Chapter 387: The Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Days, As Expected

As expected, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days

"The person isn't dead, but their body has 'died.'"

They exist in a delicate state, one that allows them to merge with the environment while retaining consciousness.

Dolgord is indeed a miraculous place; without His grace, I could never have discovered these people."

"Incredible. And then—how did you think to send Tulin to them, and how did you actually do it?" Cheng Shi clapped in amazement, pressing on.

"At first, I had no such idea. But after you left this morning, and after I extracted that intelligence from them, I suddenly realized the Thieving Brotherhood was fascinating."

"Though they kidnapped children and pregnant women, they never used them to extort citizens or perform blasphemous rites. Instead, they simply housed them—letting them give birth, raising them, like a church, nurturing these children safely to adulthood, then brainwashing them into joining the Thieving Brotherhood as fresh blood."

This is why this underground blasphemous organization has endured—it passes down tragedy from generation to generation.

Moreover, I discovered that children raised within the Brotherhood report far greater happiness and sense of belonging than Dolgord's citizens.

Their attitude toward these children, their methods of raising them, even surpass those of the children's own parents and the Church.

This puzzled me deeply. I kept wondering: why would an organization that looks more like an orphanage than a child-trafficking ring go to such lengths to antagonize the Church?

They have no other goal—it seems they exist only to exist.

Only when you told me about Lisfield did I realize it was merely the Church's tool to control the underworld's dark underbelly.

And when I learned the Thieving Brotherhood only steals but never kills its 'hostages,' I conceived a method to return the 'special' to the 'ordinary':

Let them replace us and guard Tulin.

The Tribunal isn't safe. Since the Divine Descent can, at the Archbishop's will, obliterate homes and libraries, it might just as easily destroy a ruined Tribunal. So to protect Tulin, I decided to 'send' her to the Thieving Brotherhood.

I had Beside Gou Feng alter the gestational aura radiating from Tulin, making her appear as if she were still in the early stages of pregnancy, gave her a slight makeover, swapped her identity with another pregnant woman of the same gestational stage, and slipped her into someone else's house.

And that house happened to be under surveillance by a Thieving Brotherhood lookout.

Thus, last night, Tulin was already settled into the Thieving Brotherhood's shelter..."

Cheng Shi stared, dumbfounded. His rating of the squint-eyed man's caution rose slightly.

Shaking his head in awe of the squint-eyed man's caution, he asked after a moment:

"You can do makeup too?"

"..."

"..." Scorpio turned his head stiffly toward Cheng Shi, as if wondering why this guy always fixated on such odd things.

Zhang Zhang Jizu chuckled, then gave an irritated nod:

"Before I took up guarding the cemetery, I worked briefly as a mortician—I've done makeup on plenty of corpses. Living people? This is my first time."

"..."

No wonder He chose him!

You offer full-service one-stop care.

Cheng Shi was numb.

"So, as expected, Tulin has been kidnapped by the Thieving Brotherhood?"

"Yes, I admit your idea is clever—but letting her leave your sight, isn't that risky?"

"Don't look at me like that. Even if I have a way to track her, all I can do is locate her—I have no idea what she's experiencing there. So..."

"Old Zhang, I trust you this much—don't screw me over!"

Zhang Zhang Jizu wasn't worried at all. He smiled, his eyes narrowing again:

"Don't panic. If I dared let her leave my sight, it's because I guarantee she won't die by accident."

"I've linked her life to mine."

"Come to think of it, this is a rather uncommon 【Prosperity】 item."

Saying this, Zhang Zhang Jizu pulled out a long, bloodstained cord.

Everyone stared at the cord, strikingly similar to an umbilical cord, stunned—could this really be a 【Prosperity】 item?

Only Cheng Shi knew it could indeed be a 【Prosperity】 item, for He was a being born of intertwined flesh and vegetation.

Though now, that being was void.

Still, pulling out an umbilical cord right now, in the midst of this 【Birth】 scheme, felt deeply strange.

"..." Cheng Shi couldn't suppress his expression—his face froze, then he smirked mischievously: "You're one of Umma's sinners too?"

Zhang Zhang Jizu shot him a disgusted glance and continued on his own:

"Symbiotic cord, consumable. It connects two lifeforms, allowing the recipient to share the user's vitality and life force."

"But one condition: the recipient must consent. Once connected, their life and death hang entirely on the user's whim."

"Great item. Got more?"

"... No. Single-use consumable. Even the best things can't be wasted."

Lie!

Squinty Zhang can lie now!

Cheng Shi's eyes flashed with insight. He squinted at Zhang Zhang Jizu's narrow eyes, pursed his lips, and thought:

Times have deteriorated, morals are gone—brothers are already playing mind games with each other.

How is normal use wasting? I think you're sizing me up—but please, don't pick me.

"Alright, alright—I never expected my own plan to be activated before I even set it in motion."

"But this is good too—at least we've now glimpsed the path to victory, right?"

"Tomorrow, Brother Assassin, go out and spread the rumor again. Once the whispers rise, when Tulin is about to give birth, we win."

Praise 【Birth】! Praise 【Corruption】! Praise 【Prosperity】!

Finally, it's ending. Hope everyone sleeps well tonight.

Goodnight, Makabaka.

"......"

Cheng Shi really did sleep well.

Early on the third day, when he opened his eyes, Lisefiel, his face dark, had already kicked open the door to the players' room and stormed over to interrogate them in a fury.

"Was it you lot who did it!?"

Cheng Shi, looking thoroughly grumpy from just waking up, picked at his ear, then tilted his head and stuck the ear out toward her, asking as if he hadn't heard:

"What did you say, my lord Lisefiel? I didn't quite catch that."

Didn't catch it?

Hmph!

Lisefiel saw Cheng Shi's attitude and was about to blow up, but then thought of Gliris and forced down the anger in his heart, withdrawing his hand. He said in a hard voice:

"Today's treatment will continue. If anything goes wrong, I'll remember all of this when the reckoning comes."

Hope we're still around when your reckoning comes, beardy.

Cheng Shi pursed his lips and obediently followed him down to the underground lake to begin the day's treatment work.

It wasn't really work, in any case—just dragging Zhang Zhang Jizu over to cast a few healing spells on Gliris. As long as Gliris had some spirit in her, the bearded man and the cult leader would feel she wasn't far from getting better.

But the truth was, the players hadn't yet used any divinity-related measures.

They planned to use them on the last day, to avoid accidents in the preceding days.

So, with both sides cooperating in tacit understanding, the players spent the most pleasant four days of the trial.

No outside threats, no internal splits, no worries about food, drink, or daily needs, and the entire church's NPCs helping complete the quest. From time to time they could even laugh at the 【Folly】 believers' antics. The feeling was simply wonderful, perfectly matching Cheng Shi's understanding of "slacking."

But unfortunately, by the time he was enjoying this ultimate "slacking," he no longer felt like slacking.

Though the speedrun hadn't succeeded, at least the trial would succeed eventually.

But just when all the players thought the plan was proceeding methodically and that on the seventh day they would smoothly welcome the child's birth, something unexpected still happened.