Chapter 232: Empty Preaching and Loyalty Test

…

Walking silently through a long corridor, Matthew passed by a side hall under the leadership of a member of the cult. When he reached the intersection ahead, he was told to wait here.

This building looks quite old on the outside, but it has been renovated inside.

Also waiting here are several other professionals dressed in different styles.

These people all seemed to have some strength. They were silent among themselves and looked very defensive.

Matthew glanced at the whole place with unscrupulous eyes, then snorted coldly and sat down on the chair next to him swaggeringly.

Peggy and A Bing stood behind him.

He was immediately shocked by some malicious looks.

There is an open room in front of the intersection.

From time to time, low voices of conversation could be heard inside.

There is probably a sound filtering magic at the door of the room.

This allows people outside to hear the conversation happening inside, but not what they actually said.

Gives people an itchy feeling.

Matthew calmed down and looked back at the side hall he had just passed. There was still a picture he had accidentally glimpsed in his mind -

It was a senior member of the Calamity Cult preaching to a group of new ordinary believers.

the senior claimed.

The great Lord of the Void, Euclus, is about to take over this land. At that time, all living creatures on the continent of Irondor will be deprived of the right to exist.

Terrible disasters will frequently occur with the appearance of giant beasts.

Ordinary people without faith will immediately become food for giant beasts.

Even if he barely survives.

There is no hope of survival.

And want to avoid all this.

Only by believing in the great Lord of the Void.

From today onwards, I will serve Yucrus, think about him often, pray every day, confess regularly and worship devoutly.

Only in this way.

When Euclus comes to the earth, believers will have the opportunity to be promoted to the kingdom of the void and become immortal void beings.

Ukruth has arranged 99 beautiful women for male believers in the kingdom of void, who are as beautiful as flowers and will obey your words;

69 strong, capable, considerate men were arranged for female believers;

If you are tired of love.

You will have the opportunity to be promoted to a more powerful "high-dimensional overlooker".

You will escape the shackles of time and space.

Become a star beside Ucruz.

Until this universe collapses.

None of you will die.

You will enjoy true eternal life and happiness.

The senior person said the above rhetoric very skillfully. It was obviously not his first time preaching.

Matthew recalled the fanatical expressions on the faces of those believers and shook his head.

One fact is certain.

The Scourge Cult is conducting a large-scale open recruitment of members in Watcher Heights.

The newly recruited members can be divided into three types -

The first type is ordinary believers.

The group of people Matthew saw in the side hall before was a typical example.

Ordinary believers only need to pay the most basic entry fee, and food and accommodation are included after joining the cult.

What you need to pay is that you have almost no personal freedom, you must act as a group at all times, and you must follow orders.

But this section has the largest number of new members.

When Matthew walked into this building, he could often see a senior member leading dozens of new members to empty rooms or side halls, and then sitting down and starting to preach.

Most of the new members are homeless people from Watcher's Heights, or low-income people who can't make ends meet.

These people originally relied on the help of the Druid Order for their lives.

But since the Blight Cultists attacked the Holy Oak District.

They lost the druids to rescue them.

Naturally, we can only find another way out.

This group of people is very large. If they all join the Scourge Cult or other cult organizations, the enemy's power will become unprecedentedly large.

This made Matthew feel heavy.

In fact, when he arrived in Cross City, he discovered that the population density here was much higher than other cities in the south.

This is obviously the result of the Earth Society.

The druids are still helping as many homeless and hungry people as possible.

But that's the side effect.

As Watcher's Heights became more and more famous, it almost became a gathering place for homeless people in the South.

Even after tasting the sweetness, many homeless people had no intention of reclaiming the land. They just waited for the Druid Order to distribute food.

Over time.

Cross City not only accumulates a huge population, but also buries many hidden dangers.

After all, once these people who are well fed become hungry, they may cause trouble.

For these people, it is of course more comfortable to lie down and receive assistance from druids, but if there is really no food to eat, then joining a cult organization is not a problem worth thinking about.

The scene before Matthew's eyes confirmed this.

The second type of new members are called "devoted believers" by senior members of the Calamity Cult.

