168: Good things must be stolen, not taken

Shen Bei: ???

Shen Bei watched Oleg, fruit knife in hand, charging straight for him. On the surface, he remained calm and composed.

But internally, he was a little panicked.

Why, after a perfectly normal worship, was he coming for him?

Had he been exposed?

Shen Bei's mind raced through the current situation.

He felt...

He shouldn't have been exposed.

He hadn't said much; he just did what everyone else did.

If he really were exposed, Oleg wouldn't be holding a fruit knife, but his twin blades to execute him.

Shen Bei stood still, but his muscles were tensed. If the situation truly went south, he would run first.

According to Wood, Oleg was a Grade Six existence.

He was definitely not someone a mere Grade Three like himself could miraculously kill.

That probability didn't exist.

The difference in rank was too great.

In an instant.

Oleg arrived in front of Shen Bei.

Shen Bei could smell the unique musky odor of a foreigner.

The next moment.

Oleg grabbed Shen Bei's finger, and *slash*...

He sliced Shen Bei's finger open with one cut.

Shen Bei: ???

"This way."

Oleg led Shen Bei to the giant heart.

He made a small incision on the heart, instructing Shen Bei to drip his blood onto it.

Instantly.

The giant heart began to beat wildly, like a turbine losing control.

But to Shen Bei, it felt more like a spasm.

Was his blood damaging the heart?

What was the meaning of Oleg making him do this?

Just then, Shen Bei heard an extremely muffled sound, muffled by the seawater, like a groan or a low growl, a very strange tone.

It was like the sound of a tiger's roar and a whale's call blended together.

"You have received the "Turbellaria"'s approval! This is Its response to you!"

Oleg cheered with raised hands.

The other believers also cheered and applauded with fervent expressions.

Shen Bei was a bit bewildered; he hadn't done anything.

Approval my ass, there must be something fishy going on here, he thought.

Oleg, with a crazed look, pointed at the heart: "Look quickly, the "Turbellaria" God has given you a reward!"

Shen Bei followed his gaze.

He saw a fingernail-sized piece of flesh detach from the giant heart.

The flesh was black.

No matter how he looked at it, it resembled dead skin, like a human scalp, having lost its vitality...

Oleg quickly reached out, picked it up, and placed it in a small box nearby.

"After we all receive approval, the Tianqi Divine Sect will not let you come in vain. It will distribute the Please God! to you."

Shen Bei was somewhat dazed. Was this the Please God! meat he was told about?

Damn it, he thought it would be fresh-cut meat, but it turned out to be dead flesh.

At this moment, Shen Bei suddenly seemed to understand.

Human blood... seemed to contain toxins. When it directly entered the heart of this sea beast, it would cause a portion of its heart tissue to necrose and be squeezed out and discarded.

And each person could only offer blood once.

A second time, the sea beast would likely become immune.

At the same time, this also explained why the Apocalypse Cult would risk their faith collapsing to gather believers for worship.

The more people who worshipped, the more "Please God!" they could collect.

And at this time, they were all naked, probably fearing that some believers might secretly take, or tear off, other parts of the sea beast's flesh to take back.

Shen Bei had pretty much figured out the basic operations and deception of the Apocalypse Cult.

Under Oleg's command, the others continued to "bleed and be approved."

Shen Bei could either stay in the cave to continue worshipping or leave.

Worship my ass!

Shen Bei had no intention of standing around naked, pretending.

He chose to leave directly, while the others, after offering their blood, were clearly much more devout than Shen Bei and remained in the cave to pray.

He estimated they wouldn't be out for at least an hour.

Shen Bei walked to the entrance of the cave, his steps pausing there.

He listened intently.

The sound of the alloy steel being squeezed was much fainter.

"Does human blood also have a numbing effect on this sea beast?"

Shen Bei felt his guess was a bit absurd.

But it also had some possibility.

The underground world was inherently unpredictable and unimaginable.

Some Vicious Beasts' blood had strong corrosive properties on humans, comparable to aqua regia.

So, it was understandable that human blood might have some numbing effect on this unknown sea beast.

Shen Bei couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "The Apocalypse Cult member who discovered this giant beast and successfully devised the Please God! method, the person who managed to control the beast with such small means, is truly a Genius!"

He had to admit it!

In Shen Bei's opinion, beneath the surface of the water, who knew how massive its body might be.

One could imagine the earth-shattering, ghost-wailing chaos that would ensue if a thousand-meter-long beast were to thrash about.

But now... it was settled, suppressed by humans with little effort.

Truly amazing!

Shen Bei stood at the cave entrance, beginning to dress.

Just as he finished dressing and pulled up his hood.

He saw a small boat dock, and a man jumped ashore, hurrying straight for the cave entrance.

"Hey, my family." The man's slightly aged face was obscured, and his tone revealed anxiety: "Is Bishop Oleg inside?"

Shen Bei nodded and said, "But I advise you not to disturb him. The most solemn ceremony is still ongoing inside."

