CHAPTER 326: CHAPTER 86: THE COLLAPSING BELIEVER

Wu Zechuan listened to Kate’s words and laughed.

"God? Where is there a god in this world? If a god really exists, it would be an evil god!"

Upon hearing this, Kate suddenly became agitated and cursed at the air in front of him: "Heretic who disrespects the gods, you will be punished by divine wrath! When the heavenly fire descends upon the world, you will all be destroyed!"

Wu Zechuan sneered.

For their own benefit, the members of the Believer Sect have twisted their sect’s scriptures beyond recognition. The classics studied by the lower-level members of the Believer Sect today have nothing in common with those lost classics from ten years ago.

This is an era where material civilization is advanced, yet spiritual civilization is lacking.

Once their material needs are met, humans often begin to ponder the meaning of their existence.

Because of the Abyss’s existence and the threat of mutant creatures, most people are trapped in cities. Even though the cities are enormous, many people can never reach every corner of their city in their lifetime, yet it is an undeniable fact that humanity is confined to urban centers.

The gap between the city and the world is so great.

Youths may get lost in the strange and surreal online communities, but as they age, they gradually feel void and fear, prompting doubts about their life.

In such circumstances, religious belief easily occupies a person’s heart.

In regions other than the Eastern Domain, due to a lack of spiritual civilization, the ecological niche of mental management is directly taken over by religious belief.

However, even religious belief can’t explain the existence of the Abyss and the suffering humans endure.

At this time, the adapted scriptures of the Abyssal Believers can explain people’s confusion, while also leading them into a hopeless abyss.

You Yifeng mentioned that among the Abyssal Believers, lower-level members of the Believer Sect mainly come from domains outside the Eastern Domain, while the Watcher Sect consists primarily of people from the Eastern Domain.

The more fanatical the lower-level members are, the easier they are to manipulate.

The numerous members of the Believer Sect are directly related to the apathy and inaction of the city governments in other domains.

"Then rot in there, for all you’ve done, death is deserved!"

Even faith cannot resolve all the issues of the lower-level members of the Believer Sect, so the upper echelons use both faith and benefits to control them.

Kate Lillard is homosexual, but he prefers children to adults.

Thus, the upper echelons of the Believer Sect fulfilled his desires, letting him indulge in his lust. For the rewards from the higher-ups, he would do anything for the Believer Sect.

Even if he knew his actions were evil, as long as he explained it as ’I am a devout believer, the other party is a heretic,’ he could internally justify his evil deeds.

Because being evil to heretics is not ’evil’!

This is how the Believer Sect ropes in lower-level members, and they are successful repeatedly.

Out of ten bad things on Blue Star, at least six are directly or indirectly related to the Abyssal Believers, with five specifically attributable to the Believer Sect.

The Abyssal Believers are evil, and Wu Zechuan found any means used on them to be very reasonable.

Wu Zechuan manipulated his personal terminal to switch the news broadcast in front of Kate to footage of a corpse decomposing, to let him experience what it’s like to rot away slowly.

After doing this, Wu Zechuan went to interrogate other Abyssal Believers.

The other Abyssal Believers were not as tough as Kate; they revealed everything they knew. Unfortunately, their ranks were much lower than Kate Lillard’s, so they knew less.

Kate sat alone in the stench-filled room, finally able to enjoy a moment of long-lost peace.

But he had grown accustomed to the noise, and the sudden silence left him at a loss.

The projection in front of him changed from a news broadcast to a video—a corpse lying quietly on a bed. The clock in the lower right corner of the screen ticked rapidly, and a robot in the room’s corner walked over to forcefully open Kate’s eyelids and make him watch the video.

Kate’s eyes quickly grew dry, but he couldn’t blink, and the pain made his breathing accelerated, and sweat seeped through.

A tube hanging from the ceiling was inserted into Kate’s body, continuously providing nutrients to ensure he didn’t die.

Kate hadn’t eaten for five days, his stomach growling, but his body didn’t give his brain any ’hunger’ feedback.

