Chapter 25: Twenty-one stands on the table flipping the bird
Bai Wei's "encouraging" words reignited Ulu's spirit, and he opened the doors of the church.
As usual, people who had waited for a long time and were already starving had gathered outside the door. Upon seeing the church doors open, they swarmed around like zombies. However, unlike zombies, they lacked the strength to move properly, as if they were about to fall over at any moment.
Seeing this, Ulu couldn't help but frown, murmuring to himself, "They're just like reincarnated hungry ghosts," and then he stepped aside to let these people rush into the church to drink porridge.
Of course, the porridge wasn't cooked by Ulu. These past few days he had been too busy with various tasks—murdering, burying corpses, cutting off fingers—he couldn't possibly have the time to manage this famine relief food.
These tasks were carried out by faithful believers of the church. Although it was said they were invited to help, in reality, it was done without pay, typically entrusted to small landlords who followed the Rhein Divine Sect. The landlords would have their servants prepare the porridge the night before and then deliver it in the early morning, distributing it under the name of the Rhein Church.
"Are these small landlords so kind-hearted?" Bai Wei asked after hearing Ulu's explanation, "Without charge?"
"What money do they wish to collect?" Ulu said with disdain, "I've already sold the food distributed from above to them at a low price. They can make a huge profit from it. Having earned so much, what is there for them to be dissatisfied about if they contribute a little back?"
So that's how it is.
Bai Wei came to understand.
After a disaster, the Rhein elite would distribute famine relief food to the lower levels, which would then be handed down to the lowest-level churches, like the one Ulu managed. Ulu would then resell this food to landlords who, after purchasing the grain, would provide the churches with the lowest quality processed food, like plain porridge.
It was the perfect scheme, as it was easy to produce in large quantities without actually filling stomachs, causing one to wonder if what they drank was more water than porridge. However, this was enough to pass an inspection, for the abundance of buckets did appear quite substantial.
With each link interlocking, it seemed as though the Rhein Divine Sect was sincerely trying to aid in disaster relief, but relief efforts were being exploited at each level, to the extent that very few disaster victims were actually helped.
It was as if the Rhein Divine Sect started with good intentions, but due to losing control over the lower-level churches, things turned out this way.
However, based on Bai Wei's knowledge of the Rhein Divine Sect and Lu Ji's letter to the Lord Bishop, it was clear that the high levels of the sect were essentially aware of all this.
After all, this was a fantasy world where extraordinary power exists. The idea that the higher echelons of the great churches lacked control over the lower levels... How could that be possible?
Seeing Bai Wei suddenly asking about these matters, Ulu suddenly felt nervous: "Uh, Lord Visas, do you have any dissatisfaction with all this?"
Dissatisfied?
Of course, he was dissatisfied.
Although in the game, the famine was simply a part of the background story, now it was a real disaster at hand. As a legitimate successor of socialism, watching the church fill with disaster victims close to starvation, knowing the causes were not just a natural disaster but also a human one, he certainly couldn't feel very happy about it.
However, he couldn't show his dissatisfaction, for he was now Visas. He couldn't let slip any emotions that didn't fit this identity, such as... pity.
"There's nothing I'm dissatisfied with," he could only respond indifferently, "I just find it a little strange."
"...Strange?"
"Yes," Bai Wei said, "My current position is too low; I can't see much. Lift me up a bit."
Ulu was slightly stunned, then instinctively lowered his head looking at his own left middle finger... Oh no, this was Lord Visas.
"Lift you... up a bit?" Ulu was puzzled by the instruction and hesitantly asked, "How should I... do that?"
"You're asking that question makes me start to doubt whether you're qualified to be my disciple," Bai Wei said irritably, "Can't you understand human speech? Lift me up, lift me up, lift me up! I've repeated it three times now. Do you understand?"
Seeing Bai Wei growing impatient, Ulu dared not delay any longer and immediately raised his left hand.
"This, will this do?"
"Raise it higher, I still can't see clearly enough."
Having no choice, Ulu had to raise his hand even higher, almost standing it perfectly straight.
"Is, is this okay now?"
"The height is enough, but why are you raising so many fingers? You're blocking my view," Bai Wei said. "Put the other fingers down."
Ulu had to obey the command again, retracting the other four fingers and leaving just the middle one extended.
Bai Wei's field of view finally cleared. Although he could easily use his own power to lower the other four fingers, that would surely make Ulu nervous, thinking he had lost control over his body.
But now, Ulu would definitely assume that Bai Wei's power was still bound within that middle finger.
However, Bai Wei didn't make Ulu raise himself up just to torment him; he was indeed observing the situation.
He first checked the number of refugees inside the church. If he remembered correctly, the church had half the number of refugees today compared to the past two days.
This wasn't because everyone suddenly stopped being hungry; it was that the other half of the refugees could no longer come here.
As for the reason...
Bai Wei shifted his gaze outside the church, but he still couldn't see very clearly; his view was blocked by the wall.
"Even higher," Bai Wei commanded.
Higher, even higher?
Ulu was somewhat troubled. He wanted to say that he had raised his hand as high as it would go and that any higher would mean standing on tiptoe, which didn't seem to make much difference.
But he dared not say this out loud; after all, Bai Wei had already shown impatience, and if he couldn't even handle this minor task, that would be truly useless.
With no other option, he had to figure it out himself.
Before long, Bai Wei's view expanded significantly.
Now he could finally see outside the church.
Just as he had thought, there were many Rhein Church Knights on the streets outside, scrutinizing everyone passing by. Anyone who appeared suspicious was pushed to the corner to squat.
The Rhein Church's response was indeed swift.
After discovering the bodies of Lu Ji and Roger last night, the Knight Master must have immediately contacted his superiors, and in just half a night, so many knights had appeared out of nowhere, evidently pulled in urgently from other churches. And it wasn't only knights; there were many clad in cloth armor—likely servants of landlords, who had also been conscripted.
Clearly, they believed he was still in the town and had no intention of letting him leave.
But this was of no concern; it was all part of Bai Wei's plan. The plan had not yet been fully achieved; Bai Wei wanted to stir up even more trouble, to draw over the Lord Bishop, after all, his eyes were still there.
While Bai Wei was contemplating, Ulu below him spoke up, trembling, "Lord Visas, although I don't wish to disturb you at a time like this, I still feel that standing on the table and giving all the refugees the middle finger is a bit... too attention-grabbing?"