Unlike ordinary believers who only need to pay a low entry fee, every devout believer must pay more than 1,000 gold coins immediately after joining the religion.

This fee is called a "charismatic collection."

After paying the fees.

Disaster believers will receive a divine grace token, and the level of the divine grace token will be different depending on the amount of fees paid.

And according to the level of divine grace order.

These devout believers will also receive certain positions and titles.

Although most of them are fictitious positions with little rights.

But their treatment is also much higher than that of ordinary believers.

The most important thing is that you can come and go freely, and you will not be forced to perform missions of the order.

also.

According to the news Peggy just inquired about.

In theory, the donation of divine grace was not in vain. The Natural Disaster Religion made a public promise to the devout believers——

No matter how much you donate, the entire principal will be returned after one year, along with 20% interest.

This way.

The more you donate, the more interest you earn.

It's also a good investment in theory.

In fact.

The new people who join the order and become devout believers are all merchants from Cross City.

And most of them only paid the minimum standard of 1,000 gold coins.

obviously.

These believers may be more religious about gold coins.

Matthew could understand this.

Businessmen join the Calamity Cult purely for self-protection. At most, it is a hedging bet——

After all, the current layout of Cross City is very complicated.

The Druid Order retreated to the Holy Oak area and ignored other areas;

And the Blight Cultists attack all living creatures like crazy;

In comparison, the newly emerged Calamity Cult at least has no intention of attacking or looting ordinary people.

Therefore, these 1,000 gold coins should be regarded as protection fees.

This group of people probably didn’t expect the Calamity Cult to return their principal plus interest after one year.

Based on Matthew and Paige's observations.

The number of devout believers is about 1/15 of ordinary believers.

The number is not huge.

But these people all have considerable influence in Cross City.

And as time goes by.

This group of people will expand more and more.

By then, maybe the entire Cross City will be members of the Calamity Cult.

In comparison, the third type of members has the smallest number, and that is the newly joined professionals.

This group is called "tentacles" by veterans.

It means "tentacles of Uclus".

The tentacles have the best treatment. Not only do they not need to pay entry fees, but they also include food and accommodation, unlimited freedom, and a salary!

Can be corresponding.

Becoming a Tentacle of the Scourge Cult requires rigorous vetting.

Matthew has successfully passed the previous two inspections by virtue of his identity as a necromancer.

Currently waiting for the review of the final boss.

About ten minutes passed.

The figures at the front came in and out one after another, and finally it was Matthew's turn.

When passing by the door.

A guard stopped him abruptly:

"You are not allowed to bring anyone else with you to see the Patriarch."

Matthew smiled maliciously at him:

"Do you want to be a zombie or a skeleton?"

The guard looked angry:

"Are you threatening me? Necromancer!?"

"I won't accept your trick..."

However, a faint voice came from the room:

"Let him in."

The guard snorted and moved away angrily.

Matthew gave him the middle finger.

A Bing and Peggy also followed the same example when they passed by.

The guard was trembling with anger, but he didn't dare to do anything.

The room was empty.

There were only two chairs in the center, and a woman sat on one of them.

She looks about 27 or 28 years old, with long wavy golden hair, and under the big waves shawl are more dizzying white waves.

Her figure is a bit too good to be true, and it would be an understatement to say that she has a small body but a large body.

"Please take a seat."

The blonde woman's tone was gentle.

As Matthew sat down, he stared at her waist and breasts intently.

His gaze was quite naked, and he made no attempt to hide it.

The blonde woman was not angry, but smiled slightly:

"Does it look good?"

Matthew swallowed:

"nice."

The blonde woman smiled even more charmingly:

"Really? It's worth it. I endured the pain and had two ribs removed."

"Is there anything you want to say to me, handsome boy?"

Matthew licked his lips:

"I can smoke better."

The blonde woman was slightly startled.

Matthew explains:

"I'm a professional at rib smoking."

"If you want to smoke two more next time, be sure to come to me. My techniques will definitely make you enjoy it to the extreme."

The woman's eyes became a little subtle.

She looked at the simple information next to her and made a provocative hum:

"Necromancer?"

Matthew nodded.

