Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 378 This is a deal

Sunia Sea, waters around the Roside Islands.

The Azure Avenger leads a pirate fleet through the smoke-filled battlefield.

Suddenly, a huge fireball flew in from nowhere, and intertwined silver-white rays parted the sea surface, creating a passage that did not exist before. Surrounded by the surging waves on both sides, it pointed directly at the "Azure Avenger".

Seeing this, Alger Wilson, standing at the bow of the ship, raised his right hand without changing his expression.

A violent tornado suddenly appeared, whipping up the azure sea and streaks of silvery light, making it resemble a long serpent soaring into the sky and colliding with the enormous fireball.

Boom!

Water splashed and fell like rain.

Alger immediately locked onto a warship, opened his mouth, and let out a roar.

With a sudden, fierce wave, the ship was lifted into the air.

Seizing the opportunity, the side guns of the "Azure Avenger" fired automatically, producing a continuous booming sound.

Seeing that the extraordinary beings on the enemy warship were trying to use the recoil from the fireball to make the ship move sideways, Alger pulled down sharply with his right hand.

A thick bolt of silvery-white lightning struck down, charring the extraordinary individual's body and causing him to tremble violently.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One shell after another hit, and the ship disintegrated in mid-air.

Amid the cheers of the sailors, Alger remained calm and composed, directing the pirate fleet in pursuit of the remaining enemy ships.

During this war, many pirates were recruited, becoming an effective supplement to the navies of various countries. Among them were even some pirate generals. For example, Vice Admiral Iceberg led the Golden Dream, cooperating with the remnants of Segal's navy, to attack the maritime transportation lines of the Kingdom of Feneport in the Misty Sea.

The fighting was even more intense in the Sunya Sea.

The Kingdom of Rune dispatched a large number of pirates to infiltrate the rear of Fusak, causing extensive damage to the Fusak people's sea lanes and even attacking ports.

Fusak also contacted pirates more than once to cooperate with them in launching attacks. For example, they once contacted the "Star Admiral" to launch a night raid on Bayam. Unfortunately, that operation ended with the death of Yegor Einhorn, the commander of the Sunia Fleet.

Since then, Fusak has never contacted Gadriya again—after all, although the Fusak people have no evidence that the attack was related to Gadriya, they no longer dare to trust this pirate general.

Conversely, the Kingdom of Rune also dared not employ this pirate general. Because Cattleya was ultimately an Intis citizen, even though she had long since left Intis and become a stateless pirate, no one could guarantee she wouldn't suddenly betray the Kingdom of Rune.

Therefore, the strategy adopted by the Kingdom of Rune has always been to turn a blind eye to these pirate generals, ignoring their existence as long as they do not cause trouble in the rear.

Compared to Cattleya, Alger has been doing exceptionally well lately.

On the one hand, he was an official pirate belonging to the Storm Church, and his recruitment naturally gave him a higher legitimacy than other pirates. Therefore, from the very beginning, he was granted permission by the Storm Church to command the entire pirate fleet to sabotage the Fusaks behind enemy lines.

While these pirates were not as disciplined as regular naval forces, nor were they as capable of obeying orders, attacking convoys was their forte, a skill in which the regular army was far inferior.

Even though the merchant ships of the Fusaks had escorting warships, they could only sink in despair under the siege of a large number of pirate ships.

Unfortunately, due to the intense sabotage of the Storm Church's sea lanes around Sonia Island during this period, coupled with the regular army's inability to deal with these pirates, it finally attracted the intervention of the demigods of the Fusak Empire.

Although Aljaz intervened and stopped the demigod, the fleet still suffered some losses and had to return to Bayam to regroup.

Having defeated a pursuing fleet that had gone too far, Alger led his fleet into port at dusk.

While there was still some light in the sky, Alger disembarked and headed straight for the Wave Church where "Sea King" Arne Courtman was located.

As a Sequence 4 'Cataclysmic High Priest', his strength was already comparable to that of the Cardinal of the Church of Storms. However, his promotion was neither through the Church of Storms' system nor reported to the Church of Storms in advance. If he were to expose it rashly, he would only be treated as a 'traitor'.

