Just a moment ago, Jermaine was posing as an Artificial God descending to deliver divine punishment to the Blasphemer. The next moment, he was hit hard in the face twice.

The massive impact left his brain temporarily blank, unable to process his emotions.

He sat dazedly on the main house roof, covering his face with his hand, incredulously staring at Wu Chang.

His eyes were full of shock, confusion, shame, and anger.

In another setting, if he had said, "You dare hit me, even my father has never hit me!" it wouldn't seem out of place.

Yet, with the nun's voluptuous figure combined with Jermaine's chiseled, angular features, it looked out of harmony.

It was a beauty transformed by a sweet baby.

It's a pity there's no Starlight Lighthouse agent like you.

He grabbed Jermaine's headgear and mocked, "You've only entered the nun's statue, you haven't been castrated into a pretty little boy. Show the aura of your iron-fisted Count."

Hearing Wu Chang's mockery, the resentment in Jermaine's eyes deepened.

He, or rather she, wanted to break free from Wu Chang's control, but missing the core Sin of Pride, Jermaine, though occupying the Fallen Holy Statue, couldn't wield its true power.

It might be enough to deal with Sword Star or the Negotiation Master, but for Wu Chang, who possessed 140 points of Power, it was insufficient.

Wu Chang could simply use one hand to press his forehead, pinning him on the rooftop, dissolving any offensive attempts.

Jermaine had never suffered such indignity and was ready to stake it all. He fully activated the black Light Wheel above his head, trying to forcibly use the Artificial God's power.

Facing the mysteriously glowing Light Wheel, a slight pain pricked Wu Chang's neck. Even the towering height of 15 meters couldn't give him enough sense of security.

His Inspiration told him that the Power Jermaine was accumulating posed a threat to him.

After all, he was a system-recognized Artificial God; even in its poorest form, ordinary Players couldn't ignore it.

So he launched his signature Skill before Jermaine could succeed.

"Man!"

An iron elbow, even wider than the face of the Fallen Holy Statue, slammed brutally onto Jermaine's face, instantly collapsing his distinct features.

Furthermore, various negative Statuses followed, rendering Jermaine powerless to retaliate.

Jermaine's defenses broke. With a caved-in face, he exclaimed in frustration:

"Was it Ebert who guessed my plan and secretly informed you?"

Wu Chang shook his head, "Ebert, that old man, thought a mere postman could disrupt the ritual before he died. How could he have discovered your plan?"

In Ebert's eyes, Jermaine was already dead from the townsfolk's backlash, leaving the Count's Manor masterless. As long as someone held the status of Town Councilor and could enter the Count's Manor, the ritual could be destroyed.

Jermaine was stunned. He had believed Ebert was the mastermind behind everything, ultimately outsmarting him in a close call; how could this backstabber just die like that?

This island full of fish-headed fools—who could have killed him?

"Ebert is dead? How did he die?"

With an unchanged expression, Wu Chang replied, "Old age, he fell and then died from illness."

The chief Alchemist of the Church died just like that?

Jermaine felt a sense of absurdity and immediately said, "I saw you resurrected the Saintess. If you're not with Ebert, you must be sent by the Church."

Wu Chang shook his head again, "The Item used to resurrect the Saintess did come from the Church, but those old relics can't command me."

"Then who on earth sent you!" Jermaine found this unacceptable.

He could accept losing to Ebert, could accept losing to the Church, but losing to an unknown nobody was unbearable.

Wu Chang shrugged and said, "Forget it, I'm just a passing postman."

Guessing Jermaine's plan wasn't difficult. The biggest flaw in Jermaine's entire plan was that he had lowered his own presence too much.

As the real controller of Briff, his death seemed too hasty.

To put it realistically, the townsfolk of Briff were like dogs raised by Jermaine. As a Dog Trainer, wouldn't he know if his own dogs bite people?

Could Pan Hong also corner Liu Liu at the wall, feeding it with kicks and Dragon Fruit?

If not, just look at Erin on the pyre.

Given Jermaine's understanding of the townsfolk, could he not guess that once they sobered up, unable to bear the torment of their own consciences, they would transfer their conflicts onto him?

Of course, he might have overly trusted in his own capabilities, believing his control over the townsfolk was thorough enough.

He could have also overly trusted Ebert, not considering that Ebert, who was in the same boat, would actually betray him.

While Jermaine indeed had a small chance of making such mistakes, the illusions appearing in the Count's Manor seemed too deliberate.

As if afraid others do not know he is already dead, instead worried he is hiding somewhere else.

