World version update

Chapter 270 Establishing the Church
Lu Yan had experienced several versions, and soon after entering the Mysterious Version, he noticed its unique features.

In the mysterious version, Lu Yan was unable to detect the existence of the Heavenly Dao!

This is different from the previous cyber version, where Lu Yan, being weak, regarded the intelligent God as the cyber heavenly way.

Now, Lu Yan has achieved the Great Dao Golden Core, wielding supreme divine powers to manipulate creation, and even brought a momentary second Dao authority when the mysterious version was first introduced.

In this situation, Lu Yan was unaware of the existence of the Heavenly Dao, which made him subconsciously think of one of the special versions he had experienced.

A demonic version corrupted by the Celestial Venerable of Immortality!
The Great Dao has been corrupted by demons, and all the myriad paths of heaven and earth have become visible. People are all seeking the true methods of demons, hoping to assimilate with the Great Dao.

The current, mysterious version is the complete opposite extreme.

The Way of Heaven is hidden, all other paths are concealed, and even the extraordinary are hidden behind the mist.

Furthermore, the text's background, including the fall of the ancients and the slumber of the true gods, conceals too many unknown secrets.

Whenever Lu Yan tried to trace the origin of the matter through the power of fate, he would feel a strange palpitation that made him give up the idea.

Reaching out to gently press his throbbing brow, Lu Yan murmured to himself:
"It's good to pick random things! It's good to pick random things!"

"Only when things are chaotic enough, and the fog is thick enough, can I evade the gaze of the Church and the One of Heaven and seize the power of the Divine Court."

Thinking of this, Lu Yan looked at the werewolf in the reception room in front of him.

The seventh-ranked extraordinary being was no ordinary person after all; in terms of strength alone, he had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, and he quickly regained consciousness from the soul search.

Looking around, Sayin stared at Lu Yan in horror.

Sain only remembered that the person who accepted the bribe claimed that a fat sheep had come to his door for a trade, and Sain was planning to use the werewolf's intimidation to intimidate the fat sheep and then extort a large sum of money from him.

What Sain didn't expect was that this time, the one who came knocking on his door wasn't a fat sheep, but a ferocious tiger that devours people.

Sain only made eye contact with the other party before losing consciousness. When he woke up again, he found that he had somehow manifested a werewolf body.

Thinking of this, Sain subconsciously shuddered.

Although he was just a small-time gang leader, his Sequence 7 strength was already considered strong among underground gangsters.

Living in the capital of the Kingdom of Victoria, Sain has seen quite a bit of the world.

He had more or less come into contact with the white gloves of the great nobles, the head of MI6, and the bishop of the Steam Church.

Even those important figures cannot be put to sleep with just a glance.

"Could it be a big shot from Sequence Five?"

As for higher levels, Sain dared not and could not even think about them.

Just as Saiyin's thoughts were turning into a jumbled mess, Lu Yan, who was sitting on the sofa, slowly spoke.

"Originally, I was prepared to simply erase you from my life."

But now, I can give you a chance.

"I'll give you three sentences to demonstrate your worth, or... die."

Lu Yan's voice was calm, as if he were simply stating a fact.

Sain's eyes widened instantly, a glimmer of hope flashing within them.

With his mind racing, Sain began to consider what value a small-time gang leader like himself could have to this important figure who was at least a Sequence Five.

“I can amass wealth for you. The Black-Clad Gang now occupies one-fifth of the industrial area. Every month, the security fees negotiated with small and medium-sized factories and the protection fees collected from workers alone exceed 1,200 gold pounds.”

This was because I reduced the Black Clothes Gang's jurisdiction in order to avoid attracting the attention of those big capitalists and nobles.

"If you spare my life, sir, I'm willing to launch an attack on the other gangs and seize more industrial areas. In return, I can offer you at least two thousand gold pounds every month!"

Although Sain made this statement, the truth is that the accounts were not calculated that way.

Normally, most of the 1,200 gold pounds collected would be used for the Black Clothes Gang's daily operations, and even the gold pounds that ended up in Sain's own pocket would only amount to about 400 or 500 gold pounds.

But in order to save his own life, Sain didn't care about anything else.

With your own strength, you can earn back the gold pounds sooner or later, but if you lose your life, you lose everything.

