novelraw Chapter 240: The "Buddha" Before the Eyes of the Whole World
Chapter 240: The "Buddha" Before the Eyes of the Whole World
At this moment, the outside world's reaction was naturally extremely exaggerated!
The slumber of an entire city naturally meant a sleepless night for observers all around the world.
"What the fuck!" Even Golden Hair, upon seeing the tablet hurriedly brought over by the CIA Director, could not help but let out a horrified shout.
Because on the screen, those people were actually "sleeping"!
This was not just a few people, a group, or even thousands of individuals—it was the deep slumber of an entire city!
At the time, CIA agents were piloting drones to observe and film the area where the Buddha's Light had appeared. However, following a flash of that golden radiance, the drone operators simply "fell asleep".
Yes, they literally "fell asleep". They nodded off right then and there, slumping into bizarre, unnatural postures.
It was not just them. The surrounding agents from various countries, personnel in every sector, and even the active crowds throughout the entire city had all fallen asleep.
The transition into sleep was incredibly gentle. Vehicles slowly rolled to a halt, individuals lay down where they stood, and all ongoing activities simply dissolved into stillness...
Those in the middle of conducting business even managed to carefully cover their wares one by one in a half-awake, half-asleep trance before beginning their slumber.Cooks turned off their stoves, and people washing clothes by the water climbed onto the banks. They all slowly drifted off to sleep wherever they felt most comfortable.
If the suddenness of it all had not been so jarring, outside observers might have genuinely believed these people simply wanted to take a nap!
However, the fleet stationed at sea managed to intercept the drones' remote signals. Just as one drone was about to crash, they forcefully took over its electronic broadcast to see exactly what had happened.
And that resulted in the exact scene Golden Hair was witnessing right now.
"They all fell asleep? Huh?" Golden Hair asked in bewilderment, receiving a standard, crisp reply. "Yes, Great Leader. They are all asleep. The entire city is asleep. Not a single person is awake."
Upon hearing this response, everyone present gasped in shock!
"Quick! Go find a Buddhist monk! A senior monk... no, a junior monk... wait, no, find a monk who is highly educated and knowledgeable but lacks high status!" Golden Hair ordered hastily, rapidly changing his phrasing. "Or, a professor from a Buddhist academy or someone who studies Buddhism will do! A mythology professor works too! Hurry, get them over here to explain this to us!"
Through Father Angus, they already had a rough idea of what exactly the world's believers in deities really were!
Even within The Church, had the current Pope not been an outsider—an iron-blooded leader hailing from South Africa—things might have been quite difficult to discuss.
In any case, they no longer had much faith in those fat-headed, big-eared high-level officials who were just being figureheads.
"Sir, this matter... is utterly terrifying!" Qian Si waited for the subordinates to leave before speaking urgently. "In a way, this is even more horrifying than what happened in Miami!"
Their Miami incident, to put it bluntly, merely involved the silhouette of a colossal behemoth. While natural disasters were unstoppable, there were at least methods to predict and evacuate from them.
However, the event unfolding before their eyes today in Kolkata was clearly telling them that true Transcendence was not just the power of natural disasters; it could also manifest as a Psychic Disaster!
If a Buddhist monk actually died in New York, Los Angeles, or some other city in America, and unleashed something like this upon them, what would happen?
Economic collapse and a stock market crash would be secondary concerns. The most important thing was that no one would be able to escape the grip and fear of such overwhelming power!
Think about it: why did the invention of the nuclear missile end up delaying global world wars?
It was not because the immense destructive power of nuclear missiles would annihilate humanity—that was just empty talk. If things truly reached a breaking point, nukes would be dropped without hesitation. Where would the delay be then?
In reality, there was only one true reason: the advent of nuclear missiles and long-range ballistics transformed ultra-long-distance strikes from an impossibility into reality. It turned the rulers who previously sat comfortably in the rear, entirely free of worry, into frontline targets!
That was the fatal crux of the matter. For the sake of their own lives, they would choose not to lightly provoke war. That was the true reality behind nuclear missiles protecting global peace!
The elites valued their own lives above all else, which was why they opted for limited, low-intensity conflicts!
But now, something even more terrifying than nuclear missiles had arrived: this Buddhist monk, or rather, the "Buddha"!
If they could turn Kolkata into a city of absolute silence, they could do the same to every city in the world. When that time came, whether you were a homeless person on the streets or a high-level official sitting in a palace, there would be no difference at all!
Everyone would become lambs waiting to be slaughtered. It was far too horrifying. This was a terror rooted in reality, a fear that struck dread into the heart of every high-level official!
