Chapter 1835: Old Cultist

Su Xiao stood in the church, a beam of sunlight shining down from the skylight, dust particles flying in the sunlight.

"Becoming a King requires experiencing a lot of pain. The person you trust most might betray you, your blood relatives want to kill you at every moment, you will face countless temptations, you will..."

The clergyman old man kept whispering in a low voice, which made Su Xiao frown. This old man was very chattering.

"Cough."

Su Xiao coughed lightly, and the clergyman old man's whispering stopped.

"Where did we just say?"

The clergyman old man was a bit blank. Hearing his words, Su Xiao almost pressed his hand on the hilt of his blade.

"Go straight to the point. What must be paid to become the Black King? I might know better than you."

Su Xiao pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and tapped the metal bracer with his index finger. The color of 【Black·Meteorite Sacrifice of the King】 changed, turning black again.

The clergyman old man looked over at the sound, his expression clearly somewhat stunned.

"That is the King's..."

Seemingly thinking of something, he staggered to the gate and repeatedly confirmed whether the gate had been locked.

"Still that sentence, what

Su Xiao felt the elderly cleric was somewhat unreliable; the old man clearly had a bit of senility...

"Where were we just now?"

The elderly cleric began to look blank again.

"..."

Su Xiao took a deep breath and appropriately reviewed the previous conversation.

"Did you bring it back to save us?"

The elderly cleric's eyes were full of anticipation, the kind of look only a traveler dying of thirst in the desert would have.

"Probably... yes."

"It must be, you have brought the King back."

The elderly cleric walked quickly to the stone pedestal where the metal book was placed. He took down the book, and black threads seeped from it into the elderly cleric's body, making his murky eyes much clearer.

"Tell me about the current situation. Before returning to the Holy City, I lived in the North. The Lord of the North is very ambitious; the first to send troops will certainly be them."

Su Xiao urgently needed to understand the situation in the Holy City, and simply having the identity of a royal family member was not enough; he also needed support. Of course, his own combat power would also make his subsequent actions much easier.

The so-called power struggle seems like an undercurrent, extremely complex, but among those Su Xiao has encountered, who isn't skilled at seizing power? The old lion in the Shea world, Harold in the Ghost world—aren't they all super old schemers? Aren't they all father-level figures in terms of seizing power?

Su Xiao had cooperated with those two countless times. The power struggle in this world has lasted for more than a decade, and no second Black King has appeared yet, which already shows that among the contenders, there are no ruthless people like the old lion or Harold.

Su Xiao was not preparing to stand out and seize power himself; he wanted to first select a controllable puppet. The other party must have a royal identity but lack the ability to seize power.

The reason for doing this is simple: although Su Xiao now has a royal identity, the imperial officials would not acknowledge an outsider who appeared out of nowhere. Those people are not NPCs in a game; just showing an identity won't make them support him wholeheartedly.

The elderly cleric before him clearly didn't support him because of power, but because he wanted him to suppress some very terrifying things—namely, the 'residents' of the Dead City.

Unable to come forward directly to seize power, this is where the role of a puppet comes in. The puppet must live in the Holy City for a long time and have been forced to participate in the power struggle, struggling to hold on. If such a puppet doesn't listen in the end, one can consider eliminating them by physical means.

"The situation in the Holy City is very complex. The general situation is that one-third of the power is in the Senate, one-third is in the hands of the Princess, and the remaining one-third is in the hands of two Dukes. The Princess and the Dukes are all descendants of the King. Due to imperial law, as the succession stands now, male members of the royal family with ability can only become Dukes; females are relatively better off and can become Princesses with greater power."

The Princess the elderly cleric spoke of is actually a princess qualified to become King; there is an essential difference between a princess and a Princess.

The situation in the Holy City was worse than Su Xiao had imagined; even the Senate, a department that maintains neutrality, was involved in the power struggle.

The rule-breaker is likely among these people. Su Xiao's first priority, of course, is not to contact these people; he must first find a puppet, and then find a know-it-all. Judging from the current situation, the elderly cleric is more of an introducer; how much power he holds is still unknown.

"With such a chaotic situation, what can we do?"

As Su Xiao spoke, he sat on a wooden chair. He didn't believe the elderly cleric arranged by Reincarnation Paradise was just a rambling old charlatan.

"We can order the Senate to surrender all their military power."

The elderly cleric was very calm when he spoke, as if discussing what to have for dinner.

"..."

Su Xiao looked at the old charlatan in surprise; clearly, this guy held significant power.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. From now on, I can remain clear-headed for at least 40 months."

The old charlatan smiled at Su Xiao, and his aura gradually changed. If he was a kind old man before absorbing the black energy, he was now an old monster. Su Xiao even felt a vague sense of crisis. In a life-and-death struggle, he and the old charlatan would be at most a fifty-fifty match. This was support from Reincarnation Paradise, and from this point, one could see how difficult that rule-breaker was to deal with.

"Very well, which royal family members in the Holy City have lost power? The more useless, the better."

"Lost power? You intend to..."

The old charlatan immediately understood Su Xiao's meaning, and the look in his eyes changed.

"You should be clear that if I directly participate in the struggle for royal power, not to mention whether I can obtain a portion of military power, just the recognition of officials and the public is a problem. We are not trying to incite a rebellion, but to take back the power that originally belonged to us. This requires the support of other officials and a legitimate reason."

The Senate, the Princess, and the Dukes would never dream that their greatest enemy would finalize a plan in a small church in just one hour.

"Let me consider for a while."

The old charlatan walked into a small room at the back of the church. After about ten minutes, he changed into a black robe.

"There are three suitable candidates: the coastal Duke Bernard, the exiled Princess Kaji, and Princess Peidela of the Morning Dawn. The youngest, Peidela, is only fifteen years old. This is a problem, but she has a significant following among the public, which is why she has been assassinated three times by certain people."

"She's the one."

Su Xiao decided decisively, causing the old charlatan to lightly tap his chest with his finger.

"God, forgive my transgressions."

The old charlatan seemed to have a guilty conscience, but in the blink of an eye, he pulled a folded piece of paper from his bosom like a magic trick.

"Peidela prays in the Royal Garden every morning at ten o'clock. It is now nine-thirty; we should be able to see her there. God, forgive my sins."

The old charlatan looked at Su Xiao with a smile. Now Su Xiao finally understood why Reincarnation Paradise had arranged for the old charlatan to be on his side.

"No need to pray to God; the number of people you've killed is probably no less than mine."

Although the old charlatan disguised it well, Su Xiao could feel the other party's bloodthirst—a black, filthy bloodthirst.

"Those who believe in the light never slaughter others; that is merely pruning the darkness."

The old charlatan's expression was solemn, but he uttered words that were like bullshit; pruning the darkness is just fucking killing people.

Su Xiao and the old charlatan locked eyes. A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face, and the old priest tapped his forehead with his finger.

"God, please forgive my support for evil; this is to help more people."

If there really were a God of Light, the God of Light would definitely tell the old charlatan to get as far away as possible; he would not have such a believer.

"Enough nonsense, let's go."

"Impatience is..."

Bang!

The church door was kicked open.

"My door."

The old priest's face twisted for a moment, but he quickly returned to a kind and benevolent appearance, which was actually a more terrifying emotional shift.