The Preachers of the End. Among the many cultists that Duncan has come into contact with so far, these guys named "Preachers" are undoubtedly the most mysterious and strange group.
Their number is far less than that of the Sun Followers and Annihilation Cultists, but their ability to cause trouble is unparalleled. Their actions are treacherous and their purposes are a mystery. Up to now, no one knows what kind of "organizational form" they have, nor can they find out their approximate number and hiding methods.
What concerns Duncan more than their bizarre and evil behavior style is their own "characteristics" - they are suspected to be nonlinear in the timeline, and this is true for all people.
The Church of the Four Gods and the city-state authorities of this world call the Preachers of the End, the Cult of the Sun, and the Cult of Annihilation a great cult, but in Duncan's opinion, the evilness and style of those "preachers" are so weird that they should be picked out separately.
According to the intelligence currently available, the End Preachers should be divided into two categories, one is the completely crazy extreme cultists, and the other is the rational and polite "rational scholars". Morris slowly cleaned his pipe at the side of the table, thinking while saying that the latter will take the initiative to contact people and try to... guide the people they choose, and judging from the frequency of appearance, the number of these rational people seems to be far less than the crazy ones.
According to the known heretic contact reports, all recorded End of Days preachers are crazy, Vanna nodded.
"This shows that the crazy people make up the majority of 'these preachers'. The rational ones are just characteristics. After all, they are a group of people who are entangled with the warp all day long. Mental disorders are normal." Agou said casually, and then quickly looked up at Duncan, "Ah, Captain
I didn’t say you...”
Duncan ignored Agou's muttering. He just thought quietly. After a moment, he suddenly said, "Whether they are crazy or rational, these two types of end-of-the-world preachers actually have one thing in common—they are all trying to make a move on history."
On both sides of the table, everyone fell into a brief contemplation. Agatha, who had been silent the whole time, raised her head and said, "You mean... you said that the End Preacher who took the initiative to contact the Frost Queen was also for a certain future."
"Perhaps we should try to look at history from the perspective of the End Preacher."
Duncan said slowly, "Let's assume that they are really a group of non-linear 'time stowaways', then what does history look like to them?"
The restaurant fell silent. After a moment of silence, Morris' voice suddenly rang out: "Everything has happened, but nothing can happen. The direction of the world can be customized. We just need to find the right correction."
"That's right. The three missionaries who came to the Lost Homeland a hundred years ago and the mysterious scholar who came into contact with the Frost Queen more than fifty years ago, their actions have greatly influenced the subsequent course of history to a certain extent. From the perspective of meddling in history alone, the crazy and rational End of the World missionaries actually act in the same way."
Duncan nodded. "The difference between them is that those crazy preachers seem to want to completely destroy history, while those rational ones seem to want to 'correct' history to a direction they expect..."
Revising history, Fanna frowned tightly, this is a dangerous word, the Firebringers are dedicated to protecting our history from being contaminated by external forces, they are the Orthodox Church that deals most with the End of Days preachers, and according to the teachings of the Flame-Burning Tarekin, history has its own rigor and purity, it cannot be touched or reshaped, and for history, revision is also a kind of destruction.
"What if we want to 'restore' the damaged history?" Duncan asked, and then added, "Of course, I'm not referring to the actions of the End Preacher. I'm just curious about this question."
"I'm sorry, this involves the deeper and more complex doctrines of the Firebringer Church." Vanna thought for a moment and lowered her head with a hint of apology. "They are the most mysterious of the Four Gods Churches, and their doctrines are the most difficult to understand. My understanding of them is also very limited."
"Is that so..." Duncan nodded slowly as he thought about it, his eyes slowly sweeping across the edge of the table - the figures of Agatha, Vanna and Morris came into his sight.
"We are still lacking an expert in Firebearer," he couldn't help but sigh softly.
The expressions on Vanna and Morris' faces suddenly became subtle, but Agatha's expression didn't change much - because she had just arrived and didn't react for a while.
Duncan himself didn't realize there was anything strange about his words - he just said what he thought, and changed the subject the next second: "Vanna, do you think the Firebringers know about the existence of the Preacher of the End of Reason?"
