The big guy had donned a new face that Jiang Lin had never seen before, heading out to pass the corrected intelligence to the outside world through his special channels.
As for the bald warrior and the "attack helicopter," they had been fitted with Jiang Lin's customized "automatic torture" device and placed inside the big guy's biological storage space.
The night in Emerald City was thicker and stickier than usual.
Currently wearing the aged, sinister face of the purple-robed mage Morris, Jiang Lin walked out of the abandoned warehouse and found Little Black still hiding in the corner.
"Let's go, Little Black. We might be facing some big shots this time. Scan the surrounding aura at all times and let me know."
Little Black leaped out from the shadows and burrowed into Jiang Lin's purple robes.
From the outside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
'Kid, why did you change your outfit again? What's the situation now?' Little Black asked via telepathy.
Jiang Lin began to recount the events that had just unfolded in the warehouse stronghold.
As he listened to Jiang Lin's story, Little Black's eyes widened.
'The ascension ceremony?!'
'Just how many bodies and souls will be sacrificed?!'
Sad tears of hunger leaked from the corners of Little Black's mouth.
At this point, Little Black couldn't contain its emotions: 'Damn it, I'm a dignified evil god of a whole realm, yet now I can't even suck the life out of a world, nor can I expand my own secret cult. I'm just running around behind you, a lackey of a righteous god...'
'Just what kind of karma am I paying for...'
Speaking of Little Black's past, Jiang Lin asked curiously, "Little Black, what exactly is your background? Why did you choose Boulder City to develop your secret cult? And why were you trapped there?"
He had asked these questions many times before, but Little Black had always been too lazy to answer.
Now, seemingly because Little Black had deduced that Jiang Lin had a future as an apostle of god for a righteous god, it rarely felt inclined to explain.
'I've forgotten the specific era I was born in. I only remember falling into a deep sleep shortly after my birth, then waking up recently only to find myself near this planet of yours.'
'Following my instincts, I began to spread my faith to this planet. Then, through sheer bad luck, I picked your Boulder City. Through more bad luck, I descended my consciousness to bestow blessings to consolidate my followers. And through even more bad luck, I ran into a bunch of useless followers who exposed the newly established cult stronghold directly...'
'Then, a swarm of Paladin Order members rushed in, shouting things I couldn't understand about faith and justice, and smashed my statue.'
'My consciousness then—more bad luck—drifted onto a nearby black cat.'
'I soon realized that without the protection of the ritual array, I couldn't mask my own aura. In this territory of a righteous god, if I dared show even a hint of my aura, I’d be dead. So, I planned to take it slow and build an array that could mask the transmission of my consciousness back to my main body.'
'And then, through yet more bad luck, I ran into you...'
At this point, Little Black's tone grew even more depressed.
Jiang Lin was somewhat puzzled. "Then why didn't you find a chance to send your consciousness back later?"
Jiang Lin didn't know that Little Black was actually afraid to upload its consciousness; Little Black had never mentioned that part.
Little Black became even more dejected at this. 'Look at the damn title you gave me! 【Pope of one of the Four Great Secret Cults】!'
'Then who am I? The evil god of one of the Four Great Secret Cults? Do I look like an evil god who dares to mess with the Four Great Evil Gods?!'
Hearing this, Jiang Lin suddenly stopped in his tracks on the street.
Wait... he had almost forgotten that he had an incredibly crucial identity...
He was the Pope of one of the Four Great Secret Cults!!!
Back in Clearwater City, he had managed to package himself as the genius young master of a mysterious noble family with just two recommendation letters.
Now that he had an even more intimidating title, shouldn't he seize this opportunity??!!!
Although the risk was high, the rewards would be equally staggering!!
Jiang Lin thought for a moment and came up with several seemingly feasible plans.
However, going it alone might be too risky.
He would definitely need to find a bodyguard from the reinforcements he called in, or at least have a sufficient escape route...
