Having temporarily resolved the immediate crisis, Luo Shu found little relief.
Yes, he had discovered a way to counter the Spear of Longinus meme—but its effectiveness was limited.
The fact that the Anomaly Compendium hadn't generated a new page was proof enough.
He hadn't truly overcome it.
The major religions originating from Jerusalem boasted a combined 4 billion followers worldwide.
(Note: The exact numbers for Islam, Judaism, and the various branches of Christianity—Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy—can be easily looked up.)
Every single one was a potential carrier of the Spear of Longinus meme.
Even if 80% of them were casual or moderate believers susceptible to his Prophet's Power, that still left 800 million fanatics beyond his reach.
Statistically, one in every ten people on Earth wanted him dead.
And converting the remaining 3.2 billion wasn't a quick process.
Facing just over 100,000 infected, Luo Shu had needed two full uses of his ability and nearly an hour to sway the moderates.
At a rate of 80,000 conversions per day, rewriting the faith of 3.2 billion would take 4,000 days.
In other words, over a decade of relentless, daily risk.
Was that realistic?
Not every city had an Eiffel Tower to buy him time.
And "God" wouldn't sit idle forever.
The next time Luo Shu was cornered, he might face both the Spear and a nuclear strike.
The Compendium was right—he hadn't truly countered the meme, so it couldn't be recorded.
For now, Luo Shu had only one plan: flee Europe, flee the cities.
Find somewhere remote, regroup, and strike back later.
But at least he was safe for the moment. The area around the Eiffel Tower had been cleared by his new followers.
He had to move now.
He took the elevator down.
Yet the moment he stepped out, his Anomaly Detection Milestone triggered.
An anomaly within five meters.
With both his Prophet's Power and anti-memetic abilities exhausted, Luo Shu tensed, scanning his surroundings.
Then he saw her.
A girl.
She wasn't dead.
She wasn't leaving.
And she wasn't firing a Spear of Longinus at him.
So what was she?
Cautiously, he approached.
"Who are you? Why are you still here?"
The girl looked up, her eyes dazed, as if waking from a dream.
"...My name is Jeanne. I don't know why I'm here. The crowd... brought me."
Luo Shu understood.
This "Jeanne" wasn't infected. She'd just been caught in the tide and swept here.
But why hadn't she been converted like the others?
That was the anomaly.
He activated the Milestone's third effect, probing for her nature—but sensed nothing.
That meant only one thing:
Her anomaly didn't affect the outside world.
Otherwise, the Milestone would've detected it.
Part of him wanted to use Mental Enslavement on her, to force the truth out.
But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Jeanne was strikingly beautiful, with delicate features and clear, innocent eyes that made harming her feel unthinkable.
If SCP-166 (Galatea, the Succubus) embodied raw desire, Jeanne was pure light.
Where Galatea provoked lust, Jeanne inspired protectiveness.
Using Mental Enslavement on her—what if it corrupted her?
He sighed.
"It's dangerous here. You should go home."
Jeanne shook her head. "I don't have a home. I'm an orphan."
Something in Luo Shu's chest twisted. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out:
"Then come with me."
The moment the words left his mouth, he knew something was off.
Was this charm?
Unlikely.
If Jeanne had a charm ability, it would be a mental anomaly—something the Milestone would have detected.
And Luo Shu's mental defenses were too strong to be swayed so easily.
His curiosity grew.
If his initial offer had been impulsive, now he genuinely wanted to take her.
To study her.
Jeanne didn't refuse. She simply nodded and stood, ready to follow.
The scene reminded Luo Shu eerily of his first arrival in the Prophet's World, meeting Sasha, the heroine.
The realization hit him like a lightning bolt.
Had he just encountered this world's protagonist?
Its "Chosen One"?
Those familiar with reality benders knew of their counterpart:
The Reality-Bent.
Where reality benders had elevated personal Hume levels, the Reality-Bent were below baseline.
While benders shaped the world, the Reality-Bent were shaped by it.
In peaceful times, they lived quiet, unnoticed lives.
But in times of chaos, they were pulled into the storm, driven by the tides of fate.
Not all Reality-Bent became Chosen Ones—that required exceptional will, ability, and circumstance.
But when the world was in crisis, they were its instruments of salvation.
In short: the Chosen One was the world's emergency tool.
Luo Shu studied Jeanne anew.
He'd accidentally picked up a nascent Chosen One.
This explained why she was an anomaly yet lacked external influence.
She was only just beginning to be shaped by the world's will.
"God's" rapid deployment of the text meme and Spear of Longinus had created a world-ending threat—so the world had responded.
The pieces fell into place.
Luo Shu's gaze turned westward.
If the world was selecting its Chosen One, then "God's" actions had angered it.
How ironic.
Wasn't "God" supposed to be this world's guardian?
Why would the world reject him?
The more cards "God" played, the faster the truth unraveled.
This was the darkest hour before dawn.