The moment Duncan took out the Sun Amulet, there was a few seconds of silence at the scene. His words "one of us" drifted in the air calmly, causing more than a dozen pairs of eyes to look at each other in surprise and caution. Then, the tall and thin man who looked like a small leader suddenly lowered his voice and said hurriedly: "Put it away quickly! Be careful, there are spies from the church nearby!"
Does this amulet really work? Is this thing so convincing among the solar cultists
Duncan was happy in his heart, but on the surface he maintained a mysterious posture with a blank expression and half of his face covered. While putting away the amulet, he said lightly: "If there really are spies from the church nearby, a large group of you gathered together will be more eye-catching than my amulet."
As soon as he finished speaking, a bearded man on the other side spoke up subconsciously: "No, if we gather together, at most we can attract the sheriff and charge us with disturbing public order..."
"Shut up!" The tall and thin leader immediately stopped his men from talking nonsense, and then his eyes fell on Duncan, "This is necessary caution - after all, this city is not safe right now. Come over here, and don't make any unnecessary moves."
Duncan calmly walked towards the other side, while the other side looked him up and down carefully. After looking at him for a long time, the tall and thin man asked in a low voice: "Are you a believer living in this city?"
Duncan thought about it and nodded: "Yes."
The original owner of this body did live in the city, and he still lives in the city now. On these obvious issues, he decided to tell the truth.
His plan was simple. He would find a way to sneak into the middle of this group of cultists and see if he could get any information. If he was not exposed, he would listen and ask more. If he was exposed, he would let Ai transform and leave them all alone.
The tall and thin man didn't realize what dangerous thoughts were going on in the mind of this "church fellow" in front of him, and asked immediately: "As far as I know, the Deep Sea Church attacked..."
"There was a gathering place in the sewers. A sun sacrifice was going on there, but it got out of control and we lost a lot of people - but I escaped," Duncan said without any psychological burden, while paying attention to the reactions of the sun believers around him. He could feel that the tense atmosphere among these people had obviously relaxed, and only the tall and thin leader in front of him remained cautious. "There were three other people who escaped with me, but we got separated. Now I can't contact the church at all - until I met you, and the sun gave me guidance."
The tall and thin man hummed noncommittally, and then his eyes fell on Duncan's shoulder: "What is this?"
"It's my pet," Duncan said casually. "Can't you tell? It's just an ordinary pigeon."
Ai shook his head at the right time, making a loud "coo" sound.
"This pigeon has a really loud voice..." The tall and thin man seemed to have finally let down his guard. Perhaps he subconsciously felt that the guys in the church who strictly abide by the rules and regulations would not run around the city with a pigeon on their heads. He nodded and said, "Come with me. It's not safe to talk outside."
Duncan heaved a sigh of relief, he felt that his first step of fishing in troubled waters seemed to have been successful.
He then followed the group of cultists as they moved deeper into the alley.
The alley was deeper than he had imagined. It seemed to lead to the most forgotten darkest part of this dilapidated city. A group of cultists led Duncan through twists and turns, passing through an old pipe system that continuously released steam, through a path full of sewage, and finally around into a group of low and dilapidated buildings. The deeper they went, the darker and more dilapidated side of this prosperous steam city was revealed to Duncan.
He originally thought that the place where he and Nina lived was already a lower-class community in the city, but now he suddenly realized that the shabby antique shop was actually a "respectable place" in the downtown area.
Most of the dilapidated houses on both sides of the road are lifeless and look like they have been abandoned for some time, but in the shadows of a few houses one can seem to feel a numb or gloomy gaze, as if there are homeless people hiding in this forgotten urban area, looking indifferently at the uninvited guests who break in.
But in the end, these sinister looks were quickly retracted - the dozen or so people brought by the tall and thin man were obviously enough to intimidate the wanderers living here.
"See? This is the most prosperous city-state on the vast sea, Plunder," the black-clothed man who first caught Duncan's attention muttered, as if talking to himself, or as if talking to Duncan, "It's the same everywhere, in Lenthar, Cold Harbor, and even the Elves' Breezy Harbor, which claims to be the 'land of peace and justice'... They claim that the so-called 'sun' shines on the world fairly and brings light and order to all things, but how much sunshine is there in these sewers?"
