September 8, Pig's Head Bar.

It's evening, and it's a time when the bar is bustling, but it's a little different from the past... The bard Raphael wasn't here to tell a story today, so the atmosphere in the bar wasn't particularly lively than the other day.

The wooden door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man dressed in black stepped in. His brown linen robe was inconspicuous, but his wrinkled face had a pair of sharp triangular eyes, and when he looked at others, he felt like a poisonous snake with undisguised coldness.

The middle-aged man looked to be about forty years old, and although he had passed the peak of his body, his mental state was more than one or two times stronger than that of people who were drunk with wine glasses - Hook, who was sitting at the bar, was glanced at by this guy, and suddenly felt an invisible pressure, and his whole body was a little uncomfortable.

And the other party didn't seem interested in drinking, but just walked up to the second floor, as if he was looking for someone.

"Awesome guy..."

Hook, who thinks he has excellent eyesight, commented.

But he naturally didn't understand, right now, this middle-aged man who walked to a room somewhere on the second floor... It's far from being "awesome".

Raised his hand and knocked on the door panel according to a certain rhythm, and someone in the room opened the wooden door, and then welcomed the middle-aged man in with a respectful expression.

"Master Gallup. ”

"Your Excellency. ”

A salutic greeting rang out in the room, and it was the five adventurous "Pit Viper Cross" believers who spoke.

The rebellious expressions of these guys in the past were now completely subdued, and the two-meter-tall strong man even knelt down on one knee to take over Gallup's robe, carefully put it away, and waited for the next order like the most humble servant.

Gallup, who was called the bishop, looked natural, and sat down on the main seat with a step, and after his triangular eyes swept over these subordinates, he said indifferently: "Sit down." ”

"Yesterday you sent me a message that the nobles of Hollier City are willing to cooperate with us?"

His voice was a little hoarse, not loud, but the posture of the superior was obvious—the bishop of the "Viper Cross" was far more powerful and ruthless than the abbot like Benjamin.

"Someone contacted the downline we released, but they didn't reveal their identity, but just left a letter revealing such a will, judging from the conditions they promised, the other party should be a big nobleman in the city, and the power is not small. ”

"Heh, if you find some clues, do you want to use the pit viper cross?"

Gallup narrowed his eyes, took the letter from Francis's subordinate Willy, just swept it casually, then pouted, a dark purple light streak suddenly appeared on his fingertips, and after twisting the entire parchment into pieces, he whispered: "These nobles, they won't do anything else except fight in the nest, the next time you meet these self-righteous ****... Ignore them. ”

His gaze swept over the subordinates in front of him, his tone mixed with fanaticism and coldness, "For this operation, the sect has sent all the forces that have been lurking here for ten years! Remember, we have much more to do than just root out these heresies—so I won't allow anything extraneous... Understood?"

"Yes, Lord Bishop!"

The five adventurers responded in unison—Gallup nodded in satisfaction and continued, "The flaws that should be revealed continue to be revealed, so that the Rosicrucian guys think they have all the information about us, so that the operation can go smoothly." Rubens won't go to the town square until the twentieth, so we ......."

Gallup explained the next arrangement, and the men did not dare to listen carefully without the slightest slack. In their eyes, the cold-eyed bishop in front of them was definitely not to be messed with, because he was nicknamed "Snake Teeth" within the sect - meaning that his personality was as ruthless as a snake, and he was even more ruthless in his work.

In such a denomination, promotion is not based on fundraising and prayer, but on "external blows"!

For the aristocracy, for the commoners, for the "Rosacecrutic", as long as it can make a profit and absorb more believers, the "Pit Viper Cross" is willing to do it, to put it bluntly, it is a terrorist organization, and on this premise, in order to maintain internal stability, the "Pit Viper Cross" has used a "high-pressure policy" -- ruthless externally, even more ruthless internally!

Gallup is one of the best in such an organization. So far, he has only succeeded in "small tasks", but he has never missed "big tasks", so he is now in the limelight in the sect, and if he can successfully complete the next tasks, he can successfully break into the core leadership of "Pit Viper Cross"... That means more resources, a higher status and an almost limitless future.

The forty-two-year-old Gallup is at the height of his edge, deep enough in the city, and has a ruthless side of his personality, if he has enough opportunities, he will definitely be a strong man - this is a point that everyone in the sect agrees on, and Gallup's boss Gakad expects him well, and this time he sent a "right-hand man" to assist him.

And this "right-hand man" is the beautiful woman who came to the pig's head bar some time ago... Priest Akasha.

