Chapter 587

Chapter 426: Healing

On the Conquer Sea under the night sky, a hijacked passenger ship sailed. Inside the ship’s cabin, Vania, who was originally treating the wounded, had a chance encounter and exchange with the hijackers. However, not long after the conversation began, Vania was stunned by Bahoda’s words, and then incredulously spoke.

“Brutal suppression… savage massacre… like pirates, you… you’re talking about the Church? The Church would do such things? Isn’t there some kind of misunderstanding?”

“Misunderstanding? There is no misunderstanding here, Miss Nun. Your Radiant Church has long been cruelly oppressing heretics. Over the years, how many people on these numerous islands have refused to submit to your alien beliefs and have been eradicated by you? How many innocents whom you call heretics have died at your hands? Before us, there have already been countless precedents. You collude with countries on the mainland, slaughtering islanders and plundering their lands. These are all facts I have witnessed. Can you still say there is any misunderstanding now?”

Facing Vania, Bahoda said with a cold expression, leaving Vania momentarily speechless and unsure of how to respond.

“That… that, I think this must be some kind of mistake. Generally speaking, as long as one does not revere the Sacred Text and the Three Saints, they are evil… um…”

Growing up under the influence of religion, Vania wanted to instinctively say that anyone who doesn’t believe in the Three Saints is an evil cultist. But suddenly, she realized something and abruptly closed her mouth.

In Vania’s religious education, anyone who did not believe in the Three Saints was considered an evil heretic or cultist. Heretics and deviants were absolutely evil and needed constant vigilance. They were all to be eliminated. Previously, Vania had also believed this from the bottom of her heart until she encountered Akka and Dorothy.

After experiencing a series of events, Vania really couldn’t say that those who don’t believe in the Three Saints are cultists anymore. After all, in a certain sense, her own faith wasn’t very pure either.

Seeing Vania at a loss for words, Bahoda thought he had left her speechless. He continued with more confidence.

“Hmph… It seems you can’t defend your Radiant Church much further. So, the truth is quite clear, isn’t it? The Radiant Church doesn’t have the power to force others to accept their doctrines, nor do they have the right to k*ll innocent lives indiscriminately. In our view, you are the heretics we must oppose.”

“Even if that’s the case, even if the Church has many faults, you shouldn’t target these pilgrims. They are mostly ordinary people who believe in the Holy Mother… not members of the Church. On these three ships, only I am affiliated with the Church. Even these sailors, although part of the Knight Order, are peripheral figures. So, can you release the others?”

Holding her chest, Vania pleaded anxiously to Bahoda, but Bahoda responded coldly.

“When your Radiant Church targeted those with different beliefs, you didn’t consider whether they were ordinary innocents. We are simply returning the favor. Countless people on this sea have suffered your persecution. Now it’s our turn, and we don’t have time to worry about other matters.”

Bahoda sternly told Vania, who was stunned by his words. She continued to ask.

“It’s your turn… Could it be that you are currently being…”

Listening to Bahoda’s words, Vania seemed to realize something and said, while Bahoda appeared impatient with Vania’s exchanges. He bluntly spoke.

“Enough, you don’t need to know too much about our affairs. Nun, just complete your task properly and heal the wounded here.”

Hearing Bahoda’s words, Vania paused slightly, sighed, and then knelt down to continue treating the wounded lying in the cabin. Meanwhile, far away, Dorothy sat in her own cabin on the passenger ship, sorting through the information she had gathered.

“According to what these guys said… they seem to be indigenous people living on the remote islands of the Conquer Sea. In some regions of the main continent where ‘civilization’ has not deeply penetrated, the original ethnic beliefs are still maintained, just like the native inhabitants of the New World, Kapak…

“However, unlike the New World, these islands are closer to the main continent and closer to the Radiant Church and the countries on the main continent, making them more susceptible to influence. It appears that the Radiant Church is cooperating with other colonial countries to forcibly spread their religion on these remote islands. If the indigenous people refuse to convert, they will face strong measures including military action. Currently, the islanders of Summer Tree, which these hijackers belong to, are facing such threats from the Church.

“So… they hijacked the Church’s passenger ship likely to use it as leverage to demand that the Church stop its planned forced actions against them. Now, the pilgrims on these three ships are hostages, hostages in the hands of these Summer Tree islanders.

“These people want to use hostages to force the Church to make concessions on missionary issues? This is impossible. The Church won’t compromise over a few people. Even if these people can’t be saved, the Church will never agree to their demands.”

Sitting in her dim cabin, Dorothy anxiously analyzed. In her opinion, Vania’s situation was very dangerous because the possibility of the Church agreeing to their demands was almost zero. Vania and her group were constantly at risk of being killed. If the rescue efforts from the Church side were insufficient, then their hundreds of people would be doomed.

Dorothy felt anxious, and amidst her anxiety, she had some doubts.

“But come to think of it, how did these island natives manage to attack Vania and her group so precisely? Their main extraordinary combatants were detained by the Tribunal due to the Navaha incident. During their journey from Navaha to Iwig, their defense was at its weakest point, yet they managed to seize this opportunity to carry out the hijacking. This seems too coincidental, as if they knew the defense was weak.

“So, how did they get this information? Do they have a mole inside the Church? But it doesn’t seem like it. Do these natives have the ability to place a mole inside the Church?”

Dorothy pondered with confusion, but she currently had too little intelligence to act on it. She was still unsure how to deal with them.

“I’m too far away from there now. Currently, I can only exert influence through Vania. There are limited things I can do, so I need to find a way to expand my influence…”

Dorothy thought to herself, then she continued to observe the situation in the distant cabin through Vania’s senses, trying to find another point of intervention.

Vania was Dorothy’s first companion and follower, and she valued Vania greatly. She didn’t want anything to happen to Vania in this incident. Regardless of whether the Church initiates a rescue, Dorothy must ensure Vania’s safety there.

Inside the hijacked ship’s cabin, Vania continued to seriously treat the wounded sailor. With her extensive medical knowledge and healing priest abilities, her treatment was both effective and quick. The hijackers watching her work were momentarily intrigued.

As Vania healed, more native hijackers came to watch, including some who had been injured in the recent battle. Although their injuries weren’t severe, they were still painful. Despite the self-healing ability of the “Cup” extraordinary beings, it generally occurred at the White Chalk tier. Most of these hijackers were at the Black Earth tier and lacked self-healing abilities without extraordinary items. Seeing Vania’s healing ability, some of the injured hijackers became envious.