Aftermath (Seeking Collection)

Blackstone Territory, a certain private residence.

A large number of guards surrounded the place, with Knight Yiman, clad in armor, charging in at the forefront and kicking open the door.

Clatter!

"Ah... My Lord!"

A woman standing by a soup pot was so startled that she dropped her ladle to the floor, while a farmer beside her knelt down: "My Lord... you... you..."

The sound of children crying drifted from the back.

"There is no one in the back!"

Eight-Fingers entered as well, looking at the scene with a puzzled expression: "Could it be... that the intelligence was wrong?!"

This looked like a perfectly ordinary family; there was no way they could be linked to the mastermind behind the scenes.

Knight Yiman's expression remained cold. He suddenly stepped forward, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and tasted it. A smile appeared on his face: "There is salt in the soup, and meat... since when do ordinary farmers eat so well? Or perhaps... were you preparing this for someone else? Search the place!"

The farmer's face turned ashen, and a group of soldiers rushed in, smashing everything in sight.

"There's a cellar!"

Eight-Fingers, who had been searching every inch of the floor, suddenly pulled on an iron ring and shouted.

After lifting the cover, a passage leading downward was revealed.

Knight Yiman, his expression grim, was the first to charge inside.

"This is truly... desperate measures to clear one's name."

Eight-Fingers shook his head and followed behind.

Before long, the sounds of weapons clashing and several screams echoed from the cellar.

A man with blood on his face was dragged out by Eight-Fingers as if he were a dead dog: "Soft-skinned and tender, he's likely some noble lord! Knight Yiman, do you recognize him?"

"Jon Davis!"

Knight Yiman nodded: "A collateral branch of the Davis Family, a missing person from the Black Crow War..."

"Well then, case closed."

A smile appeared on Eight-Fingers' face.

The next day.

Aaron ate his breakfast while listening to Albert's report.

A gentleman does not stand under a crumbling wall; as a lord, he had plenty of subordinates, so why risk his own life? Besides, the duration of his spiritual effect had already passed...

Furthermore, he had Knight Yiman to charge into the fray for him.

He only needed to stay in his safe villa and wait quietly for the results.

"After interrogation, Jon also confessed to a hidden organization plotting against us, and provided a list..."

Albert handed the list to Aaron.

Aaron took a sip of meat soup and glanced at it casually: "As expected, the remnants of the Davis Family... but they will only grow weaker; they are of no consequence."

"Regarding the aftermath of this matter..." Albert asked hesitantly.

"Have Knight Yiman execute Jon personally, then write a report on the proceedings and send a copy to Sothoth Castle. That will be all."

Aaron waved his hand.

The ripples of this incident would soon pass.

Moreover, there was an invisible benefit: having been dragged into such a major affair, Knight Yiman was left overwhelmed and would soon return to his territory, having no heart left to bring up any talk of marriage.

The Dream World.

Diat.

The former department store, now a branch of the Light of Redemption.

Olivia, Lin, and several ordinary people were praying.

"Praise be to our Lord!"

"You are the Spirit of Unknown Void, the Absolute Neutral Entity, the Silent Observer..."

"You are the symbol of free will, the Sole Redeemer of the apocalypse, the supreme and highest light..."

"Please listen to the prayers of your believers, please cast your merciful gaze upon us..."

Symbol of free will? Since when did I acquire another authority? Don't go making things up...

Aaron watched the scene, his eyelids twitching, and then he connected to the 'link'.

"My Lord!"

Lin shuddered, a look of reverence surfacing on her face.

Olivia's body, meanwhile, was trembling incessantly.

Having truly made contact with this great existence, she could fully sense that the other party was absolutely an equal to the Cocoon.

It was that kind of... terrifying existence, impossible for humans to perceive and difficult to describe!

Furthermore, the other party did not erode her rationality; instead, it felt as warm as the sun in the depth of winter!

The sliver of doubt and confusion she had originally harbored vanished without a trace.

"Are there already so many people?"

Aaron swept a glance over Lin's cult, discovering there were already over twenty people; naturally, there were still only two Beyonders.

Therefore, only these two could sense his existence after the mystical connection was established.

As for the other mortals, they could only stare at all this in bewilderment or pray even more devoutly.

He listened quietly to Lin's report, affirmed her contributions to the cult's development, agreed to the "request" to establish another permanent altar here, and then severed the connection.

"Our Lord has turned His gaze away..."

Lin stood up and announced loudly: "But He watches over us, watches over every single one of us! He has affirmed our piety and granted us permission to build a second shrine to worship Him..."

The ordinary members of the Light of Redemption cheered, and Olivia wore a smile as well.

Then, as those ordinary members began to gather materials to build the altar, the two high-ranking members of the Light of Redemption gathered together.

"Did you feel it? That is our merciful Lord..."

Lin whispered.

"How merciful, how tolerant..." Olivia wiped the corners of her eyes: "I cannot wait to draw closer to our Lord..."

Compared to existences like the Black Sun or the Cocoon, this one was truly kind enough and held goodwill toward humanity; this was too rare!

Lin's small face wrinkled slightly: "It is only a pity that we have yet to receive our Lord's recognition to be bestowed His path..."

"As long as we persist in our faith and sacrifices, one day, the Lord will bestow everything upon us," Olivia said firmly.

"You are all wrong; I don't bestow paths because I truly don't have any..."

Aaron, watching from the side, felt his mouth twitch uncontrollably.

However, he was also curious about what kind of pathway the mystical energy generated by his dream-entry could be classified as.

"Come to think of it, using mystical energy to strengthen my own consciousness has become less and less effective... The efficiency doesn't compare to the triangular trade of sheltering believers and then having them sacrifice spirituality to me... Spirituality originally comes from mystical energy, from me; why is it that after being sacrificed, it can break the shackles of the world and be sent into reality?"

A doubt arose in the depths of Aaron's heart, but he also knew this was not a problem he could understand right now.

"Having said that, if I can find a way to utilize the mystical and use extraordinary powers in reality, even if the loss is a bit high, I'll accept it..."

Just then, a cult member ran over in a panic and shouted: "Saintess, Bishop... something has happened!"

Aaron followed Lin and Olivia to another room, where he saw the wounded man lying there.

On the man's arm, there was a layer of pitch-black, viscous flames still burning incessantly, yet strangely, the temperature was not high; instead, it felt chilling.

The burned cultist was unconscious, his life force having dropped to an extremely weak level.

"Barnard, what is this all about?"

Olivia looked toward the person who had brought the news.

"We were ordered to go out and search for supplies and survivors, and then we encountered a group of people. They were wearing black priest robes and had burn scars on their bodies. They wanted to recruit us into their cult, and of course, we refused, so a conflict broke out..."

Barnard said shamefully.

He had once been a soldier, had received good training, and was one of the best among the ordinary members of the Light of Redemption.

With firearms, he could even fight against monsters, but at this moment, cold sweat dripped from his forehead; he was clearly terrified.

"It is the Black Sun Cult; their influence has expanded to this place."

Lin gritted her teeth.