At that moment, Jiang Lin remembered a task the system had given him:
【Trial of Blood (II)】
【You have gained an initial understanding of the Blood Realm and have established a deep connection with it. Your next challenge is no longer to face the Blood Demons within the Blood Realm, but to lead the Blood Demons in invading other worlds.】
【Selected Rank-3 Planet—Planet Teluofuto】
【Requirement: Lead the Blood Demons to occupy Planet Teluofuto and turn the planet into a territory of the Blood Realm.】
【Reward: Removal of current level restrictions, enhancement of the "Crimson Slaughterer" title effect, qualification to become the owner of the Blood Realm, and transmission permissions for this planet.】
【PS: During the duration of this quest, you temporarily possess two transmission permissions for this planet—entry and exit. If unsuccessful, you will permanently lose transmission eligibility.】
Glancing at this quest again, Jiang Lin's heart trembled.
The triggering of this quest had given him something incredibly important...
And that was the transmission permission for the planet named Teluofuto.
If he could immediately teleport to that planet when in danger and then complete this quest called 【Trial of Blood (II)】.
By the time he returned, the problems here would either have completely erupted—with Emerald City in ruins and this high-tier "Holy Son" having fled far from the Saintas Kingdom, leaving Jiang Lin out of danger—or the problems would have been completely resolved while he finished his task, also leaving him out of danger.
Jiang Lin felt this idea was very viable.
As long as he wasn't insta-killed by this "Holy Son" the moment they met, he had a chance to escape danger!
However, if he tried to draw out the "Holy Son" first, the other party would surely strike immediately.
So, the preparations here couldn't stop.
At the very least, he had to stall until the experts from his faction arrived.
Furthermore, if the opponent had already met the four popes, there would likely be a flaw...
But when the time came, he could just reveal his true face and say he was currently in disguise.
Then, no matter how the other party looked, they wouldn't see anything amiss, which would conveniently suggest his strength was profound...
No, that excuse was a bit weak. What if the opponent guessed his title was fake?
In just a few breaths, a series of thoughts flooded Jiang Lin's mind like a spring.
Ideas kept popping up one after another, and the situation that had previously made Jiang Lin feel overwhelmed gradually became clear.
However, all these plans required someone to back him up; otherwise, it would be too risky and he'd have to rely on blind luck.
'I still need to notify the big guy...' Jiang Lin thought.
But before that, he needed to confirm one thing.
"Little Black, can you sense the location of the sacrificial array's 'array core'?"
Little Black, tucked inside his robe, sensed for a moment before responding: 'Take me to feel that so-called "array core" in the warehouse first. I need to confirm it before I can deduce things based on the array.'
So, Jiang Lin took Little Black back to the warehouse and entered the underground secret chamber.
Jiang Lin pointed to the eerie patterns carved on the walls and floor of the purple-robed mage Morris's room. "These are it. Do you recognize these array runes, Little Black?"
Little Black poked its head out from Jiang Lin's robe, its bright cat eyes carefully scanning the patterns.
After a moment, it transmitted: 'These runes... they are indeed sacrificial ritual runes, and they are fully functional. Setting them up would have taken quite a lot of effort.'
'If this is all just a feint, the person who set it up certainly put in a lot of heart, because they would need to build at least two such systems.'
Jiang Lin knelt before the array runes, his fingers lightly brushing the cold carvings.
"So, if we don't destroy this system, it can also be used as the array for the ascension ceremony."
"In that case, we need to pick up the pace."
"I don't know when the other party will start the ascension ceremony."
After a moment's thought, Jiang Lin asked, "Little Black, if we destroy the array cores of these sacrificial arrays now, will the other party notice?"
Little Black frowned, thinking for a moment before answering: 'Logically speaking, if the opponent has already completed the layout, destroying one array core will definitely be sensed by the connected cores, triggering a series of chain reactions.'
Jiang Lin continued, "If one array core is destroyed, can the other party still complete the sacrificial ritual?"
Little Black shook its head.
'That depends on the situation.'
'If all the array cores have been laid out, the coordinates of this city are already locked and in a state ready to be sacrificed at any time.'
'Destroying just one or two array cores won't be enough to stop the sacrificial ritual.'
'To make a completed sacrificial ritual completely useless, you have to destroy at least one-third of the array cores plus the core array core, or destroy two-thirds of the array cores.'
'So, the reason the other party hasn't performed the sacrifice yet is either because they're playing a long game or because the layout isn't fully complete.'
Hearing this, Jiang Lin fell into deep thought.
If his previous guess held true, starting to destroy the array cores now would definitely expose his information ahead of time.
