Previously, when they were in the City Lord's Mansion, the armor had told Lu Mingze that dusk was the time when demons appeared. All demons would wake up at dusk and fall asleep at sunrise.
The description of the QR code that Lu Mingze received in the church reads: The first ray of light in the world was born from darkness.
He thought about it for a long time and finally decided to use this QR code at sunrise.
At this time, the effect of Guanling's giant octopus was almost over, and the effect of the "steady and long-term" effect that Qian Jinlai imposed on Cao Qian was also about to pass.
Lu Mingze clicked on the QR code, and a beam of light appeared above the flying monster. This beam of light, together with the first ray of sunrise, drew the barrier pattern in the church, forming a circle of light that firmly trapped the flying monster inside.
Along with the monster's miserable screams, the aperture shrank tightly, and the monster was quickly torn into pieces under the restraint of the light line.
The fragments that fell to the ground gradually turned into human form under the sunlight. It turned out that this huge monster was transformed from hundreds of bandits. They looked extremely weak at this time and seemed to have no ability to fight anymore.
Only then did Lu Mingze have time to look at the description of the QR code on the bracelet.
"Light Barrier", a time-delay QR code, can restrain demonic creatures, but its effectiveness will be greatly reduced when used at night. It is best used with the rising sun, and its validity period is 5 minutes.
He breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground.
The effect of Guanling's giant octopus had also passed. He sat on the ground with Lu Mingze, looking at the hundreds of bandits on the ground with some worry.
"What should we do with these people?" Guan Ling asked, "Even if we bring them into the city, no one will care about them, right?"
Cao Qian also sat on the ground, her miniskirt still covering her body as usual. She said, "I saw a lot of ropes in the cave just now. We can tie them up, starve them, and throw them into the City Lord's Mansion. There will be someone with armor to deal with them at night."
"That makes sense," Lu Mingze nodded. "I also promised these people to hand over the armor. They are all criminals of the city and should be imprisoned in the cells under the City Lord's Mansion."
The map he had obtained from the City Lord's Mansion before showed that the underground of the City Lord's Mansion was the prison where criminals were punished in this town.
Cao Qian dug out a lot of ropes from the ruins. Lu Mingze and Guan Ling called Qian Jinlai who was hiding nearby, and they struggled to tie up the unconscious bandit.
After working for a while, Qian Jinlai sighed and said, "It's too slow. The sun is almost out. I can only stay here for one day. I can't waste it."
Guanling only has one day to go, but Cao Qian has three days, but she doesn't want to waste time tying people up.
"That's right." Lu Mingze nodded.
He slapped a few bandits awake, made them look at their faces, and after triggering the "Beacon Fire Trick" technique, he ordered the controlled bandits to help them tie up the man. It didn't take long for them to finish tying him up, and the bandits even tied each other up obediently. After tying them up, Cao Qian knocked them unconscious again, showing a particularly cold and ruthless attitude.
Qian Jinlai: "..."
Is it true that you can do whatever you want just because you are good-looking?
The four men escorted the surviving bandits back to the city lord's mansion. Their armor made a "clacking" sound under the sunlight, and it was unclear whether it was the bandits themselves moving or the wind blowing the armor.
Lu Mingze used his formidable ability to find items to find the key to the underground cell, locked the man in, and placed the key in the armored hand. He said, "I'll leave the punishment of the evildoers to you. You must atone for your sins. Um... remember to ask them what bad things they have done. Write it down using the paper and pen in the city lord's office. I will sentence them according to the city's previous laws. You cannot resort to lynching. However, if they try to escape or resist, you can suppress them. Do you understand?"
I don't know if the armor understood it, but Lu Mingze heard the narration prompt sound, the bandit suppression mission was completed, and the current mission progress was 2.46.
They still have four tasks, namely to rebuild the golden armor for the statue, find the Ocean Blue Eye, the combat boots and the Diamond Heart.
All of it was related to the statue that was known as the Son of God. Lu Mingze felt that he needed to have another talk with the statue, so he climbed up to the base with a grunt, sat next to the statue, and placed the holy sword in his hand.
The holy sword was indeed made for the statue, and the hilt fit neatly into the statue's loose palm. Lu Mingze said, "The bandits have been apprehended, and the holy sword has been found. We're going to find someone to help you rebuild your golden armor."
The statue no longer had eyes, but Lu Mingze still felt a gentle gaze on it. At the same time, he heard a voice in his heart: "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Rebuilding the city is what we should do," Lu Mingze said. "But I discovered a lot of things last night. Can I ask you a few questions?"
The statue said, "I know what you want to ask. Unfortunately, I am not the Son of God. There is no God in this world."
Lu Mingze said, "That's not what I'm asking. I want to know: Did you voluntarily give the golden armor, the eyes, the combat boots, the holy sword, and the diamond heart to a town resident?"
