Chapter 429: The Twelve Apostles

Sinuoli graded the papers very quickly; he only needed a glance to know if the examinee had grasped the right direction. Standing out was simple: one just needed to read the needs of the Demigod Dwarf King from the clues in past behaviors and the hints in the questions.

In terms of religion, he hoped to harvest faith from human society; in terms of politics, he hoped to find a "Second Dwarf" willing to act as a spokesperson for Dwarf interests.

Currently, the Southlands are also "governed by humans," but the administrators are the original nobles and elders of each community, representing the interests of their own communities rather than Sinuoli's. This is reasonable as a transitional policy, but adjustments will need to be made as the Southlands get on the right track.

"This handwriting is truly terrible, but what is written is somewhat interesting."

"Incoherent, are you just copying the prompt?"

"This person is not bad, I wonder what their background is! Sigh, why have I started caring about backgrounds too?"

After a night of hard work, Sinuoli categorized the papers: a pile to be eliminated at a glance, a pile that was quite good, and a pile in the pending area that required further examination.

The lower limit for the next day's interviewees was also higher; in this world, for humans to be literate, they either had a noble background or a wealthy family. Only when one is free from worries about food and clothing and has a secure life can one have the time to improve their culture.

"For this group, give them travel expenses and send them back; arrange for the rest to have improved accommodation standards. I need to rest for two days before talking to them in detail."

Over four hundred of the five hundred examinees were eliminated; being able to screen out nearly a hundred who possessed both ability and willingness basically met Sinuoli's expectations. A generation of humans is only twenty years, so it's not like there's a lack of talent!

Having traveled from thousands of miles away to the Everpeak and bared their hearts on the test papers before sitting there, they were mentally prepared for whatever the mission might be, and they knew there was no turning back once they walked into this room. Sinuoli therefore stopped speaking in riddles and got straight to the point.

"Finally, you must properly keep my Divine Statue and this Encrypted Transmitter. Borrowing my power requires these as a medium; try to place them where the Winds of Magic are active, so the loss when I project my power can be smaller."

"As you wish!"

"My divine authority will include wealth, reputation—or rather, contracts—and strength; I believe every intelligent being will need them. Why not start with you? Take an oath before this scroll."

"It is my honor to serve the true god!"

In front of a long table in the Clan secret chamber, Sinuoli sat with seventeen humans dressed in various ways. They looked at each other with vigilance, their eyes revealing intelligence and competitiveness.

Sinuoli scanned the seventeen people as he spoke; he still didn't have the heart to say the words "applause if you understand." He had been thinking these days that the brainwashing routines of the success gurus from his past life were worth referencing, but it still took some talent to execute them to perfection.

"Huzzah!"

"Ura!"

The scope of responsibility is the relative calm of the Empire and Bretonnia, where we face greater pressure. In other regions, no single deity has achieved an overwhelming position; spokespeople for numerous minor gods compete in the pool of faith. Although the situation is chaotic, it is also accompanied by more room for maneuver and opportunity.

"I want you to return to your respective homelands to spread my faith; from now on, you shall call yourselves Apostles. After I successfully ascend to godhood, you may enjoy endless glory and wealth while alive, and after death, you shall have a place in my Divine Kingdom, with your souls spared from Chaos manipulation."

As an alien, using a human shell to proselytize has been proven effective; Sinuoli, having been human in his past life, had no constraints in using his former appearance as a template. He did not want to put his schemes out in the open until the final stage; to resist Chaos, one cannot do without cooperating with the gods of Order and their followers.

"First, after this meeting, line up to pick one Epic Treasure each for self-defense—these are good things on the same level as a Runefang. Second, with my token, the resources of all Dwarf factions can be mobilized; of course, the usage and results must be reported in a timely manner."

"You, um, my God, what exactly does your divine authority include?"

"I, Ruang, swear an oath!"

Before the words had even faded, a few guys were already celebrating wildly, but the rest remained stone-faced, waiting for Sinuoli to elaborate further. The job of proselytizing varies drastically in different countries, and the candidates cannot be cut from the same mold.

As he spoke, Sinuoli took out a stack of exquisite small boxes and distributed them one by one. Seeing the human-like statues inside, every Apostle wore a look of doubt, but no one was tactless enough to ask.

Three from the Empire of Man, two from the Kingdom of Bretonnia, two from Kislev, and the last one to detour to Er lun ge le and head to Norsca, attempting to spread his faith into the Chaos Wastes with the help of the Norscan Dwarf.

"Everyone, among all the examinees, your performance was the best, and the willingness you displayed was the strongest. I have the most arduous task to entrust to you; of course, the rewards will also be beyond imagination."

"Yagebu will be loyal to you forever!"

"You guessed right; I need the power of worship from my human friends to forge my Godhood, the more the better."

"I know you are very excited, and I am just as excited as you, but do not be impatient; even the good friend of the Qunshan, Heldenhammer, spent fifty years before ascending to the divine throne."

As he spoke, Sinuoli took out an ancient scroll with a stone-slab cover; this was the Book of Grudges from the Highland Fortress he had found, and it was now also used as the Book of Grudges for the entire Southlands, which counted as a very high-spec carrier.

"With your world-renowned generosity, I assume you will not be stingy with the necessary support!"

Once it reached this point, even a Greenskin war-pig would know what to do; they lined up to sign and press their fingerprints, officially becoming the first batch of believers of the God of Wealth of War from another world.

"You all know that I am a generous Dwarf. For the... um, for the non-believers, I still reward them with gold coins and wealth; for the first and most loyal Apostles, mountains of gold and silver are a given!"

After comparing the area, population, and other factors of each human faction with the candidates he had in his pocket, Sinuoli decided to arrange one person each for Estalia, the Tilea Federation, the Border Prince Territory, and the coast of Araby.

"Two more reminders: no matter what, you must not reveal my true identity—exploding to death would be considered light, as your souls would also suffer eternal torment; the amount of resources you can mobilize will be linked to your performance—don't think about reporting false figures, as transcendent power is not something the mundane can measure." Having been a king for so many years, he knew well the importance of feeding the horses. This bunch of people were no saints, and saints couldn't do the job of proselytizing anyway; if he just fed them chicken soup, he would be the one suffering in the end.

Sinuoli raised his hand to press down; "cultivating" a Demigod into a true god was too stimulating to the hormones. Look at those magnificent cathedrals and high-ranking priests worshipped by people in the Old World; even Elector Counts dare not underestimate this kind of power.