"Why join the Calamity Cult?"

she asked suddenly.

Matthew answered without hesitation:

"Lack of money."

The blond woman shook her head slightly, with a look of satisfaction in her eyes.

obviously.

The answer Matthew prepared was very consistent with other people's stereotypes of necromancers.

"Is there any other reason?"

she asked again.

Matthew rubbed his hands:

"Lack of materials, I mean, I hope to get a stable source of corpses."

The blonde didn't act surprised.

She covered one gray thigh on top of the other leg, hugged her knees with both hands, and her upper body couldn't help but lean forward. The white and full waves hit Matthew's field of vision hard.

"We already have some necromancers in our cult, but if you are strong enough, I can give you some corpses regularly, but the premise of all this is that you must prove that you are worthy of this treatment."

The blonde said.

Matthew seemed very confident:

"Except for Baiyan City, in the south, my necromancy attainments are the best!"

The blonde did not comment on this.

She took another look at Matthew's information:

"It says that you were active near Zeshui City before, why did you come to Watcher Highlands?"

Matthew hesitated for a moment, then answered briefly:

"Revenge."

The blonde became interested:

"Tell me in detail."

Matthew was silent for a while, then slowly said:

"I have some personal grudges with the druids here."

"In the Earth Society, there is a guy called the Ancient Tiger, who stole my wife."

"I love her very much, but she betrayed me and found a rustic savage! I can't accept this."

Female The man showed a little sympathy on his face, but it soon turned into a strong gossip fire:

"I heard that druids are very playful, they may be very good at seducing others, so this may not be your wife's fault, she may just make a mistake that ordinary women would make."

"Excuse me, why was your wife stolen away by the Ancient Tiger?"

Matthew was furious when he heard this:

"What did you say?"

The woman spread her hands:

"Okay, okay, just treat it as my slip of the tongue, what happened next? Did you succeed in your revenge?"

Matthew nodded and shook his head.

"Half successful."

He said: "My wife is back to me, and I made her pay a small price."

"But I didn't catch that guy called the Ancient Tiger, and I'm still looking for his traces everywhere."

When he said this.

Matthew also hugged Peggy to his side, his eyes looked particularly fierce and vicious.

The woman looked surprised.

Her eyes moved back and forth between Matthew and Peggy, her voice filled with a hint of uncontrollable excitement:

"You made your wife into a skeleton?"

Matthew did not deny:

"This way she will never betray me."

The woman's body trembled slightly, and her voice became a little strange:

"Very good, very manly, our cult needs a tough guy like you."

"If I help you find the ancient tiger, what will you do to him?"

Matthew immediately showed a sinister expression:

"Oh, I will make him unforgettable for life."

The woman was very satisfied with this.

She greeted the guard:

"I seem to have heard the name of the Ancient Tiger somewhere, do you remember it?"

The guard quickly replied:

"In the previous battle, our people have fought against the Ancient Tiger, and it was a very difficult character."

"But later I heard that he was taken away by Queen House of the Whaler."

Matthew immediately shouted:

"Do you have any clues about him? Tell me where he is!?"

The woman smiled and calmed him down:

"Don't get excited, the cult will definitely fulfill your long-cherished wish, but before that, you must prove your strength to me."

"You have to show me your skills."

As she said.

She took Matthew out of the other side door and came to a yard.

There were many moving dummies and movable targets here.

"I have seen your summons, and these two look pretty good."

"So you just need to show me your spell ability."

The woman said so.

However, Matthew frowned when he looked at the targets:

"I never target a pile of junk."

The woman asked with interest:

"What kind of target do you hope to find?"

While talking.

There was a rumbling sound on the street at the other end of the yard.

Matthew opened a random door after hearing this.

The next second.

He appeared on the wall.

But a group of withered believers suddenly emerged on the street. These believers gathered together like a flood and attacked the buildings on the street.

Matthew started chanting without saying a word.

Three seconds later.

A strange force field with dark scars appeared on the street, imprisoning the withered believers.

Then.

Two 20-meter-long scissors cut symmetrically.

But with a click.

These hundreds of withered believers were cut into two parts.

Some of them were still shouting slogans such as "weeds" and "pests".

