Black Sail
Chapter 528: CLVII. Labyrinth

Chapter 528: CLVII. Labyrinth

Mulong Railway East Section, Black Rock City.

The reason religious organizations are so keen on constructing marvels is that you can’t explain the true essence of their doctrine to a group of uneducated rural villagers.

During periods of cultural vacuum, a unique way of explaining the workings of the world that is coherent and self-consistent only works for people who are literate and have substantial comprehension abilities.

But this is clearly far from enough.

When the Eternal Sect constructed the breathtaking Eternal Clock Tower that breaks through the clouds in Aran Imperial City centuries ago, those who had only basic teachings at that time, upon seeing it, just took it as a miracle and paid homage.

And today.

The first church that the Eternal Sect built in Mulong, its foundation and dragon bone frame have already been constructed. As for the alien-looking granite outer walls, the translucent dome, the painted gospel windows, the fine walls and battlements, various aesthetically considered exterior details, and interior decorations—that would take years to complete.

Now it’s just a framework of beams and pillars that cannot even shield against the wind and rain, but as a symbolic church, it can already be used for distributing alms and proselytizing outside, which is a preliminary step.

Because the master craftsman from the Imperial City has already sculpted the bronze statue of the Dragon Lord, placed it in front of the church entrance.

Today there is a completion ceremony.

And in a wooden house.

Zote decided to let a local Mulong person complete this ceremony.

"We will build churches in all the cities captured on Crocodile Island, Black Rock City, Salt Lake City, Silver Moon City, and then... the territory of Uborio, which is about to be captured on Crocodile Island.

Speaking of it, Drifting City used to be the world’s second-largest slave trade center a long time ago.

Do you know why slavery was abolished?"

Zote said to Banu, the only survivor of the resistance members he killed on that day when he first came to Mulong.

He believed that young men had infinite possibilities.

Even though the Aran Army came to find trouble every three days recently, saying that the Eternal Sect did not have the right to issue currency, violating Aran Law.

But in word games.

The Sect people wouldn’t lose, Zote also brought the Sect’s best debaters. In the current constitution, the Royal Court recognizes the legitimacy of the Eternal Sect and its doctrines, and church coins are part of its doctrine.

Ultimately.

This method of assimilation has already shown initial effectiveness, with many Mulong people in Black Rock City using church coins earned through labor to purchase a better quality of life than before.

This also made Banu gradually waver, beginning to doubt whether the Holy True God existed, and whether Uborio was right to let everyone die for the dignity of their homeland.

"I don’t know about these things."

Banu, let alone knowing the history of Mulong, was even clueless about the current situation in the country.

However, Zote just happened to have a way to explain the workings of the entire world that didn’t require too high a comprehension threshold.

"It seems that having just one person rule over all the slaves would maximize labor efficiency.

The truth is, however, counterintuitive.

Slavery was abolished not because of the rise of nationalism, which might be a secondary reason. The fact is that few people care about their fellow citizens, nor do they care about human rights and morality. Only in the agenda of interest groups do these terms play a role.

The reason it was eliminated is solely that it was too inefficient.

They had no property rights, no free will, and no motivation to labor. Under such a system, producers and buyers could not freely choose each other, nor could they enter the market.

It went against... the forces of nature."

Through years of imprisonment and fleeing, Zote had come to understand that some things are beyond human reach.

"The forces of nature?"

Banu was puzzled.

"That’s right. You will find that in today’s Beima, Mulong, and many second-rate or even low-ranking countries, tenant farmers have no difference in their clothing, food, housing, and travel from enslaved people of the past, perhaps even worse. At least the slave owners maintained their property safety.

Once slavery is abolished, they will kill each other and compete to be the best dogs, with an unprecedentedly strong motivation.

That is an ingrained vicious trait of social animals, something beyond human control, only heaven could manage.

Just like the experiment conducted by the Pedan National Arcane Academy.

When rats were trapped in a transparent glass container, they would generate despair and give up escaping.

