"We didn't do that." Cook took off his hat and revealed his face.
His face wasn't as scary as Lulu's. The only difference from a normal person was his pupils, which were vertical, similar to those of cold-blooded animals.
Cook said, "We've discovered that the deeper the sin, the more severe their demonization. The worst case among us is Lulu, who once sold an eye of the Son of God. Those who have survived to this day have more or less benefited from the statue. Even if they didn't directly receive the golden armor, they used the money they earned to support their livelihoods. Therefore, there are varying degrees of demonization among them, but none more severe than this."
"I trust you, and I will help you, rest assured." Lu Mingze nodded. "But I need some information. How many of you are left? Which ones directly obtained the treasure from the statue, and how much did each of them take? Which ones were only indirect beneficiaries? What is the corresponding degree of demonization of these people? I hope you can help me count them separately and make a clear chart."
The shadows: "..."
Cook and Luluting looked at each other and said with a sad face: "Your Excellency, we are illiterate."
Guan Ling also tugged at Lu Mingze and said, "Forget about them. I don't even know what you're talking about."
Lu Mingze shook his head and said, "Even if you don't know how to count, you still have to do it. This is very important information. Not only do I need it, you all need it too. It doesn't matter if you can't read. You can use patterns to represent it. For example, if you want an eye, you can draw an eye. If you want a golden armor, you can draw a square. Each piece of golden armor is a square. Draw different patterns in a way you can understand to represent different meanings. If you can't count, you can draw horizontal lines, one for each person. After doing all this work, a relatively general statistical chart will basically take shape. After the data is compiled, someone who understands numbers can tell me the specific values."
After he explained this, Cook and the others felt relieved. He said, "We will come out to look for food at night and hide in some cellars during the day. I will go and find the rest of the people."
Lu Mingze said, "We'll meet up here before daybreak. Please give me as many figures as possible. All of this work will be counted towards your achievements. If you're truly guilty, it can be used to atone for your sins. Those who are innocent will be rewarded after the town is built. When the time comes, please draw up a list based on your contributions and tell me."
After he gave the order, the dark shadows swooshed away.
The black shadows were full of hostility at first and even attacked Lu Mingze, but now they are taking the initiative to help Lu Mingze with his work, and each one of them is very active.
Cao Qian looked at Lu Mingze and began to see him differently. Her first impression of Lu Mingze was that of a lucky, innocent naive person. Then, she saw him as someone who saw things clearly but still wanted to be innocent. And now, Lu Mingze had unexpectedly demonstrated leadership skills.
Admittedly, Lu Mingze used the initial skills to stop the shadows from attacking at the beginning, but the initial skills have a time limit after all. What really allowed Lu Mingze to obtain key information was his personal appeal and an imperceptible leadership.
This kind of leadership is very gentle, not as strong as a group leader, but more like...
Cao Qian carefully recalled Lu Mingze's words, remembering how he patiently taught the shadows statistical methods, and suddenly realized, "Like a teacher."
It is a kind of silent influence that makes people willing to listen to him unconsciously.
After the shadow left, the three of them continued on their way to the church. Cao Qian asked, "Are you a teacher in real life?"
Lu Mingze shook his head and said, "I'm not a teacher, but my mother is a professor. I've been studying abroad for a few years, but when I go home during the holidays, I always assist her, accompanying her to lectures and teaching seminars. I guess I've learned a little bit."
I see.
In Cao Qian's heart, Lu Mingze has been labeled with another label: "patience".
Good-looking, narcissistic, a bit of a temper, kind, gentle, forgiving, insightful, and patient enough.
Cao Qian said, "This is a very clever idea. Using this statistical method, it will be easy for town residents to find out if anyone among them is lying."
For example, residents who took a golden armor fragment would be penalized by having their limbs altered, and everyone would be punished the same way. But if someone who claimed to have only taken a golden armor fragment suddenly had their face rotted away, then they were very likely lying. This kind of statistics is difficult for players to do, but it is easy for residents. After a quick review, it is easy to find those who are problematic or have key clues among the hundreds of surviving residents.
"Is that so?" Lu Mingze was slightly stunned after hearing Cao Qian's praise. "I didn't think too much about it. I believed them because they said they weren't lying. I asked them to count to see how many people in this town need treatment. If someone's body is demonized, we should find a way to treat it..."
Cao Qian: "…"
So, was coming up with this idea just a stroke of luck under the guise of good intentions? She was a little confused about Lu Mingze. Was he really smart, or was he just lucky enough to appear smart?
