaps, while reclaiming it, also gave the archbishop the price.

The price of abandoning his faith, as punishment, was naturally cancer.

However, that made it even clearer that the archbishop had truly been a saint in every sense of the word.

What a pity.

Now he belonged to me.

Lake’s consciousness sank into his sea of consciousness. He raised his head and stared at the mass of holy, loving, and righteous light above it, which was causing the sky of his sea of consciousness to tremble.

After Lake revealed the truth, the rate at which the sea of consciousness digested the holiness, love, and righteousness within the light had clearly increased another level.

But darkness and light were different. Darkness could plunder rapidly, while light required patient, painstaking effort.

Lake opened his eyes.

He went downstairs.

Karen was pouring herself a glass of red wine. Sitting in a lounge chair on the balcony, she gazed pensively at New York’s night sky.

Lake poured himself a glass of bourbon as well and went out onto the balcony.

Karen glanced at Lake and smiled. "I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me."

Lake said, "I know."

Karen was silent for a while before looking at Lake. "Do you think the archbishop made it to heaven?"

Lake shrugged. He really wanted to tell Karen that the archbishop had already arrived in his still-formless Divine Kingdom, but he said instead, "That was the archbishop’s choice, for the sake of love and justice."

Karen’s eyes lit up as she looked at Lake. "The little golden man who appeared on Long Island back then—didn’t he say the same thing? Love and justice?"

The corner of Lake’s mouth twitched. "That was Saga, Mother."

A Gold Saint had suddenly become a little golden man. The whole concept had instantly lost half its grandeur.

A Silver Saint—would that be a little white man? Or a little silver man?

And a Bronze Saint? Little green? Little bronze?

Karen nodded. "He’s your friend?"

Lake sat in the lounge chair beside her. "You could say that. We knew each other before."

Karen pursed her lips. "He looks a lot like you, Lake."

Lake looked at Karen and smiled. "Does he?"

"Yes."

Karen nodded, then changed the subject and said to Lake, "Hell has already been proven to exist. What about heaven, Lake? Do you think I can enter heaven?"

Lake raised his eyebrows.

All right.

Karen had fallen into a certain state of doubt because of the archbishop’s self-sacrifice.

After all, if even the archbishop needed to make such a sacrifice to enter heaven, what about everyone else? Especially Karen? How great a price would she have to pay to enter heaven?

Lake smiled. "Mother, I think if you entered heaven, heaven wouldn’t be worthy of you."

Karen smiled at Lake. "Lake, I respect your right not to choose faith. But God exists."

Lake nodded. "I know. That’s why I’m being serious. Heaven isn’t worthy of you."

Mother of the God-King?

Lake felt that this title unquestionably suited Karen best.

You protected me for sixteen years. I’ll protect you for all eternity!

Ahhhhhhh, ten extra chapters, 30,000 words! Please give me a full subscription!!!! I beg you, everyone!!!!