HLM – Chapter 981 Godfather

After a while, Wang Bo noticed a small head peeking out from a car in the distance.

He took the binoculars from Dale and looked. Seeing several children peeking around, he said, “Someone’s coming up ahead. Go tell your sister to impose martial law.”

“So soon? Isn’t it a bit early?”

“Go tell your sister! Early?!” Wang Bo gave her a strange look.

Dale nodded and ran off quickly.

Wang Bo saw someone aiming at him, so he jumped down and hid behind the car.

Led by Li Xing and Atulu, a group of child soldiers, holding laser guns, charged forward excitedly.

Atulu shouted, “I see them! Their scout is the mayor! Surround him and capture him alive!”

Li Xing said, “Split into three groups. I’ll lead Team A to capture the mayor. Kid, you lead Team B to provide cover. Atulu, you take Team C and continue the advance.”

Wang Bo occasionally poked his head out and fired a couple of shots. Since he was playing with children, he couldn’t be too serious; his shots were casual and didn’t hit anyone.

He also had another plan: to lure the enemy with himself. Dale went to report the situation to Eva. With Eva’s tactical skills, the defensive line would surely be well set up.

As long as he distracted some of the attackers, Eva could bring reinforcements and execute a counter-encirclement, wiping out part of them.

But Dale was gone for quite a while and hadn’t returned. Wang Bo anxiously looked back and finally saw her—only, where were the reinforcements? Why was it just Dale?

Dale ran up, panting, and shouted, “Teacher, I couldn’t borrow any salt. Can I borrow a box of pepper instead? What are we eating? Do we have to bring our own salt?”

Li Xing, lying at the back of the car, looked at Wang Bo in disbelief and yelled, “Bring salt? Who are you representing? Filming an ad?”

Wang Bo was even more confused. He looked at Dale and asked, “What did you say?”

“You said someone was bringing food, so I went to borrow salt. There’s no salt, only pepper.”

Wang Bo stared at the small plastic box in her hand, nearly spitting out the beer he had just swallowed. What on earth was going on?

“I said martial law! Not borrowing salt! There are enemies coming, not people delivering food!”

Dale said timidly, “But I thought it was lunchtime.”

Li Xing burst out laughing behind them, saying, “Wang Bo, your daughter is too cute. I can’t bring myself to ‘take her out.’ Forget it, cuteness is justice. Let her go deliver the pepper.”

Wang Bo waved for Dale to run off quickly. As soon as he poked his head out again, the sensor on his hat lit up red and started making a “squeak, squeak” sound.

“Yay!” shouted several children excitedly.

Li Xing waved at him regretfully. “Headshot!”

Wang Bo left the training field and drank beer with Uncle Bing.

“This was supposed to be a proper training exercise, and it turned into a parent-child outing,” he said, feeling frustrated.

Hani said, “Isn’t that a good thing? It makes the mayor more approachable. I’m almost certain that, as long as you don’t make mistakes in the next six months, you’ll still hold the mayor’s seat for the next four years.”

The children were indeed having fun. Minor quarrels occurred occasionally, but the parents watched, smiling, fully adopting a ‘free-range’ approach.

Many parents came over to greet Wang Bo. When lunchtime arrived, he became even more popular; nearly every household waved him over to share a meal.

After making a round, he returned, waved his hand, and said, “I’m full. I won’t eat anymore.”

Atulu envied him. “Boss, can you take me around next time?”

“I don’t want everyone to be hungry while playing in the afternoon.”

The children had endless energy. In the afternoon, they still wanted to play with guns. Li Xing had them split into squads for free-for-all battles, which gave the parents a break, while the kids had a blast.

Wang Bo sat on the grass and noticed someone nearby reading the Bible. He glanced at him and asked, “You seem unfamiliar here?”

“I just moved to town recently, Mayor,” the man smiled.

It turned out he was a new town resident. Wang Bo tried to make conversation. “Do you follow a religion?”

“Yes, Mayor. I’m a Catholic. I used to be a godfather in Dunedin.”

Hearing this, Wang Bo was stunned. “You’re a Catholic godfather? And here… I mean, among these kids?”

He was puzzled because, aside from his team, all other adults present were just the children’s parents. According to his knowledge, traditional Catholic clergy are celibate and cannot have illegitimate children, so he didn’t understand this godfather’s presence.

The godfather said, “Oh, that child in yellow is my adopted son. I brought him here to study and left him here.”

Wang Bo asked, “Then what do you do here?”

Sunset Town didn’t have a church. Firstly, the population used to be small, so it wasn’t necessary. Secondly, New Zealand’s Christian composition is complex, and he didn’t know which kind of church to build.

Christianity is the largest religion in New Zealand, but it doesn’t dominate completely. The country has a population of 4.5 million, with 1.6 million non-religious. This doesn’t mean they lack beliefs—they value money and family instead.

Among the rest, there are 1.9 million Christians, down 26% from ten years ago. Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian numbers decreased, while Pentecostal numbers rose. Other religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam increased.

This is mainly due to the influx of immigrants over the years, and Sunset Town is a hub for newcomers, making faith complex.

Sunset Town is unlike traditional towns such as Lewis Town or Tahiti Town, where residents are stable and faith is inherited across generations. Here, Wang Bo didn’t know what kind of church to build. Christian branches vary, and each has different church structures.

For example, Orthodox churches are ornate, filled with decorations and paintings of Jesus and Mary. Catholic churches are complex, lavishly decorated with statues of Jesus on the cross, angels, and more. Protestant churches are simpler—for instance, in China, a Protestant church might only have a cross, a pulpit, and rows of chairs.

Building a church haphazardly could cause problems. If Sunset Town were mainly Catholic, building an Orthodox church would be provocative. If it were primarily Muslim, any church would be trouble.

So Wang Bo decided not to build anything. Sometimes doing less is better.

How do believers practice their faith? Not difficult—nearby Lewis Town is a Catholic hub, and there are many Orthodox and Protestant churches in the larger city. True believers don’t mind traveling.

Wang Bo had always tried to minimize his involvement with religion. But today, luck was against him—he ran right into the muzzle.