Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 346 The Sun Chasers

"The Church of the Sunstriders? Uh, could that be the name of the elven church?"

“No, how could you think that? Elves universally worship the moon. It’s a purely money-driven church.”

After saying goodbye to Dania, Rean returned to his home, still pondering a new and bigger problem.

A church of true God seems to have sensed an opportunity here and has taken the initiative to participate, even planning to establish a high-level parish. What troubles Dania is that they are not trustworthy at all.

"The Church of Money, that's quite an exaggeration."

But when Rean saw those chubby orange-robed missionaries throwing out all sorts of small gifts, shopping coupons, and flyers to sell their wares, he almost couldn't hold back.

"It's really like a pastor becoming a merchant. No, it's more like a merchant becoming a pastor."

Their emblem is a human figure running towards the sun, literally a pursuer of light.

But those who know them call them...
"Has the Church of the Pursuit of Gold set its sights on this place again?"

The Sun Chaser, the true god, has known divine roles including "commerce," "travel," and "the sun."

Clearly, this is a rather powerful deity, holding very good divine positions, and its deities naturally possess considerable domain power.

However, they are actually quite special. Their priesthood rank and clergy can be purchased.

Yes, this bizarre church is a true example of feudal-era capitalism, where everyone from the pope to the regional bishops of the various branch churches is bought with money.

The same applies to those at the bottom. Becoming a member of this church not only means no income, but also requires paying annuities based on your clerical rank, years of membership, and number of subordinates.

If you don't pay enough, you'll be downgraded; if you're downgraded to a certain level, you'll be kicked out of the church.

Of course, no one is stupid enough to willingly enter this bottomless pit. This church is actually a gathering place for countless big businessmen, a hub of business opportunities.

Joining allows one to leverage its business network and exchange money for extraordinary power, making it quite attractive to big businessmen.

"This business model sounds good, but it also seems to have a lot of problems. How do they maintain continuous revenue and keep growing their income?"

After glancing at the data, Rean noticed something was amiss. The annual pension increase was at least 5%, and for the same position, the increase was even higher each year. In four or five years, the increase would inevitably exceed 40%.

In other words, if one wants to keep their position in the church and their rank as a pastor, they must frantically make money.

Not only is there pressure regarding "annuity contributions," but there is also revenue pressure regarding "income from properties within the parish."

It's safe to say that no matter how much you earn this year, the pressure will soon increase again.

"Isn't this forcing these people to constantly find ways to make money?"

With KPI pressures growing like financial indices, honestly maintaining the status quo and doing real business is not an option. Predatory, speculative, and explosive pursuit of income is inevitable. What is the point of draining the pond to catch all the fish? These people can drain the fishpond and sell the water and silt directly.
"No wonder they have such a bad reputation. Are they eyeing the local materials market? Or are they planning to interfere in the adventurers' market?"

Those who chase after money have a bad reputation because they value nothing but money.

However, it must be admitted that they have an unparalleled sense for profit and money, and they will naturally flock to any opportunity to make a fortune.

After some thought, Rean concluded that they were probably eyeing the extraordinary materials in the underground ruins. If the exploration went smoothly, the amount of extraordinary materials they could absorb locally would naturally exceed what the local area could handle.

These materials, if left locally, will likely be difficult to digest in the short term, but they will gradually enhance the kingdom's overall strength. Wealth and extraordinary materials will attract combat power, which in turn will further boost exploration progress, ultimately creating a virtuous cycle.

However, if military resources are exchanged for gold coins, future combat power will be taken away.
"No wonder Dania is so unhappy. It's fine if the Sun Chasers sell supplies here, their business network is quite good, but I'm afraid they'll continue to do short-term trading."

Unlike Dania, Rean was not as troubled. Business operations were difficult for the government to control. The biggest problem for the kingdom was actually the lack of reputation and business network. If the Sunstriders could really make their business successful, it would not be a bad thing to spread their reputation. Moreover, with their business network, they could also buy high-quality weapons from other countries.

These people are known for doing all sorts of business; as long as there is profit and demand here, they will naturally provide other services.