"...the first four are, but the Diamond Heart is not," the statue replied.
"This means you love the townspeople very much and can't bear to see them suffer. You're a kind statue," Lu Mingze asked, puzzled. "Then why did you want to possess my body when you saw me?"
The statue sneered, "Who told you I'm kind?"
Lu Mingze waved his hand and said, "Don't be angry. I don't think you're a bad person. You even reminded me not to look in the mirror too much. I just think that you need my body. Do you think that I, like the previous sheriff, can't rebuild this town, so you want to do it yourself?"
He gazed at the statue with bright eyes, unclouded by any shadow, always expecting the best. The statue paused, then said, "You overthink it. I'm not the Son of God, nor do I seek to protect this city. I was originally just a statue, a collection of the beliefs of the city's inhabitants. When they are good, I am good; when they are evil, I am evil. The so-called gods and demons are merely the product of the convergence of human hearts."
Lu Mingze listened quietly to the statue telling stories of the past.
"Initially, the city simply needed a landmark, so I was erected. At the time, I was unconscious. Later, the city became prosperous, and people often came to the square to pray to me, so I gradually developed a mind. But I knew I didn't have the power to bless them; I was just an ordinary statue.
"When the new city lord treated the residents harshly, all I could do was secretly take off my golden armor and let the residents exchange it for food.
"I don't have a diamond heart either. It's just an ordinary diamond, but some greedy people dug it out, cut it up, and ate it. How could someone not die after eating something like that?
"When the city lord and some nobles ate the diamond, they unearthed a strange ritual from some book. The blood they vomited upon death seemed to trigger some kind of magic, ushering in a day of disaster, amplifying the evil thoughts of the city's residents, and plunging the city into darkness."
"I see," Lu Mingze said, "What about you? Over the years, have you never hoped that the city would prosper again? Like it did back then?"
The statue said, "I've said before that I'm just a manifestation of people's faith. They hope I'm a god, so I'm the Son of God. They think I'm the source of disaster, so I'm the devil. But I'm nothing. I'm just a statue."
Lu Mingze scratched his head as he listened to the statue's somewhat helpless voice. "I've studied theology before, and I think the concept of 'God' itself is a collection of beliefs. Since the residents are willing to believe in you, then you are their God. If you don't think you are the Son of God, then why was the Bishop able to save the city with your holy sword?"
The statue froze.
"My mission is to rebuild the city. I believe that besides tax cuts, the most important thing in building a city is for the people who love their homeland to work together for the future. But all the reconstruction methods I've found involve reshaping statues. Why is that?" Lu Mingze said seriously, "I think it must be because the residents of the city still love you and still believe in you. They believe that if you recover, it means that 'God' has forgiven them. Only then will they have the courage to yearn for life again and work hard for this city. You are their spiritual pillar."
"Whether you admit it or not, you are their 'Son of God'." Lu Mingze patted the statue's arm.
The statue wondered, "I... can I do this? Haven't I become evil? I even want to take over your body."
"Didn't I tell you before? You want to use the new administrator's body to complete this task yourself." Lu Mingze didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled and said, "But I can't give my body to you. This is my mission after all. Don't worry, I will definitely help the residents regain their yearning for life. I'll find someone to help you apply the golden armor right away."
"Wait," the statue said hurriedly when Lu Mingze was about to jump off the pedestal. "Actually, my golden armor is still there. Back then, the residents secretly sold it to the owner of a gold shop. The owner didn't sell the pieces, but kept them for himself. So you don't need to have someone use the gold to forge a new one. Just repair the original one."
"Really!" Lu Mingze said happily, "I only have three days, so with this calculation, I can still finish it. Do you remember where the Ocean Blue Eye and the combat boots are?"
"The goldsmith should know the whereabouts of the Ocean Blue Eyes, as they were sold through him," the statue said. "As for the boots, I gave them to a warrior. He said he couldn't stand the city lord's actions and wanted to go to the king to ask him to punish him. So I lent him the boots so he could get to the capital quickly. But after taking the boots, he disappeared, and no one knows where he went."
"I see," Lu Mingze nodded. "Thank you. I'll go look for the golden armor first."
He said goodbye to the statue and headed towards the gold shop with a few companions.
It was already past nine in the morning. Qian Jinlai looked up at the statue and said curiously, "Don't you think this statue looks a lot like Lu Mingze? The body shape and facial features are almost identical."
"It's a bit similar." Guan Ling said.
A ridiculous thought flashed through Qian Jinlai's mind: "Could it be that the last diamond heart is Lu Mingze's heart? If I want to complete the mission, I must die, and if I die, I can't recover my memory..."
"No," Lu Mingze said without any worry. "The statue just told me that its heart is indeed made of diamonds, real diamonds like gold and silver. I'm a living person, how could I have a heart made of diamonds? Don't worry."
"Well... I hope it's not so bloody." Qian Jinlai nodded reluctantly.