Chapter 36: Say No More, Say No More

How furious were the grieving families? One only had to look at the sea of people swarming the church doors to understand. Had the state police not arrived in time, every pastor inside would likely have been torn to shreds by the enraged mob. To arrest Reverend Edward, the entire Chicago police force had been mobilized, and even then, they barely managed to break through the crowd.

The mere thought that the remains of their departed loved ones had been defiled by such a beast—that their souls had been tainted and barred from heaven—made the families’ eyes bloodshot with rage. When Reverend Edward, trembling and deathly pale, was finally led out of the church in handcuffs, the furious mob surged forward again, pelting him with bricks and stones. A clash with the police ensued, resulting in over twenty arrests. It was only when the Mayor of Chicago personally stepped forward to condemn this appalling atrocity and vowed that no such evil criminal would be spared that a larger-scale riot was averted.

It was not just Chicagoans who were stunned; the entire United States was sent into an uproar. It was sickening, absolutely depraved. The most disgusting part was that the perpetrator of such a monstrous crime was a man who, in his daily life, preached morality, claimed to dedicate his entire being to God, and acted with such pious, radiating holiness that he seemed to wear a halo. Even the most devout believers were left speechless, unable to utter a word. One might find a way to rationalize an incident involving a young boy—calling it a misunderstanding, perhaps—but necrophilia? Sorry, that was a perversion so niche that it found no sympathy, not even within the church.

The media was in a frenzy. What a cataclysmic scandal! If one factored in the ongoing lawsuit between the Reverend and Logan, it was a plot twist of biblical proportions. It was a gold mine. Following the sensationalism of the lingerie parade and the Logan trial, newspaper owners and editors realized that the public would only fixate on one thing at a time. When such a story broke, by pulling out all the stops—hiring star reporters, printing front-page headlines, and expanding coverage—newspaper sales could skyrocket tenfold or more. Many reporters had already gathered in Chicago for the second round of the legal battle between the Reverend and Logan; now, even more arrived from all corners of the country within a single day.

Soon, the eyes of the nation were fixed on Chicago. Everywhere people went, they saw or heard frantic coverage of the event. In newspaper headlines, magazine features, radio broadcasts, the speeches of orators and politicians, and even in theater programs, the story was inescapable. Unless one closed their eyes and plugged their ears, there was no escaping the psychic pollution of the "Church Necrophilia Scandal." Indeed, the photographs from *The Sun* were widely reprinted. Such an act, which challenged the limits of human cognition regardless of where it occurred, made people feel physically unclean just by reading about it.

*The Sun*, that devil of a publication, was determined to see this psychic pollution through to the end. After breaking the monumental story, it stayed ahead of the competition by digging into every sordid detail and drawing provocative conclusions. For instance: "Reverend Edward is thin, pale, with thin lips that he keeps tightly pursed. His fingers are long and pointed like talons; he looks like a corpse dug up from the grave—is it possible he’s spent quite a lot of time digging up corpses himself?"

"Enough!" Chicagoans cried, covering their eyes while peeking through their fingers at *The Sun’s* follow-up reports. How could such a disgusting person exist in the world? Defiling a freshly deceased body had already shattered their worldview, but digging them up from the grave to do it amidst the stench of rot? "Ugh!" Even the mere thought made people gag.

Unexpectedly, after the initial arraignment, Edward confessed to his actions. He testified that he had never dug up any graves, but—and this "but" made the hearts of all Chicagoans stop—he had frequently volunteered at morgues and funeral homes to "pray" over the bodies. It was said he was quite broad-minded, showing no preference for gender, provided the corpse was to his liking.

"God!!!" The wails of Chicago echoed through the streets. Now, the scope of the victims had expanded. Every elderly person in Chicago with a breath of life left was now terrified of dying. It was a perfect demonstration of the phrase, "Death is not to be feared; what is to be feared is being violated after death."

At this moment, Logan stepped in, firing on all cylinders. His reputation among the public was no longer just good; it was stellar. The logic was simple and rustic: if Reverend Edward was a deranged monster, didn't that make Logan, his target, a saint? Once a "knight of justice" only in the eyes of women, Logan was now becoming the "knight of justice" for the entire nation. Even if he claimed to be a bird-man—no, an angel descended from heaven—many would have believed him.

Of course, Logan had no interest in being a bird-man. He only enjoyed hitting where it hurt and unleashing a torrent of criticism. He first brought up his "cockroach theory": "If the depraved acts of one pastor in a Chicago church have been exposed, how many more such acts by pastors across America remain hidden?" This thought sent shivers down the spines of all Americans, leaving them too afraid to ponder the implications.

Furthermore:
*Shouldn’t America Reflect on Itself?*
*How Can We Build a Civilized World Alongside These Vermin? Looking Forward to the Arrival of True Civilization.*
*Pastors and Priests, Do Not Ask How Devout the Citizens Are to God; Ask How Devout You Are to God. Do Not Ask What Citizens Can Do for God, but What You Can Do Less Of for God.*

Mimicking the unhinged style of the "Mele Sect," the damage dealt to religious figures was absolute, hitting maximum levels. Driven by some opportunistic reporters, investigations even unearthed a few affairs between priests and young boys. Ordinarily, this would have been national news, but under the "radiant glow" of Reverend Edward, these stories seemed almost tame. It was proof enough, however, of Logan's influence.

It had to be admitted that in this era, the church still held considerable social status. On one hand, this status was maintained by the power of habit; on the other, the scale of church gatherings was growing, and the number of clergy was increasing daily. It was clear that the church's position in the lives of Americans remained unshakable. But in this wave, something on a spiritual level had vanished from the church. Especially among the younger generation, when the church told them they could help them meet God, their first thought was, "Like Reverend Edward in Chicago? If so, I’d rather not meet God."

Churches across America were welcoming a massive crisis of faith! This made church leaders wish they could strangle Edward themselves. But there was no help for it; the best strategy now was to make Logan shut up. When a segment of the church, distinct from the fundamentalists, sent a message to *The Sun* expressing a "hope for more restrained discourse," Logan laughed. Now, this was a conversation worth having.

What? You say you’re dropping the lawsuit? The lawsuit was no longer a concern; the plaintiff was already safely behind bars, so what was the point of fighting it? "How about this: I’m planning to turn *Fifty Shades of Grey* into a movie. Can you all just pretend you didn't see it?"

"What? That’s difficult?"

"Then I’ll have to continue digging into Reverend Edward’s 'glorious deeds,' such as how he skillfully cleaned up the corpses afterward..."

(The church, with a pained expression, raised a French military salute): "Say no more! Just stop!"