Chapter 208: Gathering Information

"What do they have to worry about? I just happened to see people from the War Church come over to buy Runes." Mata ate her melon excitedly. "These Xiahui People are really strange. They seem to value their own blood relations or regional ties more, and conversely, they don't have that much respect or faith in religion."

Evans gave a cold snort; that guy simply didn't know that these so-called Xiahui People were all Believers of the Lord of Calamity.

Of course they didn't believe in other deities; these people were even summoned by the Lord of Calamity from who knows where.

"Why don't you go do what you need to do? Since when did actors become so idle?" Evans looked at her with dissatisfaction. "You're always here—are you monitoring me on behalf of my brother?"

"Could I still do things for your family?" Mata rolled her eyes at Evans. "I'm just curious why you're willing to cooperate with these Xiahui People. I've asked around; you're mainly responsible for registering Xiahui People outside of Tana City. Although there's no need to register those from Gannaer and Port City, you need to register those heading to other places. I really don't understand why you do this."

"Don't you know the significance of a chamber of commerce?" Evans looked at her as if she were a fool.

"These Xiahui People like to stick together—it's not like you haven't seen it—and they are all people Andrew has invested in. Sometimes they just need to cooperate with each other, but if they don't register, they don't necessarily know who they should cooperate with. There are too many of them." Evans originally didn't want to explain it to her, but this stupid woman kept standing at his door; he couldn't exactly say that the God of Calamity ordered him to perform the registration, could he?

In reality, those Xiahui People wouldn't check the contents of his registration at all; it was the Lord of Calamity who would focus on reviewing them.

Those heading to special regions seemed to need to report individually to this Lord of Calamity, though he wasn't clear on the specifics.

"What you say makes sense; they like to cooperate more than people from our Federal." Mata chuckled. "Seem to be repulsed by me?"

"Does everyone have to fawn over you?" Evans rolled his eyes. "Don't delay my work."

At this moment, a player poked their head into the courtyard, but upon seeing Mata, they revealed an expression of sudden realization.

Because Chimu had been at sea for this period, his skin appeared somewhat dark. He was preparing to go to Rierna once again to purchase some formulas.

With a Notary present, formulas from Rierna were relatively more valuable.

Furthermore, one could purchase a large amount of useful supplies from Rierna. This time, it wasn't just him; he would also lead about thirty-some players to head to Rierna together.

For this, he had managed to pull in quite a bit of sponsorship; some players invested in him, and he also obtained a loan from Andrew to purchase a Cement Ship.

He also didn't forget to bring along that jinx.

Sawasi also followed behind him into the door, and upon seeing Mata, he rubbed his eyes.

"Isn't this... isn't this that..." Sawasi froze for a moment. Even while sailing on the sea, it wasn't as if he hadn't heard of Mata; this actress was very famous, and her sketches were hard currency on the sea.

Yes, many sailors would look at this actress and have lascivious fantasies.

It was just that this kind of celebrity-chasing behavior was still looked down upon by others; it was truly a bit shameful.

After all, in Rierna, there were plenty of ways to pay to solve personal problems; staring at a portrait didn't seem manly enough.

"Nice to see you all. Are you also here to register?" Mata pretended that she was also a local here, registering. "Where are you going?"

"To Rierna." Chimu smiled slightly. Although Mata could be considered a beauty in the game, which of the players wasn't good-looking?

Although the male characters in the game were somewhat ordinary, the female characters all conformed to popular aesthetics.

In real life, there were plenty of actresses more beautiful than Mata, so Chimu's immunity was relatively high, not to the point of being like Sawasi, who didn't even know how to walk.

"If I'm not mistaken, the person behind you is not... a Xiahui Person." Evans frowned. He hadn't seen a Calamity Believer this ugly before, and the way the other party walked didn't look at all like someone who walked on land year-round.

Chimu looked at Mata helplessly. "He's a bit different; this person is a jinx."

"A jinx?"