But as they shouted.

Their mouths came into contact with the mud.

Very quickly.

Their bodies also turned into blood mud and merged into the earth.

This scene shocked many people on both sides of the street.

The guard at the door also rushed out.

His expression became stunned.

Matthew looked at him proudly:

"How is it?"

"Do you need me to show you more?"

The guard swallowed:

"No, your magic is impressive."

"But those people just now... they are our allies."

Matthew suddenly looked embarrassed:

"Ah? Why didn't you say it earlier!"

But the next second.

A warm, soft feeling came from his arm.

The blonde woman also passed through the door and stood side by side with him.

She took Matthew's arm very enthusiastically, and her soft balls kept stimulating his nerves.

"it does not matter."

"A dead ally is no longer qualified to be an ally."

"Welcome to join the Calamity Cult!"

Matthew did not refuse her embrace, but instead grabbed a handful of her with a pretense of lust:

"So, I became a tentacle?"

"Is there any task you need me to do?"

The blonde woman's eyes narrowed into a thin line, and her voice was numb and she said in Matthew's ear:

"The first task is to come to my room tonight."

Matthew was outwardly ecstatic.

Secretly, my heart skipped a beat.

broken.

Overacted!

"My name is Marie Joa, codenamed Camellia, and I am the interim patriarch of the Central Order. We will be partners from now on."

"Partners can't have too many secrets. I have to conduct an examination on you tonight. You must prepare carefully!"

Mary Joa squeezed the flesh of Matthew's waist with charming eyes, and then left with satisfaction.

Matthew was left standing alone on the wall.

Silently thinking about the strategy for the night.

fine.

Matthew has a reputation for quick wit.

That night, he chose to face Marigio's examination calmly, but at the critical moment, he hesitated to tell the other party that his body was seriously affected by negative energy.

Some tissues have become necrotic and cannot be used.

Mary Joa was naturally unwilling to give in.

She checked it carefully.

But with Matthew's control over negative energy, it wouldn't be a problem to temporarily freeze his lower body with negative energy.

After a few back and forth attempts, Mariejoia let Matthew leave with a disappointed look on her face.

On the way back to the room assigned to Matthew by the Tianzai Order.

Peggy gloated:

"Fortunately, she doesn't have any quirks, otherwise you might not be able to get away with this."

Matthew was a little scared when he heard this.

fine.

The people of the Scourge Cult are not as perverted as the mages of the Alliance.

At least they had no intention of reusing the superficially necrotic tissues and organs.

Think so.

Matthew couldn't help but speed up his departure.

"Why are you walking so fast?"

Paige wondered.

Matthew was silent.

It wasn't until he returned to the room, used his life energy to expel all the negative energy occupying his lower body, and felt the rebirth of the necrotic tissue again, that he breathed a sigh of relief.

at the same time.

A strange feeling surged from his groin.

…

"Hint: You have completed a key conversion between negative energy and life energy in your body.

Your conversion factor +10 (balanced field)

Your negative energy transformation has produced new effects: you can carry out negative energy transformation on part of the body or organs. As long as the negative energy is removed within three hours and replaced with life energy, the transformed organs and tissues will As good as new, you might even get an extra boost. "

…

"Key transition? Means a reward for taking desperate risks?"

Matthew's eyes lit up.

The improvement of negative energy transformation means that his body can directly transform back and forth between the living and the undead to a greater extent.

This doesn't just help him in combat.

There are also many applications in daily life.

Matthew started thinking quickly.

the following few days.

Matthew patiently circled Marigio.

After the Natural Disaster Cult moved into Cross City, they showed considerable restraint. Apart from going door to door to promote the teachings of Ukrus, they did not harass or loot ordinary people.

This is in sharp contrast to the irrational Blight Cultists.

So in many people's minds.

The image of the Natural Disaster Religion is relatively positive.

The number of people joining the church is also increasing day by day.

But on the professional side.

Marie Joa was very strict.

In the past few days, apart from Matthew, only one human ranger named "White Helmet" has successfully joined.

"White Helmets" is obviously just a code name.

But the ranger was very cautious and did not want to reveal his name, and Mariejoia did not force it.

