Chapter 1481: 5

Many people were at the church entrance; in Lin An's eyes, the queue of people almost formed a long dragon.

One could say that this church, located in the most prosperous section of the whole commercial street and with hardly any shops around it, is the cleanest and most orderly place on the entire street.

The crowd standing in a long line reverently held their own offerings: some were food, some were things wrapped in black cloth, and some were even a piece of equipment.

Among the queue, whether Awakened Ones or ordinary people with stooped postures, everyone stood in orderly lines.

This scene is quite rare, especially in this area that is chaotic to the extreme.

But for Lin An, he was actually not surprised at all.

After the apocalypse, what is truly scarce is not resources, nor is it food for survival.

Rather, it is 'spiritual nourishment.'

In an environment where everyone will die each day, no matter how powerful an Awakened One is, they will die suddenly; almost everyone's heart is filled with despair and confusion.

The more chaotic the era, the stronger religious forces become—let alone the current supernatural apocalypse.

Believing in deities and seeking spiritual comfort is commonplace in all major war zones.

Even without saying more, even in the Huaxia war zone where the religious atmosphere is the worst, Lin An has encountered this sort of thing in every place he's been.

"Red goat horn? One eye?"

After giving the church's emblem a thoughtful glance, several ideas suddenly popped into Lin An's mind.

Here, it seems related to the refugees... so chaotic...

Without much time to investigate the connection behind it, Lin An vaguely felt that the people here were somewhat off, and he could also think that it might be deliberately controlled by something.

But the pressing matter now is to first earn something and escape the current predicament.

After carefully observing the behavior of the survivors entering the church for a while, Lin An quickly came up with an idea.

"Are you really going to do this?"

"Will these stones really be useful?"

Anduyin stood anxiously beside Lin An, watching them set up a tent in a hidden corner.

Inside the tent was a small stone pile resembling a pyramid.

Beneath the crude, rough triangular stone mortar, there was only a narrow gap barely large enough to fit a head; it looked as if only a tiny bit of a burial mound had been completed.

Outside the tent were the colored sheets that Lin An had gotten him to exchange all his food for.

After a simple decoration, it could barely manage to exude a hint of mystery—like a modest, declining little church.

And in front of the tent, they simply wrote the church's name and its teachings in black ink on white paper.

"Ling An"

"undertheguidanceofthespiritofpeace，youwillfindpeaceinyoursoulandbecomeagreatwarriorofgod"

"（Under the guidance of the god of Ling An, gain peace of soul and become a great god-warrior. ）"

The teachings and name look rather unusual, but given the shabby setup, they seem downright laughable—like a outright scam.

Watching Lin An silently and continually adjusting the triangular stone mortar, Anduyin felt a cold sweat break out all over his body.

He really is crazy.

He actually listened to that man and exchanged all his food for these worthless things.

And the place they have taken over, the 'money' they paid only covers three hours.

This means that if Lin An's claimed method of attracting survivors to pay money fails, they will all starve to death! No! Hana and Lilian will also be dragged away to pay off debts, and before that rough bunch of beasts, they will have their bellies forcibly stuffed until they burst.

At that moment, Anduyin even regretted wanting to slap himself.

"Don't worry, believe me."

Noticing that the youths' bodies were actually beginning to tremble, Lin An raised his eyebrows, gave a strained smile, and went over to comfort them.

It seems that although this youth acts mature, imitating gangster style to disguise himself, he is essentially still a child.

"Is preaching this kind of thing common among you? At least I've seen seven or eight along the way."

Thinking that Anduyin was worried someone would come to arrest them, Lin An casually shook his head.

But as soon as his words fell, Anduyin felt no comfort at all, and his face grew even paler.

"Preaching is fine! There are many sects!"

"But.. you can't write it like that! It's too dangerous..."

Anduyin took a deep breath, pointed at the words in the teachings about becoming a god-warrior, and felt his scalp go numb.

After the apocalypse, although there are plenty of sects—from those who believe in the God of Peace down to those who believe in the God of *【censored】, even those who worship zombies—without exception, no church dares to claim any promise of bestowing power.

At least he has never seen one!

This is not a world without supernatural power before the apocalypse. No matter how exaggerated the claims, there are ten thousand ways to get by.

But after the apocalypse, if you dare say that faith can grant power, you had better actually be able to deliver!

Otherwise, deceived survivors will not hesitate to hack you to death!

Like what Anduyin vaguely knows, the teaching at Black Gold that hangs a red‑horned demon only dares to claim that, in the exercise of desire, one can accelerate spirit‑energy absorption and enter the divine realm after death!

It sounds like it would also grant power, but the emphasis of its propaganda is indulging desire—something that concerns what happens after death!

"Do you not know that even the sect you just saw wouldn't dare say that!"

"They, in fact, have Awakened Ones as powerful as deities! They have Third Rank!"

Seeing that Lin An seemed indifferent to his advice, Anduyin grew more fearful the more he thought about it; the younger child beside him also seemed to realize what they were doing, his eyes filling with terror, almost on the verge of tears.

Even possessing Third Rank, a desire‑worshipping church nearly as powerful as a god wouldn't dare claim it could bestow power; Lin An doing this may attract attention, but it's basically courting death.

Those who seek such illusory, ethereal faith are usually half‑crazy!

"Don't be afraid, I fell down from the heavens."

"Isn't it precisely because of that that you believe me?"

Lin An pointed at the sky and smiled.