"Hmph! What a load of rubbish about purification tasks! You're nothing but a bunch of lowly thieves here to steal resources!" Guardian Uryll protested. Heinrich, accustomed to such remarks, paid no heed to Uryll's curses and continued with his explanation.
Heinrich explained that Purifiers, due to their tasks, needed to live long-term in the Dark Link planes. Therefore, the Spiritual Realm had to regularly supply them with divine energy not only for their purification tasks but also to sustain their existence in these planes. Only with these specially crafted energy supplies could the Purifiers strengthen their divine bodies and withstand the hostile energies from the Sea of Gestation.
"But why do we feel perfectly fine operating in the Dark Link planes even without these special energy supplies?" Dream Jia asked in confusion.
"That's because the Purifiers have nearly completed their purification work on Earth NX, so it's effectively under the control of the Spiritual Realm. Hence, Earth NX also benefits from the protection of the Spiritual Realm, and you wouldn't feel discomfort there," Heinrich replied.
"If that's the case, why is our system still disconnected from the Spiritual Realm?" Dream Jia queried further.
"That's because Earth NX hasn't fully integrated into the Spiritual Realm and is still within the Dark Link planes. When Purifiers perform purification tasks on Earth NX, they can only establish contact with the command center in the Sea of Gestation through a series of complex operations," Heinrich continued.
"Are you referring to unlocking the door to the West Bow command center by deciphering the code?" Haoyun asked.
"Exactly. In fact, the lighthouses on Earth NX were created by the command center of Purification Squad P1557. Due to the limitations of the Dark Link planes, these lighthouses serve as our bases and the only means of communication between Purifiers carrying out missions on Earth NX. We use each activation of the lighthouse to exchange information or items. Simultaneously, Purifiers on Earth NX record the energy fluctuations each time the lighthouse is activated. From these, they decipher the anchor points that detach Earth NX from the Dark Link planes, thereby accelerating the process of weakening Earth NX's energies and enhancing the efficiency of purification," Heinrich explained seriously.
"To hasten your theft of Earth NX," Uryll interjected indignantly.
"Therefore, the so-called task of unlocking the encryption isn't just about opening the door to the West Bow command center. Elina's true objective is to accelerate Earth NX's detachment from the Dark Link planes?" Haoyun questioned.
"Exactly. Hmph, the humans on Earth NX are truly naive! Elina and her team simply fabricated a story, and the humans there bought it. But that's understandable. When a human world faces devastating invasion and has no means to defend itself, these saviors appearing like heroes naturally become their last hope. So, as long as Elina ensures that the West Bow people fully cooperate with her and embellishes her own origin story a bit, she can effortlessly gain unconditional trust from the humans! Sigh! It just goes to show, desperate times call for desperate measures. These pitiful humans, even until their demise, won't realize they've been firmly held in our grip since the very beginning!" Heinrich scoffed mockingly.
"Hmph! As a priest of the Spiritual Realm, aren't you ashamed of such despicable behavior?" Dao Lao questioned sternly.
Heinrich shrugged helplessly and said, "Well, even if I feel ashamed, what difference does it make? Let me tell you this! Whether it's the endlessly spawning soldiers or the bizarre method of randomly creating so-called Caucasian people to help replenish the human population reasonably, all these illogical yet practical occurrences are effective ways for us to consume Earth NX's energy. In short, as long as it helps weaken Earth NX and accelerate its detachment from the Dark Link planes, Purifiers will try it without hesitation."
As Heinrich spoke about purification tasks, his skeletal face still managed to display pride and arrogance, demonstrating his unwavering belief that his actions were justified. This attitude caused Haoyun and Dream Jia's blood pressure to skyrocket once again. They launched into their customary critique of the Purifiers based on their moral beliefs. Dao Lao watched them debate with Heinrich, shaking his head with a bitter smile. He knew that despite both being priests, their ideological differences were irreconcilable. In this situation, Purifiers like Heinrich would never acknowledge their mistakes and would continue on their misguided path.
Therefore, Dao Lao felt that continuing to argue with Heinrich was pointless. He gestured for both sides to cease their argument and changed the subject, asking, "Heinrich, from what you're saying, the Spiritual Realm places strict demands on your completion time for purification tasks?"
"Exactly. As the lower worlds approach destruction, the links between them and their timelines become incredibly fragile, which also facilitates our work of transplanting the new world. Therefore, we must accurately control the time during the preparatory phase and strictly follow the schedule provided by the Spiritual Realm to ensure both worlds prepare for replacement simultaneously and guarantee smooth completion of the replacement work," Heinrich replied promptly. In truth, he had long grown weary of arguing over Purifiers, knowing full well that his arguments were indefensible and thus feeling somewhat uneasy about it.
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Master Gu continued his inquiry, 'What happens if you fail to complete the purification task on time?'
Heinrich replied with a hint of fear, 'If we fail to complete the task on time, we will certainly face punishment from the Divine Realm.'
