Chapter 167: A Bumper Harvest

When Li Lekang learned the whole story from Olivia, it was already over!

He had no sense of participation whatsoever throughout the entire ordeal. He was simply pulled aside by her to take cover, vaguely told there were enemies, followed by being informed the enemies had already been dealt with. Then reinforcements arrived, and finally, he was told he could go back to enjoying his party!

Suddenly, Li Lekang felt like he had lost all his dignity.

He really wanted to say that he could actually have stepped outside and let them empty a magazine at him without any problem; even if they shot at him all day with a heavy machine gun, whether they could pierce his invulnerability was still a question.

That being said, however, he had to praise these nuns who looked delicate and dainty on the outside, yet could give you total peace of mind at the critical moment: "Well done, my dears! Name whatever reward you want when we get back!"

"It is merely our duty!" Olivia replied, neither arrogant nor impatient. "Also, regarding the whole incident, we are still investigating. It is appropriate for you to stay on the yacht for now."

"OK."

Li Lekang returned to the social gathering. His friends on board had no idea what had happened; they only saw coast guard vessels appear, but nobody knew the specifics.

Li Lekang did not want to publicize the matter everywhere, so he just brushed it off with a laugh... Afterwards, the police quickly classified the incident as a premeditated but foiled terrorist attack, and the FBI even intervened.

Regarding the legality of the Saints opening fire, it was naturally just a minor detail in the face of such a big event. After all, both sides were old acquaintances, and the commissioner himself was counting on the Saints to support his mayoral campaign next year.

As one of the involved parties, Li Lekang returned home and cooperated with the agents who came to visit by chatting with them for a bit.

Then, as a religious leader, he had to sternly condemn such behavior: "Is there any hope left for this society?! When will people finally wake up and face the infringement upon our freedom of belief and the prejudice against different faiths?!"

After delivering this righteous and indignant speech, the agents were actually terrified of this guy!

Because in the United States, getting involved in certain things meant big trouble—such as racial issues and religious matters. Even the slightest misstep in one's stance could invite fierce public criticism. Facing this charismatic cult leader, they knew they couldn't afford to offend him and quickly slipped away!

Shortly after this, the outcome of another matter reached them: Stell had also been subjected to a heavily armed assault, but this fellow came out completely unscathed because he tore up a teleportation scroll and made a run for it.

With this, Young Mendez and Gardner's "perfect and swift strike" was reduced to a joke!

Supernatural power had only interfered indirectly, and the devil himself hadn't even lifted a finger before they had already lost across the board.

As soon as his plot was exposed, Young Mendez immediately boarded a private jet and fled to South America.

He did not want to follow in his adoptive father's footsteps, because he knew that once the operation failed, the truth would come to light sooner or later—even if it didn't, could Stell possibly let him off?

Therefore, without any hesitation, he ran away with his wife, daughter, and mistress!

It was precisely this act of fleeing that directly confirmed the suspicion of a guilty conscience.

Stell was just fretting over having no excuse to deal with them. With Young Mendez running away like this, Gardner cursed his entire ancestral lineage down to the eighteenth generation on the spot!

He hurriedly packed up his luggage overnight and fled while cursing through his teeth!

This fellow was exceptionally shrewd; terrified that Stell might go mad and shoot down his private jet with anti-aircraft missiles, he chose to take a commercial flight instead, using the hundreds of passengers on board as human shields!

Unfortunately, he forgot one thing: since it was no longer a private jet, how could the captain possibly obey his commands?

Unable to get in touch with him, Gardner's mistress confessed everything to the organization in exchange for leniency.

Stell immediately pulled strings within the military and issued a military restriction order, forcing the airliner—which had already flown out of Texas—to turn around and fly back!

When the old man originally looked down at the ocean below, he had heaved a massive sigh of relief. Although his departure was rushed, the wealth he managed to spirit away was more than enough for him to live an anonymous and blissful life in Argentina for the rest of his days.

However, when the plane changed direction and flew back toward land, despair washed over him. His face turned ashen and lifeless, and he even contemplated staging a desperate uprising, but the air marshals on the plane had already quietly moved in behind him.

Gardner had brought along two trusted bodyguards, but they were empty-handed. Facing armed air marshals, they obediently stayed in their seats and didn't dare to make a move.

The plane eventually landed back in Houston.

The moment it came to a halt, it was surrounded tightly by FBI and local police vehicles. SWAT officers and federal agents then swarmed forward, escorted Gardner down, put a hood over his head, and hauled him away!

Interrogated through the night, Gardner made a full confession of his actions.

