Inside the tent, the teenagers sat in a circle.
The priest in black left his seat, his voice booming: "Alright children, please keep quiet, the sharing session is officially starting."
Once everyone quieted down, he gestured toward Starlight, who was sitting in a ladylike pose, and introduced her with a smile: "I surely don't need to introduce the person beside me; I've known her since she was at the age of wearing braces, just like all of you here."
"Starlight is here today specifically to answer your questions, so don't be shy, feel free to ask anything."
A black teenage girl raised her hand first, her face full of confusion: "I know a few friends who aren't religious, and I'm fulfilling my duty to help more people accept Jesus and spread the Gospel... but I feel like they are somewhat resistant. Am I doing something wrong?"
Starlight smiled: "The Lord is everywhere, whether one believes or not..."
"—So only by sincerely worshipping and observing the commandments can one receive the Lord's blessings and grace." The priest took over, looking at the black girl with a solemn expression, his voice rising, "You are just thinking of them, saving their fallen souls! Are you going to give up just because of a little resistance?"
"That's right!" "That's how it should be!"
A few youths dressed particularly conservatively immediately voiced their agreement.
Wade nodded along with the people around him, sneering inwardly: 'Isn't this just to brainwash these kids into becoming free missionaries and expanding their base?'
Annie's smile froze, and her hands on her knees tightened on her skirt: 'It's like this again. Every time I want to say something sincere, I'm always interrupted by these people who think they know better.'
She watched the black girl nodding as if she understood, and a sense of powerlessness welled up in her heart.
She wasn't spreading the Gospel; she was just playing a puppet that Vought and the church needed.
Starlight opened her mouth, wanting to say something else, but caught a glimpse of her mother standing on the other side, glaring and making a zipping motion with her hand across her mouth, so she immediately shut her mouth: 'Is this what a superhero is? I can't even speak.'
After a few seconds of silence, a white teenage boy with freckles curiously raised his hand, his cheeks slightly flushed: "Have, have you ever had a boyfriend? Have you ever had... uh, intimate relations?"
This question was like a stone thrown into calm water; curious and probing gazes immediately focused on Starlight, and the tent was filled with a restless atmosphere.
Starlight tried to maintain her smile and said: "I dated a drummer boy for a year before, but we only held hands. I will remain pure until I meet someone I truly love."
The priest nodded in satisfaction and solemnly warned: "One must not defile the marriage bed; fornication and illicit relations will surely be judged by the Lord. We should take Starlight as our example."
Just then, a red-haired girl stood up, looking eagerly at Starlight: "How, how do you view homosexuality? Last night... I saw you with a girl, hugging and cuddling, very intimate."
She pointed her finger at Wade in the corner: "It's him."
"Whoa—!" "Is that for real?!"
The tent exploded with noise. Everyone's gazes darted back and forth between Starlight and Wade, full of shock and curiosity.
Starlight suppressed her displeasure, changed her sitting posture, and said in a calm tone: "I respect everyone's sexual orientation. As for last night, I was just out with a friend. Who hasn't walked arm-in-arm or leaned against a close female friend?"
The red-haired girl gripped her Starlight doll tightly, suddenly held up her phone, and asked with a trembling voice: "Including... kissing like this?"
Wade turned his head to look at the screen, frowning deeply: 'This must be photoshopped! Wouldn't I know if it happened?'
The picture captured the moment he and Annie were whispering with their heads turned, their lips almost touching and then separating; under the lighting effects, it looked exactly like a kiss with a string of saliva.
"Oh my God!" "Is it really...?"
"She just said she was a pure virgin!"
Sounds of questioning and exclamations rang out one after another.
Starlight looked at it carefully for a moment and couldn't help but laugh: "This is completely a forced perspective; we were just whispering to each other."
A suppressed buzzing sound arose at the scene, and the cameras of busybodies silently aimed at Starlight.
Wade was startled, countless thoughts flashing through his mind; first, he had to play the part of an "indignant best friend" well.
The priest's face was grim, just as Donna's mother was about to raise her hand to speak.
Wade stood up and pointed at the red-haired girl with great resentment: "Last night, Starlight and I saw you being bullied and saved you out of kindness! Starlight even kindly paid to help you settle your debts!"
"Using a photo that distorts the truth to smear her in public—is this how you repay her?!"
He scanned the people present, his tone pained: "The Lord teaches us to love others as ourselves and teaches us to overcome evil with good. May I ask, did the Lord teach you to treat the person who helped you this way? To use lies and malice to hurt her?"
Under the questioning and condemning gazes of the crowd, the red-haired girl trembled slightly: "I... I'm sorry."
She choked back sobs, tears streaming down: "I didn't mean to... I'm also a fan of Starlight... I just saw you two being so intimate, and I was envious and confused... I don't know if the Lord will accept me."
The tense atmosphere at the scene became increasingly strange, and people began to whisper.
"As long as you repent sincerely, the Lord will certainly accept you." The priest in black gripped the cross with a serious expression and said in a deep voice: "'In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men...' Child, the confusion you feel is a temptation from the devil. You must strengthen your faith, pray for the Lord's guidance, and stay away from such sins."
The sharing session drew to a close amid the priest's biblical "discipline."
Annie smiled at Wade, her eyes full of gratitude.
Wade winked and gestured in response, pondering how to slip away: 'I need to find an excuse to sneak off; I still have to make a trip to Waverly City to find evidence at the St. John's Gospel Church.'
At this moment, at the entrance of the seminar tent, behind the crowd of onlookers.
Butcher, who had a shaved head and a thick beard on his chin, turned and walked away: "Tch, it's just this kind of showboating again, nothing interesting."
Hughie, also wearing a fuzzy beard, followed: "Where are we going first?"
MM, wearing an afro wig, held a promotional card and said while walking: "Let's go line up at 'Standard's' place; the next confession guidance ceremony is about to start."
A few minutes later, the three arrived at the northwest corner of the gathering.
Butcher, Hughie, and MM were queuing up behind the long line leading to "Standard's" tent.
Butcher was eating popcorn out of boredom, his eyes scanning the surrounding Vought security personnel: "A guard every ten steps, a sentry every five paces; these bastards have actually learned to be smart."
Hughie pointed to the dense cameras all around and whispered: "Don't you go doing anything reckless now; the 'Lord' is watching!"
Butcher patted his shoulder and mocked coldly: "Do you believe that there is an invisible person living in the sky, watching everything you do every single moment?"
"If this person really exists, then I can only say he is a cold-blooded and incompetent coward... watching the disasters, massacres, and conflicts in the world, and his most powerful response is letting his own son be nailed to a cross alive? This is fucking ridiculous!"
"Sorry, he didn't take his meds!" MM apologized nervously to the crowd around them and pushed him: "Watch it, many people here truly believe in this."
Butcher flicked a piece of popcorn at him and grinned: "I forgot, you black guys are all Baptists, you'll be shouting 'Praise the Lord' along with them."
MM patted the VIP pass in his hand, his expression calm: "I'm Anglican. Besides, embracing faith and guiding people to be good is nothing wrong."
"Like him?" Butcher pointed at the Rubber Man demonstrating his abilities on stage, listening to him talk eloquently about the theory of innate ability, and said through gritted teeth, "This type of clergy member is also how they 'embrace' those nuns and little boys."
Their conversation attracted suspicious and disgusted looks from the surrounding crowd, who all moved further away.
"You two, say less. We're almost there, and we're waiting for the confession and repentance." Hughie pushed the two forward and winked: "I'm going to look around elsewhere; see you later."
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