338: Chapter 339 Using Corpses as Fertilizer to Create God-Kingdom-Level Guardians!

The cleanup work continued until the middle of the night.

Instructor Su Qing's efficiency was even higher than Lin Qi had expected. She completed the sorting of one hundred and fifty cult members by herself in less than two hours.

Thirty-seven alive.

One hundred and thirteen dead.

The standard for living was simple—if they could speak, they were kept.

Instructor Su Qing's screening method was even simpler—she waved a dagger in front of everyone. Those who could control themselves and not scream were useful. Those who screamed showed poor psychological quality and couldn't be questioned, so they were directly categorized as "organic fertilizer."

Zhang Wei followed behind the whole time keeping records. Later on, he wasn't afraid anymore. People get numb to anything if they do it enough. When the fiftieth cultist was marked as "fertilizer," he even started calculating the carbon content and contribution to soil improvement for each corpse.

"Sister Su, do you think the bodies of these cultists, having been modified by Laws, will affect the soil quality after being buried?"

"Why are you asking me about this?"

"Weren't you in contact with Abyss pollution during your time as a Shadow Dancer?"

"I dealt with curses, not organic chemistry. Go ask the boss."

Zhang Wei thought about it and decided not to ask. If Lin Qi made him test it personally, he'd have to bury these things in the soil himself. He didn't really want to experience that scene.

Inside the headquarters.

Lin Qi sat on a rocking chair, holding that cup of Spirit Spring again. The projection in front of him showed the first batch of intelligence that Chen Shu had just organized.

The church's organizational structure was larger than he had anticipated.

The twelve Deacons were only the core strength at the combat level. Above the Deacons, there were also "three High Priests." The High Priests weren't responsible for fighting, but for maintaining the faith channel between the church and the "Throat of Devouring Heaven."

To use an analogy—the Deacons are the frontline soldiers, and the High Priests are the rear communications personnel. Without the maintenance of the High Priests, the Throat of Devouring Heaven wouldn't be able to receive information from this world, nor would it be able to project its own power.

The black shell on the Eye of the Abyss just now was transmitted through the faith channel maintained by the High Priests.

Lin Qi stared at the words "three High Priests" for a while.

"Chen Shu."

"Present."

"Have you filtered out the locations of the High Priests' strongholds?"

"Currently cross-referencing. There are two confirmed coordinates in Ashes' memory, but the third is uncertain. His clearance level wasn't high enough; he never came into contact with the third High Priest's whereabouts."

"Two are enough."

Lin Qi swiped away some irrelevant information on the projection, leaving only a few key pieces of data.

The time for the Church of Calamity's next large-scale operation—approximately forty days from now. Internally, the church called that operation the "Sowing Ceremony."

Number of law seeds—the church currently has seven in its possession.

Conditions for the descent of the Throat of Devouring Heaven—all seven law seeds need to be activated, and at least one "God-Kingdom Level" Spatial Node is required as a Descent Anchor.

Seeing the last point, Lin Qi couldn't help but flick the projection screen with his fingertip.

"No wonder they want to attack me."

After modification, the D-3 Region already possessed all the characteristics of a "God-Kingdom Level" Spatial Node. It had an independent Law System, an autonomously operating leyline network, and a physical barrier that repelled external Laws—

In the church's eyes, this was a ready-made Descent Anchor.

Since Lin Qi occupied it, their BOSS would have no place to land.

"So these people didn't come to judge me," Lin Qi muttered to himself. "They came to snatch the land."

He picked up the cup and took a sip.

"Heh."

This "heh" didn't have much emotional fluctuation, but Instructor Su Qing happened to walk into the headquarters and heard it.

She sat down in the chair opposite Lin Qi.

"Cleanup is complete. Thirty-seven survivors are locked in the Sector B warehouse. The three Deacons are held separately in individual rooms in Sector A, with Dao Source seals on their limbs."

"Are there any stubborn ones among the survivors?"

"There are two. One was crying and attempted suicide, so I knocked them out. The other is quite quiet, but their gaze isn't quite right—they might be brewing something."

"Keep a close eye on the quiet one separately. I'll interrogate them personally tomorrow."

Instructor Su Qing nodded.

She looked at the content on Lin Qi's projection; she didn't intentionally read it, but her peripheral vision caught the words "Sowing Ceremony."

"Forty days."

"Mm."

"Is there enough time?"

Lin Qi didn't answer the question. He stood up and walked to the window.

The lights in the D-3 Region were brighter than before. After the leyline restructuring was complete, the energy supply in this area was nearly infinite. The dark-gold ground emitted a layer of warm luster under the lights.

In the distance, several engineering robots were automatically repairing the tiny marks created when the church attacked the outer perimeter of the barrier. Those marks weren't large to begin with, but the formation's self-repair System wouldn't overlook a single flaw.

"Forty days is enough."

He said.

"Enough for what?" Instructor Su Qing asked.

"Enough to turn this place from a semi-finished product into a finished one."

He turned around.

"I already have the sketches for the creation of Law Creatures. Using these 'fertilizers' sent by the church as the material base, plus the auxiliary construction Materials from the Federation side, we should be able to make the first batch of Patrol Units."

"Patrol Units?"

"You can understand them as—security guards who don't need to eat, drink, or sleep, won't betray us, won't slack off, and will stand guard 24 hours a day."

Zhang Wei poked half his head in from the doorway.

"Brother Qi, about this security guard thing, does it include five insurances and one housing fund?"

"Get out."

Zhang Wei's head retracted.

The corner of Instructor Su Qing's mouth twitched. A very subtle movement.

Then she resumed her normal expression.

"What about the law seeds? The church has seven; should we find a way to snatch them?"

Lin Qi shook his head.

"No need to snatch them."

"The church's seeds are essentially fragments of the Throat of Devouring Heaven's Origin. That stuff naturally clashes with my Dao Source."

"Getting them wouldn't just be useless; it would actually pollute the leylines of D-3."

"Then what should we do?"

"Destroy them," Lin Qi's answer was concise. "If even one of the seven seeds is missing, the Throat of Devouring Heaven cannot complete its descent."

"So I don't need to destroy all seven. As long as I take out one of them, half the battle is won."

Instructor Su Qing went through this logic chain in her mind.

The seeds need to be fully activated for the descent. Destroying one breaks the integrity. The church would need time to obtain a new seed. And what Lin Qi needed was precisely time—time to build the fortress.

"Then the target should be locked onto the one that's easiest to get."

"Correct." Lin Qi looked at her. "Coordinate with Chen Shu and send me the coordinates of those two confirmed High Priest strongholds. Seeds are usually kept with the High Priests—they are both communication personnel and custodians."

"Is it enough if I go?" Instructor Su Qing asked.

"You're not going."

Instructor Su Qing was stunned for a moment.

"Seeds are things on the Law level. Although your Rank has reached the Third-Turn Peak, Law clashing isn't something that can be solved by Rank. The moment you touch a seed, you'll be eroded by Law Pollution."

"Then who's going?"

"I am."

"Then what about D-3—"

"You and Zhang Wei will guard it. With the Formation Diagrams here, ordinary people can't get in."

"What if the church sends more people?"

"They won't be coming again for a short while," Lin Qi was certain. "In the battle just now, the Throat of Devouring Heaven saw my trump cards through the Eye of the Abyss. It knows the outer Deacons can't do anything to me. The next time they act, they'll have to send someone from the Inner Circle at the very least."

"The Inner Circle requires authorization from a High Priest. High Priests are cautious and won't approve it so quickly."

"This window of opportunity is about twenty days."

"That's enough."

Instructor Su Qing stood up.

"Understood. I'll go coordinate with Chen Shu now."

She paused at the door.

"Boss."

"Hm?"

"There's something I've always wanted to say."

"Say it."

"You've built this fortress very well."

Her voice was flat, but there was something in those words that wasn't just about the fortress.

Lin Qi leaned against the window, not looking at her.

"It should be built well."

"After all—many people will have to live here in the future."

Instructor Su Qing didn't say anything more.

The door closed behind her.