Chapter 1041: Chapter 1041

"Hao Yi bro, why are you here?"

Lin Chichi turned her head, looking at the young man behind her holding a buffet plate, looking left and right as if to confirm she hadn’t mistaken the person.

"Newland City-State received some ’cases’, so I came over to have a look,"

He Ao used a fork to put a small piece of smoked sausage into his mouth, then he glanced at Lin Chichi’s sleeve and smiled, "Signal cut off?"

Lin Chichi was slightly stunned, blushing slightly, she lowered her head and waved her hands, hastily saying,

"I also prepared a backup. I placed a communication device outside, though the signal is cut off now. I have set it to perform a signal check every ten minutes. As long as the next check does not receive a signal, it will automatically send the collected intelligence."

Then she looked up, cautiously stole a glance at the young man in front of her.

"Have something to eat."

He Ao glanced at her cautious demeanor, pointed his fork at the sausage on the table, and smiled as he spoke.

Lin Chichi chuckled, turned around, raised her hand, and took a small plate from the table, imitating He Ao.

She picked some smoked sausage on her plate, then grabbed a fork, skewered the sausage, and put it in her mouth. She bit into the smoked sausage, chewing carefully while looking at He Ao, her eyes slightly widened, "It’s really delicious."

He Ao also put a piece of smoked sausage into his mouth.

"It has a hint of honey flavor, so fragrant,"

Once again, Lin Chichi skewered a piece of smoked sausage, chewing it while looking at the small groups of people gathering in the distance, "Brother Hao Yi, the people who come here, seem to be not just ordinary people who received flyers,"

She slightly pointed with the fork holding the sausage to several people standing near the innermost side of the hall, speaking softly,

"That one on the left is the boss of Mote City’s TV station, the one chatting with him is the captain of the local gendarmerie here, and a bit further away is the boss of a municipal company."

"How do you know these people?"

He Ao raised his gaze, sweeping in the direction Lin Chichi pointed.

In the deep part of the hall near the stage, those gathered seemed to be people of certain ’status,’ their clothing’s texture completely different from those on the periphery.

"From newspapers and news,"

Lin Chichi explained, "I’ve watched a lot of news reports these past few days, more or less understanding these ’prominent’ figures in Mote City."

She glanced at the young man beside her.

Of course, these ’prominent’ figures in front of Brother Hao Yi are nothing more than slightly bigger ants.

Then she retracted her gaze, thoughtfully saying, "But judging from the financial power this church displays and these ’celebrities’ they can invite, they shouldn’t be silent. But I don’t seem to have seen them in the World Tree’s related information."

As a member responsible for ’propaganda,’ Lin Chichi actually has high access to information inside the Research Institute; she can consult most personnel intelligence except for some confidential Extraordinary Items.

After He Ao took charge of the Yika Republic, he also opened the intelligence access of the Yika World Tree for her.

"Previously, local forces in Yika were managing the Yika Republic,"

He Ao shook his head slightly, speaking softly, "Many things are their private connections, not entered into the World Tree’s intelligence system. In such a short time, it’s impossible for personnel from the Research Institute to quickly integrate all the information. It’s quite normal that their data is missing."

Lin Chichi realized something, glanced at the people in the deep part of the hall, and thoughtfully said,

"So the ’celebrities’ they invited are just upper-middle-class figures in Mote City; they didn’t invite higher-level people who have entered the core circle and the Transcendents, because inviting those people would easily alert Yan Yue and come into Minister He’s field of view."

She put the sausage from her fork into her mouth, "These people being so cautious indicates that the things they are doing must not be upright."

At that moment, she suddenly remembered something, turned her head to look at He Ao, and quietly asked, "So, Brother Hao Yi, did you come here because of them? You just mentioned something in Newland City-State, is it related to them?"

He Ao shook his head; his gaze landed on the lectern at the end of the hall, "Newland City-State has recently reported several cases of missing people who came to the Western Lands for tourism or business, relatively frequently, and they all passed through the Yika Republic to some extent. I happen to have some free time, so I came to check on the situation."

After the Underground Palace incident, Newland City-State was handed over to ’Hao Yi’ by the three major organizations.

He Ao reformed the entire city-state to prevent any more transcendent incidents. He had the Newland authorities increase the monitoring of missing cases, reporting directly to him as soon as there was any activity.

Therefore, some cases that would have been previously ignored are now laid in front of him.

"They may be deliberately ’searching’ for those foreigners who travel to the Western Lands,"

Lin Chichi recalled the tri-lingual pamphlets in her mind, "Tia language and Central Earth language are the two most widely used languages outside of the Western Lands,"

She followed He Ao’s gaze toward the lectern, "Foreign tourists here have no relatives or friends, and if something happens, they are unable to call for help immediately, and it is also difficult for them to arouse suspicions from local forces."

