Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 262 – This Thing Has a Bit of Flavor

The next morning, as the sky began to show the first light of dawn.

“Ruyan, wake up!”

Sha Zhi’s voice was brimming with excitement, as if she were running on pure adrenaline. “The sun is out! The glory of Amaterasu is about to shine upon us!”

Lin Fan rolled his eyes under the covers and slowly sat up.

“Coming, coming… Sister Sha Zhi, where are we going?”

“The atrium!” Sha Zhi urged as she straightened her somewhat wrinkled linen robe. “If we’re late, we won’t get a spot in the front row. That would be a great disrespect to the Divine Envoy!”

Lin Fan slipped on the loose-fitting robe and followed Sha Zhi out of the dormitory at a brisk pace.

The air circulation in the underground space was poor, and the morning was filled with an indescribable damp smell.

But the people around seemed oblivious to it, their faces solemn and their steps hurried, like a group of pre-programmed robots.

After passing through several corridors, the view suddenly opened up.

This place should have originally been a shopping mall’s atrium plaza, but it had now been converted into a huge chapel.

At this moment, the plaza was already packed with people.

A quick glance revealed no fewer than two hundred.

What sent a chill down Lin Fan’s spine wasn’t the number of people, but the eerie silence.

Over two hundred people were kneeling on the cold concrete floor. There was no whispering, no coughing; even their breathing was deliberately suppressed.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the empty high platform in the center, the fanaticism in their gazes almost materializing and gushing out.

“Bow your head, quickly,” Sha Zhi whispered, pulling Lin Fan to a spot in the third row. “Don’t look up until the Divine Envoy arrives.”

Lin Fan obediently lowered his head and scanned the entire area with his Mental Strength.

At the same time, he was mentally evaluating the quality of this group.

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“They follow orders without question and are highly disciplined. Even the Federation’s elite troops would find it difficult to achieve this level of discipline in a non-combat state,” Lin Fan mused, his eyes downcast. “What a pity. They’ve all lost their minds.”

Just then, the sunlight from the dome seemed to shift, perfectly illuminating the entire high platform.

The ethereal sound of a wind chime rang out from an unknown source.

“We respectfully welcome the Divine Envoy!” a burly man in the front row suddenly shouted, his voice hoarse and fanatical.

“We respectfully welcome the Divine Envoy—”

The voices of more than two hundred people converged into a sound wave that echoed through the enclosed space, making one’s eardrums buzz.

A figure slowly walked out from the light.

It was a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, dressed in a well-tailored white religious robe that perfectly accentuated her mature, voluptuous figure.

Her hair was pinned up, adorned with two golden hairpins that swayed gently as she walked, reflecting a dazzling light.

A level-five Evolved being.

Lin Fan’s Mental Strength silently probed her.

The woman’s aura was stable; she was indeed a genuine level-five.

“Is her energy field resonating with the people below?” Lin Fan keenly noticed something unusual.

The woman’s Mental Strength was like a net, covering every single believer.

With every shout from the believers, her aura seemed to grow slightly stronger.

“The power of faith? Interesting.” Lin Fan licked his lips. This was a rare specimen.

On the high platform, the Divine Envoy, Jiateng Hezi, raised her hand slightly, her movement exquisitely graceful.

The sound wave from below instantly ceased.

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“My lost children.”

Her voice, amplified by her Mental Strength, spread throughout the hall. It carried a unique magnetism, gentle yet filled with an unquestionable authority. “Last night, I saw Amaterasu in my dreams. The great god told me that the darkness will eventually pass, and only the devout will be reborn on that golden shore.”

A wave of suppressed sobs rose from the crowd, as if these few platitudes had touched the deepest part of their souls.

Lin Fan felt himself getting drowsy just listening.

In peaceful times, a speech of this caliber would be on par with someone selling health supplements, but in this desperate apocalypse, it was the best spiritual opium.

After a ten-minute-long brainwashing speech, the main event finally arrived.

