The next day, in the afternoon…
The sun was up, darkness and evil had receded, and light had returned to Earth.
The Strigoi, which had ravaged all night, all retreated to the sewers or other dark spaces and narrow corners.
They either licked their wounds or reminisced about the aftertaste of last night's hunting, waiting for the next night to fall.
Chen Gou left the jewelry shop where he had huddled for the night and arrived at a checkpoint at the border of Red Hook and Manhattan.
Due to the fall of Red Hook, the New York Security Council had sealed off and isolated the entire place. Anyone who wanted to leave had to go through a rigorous screening process.
The screening process was not complicated, and the results were available within seconds.
All it took was scanning the skin with a medical ultraviolet lamp. If there were no wiggling worm marks, one had not gotten infected.
Otherwise, one would be captured on the spot and get isolated or even destroyed.
Chen Gou soon passed through the checkpoint successfully.
Compared to Red Hook, Manhattan, which was still under human control, was significantly more prosperous.
Wealthy people were still leading a life of debauchery.
It seemed that all humans had one thing in common: They would not realize their folly until the worst happened.
Chen Gou, who had been asking around along the way, soon arrived at St. Benedict's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Of course, he didn't remember the church's name. Even though there were many churches in Manhattan, this was the only one where a cardinal presided.
Cardinal Paul knew the whereabouts of the Fallen Light.
St. Benedict's Cathedral had been built in the 19th Century with 1.5 square miles of neo-gothic architecture, just like a castle. It could be seen that the cardinal was doing well.
Chen Gou walked in and handed a golden ring, which he had plundered the previous night at the jewelry shop, directly to the priest in charge of reception before he asked to see the cardinal.
This proved that money could give one access anywhere.
Since this proved useful, Chen Gou secretly named it Chen's First Law.
Chen Gou was soon led into the cardinal's study and saw the cardinal, who was wearing a red hat and a black robe with a long red fascia around his waist.
The cardinal looked up from the desk at young Chen Gou, lowered his head, and started writing. "Kid, if you want to repent, start now. I only have five minutes for you."
"If repentance is useful, why is it that the evil spirits ravage the place outside without the holy light of God?" Chen Gou said with a smile as he casually sat down on the chair across him.
English was the official language of the Church of the Covenant in the Blue Wave World, so Chen Gou had no problem communicating with the cardinal.
The cardinal looked up again. This time, he said while gazing at him, "It seems that you're not here to repent. Tell me why you're really here."
"I need the Fallen Light." Chen Gou's fingers tapped lightly on the smooth redwood table.
"The Fallen Light is an extremely precious cultural relic. With all due respect, you don't seem to have enough funds to acquire it," the cardinal said with his lips pursed as he glanced at Chen Gou.
"May I ask how much would be enough, Your Eminence?"
"Five million US dollars' worth of gold."
Chen Gou replied with a slight smile, "I have something more precious than that."
"Such as?"
"You'll be following God's orders and using the Fallen Light to destroy the vampires out there."
"I have not received such an order from God… Please leave, sir. The mayor has invited me to speak at a charity dinner tonight, so I have a speech to write."
The cardinal told him to leave, as they were not seeing eye to eye.
Chen Gou got up to leave, but he suddenly turned around at the door and asked, "Your Eminence, do you still revere God?"
The cardinal's expression turned ugly, and he did not answer the question.
Chen Gou, who didn't expect an answer from him either, just left.
Did he have five million US dollars' worth of gold?
He did not.
Hence, Chen Gou was either going to rob a safe or the cardinal.
However, he didn't want to choose either of those options.
Why would he commit robbery?
That was only something uncouth people would do.
Crime was an art, especially when it was legal.
He wanted to make this sanctimonious priest present the Fallen Light himself!
Chen Gou spent the day at a coffee shop.
When night fell, the cardinal left the church in a car to attend the charity party hosted by the mayor.
In the dead of the night, Chen Gou climbed over the wall and snuck in through the back door of the church.
He had brought a present for the cardinal—a bloodworm in a sealed glass bottle.
It was something that he had specially brought over from Red Hook. He placed it in the storage space and passed through the checkpoint successfully without anyone finding out.
Right from the start, Chen Gou had expected that the cardinal wouldn't cooperate with him.
There were no professional security guards, so the church's defense was really lax. They only had one watchman on night duty.
Given Chen Gou's attributes, he did not need much effort to lure the watchman away by throwing a stone and feel his way into the inner parts of the church.
He found a priest who had fallen asleep on another desk in the cardinal's study on the second floor.
He was the one who had collected money from him during the day before agreeing to let him meet the cardinal.
Chen Gou let the bloodworm out of the glass bottle, and it landed on the back of the priest's hand.
Upon sensing the blood flowing under the skin, the bloodworm recovered from its weak state, wiggled happily, and burrowed into the skin…
Being parasitized by a bloodworm would cause the body to metamorphose until one became a Strigoi.
The process could be long or short depending on the individual, but it usually took place within a week.
Chen Gou secretly kept an eye on the priest every day.
He found out that from the third day onward, the priest no longer showed up, using illness as an excuse to stay behind closed doors.
He was obviously aware that he might have been infected. After all, there were daily reports in the newspapers and on television, so he would know once he compared his symptoms.
However, he didn't dare disclose it or seek help from others.
He knew very well what happened to infected people once they were discovered.
He would rather hide in his room, pray, and repent to God than get locked up for being a monster.
He would be tied to a bed while all sorts of medical instruments were inserted in his body and he would become a test subject until he was dissected upon losing his research value…
Why had Chen Gou chosen this priest among the many people in the church?
It was very simple! He had to work to pay off the money he had taken!
Three days later, Cardinal Paul was praying at night under a crucifixion statue of Jesus in the church.
All of a sudden, a newly-ordained young priest limped over and ran out of the side door in a panic.
"Your Eminence, things are bad. Father Ino is… is…"
"What's wrong with him? Has he recovered from his illness?" the cardinal asked as he reassured him.
The skinny, young priest swallowed and replied, "No, he… he has been infected. He just killed Nonant with his disgusting tongue…"
The cardinal widened his eyes. "That's impossible. Ino has never been to the infected area. How did he get infected…"
He stopped before he could finish his words, as Father Ino, who had become a Strigoi, emerged from the side door and pounced over with fierce staggering footsteps.
"What do we do, Your Eminence? Ino has gone mad!"
The young priest wanted to escape but couldn't do so in time. He had injured his leg by falling while escaping just now, so he was not retreating as fast as the older cardinal.
The long, thick tongue of a Strigoi shot out of Father Ino. It pierced his throat like lightning and stung its way in, causing the young priest to collapse helplessly while his eyes rolled back.
"Lord, save us! We're dead! Lord, save us…"
The only thing that the weak cardinal could do in a critical situation was turn to the statue of Jesus and pray.
It was what he specialized in and the only thing he had learned in his life.
While he prayed, he had already lost hope.
After decades of serving in the church, he had never seen a miracle of God despite revering Him.
This was only a desperate cry for help.
However, the Lord had really appeared!
"Sinner, are you still entitled to the Lord's forgiveness and salvation for what you have done in the past?"
A dignified, hoarse voice came from behind the statue of Jesus.