Plan Begins: Joy Beneath Fear

(6000 today!)

Tullatin looked intently at Cheng Shi, his eyes filled with gratitude and trust.

Cheng Shi swallowed again, his smile stiff and frightening.

Dude, no, sis, no... whatever you call them, first of all, I have to make it clear that your behavior is entirely your own decision and has nothing to do with me.

The "Filth and Decay" I'm talking about is all fake, but you look so damn real to me.

It's absolutely terrifying!

"Then where is the father of the child in your belly, the future you, Afros?"

Tullatin's face darkened:

"He stole the 'Birth Descendant Technique' and immediately used it to give me the child in my womb, but his men did not choose to escape."

Because he is me. We know our father, the Indifference cult leader Berios, who would surely make an example of someone to quell the chaos tonight. And if that person were me, the effect would be unexpectedly good.

And he knew it was me, because he personally made the seal in the library, and only the blood of the Berios lineage could break it. When someone broke the Birth Descendant Technique, the cult leader had already sentenced his own child to death.

So Afros died; he sacrificed himself so that our Holy Infant might be born.

Tullatin's voice was somewhat deep, but after touching his belly a few times, his eyes regained a newfound light:

"But they didn't know anything about Afros; they only knew that the patriarch's child was dead."

So Tullatin died; he died under the Divine Descent summoned by his own father.

And now standing before you is the Believer of the Filth and Decay, your sister, the mother of the Holy Infant, Afros.

"So, my brother, do you like my new name?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

Cheng Shi dared not utter a sound, because he remembered that Tullatin had just said that the Newborn born from the Birth Descendant Technique would become exactly like the caster.

Therefore, in this scroll painting permeated with the themes of Birth, Filth and Decay, and time, the final scene concludes with...

The present-day Afros and the future Afros together are giving birth to a brand new Afros.

"..."

Cheng Shi clenched his hands helplessly, his mind in utter chaos. As he watched Tullatin's belly visibly swell, he suddenly thought of his friend who Birth to him.

Hiss--

If Hu Xuan were here, do you think this situation could have escalated even further?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Cheng Shi quickly shook his head, banishing these crazy thoughts from his mind.

He looked at Tullatin with a complicated expression, and after a moment of silence, finally steered the conversation back on track.

"Okay, anyway, our plan has been going smoothly so far... well, smoothly."

Now that the Holy Infant is present, everything is ready.

The next step is to spread the news about the Holy Infant, so that everyone knows that in the distant Starry Sky, a new god is slowly watching over Dolgo D!

I have never mentioned my Lord's plan to spread His Divine Name to you, not because I do not trust you, but because all plans are baseless until the Holy Infant is found.

But things are different now; we can get started on the plan.

And this plan is called, "Pleasure Under Fear!"

"Pleasure born of fear?" Tullatin murmured the name silently, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Seeing that the NPC had been fooled like this, Gao Ya turned her head away and chuckled in a low voice. She couldn't help it, but she didn't dare to ruin Cheng Shi's plan, so she compromised and could only laugh quietly.

Scorpio was stunned again. Although he hadn't expected that the accident he had caused would inexplicably return to normal, he also didn't remember Cheng Shi mentioning a plan called "Pleasure Under Fear".

He looked at Cheng Shi, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Bro, just how many plans are you hiding in your head?

I'm quite scared to see how you've managed to fool Tullatin like this. You're not trying to fool me too, are you?

Cheng Shi, of course, was unaware that Scorpio was secretly criticizing him, and had even guessed correctly for once. He nodded and continued speaking to Tullatin:

It is pleasure born of fear.

Fear is a gift from my Lord, and joy is his guidance.

Normal proselytizing methods are ineffective in getting His existence accepted by ordinary people who believe in the Birth the Dolgo D Faith, because the minds of these ignorant masses have been so thoroughly corrupted that they are inflexible and Folly fanatical.

Gao Ya's eyelids twitched when he heard this. He glanced at Cheng Shi, opened his mouth but then closed it again.

Cheng Shi gave her a meaningful look, and then continued:

"Therefore, we need to find another way, first peel away the shell of their fanatical Faith, and then give their soft hearts a strong dose of [Filth and Decay]!"

