Accompanied by sunlight, gently descending into the depths of the forest,
With a wave of his hand, he invoked the Sumeru Mustard Seed and lightly placed Riberi Garcia, along with the young boys and girls kept as "playthings" by Edmond, on a clearing in the forest.
With an exaggerated poker-patterned coat, Riberi Garcia tilted his curved mustache upward. Before Roy could react, he directly prostrated himself at Roy's feet, exclaiming, "Great being above, Riberi Garcia pays respects to Your Eminence, eager to devoutly listen to your teachings!"
[Reminder: Detecting "Pending Follower" status]
[Name: Riberi Garcia]
[A man influenced by prophecy, led by fate, glimpsed your magnificence, converted with devotion, awaiting official admission]
Roy pulled himself out of his thoughts just in time, casting a cool glance at Riberi Garcia and said, "You used to loathe the 'Divine', and now... what are you doing?"
Has a blasphemer truly "corrected past wrongs"? Stubborn in youth, obstinate in adulthood, ingrained worldview by middle age, characteristic hard to change. Roy did not believe... that merely shocking with his presence could easily subdue a man well-versed in "human nature", who had survived over twenty years of Church pursuit... even with the panel's guarantee.
Riberi Garcia lay on the ground, lifted his head to meet Roy's gaze without flinching, and instead, with a piercing look, asked him, "Will you become a ' God'?"
Roy was taken aback by the question.
He gently stroked the back of his left hand, feeling his life pass by with each "tick-tock" of time, slowly and resolutely shaking his head, "Rather than becoming a 'God', I hope to be a guide who doesn't forget his original intention."
Seizing... plundering... setting rules... shaping privileges... deliberately solidifying classes, disregarding the life and death of the lower classes... This journey, just a brief visit to the 'slum', made Roy abandon the idea of becoming a 'God', and he candidly said to Riberi Garcia, "I won't forsake power, nor can I assure those who believe in me, respect me, love me, that I won't ever change, but there is one thing,"
The young man shed the 'Fraud' and withdrew from Andrew Cooper's guise, returning to his true appearance... then,
A lustrous silver hair swayed into Riberi Garcia's line of sight, stunning him into a pause, continuing to listen to Roy's quiet voice, "I will always remember who I am... and where I came from...."
"Whoosh~" A gust of wind kicked up, rustling the leaves....
Sunlight streamed from the canopy, casting dappled light through the treetops, cloaking the young man in a solar cape, reflecting in Riberi Garcia's pupils, entrancing him, seeming to pull him back to the moment of prophecy, where he gazed in awe at the man seated upon the orbital sun, struck speechless, mesmerizing....
"That's precisely why," Riberi Garcia collected himself, seriously saying to Roy, "fate led me to encounter you."
The man finished speaking, patting his chest, provoking his injuries, coughing up a mouthful of blood, affirming resolutely, "Riberi Garcia, devoutly listening to Your Eminence's teachings, unwavering unto death."
"Bang~" He bent over, bowing his head,
With his nose touching the ground,
A wisp of dust was stirred....
Panel prompt.... [Prompt... Detecting "Pending Follower" Riberi Garcia [Absolute Loyalty] trustworthy...]
Roy looked down, a complex expression on his face as he watched him, silent for a moment, extending his hand to manifest the 'Eclipse', lightly tapping each of Riberi Garcia's shoulders: "You rebelled against the Church out of inability to tolerate its filth, the absurdity of aristocrats, indicating your conscience still exists, never forgetting the basic qualities a 'Human' should possess."
"Riberi Garcia,"
"Your Eminence, I am here."
Roy raised his voice at the right moment, finally lightly tapping his forehead, saying, "Praise the sun... may you never forget your original intent, always remember this."
"Praise the sun!" Riberi Garcia clapped his hands devoutly, then... as Roy removed the Light Saber from his forehead, a stream of information wrapped in Nen transformed into a trickle, flowing gently into his mind....
[Gift]... [Fraud].....
Note: 'Nen Form Change' gathers practical techniques, capable of pre-meditating transformations in the mind, using Nen for 'disguise' and 'transformation', combining 'reality' and 'deception', to achieve the effect of deceiving the naked eye. (For those with deep understanding of Nen, it can even fool the perception of 'En', achieving a state of make-believe.)
The information stream unraveled... in a haze, Riberi Garcia felt he grasped something, spirit trembled, murmuring to himself in his heart, "Is this... 'Blessing'?!"
The man cautiously glanced at Roy, only to see the young man cross his hands behind him, looking at the dozens of young boys and girls still asleep, calmly saying, "The Lord Knight of Bandle City doesn't regard people as people, I also intend... henceforth, I have no reason to regard them as people."
"Riberi Garcia, I need information, even more so an intelligence officer,"
Roy turned his head to the man again, "Can you?"
"Praise the sun, my lord, Riberi Garcia is willing to follow your teachings!" Suppressing his inner excitement, Riberi Garcia straightened up again, solemnly said, "Once I can control the side effects brought by the 'Blessing', I will depart for Bandle City to investigate for my lord."
Side effects?
'Must mean the 'natural' backlash due to gaining "Faith"....' Roy emotionlessly eyed Riberi Garcia, suddenly recalling those outrageous, frenzied, disgraceful scenes seen in the courtyard of Edmond Sand's villa, all from those who have lost themselves to "power".
Indifferently said: "My 'Blessing' has no side effects."
"Moreover, a true 'Blessing' should elevate human potential to the limit, like 'Initial Embrace', akin to my own with Wutong, Muzan's with Moon Demons in the past, belonging to a higher level of deep binding." Roy silently added another thought in his head as he ended the sentence.
Next, he immediately felt that the surroundings seemed to quiet down in an instant... leaving just Riberi Garcia left speechless in shock,
The man was stunned for a long while, then with utter bewilderment, widened his eyes at Roy, blurting out, "Why?"
"Because nothing can stop the sun from rising at its time, regardless of the filthy dark, or the radiant grand," Roy reached out to pinch a ray of sunlight, played with it in his palm, and slowly said, "That is the reason."
Riberi Garcia: "...."
Suddenly shivered,
Remembering the solar chariot, the grand gilded bird, the great solar wheel behind Roy on the chariot....
Head lowered, devoutly said: "Praise the sun, I have been narrow-minded."
Riberi Garcia lifted his head again, solemnly promised, "Obey Your Eminence's command, I shall depart for Bandle City immediately."
"No rush,"
"Wait until you have healed." Roy made a subtle glance at Riberi Garcia, indeed, charlatans are as skilled as they come, truly as tough as nails... previously his soul nearly flew away, almost died, now in just half a day's time he's back to consciousness,
Red brilliance swirled in Roy's eyes as he quietly summoned the 'Eye of Truth' to see through falsehood and reality, silently memorizing the other's attributes.
[Riberi Garcia]
[Constitution: 1354]
[Visible Nen Amount: C+ (52,000/100,000)]
[Potential Nen Amount: B- (410,000/1,000,000)]
[Rating: C+]
[Remark: Elite Ant Master General Level, reference the invading scorpion ant Kazan from Meteor Street]
Not inferior to the peak of Feitan and Uvogin,
Handicapped by a non-combat system, such as 'Enhancement' or 'Transformation', otherwise, could be even stronger...