Chapter 78

“Good evening, Bishop!”

Who on earth is trying to set me up?!

At this very moment, Mozell was gritting his teeth in frustration.

Staring at the furious crowd in front of him, he realized he was at a crucial crossroads that would determine his future.

It’s certain that tonight’s events would spread like wildfire throughout the city, no, even the southern provinces, reaching all the way to the Imperial Capital thousands of miles away.

If he couldn’t handle this crisis properly, he was truly finished.

Mozell’s legs felt a little shaky.

But after so many years of weathering storms, his composure was now far beyond that of an ordinary person.

So, even though his mind was chaotic, his face only showed slight stiffness without any sign of panic.

If he panicked, the situation would be utterly lost.

With that thought, Mozell took a deep breath.

Feeling the various gazes upon him, he suddenly shouted, “Silence!!!”

The reverberations of his voice filled the air, mixed with extraordinary power.

Having sensed that Bishop Mozell wasn’t displaying too much of a breakdown and still carried a hint of hope, the crowd exchanged glances and decided to listen to what he had to say.

The formerly noisy scene gradually quieted down.

Seeing this, Mozell felt a bit relieved.

“You all must be thinking, what a greedy guy Mozell is! With so much money, he must have pocketed the donations meant for the Lord. Am I right?”

“Is this how you all see me, as an untrustworthy character?”

Mozell said coldly.

Looking at the usually kind and gentle bishop now showing such a serious and furious demeanor, some of the faithful instinctively avoided his gaze, choosing to look elsewhere.

But could the charitable and caring Mozell really be a greedy and shady guy? Confusion arose in the hearts of many.

The crowd was so easy to deceive.

Under the authority of credible words, no matter how outrageous and unreasonable his actions were, he could easily justify himself.

After all, Mozell represented the Church of Heavenly Justice.

For these believers, the noticeable bishop was more tangible than that Lord of billions of stars from whom they had never witnessed a miracle, allowing them to feel something real.

They believed in the righteous God of the church but didn’t only believe in Him.

A massive church was composed of countless details and individuals.

As part of this whole, Mozell was someone the people of Orlen City trusted deep down.

This trust was also a means of sustaining their faith.

Looking at the silent crowd, Mozell let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

The hardest part was already behind him.

“Since you’re all curious why the Church of Heavenly Justice has never participated in the fundraising for the disabled soldiers, I’ll take this opportunity to respond.”

“The Lord once taught us to be good people doing good deeds, and we must not turn a blind eye to the suffering of others.”

“To follow His teachings, ever since we got the news, we’ve been pondering how we could help those soldiers who protect their homeland.”

“So, our silence these days isn’t due to indifference, but because we’ve been using all our connections to secretly raise funds.”

“As you can see,” Mozell pointed at the scattered coins on the ground, “all of this, along with what’s in the chests behind me, is for donation in the name of the Church of Heavenly Justice, not my personal property as you think.”

“Do you understand?”

Mozell said seriously, word by word.

This was, of course, a lie. If he actually donated all this money, he’d definitely not see the sun tomorrow.

This was merely a makeshift delay tactic.

In his view, the crowd was forgetful.

All he needed to do in the following days was to stir up some sensational news in Orlen City, easily diverting their discussions away from this issue.

“Oh, really?”

“That’s a million! More than all other churches combined!”

“Is there a part of that from my donation?”

“Truly worthy of the Church of Heavenly Justice!”

Watching the excited debates of the crowd, Mozell instinctively relaxed.

He thought he had barely passed this hurdle.

But unexpectedly, the next moment, a discordant voice suddenly came from outside the crowd.

“Oh? So, Bishop, you mean all those gold coins behind you are meant for the donation to the Empire’s disabled soldiers?” The voice’s owner said while parting the crowd, “If so, then I’ll take this opportunity to thank you and the Church on behalf of the Duke!”

As soon as Mozell heard this voice, he felt goosebumps all over.

It’s that lunatic! He instinctively looked up to see a handsome young man in a coat, with black hair and blue eyes, striding towards him surrounded by several guards.

“I knew it was you.”

Thinking back to their first encounter at the charity banquet a few days ago, Mozell clenched his teeth.

It was this little maniac who shot the heir of the Mosgra Family on the spot, leading him to get severely reprimanded by the second prince.

He hadn’t expected that this incident also had his shadow behind it.

No, maybe after that night, he and the third princess had already roped in Duke Tilius to plan that fundraising event.

So, this is an enemy to the end! A cold murderous intent flashed in Mozell’s eyes.

“Good evening, Bishop.”

Lynn’s expression was calm.

Then as if recalling something, he took out a gun from his pocket and fired a shot into the sky.

“Everyone, go back to your homes! Can’t you see the bishop is busy handling matters? What a lack of insight!”

Watching these foolish people easily swayed by the words of the powerful, Lynn said impatiently.

After a moment of chaos, people fled in panic.

“Alright.” Lynn felt the noise around him was quieter now and his expression returned to normal. “Now that the crowd has dispersed and the fire’s calmed down, shall we discuss the donation matter?”

“You were waiting for me here?!”

Mozell glared at Lynn with a darkened expression.

At this moment, how could he not guess that tonight’s events were all set up by this kid?! First, sowing seeds of dissatisfaction and doubt in the believers’ hearts, then meticulously orchestrating this fire, exposing his hidden tax revenue.

Finally, before the believers, detonating the seeds in their hearts.

What a cunning and shameless plan!!! Lynn shrugged, “Don’t answer a question with a question, Bishop.”

Upon hearing this, Bishop Mozell revealed a cold smile, “Do you think you’ve got me figured out? Do you think you can use public opinion to pressure the Church and roast me over a fire?”

“We’ll see, little brat of the Bartleyon Family!”

With that, he turned to leave.

But another light remark stopped him.

“If I’m not mistaken, the second prince should be arriving soon.”