At noon, when Silas and Sister Marlene returned from the city outskirts preparing to eat, they were stunned to find that a complete relief area had been formed on the ruins of the Holy Blood Cathedral.
The area was enclosed by iron fences and very conspicuous orange-yellow tarpaulins, forming a simple wall. Groups of three Church soldiers patrolled back and forth along the perimeter.
Inside the enclosure, with the two massive airships as the foundation, hundreds of neat tents had already been set up and divided into several zones.
According to the map at the entrance, these included a medical zone, accommodation zone, dining zone, supplies zone, protection zone, and so on.
In the large empty area outside the zone, tens of thousands of people were gathered at this moment.
Among these people was a white high platform, and on the platform stood a woman wearing a light pink robe, with a head of silver hair, and a holy white headdress on her head.
This woman looked to be in her thirties. Her appearance wasn't strikingly beautiful, but her ethereal, pure aura, combined with the presence of a superior and her crystal-clear white skin, gave an overall stunning and impactful impression.
"This one is named Emilia, known by people as the Pure White Lamb. She comes from the Holy Choir. It is rumored that she is one of the few Church personnel who has received the Goddess's divine power baptism in the Starry Celestial Court," Sister Marlene introduced from the side.
Silas, upon hearing this, looked surprised and then asked, "What is the Starry Celestial Court?"
Marlene shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it's rumored to be the place closest to the Goddess. Only the most core personnel of the Church can ascend there."
Silas nodded, listening to that ethereal and clear voice. "Her name suits her. It seems the Archbishops of the Church are all truly capable."
"Of course, Archbishop Emilia is a strong contender for the next Pope."
"Please rest assured, everyone. The Church will thoroughly investigate the cause of this incident and will definitely give everyone an explanation. Please look! The area behind me is the Goddess's grace to her children. We will do our utmost to ensure the safety of everyone's lives and property, and afterward, we will build Bayne City even more perfectly. I believe that with our joint efforts, it won't be long before Bayne City is reborn and becomes a first-tier city in the empire."
Emilia's voice was not impassioned; her tone and intonation were very gentle.
However, this gentleness was pleasing to the ear, making people involuntarily believe her words after hearing them.
"Painting a big picture is indeed the best way to appease people," Silas sighed, standing outside the crowd.
"What is 'painting a big picture'?" Marlene looked stunned.
Silas smiled. "It's when times are tough, you promise people a very illusory and distant beautiful future."
"...That's called encouragement!" Marlene immediately corrected him after hearing it.
Immediately, Marlene said with a serious expression, "Don't underestimate this young Archbishop. Since becoming an Archbishop five years ago until now, she has given five public speeches and made three promises. And every promise made has been completely fulfilled. Among the current twelve central Archbishops, Archbishop Emilia's words are the most trustworthy."
Silas raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, looked at the high platform, and instantly had a new level of respect for this Archbishop.
Half an hour later, the speech ended.
From the departing crowd, Silas did not see post-disaster sorrow, pain, or despair in their eyes. Instead, they were filled with excitement and anticipation, their eyes shining with the light of hope.
"Our place is going to become a first-tier city? I need to buy more houses! If I can't afford the city ones, I'll buy some in the countryside!" a passing citizen muttered.
And this kind of muttering wasn't from just one or two people, but a large group.
In their eyes, Bayne City becoming a first-tier city was already a certainty.
"Truly terrifying!" Silas was shocked in his heart.
"Huh? Why are you two still here? Silas, the Archbishop wants to see you, to commend you!" Father Harden popped out from the crowd and said.
Clearly watching someone else receive commendation, Father Harden was not envious or jealous at all, but rather very fortunate and happy.
Because everyone knew that this time's merit was not something anyone could claim.
And even if claimed, it came with enormous risks.
Silas smiled. "Don't worry, leave everything to me."
Seeing Silas's confident appearance, Father Harden and Sister Marlene secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Afterward, the three quickly went against the flow of people and walked into the relief area.
Relying on their Church identity tokens, the three soon reached a two-story wooden small chapel, built with movable ironwood, located in the center of the relief area.
At this moment, there were a large number of troops around the small chapel.
Besides ordinary Church soldiers carrying guns, there were also six sturdy warriors wearing silver-white close-fitting armor, with silver-grey greatswords on their backs.
Silas looked at the radiant holy sword insignia on their chests and knew the true identity of this group.
"The elite unit on par with the Holy Choir: the Holy Sword Squad."
At the entrance of the small chapel, two sturdy Holy Sword Squad members stopped the three.
"Who goes there!?" the black-bearded strong man on the left asked in a deep voice.
Father Harden immediately said, "This is Silas Sotos, the Purple Moon Agent of Bayne City, the person the Archbishop wishes to see."
The two warriors were somewhat surprised upon hearing this.
Throughout the morning, from the conversation between the Archbishop and that Night Watcher, the two had heard this person's name no less than ten times. They had thought he was a very formidable character, but now, looking at him, he was just a very ordinary professional priest.
"He can go in. You two wait here!" The status difference between the two sides was vast, and they didn't know each other. The two guards' tone was very peremptory.
Although Anthony and Marlene were dissatisfied, they still nodded slightly and stepped back to wait.
"Come here!" the blond, small-eyed guard on the right commanded loudly.
Silas walked over with a smile. "Are there any other problems?"
This guard took out a silver crystal fork from behind him.
Injecting his spiritual energy into the fork, he picked it up and carefully scanned Silas's body with it. It was actually a detector.
After finding nothing, the small-eyed guard's large hand suddenly slapped Silas's body forcefully.
This was very sudden, and Silas stumbled from the slap, almost kneeling on the steps.
"Pfft!"
The other surrounding warriors and Holy Sword Squad members let out low sneers.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't control my strength," the small-eyed guard said with a grin.
A trace of gloom flashed across Silas's face, then he said with a brilliant smile, "It's nothing."
Harden and Marlene, beside him, looked very unsightly.
"But you clergymen from the countryside are really weak. How did a physique like yours save Bayne City?" the black-bearded guard beside him muttered in a low voice.
Silas didn't answer and walked in silently.
He could see that these fellows from the capital city looked down on clergymen from small cities from the bottom of their hearts.
And for such arrogant, self-righteous fellows, Silas naturally had his own way of dealing with them.