Duncan did not respond, but just looked up. He saw the steam and fuel pipelines spreading from the upper city and the industrial city crisscrossing above the buildings above his head. The huge valves and pressure-regulating structures were like many bizarre monsters entrenched on the tops of the surrounding low and dilapidated buildings. The sunlight shone through the gaps in these pipes, making the sewage between the buildings emit a foul odor.
Most of the sewage is condensed from steam leaking from nearby pipes. As the city operates, the sewage is mixed with chemicals from the factories and accumulates in the downtown area day after day.
Duncan didn't have to live in this city for long to roughly guess how this "urban abscess" appeared at a glance.
Duncan silently glanced at the indignant man in black, his expression still calm.
Whether they were bewitched by the descendants of the sun or forced by a harsh life, the birth of these cultists did have its reasons - but so what
These cultists, who believed they were forced by the city-state to live in the gutter, eventually came to the lower city to capture the helpless poor for human sacrifice - none of the countless ragged people in that cave were respectable people from the upper city.
As a "foreigner" who didn't know this world well enough, Duncan felt that there was no need for him to make too many comments on this city-state, but at least as a former sacrifice, he felt that these cultists were pretty rubbish.
In silence, he finally arrived at the stronghold of these cultists.
The base is located in the basement of an abandoned factory.
These cultists who burrow in and out of the sewers always seem to have a way to find a suitable sewer and transform it into their gathering place, or perhaps this prosperous steam city already has countless sewers that are suitable for breeding some dark and blasphemous things.
A group of people crossed the half-collapsed wall outside the factory and opened the iron door leading to the underground structure. Duncan originally planned to observe the situation in the factory carefully to satisfy his curiosity about the "Steam Age", but he didn't find the opportunity. He was directly taken to a sloping staircase leading underground and came to the "secret base" of the cultists.
This may have been a factory warehouse or a machine room, but it has obviously been emptied now. All that remains in the huge space are the remaining pipe systems on the roof and the gas lamps on the walls that can no longer be lit. Dark spaces are dangerous, and even the cultists know this, so they lit oil lamps fueled by whale fat in various places underground. Under the light from the large number of oil lamps, Duncan saw that there were still a dozen cultists gathered here.
How could so many Sun followers gather together after the church destroyed a sacrificial site? Where did these cultists come from? Could it be that they grow like mushrooms and mosses wherever there is a drain
Duncan looked at the figures gathered in the spacious basement with some surprise, and the cultists were also looking at him, the sudden stranger, with curiosity and vigilance. Then the tall and thin man came over again, followed by several cultists who looked quite strong and tall, standing around Duncan.
Duncan frowned. "Why, do I have to be searched again after I come in? I didn't know there was such a rule."
"If you are really a spy of the church, a body search is useless," the tall and thin man said, taking out a piece of cloth from his arms and handing it to Duncan. "Relax, this is just a more rigorous verification. It is just necessary caution. We have lost many compatriots for various reasons over the years. Take it and repeat after me."
Duncan took a look at the thing the other party handed over and saw that it was just a dirty piece of cloth, even like something torn from old clothes, with dark brown stains on its surface, like dried blood.
Is this another prop for Sun believers to verify their compatriots
Duncan was a little surprised and thought that they were indeed a group of professionals who were hunted all the time. Although their fighting ability was not very good, their skills in preventing infiltration from outside and traitors from inside were indeed maxed out.
Then he took the thing handed over by the other party, and heard the tall and thin man began to mutter something in a low voice: "In the name of the sun, may the glory of the Lord shine upon us..."
When Duncan heard it, he immediately felt it sounded very familiar - he had just heard a cultist saying this to him not long ago!
The cultist also gave him an amulet.
Duncan raised his finger calmly, and a cluster of green flames that no one noticed seeped into the seemingly ordinary piece of cloth in his hand. Then he frowned and followed the tall and thin man in front of him to recite the prayers.
The strip of cloth that seemed to be soaked in blood stayed obediently in his hand, seemingly unresponsive.
The tall and thin man looked at the cloth for a long time. Finally, he nodded gently, took the cloth from Duncan's hand, and said with a smile: "Welcome back to the glory of the Lord, compatriots."