Chapter 86: Spreading the Faith

Mengmeng and Mengmeng were surrounded by the crowd as they arrived at the place to collect bread; the two of them collected four loaves in total, then began to follow the crowd back.

Most people, after collecting their bread, would head toward the Factory District, because there were places to stay there, and they needed to arrange their future lives as soon as possible.

However, there were also many people like Mengmeng and her companion who were not unable to eat due to poverty, but were simply swept along by the crowd.

After collecting the bread, the two of them carried their items and headed to the nearest grain shop.

Their Grain had already been snatched up, and if they wanted to continue making cakes, they needed to restock.

But the grain shop had posted a notice.

The two could not understand what was written on it and could only listen to what the people around them were saying.

It turned out that because the grain shop had been robbed, there was no Grain left now.

Walking further ahead, there were a few more shops.

Not only was there no Grain, but even vegetables were much scarcer, and the prices were far too high.

The two walked to many places, and almost all daily necessities had vanished overnight.

It was clear that even the shopkeepers who hadn't been robbed were unwilling to sell even a bit of supplies.

From salt to Grain, and even luxuries like candy...

The shopkeepers were desperate to hide all their food; on one hand, they feared the Governor would forcibly requisition their Grain, and on the other, they hoped to raise prices later to sell for more.

Returning to the shop, the two felt a sense of trepidation as they looked at the landlord standing inside.

The landlady said with a smile, "I'm sorry, but the rent for the shop really has to go up. You should know how expensive prices are in the city now. Of course, you can also sell your goods for more; that's not a problem. Those noble lords and ladies all love the pastries you make, and I think you can understand my predicament."

"No."

"Sorry."

Mengmeng and Mengmeng could only shake their heads.

They were already close to finishing this closed beta test anyway.

Even their money had been basically invested in Andrew, and they didn't have much left on them.

Now that the rent was being raised, they absolutely could not accept it.

"You..." the landlord said with a dark face, "You still have a full year left on your lease. If you don't pay the rent, I won't be returning your deposit."

"Mm." Mengmeng didn't continue to pay attention to the landlord; the deposit was only one month's worth, and regardless, the two of them couldn't keep the shop open now anyway.

As for the deposit or whatever, if it was gone, it was gone.

Hopefully, the investment on Andrew's side would go smoothly, so that the next time she logged in, she could still count as one of the top players among the life-skill players.

"Wait, why don't you reconsider? I can lower it a little."

"Wait!"

The landlord stomped their foot, but it was already too late; those two young girls had long since run off to who knows where.

After all, the whole street was full of people, but no one was looking to open a shop, and no one was looking to buy anything; they were all people on their way to collect bread.

Inside the Orphanage, Andrew was arranging for the children to hand over their bread.

It wasn't as if this situation hadn't happened in previous years; Andrew had the experience of an old man, and he clearly guided them on what to do so that everyone could have a full stomach.

"Everyone, be frugal. Grain is hard to buy lately, and we have to go queue up to collect bread every day, do you understand?" Andrew exhorted the children, "And Anna, remember not to let the children get lost."

"Rest assured, with the help of those Believers, the children won't get lost." Anna was a new Believer Andrew had recruited; this Believer had not originally worshipped the God of Calamity and had never even had any religious faith before.

Most of the people located in the Factory District had no religious faith.

Those high priests from the Royal Capital didn't have the time to sow the seeds of faith here, and the Wealth Church only cared about having the nobles believe in them.

This was also the reason why Tana City easily became a breeding ground for various sects; after all, most people here had no opportunity to join a religion.

"You must believe that the God of Calamity does not wish for Calamity to descend; he hopes even more that the entire Tana City stays far away from Calamity," Andrew said in a gentle voice. Although the former Lord of Calamity was a typical Evil God, after regaining his will, this deity was more benevolent than the gods of many other churches.

At the very least, he had proposed ensuring that the children at the Orphanage could eat first.

This point had already far exceeded Andrew's expectations.

While other Evil Gods were performing sacrifices and killing more ordinary people, the God of Calamity had a trace of a benevolent heart.

As expected, this was how the God of Calamity should be.

Mengmeng and Mengmeng walked here without realizing it.

Although the sign hanging outside said Orphanage, for players, this was a temporary residence.

The two of them had always lived here, and every night when they logged off, they would log off here.

"You've returned just in time," Andrew said with some embarrassment. "Could you share some bread? We need to save up some Grain; I'm afraid that in a while, Grain for the entire Tana City will become a crisis."

"Is it that serious?" Mengmeng said in disbelief.

She and Mengmeng naturally handed the extra loaf of bread to Andrew.

Players also needed to eat, but they could eat a little less; after all, players wouldn't know what hunger was after logging off.

But those children were different.

In the Factory District, the refugee shelter voluntarily undertaken by the Wealth Church and the Government Building was basically completed.

In reality, this shelter didn't need much in the way of construction.

It only needed a large enough shed to block the rain.

Two shelters were enough to accommodate the living needs of tens of thousands of refugees; of course, this was under the pretense of sleeping on the floor.

Naturally, there were no beds here; it just gave these refugees a place to lie down.

But even so, having a place to block the rain was already quite a good thing for these refugees.

The only problem was that these people received two loaves of bread every day; if they didn't eat them but saved them up, they might not have any the next day.

"The people at the Government Building are really just slacking off. They promised to make a refugee shelter, but in reality, they're too lazy to even manage it," You'eryuan complained as she walked. "It's not even as good as our Orphanage."

"They said the Wealth Church didn't provide enough money," Yunxiao sighed. "The path of the Wealth Church might not work out now. The Sun God Cult wants to have the ability to spread their religion in the Factory District and also requires a Sun Sanctuary. I'm thinking about whether we should wait for Feng Buxi to revive and let him try his luck at the Sun God Cult."

(End of chapter)