Honkai Simulator: Start with Confessing to The Herrscher of Finality

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Europe needs bread.

This was a widely shared belief.

Whether it be white bread or dark, coarse rye bread, Europeans required vast quantities of bread.

No one understood why, despite everyone having sheep, there was no lamb to eat, and although all could cultivate land, there was scarce bread available. The Destiny Church plundered people's last remnants of wealth, demanding only the pitifully laughable price of blind faith.

Xia Chen silently observed as more and more individuals succumbed to the Black Death.

He once overheard a nun ask another clergy member, "If we continue like this, what happens when everyone dies?"

The clergy member responded with surprise, "How could they all die? Human life is akin to insects—fragile yet remarkably resilient."

This encapsulated the Church's attitude towards human life during that era.

Human lives were indeed delicate but surprisingly tenacious. Thus, the Church exploited them relentlessly.

In those times, Schicksal had an ambitious goal: to make the entire world bow down at their feet. To achieve this, they spared no effort, even preparing for military campaigns amidst the ravages of the Black Death.

Xia Chen's duty, on the other hand, was straightforward—to 'sell' pardon slips.

For those heretics unwilling to purchase pardon slips, they would impose cruel divine punishments.

Xia Chen, however, would not follow suit.

After receiving the pardon slip from the church, he simply set it aside. As for the money collected, his response was straightforward: "The areas I covered had already been approached by others before me. They said they could trade rat meat for the slips, but I found it disgusting and refused."

The people here were so impoverished that there was hardly anything left to exploit, making their return fruitless understandable.

In fact, Xia Chen wasn't alone; several others also complained about the poor being drained dry and suggested selling pardon slips to the wealthy instead.

Yet no one dared to do so.

Schicksal's stability stemmed from the presence of wealthy individuals' offspring holding clerical positions within the Church itself.

Just like how even if cancer cells grow rapidly, they perish once the person dies, Schicksal at this time failed to grasp this principle. Instead, they insisted on draining every resource, akin to fishing until the well runs dry.

On his first night here, Xia Chen fell asleep amidst countless wails and cries of despair.

The city's nights felt like a procession of ghosts under the cover of darkness.

The Black Death continued its rampage.

In this era, the concept of quarantine did not yet exist, but the wealthy had already become conscious of avoiding public activities.

Small merchants were going bankrupt and, to survive, were compelled to seek loans from Church officials. Unquestionably, their only viable collateral was their property.

If that wasn't enough, then it came down to pledging their wives and children.

During these times, humans themselves served as collateral, with prices openly set by the Church.

"What a truly nauseating world."

As Xia Chen delved deeper into understanding this age, he increasingly felt physically sickened.

People of the Medieval Times could not fathom the savagery of primitive societies, just as modern individuals struggle to comprehend the cold-heartedness of medieval folk. This hellish scene even made him yearn for Honkai to swiftly end everything.

Once again today, he was assigned to sell pardon slips.

Due to his failure yesterday, the task's burden on him grew heavier.

These so-called pardon slips were merely made from low-quality bamboo paper. Xia Chen naturally found selling them tedious, but the incessant clamor within the Church forced him to venture outside.

This time, he once more caught the enticing aroma of steamed meat buns.

Kallen was well-prepared; her cart behind her overflowed with white flour meat buns, and more helpers stood nearby to distribute food to these impoverished people.

Like rats or cockroaches drawn to sustenance, they gathered eagerly upon spotting the food.

Xia Chen paused, watching as the large cart filled with buns rapidly emptied.

Yet, it seemed the hunger only intensified among them.

"Please... Please..."

"I haven't had any yet!"

"Just one more..."

The crowd wept and wailed. Strangely, despite their frail appearance, even Kallen, from the powerful Kaslana family, found herself instinctively stepping back. It wasn't fear of them but rather fear of herself, unable to change their dire circumstances.

Not far away, another clergyman approached Xia Chen, sneering as he criticized Kallen, "What's the point? The money scraped from these paupers will still end up partly with the House Kaslana. If she truly means it, why not refuse a single penny?"

Those who are despicable often seek to drag virtuous individuals down into their mire. If unable to corrupt them, they resort to mockery and cynicism.

In this already tainted world, how dare someone claim such nobility?

Xia Chen remained silent.

In this era, doing good was incredibly difficult, while evil deeds came easily. Surprisingly, it was the virtuous who were considered anomalies; everyone else seemed content to be complicit in corruption.

As more people gathered around Kallen, guards from House Kaslana also drew their weapons, aiming them at the crowd.

Kallen took a deep breath, seemingly making a commitment with no way to retreat.

With a slight sigh, Xia Chen once again manipulated the fluid, using a hurricane to disperse the crowd as he had done yesterday.

The ignorant naturally fled upon seeing the hurricane, and even members of the Kaslana family urged Kallen to leave.

When the storm subsided, the streets became nearly empty.

Shaking his head, Xia Chen departed.

Later that day, he heard from others about Kallen's dispute with the Schicksal Bishop, which led to the patriarch of House Kaslana confining her at home.

Consequently, there was no bread the next morning.

People waited anxiously, only to receive coarse black bread made from bran by the Kaslanas, nothing else.

They cursed, blamed, and mourned.

They yearned for salvation.

Suddenly, Xia Chen realized the true terror of this 'Honkai' event.

Despite the absence of Herrschers or Honkai Beasts, a single plague was enough to unleash the darkest aspects of human nature. It's hard to imagine that just a few centuries later, human civilization would shine brilliantly like a precious pearl.

This era was truly a time devoid of hope.

The suppressed madness and despair could easily give birth to a new and terrifying Herrscher.

How will this crisis conclude? Will the Black Death be eradicated? Or will people find salvation?

Xia Chen didn't know.

Standing within the church, he listened to the priest's prayers. The gods, though not genuinely believed in, served as powerful tools. The more devout these people were, the more nauseating it felt.

Suddenly, he spotted someone familiar.

Schicksal's bishop had arrived with his two sons at the church. Otto, who once seemed to control everything, now appeared merely frail and even somewhat timid.

The Church's priest bowed deeply to the Schicksal Bishop, showing reverence perhaps even greater than towards divine beings themselves.

As Xia Chen observed Otto, the boy seemed to sense something and turned to look in his direction.

Fortunately, the bird-beak mask concealed his face, although it wouldn't have mattered much if recognized.