At this time, some staff had already walked to the side of the lectern, appearing as if the ’lecture’ was about to start.

People in groups of three or two also began to gather in front of the lectern.

"Brother Hao Yi, it looks like it’s about to start?"

Lin Chichi turned her head, looking at He Ao beside her.

He Ao put his plate down on the table, speaking in a calming voice.

Lin Chichi also placed her plate on the table, and followed He Ao into the crowd.

The bustling crowd gathered under the lectern, and at this moment, a man wearing a white robe, slender in figure and looking gentle and composed, also walked onto the lectern from behind.

He glanced at the crowd below, raised his hand, and said with a mild smile, "Thank you very much for coming here today to participate in this warm family gathering, the glory of Destroyer K shines upon us."

"Praise the Church, praise Destroyer K."

Immediately, someone in the audience raised their wine glass and said aloud.

There was also a chorus of echoes in the crowd.

"I have personally felt it, dear Cult Members, the reverence you have for the great Destroyer K,"

The man in the white robe raised his hand again, his voice seemed to possess endless magic, making the audience quiet down as he continued gazing at the crowd below and continued,

"Believe that everyone knows, the world will eventually be destroyed, only those who devoutly follow the great Destroyer K will survive this all-encompassing destruction..."

Following that, he began a slow narration.

The first half of the narration was similar to what He Ao had roughly understood from the pamphlets.

It was approximately about how the world is imminently going to be destroyed, and those who believe in ’Destroyer K’ will survive the destruction and obtain an eternal and immortal new life in the ’new world’ created by ’Destroyer K’.

A classic apocalypse theory, reliant on fear and fabricated hope to unite Cult Members.

However, the latter half of the man in the white robe’s narration was content that was completely unmentioned by the pamphlet distributors.

And this part of the content, in essence, can be summarized in two words: ’contribution’.

Those who contribute more to the Church, the more ’devout’ people, receive more protection from ’Destroyer K’, and their status in the new world will also be higher.

From his description, it seems that not all believers in this ’Church’ are truly ’cult family members’, but are graded into different levels.

The more devout, those who contribute more, hold higher statuses within the Church, and also higher positions in the ’new world’ after the apocalypse.

At the end of the narration, the man in the white robe even emphasized that those in this ’Church’ who have contributed the most have even received the pity of ’Destroyer K’ and have gained powers far beyond ordinary people in this soon-to-be destroyed old world.

Soon, this ’lecture’ was nearing its conclusion.

The man in the white robe has some talent for speaking; his well-polished words, coupled with slightly provocative language, clearly moved many people standing below.

However, there were some who had no reaction, like a few youths standing to the left front of He Ao, who seemed to also be here for the first time.

These youths held plates in their hands, continuously watching the man on the lectern. Although they were not disruptive, it was obvious that they were not convinced by the man in the white robe, and even scoffed.

And after finishing the narration, the man in the white robe seemed not to care about these ’unbelievers’.

He looked at the crowd gathered here, raised his hand again, and said slowly, "Next, is the most important part of this ’gathering’. Please, fellow cult members, join me, close your eyes, calm your spirits, and Listen to the great ’Destroyer K’s’ voice."

All the people around bowed their heads, including those few skeptical youths, who also lowered their heads after seeing everyone else do so, though they didn’t close their eyes.

He Ao also bowed his head alongside Lin Chichi.

At the same time, he spread his Divine Sense out, ’gazing’ around.

The man in the white robe still maintained a devout look, and then, deep within the space of the entire hall, some kind of invisible ’ripple’ spread out.

At the instant this ripple spread, a slight thrill flashed in He Ao’s heart.

Immediately after, a blurry memory naturally emerged from his mind.

That was his memory of ’piercing through’ the Relic of the Bygone Days by integrating various powers.

Soon, this ripple passed over everyone, and that blurry emerging memory naturally disappeared.

At this moment, Lin Chichi beside He Ao looked up at He Ao and whispered, "Brother Hao Yi, it’s that memory."

He Ao nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

The majority of people standing here were filled with uncontrollable shock, including those few initially ’unbelieving’ youths, who were now looking at each other, somewhat at a loss.

Clearly, they saw something, ’shocking.’

In fact, He Ao could roughly guess what they ’saw’—the brilliance pierced through the ’Blood Sun’ by ’K’ during the blood sun event.

Although their memories had been covered by the World Tree and the Research Institute, they were not completely erased.

