Ch. 347 - The Lord Does Not Care

New Novel - Read Here

The One-Eyed Cult had become an overnight sensation. The recruitment post had accumulated more than a thousand replies in just a few minutes, continuously remaining at the most prominent position in the Maritime Forum section.

But this was simply too outrageous.

One had to know that the initiator of the One-Eyed Cult was not Yang Yi himself, but one of Yang Yi’s fans—or perhaps even a fan who could be suspected of being a hater.

Therefore, there was definitely some group behind this, pushing things along and planning the whole affair.

Most likely, among a few idle fellows with nothing better to do, one of them had come up with this brilliant idea. After sharing it with the others, everyone slapped their foreheads in realization, and thus, this cult was born.

Unfortunately, by the time Yang Yi figured all of this out, it was already too late.

A mysterious organization that regarded him as its cult leader but was not entirely under his control had gradually grown into existence.

From now on, every move made by this organization might affect his reputation.

“I really let money blind me!”

Yang Yi reflected on his actions, realizing that he had been used as someone else’s weapon.

However, there were still ways to remedy the situation.

He could make a post declaring that this organization had nothing to do with him and was a fraudulent cult, thereby preserving the prestige and value of his One-Eyed title.

Or he could simply ignore it and pretend he knew nothing about it, freeloading off the membership fees and, when something eventually went wrong, just play dead and deny everything.

Alternatively, at the very worst, whatever trouble the One-Eyed Cult caused had nothing to do with the person who dared to show disrespect to him. The two were completely unrelated!

He could simply switch to another account and title, guaranteeing that no one would know anything about it and that his reputation would remain completely unaffected.

Yang Yi fell into deep thought, preparing to choose one of these options.

But the deputy cult leader, a player whose ID was One-Eyed Big Guy No. 37, gave him another option.

Because this guy was actually a die-hard fan. He genuinely regarded the One-Eyed Cult as his life's work and was planning to expand the cult's influence, even spreading it among the natives and competing with the world's indigenous religious organizations.

After having a thorough discussion with him, Yang Yi also learned how the cult had originally come into existence.

It was very simple.

A player had been irritated by a native missionary and casually blurted out a nonsense excuse.

“I'm a believer in the One-Eyed Cult! Can you stop bothering me already?!”

The player had shouted this out and immediately regretted it.

But who would have expected that this shout would have such an excellent effect?

The native missionary not only stopped pestering him, but even apologized before leaving.

That player told several of his friends about what had happened.

And so, a bold plan emerged.

The One-Eyed Cult was officially established, becoming an excuse for the few of them to use whenever they wanted to avoid missionaries.

In this world, religion was extremely widespread.

Ninety percent of the population were believers, while the remaining ten percent were also about to become believers.

Therefore, there were an enormous number of missionaries. They needed to recruit new believers to join their religious organizations and replenish their ranks with fresh blood.

Whenever players moved around the islands inhabited by the natives, they would inevitably encounter these missionaries. They would be approached and harassed by them, causing their exposure level to rise.

After going through this again and again, the players eventually came up with a solution: they could pretend to be members of a religious organization and use that to avoid being preached to.

At first, the Fire-Worshipping Cult was the most commonly used.

After all, it had such a notorious reputation that missionaries would simply take a detour whenever they heard someone mention it.

But later, a certain player claimed to be a member of the Fire-Worshipping Cult. Unfortunately, he happened to be spotted by genuine members of the cult.

And then... he was burned to death.

The reason?

Because he wanted to join the cult.

After that, whenever players claimed to be members of some random cult, they became much more restrained about it.

Most of them switched to claiming membership in the Radiant Holy Church, and some even went so far as to purchase statues of its deity.

However, the Radiant Holy Church was very famous and relatively gentle, making it difficult to drive away missionaries.

In contrast, the little-known One-Eyed Cult was surprisingly effective.

Thus, the One-Eyed Cult began spreading on a small scale.

It was only now that they had decided to expand their recruitment further.

“So that's how it happened. What a winding and convoluted story.”

“I haven't been to an island inhabited by natives yet, so I've never even thought about this problem.”

Yang Yi sighed with emotion.

These players really had it quite difficult when it came to exploring the islands inhabited by natives.

Although he had never been preached to, he knew how dangerous it was to interact with the natives. During the early stages, minimizing contact with them was the best strategy.

