(Xyrean Province- The Mermaid's Lake)
(Unnamed Settlement- Father Han's Church)
The middle-aged priest immediately raised up both his hands in the air and froze in place.
He stared at the gun being pointed in his direction and beads of sweat began to run down his brow.
Father Han was not some brave soul who could look death in the face and laugh. No… he was basically shitting himself!
"Look… I don't know who you are… I believe that there may be a misunderstanding somewhere," Father Han gently spoke as he tried not to upset the two mysterious women.
He did not even dare to raise his voice and shout for help because all it would take was the pull of a finger and his life would be gone.
"A few weeks ago… do you remember sending that nun of yours as well as multiple teams to hunt down an ability user?" Qin Lan questioned in a cold tone.
"This is a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding… I… I… please don't kill me… please… please…" Father Han got down on his knees and begged.
The middle-aged priest trembled as his knees touched the cold hard floor of the church. Over and over, he kept begging for his life in a humble tone.
Qin Lan furrowed her brows as she saw the sight of the man who had ordered the deaths of herself and the teenagers in her care.
She knew from the original Qin Lan's memories that Father Han would become the figurehead of a new religion.
He would command an army of ability users who burned their lifeforce to access the gifts that the priest had given them.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAnd they were all loyal to him to the point of madness.
Qin Lan frowned slightly as she raised up her gun and fired a single shot that echoed through the empty church.
Bang!
Father Han crashed heavily to the ground with a hole in the middle of his head. Bright red blood pooled out of the open wound and his body twitched slightly before he died.
"Do you want to kill everyone else?" Eve asked curiously as she stared at Qin Lan and completely disregarded the corpse.
The only punishment that could be given to one who tried to harm her favourite human was death, so the zombie empress saw no problem with Qin Lan's actions.
"No… it would be impossible to determine who was or wasn't influenced by Father Han and those with abilities… well… they only have a few years left to live," Qin Lan indifferently spoke.
It would actually be optimistic to expect those gifted abilities by Father Han to live that long.
Especially since every time they used their abilities… their remaining lifespans would decrease.
"Come let's go before someone comes to investigate the noise," Qin Lan softly whispered as she grabbed Eve's hand.
The zombie empress smiled warmly at her favourite human and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before they fled from the scene.
Footsteps could already be heard coming from the distance as Sister Guan had heard the unexpected noise from her room.
The plainly dressed nun ran quickly in the direction of the noise since she had a bad feeling in her heart that she could not explain.
She burst into the open hall and a scream left her mouth as she saw Father Han's cold corpse on the ground.
Her ability responded to her fury as large earth spikes jutted out of the ground around her body with jagged sharpened ends.
"Father Han! Father Han!" Sister Guan yelled in shock as she rushed over to the middle-aged priest's body and examined his corpse.
She placed two fingers on his pulse and the thin thread of hope in her heart finally severed since she could not detect any signs of life.
The ground trembled beneath her feet and additional wrinkles appeared along her hands, feet, and face.
"Who did this? Who. Did. This…" Sister Guan muttered over and over again like a madman who had been possessed.
She clutched the corpse of the priest for hours in complete darkness until the first beams of sunlight entered through the window.
Sister Guan raised up her head and her appearance was as if she had aged twenty years in the span of a single night.
There were no emotions in her cold eyes as she lifted up the priest's body and slowly walked out of the church.
Father Han was dead… she would be the one to lead the flock.
.
.
.
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(The Mermaid's Lake- Forested Outskirts)
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmMeanwhile Qin Lan and Eve were sitting down beneath the shade of a large tree and enjoying the view of the creeping sunrise.
"Today is the day when Liu Yifei and Gong Li will tell us what they want to do," Qin Lan spoke softly as she fidgeted with her hands.
"Eve… I'm worried… I'm worried that… I'm going to get them killed…"
The zombie empress leaned closer to her favourite human and wrapped her arms around Qin Lan's shoulder.
The pair remained in silence for a brief moment before Eve opened her mouth to speak,
"You did the best that you could… Xiao Chen and Liu Tao's deaths aren't your fault…"
"I know that those two girls trust you… and for good reason. You are amazing, kind and a very loving person."
Perhaps it was a bit strange for Eve to call someone who had just murdered a priest a loving person, but it was hard to deny that Qin Lan took care of those who she considered as family.
"You're right… I just hope that we can successfully kill Subject 001 and then find out a way to end the apocalypse," Qin Lan muttered softly as she closed her eyes.
She wanted to tell Eve about her mission to kill the villainess of this plane but whenever she tried to speak about it… no words would come out of her mouth.
But still even if she ended up failing to complete her mission, Qin Lan was willing to attempt to make the world a better place.
Whether that meant killing the people who caused the most misery or trying to find a way to protect the survivors.
But first there was something that she needed to say…
Qin Lan opened her eyes and turned her head to face Eve with a serious expression on her face.
The zombie empress noticed the sudden shift in the mood and looked at her favourite human with a puzzled smile.
"No matter what happens in the future… promise me… you will always protect yourself first and not me," Qin Lan seriously spoke.