Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 190 - 110: Temperament Cannot Be Concealed

Chapter 190: Chapter 110: Temperament Cannot Be Concealed

In the Ashen Church, believers are divided into secular believers and professional believers. The eye-robot’s reference to living on the flagship for three days as a believer naturally meant as a professional believer.

Learning and praising—this was the daily life of the professional believers.

Before officially starting their life as believers, the group received uniform clerical garments, with various materials and styles available for selection.

The Third Prince lamented that Cai Die had not received an invitation from the inspector. It would undoubtedly become a major regret in his life, and he could only wait until after the journey concluded to order a batch of uniforms specifically from the HIVE company.

After receiving their clothes, the eyeball robot led them to their dormitories.

Dormitories consisted of standard single rooms. Although in spirit they were connected with the eternal Sun King, the church also fully respected the privacy of every believer, regardless of their former professional identity, habits, or hobbies—everyone was accorded equal respect.

Jiuyue had her reservations about this.

The Ashen Church professed to respect all hobbies and interests in the universe, yet they had not taken into account that her interest was to sleep in the same bed as Mr. Mingyuan at night.

Upon entering her room, she took in how the single bed was so small that it simply could not fit two people.

As explained by the eyeball robot, these beddings were custom-made, their prototypes being cryogenic sleep pods, not only effective in alleviating stress and fatigue but also in helping them establish a better spiritual link with Scorching Sun Power.

Jiuyue also scrutinized the Ashen Church’s believer handbook closely. Fortunately, the church did not impose restrictions on the believers’ clothing, food, accommodation, or travel, nor did it prohibit free love among believers.

Next door, Duan Mingyuan was also studying the believer handbook provided in the room, which detailed the functions of every section on the flagship and a variety of newcomer residency matters.

Newcomers must often be boarding this flagship.

The handbook did not strictly regulate the life of believers. They could freely decide how to spend their days. However, the notices in the handbook stated what constituted "a qualified believer."

There was only one rule—contribute 10 Scorching Sun Power points every day.

An evaluation took place every three days, and as long as one amassed 30 points of energy over those days, they passed the evaluation. Duan Mingyuan suspected this might be why the inspector set the three-day deadline.

Learning, discussing, praising, and all other ways of honoring the Sun King could generate corresponding energy. However, depending on each believer’s level of faith and understanding of the Sun King, the same actions could yield different amounts of energy.

It’s like how a top student could score full marks on a monthly test with just one set of question papers, while a poor student could do ten sets and still fail to understand the concepts they struggled with in the exam; they only gained some "dumb points."

Duan Mingyuan carefully scrutinized every notation about Scorching Sun Power in the handbook and discovered that contributing 10 points daily was not a challenge. If one looked at it from a utilitarian perspective, they only needed to "focus on taking practice tests" for two hours a day to complete a day’s work quota.

But he was not one to seek quick success. He found many of the projects mentioned in the handbook intriguing. On this flagship, various academic discussions took place every day, initiated by believers or priests alike.

Priests were typically served by senior believers, who were measured by whether they had followed the Ashen Consortium’s flagship to more than five planets.

Half an hour later, the room’s electronic projection announced that there would be a discussion on the market application of Scorching Sun Energy in the conference area in another half hour.

Duan Mingyuan changed into his clerical garments and headed there happily.

The contribution points of Scorching Sun Energy were not the focus; he was curious about the believers’ understanding and use of Scorching Sun Energy.

Now that he had begun life on the flagship as a believer, he tried to greet the believers he met along the way, but the results were disheartening.

After politely responding with a greeting, every believer hurriedly scurried away. What really struck Duan Mingyuan was the reaction of a pair of jovial young people. After he greeted them, their smiles vanished, their entire beings seemed to enter a state of stress, their tone of speech became emotionless, their eyes emptied, and even their walk turned awkward.

It was as if his soul had been sucked away by a ghost.

What did this mean?

Before attending his first seminar as a believer, Duan Mingyuan was filled with doubts.

Could there be some unwritten rule among the believers, such as not to casually talk to unfamiliar believers?

He felt this was unfriendly to newcomers, making them feel the coldness of winter, and might even lead them to consider giving up.

But Duan Mingyuan quickly realized he was wrong because he encountered a familiar face at the seminar venue.

The Third Prince, now dressed in the priest’s attire, had already stepped into the council chamber ahead of everyone else. Making full use of his sociable skills, he was surrounded by people, chatting and laughing as if they were all close friends.

It seemed he was mistaken; the believers on the ship weren’t against newcomers, just against him alone.

With this realization, Duan Mingyuan felt relieved, and he was genuinely happy for the newcomers.

With Duan Mingyuan’s arrival, the atmosphere in the council chamber suddenly changed.

The Third Prince saw him and waved, and the surrounding believers scattered like birds and animals, voluntarily giving up their places to Duan Mingyuan, creating a vacuum around him.

Although Duan Mingyuan felt somewhat apologetic, he had to ask the Third Prince the question that was in his mind.

"Do I look off in some way?"

Was it chive stuck to his teeth, clothes worn inside out, or perhaps a few fox hairs caught in his hair?

He always cared about his personal image and would never let such an occurrence happen to him.

While asking, Duan Mingyuan subtly lifted his arm to casually smell the scent on his clothes, confirming once again that there was no strange odor coming from him.

If anything, there was only the faint fragrance left over from Jiuyue.

"There actually is something."

The Third Prince scrutinized him, frowning.

He could understand everyone’s reaction, because if he hadn’t already known Duan Mingyuan, he probably wouldn’t want to sit with him either.

"Your aura... it’s strange. How come I never noticed it before?"

"What’s wrong with my aura?"

"Your aura is very unique."

Although everyone’s clothing looked similar, the difference between Duan Mingyuan and the rest was visible to the naked eye.

They were believers, while Duan Mingyuan was like a priest.

After pondering for a while, the Third Prince said, "It’s hard to explain. If I had to put it into words, your aura, coupled with those clothes, makes you look like the kind of tough character that could pull two discs out of someone’s head, forcibly reading their abilities and memories."