Mir held Murray's intense gaze for what seemed like an eternity. Murray's widened eyes were emphatically trying to tell him to agree, but...

"I'm your brother. That's all I am from my point of view."

Mir didn't find Murray's phrasing acceptable. A chess-piece? A weak bait? Willing to be used?

Even though Murray was almost certainly speaking this way for whoever it was that was eavesdropping on them, Mir didn't want to follow Murray to jump into the act. There was far too much resentment in his heart to do that without hesitation. So he replied back with an answer he found more appropriate than a simple forced agreement.

Right as he had finished speaking, someone knocked on the front door loudly.

Murray wore the look of surprise very prominently on his face while making his way to open the door.

"Oh, Father Vincentious! Please, come in!"

With an enormous amount of enthusiasm, Murray welcomed a tall, stocky middle-aged man into the living room. His respect appeared quite genuine. Mir stood up from the couch and awkwardly moved to a side. Father Vincentious met his curious eyes and performed a gentle Church salute to express his goodwill.

"You must be Mir, bless you!" he said in a deep tone.

Mir nodded respectfully in acknowledgment. Judging by the priest's uniform worn by this man, he could very possibly be the trainer Murray spoke of earlier.

"Father, is there an order from the higher-ups? Any change to the current plan?" Murray said eagerly. Father Vincentious shook his head, appearing tired.

"I wish the Lord made things easier for us, but no such luck so far. You can carry on with the original plan. Take your brother with you to Sacred Ground No. 6. They'll eventually succumb to greed and send some of their rats behind you. You know what to do inside the Sacred Ground to satisfy the Archbishop. Prove your worth, showcase your talent, and climb to the official status of a Transcender as fast as you can! That'll greatly improve your chances of success."

Mir's thoughts exploded as he realized something. The license to remain inside the Sacred Ground was only for 30 days, starting today. Father Vincentious was advising Murray to become a legitimate Transcender within that time!

Did that not mean Murray was already close to reaching his peak Evolution Standard state?!

Impossible! He had only been with the Church for four weeks, at most. Even government-funded progression programs couldn't make someone reach the peak of his Evolution Standard state that fast! Was the Church of Sunbreaker more resourceful than the government? That didn't seem likely.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Murray noticed his sharp, questioning gaze and silently gestured at him to keep his mouth shut for now.

"Father, I have the confidence in myself. I shall try my very best. But how much shall the Church be relying on my confidence?"

Father Vincentious chuckled.

"You better control that appetite, trainee. The Church doesn't wish for the Ravensworth family to become aware of our support of you. That's why this is the best opportunity to prove how useful you can be to the Church. The best I could manage for you was a grade- 1 artifact. Take it with you on your way to the Sacred Ground."

"That's all?" Murray asked in disappointment, making the priest sigh.

"The Church has stationed its men in several watchtowers already. They'll interfere if they deem it necessary to interfere. So don't give them a reason to do so. As for your brother..."

Both the priest and Murray turned to look at him with calculating looks in their eyes.

"He just needs to be the faster bait. Get your brother two contracts, depending on what his score tells you. He's your brother, after all. I don't think he'll be a disappointment. My senses say he might not be less talented than you."

Murray leaned back into his seat with an immensely relieved expression.

"What happens once we come out? We need to know how the Church plans to deal with a scenario where none of the hunters sent after us leaks anything substantial during interrogation. Both the Church and the Ravensworth family would end up incurring losses in that case, right?" Mir asked, unable to hide his concern.

Wouldn't the Ravensworth family keep coming for them?

Father Vincentious sent a narrow look at Murray before he answered Mir's query.

"The Church treats the alliance with Ravensworth Family as the main objective. Finding the clues to the real sacred artifact they're after isn't high on our list of priorities. But that's not the case for them. Once they've incurred a heavy loss inside the Sacred Ground, we'll use the issue to confront them, asking why their spies have been discovered in a Sacred Ground controlled partly by us. And more importantly, why did their spies assault our men? What would the Ravensworth family do then? They cannot afford to suffer continuous losses and be exposed for the crime of infiltrating a sacred ground belonging to the Capital City of a Nation; not when they're about to make an attempt to reach the Circle of Lords. Scandals like these would hurt them immensely in this delicate stage. Rather, they'll do their best to placate the Church and keep it under wraps. And that is exactly the opening we've been looking for."

"...." Mir sucked in a breath trying to make his line of thinking fit with the complicated moves being exchanged on an imaginary board.

So insidious!

"Now, if you'll excuse us, child, your brother and I need to speak in private," the priest said pointedly at Mir.

Mir waited jitterily outside for five minutes. Father Vincentious took his leave rather fast.

After closing the door behind him, Mir could no longer hold back his curiosity and said, "How close are you to the peak of Evolution Standard state?"

Murray chewed on his tongue for a good few seconds before answering in a measured tone, "Almost close to completion. Let's say, I just need to hunt some grade-1 mutant beasts and eat some of their inner organs...if they're edible. The last time I went into Sacred Ground No. 6, I spent an entire week doing nothing but hunting and cooking meat. Lord knows that week was the best week of my life. I'd never felt more fulfilled. Hunt, cook, eat, sleep, hunt, cook, eat, sleep-"

"You're telling me, you reached close to the peak of Evolution Standard state in one week? Not even a month?" Mir screeched.

"Hey, the other three weeks I spent in the Church, they gave me pretty good meals. A few times, I even got to eat the meat of grade-2 mutant beasts."

"But how do you plan to reach the Transcendent tier within the next few days? You'll need a virus-neutralizing formula that fits your affinity and mutation route, right? You can't find those things in the wild-"

Mir came to a stop, thoughts freezing in realization. Murray slapped him on the back to break his stupor.

"Yeah. I told you I joined the Church for the benefits. I've already received an appropriate neutralizing formula last night. It wouldn't have been given to me so soon, but the attack here last night made them reconsider. The faster I reach the Transcendent-tier, the better it is for the Church's interest. What's a measly grade- 1 formula compared to the alliance with a family worth 1.4 Billion Units?"

"Curse the sun...Kids in my class would ditch the government program if they found out how generously the Church of Sunbreaker treats its trainee Deacons," Mir mumbled in a daze.

"Well, they'd be making a mistake, in that case. I relied on my supreme talent and handsome face to earn such generous treatment. Not everyone has those."

"Handsome face? Even Miss Leni never tried to hit on you, and she has had affairs with half the homeless hobos within five square miles."

"...She was respecting the law! It's only been a year since I reached adulthood."