For some people who became players, money was no longer a scarce resource. There were plenty of ways to get it, and they had no need to rely on organizations or cults made up of their own kind. What they needed now was greater power and more connections. The Twin Snakes Organization, for instance, had presented itself as a cult, but in reality it had relied on the connections of its core members. Those connections had let them get information ahead of time and evade the Special Defense Department's notice.
Hua Baoren's cult had clearly not reached that level yet. Most of the people involved at present were company employees—or players who had been recruited as employees. But once their numbers grew, everyone would soon realize that ordinary currency was not as useful in today's society as it had once been.
At that point, the model Hua Baoren had described would collapse on its own. In the best case, everyone would go their separate ways. In the worst, the cult's members would be assimilated and become nothing but predators.
"Nothing is ever completely without risk. But everyone can rest assured that I personally vet every member of the cult. There's absolutely no problem with their identities," Hua Baoren said. "After joining the Wushan Cult, members will also be subject to regular reviews of their conduct. Anyone who causes trouble will be expelled immediately, so they don't create problems for the others."
The middle-aged man sounded persuasive—or perhaps Cannibal Players simply had no better way forward at this stage.
"Are you sure you can vet every member?" The voice spoke again. "Can you guarantee that the people standing in front of you have nothing to do with the missing persons cases?"
Now even the others in the hall found the situation