As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 244 A dead horse becomes a live doctor
This ruthless and almost insane approach moved Xu Yan.

"No way, Black Dream leader Knox not only courted death, but also deliberately let you take all the organization's top leaders with him? That's too... too stupid. Isn't he afraid that the organization will be paralyzed instantly and never have a chance to rise again?"

"Who says it's not?"

Long Jianhuan smiled bitterly, “When any organization expands in size, increases in influence, and accumulates a lot of power and wealth, it is inevitable that it will become rigid and degenerate. However, in order to solve this problem, to cut off the organization’s head and hope that a new head will grow—this approach can never be said to be the choice of a normal person.”

"Unfortunately, Knox is not a normal person. In his view, the end of the world is 100% certain to come, and no matter how crazy he is, it will not affect the final outcome. Therefore, as long as there is a one in a billion chance, it is worth taking a gamble, since the result cannot be any worse."

Xu Yan nodded thoughtfully, indicating his understanding: "We'll try anything, even if it's a dead end."

"That's right, and he actually managed to revive the dead horse, at least temporarily."

Long Jianhuan said, "In the years following the deaths of Kronos and the organization's top leaders, the Black Dream organization was leaderless and fragmented. Key members were captured one after another, and many branches were eradicated. The remaining members lived in constant fear, like rats in a sewer. The entire organization was almost wiped out."

"At that time, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the alliance's biggest threat had been completely eliminated."

"Unexpectedly, in recent years, the Black Dream organization has shown signs of resurgence or even rebirth."

"They became active again, and their actions became increasingly ruthless and secretive."

"Although the Black Dream organization was huge in the past, we could easily find people within the organization who were not so firm in their stance and were willing to cooperate with the alliance after being targeted."

"Among those loyal people, there are also some who, after hearing the prophecy of the coming end, choose to live for the moment and become more reckless, making them more likely to expose their true colors. These people are often the breakthrough point for our operation."

"But now, the Black Dream organization has shrunk significantly, and these half-hearted guys have all been purged in the internal strife over the past few years."

"Those who regained power were all young and promising men on whom Knox had placed high hopes."

"They are steadfast in their beliefs, ruthless in their methods, and quick-witted."

"Even if we choose to cooperate with gangs, we often treat them as tools to be used. Didn't we wipe out the Swamp Gang in Rolling Stone Fortress? They were just pawns of the Black Dream Organization, originally sent out to die."

"And there's Dr. Hyde, the original commander of the Dawn City branch of the Black Dream organization. Here are his files. You can call him evil, crazy, or even stupid, but he fought to the last moment for his ideals and never once thought of giving up or surrendering to us."

"If all the lower-ranking commanders of the Black Dream Organization were like Dr. Hyde, then this damned organization has indeed become more powerful than before, just as Knox predicted."

Xu Yan narrowed his eyes.

They grasped the crux of the problem.

So, were Knox's last words true or false?

He said, "If it's true, doesn't that mean he really is a 'doomsday returner'?"

"It's definitely fake."

Long Jianhuan stated decisively, "Experts from the Security Bureau have determined that Knox did not intentionally commit martyrdom and leave behind a so-called will that could predict the future. Rather, after his death, in the fragmented Black Dream organization, during the infighting that resembled the breeding of venomous insects, the new leader who ultimately prevailed deliberately forged such a will in order to consolidate his power and deify the deceased first leader."

“Looking back at history, there are countless examples of deifying the first leader to enhance cohesion and combat effectiveness. After all, the first leader is dead, so they can make up whatever they want.”

"Oh."

Xu Yan pressed further, "Then, what evidence do the experts from the Security Bureau have?" Long Jianhuan stared straight at him.

"Does this matter require evidence?"

Xu Yan tilted his head and thought for a while.

"Okay, we don't need to."

He admitted that he had asked a pointless question.

Knox must not be a prophet.

It is absolutely impossible, or at least not permissible, for an unstoppable apocalypse to occur in the future.

"So, who is the new leader of the Black Dream organization now?" he asked, changing the subject.

"This is the most troublesome part. According to Knox's so-called 'last words,' the Black Dream organization may not necessarily need a tightly structured, hierarchical physical entity."

Long Jianhuan sighed and said, "Any tangible entity will eventually be eroded, attacked, and corrupted. In the end, it will either be destroyed or transformed into something completely different or even the opposite."

"'Dark Dream' should be a concept."

"A firm belief that the end of the world is inevitable, and a willingness to pay a price, even knowing that failure is inevitable, to try to stop it."

"Only ideas are indestructible and will not be corrupted."

"As the saying goes, 'Success doesn't have to be achieved by me.' As long as the future can truly be changed and people can truly prevent the apocalypse, what does it matter if the Black Dream Organization has already collapsed or even been nailed to the pillar of historical shame?"

"Following this line of thinking, the current Black Dream organization strictly implements a decentralized organizational structure and does not have a core leader like Knox."

"They are more like a network, a network where like-minded people gather, sometimes together and sometimes apart, sharing resources and complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses."

"There are a few outstanding young commanders, such as the headquarters law enforcement officer 'Snake Princess,' who has risen to fame in recent years."

"But they are far from being the leaders of the organization. Even if we kill 'Snake Princess,' I believe it won't deal too heavy a blow to the resurrected Black Dream organization."

On the other hand, Long Jianhuan told Xu Yan that the Black Dream organization also possessed a weapon that was becoming increasingly powerful.

That's time.

Decades have passed since the homeless boy Knox had that dark, dreamlike nightmare deep in the wilderness.

The "Old Cataclysmic Quartet" at the end of the nightmare is no longer a distant future, but has become a blade of destruction hanging over everyone's heads, ready to fall at any moment.

Although insightful members of the Heroic Spirits Alliance scoffed at the absurd "doomsday theory" and mobilized their entire propaganda machine to vehemently refute it.

However, the number of people who sympathize with the Black Dream organization and believe that the end of the world is coming is increasing day by day.

There was even this: innocent citizens who were harmed by the Black Dream Organization actually expressed some understanding of the organization's heinous actions, and instead pointed out many problems and chaos in the Heroic Spirit Alliance, believing that if the Alliance did not reform, the end of the world would surely come!

(End of this chapter)