Before the three of them was a tightly closed wooden door. Although it was made of wood, it was very heavy, and Xilǐ'er could hardly sense anything behind it.
Alter had said so much, and it was indeed credible, so under the lead of the fat bishop, the Soul Returner and the Knight entered the secret door one after the other.
The space behind the door was still spacious, but the brightness had almost reached zero.
Seeing that Alter had no intention of turning on the lights or lighting a fire, [Kunjinkao Tangtangtang] activated the night vision ability that came with the Soul Returner's body.
Just like the "jump scare" scene in a horror game, the scene that suddenly appeared in his eyes made him jump up on the spot.
People, they're all people!
This completely dark basement was devoid of any furniture, except for rows of people nailed to the walls, stretching from the left wall to the right wall, creating a rather simple and neat aesthetic.
These people were emaciated, almost nothing but skin and bones. Their hands and feet were shackled with iron chains, which were nailed to the cracks in the stone wall with thick wooden pins, making them unable to move.
At first, [Kunjinkao Tangtangtang] thought these were all dead people, but upon closer inspection, he could even see their hearts beating slowly and weakly through the gaps in their ribs, separated only by a layer of skin.
As if hearing a long-lost sound, the sparse clanging of chains suddenly rang out, followed by a series of extremely hoarse and deep voices.
" Alter, you're here again... What's the matter this time?"
The fat bishop remained silent, his face grim.
" Alter, you coward, kill me, kill me!"
"Coward! You're just afraid of the Holy City's investigation. You know what you're doing is wrong; the Stained Ones are the future of the Holy See!"
" Alter, are you out of your mind? Without the Tree God, how can we fight against the Demonic Tide?"
"Your Excellency, please release me or kill me, at least stop torturing me like this..."
Listening to the chaotic noises emanating from the prisoners' throats, Alter smiled with relief and said to the two:
"This is my last secret. There are nineteen people here in total, all the Stained Ones in Hibiscus Town."
"After interrogating them, I imprisoned them here, and it has been almost two years now. They have been able to survive only thanks to their Symbiotic Tree."
"Even if I were to remove their shackles now, they still wouldn't be able to leave here."
"Because their Symbiotic Tree has taken root in the rock crevices behind them, Drain nutrients from them to nourish their bodies; otherwise, they could not have lived this long."
"But this also made it impossible for them to move, not even to lie down."
"Good heavens!" the Soul Returner exclaimed inwardly.
The way the Tree Worship Church interacts with the Symbiotic Tree is that the Symbiotic Tree takes root in the human body, Drain nutrients from the human body, and forces the host to follow the Plant Pathway to avoid the disordered Aberration effects of the Demonic Tide.
But now he has truly broadened his horizons.
Everyone in the Tree Worship Church is a Symbiotic Tree, except for the nineteen people here, who are nurtured by the Symbiotic Tree.
No, according to this logic, it can't be called a person and Symbiotic Tree; it should be called a tree and a "symbiotic person."
Alter had expected the two people in front of him to be shocked or to react in some other way, but to his surprise, the young man actually managed to break into a smile.
Unable to comprehend what he was seeing, he continued to explain:
"Of course I wanted to kill them, but that would trigger an investigation by the Holy City, so I couldn't. But in any case, my actions were indeed a bit too extreme."
"If that Son of God punishes me for this, I will offer no explanation."
Upon seeing this scene, both the Soul Returner had watched many exciting movies and the Knights who had personally experienced many exciting scenes were somewhat astonished.
It's not for any other reason than Alter Art's behavior is just too contradictory to his appearance.
The deepest secret hidden by the always smiling, evasive, and conciliatory fat man was neither his identity Pure Ones nor his secret funding of the rebels, but rather that he had imprisoned nineteen people here alive for almost two years. This kind of torture was truly too, too...
"That's far too mild!"
"That's such a waste!"
The knight and the Soul Returner spoke in unison, while Alter let out a soft "Huh?" in confusion, frowning as he looked at the two.
After they finished speaking, the two paused for a moment and looked at each other. The Soul Returner politely gestured for Xilǐ'er to speak first.
Xilǐ'er looked at his companions and the bishop, his face showing undisguised anger:
"No matter the time, it is the most despicable act to attack innocent people."
"What's more, they also have their own selfish desires and ulterior motives mixed in, which is truly disgusting."
"Those kinds of guys should just be killed. I know it's inconvenient for you to do it, but it's alright. I'll contact the Son of God right now and personally chop off their dog heads!"
"Wait!"
[Kunjinkao Tangtangtang] Reached out and grabbed the knight:
"Wouldn't it be a waste to kill them like this? Xilǐ'er, you've only been back a short time, don't you know that the Second Holy See has already prepared three places for these people? Each one is far better than killing them directly."
While the knight seemed thoughtful upon hearing this, Alter was quite intrigued by it:
"May I ask, sir, which three places are you referring to?"
[Kunjinkao Tangtangtang] is like a comedian who has been given a reply, immediately and happily raising one finger after another:
"First, those Stained Ones with less serious offenses will be labeled and sent to a ' High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant '."
" High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant? What kind of place is that?"
Alter responded at the opportune moment, not entirely out of flattery, but because he also wanted to understand as much as possible about the Son of God's position and actions.
" The High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant is responsible for producing the vast majority of consumables for the entire Second Holy See. Those assigned there are stripped of their own symbiotic plants and can only select new symbiotic plants from a few special plants. They are then sent to various production lines to start working, repaying their sins through continuous Directed Alienation and limb amputation."
"Currently, the production lines that have been put into operation include: standard parts production line, office supplies production line, furniture production line, etc."
Hearing the story of the Soul Returner, Alter asked in confusion:
"How could the Symbiotic Tree be taken away? That would kill people!"
"Oh, otherwise..."
The Soul Returner said with no small amount of pride:
" The Son of God is the son of the World Tree. All plants in the world obey his commands. If he commands the Symbiotic Tree Symbiotic Tree to leave, it will obediently leave, even if it dies quickly after leaving its host, it will never resist."