Chapter 199: Do Not Ask What the Lord Can Give You; Ask What You Can Bring to the Lord (Two-in-One)
Hearing Rast’s words, the cultist named Aiz couldn’t help but feel an array of tremors in his pupils.
“You mean… the Lord?”
“Did you learn all this from the Lord?”
“Of course.”
Rast’s words were like the evening breeze blowing over the Mithro River, calm and profound, yet seemingly imbued with a deeply resonant magic.
“Since you are also a believer of the Lord, you must have heard of divine revelations and the favored ones, right?”
“The Lord selects suitable candidates in this world and imparts blessings and prophecies to them through ‘divine revelations.'”
He gazed at the believers outside the iron bars.
Though he himself was trapped in a cage, Rast, with his subtly compassionate demeanor, seemed to be the one outside the cage, looking down upon the prisoners within, imposing without needing to say a word.
“And those fortunate enough to be chosen by the Lord to receive blessings are the so-called favored ones… They are the agents of the Lord’s will, carrying out His intentions in this world, following His prophecies.”
“Otherwise, how could I so easily reveal your name and past… You should know better than anyone that these secrets you have never shared with anyone were all laid bare by him as if he read your innermost thoughts.”
“I…”
The cultist opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words to say.
Rast’s revelations were too emotionally impactful, making him instinctively want to deny them, but he soon realized he had no counterarguments.
Everything he had mentioned, including the reasons for his joining the Holy Cult… that was indeed his greatest secret, one he had never uttered even in front of his closest friends, yet it felt as though the other person had read his heart entirely.
With all his life experience, the only possibility he could think of was that this truly came from the Lord’s divine will, that the omniscient and omnipotent Lord had disclosed everything about him to the person before him through divine revelation.
And the so-called favored one was certainly not unfamiliar to him—
The leader of the Holy Cult, who now claimed to be a favored one who received the Lord’s divine revelation, was the agent of the Lord’s will in this world.
“You… Are you really also a favored one of the Lord?”
The cultist halfway through changed his words. He glanced at Rast, who was in the cage, suddenly hesitating to speak: “But if you are truly an apostle of the Lord, then why are you here…”
His words weren’t fully articulated, but the meaning was quite clear.
If you are indeed a favored one of the Lord, how could you end up in such a wretched state, imprisoned like a sacrificial offering?
“That is naturally because of the mission the Lord has bestowed upon me.”
Rast’s expression suddenly became solemn and devout: “According to the divine revelation, an heretic has appeared in this city, defiling the Lord’s glory.”
“This person accidentally stole the Lord’s token and falsely claimed to be a favored one of the Lord, establishing his own cult—he misuses the Lord’s glory and renown, but in reality, he is merely a heretic, swindling for his own selfish desires.”
“Stolen the Lord’s token and pretending to be a favored one…”
The cultist guarding the dungeon repeated Rast’s words, his eyes showing signs of shock: “Are you saying that the leader of the Holy Cult, my superior?”
“Not a superior.”
“Because from beginning to end, it was a show he orchestrated with the token he stole; he is nothing more than a complete thief and fraud.”
Rast’s words remained calm: “If it weren’t for that, do you think the Lord, with His status and power, would care about the beliefs in this small city?”
“Don’t even mention just a few dozen believers; even if an entire city or even a whole nation of believers were to vanish, they would be nothing more than ants in His eyes, and the Lord would not care.”
“For the Lord, everything in this world is merely a game to be manipulated at will; He would only glance down to make a few moves when it suits Him.”
“But—”
His expression suddenly shifted from anger to gravitas: “The Lord indeed does not care about trifling benefits in this world.”
“But the Lord absolutely does not allow ants to misuse His name for petty business; that is a desecration of the Lord’s glory.”
“I am posed as a sacrificial offering to infiltrate this cult that has defiled the Lord’s glory—to eliminate the heretic who has defiled the Lord’s glory and cleanse this cult of its origins.”
Rast looked at the cultist before him, his gaze filled with compassion: “I am sharing these things with you because, through our interactions these past moments, I have found your faith in the Lord to be relatively sincere.”
“Though you, like the believers in this cult, were misled and bewitched by that heretic.”
“However, regardless of the cause, since you have such devout belief in our Lord, then you too are a believer of the Lord and are worthy to receive His blessings.”
“I… I…”
The overwhelming revelations from Rast left the cultist stuttering.
But thinking it over, was there not truth in it?
Given the omniscience and power of the Lord as proclaimed by the leader—how could He care about such trifles in Deep Blue Harbor?
Moreover, the cult’s clandestine operations seemed entirely out of step with the Lord’s lofty demeanor.
As agents of the Lord’s glory in this world, they were living day to day like rats in a sewer, completely avoiding light in anything they did.
They even had to engage in daily mind games with the police of Deep Blue Harbor, evading them like mice dodging cats—this utterly diminished the Holy Cult’s supposed prestige of being all-knowing and omnipotent.
But if all of this was a performance orchestrated by that leader of the Holy Cult, then the believers were merely objects fooled for the leader to satisfy his own desires, it all made sense.
Such a shocking realization sent the cultist into a brief daze and oblivion before long.
When the cultist finally came to his senses again, he discovered the young man had walked out of the cage and was now standing before him.
Yet, the other party did not take advantage of his moment of distraction, nor did he expose any weakness—he neither made a move to escape the dungeon nor attempted to seize the weapon strapped to his waist.
