A charlatan who doesn't embrace his role is no true king.
Luo Shu had to admit—Prester John was in a league of his own when it came to holy theatrics. A millennium of zealotry wasn't something one could out-bullshit on the fly.
Time for a new approach.
Option 1: Evolutionary Distortion
Problem: Boosting Hume levels would empower Prester John.
Risk: Triggering Jianjia's reeds.
Option 2: Neck-Snap Teleport
Problem: Satellite surveillance. Exposure = containment.
Option 3: Mental Enslavement
Too slow. The prayer would finish first.
Final Choice: Diplomacy.
The Negotiation
Luo Shu dropped Martyr's Radiance, raising his hands in surrender.
"Great King Prester, let's talk. This mutual destruction only benefits those plotting against us."
Prester John paused mid-prayer.
Good.
Why now?
Leverage: Luo Shu had proven he could hurt him.
White-Eyes was down. No more prying eyes.
"How did you know?" the king growled when Luo Shu mentioned divine intervention.
"An old man calling himself God helped you break containment, didn't he?"
Prester John's mechanical eye whirred. "A false god! But... yes."
SCP-343's handiwork.
Luo Shu pressed: "He's using you. The Foundation will nuke your kingdom the moment you're gone."
To sell the lie, he sent Peter a covert order:
"Drop a nuke into SCP-3221-1. Now."
Prester John's face twisted. "Those heathens!"
Even a zealot understood logistics. No army = no crusade.
"Proof!" he demanded.
Luo Shu activated Self-Deception, layering conviction into his voice:
"I swear it. They're bombing your home as we speak."
Peter's reply flashed on Luo Shu's terminal:
"Nuke inbound. —Peter"