Tianzhu, Dharavi.
This was the largest slum in Asia.
More than a million people were crammed into an extremely small area.
Without question, since this was called a slum, the local sanitary conditions were naturally not good.
And because the population density was truly too high, basically…
As long as one person fell ill, the disease would soon spread.
Of course, for the local residents, a minor illness could not be treated because there was no money.
A serious illness did not need to be treated at all.
The former was a luxury.
As for the latter…
Better to be direct and enter reincarnation again.
Perhaps in the next life, they could live a good life, no longer limited by a low caste at the bottom, and suddenly become someone above others.
However…
When all was said and done, if people could live properly, who would willingly place their only hope in some illusory next life and faith?
It was under this broad premise that…
Several months ago, among the many impoverished residents of Dharavi, a strange symptom known as "Purple Mark Disease" abruptly began spreading wildly through the population.
At first, the patients had no idea why they had fallen ill.
They only knew that after those strange purple markings appeared on the surface of their bodies, their health would grow worse and worse.
Their bodies became weaker and weaker.
So weak they could not stand.
So weak they could barely breathe.
So weak their hearts stopped beating.
In the end, they became corpses one after another.
The people of Tianzhu, especially those at the bottom, believed in religion.
Therefore, when the source of this strange illness could not be found, people began to pray and atone for their sins, believing this was another punishment sent down by the gods.
This situation grew worse and worse.
Until not long ago, two outside forces appeared in Dharavi.
The first was a group of people fully equipped with complete anti-radiation protective suits. It was said that, out of international humanitarianism, they had come to collect and examine the corpses of deceased infected patients.
However, cremation was common in Tianzhu.
Naturally, this act was seen by the locals as a form of desecration.
And it was at this exact moment…
The second force arrived, very "coincidentally."
They claimed to be believers of the "Cult of the Honkai God," with origins in a branch of Tianzhu's original faith.
Mm. A very classic and very useful claim: they were just a local branch of an existing faith.
Because this explanation could, to a certain degree, reduce the possibility of being rejected by the locals and labeled "heretics."
And if, on top of that, they displayed a few "miracles"…
"Rustle, rustle…"
Today, once again, tens of thousands of believers and worshippers gathered around a newly built church of the Cult of the Honkai God. Their movements were unified as they knelt neatly toward the center.
It was said that if a believer was devout enough, they would be granted the right to touch the "Heavenly God's Chain of Commandments."
And as long as someone was fortunate enough to touch such a divine artifact, then those unfortunate enough to have contracted "Purple Mark Disease" could have their condition temporarily relieved.
This was called: the mercy of the Heavenly God.
A divine artifact truly lived up to its name.
That chain was made entirely of precious gold.
When extended, it could even stretch for several kilometers.
Of course, the Heavenly God could also become angry.
Once, there had been someone greedy for wealth who wanted to cut off a section of the divine chain and take it for himself.
But in the end, that person died because of his own greed.
The moment he tried to act, his life was completely cut off.
Thus…
The divine chain could save people.
It could also kill people.
"As expected of the Heavenly God's envoy."
"Praise the Saintess!"
"Praise the Saintess!"
…
By now, even an outside traveler, even if they only gave Dharavi a rough glance, could clearly recognize one fact.
The people living here had all become "fanatics."
But what they worshipped was no longer Tianzhu's original faith.
It was the more convincing Cult of the Honkai God, which had truly displayed supreme miracles.
Perhaps someone might ask: Honkai God? Does that not sound rather unlucky?
It could only be said that fortunately, the person who first asked this question had not waited until now to stand in the crowd and say it aloud.
Because at that time, some of the local residents still retained a little reason.
So they patiently answered: the Honkai God was an aspect of the chief deity Maheshvara.
Maheshvara governed divine authorities over destruction and creation, birth and ruin, those opposing poles.
Naturally, his grace was like the sea, and his might like a prison.
After that explanation came the seamless little combo: preach, make you believe, then pull you into the cult.
Of course, the current "fanatics" would be even more "enthusiastic."
Precisely because they were fanatics, they were mad enough.
No one dared get too close to those "heretics."
At the same time…
"The Honkai God does not favor cremation and does not accept the bodies of sinners."
"Sinners should offer up their flesh after death, so that their souls may be purified and elevated."
With these doctrines introduced, the outsiders who had previously been stopped and forbidden from collecting corpses suddenly found every path open to them.
One day, a local little girl who had been clever since childhood and knew how to speak a little foreign language accidentally overheard a conversation.
It came from several "foreign bastards" responsible for moving corpses. Through their masks, standing in a secluded corner, they said the following:
"No wonder this medicine can sell for that much. It takes a thousand corpses infected with 'Honkai sickness' to extract one dose of serum."
"Is it really fine for us to stash corpses like this?"
"What are you worried about? There are more than a million people here. If a few go missing every day, who would know?"
"Those bastards playing god have made plenty lately."
"We're not being that greedy. Just taking a little on the side."
"That's true."
…
The contents of that terrifying conversation frightened the little girl, forced to understand too much too young, down to her bones.
That day, because she panicked too badly, like some cliché drama scene, she knocked over some debris beside her while retreating in blind fear.
Naturally, she drew the attention of those adults.
She ran with everything she had.
She wanted to escape.
She wanted to tell the truth to the others.
But she was only a young girl.
How could she possibly be a match for those adults?
At a certain moment, just as she was about to be caught…
"Buzz."
A "door" that abruptly appeared before her eyes brought her to an unfamiliar place.
She stumbled and fell to the ground.
She scrambled up in terror, only then discovering…
This place was pure white.
The floor, the walls, the pillars, the ceiling.
All of it was the same.
The few things here that had "color" were an empty, gorgeous throne, and beside that throne, a small potted tree that was golden and semi-transparent.
"Buzz."
Another "door" appeared abruptly.
By the time the little girl came back to herself, she realized she had already returned to her own shabby home.
She had been saved.
She was filled with lingering fear.
But after that fear passed, as she recalled that strange experience…
"Could that have been where the Heavenly God lives?"
"Was it the true Heavenly God who let me discover those wicked people's sinful dealings?"
On this day, true faith was born in the little girl's heart.
According to her memory, she faced the direction where she had fallen out and began to kneel in worship.
"Honorable Heavenly God."
"Please punish those evil cultists and villains!"