Chapter 231: An Old Person in the House

"A natural-born spy, completely devoid of any sense of panic. If the news hadn't been obtained directly from them, I might even think they were lying to me." The High Priest looked at Chimu and the others. "Let them go, but conduct a strict investigation. At the very least, don't let them use our name to swindle people."

"At the very least, they were the ones who took the initiative to contact us." The Notary stood behind the High Priest. "At the time, I had intended to lock him up immediately, but he was quite clever. From his reasoning to his actions, everything was quite logical."

"Logical? That's not necessarily true." The High Priest waved his hand, and a group of Awakened rushed out.

Such a black market cannot exist in the open market, especially not in Rierna.

During this period, the Awakened in Rierna have become increasingly unscrupulous, to the point that Rierna itself has gained many official Awakened.

Originally, the Bishop should have been responsible for these matters, but this Bishop is currently at the Mechanical Port and has no time to attend to Rierna at all.

Besides, Rierna itself is not the capital of the entire Sea Empire; it is merely the island with the best development, so it is even less the Bishop's concern.

"In any case, send someone to that Ship first. Regardless of whether he is Awakened or not, having our people watching and evaluating him is a good thing. Of course, we need to let him know."

"Then let's send that group led by Babuluo. They've been clamoring to do something ever since they got back anyway." Several subordinates made the suggestion from behind. Watching the market in the distance, which had already begun to descend into chaos, the High Priest nodded.

Chimu soon welcomed his supervisor. Babuluo was a middle-aged man with a large beard, and the members of his squad stood behind him.

This squad did not look like an elite squad, at least that was how it appeared.

Everyone was tipsy, and the oldest person had graying hair and was at least fifty years old.

They are all drunks; this was Chimu's first reaction, but this was not necessarily a bad thing.

"Young man, I heard you want to become one of the Storm's people? And you even privately collected the Magic Potion for awakening yourself?" Babuluo did not avoid the others on the Ship at all. "You really have guts. I think you are very suitable to become a Believer of our Storm, but, according to official procedures, you need to be evaluated for over a year."

"I have already prepared the Magic Potion," Chimu said, looking somewhat troubled. "At the very least, let me awaken; I can't wait any longer."

"I won't stop you, but I won't provide you with any help either. As for the things a Storm Believer needs to learn, I won't teach you that either, but I will keep an eye on you." After saying this, he swayed and sat down at the table in the dining hall, saying to Chimu, "Doesn't your Ship have any Wine?"

"Yes, yes, we do." Chimu had not expected that after the operation ended, those people would actually send such people to watch over him.

Then again, these people all looked like they should be retired; they were also suited for this kind of work.

"I will prepare some side dishes for your Wine from Tana City for you." After saying this, several players carried up the jars of Wine.

Unlike the Wine in areas like Rierna, this Erguotou produced by players had a very high alcohol content, and one could smell the fragrance of the Wine even before it was opened.

Babuluo opened the Wine jar somewhat impatiently, then sniffed.

"This is Wine from Tana City?" There was a hint of delight on Babuluo's face.

This kind of Wine had a high alcohol content, but because it was brewed from the Grain of Tana City, it felt somewhat fiery when it went down the throat. The alcoholic vapor that rushed straight from his stomach to his brain made him unable to stop.

This kind of Wine is very popular in Rierna now, it's just that the quantity is too small.

It is hard to say why Tana City has this kind of Wine, after all, they didn't use to brew Wine with this flavor there.

"I'll give you credit for being sensible, kid. Don't worry, I won't stop you from doing anything, as long as you don't do it in the name of the Church."

Because after awakening, hair turns dark blue or light blue, making it easy to identify an Awakened of the Storm Church, those non-official Awakened easily became guys who caused trouble under the banner of the Church.

The Storm Church is very disgusted by such people, because it gives the entire Church a bad reputation.

With the missionaries of the Federal becoming increasingly rampant, the people of the Storm Church will certainly launch a counterattack.

