Clues to the Voodoo Cult

Bai Xiaowen had already used his Insight to determine that Gide's strength was at the Elite Tier level 7, making him arguably the second strongest member of the entire Crow Organization, second only to their leader, Benny.

"But Joshua has already demonstrated his loyalty," Bai Xiaowen said with a hint of interest. "I admit that you are more capable than Joshua ... However, I value loyalty more, and I believe you understand that."

Gide said loudly, "Please rest assured, my lord, my loyalty is no less than Joshua's." To avoid Bai Xiaowen's misunderstanding, he obtained Bai Xiaowen's consent before slowly drawing the iron axe from his waist and chopping it down on Benny's corpse beside him.

Benny was subjected to a second desecration of his corpse, his skull rolling away.

The other members of the Crow Organization witnessed this bloody scene, and everyone was deeply moved. Most of them tried their best to suppress their emotional turmoil, and only a few cast contemptuous glances at Gide.

Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. "Alright, I'll temporarily acknowledge your loyalty. You can serve as the second leader of the Crow Organization, on par with Joshua." He gestured for two men to come over, piece together Benny's headless body and head, and carry it away.

Bai Xiaowen himself did not have a perverse hobby of desecrating corpses. The fact that Joshua's servants, who were bewitched by him, stabbed Benny's corpse was something Bai Xiaowen did intentionally, just to set an example for the other members of the Crow Organization and give them an opportunity to follow suit.

Especially considering Joshua's low status, how could those Elite Template members of the organization be willing to climb over others by simply humiliating their dead? Therefore, Gide's performance was actually within Bai Xiaowen's expectations.

The Crow Organization actually has relatively weak internal cohesion, and its members have very low loyalty to their leader. Boss Benny is cold-hearted by nature; when he saw his subordinate, a bald, burly man, being killed on the spot, he didn't dare to utter a word. A leader like this is destined to have no die-hard Follower.

Seeing that Gide's defection had been approved by Bai Xiaowen, the other members of the organization were somewhat tempted. However, having already secured Gide's loyalty, Bai Xiaowen had considered his basic objective achieved and immediately ordered the others to leave, leaving Gide and Joshua behind to inquire about the missing persons cases and the Voodoo Cult.

Perhaps due to the presence of Joshua as a competitor, Gide's attitude towards Bai Xiaowen can be described as fawning, a stark contrast to Benny's previous insincere compliance.

"Was the Crow Organization involved in the missing persons case? Did they know anything about it?" Bai Xiaowen asked the main quest question first.

Gide looked terrified and shook his head repeatedly. "Sir, I swear on my life, the Crow Organization has absolutely nothing to do with missing persons cases. Although the jobs the organization takes are decided by Boss Benny... no, that guy Benny, he wouldn't dare get involved in such a large case. He may not be a good person, but he's not that daring."

Bai Xiaowen, judging by appearance and expression, knew that what Gide said was not a lie.

"So, the second question is, how much do you know about Voodoo Cult?" Bai Xiaowen stared intently at Gide, not missing a single subtle expression or reaction.

Gide honestly replied, "The Voodoo Cult does have some cooperation with us."

"What kind of cooperation?"

Gide: "It's about collecting some special materials. As you know, sir, many Voodoo Cult rituals require some strange mediums, like menstrual blood from a virgin, the eyes of a frog, or the venom glands of a cobra..."

Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes. "Where is the Voodoo Cult's stronghold in Hodge Town?"

Gide shook his head.

"Since you have a cooperative relationship, how could you not know their stronghold? You dare to lie to me?" Although Bai Xiaowen judged from Gide's heartbeat, breathing and subtle facial expressions that he was not lying, he still wanted to put pressure on Gide.

Gide quickly protested, "Sir, I really don't know! Even Benny doesn't know about the Secret of the Voodoo Cult stronghold. Every time we trade, they come to collect the items and then give us a new list of materials to collect... Because they're very generous, we're happy to make some extra money. Anyway, the things we need to collect are just a hassle, not too difficult..."

"The other party came to our door? Who is it? You should have followed him, right?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

Gide: "... What came wasn't actually a person, but a giant Stitched Corpse Monster, somewhat similar to the Corpse Monster you summoned, sir. That's why Joshua shouted out the name of the Voodoo Cult when he first saw your Corpse Monster..."