He merely looked down at him calmly: “I understand that these matters are too impactful for you to accept so easily.”
“So, you may call upon your trusted friends and fellow believers… to verify the truth of my being a favored one of the Lord.”
Rast’s indifferent tone still carried a touch of compassion: “This is the mercy granted by the Lord to His believers.”
…
【??????】
【??????】
【??????】
In the live broadcast room, lines of comments flooded the screen.
Clearly, those who came expecting a show were not prepared for “Little Ferret Candy” to pull off such a stunt.
Originally, even viewers who had expectations for Little Ferret Candy thought he would, like other professional players and skilled streamers, carve out a bloody path from the dungeon of the cultists using sheer brute force to escape.
This had been the only feasible strategy players had concluded for the “Cults’ Dungeon” initial phase.
But unexpected was that “Little Ferret Candy” did not resort to weapons but instead played with words.
Through a barrage of verbal volleys and persuasion, he genuinely managed to perplex the cultist before him, leading him to half-believe that he was indeed a favored one of that evil god, while the cult’s leader became the heretic and rebel as described by Rast.
【You know what? I really didn’t expect that aside from direct confrontations with the Iron Cross, there were also such verbal tactics in Deep Blue Harbor.】
【Although it’s about verbal tactics, achieving this effect requires both acting skill and well-prepared intelligence; Little Ferret Candy obviously did a lot of groundwork for this.】
【Unfortunately, the temporary event is about to end, and there’s not enough time to replicate his method using the intel he gathered; there’s simply not enough time to try the challenge again.】
【But then again—even if he manages to fool those ordinary cultists, what significance does it hold?】
Amidst the astonished comments, some dissenting voices began to emerge.
【Did you all forget? The biggest danger within the cult is that pollutant—】
【You don’t even need direct contact; just staying near that pollutant for long enough will lead to being subconsciously affected by the evil god’s pollution.】
【No need to wait for the Iron Cross Plague to fully break out; pollution will reach the critical value and directly corrupt into Iron Cross… Previously, players had attempted to infiltrate the cult, but were ultimately forced to give up due to their inability to resist pollution.】
【To achieve a high score in this challenge event, there are only two conditions: either survive long enough or significantly alter the plot of Deep Blue Harbor… However, not distancing oneself from the cult, but instead actively remaining within, means survival time will be counted in seconds. Once the mental pollution exceeds the critical value, the game will forcibly end.】
【And even if he does follow the plot change route—what would it matter if he successfully fooled some cultists? Even if chaos breaks out within the cult, that leader can simply produce that pollutant to suppress everything.】
Doubts also began surfacing in the live broadcast room.
These were players who had previously tried the cult route and had keenly pointed out the drawbacks of this approach.
Yet, no matter how the comments scrolled, Rast’s actions in the live feed had not halted even for a second.
…
Outside the dungeon, a stream of believers clad in black robes continued to arrive.
Then, they all underwent the exact same mental journey.
At first, there was doubt regarding Rast’s claim of being a favored one of the Lord.
Then came shock.
Lastly, a complete loss of words and surrender.
There was no helping it—who wouldn’t be shaken when a young man laid bare their history and greatest secrets with such ease?
If it was just one or two people, it could have been explained away by coincidence, but when everyone had their secrets revealed by Rast, it was clear that could not be merely explained by coincidence.
Among the dozen or so cultists, there were inevitably some who could not accept it and could not help but raise doubts:
“But if that’s the case, then what can we gain by believing in the Lord and supporting the true cult…”
“Before asking what the Lord can give you, you should first consider what you can bring to the Lord.”
Rast looked at the iron-headed boy who spoke up, his gaze still filled with compassion: “With the Lord’s status and power, everything in this world—whether kings or nobles or commoners—is nothing but ants in His eyes.”
“Don’t even talk about believers of a small town; even if all humankind were exterminated, it would matter little to the Lord, just as you wouldn’t care if the ant mound at your doorstep was washed away by rain.”
“Yet God loves the world and has given us the opportunity to believe in Him… allowing us the chance to walk in His kingdom after d*ath.”
“Our food, clothing, and shelter in this world are all grace from the Lord; without the Lord, there would be no civilization, and we would not have come into being.”
“Your earlier words were a great disrespect to the Lord… however, the Lord knows your faith is still sincere, so He is willing to forgive your rudeness and overstepping—”
“If you still retain your reason as a human, then you should understand what a great grace this is.”
“I…”
The cultist’s face flushed, rendered speechless for a long time, while his companions were now glaring at him.
The grace from the Lord is something they have owed for generations; how dare they openly request anything from the Lord?
“Lord Favored One… What should our next step be?”
“Should we charge forward and sh**t that thief who stole the Lord’s token and uses His name to deceive?”
The cultist named Aiz took the initiative to propose.
He was among the first to converse with Rast and was now fully convinced, completely regarding Rast as the true favored one of the Lord, and that the leader of the Holy Cult was a blasphemous heretic.
“No, that is unnecessary.”
Rast shook his head: “After all, he carries the Lord’s token; killing him is trivial, but if that damages the Lord’s token during the process, desecrating the Lord’s glory, that would be a sin we cannot repay.”
“Since he also claims to be a favored one of the Lord, then we should resolve this issue in a favored one’s manner.”
Rast smiled: “After all, since ancient times—”
“Good has always triumphed over evil.”
(End of Chapter)