But if a maze was set, they would endlessly explore it.

So...

I finally understand one thing, no matter how many people you kill, they will not submit to you. This is an insoluble problem, still extremely despicable, they secretly follow their own will.

This way, it is impossible to stand at the pinnacle of power. You must set up a mental maze.

The invisible terror that rivals nature and is more frightening than the darkness before the creation of the universe, only then will they submit to you.

The Marquis of Golden Palm Port, Uborio, and Crocodile Island all did it this way.

But I can assure you that these people are just minor characters.

They don’t understand a kind of power that can surpass nature, dictating all mortal things."

Zote touched the blade in his hand, reminiscing about the past, the Mulong machete truly lived up to its reputation.

Yes.

Today’s completion ceremony is very simple, Zote just repeated what he once did.

In the later stages of the Old Aran suppression movement, gradually, no matter how many people were killed, it didn’t work. The uprisers and rebellious nobles still sprang up everywhere.

For long-term stability, to avoid making Old Aran useless.

It’s like when a lion expands its territory, it must kill the other lion and all his cubs to dominate all the former’s mates.

But humans are different.

With such enormous interest groups, just killing the leader and his direct descendants is useless.

But there is still an opportunity in the mental aspect.

That is to publicly execute the people they are proud of and worship, treating them like donkeys, cutting off their male symbols and smashing them on the anvil.

It’s embarrassing, but very effective.

The imaginary dignity and resistance will be completely annihilated with that hammer.

The Holy True God Church is deeply rooted in Mulong, with temples in every large city and village, calling it Mulong’s national religion wouldn’t be an overstatement.

Believers can’t be killed off unless the entire country is destroyed.

So Zote had to emasculate the deity.

The Priest of the Holy True God Church in Black Rock City had already been found, bound outside the church for public display, awaiting an appropriate person to smash the male symbol of the Holy True God.

To make Mulong citizens abandon those unrealistic fantasies.

Zote believed Banu was very suitable. He would be his... new Sergeant.

"But you failed! Old Aran is already finished!"

Banu would never do such a thing, harming his kind at the behest of a foreigner.

"I said, didn’t I, that the truth is always the opposite. The Emperor actually feared Ogne, so he made him into a specimen and shattered his will and influence, extending the life of a country that should have disintegrated immediately by nearly twenty years, a great achievement that only the Witch Hunting Secret Department could accomplish.

You are still in the mental maze set by Uborio.

Look at the people of Black Rock City, the things they can buy with the church coins they earned from labor, you are already close to the exit of this maze."

Zote handed the machete to Banu, knowing what he had to do.

If his blind loyalty to the Holy True God outweighed his biological fear.

Then Zote had no choice but to let the Heavy Priest do it.

Power is an illusion, yet it truly exists. Humans are not bound by heaven and earth, only constrained by the fears imposed by others.

Violence cannot solve problems, Zote couldn’t imagine what kind of extreme ignorance would make someone say that.

Problems are offspring subordinate to violence, extended from it.

How could a father solve his son?

There is nothing in this world that a knife cannot solve.

The only consideration is.

Is the knife fast enough?

Banu walked out of the wooden house, the sunlight outside was somewhat dazzling, and he subconsciously shielded his eyes.

The square outside the half-formed church was packed with people, citizens, the army, Holy God believers, the bound priest, and the lord of Black Rock City who came to witness.

Seeing the executioner walk out of the wooden house.

The entire atmosphere of the square became increasingly gloomy, the Heavy Priest stayed vigilant for any disturbance, with the entire city garrisoned to ensure the smooth execution today.

Of course, now in a foreign country, the methods of Old Aran were obviously inappropriate. There was no need for dismemberment, just smashing below with a wooden mallet and then smashing the head, two strikes would solve it.

Sharon dared not stay long in this horrifying place, as Liszt did not take her back to Heaven Port the same way in Yunxi City.

The undercurrents hidden under the prosperity of Aran were too shocking.

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