Lie

Thank you⁠​​‍‍​‍⁠‌​‍‍​‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍⁠⁠‌ Darius for the ko-fi doantion!

While the entire Empire was celebrating and indulging in gossip, the Illusory God Church was also caught up in the drama. However, their mood was far from celebratory—instead, they were stunned, dazed, shocked, and utterly speechless.

Was this bumbling fool really the same cold, stoic, and ruthless Son of God they had always known??? 

—Yes, he was.

Unlike the Empire’s citizens, who struggled to distinguish the real Huo Chao from the fake, all members of the Illusory God Church knew that the one in the video was a clone—the same clone that had caused chaos at the Holy White Tower just last month and even injured the Pope!

Since the Huo Chao in the video was fake, the content on this Starblog account must be real.

How to describe this feeling? It was no less shocking than discovering that your cold, intimidating boss, whom you had feared for years, was actually a goofball behind the scenes.

Not only did he spout cutesy nicknames like “Xiao Fengfeng” and “Xiao Yunyun,” but he also managed to woo the Emperor of the Empire with a cheesy “Love Bible” and had the Emperor mourn him for three hundred years after his death!!!

“…”

In a way, pulling off such a sensational feat was truly worthy of the Son of God.

But who was “Xiao Feng”?

Huo Chao had grown up in the Illusory God Church and he was always a loner. Aside from Bai Min, he had no close relationships.

This question also caught the attention of the Pope.

So, while countless netizens in the Empire were frantically digging through Huo Chao’s past, the Illusory God Church was equally busy. Their previous tasks had been things like assassinations, forbidden experiments, political strikes, and warfare—essentially, all high-stakes, dirty work.

But now, they had embarked on an unprecedented new mission: archaeology. They were meticulously analyzing every post on the Son of God’s Starblog, conducting reading analyses, and correlating them to specific points in time to compile a detailed investigative report for the Pope.

In short, the entire world was now racing against time to do the same thing:

—Digging through Huo Chao’s… dirty laundry Starblog content

At this moment, inside the grand hall at the top of the Holy Relic White Tower.

The decor here resembled that of a medieval Western church on Earth. The ceiling soared ten meters high, and at the center stood a massive, grotesque statue of a deity with nine heads. The eight external heads displayed a range of expressions—agony, ecstasy, ferocity, rage—while the ninth head in the center had its eyes downcast, exuding an air of sorrow.

A month ago, the Pope sitting on the white throne had worn a similar expression. But now, he could no longer maintain his composure. His face was dark, almost dripping with fury.

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In truth, he had already prepared for a major battle, hoping to reclaim his power and status. However, after just blocking Bright City’s satellite radar and launching a few missile attacks, he received the order to retreat.

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This little fox was truly climbing the ladder by any means necessary, and it had to be said, he always seized opportunities with both decisiveness and precision.

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This was the first time since joining the Church that she had seen the Pope show such an ugly expression.

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Later, to obtain the Forbidden Abyss from Ye Shu, the Illusory God Church kidnapped the young Jiang Ci. But this plan failed because He Zhun found Jiang Ci first, and Zhou Jiuya came charging in like a mad dog.

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“……”

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In earlier times, such a situation would have been utterly unimaginable—even for someone like Cecilia.

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“Your Holiness, Setlin’s side said…”

Bishop Senli, dressed in white, was kneeling on the floor. He had been assigned to communicate with Setlin—a task he had thought would be simple. He never expected it to fall apart from the very beginning.

“They said… the situation might be slightly different from what we expected…”

Slightly? That was an understatement.

Within an hour of Huo Chao’s video going public—before it could even create widespread impact— Huo Chao’s Starblog was already on the hot search on the entire Starnet, followed by the Forbidden Abyss and Huo Xianfeng’s videos.

The Church had originally planned to coordinate with hundreds of influencers across various fields to guide public opinion. But before they could even begin the push, the tide had already turned.

Forget using public pressure to assist the Third Legion in launching a coup to force Pei Changyun into a corner—they were now the ones under pressure, losing ground on both fronts.

Of course, the perceptive Bishop Senli didn’t dwell on such a topic that would surely provoke the Pope. Instead, he quickly shifted to another matter.

“However, we did confirm that this ‘Xiao Feng’ is likely Huo Xianfeng from Bright City. Based on timestamps of early Starblog posts, ‘Xiao Feng’ began appearing from the very first post by His Highness Huo Chao—around the time he was sixteen. From then on, for the next ten years, their relationship remained extremely close…”

After a pause, he seemed to think it was too unconceivable, but the bishop in white continued,

“Also, the images tagged as ‘Xiao Feng’ were clearly photos of His Highness Huo Chao, yet the captions always referred to the person in them as Huo Xianfeng.”

This was something no one could make sense of.

“If Huo Xianfeng didn’t truly exist, then it would seem like…”

“—Like a split personality.”

A cold, clear voice instantly captured everyone’s attention.

The Pope, with his cold gaze and white pupils, turned his head slightly. He was tall and imposing, with a bizarre and unnatural appearance, which radiated a terrifying sense of pressure.

At that moment, He Zhun gestured toward Bernard in the wheelchair, then stepped forward, knelt in the center of the hall, and bowed his head.

“You’re the one who retrieved the Forbidden Abyss’ core back then.”

The incident at the trial made the Pope remember this beta.

He Zhun didn’t raise his head but replied swiftly and clearly,

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

The Pope’s silver eyes narrowed and his tone suddenly became threatening.
“If you hadn’t shown up, I might not have remembered… Didn’t you claim that Huo Xianfeng was Huo Chao? Do you understand the consequences of lying to me?”