So on the surface, he is still just a Sequence 5 'Ocean Singer'.

Arne Coltman may have noticed his unusual behavior, but he wisely refrained from pointing it out. After all, with the war now in full swing and the situation in Rune tense, the Storm Church wouldn't mind having another Sequence 4 demigod as cannon fodder, as long as no problems were found.

Moreover, this situation is not an isolated case.

According to the records of the Church of Storms, there are many powerful people who became demigods through fortuitous encounters. Two-thirds of them were corrupted by evil gods and demons and eventually lost their lives in the purification process. However, one-third of them passed the test and became high deacons or cardinals. Alger was just one of them.

Even if the Storm Church had some doubts, it wouldn't matter, because Alger never intended to hide it in the first place, after all...

Just then, Alger suddenly stopped and looked at the long line of people waiting at the relief station ahead.

Among the staff at the relief center were both half-giants, whose height was similar to that of the Fusaks, and local indigenous people with brown skin.

While distributing bread to those queuing for relief, they also gave them pamphlets.

A native who had already received some bread and was leaving the relief station with a pamphlet passed by Alger. Alger glanced at it briefly and made out the contents of the pamphlet:

"I have returned; I will forgive the past and redeem you."

"The First Commandment: You shall not sacrifice a human being or a human sacrifice."

The second commandment: You shall not take my name in vain.

The third commandment: You shall have no other gods before you.

The Fourth Commandment: Love your father and mother, your husband and wife, and your children, as you would love me.

The Fifth Commandment: You shall not commit adultery with your neighbor.

The Sixth Commandment: You shall not kill the innocent.

The Seventh Commandment: You shall not lie, you shall not falsely accuse, you shall not break your covenant.

The Eighth Commandment: Serve Me with your heart, not as a sacrifice.

The Ninth Commandment: He who does small evil must first atone for it, and then he will be forgiven.

"The tenth commandment: Help your fellow human being and your companion, and you will praise my name."

"..."

Alger recognized it immediately; it was a brochure from the Church of the Fool.

As for how he recognized him?

That's because he helped compile the booklet.

The Roside Islands have been fully colonized by the Kingdom of Loen for less than 50 years. Before that, the indigenous people of the Roside Islands worshipped the sea god Kavituwa, who believed that this deity, who often appeared in the form of a giant sea serpent, protected all the islands and prevented them from being swallowed by earthquakes and tsunamis.

This belief has now been officially banned, and the Church of Storms has been cracking down on heretics.

But in reality, how easy is it to eliminate a belief that has lasted for hundreds or thousands of years? Not to mention that the "sea god" Kavituwa is still alive and even occasionally performs miracles for his followers.

Indigenous people still constitute the majority of the population in Bayam, Blue Mountains, and the Roside Sea area. And among these indigenous people, the majority worship the sea god.

Even though groups of people are arrested and subjected to various forms of torture every one or two months for their belief in the "Sea God," it is impossible to reverse the situation in a short period of time. In fact, the main pillars of the local resistance in Bayam are believers in the Sea God.

With the rise of the Fool's Church, the believers of the sea god gradually began to transform into believers of the "Fool"—because the new "Words of the Fool" clearly states that the sea god is the follower of Mr. "Fool".

Although not all believers can accept the records in the Book of Words, with the Sea God personally appearing to testify, no believer would publicly express doubt. Some have even begun to try to cooperate with the Fools believers in Silver City and Moon City.

These relief centers are one of them.

In fact, this practice of attracting believers through salvation is very common all over the world.

However, compared to other clandestine organizations, the Church of the Fools has a significant advantage in proselytizing.

On the one hand, members of the Abraham family, relying on "teleportation" and "traveler's baggage," could obtain large quantities of food from areas with abundant resources and deliver them to relief points in a very short time, where they would be distributed to the people and attract believers.

On the other hand, the tradition of all extraordinary individuals in Silver City and Moon City means that this newly established church is actually no less numerous than the Church of the True God in terms of the number of extraordinary individuals. And with these extraordinary individuals forming the backbone of various relief points, there is no need to worry about pirates or local ruffians causing trouble.