After a pause, Gide continued, but with a hint of guilt. "Seeing how lavishly they were spending, we did indeed track that Corpse Monster, trying to find its address... However, none of the brothers we sent out returned. The next day, their bodies were found hanging at the entrance of Blackwater Alley, covered in maggots and mold, a gruesome sight. Since then, Benny... has never mentioned tracking them again."

Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly; what Gide said was probably true.

In the Team Channel, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi discussed something.

"We came to Blackwater Alley hoping to find clues for the main quest and solve the missing persons case, but we unexpectedly stumbled upon clues about the Voodoo Cult," Bai Xiaowen said in the Team Channel.

Li Shuyi: "Hey, I originally thought the missing persons cases were related to Voodoo Cult... Do you think that possibility still exists?"

"It's basically impossible," Bai Xiaowen said. "According to Gide's description, the Voodoo Cult's secret hideout in Hodge Town should be small but highly skilled, perhaps with only a few Elite Tier members, one or two Advanced Boss leaders, or even more extreme, just one or two lone commanders. With such a personnel configuration, it's highly unlikely that they could plan and carry out a large-scale kidnapping without being detected by the sheriff and the Crow Organization, both the legitimate and criminal worlds."

Bai Xiaowen deduced the personnel configuration of the Voodoo Cult using reverse thinking. If the Voodoo Cult had a large number of members, then the small, troublesome but not particularly difficult tasks like collecting frog eyes and Snake Venom wouldn't have been outsourced to the Crow Organization. Given the principle of secrecy, wouldn't such tasks be best done by their own people, that is, by the Voodoo Cult?

After hearing Bai Xiaowen's explanation, Li Shuyi quickly agreed.

"Next, we can shift our focus to the Voodoo Cult side quests," Bai Xiaowen said after thinking for a moment. "Although the main quests are the most important, we have a full ten days to complete them, and their difficulty rating is only average A-Tier. I believe we can definitely finish them in the end. As for the Voodoo Cult Elite Tier side quests, the time limit is only 72 hours. Now that we have a clue, let's do that first."

Li Shuyi: "But even the Crow Organization doesn't know the address of the Secret of the Voodoo Cult stronghold. How are we supposed to find it?"

Bai Xiaowen smiled, then turned to ask Gide, "How often do the Voodoo Cult members contact you?"

Gide said, "It's not very certain in this regard; it seems quite irregular... When they're in a rush, they'll come every day or two, and the material list left by the Corpse Monster always has very harsh wording at the end, including some threats. At other times, they're more relaxed, only coming once every ten days or half a month."

When was the last time you came?

"Three days ago," Gide replied quickly this time.

"The time before last?"

Four days ago.

"Bring me the list of materials the Voodoo Cult Corpse Monster gave me each time he came, especially the notes that urged me to deliver."

Gide was a little alarmed. "We didn't keep those materials lists properly... There might only be a few left, and they're all recent ones."

"Alright, bring over all the copies you have," Bai Xiaowen said casually. He didn't expect an underground organization to have any strict rules and regulations, or to be able to properly preserve documents and archives.

A moment later.

Bai Xiaowen held several lists in her hand, asked Gide a few questions, and then pondered for a moment.

"There are four lists here, representing the materials from the four most recent acquisitions," Bai Xiaowen analyzed in the Team Channel. "Based on the dates Gide recalled, three of them were from three, four, and six days ago, respectively, which can be considered consecutive. The messages at the end of the lists are also very urgent, as if they want to pick up the goods on the spot. The earliest one is from half a month ago. So I deduce... that the Voodoo Cult won't be coming to pick up any more goods anytime soon."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen added, "It's a bit of a pity. I was thinking that if the Voodoo Cult members came to our door in the next two days, we could track down the Corpse Monster and follow the trail."

Bai Xiaowen's analysis was very logical, but Li Shuyi was completely confused. "How do you know that the Voodoo Cult won't come anytime soon?"

"The irregular delivery dates suggest that these materials are intended for voodoo experiments, not for normal production—because normal production would require not only a stable supply but also a large demand for similar goods, which is not reflected in the list."

