Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

Chapter 619: Chapter 346 Extremely Awkward Situation_1

The Judgement Hall is an independent institution that used to operate alongside the three major dioceses, now only two remain. It has its own structure, finance, and armed forces, possessing the authority to supervise and judge all worshippers.

The Stake of Executions is the most famous thing about the Judgement Hall, followed by the Judgment Knights, Holy Badge Knights, Judgment Chiefs, the Judgement Army, and the God of Justice and Arbitration.

The God of Justice and Arbitration is the full name, just like the God of Balance is fully known as the God of Equality and Balance, the Goddess of Redemption is fully called the Goddess of Love and Redemption, and the God of Light and Darkness is the God of Light and Shadow.

People’s awe and worship of power and gods can make them conjure up thousands of cool and majestic titles.

However, gods have varying degrees of power. For instance, the God of Knowledge, who is unbeatable, or the Undead God, who is also unbeatable…

The God of Arbitration is the supreme entity unbeatable by anyone among the Gods of Light. His overwhelming power oversees the judgement and arbitration of all worshippers, and he is the ultimate force upholding justice, order, and the law.

Of course, this refers to when the Divine Power System runs perfectly. Now, with gods perishing and the God of Arbitration’s survival unknown, what justice, order, and law is there?

If justice still existed, scoundrels like Dyson would be the first to be burned on the Fire Execution Frame. Why would Ange need to kill them?

Even though the system of order has collapsed and the law is in disarray, the Judgement Hall is still an independent operating institution. It still has jurisdiction over all the heretics and is frequently active. After all, where would they get funding if they did not take action?

Such an organization, independent of the three major dioceses, cannot accept their allocations; otherwise, it would be easily manipulated, leaving no room for justice to exist.

In addition to the allocations from the curia, the Judgement Hall’s main source of funding is from penalties. To fund itself, the Judgement Hall must strive to restrict all kinds of illegal and irregular activities in the diocese, aiming to pick more thorns and impose more penalties.

To avoid being penalized, the diocese must strictly control its believers and worshippers, requiring strict adherence to divine laws.

Under the supervision of the gods, this was actually a well-functioning mechanism. If the Judgement Hall itself engaged in illegal and irregular activities, the gods would immediately punish them. The problem is, there are no gods now.

Anthony once said that the Holy Badge Knights and the Mobile Court are among the few bright spots in the Church of Light. Apart from them, the entire Church of Light is steeped in corruption, including the upper levels of the Judgement Hall.

The manipulations are too numerous to count. They could fill an entirely new epic, so they are not worth mentioning here.

One of the main reasons Anthony dared to create a schism in the church and seize the authority of the Eastern Diocese was to restrain the corrupt individuals in the upper levels of the church, including the Judgement Hall.

However, he doesn’t have direct jurisdiction over the Judgement Hall. He can only supervise it, taking over some of the gods’ duties, which has proven effective.

Under his surveillance, the Judgement Hall has been restrained a lot in the Eastern Diocese, and there are few incidents where innocent people are falsely accused.

In addition, he would provide subsidies to the Judgement Hall in the Eastern Diocese through methods like ‘devotee donations’, welfare, child education, parent pensions, fair retirement allowances, and so on.

You cannot accept allocations, but you can’t refuse believers’ donations, can you? Would you risk dampening the enthusiasm of your followers? Can you believe that hundreds of followers would kneel at the door of the Judgement Hall refusing to leave unless their money is accepted?

As for field benefits, anti-static silk underwear is one of them. There are also countless other things that can’t be counted.

Negris once included several rolls of cotton cloth in the supplies he sent to Shamara, the kindness of which Shamara still appreciates today. But this ‘kindness’, compared to the old charlatan of a thousand years, is insignificant.

As long as you don’t make a fuss and serve the believers fairly, Anthony can arrange for your whole family to be well taken care of, even including your retirement arrangements.

Even more outrageously, Anthony has limited local jurisdiction, all chiefs of judgement must carry out field duties, they can only judge cases in other cities, and must conduct trials across various cities when necessary.

The chiefs of judgement in the Eastern Diocese have suffered greatly under Anthony’s arrangements, but due to the excellent invisible benefits and peace of mind, coupled with a sense of honor to maintain fairness, many upright judgement chiefs still prefer the Eastern Diocese and the majority of those who have come do not wish to be transferred out.

However, Karlok, who is speaking now, is not a chief of judgement from the Eastern Diocese. Since this place is located at the intersection of two dioceses, the chiefs of judgement from both dioceses have jurisdiction, especially when a witch, which hasn’t appeared in many years, shows up.

So upon hearing the news, Karlok hurried over.

Anthony smiled coldly: “He came fast.”

Hearing Anthony’s tone, everyone knew something was wrong. Negris, curious, asked: “Is something amiss?”

Anthony replied: “Of course, it takes at least three hours for a fast horse to get here from the nearest city with a Judgement Hall. Lucy hasn’t been awakened for more than three hours. Unless he traveled by dragon, he must have been lurking nearby, waiting to cause trouble.”

“It’s just a refugee camp. What’s there to meddle with? Did he know in advance that something would happen here?” Negris asked quizzically.

Anthony laughed: “Even if trouble was to be expected, a grand Chief Judge like him didn’t need to be the one to come. Who is here that warrants his intervention?”

As Anthony was speaking, he subtly pointed his thumb towards himself.

However, everyone collectively turned their gaze to Ange. The only one who noticed him was Luther, who was so surprised that he said, “Lord Anthony, is your finger twitching?”

“He’s here for Ange? Are they looking for trouble? This should be interesting.” Negris wore a malicious grin.

Anthony thought they were after him, but when Karlok approached, his gaze landed on Ange first before he turned to greet Anthony, “Lord Anthony, long time no see. May the Holy Light bless you.”

This phrase was somewhat provocative. It’s a blessing when ordinary believers invoke the Holy Light, but it isn’t exactly appropriate when directed at Anthony, a prominent Pope or at least an Archbishop, the vessel of divine power. It’s somewhat similar to wishing someone who can live for a thousand years a life of a hundred years.

It really seems like they’re here for Ange. Anthony suddenly laughed, he was suddenly curious to see how Ange, with his lack of eloquence, would handle their judgement. As Negris said, “These people are looking for death, aren’t they? There’s going to be a good show.”

Expecting a good show, Anthony didn’t mind the provocation in Karlok’s words. He said genially: “Oh, it’s Karlok. May the Holy Light protect you too.”

Karlok was taken aback; he hadn’t seen Anthony for a while, when did his temper become so good? He could sense a certain sincerity in Anthony’s blessings.

He looked at Anthony suspiciously and then said, “I received a message that a witch has appeared here. I have come specifically to handle this matter in the name of the God of Arbitration. May I ask… Oh, is this the famous Ascetic Monk An? Karlok salutes you.”

Just as if he had noticed Ange, Karlok exclaimed in a loud and exaggerated manner, raising his hand and invoking the Holy Light, laying his palm on his shoulder and bending over to pay his respects.

Ange tilted his head and looked at him, his gaze finally landing on the Holy Light in Karlok’s palm.

One second, two seconds, three seconds, the scene gradually became unbearably awkward…

PS: I’m feeling a headache, I can’t carry on, I will take a nap, the next chapter will be updated before dawn.