"But I am curious, why don't you awaken as a Fortune-teller? In the Federal, isn't joining the Wealth Church the most correct choice?" Pouring himself a cup of Wine, Babuluo drank it in one gulp; the spicy taste made him feel somewhat lightheaded.

This is real Wine!

It tastes much better than those fruit wines!

Chimu scratched his head; he also wanted to make up a reason, but the best reason was sincerity.

"I believe that believing in the Storm Church has more of a future than believing in the Wealth Church. At sea, it's not about who makes the most money, but who has the strongest ability. Even an Awakened of Wealth would still have their money robbed if they encountered pirates, right? Qi Luck cannot be used forever."

"You're right, and that kind of Qi Luck is far less useful than one's own fists." Having only drunk a little, Babuluo already had that dizzy feeling.

He was really satisfied with this Wine; as expected, his own luck was not bad either!

The players brought out the side dishes at the right time—peanuts, braised pork knuckles, pig ears, and so on; one item after another, filling the entire table.

Drinking Wine while eating the side dishes, Babuluo felt that this was simply a paradise on earth.

Those guys who were unwilling to come and do this kind of work were simply too stupid.

He looked at Chimu and said with satisfaction, "You are very thoughtful; you are the most generous person I have ever met. If you have any needs, you can tell me, and I can help you within my capabilities."

"Babuluo," said Mengduo, the white-haired old man who was also drinking, "don't forget your status."

"What's there to fear? They sent us here, isn't it just to cast us aside, thinking we are old and unable to accompany them to deal with the problems in Rierna?"

There was clear dissatisfaction on Babuluo's face, even though his entire face was hidden under his beard.

Chimu on the side quickly had everyone leave the dining hall. With their volume, one could hear the content of their discussion even outside the dining hall; there was no need to listen to their faces.

It seems these people have quite a story.

"What are you all eavesdropping on?" Sawasi finished counting the items in the warehouse and ran to the deck. "If you're done dealing with it, you can leave now. I heard that Rierna has been very chaotic recently; many Captains were detained today."

"That's what we did. Those people weren't Awakened either; they can leave after paying the fine." Chimu didn't mind those guys being caught; the more people caught, the more the materials in Rierna would rise in price.

In this way, the players who come to resell can make a profit.

It's just that this requires the players to find a new gathering spot to sell those materials.

This doesn't stump the players; the players are still very strong in this ability to collect information.

"Those people from the Storm Church have come to evaluate me. Hmm, if I perform well, I can become a person of the Storm Church." Chimu had already taken out the Magic Potion in his hand. "They came to us, and it seems there is a reason for it too."

At this time, the people in the room had already drunk a bit too much.

They hadn't adapted to the strength of this Wine, so they didn't know that they would say a lot of things after drinking too much.

Balute, who was in high spirits, slapped the table and said, "Back in the day, I was the most important Captain under the Bishop. How many people did I have under me then? A full fifteen people! But now? The old guys are all useless; now there are only five of us left, and we can only do this kind of work of developing Believers."

"If you ask me, this kind of work really only needs one or two people; we didn't need to come at all." Mengduo was better off than Balute, but his eye sockets also turned red. "You're right, but we can't forget our original intention, at least we can't shield these people."

"Shield? How can you call it shielding?" Balute felt that no one was eavesdropping on his conversation, so he became bolder. "They were the ones who took the initiative to come to us, and didn't that Notary say that these people have no malice, they are just a bit too bold, actually daring to come directly to us, just to be able to awaken openly and honestly."

"So that means they are the real people of the Storm Church; no one doesn't look forward to a long voyage! We were also active at sea when we were young, and we were also able to kill pirates, but now? We can only do this kind of work of developing Believers!"

These people talked more and more enthusiastically; it was clear that they were not successful within the Storm Church.

Because they were old, they were classified as part of the useless group.

But for the players, these guys are like "an old person in the house is a treasure."