Especially when Wu Chang saw two fleshy grievances, discovering the Faceless Nun is not immobile, but pretends to be dead after he arrives with the other six Proofs of Original Sin.

However, even if these are coincidences, Jermaine's plan has a major flaw.

That is his character setup.

In the scenario's plot, Jermaine's character is the Iron-Fisted Count, a control freak.

Facing such an important god-creating plan, he was too indulgent with Ebert, giving Ebert too much freedom.

The Starlight Lighthouse created by Ebert could directly penetrate the barrier of the Count's Manor and sneak inside;

After burning the Saintess, he did not directly control Ebert, but instead let Ebert stir trouble outside, enticing the townsfolk.

And combined with not attempting to counter the revolting townsfolk, but instead preaching before his death, it made his character setup collapse even more.

Combining many doubtful points, the most likely answer is that Jermaine did it intentionally.

His desire to control people allows him to easily see through human nature.

He saw through Ebert's true nature, knowing Ebert would cause trouble at the crucial moment, so he deliberately indulged him, even secretly helping him to ensure Ebert could successfully kill him.

The god-creating ceremony of Jermaine and Ebert was entirely different from the method used by the Church to create Erin.

When the Church created Erin, it desired to manufacture a perfect Saint by stripping away all negative emotions, using the Saint to control the Holy Marks, directly becoming an Artificial God.

Jermaine's god-creating approach was completely different; recognizing that the Seven Deadly Sins could not be eradicated, he simply reversed the ceremony, using the Seven Deadly Sins as the core to create an Evil God.

Precisely because of Ebert's cause, Erin's Seven Deadly Sins merged with the Holy Marks, using Erin's Seven Deadly Sins as a foundation, not only could they seize the power of the Holy Marks, but also create an Evil God.

Jermaine's purpose in deliberately letting Ebert kill him was to take advantage of geography and the townspeople's judgment to transform into the Proof of Arrogance.

When the Inner World formed by the Seven Deadly Sins completely loses control and the Seven Proofs of Original Sin mature, according to the plan, they are absorbed into the body of the Faceless Nun, achieving the Artificial God.

He could then use his most core identity as the Proof of Arrogance to possess the Fallen Holy Statue, transforming into the Artificial God.

Arrogance ranks first among the Seven Deadly Sins because its crimes are not only towards humans but also disrespectful to the gods.

Ebert's former professor said, gods are born gods, innately noble.

A desire to become a god oneself is the greatest disrespect to the gods.

Knowing that Jermaine is the core of the Artificial God is why Wu Chang hesitated to accept the hidden side quest.

Jermaine Count is black-hearted, ruthless, and strongly controlling; cooperating with him is equivalent to seeking skin with a tiger.

It's crucial to know the main quest one in the Peaceful Town is to survive on the island for thirty days.

And now is only the fourth day.

Jermaine as the resurrected Artificial God means he must live under Jermaine's rule for twenty-six days to complete the main quest one.

Even if he survives to get the hidden side quest reward, he may not survive to use it.

Even if Jermaine harbors no previous hatred and doesn't kill him immediately upon resurrection, what awaits Wu Chang is nothing more than feasting, beheading, or being kept like a dog.

He doesn't want to be a dog, at least not a dog of an old man mimic in the style of sweet baby.

"Player chooses to refuse accepting the hidden side quest, player's relationship with the Fallen Holy Statue changes to mortal enemies, the Fallen Holy Statue will use every means to seize the missing Proofs of Original Sin."

The rewards of the hidden side quest are indeed tempting, but I refuse.

"Do you have any last words?"

As Wu Chang refused the hidden side quest, Jermaine seemed to notice, and his eyes revealed resentment and unwillingness.

"No matter who sent you, after I die, the Church will definitely not let you go; I will wait for you down below!"

"Oh, then you might have to wait a long time."

Wu Chang dragged Jermaine Count down from the rooftop, raised the statue that had once smashed him, and fiercely stabbed it into the throat of the Fallen Holy Statue.

Jermaine Count's eyes widened, staring dead at him.

Wu Chang easily closed his eyelids, stop looking, it's disgustingly creepy.

With Jermaine Count's eyes closed, the Light Wheel at the top of the Fallen Holy Statue fell off like an iron ring, rolled forward, hit an obstacle, spun half a turn in place, and lay flat on the ground.

The obstacle the Light Wheel hit was Erin, who appeared unknown when.

Erin bent down to pick up the Light Wheel from the ground, breathed on it, used her clothes to wipe off the black, turning the Light Wheel back to gold.

Then she put it on her head with a backhand, sighing comfortably.

"How should I thank you, powerful mortal?"

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