Lu Yan glanced at Sain, his eyes indifferent.

Sain trembled, suddenly realizing that with Lu Yan's terrifying strength, how could he possibly lack worldly wealth?

Trying to lure a high-ranking person of at least Sequence 5 with a mere gold pound is undoubtedly the most foolish thing to do.

Indeed, this is true. Gold and silver have no value to Lu Yan. With the power to manipulate creation, Lu Yan can create something out of nothing and have as much gold and silver as he wants.

"I also possess a treasured collection of extraordinary knowledge, covering three extraordinary paths. In my secret chamber, I also have two bottles of Sequence Nine potions and a sealed artifact!"

Sain quickly pulled out his personal belongings, which were the collections he had painstakingly gathered by his gang members to build the Black Clothes Gang.

However, Lu Yan, who had already reviewed Sain's extraordinary memories, knew about Sain's background and remained unmoved.

The three extraordinary paths that Sain mentioned are the Monster Sequence, the Soldier Sequence, and the Hunter Sequence.

In the Mysterious version, there are many extraordinary paths, but not every extraordinary path leads to the end.

Some creators of pathways are even saints or demigods. They forcefully push the pathways forward with their own strength, but once they die, the pathways will collapse.

Once one embarks on this incomplete path, they may never be able to reach Sequence Five in their lifetime. This is the threshold that distinguishes them from high-sequence extraordinary individuals.

Only the seven righteous god sequences and a handful of hidden sequences and evil god sequences have a chance to reach the level of saint or demigod.

As for higher sequences, those are almost legendary things.

The three sequence pathways that Sain possessed were only incomplete pathways. Lu Yan already knew about them, so these incomplete sequences were of no value to Lu Yan.

As for those low-level magic potions and sealing artifacts, they were of no use to Lu Yan.

Seeing the increasingly cold look in Lu Yan's eyes, Sain trembled even more violently.

Before a powerful figure of Sequence Five, his wealth and extraordinary abilities were utterly worthless, which brought a hint of despair to Sain's eyes.

"That idiot Booker actually brought back such a great figure."

"If I ever get the chance, I'll definitely not let this idiot get away with it!"

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and suddenly Sain remembered Booker's words from back then.

According to Booker, he ran into Lu Yan when he was trying to establish his authority over the young workers in the industrial area.

Lu Yan took out a gold pound and paid the protection fee for the worker.

"Factory, workers, gold."

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Sain, and he quickly shouted:
"Sir! Our Black-Clad Gang enjoys extremely high prestige among the workers and even wields considerable influence throughout the entire industrial zone."

"If you wish to use these workers to achieve any purpose, the Black-Clad Gang and I will definitely be your best allies!" As soon as these words were spoken, Sain immediately felt that the cold look in the eyes of the important man in front of him began to change.

Lu Yan sized up the werewolf in front of him, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Lu Yan had only casually mentioned giving Sain a chance, but unexpectedly, the werewolf in front of him was able to perceive some of Lu Yan's motives, which aroused Lu Yan's interest.

However, on the surface, Lu Yan remained indifferent and coldly questioned:
"Have extremely high prestige among the workers? What you're saying seems a little different from what I'm seeing."

Sain secretly breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and said in a trembling voice:

"Sir, are you talking about protection money?"

Actually, it's not just my Black Clothes Gang that's collecting protection money; all the gangs in the industrial zone are collecting protection money. Compared to them, the amount my Black Clothes Gang collects is relatively small.

Furthermore, after my gang collects protection money, we also take responsibility for the security of the surrounding area, preventing other gangs from crossing the border to extort workers, or helping workers get their wages. In short, we've done quite a bit.

"You should know that most of the workers in the industrial area are of serf origin, and those factories are often backed by nobles."

The factory owners knew that the serfs were weak-willed and knew nothing, so they signed contracts with them haphazardly and then threatened them with the name of the nobles. The serfs didn't even dare to ask for their wages.

A few years ago, some factory owners even sought compensation from workers' families, claiming that workers' sudden deaths on the job affected production lines.

Those factory capitalists may appear to be gentlemen on the surface, but they're far more ruthless than our petty gangsters.

Lu Yan's eyes flashed. He searched through Sain's memories, but most of the content he looked at was related to the extraordinary, and he didn't look at these things.