The man's brows furrowed. He clapped his hands, paced back and forth, and finally decided to strip and enter.

Shen Bei saw that he seemed to have something important to say and immediately asked curiously, "What is it? I can relay your message."

"The situation is urgent." The man whispered conspiratorially: "Someone just sent word that a person named Luo Chengyuan —"

Pfft...

The man hadn't finished speaking.

Shen Bei's hand shot out, fingers pointed like lightning, directly piercing the man's windpipe!

Shen Bei didn't hesitate for a moment, acting decisively and without delay, killing him instantly!

No need to think further. In such circumstances, mentioning Luo Chengyuan meant that the news of Luo Chengyuan's death had undoubtedly reached here.

And in fact, according to records, Luo Chengyuan had indeed boarded the ship.

This was what made the man realize something was wrong and rush to report the situation.

So, Shen Bei didn't even give him a chance to speak, executing him on the spot!

Shen Bei gently laid the man's body on the ground.

He had been exposed here.

Unfortunately, the Please God! meat was out of reach.

The risk index here had exploded; it was time to run!

Just as he was about to get up and flee, Shen Bei paused, turning his head to look at Oleg's two twin blades, one red and one white, lying on the ground.

They were truly tempting.

He reached out and grabbed them.

These were his spoils of war.

Regardless of whether they were stolen or snatched.

Whoever held them, they belonged to them! Since he didn't get the meat, he'd take these as compensation.

Shen Bei had also considered smashing the alloy to allow the sea beast's wounds to heal, which would cause the Apocalypse Cult to lose its foundation. But then he thought better of it; it would create too much commotion, which would be detrimental to his escape.

Shen Bei started running.

He did not head towards the wooden boat.

Instead, he circled behind the cave entrance, instantly diving underwater and disappearing into the sea.

...

One hour later.

Numerous believers, surrounding Oleg, walked out.

Their faces were alight with excitement.

After all, they had all been acknowledged by the "Turbellaria" God and bestowed with "Please God!!"

This was divine love.

It was the reward for their faith!

Just as they were eagerly awaiting the distribution of the meat.

They discovered a corpse lying outside the cave entrance.

His windpipe was pierced and crushed. Death seemed to have come extremely quickly; his mouth was slightly agape, his tongue slightly curled, as if he had died mid-sentence!

"He's dead? This is one of our family!"

"Who killed him? Damn it, killing someone in such a sacred place is a great sin!"

"Didn't anyone see anything?"

"Who was the first one out?"

"Luo Chengyuan? Was it him? That should be the name."

"Where is he?"

Everyone looked around.

That handsome Asian man... was gone!

A strange, inexplicable emotion spread among them.

They seemed to have guessed something.

But they couldn't believe it, nor did they want to believe it.

Oleg also looked at the corpse, somewhat bewildered.

Someone died for no reason?

"Where did Luo Chengyuan go?" Oleg asked a rhetorical question.

Then, he called the guard team and questioned them one by one. The group all stated that they had never seen anyone leave the island by boat.

"Damn it, can he just vanish into thin air?"

Oleg's face was grim. He felt that something was definitely amiss, otherwise, how could someone have died!

He turned to put on his clothes, only to suddenly realize... his twin blades were gone!

Oleg rubbed his eyes, then looked again.

The twin blades that had clearly been placed there, so large, with such a cool design.

They were gone, damn it!

"How could this be..."

Oleg's eyes almost cracked open, revealing an extremely terrifying expression.

His head buzzed.

He narrowed his eyes, flames burning in his pupils.

"Luo Chengyuan! Not only a traitor, but a thief!"

Oleg gritted his teeth, his voice filled with shock and anger:

"All cult members, get into the water in the direction of the shore and find him for me!"

"I will tear him to pieces!"

The cult members and guards suddenly realized.

Not only had someone died, but the Bishop's weapon had been stolen too!

This was unacceptable.

They were all family; they had to help search!

And so.

Without much direction from Oleg, the group was highly proactive.

Being naked already, they all jumped into the water and began a large-scale search towards the coastline.

...

"Wood."

Oleg sat on the boat, his expression cold, his tone low: "Are you saying Luo Chengyuan suddenly appeared behind you?"

Wood nodded: "At the time, I hesitated, wondering why there was an extra person behind me. But he said he went to the restroom midway and felt bad cutting in line, so he returned to the back of the queue."

"Bishop, you know there are many people here, and over a dozen Asians. To me, they... all look the same; I can't tell who's who at all."

Oleg's rugged and authoritative face showed a hint of weariness: "So that means Luo Chengyuan was an imposter."

"Highly likely," Wood echoed.

Oleg's lips curled into a slight smile as he continued: "From Huaxia, huh... Dare to steal my things, I don't care who you are, you're dead!"

Oleg stood up, walked to the bow of the boat, and gazed towards the coastline.

With a step, he directly flew into the air, soaring over the sea.

Continuously searching for Luo Chengyuan...