Fanna quickly put aside the slightly disrespectful thoughts in her mind. After thinking about it, Lu answered frankly: "I'm not sure, but logically, I think they know or at least they should be aware of it."
The followers of Tarek'in have been dealing with heretics who try to destroy history for thousands of years. Morris nodded and said, "The Firebearers are professional and sharp in this regard. From the existing intelligence, those rational End Preachers have been active at least a hundred years ago. Unless they really only showed up twice in such a long time, and happened to completely escape the Firebearers' eyes each time, the Firebearer Church must have noticed them. I don't know why... The Firebearers don't seem to have taken any major actions."
"I will try to contact the Cathedral of the Storm and see if His Holiness the Pope can learn anything from the Firebringer."
Fanna said immediately, "Anyway, rational cultists often cause more damage than mere lunatics. Although they seem to be friendly and even have good intentions, I really can't believe it.
A group of guys who deal with the subspace all day long will have real reason and kindness..."
After Fanna finished speaking, she suddenly felt something was wrong. After a pause, she quickly turned to look at Duncan and added, "Oh, Captain, I didn't say you."
Duncan deadpanned.
He felt as if he had heard this sentence before. He waved his hand to indicate that he didn't care. Then he thought for a moment and finally spoke slowly, "We are not only contacting the Cathedral of the Storm, and the message we want to convey is not just about those End of Days preachers."
Everyone at the scene looked at each other in bewilderment. Vanna was the first to react: "You want to warn others - like before?"
Duncan nodded with a serious expression. Perhaps, the situation before this was even more dangerous. The awakening of the ancient god that happened in Frost might happen again in the short term. Even at this moment, under a certain city-state, a wrong copy of the awakened ancient god might have appeared. There was only one Frost Queen, but there were many city-states on the vast sea. In order to avoid being caught off guard, at least the various churches and the city-state leaders should be informed of the existence of this crisis.
As he spoke, he looked up at the figures on both sides of the table.
"Fanna, go contact the Cathedral of Storms. Morris, find a way to contact the Academy of Truth. Agatha, you should also have a direct channel to communicate with the top of the Church of Death. You should convey everything we discussed here today to your church as completely as possible, including the true structure of the city-state, the situation related to the Lord of the Deep, and the information about the End Preacher."
"In addition, there is the Explorers' Association. Lawrence and Lucy, can you think of a safer way to warn the Explorers' Association about the awakening of the ancient god without causing panic?"
"The sailors on the Infinite Sea are a keen and experienced group of people, and they are well-informed. They are best at discovering whether there are any strange signs in any corner of the world."
"Tirion, sort out the matter of Frost as soon as possible, and then find a way to contact other city-states as the Archon... Also, without causing panic, find a way to get other cities to establish early warning of the awakening of the Old God."
He finished all this in one breath, then organized his thoughts, further explained and emphasized: "Remember, tell the church as much complete information as possible. After all, in the supernatural field, they are more or less professional, and they have a lot of manpower."
"As for the city-states and the Explorers' Association, you must be cautious, because this involves too many ordinary people. Go back and think carefully about how to convey this warning without revealing too much secret knowledge. Remember, the goal is not to let them uncover the secrets of the deep sea, but to let them pay careful attention to the strange signs that may appear in the city-states and routes. Is there anything else you want to add?"
Duncan raised his eyes and looked quietly at both sides of the table.
At this moment, everyone in the cabin - even Shirley and Alice - felt that a huge wave was brewing, a storm that was big enough to impact the whole world. Along with a series of decisions and arrangements made by the captain, in this gloomy cabin illuminated by the green firelight, in this secret gathering with only a few people participating, it seemed that the direction of the world had been subtly determined. A feeling that he was participating in history, even shaping history, gradually surged up in Lawrence's heart. He subconsciously felt his breathing become a little rapid and his heart was pounding.
"This is really going to stir up a storm..."
The old captain, who had just become a member of the Lost Home Fleet, could not help but mutter to himself: "It's not that there will be a storm, but the storm is already approaching."
Agatha, who was sitting next to him, shook her head and said softly, "It's just that no one has noticed all this - and now, we have to open the window."