However, given the current situation, Sain wouldn't dare to deceive himself.

Lu Yan neither confirmed nor denied Saiyin's statement, but his attitude eventually softened.

Seeing this, Sain immediately continued:
"You saw our Black-Clad Gang collecting protection money and even preparing to use the lowly workers to establish our authority, which left a bad impression on you."

But that's just how the world is. How many workers in industrial areas don't have a serious illness or something?
If everyone finds similar reasons not to pay protection money, our Black Clothes Gang won't be able to survive. These are just some necessary measures.

As Lu Yan's gaze fell upon him, Sain seemed to be burdened with immense pressure, his body crashing to the ground.

The bluestone floor shattered, and Sain's limbs and head were deeply embedded in the ground.

The terrifying pressure seemed to be merging Sain's flesh and blood with the ground.

Sain's face was contorted, his werewolf blood surged wildly within him, and his veins bulged all over his body, but it was all in vain in the face of this terrifying pressure.

Don't try to play your little tricks.

Lu Yan said calmly.

Then, as he looked away, the heavy pressure on Sain dissipated.

Sain was panting heavily, his face showing the relief of surviving a close call.

The fact that Lu Yan didn't kill him proves that Saiyin's gamble was right; the key issue was indeed with those peasant workers.

Thinking about this, Sain was incredibly grateful for his choice.

He himself came from a poor working-class background, but due to an accident, he stepped into the monster path and eventually became a Sequence 7 werewolf.

Because of his background, Sain's exploitation of the workers was not as extreme as some others. Although this drew criticism from many of his followers, Sain still maintained an attitude of leaving the workers a way out.

Unexpectedly, this attempt to salvage a little conscience actually saved his life at this moment.

"And what about those children's corpses lying behind this building?"

Lu Yan asked again.

As soon as he entered the Black-Clad Gang's stronghold, Lu Yan's divine sense detected the corpses of more than a dozen children lying behind the stronghold. The youngest was estimated to be only three or four years old, and the oldest was only six or seven.

Lu Yan doesn't consider himself a good person and often acts based on self-interest. However, seeing such a scene still stirred some emotions in him, which led him to directly search Saiyin's soul.

Upon hearing this, Sain quickly explained:

"Sir, you may have just arrived in Orank and are not very familiar with some things about Orank."

Those children who died were child laborers responsible for cleaning chimneys in Orank.

Because the chimneys are too narrow for adults to enter, only small children are chosen to clean them. These children often start cleaning chimneys as early as two years old.

"But this job is quite dangerous; falling from a chimney that is more than ten meters high will almost certainly result in death."

Furthermore, cleaning chimneys involves inhaling large amounts of coal ash, which results in these child laborers having extremely short lifespans, usually not living past the age of six.

Some of these child laborers were able to have their bodies collected by their relatives after they died, but others were trafficked and no one collected their bodies after they died. Our Black-Clad Gang took the initiative to help collect the bodies of the child laborers and then bury them together.

Anyway, as long as it's not sent to the church cemetery, it won't cost much over a month.

Upon hearing Sain's answer, Lu Yan finally showed a hint of surprise.

He took a deep look at Sain, whose face resembled that of a vicious wolf, and couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

Despite being a werewolf, it was able to suppress its bloodthirsty instincts and retain a human heart.

In contrast, in this chaotic era, many more people are engaging in acts that are worse than those of beasts.

Having long since lost any desire to kill Sain, Lu Yan slowly spoke:

"Get up!"

Sain let out a long sigh and slowly stood up. His mutated werewolf appearance gradually faded, revealing a tall and strong human form.

This legendary gang leader in the industrial area was about two meters tall, with a square face that was not fierce at all; he even looked a bit like a knight from a folk tale.

Having successfully escaped death, Sain bowed to Lu Yan and said:

"Thank you, sir!"

You should thank yourself!

If Saiyin hadn't truly been humanoid, Lu Yan would have killed him long ago.

Sain's expression turned serious, and he asked in a humble tone:

"Sir, please give us your orders. The entire Black-Clad Gang will do everything in their power to help you complete your mission!"

"It's not a big deal."

Lu Yan waved his hand dismissively.

Seeing this, Sain felt relieved, but then heard Lu Yan continue speaking:

"I'm planning to start a church. Are you interested in joining?"

(End of this chapter)