Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon-Chapter 219 - 218 Arrested

Chapter 219: Chapter 218 Arrested

Chapter 219 -218 Arrested

“Raise your hands! Don’t move from where you are!” the gunman shouted.

If it had been just one person, Farrelan definitely wouldn’t have surrendered so easily—he might not be as skilled in combat as a lieutenant colonel, but he had weathered many storms and wasn’t incapable of taking down an average person. The problem was that there wasn’t just one person; it seemed to be a patrol squad. Besides the one warning him with a gun, four others were closing in, watching him from several directions.

He could tell at a glance that these people were all new recruits.

Surrounded on all sides, it might seem like there was no escape, but if they really opened fire, they could easily hit a teammate. If Farrelan decided to charge at the one with the gun, the others might not find a safe opportunity to shoot.

Nevertheless, Farrelan still obediently raised his hands.

He didn’t want to gamble on that possibility.

Moreover, he was beginning to believe that the Paradise Sect wasn’t as bad as those nobles who fled depicted it to be.

Seeing him surrender, the leader lowered the gun, took out a pair of handcuffs to cuff him, and then started searching him.

Farrelan watched helplessly as his wallet, notebook, and pen were taken out.

“No stones found.”

“Is that so? He might not have found them yet, let’s take him back and lock him up for now.”

The man put all his belongings into a cloth bag and then sealed it, “Now we are taking you back to the Magnificent Castle Detention Center. If you are not a member of the heretical cult, you should be released by tomorrow. As for your personal effects, they will also be returned upon release—provided you cooperate well, understand?”

“Wait, are you city police? What law did I break that I get arrested for just wandering in the wilderness?” Farrelan protested.

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“This is a forbidden area, no one is allowed near here. Warning signs have been set up, both on the northern and eastern roads and warning messages have been published in the newspapers—do you still pretend not to know? If you were truly unaware, why would you deliberately take a detour from the south, using this little-known hillside path?” the one holding him sneered.

Damn, he had been tricked by that sightseeing company!

Farrelan finally realized what was wrong. He also now understood what the other two passengers he hitched a ride with were up to… When the floating mine was shattered, chunks of rock flew everywhere, and those could have remnants of Glowing Stone veins on them! Those two passengers had come here specifically to pan for those stones!

The sightseeing company’s carriage hadn’t taken the main road at all, because Farrelan had just been picked up on a whim!

“I’m sorry, this is a misunderstanding! I have just come from the Old Continent and haven’t been at Magnificent Castle for long, I didn’t know your rules…”

“Is that so? Then we’ll have to check thoroughly whether you’re a member of the heretical cult,” the other said unmoved, “Don’t struggle futilely. If there’s no suspicion, the people at the detention center won’t make things difficult for you. Let’s go!”

…

“Did we catch five stone thieves again today?”

As the sun set, Chaoyang also finished listening to Xue Quan’s routine report. A month had passed since the explosion, and the illicit mining incidents had not ceased. The good news was, while initially tens of thousands of residents swarmed to the Huiqiu Mine, thanks to the encirclement and interception by the Holy Hall guards and the extensive coverage by the newspapers, that number had finally dropped to single digits.

It wasn’t that he begrudged the money made from selling the Glowing Stone Mine.

As the primary target for the Tsar Bomba bombing, the fragments from the mine were naturally contaminated with radioactive substances. Even though hydrogen bombs were “cleaner” than atomic bombs by quite a bit, their shockwaves still carried fission products from the nuclear blasts. If the Glowing Stone contaminated with radioactive material was taken home by ordinary people to be treasured, it was undeniably a ticking time bomb.

Not to mention that initially tens of thousands had the idea of going to the outskirts to “pan for gold” and strike it rich.

“Alright then, let’s stick to the old method. First, have Leisk check if there are any Heretical Cult members among them and then fine and release them,” Chaoyang shrugged helplessly, “For such matters in the future, there’s no need to report to me. You can handle it on your own.”

“If I were in charge, the initial penalties would definitely be more severe,” Xue Quan laughed, “It’s clear that Paradise, as represented by Mr. Zhao, is quite a lenient organization.”

Uh… the actual situation was slightly different from that statement, Chaoyang thought to himself. Ever since foiling the plot of the Causal Sect, he had noticed a significant increase in the amount of white light around the city. Now, not only did the Holy Hall nuns know about the existence of the Paradise Master, but even the octogenarian grandmothers on the northern outskirts of the city were aware of it. Although he had invested a great deal of wishing power in that battle, especially when copying the Ouroboros and the military off-road vehicle, using over ten thousand points, the spent amount had not only been fully recouped but there was also a surplus. He now held over one hundred thousand wishing power points, and it was still increasing at a rate of two to three thousand per day.

Translated into lifespan, that was roughly seven years.

Increasing the number of believers was surely a good thing, or rather, his substantial investment of wishing power and manpower against the Heretical Cult was done with the intention of not only protecting Magnificent Castle, his base, but also to expand the influence of Paradise. But with this came awkward situations; Chaoyang found that among those who stole from the mines and broke the law, there were still those with white threads above their heads.

In other words… despite their crimes, they could still be believers of Paradise.

Even when the Holy Hall guards were cracking down on the old city’s gangs, they found newly-made gold archway badges in their hideouts—the symbol commonly associated with the Master of Paradise.

This left Chaoyang in a difficult position.

An excess of wishing power was one thing, but giving harsh sentences to these “believers” who provided a trickle of wishing power every day? That seemed like too much of a waste.

In such a situation, he was forced to adopt the logic of modern law—punishment is meant to prevent crime, not punish the criminal. Unless someone had committed a serious crime, such as murder, arson, robbery, sexual assault, etc., they were unlikely to receive the death penalty.

The consequence was that the original police station cells were immediately overcrowded, and he had to move up the schedule for transforming the Black Steel Campground in the east suburbs.

However, to others, this approach appeared to be proof of the leniency of the Paradise Sect.

The wishing power he garnered had increased considerably after the new laws were enacted.

Therefore, facing Xue Quan’s “compliments,” Chaoyang decided not to respond, “What about the exploration team? Any new discoveries in the exploration of the alternate world?”

After the battle with the Causal Sect, he gained a deeper understanding of the power of the Evil Gods—they had merely torn a rift in the sky, without truly descending, and yet were able to cause immense influence on the world. The strategy of using the Tsar Bomba could only be employed once, and the historic altering effect of the divine artifacts made him realize that he should hasten the enhancement of Paradise’s own strength, rather than rely solely on the Ouroboros and past nuclear tests.

If there was one great advantage that Paradise had, it was undoubtedly the support of Earth.

The exploration team was established under such circumstances—due to both sides hitting it off well, the whole project progressed rapidly. In less than a week, the big names of the first pioneers were determined. Chaoyang even spent over ten days on Earth to shorten the time difference between the two places. Of course, he also took advantage of this interval to vet all the explorers thoroughly to ensure he had accurate control over the scientific direction of the exploration team.