Therefore, the first step of the plan was to spread the Divine Name of the Filth and Decay god and fabricate as many blasphemous and terrifying stories about the Birth as possible, so that the whole of Dolgo D would be plunged into fear.

Of course, the Divine Nurturing Church must not be able to find any source of this during this period, otherwise the fear will not be able to accumulate.

When fear has permeated the entirety of Dolgo D, we will then find a way to spread the true will of [Filth and Decay], so that people under fear will realize that He is not terrible, not only not terrible, but also 'pleasant'.

The release from the pressure of fear will bring double the joy to citizens whose emotions have been pushed to the extreme. In this way, the will of our Lord will be like a seed that has fallen in people's hearts, slowly sprouting.

When they discover that Faith in Filth and Decay lives far more freely and unrestrainedly than Faith in Birth, the gods in the skies above this city may change.

With each sentence Cheng Shi spoke, Tullatin became more and more excited. Judging from her expression, she couldn't wait to implement the plan immediately and get the Divine Nurturing Church to change its name within a few days.

But Cheng Shi dared not actually finish these things within a few days. His purpose was to delay the inevitable. As long as Tullatin gave birth to the child and survived the remaining time of the Trials, what became of Dolgo D afterward was none of his concern.

Of course, the fiction of the Trials will not become true history, since there are no longer Believer of [Memory] here.

"That's the general idea. As for the specific implementation, I think you, Afros, understand it better than I do."

Having received Cheng Shi's affirmation, Tullatin suppressed his excitement and nodded firmly.

This exhilarating moment has finally arrived. She seems to see the most dazzling ray of light piercing through the darkness, and she sees the brightest future for Dolgo D.

Then she laughed, a genuine laugh that made the whole room lose its color, leaving only Tullatin's stunning beauty in the eyes of the three people present.

"Afros... what a hopeful name."

Tullatin chuckled twice, then said seriously, "To be honest, I don't understand these things."

???

That one sentence alone silenced the three people present.

Cheng Shi stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

Gao Ya almost couldn't suppress his disdainful gaze and quickly turned his head to unleash his sarcasm onto the ceiling of the room.

Cheng Shi's face stiffened, looking rather unpleasant. He forced a smile and looked at Tullatin, about to say something, when the other man, seemingly panting heavily, said again:

"But I can find people who understand these things."

Call--

Thank goodness, I almost messed up while trying to show off.

If the Church Leader's Son, whom Cheng Shi had gone to great lengths to protect, turned out to be a fraud, then Cheng Shi would have truly lost face.

"Who?"

"Someone I don't really like."

To fabricate blasphemous claims about "Birth" and incite the church's anger and the people's fear, one must find someone who understands the church and, more importantly, Dolgo D.

I know Dolgo D, but as far as the Church is concerned, I only know the loopholes. This person, however, must know the Church in its entirety, even better than I do about my father, the Patriarch Berios.

There must be someone who really likes something that can frighten the church and its leaders.

And he is probably the real culprit behind tonight's chaos. He found an opportunity to use the trouble you caused to attack my father, which led the great and selfless leader to cruelly kill his own son.

So I think it was the right decision to go to him.

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, and said, "It sounds like he's your father's rival in the church?"

"Indeed, my brother, you are a smart man."

"... Let's put the praise aside for now, but since he's Believer in [Birth], do you think he'd help us for the sake of factional strife?"

"He may not have been Believer before he became the head of the church, my brother. There are more than just the two of us who are wise in this world."

Lisfir was not devout to Birth; he was probably just enthusiastic about the power that Birth granted him.

If Filth and Decay can grant him this power, then his Faith will be Filth and Decay, and aren't we just missing someone to manage Dolgo D for Him?

Perfect!

Cheng Shi's eyes flashed with admiration, and he wished he could lead the applause for Tullatin.

You little brat, you were born to be a Filth and Decay person.

This man named Lisfir looks like a pathetic fellow driven by a lust for power, but coincidentally, the lust for power is also a kind of desire in the Sea of Desire, so in a way, they are "fellow sufferers".

But to be fair, isn't this Divine Nurturing Church really not a church that specifically breeds Filth and Decay?

1 million words completed! (????????????)