Due to his advanced age, he simply couldn't withstand standard interrogation tactics.

The police didn't even need to play the good cop, bad cop routine; Gardner had only one request in exchange for his confession: to be placed in solitary confinement with his personal safety guaranteed.

The police agreed to this demand, so Gardner spilled everything clearly, including how the plan was hatched, how external armed personnel were hired, and so on.

Thus, the final desperate gamble of these two men ended with one fleeing and the other locked up.

Their blatant assassination attempt had seriously crossed the bottom line of the Saints organization!

Although Stell had been privately criticized in the past for being a traitor who stabbed his superior in the back, there was no direct evidence, and it hadn't been carried out by his own hand.

However, the nature of Gardner and Young Mendez's actions left absolutely no room for argument. Their all-in gamble had only two possible outcomes: either succeed, or run for their lives!

Success meant holding the Holy Son hostage to command the lords, while failure naturally reduced them to traitors of the organization—an evil that everyone within the ranks found utterly intolerable.

Stell didn't even need to push for it; the Tribunal immediately announced a Glorious Verdict against the two of them and their cronies!

The so-called Glorious Verdict meant dispatching Tribunal executioners to hunt them down relentlessly until death.

Young Mendez, having fled to South America, would inevitably attract hunters unless he underwent plastic surgery to completely change his appearance, remained anonymous for the rest of his life, and never dared to show off his wealth even slightly.

The Saints placed a bounty of fifty million dollars on his head, putting him on par with the biggest terrorist moguls on the list, and anyone who provided a lead would receive a reward of one million!

Once this news spread, all sorts of characters swarmed in like sharks smelling blood, and even some South American gangs joined the manhunt.

Stell no longer cared whether they managed to catch him or not; perhaps the endless fleeing was the greatest torture for Young Mendez anyway.

More importantly, after this incident, the entire political landscape of the Saints was finally firmly settled for Stell!

Among the former three major bishops in America, two were dead and one was serving a life sentence!

The Tribunal's Glorious Verdict caused the opposition against Stell to collapse overnight.

As for the bishop of Northern Canada? He had always been a neutral party who rarely meddled in these affairs, and afterwards, he very sensibly expressed his support for Stell in maintaining and expanding the organization.

The bishop of the Latin America region had been on cozy terms with Stell ever since the Messiah's manifestation event, and he was the one who provided the main force for this Glorious Verdict, working exceptionally hard.

Stell thus became the undisputed paramount leader of the Saints, and the sycophants and lacklings under his command were already initiating council procedures to nominate and crown him with the title of "Pope," echoing a tradition from a century ago.

Stell could now be described as being at the height of his power and glory, unmatched by anyone.

Yet he did not forget his roots. While everyone else was practically falling over themselves day and night to kiss up to him, he traveled thousands of miles to Los Angeles to see his demonic master.

"Make me a bishop? No way, I wouldn't be able to slack off and it'd be boring! You just go ahead and be the Pope with peace of mind. As for integrating resources and carrying forward the mission, that's all up to you. Recruiting more believers isn't a bad idea either; it's still useful to me."

Li Lekang was currently soaking his feet—this specialty from the East had, of course, been specially sourced from China by Olivia, who was exceptionally good at pampering her master.

Stell was also soaking his feet alongside him, his bald head beaming with a cozy smile. "How about I make you the vice chairman of the Saint Group? It would be immensely helpful for your social standing, and you could also manage the investment companies under its umbrella."

"That works." Li Lekang did need capitalist status.

"In addition, here is an inventory of Gardner and Mendez's primary assets. Please take a look, and let me know if there's anything you like. I can arrange it for you at any time!"

Li Lekang glanced over the list. As for corporate assets and wealth, he had largely lost interest in such things.

If I wanted money, couldn't I just embezzle it myself? Ahem! Couldn't I just apply for funds?

However, when his gaze swept over a superyacht nearing completion but not yet delivered, his interest was piqued: "A yacht that cost 600 million dollars? Gardner truly was the root of all evil within the organization!"

Stell understood instantly and immediately began introducing the superyacht: "It is a luxury yacht built to explorer standards, 122 meters long, capable of landing a helicopter. It has been under construction for four years and is scheduled for delivery very soon."

"Then let me test its performance for you!" Li Lekang accepted it with a smile, taking it as his due. "Have the manufacturer rename it the *LECON*, how about that?"

"A name that captures your prestige and elegance better than any other in existence!"

Stell praised him eloquently and sycophantically with both thumbs up, matching it with his usual serious little expression, making it look utterly sincere!

ps: There really is not a single chapter left in reserve, I'm not lying.