The latest news is that several fleeing nobles purchased service packages from them, and their land and property were also acquired cheaply by the church.

"The key is to maintain control. Ideally, their transactions should be primarily barter, exchanging raw materials for finished products. But forget about it, the royal family doesn't have that kind of control right now."

Dania's control over resources is extremely limited. The fact that the Sun Chasers are even giving her a polite greeting is already a sign of respect for her kingdom. Even if she tries to stop them, she can't. Rean vaguely sensed that Dania's real fear was "losing control." If the Sun Chasers discovered that there were profits to be made in the competition for heroes, they might directly intervene to seize control, or even send their own "Golden Heroes" to create gods and rake in money.

Dania wasn't actually afraid of them making money; she was afraid they would mess everything up in their pursuit of wealth, and in the end, God would create money, make achievements, and then the end times would come. They would just pack up and leave, leaving behind a mess.

"You know what, it's actually quite possible. For example, if I sold a weapon that was only good for show and would be useless after two years, no one would hold me accountable."

Having experienced so much, Rean would never trust a businessman's integrity.

"Let's take it one step at a time and get the team up first."

Rean made another trip to the plaza; he also needed to keep an eye on the progress of the underground ruins' exploration.

Here, Rean saw many competitors. Even Dimon had brought several young core members of the Weaver Knights to watch the battle.

Disappointingly, the leading team didn't stream, while the other teams were still stuck in the maze.

Everyone watched very carefully, observing the competitors and the fighting styles, types, and distribution of the underground monsters. Indeed, we have to thank the duke's son; the scorpion effect of the first finisher was quite evident.

"Anyone looking to team up? We need a healer. It doesn't have to be a priest, a paladin will do, a healer, or an alchemist will also be fine."

"We need a spellcaster, even the weakest one will do. Our warriors are strong and can protect you."

Finally, the scene that Dania had been longing to see happened, and the local adventurers were getting anxious.

They started forming teams and investing in it. They were worried that too many hunters joining would lead to fewer prey and lower profits. As long as enough people entered, it was only a matter of time before the shallower levels became more crowded with people than monsters. At that point, they would naturally have to invest in deeper levels.

Rean glanced at the situation and realized that the team composition was too delicate. All the teams were lacking healers, the priests seemed to have no interest in participating, and the precious spellcasters were extremely sought after.

"Medicine might be a business opportunity. Perhaps Victoria could produce more healing potions? Or, we could utilize the power of the beasts?"

One of the core strengths of the deer is "healing," which may lead to the development of some excellent medicines.

"A healing potion, infused with holy water and a healing spell for minor injuries. It can be used for both healing and exorcism. Selling it cheap."

Great minds think alike. Has anyone already started doing it? Such a potion consumes the priest's divine power, so it's not cheap. Rean looked in the direction of the shouts and saw priests wearing orange robes. Sure enough, they were the Sunstriders.

"They're really professional, but they can alleviate the shortage of medical professionals to some extent." Even Dania can't stop them from making money from this.

But as Rean got closer, he realized that Dania's worries were not unfounded. Their asking price was only half the market price, and the quality of the holy water was even better.

Grand opening specials! Their sales carts are being snatched up.

Is this a good thing? It is now, but it may not be in the future.

"Dumping? It's the norm."

What Dania was worried about was that after they monopolized the market, they would dump their goods like crazy and then raise prices. At that point, they could even use the goods to negotiate special privileges with the local authorities.

"I am a second-circle pastor. If you can protect me and give me half of the materials, I will join you."

Half? What an outrageous price! Normally, shouldn't the cost be split equally among everyone, with the caster and healer each receiving an extra share?

Rean turned his head and, sure enough, saw that familiar orange robe.

"Truly a gold digger; as long as there's money to be made, even a priest can go to the front lines."

What's even more outrageous is that they actually negotiated a "50% commission" ratio.

With a healer, someone won't lose their fighting ability due to a minor injury and have to return early. They might even be able to go deeper and earn several times more.

“We can’t let them mess things up. If they really mess up the ‘customs’ and ‘unspoken rules,’ then everyone will have to stop playing and just work for the Church of the Sun.”

(End of this chapter)