At the same time, these half-giants had indigenous people around them to help with proselytizing, which made it easier for other indigenous people in the area to accept them.

For most ordinary people, their faith is far less devout than they imagine. Especially during wartime, many ordinary people face unemployment and hunger. If simply changing one's faith could guarantee food security, it wouldn't be so unacceptable to many.

Moreover, the Church of Fools did not force them to change their faith. They simply distributed pamphlets along with the food and asked them to recite the Ten Commandments from the pamphlets when they received relief next time.

If they wish to pray at the Fool's Church at 16 Phillips, they can receive extra bread, a special perk for believers of the "Fool."

Without a doubt, this was a very fair trade.

For ordinary people, the choice between going hungry to uphold their original faith or converting to the "Fool" to get bread is not a difficult one.

"Praise the 'Fool'!"

A thin woman, holding her daughter's hand, took a bite of the steaming bread she had just received from the relief center and wept with joy. Her daughter also held a piece of bread, coated with an extra layer of powdered sugar, but the little girl, who hadn't eaten for days, didn't have time to savor it, wolfing it down as if afraid someone would snatch it away.

Her mother did the same, standing still and wolfing down her bread, clearly not intending to take it home.

Alger looked at the woman; her fair skin indicated that she was not a local native, nor even of mixed race. Her clothes were not particularly expensive or luxurious, but they were decent enough that, before the war, she might have been considered 'middle class'.

But since the outbreak of war, a large number of middle-class people have lost their jobs or gone bankrupt, and even a piece of the most ordinary bread is enough to make them sell their bodies.

Now, all she needs to do is sell her faith.

This is a great deal.

Alger's expression remained unchanged, and he left the relief point without even pausing his steps.

As he passed by Phillips Street, he saw the Church of the Fools at 16 Phillips Street—a miracle that had recently appeared out of thin air in a golden light before everyone's eyes, a true divine miracle.

The half-giant missionaries maintained order inside the church, guiding the worshippers into the main prayer hall. Although most of these people were there for the extra bread, including a mother and daughter who had just left the relief center, this did not dampen the half-giants' enthusiasm.

As long as you are willing to pray to the Fool, then we are good friends.

Alger withdrew his gaze from the crowd queuing outside the Church of the Fools and thought to himself:

"The Church of the Fools is growing very fast! At this rate, it won't be long before it becomes a behemoth comparable to the Church of True God!"

Although the Roside Islands are not as vast or populous as the Kingdom of Rune, the combined area of ​​all the islands in the surrounding waters is comparable to a county in the Kingdom of Rune, and the population is in the tens of millions, making them comparable to small countries like Segal.

If these people can be developed into believers of the Fool's Church, it will be enough to make Mr. Fool a sufficiently stable anchor!

Moreover, with pillars like Silver City, Moon City, and the Abraham family, the expansion of the Church of the Fools will proceed exceptionally smoothly.

Firstly, these three factions have nearly ten demigods combined, enough to serve as archbishops in various dioceses and protect the believers under their rule. Secondly, the number of extraordinary beings in the Fool's Church is no less than that in the Church of the True God, enough to form a large number of extraordinary beings squads to protect the peace of the region.

Furthermore, because the extraordinary individuals in the Fool's Church follow a wide variety of paths, the combined strength they can exert far surpasses that of the single-path collaboration among the major orthodox churches.

Secondly, there's no need to worry about the construction of churches and other church buildings; just pray to Mr. "World." Even the relief bread can be considered a miracle from the angels under Mr. Fool's command.

Now, the only obstacle to the expansion of the Fool's Church is the Storm Church.

The Roseside Islands have always been within the sphere of influence of the Church of Storms. Even the Church of Night and the Church of Steam have been unable to expand their influence there, managing only a few churches. Now, the rise of the Church of Fools aims to completely replace the Church of Storms' position in the Roseside Islands, which is clearly unacceptable to the Church of Storms, meaning that conflict between the two sides is almost inevitable.

(End of this chapter)