There are many questions they can ask them directly, and they are all official Extraordinarys.

"I can't tell you this; you can wait until you reach Tana City and ask people from other churches." Balute was not entirely sober; every day after drinking wine, he would bask in the sun on the deck for a while, and at these times, those guys from Tana City would treat him like a mentor, asking about this and that incessantly.

From asking about certain mutated marine creatures, to which materials in the ocean are easier to collect, to finally where expensive materials can be found, and how the shipping routes are...

To some internal affairs of the Storm Church, such as what Seal Objects the Storm Church headquarters has, what abilities high-level Awakened have, and so on.

Some were things Balute could talk about, while others made him very alert.

These people from Tana City asked so thoroughly that they even needed to use maps to mark things on them.

There were also people who would bring things for him to appraise, such as diving Charms in the ocean, Storm Charms, Lightning Charms, and so on.

It is unknown where they learned this Mysticism knowledge, but in any case, these guys were quite motivated.

Except for that guy named Sawasi and the workers, these young men from Tana City were quite eager to learn; after sailing for three days, there was never a shortage of people coming to ask him questions by his side.

"I've finally found you; every time those guys wait for me to finish my wine, they want to ask me about the history of the Sea Empire, and some things I can't even remember." Old man Mengduo said while holding a wine pot, still feeling unsatisfied, "However, being able to make me recall those past histories really makes me feel like writing a memoir."

"Decent people don't write that stuff!" Balute waved his hand, "You shouldn't have that kind of thought."

"Oh, I don't intend to retire yet; I just miss the past a bit. During the Third Sea War, I had just awakened, and at that time, I dared to go throw Charms at Federal ships while only piloting a lifeboat."

"At that time, even if you weren't on a ship, you could still go throw Charms." Balute sniffed, "I heard they are going to the Mechanical Port, saying they want to trade a batch of goods."

"The Mechanical Port needs a large amount of supplies; the Archbishop hopes it can become the second Rierna, but he forgot that our war with the Federal has not ended yet."

Old man Mengduo still clearly remembered that the Sea Empire had not yet ceased fire with the Federal, although that was already nearly forty years ago.

At this moment, it was early morning on the forum, and the players were having a heated discussion.

Every day at this time is the liveliest time for the entire forum, as most players have finished a night of "new life" and thrown themselves into reality.

Many people who are keen on slacking off would appear on the forum to talk about what they had seen and heard in the game.

Chimu was no exception; besides reporting on Sawasi's health status and the new flag situation as usual, he mainly introduced the origins of the Sea Empire and Rierna to everyone.

Luolita: In other words, Rierna originally belonged to the Federal territory, but after the war was lost, this island belonged to the Empire?

Chimu: Generally speaking, the Federal and the Empire have not ended this war, it's just that to outsiders, both sides have long since ceased fire.

With the development of Federal technology and the state of having completely beaten back the Barbarians, it is hard to say whether the War Church wants to provoke a new war.

However, this has nothing to do with Tana City; after all, Tana City still allows the Storm Church to preach, so it is impossible for them to start fighting in the short term.

Mengbulao: I heard that the Federal has had new ships launched recently; the new cruisers are all made of Steel, covered with Runes and Charms, and equipped with artillery, with immense power. It is hard to say this wasn't built to deal with the Empire. I heard that this kind of ship is prohibited from export, and now all Cement Ships are also restricted from export.

The players were discussing it on the forum, and some even expressed the combat power of the Empire and the Federal with data.

It was as if the sooner these two countries started fighting, the better, just so the players could watch the show.

Chen Zhi looked at the players' discussion threads speechlessly; these people really dared to think—once they reached the sea, wouldn't that be the Empire's territory?

With those people from the Storm Church making a move, even an aircraft carrier wouldn't be able to let planes take off.

Let alone going to attack Rierna.

The Storm Church simply has a leading position on the sea; that is not something a few ships can counterbalance.

(End of this chapter)