Heinrich then added with an envious tone, 'For you surface system officials, if you fail to complete tasks on time, the worst punishment might be a demotion or transfer to remote areas as laborers. Comparatively, your treatment is much better than ours!'
Heinrich pursed his lips and went on, 'If we fail to complete the purification task on time, it will inevitably cause immeasurable damage to the Divine Realm. Even if delaying the destruction of a world in the mortal realm by just one second from detaching from its temporal line, or delaying the integration of a newly implanted world by one second upon accession, could potentially damage the stability of the mortal realm's timeline. Moreover, there's a risk of disrupting the aura of the Divine Realm itself. Therefore, to ensure that purification messengers complete their tasks on time, the Divine Realm has established a strict system of penalties for them.'
'Among all the penalties, there is one that terrifies us the most. This punishment focuses on drastically reducing the divine energy supply to purification messengers. For example, an adult human needs about 0.8 kilograms of oxygen per day to meet their daily exercise needs. However, after being punished, they may receive only about 0.4 kilograms of oxygen per day. Consequently, they must reduce their calling frequency to ensure that the available oxygen does not run out prematurely, which will severely impact their daily lives. Prolonged exposure to insufficient oxygen supply will undoubtedly pose serious health risks and even threaten their lives,' Heinrich added, visibly taking a deep breath in fear.
'As long as we are punished by the Divine Realm, purification messengers will face a survival crisis similar to that of humans restricted in oxygen usage. Although the likelihood of death is minimal, the process of imposing such punishments is excruciating for us. What's worse, punished purification messengers must continue to carry out purification tasks. Moreover, if they fail to complete these tasks on time again, they face further severe punishments from the Divine Realm. With such cumulative penalties, punished purification messengers may indeed slowly die due to the extreme lack of divine energy supply, unable to resist the repulsion force in the Dark Chain Plane!' Heinrich continued.
Hearing Heinrich's description, Hao Yun and his companions couldn't help but inhale sharply. They hadn't expected the Divine Realm, which had always been lenient towards its officials, to impose such harsh, even cruel punishments on its subordinates in the dark system. However, upon reflection, Hao Yun and his companions understood the reasons behind it. After all, these purification messengers were a group of executioners who would stop at nothing to complete their tasks. Therefore, if the Divine Realm did not restrain them with extremely severe sanctions, how could it ensure effective control over these unruly individuals?
Of course, while lamenting the darker side of the Divine Realm behind the scenes, Hao Yun and his companions felt no sympathy whatsoever for the salvationists subjected to high-pressure control by the Divine Realm. From Heinrich's description of their work, each purification messenger's hands were stained with the blood of innocent lives; these individuals were undoubtedly deserving of their fate."
Heinrich evidently sensed the disappointment in Hao Yun and his companions' expressions at his remark, but he neither felt surprised nor cared much about it. Continuing, he said, "To ensure that purification messengers work diligently in self-risk, the Divine Realm assigns us divine energy that is bound to our sacred bodies. Therefore, besides ourselves, we cannot share our divine energy with others. Moreover, anyone attempting to forcefully share or draw another's divine energy will suffer from incompatible energy types, triggering a backlash of abnormal divine energy and subsequently halving their own divine energy supply."
"Although the Divine Realm's punishments are severe, our team has always worked together in unity. Hence, we have consistently completed purification tasks on time without ever facing punishment from the Divine Realm," Heinrich added. Hearing this, Hao Yun and his companions couldn't help but show expressions of disappointment.
Observing their disappointment, Heinrich smirked slightly, intentionally teasing them. However, he quickly shifted his tone and continued, "While purification messengers have hardly faced severe punishments from the Divine Realm, this system of discipline is like a gun pointed at our heads, silently intimidating us and compelling us to work tirelessly without daring to slack off. Under such pressure, many purification messengers indeed develop resistance. Yet, apart from feeling disgruntled, we have no other choice. It wasn't until Eve and Adam joined my team that things finally began to change."
"What kind of change?" Dream Jia asked.
Heinrich replied with a nostalgic tone, "Perhaps because Eve and Adam were accustomed to the relaxed and harmonious working style of the surface system, they quickly became dissatisfied with the high-pressure environment of purification messengers. They even complained more than once that when recruited into the Dark Chain Plane, they weren't informed that failing to complete tasks on time would threaten their lives."
"Hehe, Eve and Adam even took the opportunity to submit applications to the Sacred Enterprise Expansion Department, seeking to transfer from purification messenger positions back to the mortal realm or elsewhere several times. Unfortunately, their applications were all rejected. The reasons given were basically 'the purification messengers are currently understaffed, and the organization will consider their applications once more manpower is available' or 'all other positions are filled, and they will be reassigned immediately when vacancies arise.' In summary, the Sacred Enterprise Expansion Department clearly intends to weld them firmly to their positions as purification messengers."