But if you turn your gaze to her at this time, you will find a very interesting fact - compared to the spirited Gallup, this beautiful woman who lives in a hidden hotel a few kilometers away is a completely different scene at this time.

The fireplace in the room was not lit, and there was an icy smell everywhere. The cheap hotel was poorly furnished, a lone candle was lit on the table, and in the flickering light, Akasha, dressed in tulle pajamas, was sitting on a chair, looking painful and enduring something.

If people who don't know the situation see this scene, they will probably think that this hot-figure pastor is an exhibitionist with a "special fetish" - if it is a hot summer, she will not gossip at all when she wears it in private, but the temperature at this time is enough for people to wear warm gowns, and her dress is almost equivalent to ****, no matter how you look at it.

The room was silent, except for the occasional sound of Akasha's unsteady breathing.

Although the beautiful pastor's figure was blood-pumping, it was close enough to see her frowning brow, biting lips and trembling fingers...

This scene lasted for about ten minutes, and Akasha, whose eyes were slightly red, took a deep breath, raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and straightened her body slightly...

The original sexy tulle pajamas had been soaked with blood coming out of her back, and the pain of rubbing the clothes made the corners of Akasha's mouth twitch, but she seemed to have become accustomed to it, and she didn't have much expression, just silently and quickly dealt with the wound.

Raising her hand to take off her pajamas, after her body was completely exposed to the air, Akasha chanted a prayer in a low voice, the light flickered, and the "Intermediate Recovery Technique" made the wound on her back begin to heal instantly, just because she had to go through such a process every day, the healing effect of the "Divine Technique" on her had begun to decay, and the scars left behind had not completely disappeared - on the back with smooth and delicate skin, there were already many traces of bright red at this time, and it looked like she had been whipped by a leather whip.

This is one of the punishments imposed by the "Pit Viper Cross" on those within the sect: flogging.

The effect of the "Lash" stemmed from the Elder Gakad's "Dark Curse" skill, which she would suffer every day for a period of time once cast. The power of the curse ignores shield defenses, so the victim must accept the punishment inflicted by this shadow energy in order to "atone" - after the failure of the previous mission, Akasha should have suffered a harsher punishment, but Elder Gazad took good care of her, only giving her the punishment of "scourging", and at the same time allowing her to participate in the Gallup mission, so that she could "make meritorious deeds".

If she succeeds, she goes further, and if she fails, she is awaited an even more terrible punishment. And in this regard, Akasha has no room for resistance.

Oppression, enslavement, exploitation..."The Way of the Pit Viper's Cross" rule over the believers is so bloody and **** that a guy like Gallup can be like a fish in water in such a struggle, and a woman with a gentle personality like Akasha can only be tired and frightened by the painful punishment and the oppressive rule within the sect.

If you can't bear it, you will be eliminated, and there will be no other way but death... This is the consensus of all the clergy within the "Viper Cross" sect -- most of the blind believers only see the shiny surface of the sect, and only those who gradually "stand out" and become the "backbone" will slowly realize this essence.

But those who recognize the essence like Akasha and have a little "regret" mood are most likely no longer able to turn back, so they can only grit their teeth and continue to walk under the control of those black hands...

The pain in the body gradually disappeared, but the pain in the heart could not be eliminated. Akasha stood up, threw the blood-stained pajamas aside, a few complicated emotions flashed on her pale face, she silently put on her clean underwear and robes, her chestnut curls were tucked behind her head, her weak body trembled a little, but she still sat at the desk with support.

She took a few deep breaths, then took out a letter that had already been written, and looked intently at the handwriting she had written herself a few days earlier.

"Really... Is this the only way left?"

When Roddy walked into the pig's head bar from the outside, looking haggard, he passed by Gallup, who had just stepped out the door.

In the old days, he would have been curious about this staggering fellow of the rank - but now he was in such a bad mood that he had no interest in looking up, and went straight to the bar, and took a big sip of Hook's neck after asking for a glass of rum - and then choked and coughed for five minutes.

"I'm cough cough cough cough cough cough..."

Stunned, Hook looked at Roddy, then quickly poured a glass of water and handed it over, patting the young man on the back through the bar.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem—Hook...... Ahem, I'm sorry, I'm really not in the mood to tell a story today, I-a-a-a-a..."

"I can see it, what's the matter, broken love?"

Hook saw that he was almost fine, so he sat back and poured himself a glass of ale, threw the rag to the side, and said casually with a look of "coming over": "I should have told you that women are liars... I'm telling you, when I was young..."

Luo Di just relieved himself, picked up the cup of clear water and was drinking, when he heard him say this, he was suddenly choked again, shook his head helplessly, and said intermittently: "No... Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem,