"Ah, Miss Molly… you… hello." Hank turned his head, quickly recognizing the woman, and stammered a greeting.

"I've told you so many times, Hank, just call me Molly." The woman looked about the same age as Hank, but was a little shorter than him. Her clothing was white, which indicated that she was a resident of the Third Zone.

"Are these two your friends? Eh? Why are they wearing protective suits?" Molly asked, puzzled.

"Miss Molly." Hank's expression was tense, and sweat ran down his temples. He mustered his courage and spoke before Feng Bujue could open his mouth. "My friends and I have some business to attend to and don't have time right now. Please forgive us. I'll come back and apologize and explain things after we're done…" As he spoke, he prepared to move forward.

"Business?" Molly looked at Hank doubtfully. "In the Third Zone?" Her gaze quickly fell on Feng Bujue and Kuang Zong Jian Ying. "Why haven't you changed out of your protective suits?" Her eyes moved upward, and the two players' unusually tall statures further aroused her suspicion. "Are you scavengers too? What business are you here for?"

Hank glared. "These are orders from above." He emphasized. "Please mind your own business, Miss Molly."

"Hank, what's wrong with you?" Molly retorted. "You never talk like that."

"Sigh…" Feng Bujue spoke up at this moment. "Actually, he was trying to help you." He paused for a moment. "Unfortunately, I've already decided that I can't let you leave."

"This is on the street! If you kill someone, you'll be surrounded immediately!" Hank lowered his voice and said to Feng Bujue.

"Madam Molly." Feng Bujue ignored Hank and instead addressed Molly. "I'm sorry, but I have to invite you to come with us."

Molly instinctively took two steps back. "Who exactly are you?" She looked at Hank. "Hank, what's going on?"

"Hank has been kidnapped by us. If you shout, run away, or do anything that might attract patrolmen, Hank will be killed." Feng Bujue spoke the threatening words first to prevent her from acting rashly. "I know you may not believe what I'm saying right now, but please calmly consider the situation based on what you know about Hank to judge whether what I'm about to say is true."

Feng Bujue continued, "We possess some kind of weapon that can quickly and effectively kill others, and the two of us also have abilities beyond your imagination. Whether it's running speed, jumping power, or survivability, it has exceeded your understanding of humans.

"If we are exposed, Hank will die immediately, and then we will kill every villager who attempts to approach or stop us. Your village will suffer at least a thousand casualties, not to mention the material losses.

"But if you are willing to cooperate and take us around the area ahead, we will leave quietly after we achieve our purpose.

"Now, you can choose whether to cooperate with us or start shouting."

…

Five minutes later, inside the Third Zone.

"Unbelievable, you actually brought outsiders into the village." Molly said to Hank in a hushed, reproachful tone.

Hank walked beside her, also replying softly, "I was kidnapped… just like the situation we're in now."

"What we… From now on, I'm drawing a line between us." Molly retorted unhappily. "I should have listened to my family and not associated with people from the First Zone."

"Alas…" Hank opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he didn't say anything. Often, even if he had a thousand words to say, they could only turn into a sigh.

At this moment, Feng Bujue and Kuang Zong Jian Ying were walking behind the two of them. Since Molly had been walking in front, no patrolmen on the street had come forward to question them. It seemed that finding a resident of the Third Zone to lead the way was indeed effective.

"Don't worry, Madam Molly, you only need to walk with us to the border between the Third and Fourth Zones." Feng Bujue said at this time. "Then, you can leave."

Molly was visibly stunned when she heard this. "You're going to enter the Fourth Zone?" She then asked, "What about Hank? Will you let him go too?"

"Hmph… I'm afraid not, and we can't." Feng Bujue replied.

"Heh… well, thanks." Hank replied with a bitter smile.

This answer startled Molly, but the next sentence Hank said in a self-abandoning tone explained everything: "I guess… from the moment I brought you into the village, I couldn't continue to stay in this village."

"Oh? Finally realized it?" Feng Bujue said.

"I should have thought of it when you didn't let me report back. In the end, I was still fooled by you." Hank said. "I was indeed too slow to realize it just now."

Feng Bujue said, "In that case, I can also be frank. No matter what the outcome of this matter is, you are sure to die if you fall into the hands of the Koben family's lackeys. Only if we succeed will you have a chance to live."

"I don't even know what you're trying to do." Hank replied.

Kuang Zong Jian Ying put on a dead fish face and looked at Feng Bujue. "Yeah… I'm not too sure either. Can you explain it?"

"First of all, what we're going to do is definitely not slaughter the villagers. If we were going to do that, we could have started a massacre as soon as we entered the residential area." Feng Bujue said. "Secondly, we can't just be sightseeing. I don't think you'd really believe that reason." He smiled. "My main purpose is to acquire the technological knowledge in the temple. My secondary purpose is to change the social system of this village."

"What technology are you talking about? There's no technological knowledge in the temple at all. It contains the classics passed down by the gods, and only a very few priests are qualified to study them." Molly interjected at this time.

"These are all lies that you were instilled with at an age when you couldn't distinguish right from wrong." Feng Bujue said. "The Koben family is just monopolizing some natural scientific knowledge that you don't know. They don't let you come into contact with that knowledge in order to enslave you with religious lies." He sighed with compassion. "Ignorance and panic are two perpetually hungry beasts that dwell in the hearts of mankind. Only civilization can defeat them, and they guard the steps of human progress, constantly devouring the pioneers.

"As far as the era you live in is concerned, a thousand years ago, people burned innocent women as witches just so they could sleep peacefully or have a good harvest next year; five hundred years ago, people took Darwin's theory out of context and shouted, 'We are not monkeys!' banning the teaching of evolution in schools. Heh… I don't think there's much difference between this group of people and monkeys.

"And two hundred years ago… the Koben family firmly grasped the spark of knowledge in their hands, keeping you people living in darkness and cold in fear and ignorance, so that they could carry out long-term rule and enslavement."

"I don't believe your nonsense. The priests have long warned us that outsiders are all devils with lies on their lips. Don't even think about distorting my faith with those blasphemous words." Molly retorted.

"Ah~ they're just trying to make sure… that when you meet someone who knows the truth, you won't be swayed by those words." Feng Bujue sneered. "They also tell you to unconditionally kill outsiders, don't they?"

"Give up, you're dead if you run into the guards. Their equipment is different from the patrolmen, and they will kill anyone who tries to force their way into the Fourth Zone, regardless of whether you have hostages…" Molly still didn't buy Feng Bujue's argument. "As long as you promise to let me and Hank go, I can try to get you out of the village."

"Hmm… you're better at negotiating than Hank." Feng Bujue said. "But unfortunately, our goal will not change." He chuckled. "And… Hank can't stand on Koben's side anymore, right? Buddy."

Molly turned to look at Hank in surprise, who showed unprecedented composure. "I'm sorry, Miss Molly, I only have one path before me, and that is to act with them. There's no turning back for me."

"Hank…" Molly murmured, "Could it be that you've been bewitched by these two outsiders with evil witchcraft?"

"No, I'm very clear-headed, never been so clear-headed." Hank replied. "Although these two outsiders have repeatedly threatened to kill me, at least they haven't used any gods or anything like that to manipulate my thoughts." He said firmly, "If everything the Son of God has told us is true, then I am a sinner who helps outsiders and tries to subvert the gods. I don't know what the result will be, but at most, I'll just die. Even if I kill these two outsiders with my own hands right now, what can I do? Will the priests let me go? I'll still be convicted and sentenced to death. Rather than die like that, I might as well take a chance."

Kuang Zong Jian Ying smiled for some reason. "Well said, Hank, keep going."

Hank continued, "And what if these two outsiders are right? What if the so-called Son of God and the priests are all lying?"

"Do you know what you're saying, Hank? That's impossible…" Molly wanted to interrupt him.

But Hank asked back, "Why is it impossible?" He turned to look at Molly. "I was told from birth that I am a child of God and that I must listen to the arrangements of the Koben family and the priests. If I violate what they say, I will violate God's will and be convicted. My father and brother work and labor at the risk of their lives, but they can barely make a living. But the priests live a life of luxury without having to do anything.

"I can only learn what they tell me to learn, say what they allow me to say, do what they send me to do, and sing their praises and worship them.

"If this is the will of God, then such a god is not worthy of my devotion, because it obviously does not want to repay us believers. It just treats us like donkeys and horses, and only the Koben family and the priests are human."

Molly looked at Hank with astonished eyes. "You're crazy…"

"Perhaps." Hank said, "But I feel great, never felt so good. For the first time, I feel like my fate is in my own hands, and even if the price for this feeling is death, I won't regret it."

"That feeling is called 'freedom'." Feng Bujue said. "When the shackles they have placed on your mind are broken, whether you are in prison or about to die, at least from this moment on, you are free. As long as you have a breath left, no one can take your freedom away again." Feng Bujue said in a very煽动力的tone, "As long as you help us overthrow the Koben family and the priests' monopoly on knowledge, and expose their lies… Hank, not only can you survive, but you will also become a hero. All your compatriots, including this Miss Molly, can taste the taste of freedom."