Bai Xiaowen paused for a moment. "When conducting experiments, especially when exploring the unknown, the experimenter needs to verify many of their hypotheses. Just like Thomas Edison experimented with thousands of materials to invent the light bulb, the voodoo experimenter also needs to constantly change the materials. Therefore, the frequency of the materials list can indicate the stage of progress of their experiment."

Li Shuyi understood. "In other words, a continuous, strongly worded list of materials means that the other party's experiment has encountered a bottleneck and is working on overcoming it, urgently needing materials. On the other hand, a list of materials that only comes every ten days or half a month means that a certain stage of the experiment has been successful, and the other party has no new experimental ideas."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and nodded, "That's right. Now look at the dates on these four lists. The three most recent deliveries were concentrated three, four, and six days ago, with only one or two days between them when new materials were urgently needed. This indicates that the experimenters are at a bottleneck stage. And since the last delivery, three days have passed, and the other party still hasn't arrived... This should mean that the experiment has achieved a stage of success, and the other party is no longer in a hurry for this batch of materials."

This is the basis for Bai Xiaowen's speculation that the Voodoo Cult would not come to his door in the short term. It may seem like conjecture, but it actually has a deeper reason.

Of course, this speculation cannot be 100% accurate. It wouldn't be surprising if the experimenter suddenly had a new idea or something similar. Bai Xiaowen's speculation only applies under normal circumstances and has a 70-80% probability, but it does not rule out a 20-30% chance of an exception.

Li Shuyi said with some distress, "What should we do... If the Voodoo Cult doesn't come, we can only wait and see. If it exceeds 72 hours, the mission will fail."

Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "So this mission is rated as A-Tier Elite Quest."

Li Shuyi pouted, then laughed again, "I won't torture my poor brain cells. Anyway, you're here... Last time in the Kane Plane, you handled the S-Tier Hero Quest, so this A-Tier Elite Quest will definitely be a piece of cake."

Bai Xiaowen shrugged. "Don't say that. The last S-Tier Hero Quest was mostly due to luck. If it weren't for Zombie Doctor's unconventional Zombie research that happened to counter the Necrotic Plague, that mission would have been impossible to complete... Even so, the final completion rate was very low."

Of course, the rewards for completing S-Tier Hero Quest are also terrifying. Bai Xiaowen's Permanent Fief Deed is a direct reward, while the Permanent Team-Building Item Oath of Black Edge, and the opportunity to snipe the Remnants Chieftain Absolon and obtain two Dark Gold Equipment items (Blood Essence Stone + Dark Gold Shoulder Guard) can be seen as indirect benefits.

After speaking frankly and modestly, Bai Xiaowen gestured for Gide to leave, then carefully studied the lists of materials. He had a feeling that there was an invisible thread running through these lists, and if he could grasp that thread, he would have completed half of this A-Tier Elite Quest.

After reading it several times, Bai Xiaowen suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong?" Li Shuyi asked.

"I have an idea, I don't know if it's right... but it seems quite possible," Bai Xiaowen said in a deep voice, "Have Gide restrain the members of the Crow Organization, strictly control Blackwater Alley, and forbid any member from leaving... Come with me."

Li Shuyi followed closely. "What's wrong? Does someone in the Crow Organization know about the Voodoo Cult's stronghold?"

"No, no, I was just doing this as a precaution, to prevent these people from leaking information," Bai Xiaowen said in a low voice. "There's no time to explain, come with me quickly... I made a mistake, I should have thought of it sooner."

Li Shuyi pursed her lips and stopped asking questions, lest she disrupt Bai Xiaowen's train of thought.

After giving instructions to Gide, Bai Xiaowen took Li Shuyi and quickly left Blackwater Alley. Then, they turned right and followed the path they had come from, stepping onto the dilapidated commercial street filled with the stench of sewage.

After walking quickly for a while, Bai Xiaowen stopped at a shop at the street corner.

"Phew... thank goodness. This is it."

Bai Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the shop door was still open, and her furrowed brows relaxed.

The shop's signboard prominently displays the words: "Akea's Cauldron".