"It means whatever unlucky thing he says can come true. I hope there's a way to solve this problem, so I came to ask you." Chimu smiled slightly. "After all, you are the person I know with the most experience in Mysticism."

"Then you might as well go ask... forget it, even if you asked, it would be asking in vain; he's the type who is born unlucky." Evans shivered. "I suggest you stay far away from him."

"Occasionally there is good luck too." Chimu scribbled on the registration manual; he had learned many of the words on the spot, and his handwriting was not good-looking.

"Fine, if you aren't afraid of death." Evans placated him, then looked at that fellow who looked more like a Calamity Believer. "What, does he not worship the Storm?"

"Of course he worships the Storm; no one on the sea doesn't worship the Storm, but the Storm can't solve his luck problem." Chimu pushed the manual toward the other party.

He indeed hoped to be able to take this guy directly to see the Lord of Calamity.

But this guy truly didn't worship the Lord of Calamity.

He had already taken this guy to see Andrew, but Andrew hadn't even awakened and couldn't help at all.

As for taking him to see Saina, the result was the same; it was simply impossible to give him any solution.

So he could only bring this guy to find Evans; after all, Evans's knowledge of Mysticism was probably the most extensive among everyone.

As for Susan, she didn't even know much about witch knowledge, let alone that Illusionist Heinke—that guy was captured by players, and when he was captured, he didn't even know how he had been discovered.

"I suggest he doesn't speak; that way, the jinx situation won't occur." Evans emphasized. "And some bad luck will pass, for example, by obtaining some blessings."

Thinking of this, Chimu seemed to understand something. "If I obtain a blessing through other channels, can I avoid bringing him there in person?"

"I think it should be possible, as long as it's in Tana City, there will definitely be someone to help." Evans hinted. "However, you have to think clearly about the price you'll have to pay."

"That's not a problem, after all, Sawasi is my friend. I brought a lot of materials from Rierna; should I sell them directly to Susan?" Chimu completely ignored the actress on the side; in his view, she was just an NPC.

As an NPC, she should have the function of turning a deaf ear.

Glancing at Mata, Evans said: "You can also sell them to other places, for example, that You'eryuan of yours would sell materials directly to the Wealth Church."

"But the price will also be pressed very low, unless it's in bulk." Chimu thought it through. "As for the formulas, how should they be traded?"

"I think you will have a way to trade them, provided you can afford the materials."

After sending Chimu off, Evans looked at Mata once again. "You should know by now that we are also responsible for the trade of some hidden matters here."

"Isn't that inevitable? That witch's shop is right across the street. I'm not a person from the Wealth Church; you don't need to be so cautious about this. Even people from the Wealth Church wouldn't block private trades, would they?" Although Mata was puzzled, once she thought about Evans being involved, she relaxed. "But does that philanthropist named Andrew know about all this?"

Andrew was now a recognized philanthropist.

Not just donating food, building welfare homes, providing education, and making investments for those Xiahui People.

With such a good reputation, the things done in private were also easily overlooked.

Although he wasn't a noble yet, in the eyes of those nobles, he already had a status similar to a noble, just missing a title.

Once this guy had more money, he could donate for a title, so there were already some nobles fawning over Andrew, hoping to have a deeper relationship with him.

For example, introducing their own daughters to Andrew.

Even if Andrew was already a middle-aged man in his forties.

"He doesn't need to know; as long as he knows these Xiahui People can make money, that's enough. He is an investor with good vision, and at the same time, a person with long-term foresight." Evans could only say this.

People from other churches didn't realize what Andrew's existence actually meant.

They also couldn't see the relationship between Andrew and these Xiahui People.

He seemed to have always been hiding behind the scenes, with absolutely no one paying him any mind.

Especially since this Bishop had always lived and worked in the Factory District, even fewer people paid attention to him.

Those Believers took on many of the jobs that required being in the public eye, so to the outside world, Andrew was just an investor, someone blown up by the winds of opportunity, a lucky man, nothing more.