It is worth mentioning that.

The guy named White Helmet has a rather slovenly appearance. His big beard makes him look like he is in his forties or fifties. His eyes are extremely cloudy and he is addicted to alcohol.

As soon as he joined the cult, he asked Mary Joa for an advance on next month's salary and drank heavily all night.

As a result, he encountered an embarrassing scene similar to Matthew's in Mary Joa's room.

Matthew watched secretly.

It didn't take long.

White Helmet was kicked out by Marigio. He looked drunk and didn't understand what happened.

But Marigio's resentment could be smelled across the room.

that moment.

Matthew, who was hiding in the dark, and the dangling white helmet looked at each other unexpectedly.

There was a trace of complicated emotions in the eyes of both parties.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

October 13th.

Mary Joa suddenly summoned Matthew and White Helmet to her side.

She informed the two.

Tonight, a very important batch of goods will depart from the Underground Temple and be transported to a secret base built by the three major organizations.

As the new stronghold established by the Scourge Cult in Cross City.

Marigio and her men were not responsible for the entire process, not even for delivering the goods to the secret base.

They only need to escort the convoy forward on a specific stretch of road.

The time was set at 10pm.

Mariejoia ordered the two of them to follow her.

to be honest.

When Mary Joa described the mission, Matthew felt something was not right.

If it is a secret escort mission, it can be completed directly by the people from the Dark Templar. Why do we need members of the Cross City branch to interfere?

If it's a matter of lack of manpower, why do we only need to escort a section of the way?

Combined with Marie Joa's nonchalant attitude.

Matthew suspected that this was a test of loyalty between him and the White Helmets by the Scourge.

This is normal.

Since it is difficult to recruit people, all cult organizations often trick people into joining them first, then conduct loyalty tests in batches, and then allocate powers and conduct targeted training based on the test results.

For this loyalty test.

Matthew has his own understanding.

First of all, you must not do anything treacherous.

Secondly, you can't show too much loyalty.

The selfishness and adaptability of high-level evil elements must be shown.

Otherwise, others will become suspicious.

therefore.

While waiting for the task to start.

Matthew had rehearsed hundreds of unexpected scenarios in his mind.

Night falls.

More than a dozen figures left the Scourge Cult's stronghold in Cross City.

Led by Marie Gioia.

The group of people arrived at an underground entrance near Cross City. This underground entrance should have been opened by the Scourge Order itself. It was not the same one that the fox of the Druid Order told Matthew.

A group of people walked into the tunnel.

It took about 10 minutes.

The sound of rushing water came from the ground ahead.

It's an underground river.

Everyone lit torches and groped around the underground river for a while, and soon Mary Joa found a deer-headed statue close to the stone wall.

She waved her hand and motioned for everyone to disperse, but everyone had to look at the deer-headed statue.

The group of people stared like this for half an hour.

suddenly.

The buck's eyes lit up!

Its eyes glowed with gray-white light.

Immediately afterwards.

The deer head fell from the stone wall.

A rugged portal appeared behind the huge deer head.

Mary Joa raised her hand.

Everyone cheered up.

Immediately afterwards.

The area of ​​the portal is getting larger and larger, big enough to accommodate a carriage to enter and exit normally.

Tuk-tuk-tuk.

Accompanied by the sound of horse hooves.

Underground carriages with special shapes appeared in front of everyone.

The horses that pull the cart are underground ponies that are unique to the Underdark.

They are not tall but have great endurance, and even have the ability to penetrate walls slightly, making them very suitable for transporting goods underground.

Matthew narrowed his eyes.

With the help of dark vision, he saw that the first carriage was carrying a rusty cage.

There is a monster twisted into a ball in the cage.

Its appearance at this time looks a bit like a twist.

"Ms. Marigio, your new members look quite energetic!"

"Then I'll take care of the rest of the journey."

A somewhat familiar voice sounded.

Matthew's heart trembled.

But I saw a rather handsome young man walking out from behind the portal.

His eyes looked around casually until they locked on Matthew, and they immediately became meaningful.

…

"Warning: You have encountered a projection of the Traveler God!"

…