"Invite Father Angus... no, invite His Eminence Mario to make a trip to New York. Or, we could just go to Rome ourselves!" Golden Hair declared immediately. He suddenly felt a wave of envy toward that woman, Lomeini. After all, the moment The Church announced its expansion and the Roman Government immediately chose to pivot its allegiance, that city had become universally recognized as the safest haven for Christians in the entire world!
After all, with the Pope and The Church present, as long as it was not an extermination order personally issued by The Lord, absolutely no one would dare to pull off something like this in the city of Rome under the watchful eyes of so many angels!
Their safety would undoubtedly be guaranteed to a much greater extent!
Upon hearing Golden Hair's words, the high-level officials, Qian Si included, suddenly began to entertain the idea of buying property in Rome!
If this city, much like The Church itself, was destined to flourish for another millennium following the Angelic Descent, perhaps retiring and becoming a Roman citizen would not be such a bad idea?
Golden Hair's reaction was, of course, one of the more outstanding among the high-level officials across the globe—in this race to the bottom, America actually managed to look somewhat competent.
Naturally, their response time was also among the fastest.
The high-level officials of many nations were still caught in a state of shock due to a lack of information. The only ones who were somewhat on par with them were likely the leaders of Britain, France, and Germany, as well as The Great Emperor of the north!
What appeared before The Great Emperor's eyes was the footage from their own drones. Due to a war that had dragged on for two years, the drone feed he was watching was far clearer than Golden Hair's.
Consequently, the situation he witnessed was even more terrifying than what Golden Hair had seen!
He watched his own agents calmly pull out sleeping bags, roll them out, and go to sleep without replying to any of headquarters' messages. That alone told him this was no simple matter.
Given the nearly draconian regulations of the GRU, he knew such blatant insubordination was impossible. The only viable explanation was the presence of Transcendent Power!
"This Buddhist monk hypnotized the entire city?" The Great Emperor said, an edge of astonishment in his voice. "Is such power truly something a single person can unleash?"
"We do not know, Great Leader!" a subordinate replied. "We have already dispatched more personnel to investigate!"
The stern, unsmiling man looked at his subordinate once more. "Connect me to the Patriarch. The Catholic Pope has already publicly claimed to have received the power of The Lord, and their holy armies have already been assembled! Is Eastern Orthodoxy truly going to be the one cast aside?"
"I refuse to believe it. Have him go and have a thorough discussion with Pope Mario. I do not think The Catholic Church would willingly abandon such a massive diocese!"
In truth, Protestantism did not believe it either, but they genuinely had not encountered a single trace of Transcendence. The subordinate wanted to point this out, but he did not dare.
In this nation, over more than twenty years of rule and decades of absolute military control, this man had long cultivated an irrefutable and irresistible dominant aura.
Thus, the subordinate slowly withdrew, leaving the aging man behind to let out a somewhat regretful sigh.
'This level of courage... is far from enough!'
He was gradually beginning to feel his own strength failing him, yet he could not find a suitable successor to take his place. How could this not be a form of torture?
But he was, after all, a world-renowned political strongman. This moment of lamentation only lasted briefly before he immediately pulled himself together and made a call. "Notify the Republic of Kalmykia. Tell their Lamaist Lamas to make a trip to Moscow at once!"
"Their Buddha has already appeared. It is high time this group contributed to the nation!"
This sudden conscription of Buddhists was being carried out almost simultaneously across the globe. Any major power that caught wind of the news began scouring their own countries for marginalized Buddhists!
Previously, only their wealth had earned them the favor of various nations. But now, because of the existence of Transcendence, they possessed an even greater value.
And this had been Bai Yang's objective all along. The Three Major Religions each deserved to have their own proper positioning.
It was time to drag this group of Buddhist monks out into the open under the scrutiny of the public eye. It was time to make them dig out their ancient scriptures, bring forth their ancient cultivation practices, and drag those who used the Buddha's name to amass wealth and commit atrocities out into the harsh light of day!
This way, the stage would be set for the debut of the eighteen levels of Hell!
In truth, Bai Yang had always been highly anticipating this—the emergence of a true Hell to enact the Condemnation of Sin upon all those "wicked" deeds. This would be infinitely more thrilling than the so-called Catholic Condemnation of Sin or atonement!
He felt the surge of Wish Power washing over him from across the entire world, and his hands naturally showed no signs of stopping their work.
Since Wutian intended to guide this entire city to enlightenment, let him begin... However, before he could start, there seemed to be one person who was not entirely willing!