“In view of everyone’s piety and dedication in recent days, the great god has bestowed a grace.”

Jiateng Hezi waved her hand, and two maids in white robes walked up carrying trays.

On the trays, twenty small, transparent glass vials were neatly arranged.

The vials contained about 20 milliliters of a pale yellow liquid, which glowed with a warm, amber luster under the sunlight.

“Holy Water!”

Beside him, Sha Zhi’s breathing instantly became heavy. Her nails dug into her palms, and the desire in her eyes was about to overflow.

Lin Fan narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through his peach-blossom eyes. His Mental Strength instantly transformed into an extremely fine probe and pierced into one of the glass vials.

“Hmm?”

Lin Fan was slightly taken aback.

The composition of this liquid… was very complex.

It lacked the violent, radioactive energy of Crystals. Instead, it contained a gentle Spirit Energy that had been purified and filtered.

It also contained some kind of highly active biological enzyme. This enzyme seemed to act as a “key” that, when combined with Spirit Energy, could unlock the limiting barriers of the human body.

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“No wonder ordinary people can drink it too.”

Lin Fan was secretly alarmed, and the way he looked at the woman on the stage changed.

If he could figure out the principle behind this transformation, wouldn’t that mean Evolved beings could be mass-produced?

This was far safer than painstakingly hunting for Crystals!

“But this color… why does it look more and more off the longer I look at it?” Lin Fan muttered to himself. “And there’s a faint… smell of piss?”

At this moment, Jiateng Hezi had begun to call out names.

“Tanaka Ichiro, for hunting three level-two Zombies and scavenging five hundred pounds of supplies last week, you are granted one vial of Holy Water.”

“Inoue Miko, for recruiting three new members and for your pious prayers, you are granted one vial of Holy Water.”

…

Every person whose name was called looked as if they had won the lottery. They scrambled onto the stage, knelt at Jiateng Hezi’s feet, and received the small glass vial with trembling hands.

Someone couldn’t wait and immediately uncorked the vial on the spot, tilting their head back and downing it.

“Ah—”

A few seconds later, the person let out a groan of pleasure. Their skin began to glow red, and their aura, which had been stuck at the peak of level one, actually broke through!

“Praise the great god! I broke through! I’m level two!” The person wept profusely, kowtowing frantically to Jiateng Hezi.

The eyes of the crowd below grew even more fanatical.

Soon, all twenty vials of Holy Water had been distributed.

Those in the crowd who didn’t receive any looked disappointed, their eyes dim.

Jiateng Hezi scanned the crowd, her gaze finally landing on the third row.

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“Sha Zhi.”

Sha Zhi, whose name had been called, trembled all over and shot her head up, her face filled with disbelief.

“And… the child who just arrived yesterday, Liu Ruyan.”

Jiateng Hezi’s charming eyes locked onto Lin Fan, a meaningful smile playing on her lips. “You two, come with me.”

The entire hall was in an uproar.

Countless gazes of envy, jealousy, and even resentment instantly focused on the two of them.

“A private audience?”

“Heavens, that’s the highest form of grace!”

“Why? Sha Zhi, maybe, but why the newcomer?”

The buzzing of discussions filled the air.

Sha Zhi was so excited she was about to faint. She grabbed Lin Fan’s hand, her voice trembling. “Ruyan! Did you hear that! The Divine Envoy called for us! We’re going to receive high-purity Holy Water!”

Lin Fan put on a timely expression of a flattered yet bewildered little bunny, lowering his head timidly. “S-Sister Sha Zhi, I’m a little scared.”

“What’s there to be scared of! This is a grace!”

Sha Zhi pulled the “weak-kneed” Lin Fan to his feet, and under the complex gazes of the crowd, they walked towards the passage at the side of the high platform.

Jiateng Hezi had already turned and left, leaving only the sight of her swaying, graceful back.

Lin Fan followed behind, his downcast eyes deep in thought.

High-purity?

If the regular version is diluted, then the so-called high-purity version… couldn’t be the original concentrate, could it?