If not, with such a cruel living environment, humans would have long been damned extinct.
Under this apocalyptic wasteland, in this unique growth environment, in the civilized world, when a child defined as 12 years old and an adult of 18 stand in front of you simultaneously, you can’t tell any difference.
In the wasteland, to understand someone’s age, you can add ten years by default.
Luo Fei paid a sum of money to get the ashes of his wife and child.
He placed the ashes of his wife and child in his home and didn’t have much time to grieve.
He remembered what Chen Che had said.
After dealing with his wife’s and child’s affairs, he immediately left home. Luo Fei knew someone was surveilling him, but he didn’t care.
He resided in the Fourth District and crossed two districts, arriving at the Sixth District.
That night, most of the other believers attending the gathering with him were arrested by Bode.
Everyone except him was subjected to the most terrifying punishment, trying to pry useful information from these believers.
Of course, every effort Bode made was naturally in vain.
The believers, brainwashed to fanaticism, would only feel fervor from any bodily pain. They believed only thus could they cleanse the sins of the flesh and gain recognition from the Master of Revelation.
This stubborn faith, no one could pry open even a crack.
Moreover, they inadvertently let the biggest fish with the most intelligence slip away... Luo Fei.
Luo Fei came to a small alley in the Sixth District, slowly took a red candle from his bosom, and lit it.
He kept chanting devoutly, the obscure and incomprehensible Apocalypse.
The candlelight flickered, and in the absence of wind, the flame of the red candle swayed gently towards one direction as if blown by a breeze.
Luo Fei immediately followed in that direction.
The security team members who had been tracking Luo Fei became excited. They caught a big fish!
This man indeed had a way to connect to other nests of the Apocalypse Society.
Walking in the alley, Luo Fei glanced thoughtfully at the direction behind him, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and strode into the depths of darkness.
Thirty meters underground in a certain place in the Ninth Special Zone, leaking pipes in the concrete dome condensed into beads, dripping onto the rusted metal platform.
The copper horn of an antique phonograph trembled with the aria from "La Traviata", the cracks on the edge of the vinyl record occasionally turned the soprano into a shrill scream.
Wrapped in a yellow-patterned sacrificial robe, the man swayed gently to the melody, pale neck revealing blue-purple blood vessels, like poison worms parasitizing under the skin.
When the needle skimmed across the last groove of the record, Zhou Shaoyang opened his bloodshot eyes.
The sobbing of the girl on the torture rack immediately became clear—it was the muffled sound of her skull colliding with the metal restraint ring.
The girl’s braid unraveled in the bloodstains, pupils dilated into two black holes out of fear.
"The Master says, the lamb’s blood must spill on the four corners of the altar. Only then can sins be washed away..." Zhou Shaoyang’s nails grazed the girl’s collarbone, dragging along the pale skin a worm-like red mark.
Below, dozens of scripture readers knelt on the ground, their backs rising and falling like black waves beneath their robes.
"All, for the Master of Revelation!"
Zhou Shaoyang slowly rose, hearing their chant continuously praising the greatness of the Master of Weather.
These people were all scripture readers across the various districts in the Ninth Special Zone from the Apocalypse Society.
Also known as missionaries.
If Bode knew the missionaries gathered in one place here, he would surely dispatch the entire security team to catch them all.
Unfortunately, this gathering was hidden, hard to detect.
The girl’s limbs were tightly restrained on the torture dais, her mouth sealed shut with a strip, unable to utter any sound, only her terrified eyes filled with despair and fear.
It was evident that the girl was not very old.
Zhou Shaoyang slowly approached the girl, tracing his fingers along the delicate skin of her cheek, the smile on his lips growing more sinister.
"Such quality, simply the finest material... surely capable of receiving grace!"
"Who? Who brought this material?"
Zhou Shaoyang suddenly turned to look at the scripture readers below.
Someone raised his head in delight, a middle-aged man appearing around 40, sporting a bearded chin, he proudly said, "Great Yellow-robed Priest! It’s me! I offered my daughter! She bears an indelible sin on her body, capable of receiving grace, truly the Master of Revelation’s incomparably merciful deed!"
"Good! Voluntarily offering family, cleansing the sins, the sins on your body will be greatly reduced by the Master of Revelation!"
The middle-aged man’s face showed a sickly blush, ecstatic with joy.
His devoutness for the Master of Revelation had been seen; as a scripture reader, further erasing a large part of sins—could he not then reach higher and further within the church?
The man shouted, "Thank the Master of Revelation!"
Zhou Shaoyang nodded, calmly applauding, as the Sister of Sin stepped onto the stage in crystal high heels, an aroma of rotting gardenias pervaded the basement.
Her motion lifting the lace skirt was like unveiling a snake’s scale, honey-colored thighs showed bleeding imprints—that was the first line of the Apocalypse Record: Original Sin Code engraved with silver nitrate.
Below, the scripture readers prostrating revealed lustful eyes.
Looking at the scripture readers below, Zhou Shaoyang smiled, suddenly grabbing the sister’s skirt, revealing those long and straight thighs, showcasing the Original Sin of Lust for the readers below to enjoy.
A group of scripture readers seemed entranced, their expressions dazed.
"Lust without lewdness, the true nature of Tianqi; you have done well, able to be cleansed by the Sister of Sin. After completing the ceremony, receive your reward at your own discretion..."