That was why the big guy had instructed him to wait until reinforcements arrived and seized control of most array core locations before acting simultaneously.
"Little Black, as an evil god, do you have a method to sabotage his sacrificial ritual without him noticing?"
Upon hearing this, Little Black actually began to think.
'Now that you mention it, I've thought of a workaround.'
Jiang Lin said, "Let's hear it."
Little Black cleared its throat.
'You can adjust part of the structure of this sacrificial ritual to change the target of the sacrifice.'
'For example, instead of sacrificing to the evil god of the Pleasure Cult, you change it to sacrifice to me.'
'Once you've adjusted all the array cores, you can sacrifice this city to me.'
At this point, excited tears of hunger leaked from the corners of Little Black's mouth again.
'Ahem, kid, want to become this evil god's "Holy Son"?'
Jiang Lin fell silent.
Was this a case of preventing someone from killing the people you want to protect by killing them yourself first?
And... becoming Little Black's "Holy Son"...
"To become your "Holy Son," you're not going to inject some weird things into my body, are you?"
Little Black said as a matter of course: 'If you want to receive my gift, you naturally need to leave a brand.'
Jiang Lin fell silent again. "But... compared to my boss, you're a bit weak..."
It was Little Black's turn to fall silent.
Jiang Lin asked again, "In a one-on-one, who's stronger, you or the God of Holy Light?"
Little Black continued its silence.
"Why aren't you talking?" Jiang Lin patted the other's head.
Little Black hissed.
"Little Black, does a Holy Son have higher status, or does a Pope?"
Little Black rolled its eyes. 'Normally, in a secret cult that can produce a Holy Son, the Pope has to be one of the Holy Sons, and the one with the highest status.'
Jiang Lin nodded. "So the popes of the Four Great Secret Cults are definitely all Holy Sons, right?"
Little Black nodded in confirmation.
With that, Jiang Lin silently adjusted the plan he had originally conceived.
"Can you sense the location of the other array cores?"
Little Black flicked its tail. 'I can perceive the flow of the array runes to determine the general direction, but for the specific location... I'll need to reach the destination to search for and sense them specifically.'
'These array cores should be distributed across different districts of Emerald City, and they won't be too far apart; otherwise, the magic conduction efficiency would be too low.'
Jiang Lin stood up, pulled out the short-range communication crystal given by the big guy, and injected magic essence into it.
"How's the situation on your end?"
The crystal flashed a few times, and the big guy's lowered voice came through.
"Intelligence has been sent back to the Royal Capital. Reinforcements will arrive tomorrow night at the earliest."
"Also, emergency support has arrived. She can perform disguises. I'm taking her to my previous warehouse stronghold to interrogate the freak."
"Then we can act together, using their identities to find more relevant clues."
Jiang Lin replied, "No problem. You guys interrogate them for a bit. I'll try to see if I can find other array cores and meet up with you later."
"Also, I have another plan I can try, but it might involve a little risk. I can't explain it clearly here, I'll tell you in person when the time comes."
The big guy was a bit confused, but he now fully trusted Jiang Lin's brain.
"No problem. We'll wait for you at my stronghold. Before you come over, use this short-range communication crystal to confirm the code."
"I was a bit careless before. Now that our numbers have increased, it's easier to be discovered, so we have to be a bit safer."
Jiang Lin agreed. "No problem."
Afterward, the two agreed on a code.
Jiang Lin ended the communication with the big guy, while Little Black was darting between the array runes, carefully sensing the minute flow of energy.
'I've determined four general directions. Let's go, we'll search them one by one later.'
Jiang Lin didn't hesitate. He packed his things and walked quickly in the direction Little Black pointed.
The night was as dark as ink as Jiang Lin traversed the alleys of Emerald City.
Under Little Black's lead, they first found a long-abandoned mill in the southeastern corner of the city.
The wooden wheel was rotten, and moonlight filtered through the collapsed roof, casting fragmented patches of light on the floor.
'It's around here.' Little Black sensed carefully.
Jiang Lin compared it with the map in his mind.
This wasn't one of the five array core locations the purple-robed man had set up; it was a new array core.
Good old Little Black!
Jiang Lin was overjoyed.
He would leave the rest to Little Black's cat-nav...
Rate on N.U.