In this state, his senses endured unprecedented torment.

The corpse in the video started to decay, and Kate watched helplessly as its skin deteriorated bit by bit, corpse fluid seeping onto the bed. He suddenly felt an itch in his crotch.

During these days, he could only keep defecating in his pants, with the waste accumulating beneath him. Who knows how many bacteria had built up?

Seeing the decaying corpse in the video, Kate seemed to see his future...no, his present self!

—He felt himself also decaying!

The nerve in his brain finally snapped; belief in the gods and loyalty to desire both paled in comparison to his survival instincts at this moment.

Kate burst into tears, leaning forward and struggling to break free from the chair’s restraints, while shouting in horror: "I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything! Wu Zechuan, answer me, respond to me! Damn it, what are you doing? Didn’t you want to know who my superior is? Why aren’t you answering? Where are you? Respond to me!!!"

Just returning from the restroom, Wu Zechuan watched the monitor showing the tearful Kate with a smile.

It turns out that such villains are actually the easiest to deal with.

Kate was wicked, but not to the extreme. He was the type who was neither proud nor confident in his career path.

He didn’t firmly believe that what he was doing would benefit the world, so when faced with a choice between life and death, he easily crumbled.

If he were to die during a mission, Kate could accept it, but if he had to choose himself, he would more likely choose to live.

Wu Zechuan sat back in his chair and smiled as he asked, "Go ahead, who is your superior?"

Finally hearing Wu Zechuan respond, Kate took a few deep breaths and resolutely said a name: "Wang Xiu!"

The Patriarch of the Tianyi Wang Family, Wang Xiu?

Wu Zechuan raised an eyebrow; why was it this person again?

As early as when they captured Shi Tianming, they already knew Wang Xiu was an Abyssal Believer, but because he hid in Celestial City, dealing with him was challenging.

"What is Wang Xiu’s position among the Abyssal Believers?" Wu Zechuan continued to ask.

He was puzzled. Wang Xiu was clearly the Patriarch of the Tianyi Wang Family, managing such a large enterprise. How could he become Kate Lillard’s direct superior?

Since he had already revealed his superior, Kate decided to spill the beans and answered, "He is responsible for communicating with believers on the surface. In the past, any tasks we received were issued by him."

So that’s how it is!

Wu Zechuan finally understood—it was because of power.

Wang Xiu essentially controlled the communication channel between the Abyssal Believers’ upper echelons and lower-level members. This was quite a significant power; whatever Wang Xiu wanted to do on the surface, he could directly order the lower-level members to do it, bringing many additional benefits to him and the Wang Family.

If that’s the case, Wang Xiu must have used the lower-level members of the Abyssal Believers to do a lot of things, but he wasn’t satisfied, wanting to take over Bao Han Company as well.

Wu Zechuan remembered that when Yan Luo helped Li Xinyue retake Bao Han Company, he encountered a Sequence Three Abyssal Believer, who was likely sent by Wang Xiu.

Since the marriage agreement between Wang Xiu’s son and Li Xinyue was annulled, if he wanted to seize Bao Han Company, he could only resort to other methods, likely targeting Xinyue’s uncles. This was probably his thought process.

Unfortunately for him, his plan was thwarted by Yan Luo once again.

Calculating it this way, the personal grievances between Yan Luo and Wang Xiu were more than just one layer.

With this realization, Wu Zechuan’s expression turned a bit odd.

Settling his stray thoughts, Wu Zechuan smiled at Kate and said, "Mr. Lillard, thank you for your response."

Kate’s eyes shone with hope, and he anxiously asked, "Can I be released now?"

"When did I ever say I would release you?" Wu Zechuan smiled and pressed a button.

The chair beneath Kate was instantly electrified, and a high-voltage current pierced through his body, incinerating his brain.

"I told you, death is deserved for you!"

From the moment Kate fell into Wu Zechuan’s hands, he was never going to walk out alive.