Even the Wealth Church had to wonder if this merchant named Andrew had consumed a Magic Potion for a Fortune-teller.

Mata chuckled, "I don't think so. You seem to have more secrets than I imagined, but that's fine; I won't affect you. As for that guy named Andrew, I won't make things difficult for him either; after all, he has provided many things I need, such as those bookstores of Ye's—many of the books they create can serve as excellent scripts for adaptation."

After saying this, Mata strolled away from the courtyard as if she had never been there at all.

What exactly is this person trying to do?

Coming over to warn me?

Are we being too high-profile, or... does she want to reach some kind of cooperation?

Inside the camp, the Warriors who had finished resting shouldered their luggage.

However, they were not planning to return to the Royal Capital, nor were they going to other Federal cities, but rather to penetrate deep into the Barbarian map to teach the Barbarians a lesson.

"I believe you are all prepared," Sigma looked down at his Warriors from a high vantage point, "We cannot return empty-handed, even though we have already blocked those Barbarians outside the defensive line."

"Remember, it is not that we want to invade the Barbarians' territory, but that they have set their sights on us; we need to protect the safety of our people and push the defensive line northward."

All the Warriors were as excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

This meant that if they occupied the Barbarians' land, they would gain even more honor.

Annihilating fifty thousand Barbarians was not a big deal at all, and there were no real corpses left, only a pile of ashes.

In the Royal Capital, quite a few people were already criticizing Sigma for reporting false military intelligence.

Therefore, no matter what, Sigma had to produce enough corpses to tell the people in the Royal Capital that the financial appropriations requested by the War Church were necessary and essential.

"We need a victory, and this victory will eventually belong to us!" The reason Sigma was so confident was that he already possessed more Formations.

After two weeks of teaching, those two craftsmen had already imparted that knowledge to the apprentices.

With the help of those apprentices, the efficiency of the two craftsmen had improved quite a bit, so this time, their preparations were even more thorough.

In one week's time, they already had five Thunder Arrays, as well as 4 other various types of Formations.

These Formations were enough to annihilate over one hundred thousand Barbarians; with this merit, the people in the Royal Capital would surely stop gossiping.

This was Sigma's goal; Gannaer had already raised her hands in surrender, but it would not do for the Barbarian tribes to show no reaction at all.

He also deliberately did not send anyone to negotiate this issue with the Barbarians, intending instead to directly dispatch troops to launch a counterattack.

Standing among the crowd, Zhuguli felt a surge of passion from the bottom of his heart. It was clear that this Sigma was a veteran Warrior; his encouragement was even more infectious than Jili's. Just standing here, one could feel that blood-boiling sensation.

"You said there was no chance this time, but the opportunity to earn merit is right before your eyes," Allison winked at Zhuguli, "If you can obtain merit, this time you will have the chance to go to the Royal Capital. If you can become a member of the Kingdom Guard, you will be able to have a weekly salary of 70 Xide in the future."

"What if we die? How much is the pension?" Zhuguli asked curiously.

"How can you say such things? With Lord Sigma leading the team, how could there be so many accidents? At the very least, you don't need to worry; you are an Awakened," Allison rolled his eyes, "You Xiahui People always think about money. I thought you only considered the salary; I didn't expect you to consider the pension as well."

"There's money for killing a Barbarian, right? Especially one that has awakened," Zhuguli spread his hands, "One has to ask clearly; we can't make things sound so absolute."

"God, don't be so pessimistic." Allison heard Sigma coughing; yes, he must have discovered that he was talking to Zhuguli, so he deliberately reminded him.

He shut his mouth, then shouldered his pack and followed the main force as they began to move forward.

The mortality rate was highest among ordinary soldiers; generally, Awakened soldiers had a chance to run away, as long as they followed orders.

In this war, it was basically the ordinary soldiers who died.

Only a very small number of Awakened suffered casualties.

Therefore, Allison was very confident; to him, Barbarians that could be wiped out in just half an hour were really nothing to be afraid of.

(End of this chapter)