The man on the podium used some means to make these people below ’briefly recall’ that memory.

"You have seen, this is the imprint left in the souls of everyone by the great ’Destroyer K’, the most magnificent Divine Miracle in this world,"

The man in the white robe lowered his hands and placed them in front of his chest, raising his tone, "Praise the great Destroyer K!"

"Praise the great Destroyer K!"

The crowd below also mimicked putting their hands on their chests, responding loudly.

He Ao stood among the crowd, watching all this with a peculiar expression.

After a round of ’praises’, the man in the white robe put down his hands. He looked at the people, and quickly said, "Next, is the final raffle segment of this gathering. The staff will distribute numbers to all cult members.

"This time we’ve prepared five first prizes, ten second prizes, fifteen third prizes. The first prize is a voucher for a luxurious three-day trip to the Trok Republic, the second prize is two buffet vouchers at a five-star hotel, and the third prize is a set of custom tableware···"

"I thought he was going to ask us to money to the Church as a ’contribution’."

At the back of the crowd, Lin Chichi stood beside He Ao and whispered.

"He doesn’t want your money; he must be after something else."

He Ao shook his head gently.

Soon, a staff member carrying a box with number plates walked up to the two of them.

Lin Chichi took two number plates out of the box, handed one to He Ao, and kept one for herself.

The staff member glanced at the numbers they held and nodded, moving on to others.

Lin Chichi looked at her number plate, then tiptoed to get a glimpse of the raffle box now on the podium, "Seems like the chances of winning are quite high, my luck in draws is so bad, I’ve rarely won even a bottle."

By this time, the number plates had been distributed completely.

The man in the white robe stood in front of the raffle box, looked at the crowd below, and reached into the raffle box, laughing, "Facing my fellow cult members, I won’t say much more, let’s start the draw directly."

A burst of laughter came from the crowd.

"First, the third prize... 15, 17..."

The man in the white robe drew the numbers one by one.

"Next, the second prize... 49, 33..."

Twenty-five numbers were drawn in succession.

"Now, it’s time for the much-anticipated first prize, a luxurious three-day trip. Let’s see which cult members are so lucky,"

The man in the white robe reached into the lottery box and pulled out a number, "11!"

A cry of surprise came from the crowd.

"9!" "22!" "51!" "34!"

The man in the white robe took out the remaining numbers one by one.

When he read ’34’, the whole scene quieted down for a moment.

Then Lin Chichi, who realized a bit later, looked at her own number plate and said with some confusion, "34, is that me?!"

"It seems our lucky one can hardly believe their own ears."

The man on the podium chuckled.

At that moment, the beautiful woman who had been guarding the door suddenly ran over, whispered something quickly into the white robed man’s ear.

At that instant, the white robed man’s face changed, but he quickly recovered his smile. He raised his hand, looking at everyone, and quickly said,

"Everyone, due to some issues at the hotel, today’s gathering will end here. The prize exchange cards will be handed out to everyone, just use the Church’s app to scan the code and bind it. The staff will lead everyone to leave quickly."

Saying this, he turned and walked towards the backstage.

A staff member quickly came over, handed a card marked ’Luxurious Three-Day Tour’ the size of a book to Lin Chichi, then guided them towards the exit of the hall.

Lin Chichi kept a slight distance from the staff, then glanced around at the crowd who had received the prize cards, approached He Ao, and whispered, "Among those who got the first prize, it seems only one is a local, and three look like they are from the Tia Empire."

He Ao nodded slightly, he had already roughly scanned the distribution of the winners.

Three-quarters of the first prize winners were outsiders, second prize went to locals, and third prize was a mix of locals and outsiders.

Those who were in the most central areas, the ’elite’, only one or two received a third prize.

Lin Chichi obviously noticed something was off, then she glanced around at the crowd which was being ’quickly led away’ and whispered, "But why did they end it so suddenly?"

"Somebody is coming."

He Ao glanced at the white robed man who had entered the side door of the podium, and calmly answered.

Lin Chichi was slightly startled, then realized something, "Was it the message sent from my communicator?"

He Ao glanced at the wall beside him, as if his gaze could see through the wall to the World Tree headquarters building in the distant city center.

Then he turned back, looking towards the already closed side door, "But they are quite well-informed."

He had just arranged the action not long ago, and these people had already received the message.

"Hao Yi, do we need to do anything?"

Lin Chichi sensed something and leaned over, whispering.

He Ao glanced at the prize card in her hand, placed a mark on her, "You go out first."

He turned back, his figure slowly disappearing into the crowd, "I’m going to have a good chat with these ’Destroyer K’ cult members."