“That’s basically it. The cult is actually just a loose organization. If anyone runs into trouble, we help each other out, and we chat with one another from time to time. That's all.” Deputy Cult Leader Ma Dabao replied. He even told Yang Yi his real name.

“Alright, then. As long as you don't cause any trouble.”

Yang Yi replied, deciding to tacitly allow the cult to develop while freeloading off the membership fees.

“But, Cult Leader, we haven't decided on the cult's doctrine yet.

“This is a very important matter. If those missionaries become suspicious and come asking questions, we need to be able to fool them somehow.” Ma Dabao replied, meaning that he wanted Yang Yi to come up with a doctrine.

“Hmm...”

Yang Yi pondered for a while, unconsciously putting himself into the role of both cult leader and the being they worshipped.

Suddenly, inspiration struck him. He thought of something and immediately sent Ma Dabao a series of messages, using them as the cult's doctrine.

“The doctrine shall be self-interest. To put it more specifically... eat well, drink well, live each day to the fullest, and do your best to survive in this damn world.”

“As for everything else, the Lord doesn't care!”

.............

Far away, somewhere in the waters of the Sea of Miracles, a strange-looking magic ship was floating on the waves.

The ship was oval-shaped, with numerous cages of different sizes and materials placed on it. Inside were all kinds of beasts, birds, snakes, insects, and even Aberrations.

At the bow of the ship hung a curved signboard with five large characters written on it:

Old Ma's Zoo.

Underneath, in inconspicuous small characters, were the words:

Admission Fee: 500 Sea Shell Coins/person.

This ship was a player's special vessel called the Zoo, and it had already been upgraded to Level 4.

Its special skill was raising animals, which had a wide range of applications—including providing food.

And the owner of the ship was none other than Ma Dabao.

He had two forum accounts. One was named Pets Are Your Lies, while the other was One-Eyed Big Guy No. 37.

He himself was also a fat man, mainly because the food was too good and he simply couldn't lose weight.

Just after finishing his conversation with Yang Yi and reading the doctrine, he couldn't help muttering to himself:

“The Lord doesn't care... The Lord doesn't care...

“Good!

“This is exactly what a doctrine should be like!

“This is simply too wonderful!

“A true god wouldn't have the time to bother with his believers. Being too lazy to care—that's the attitude a god should have!”

It was as if he had suddenly understood something, and a fanatical glint flashed through his eyes.

He had an ordinary appearance and was blind in one eye. He had been injured after being pecked by a powerful bird.

Because of this, he also liked to call himself One-Eyed, occasionally pretending to be the One-Eyed Cult's figurehead just to have some fun.

As time passed, he gradually came to enjoy this identity.

That was also the reason he had created the One-Eyed Cult.

In fact, he had been the very person who had originally made up the One-Eyed Cult on the spot.

At the time, he had been wearing an eye patch, with half of his face covered in scars. He had a fierce, intimidating appearance, with a face full of thick flesh, and had managed to scare the missionary away.

“Alright, Cult Leader, you're truly amazing. I'll pass the doctrine on to everyone right away. Anyone who can't recite it will be kicked out directly!”

Ma Dabao replied to Yang Yi.

But Yang Yi's attention was already elsewhere.

...............

On the other side.

After Yang Yi sent the doctrine, Ma Dabao fell silent and didn't reply for a long time.

But Yang Yi didn't wait for him.

Time was of the essence, so he quickly edited and posted the thread he had already drafted.

The content consisted of what he had written earlier, including his experience visiting the Golden Merchant Guild, methods for dealing with Exposure, and photographs of high-level Sea Demons.

“.....The Golden Merchant Guild is indeed a neutral organization that follows the rules. As long as you don't violate its rules, you won't be in too much danger. However, they do sell counterfeit goods, such as.........”

“......The goods in the Lightless Sea are somewhat different. Some things are sold at extremely high prices, but you can also buy things there that are difficult to obtain in the Sea of Miracles, such as Light Containers and Light Fairies......”

“........Certain actions will cause Exposure to continuously increase. However, actions that go against the characteristics of players, such as purchasing counterfeit goods, will cause Exposure to decrease, although the decrease isn't very significant....”

“.........The Golden Merchant Guild also trades with Aberrations. It is uncertain whether the same is true in the Sea of Miracles. Attached is a photograph of a high-level Sea Demon....”