Amid Cao Qian's confusion, the three of them arrived in front of the church.
The reason why the black shadows cannot roam around the City Lord's Mansion, the square and the church is the same as Xing Ye's analysis in the book. First, they are not strong enough, second, they feel guilty, and third, the church will bring harm to the demonized.
The church door was closed. Lu Mingze politely knocked on the dusty door and asked in a low voice, "Is anyone there? I'm the prince sent by the king to govern the city. If there's anyone there, could you please open the door for us?"
He looked so well-behaved and obedient that Cao Qian stopped kicking the door.
Guan Ling whispered, "There's so much dust on the gate. It must have been a long time since anyone has been inside. There's no way anyone is inside."
Cao Qian pulled him and told Guan Ling to stop talking to avoid being slapped in the face.
What happened around Lu Mingze couldn't be reasoned with. His seemingly foolish words and actions, in certain contexts, would always produce extremely rare chemical reactions, and it was impossible to judge whether he was right or wrong until the end.
Just as Guan Ling said, no one opened the door. Lu Mingze said worriedly, "The church was locked from the inside, which means there must be someone inside. It would be rude of us to barge in."
"The people inside might be dead, right?" Guan Ling said, "Let's just break down the door or the wall and get in."
"But..." Lu Mingze looked up at the remarkably well-preserved church. "The other buildings in this town are all dilapidated, but the church is the only one that's been preserved so intact. I always feel guilty about destroying such a well-preserved building. It would be best if the door could be opened."
As he finished speaking, the book in his hand trembled.
Lu Mingze quickly opened the book, and Cao Qian and Guan Ling also came over to take a look.
The handwriting on the book read: "Lu Mingze is right. We cannot destroy the church easily."
"Why?" Guan Ling had an inexplicable sense of conviction towards the book boss, and he couldn't help but ask.
The book erased the previous line of writing and continued, "First, the demonized residents dare not approach the church; Second, the monsters in the City Lord's Mansion will not leave the City Lord's Mansion; Third, bandits outside the town will not easily enter the town; Fourth, although the town's buildings are dilapidated, the map can still be used after twenty years, indicating that the main structure is intact."
When he wrote this, Cao Qian suddenly realized: "All of the above characteristics point to one thing: even though the town has become a ruin, there is actually still a mysterious force protecting it."
The book was very satisfied with Cao Qian's answer and wrote: "That's right, plus the fact that the holy sword is very likely in the church, I have reason to suspect that on the day of disaster, the mysterious power that protected the city was in the church.
"This force maintains everything in the city as it was twenty years ago. If its structure is rashly destroyed, the residents who have not aged for twenty years may age instantly. If the main city structure is destroyed, bandits outside the city will immediately attack."
After reading Xing Ye's analysis, Guan Ling shrank back in fear. He said, "Luckily, Lu Mingze didn't break in."
The young master was being polite and didn't think too much about it, but he got unexpected results.
"What if the people inside are really dead? How do we get into the church?" Lu Mingze asked the book seriously.
The book was silent for a moment, then continued writing: "There are two ways. One is that you like me."
Lu Mingze: "…"
Shu: "When the intimacy between an item and a player exceeds 80, the item can use its initial skill. My initial skill can solve this problem. Intimacy is the lowest value of the two people's favorability. My favorability towards you is 100 and it will not change. The value of intimacy depends on you."
Lu Mingze: "…"
This clever book kept tricking him into liking him.
Seeing that Lu Mingze didn't answer, Shu continued writing, "There's another way. The bracelet with my name engraved on it has three more marks. Each time you use one, I can appear once, and the effect lasts for 5 minutes."
"Why do Cao Qian and Guan Ling both have one day, but you only have 5 minutes? This is such unfair treatment." Lu Mingze asked in confusion.
Book: "Because I am different to you."
Lu Mingze, Cao Qian, Guan Ling: "..."
This book is so weird!
Lu Mingze originally wanted to use the "Magic Mirror of Truth" to see what was happening in the church, but no images could be seen in any of the mirrors in the church. Someone used mysterious power to prevent the mirrors from recording anything.
It seems that the only solution is what Xing Ye mentioned.
Lu Mingze raised his arm to look at the bracelet, frowned, and clicked a notch.
The book in his hand flipped automatically without wind, and the pages turned faster and faster. A flash of light passed by, the book disappeared, and Xing Ye appeared in front of Lu Mingze.
Cao Qian was slightly stunned when she saw Xing Ye's face. She whispered to Guan Ling, "I've seen him."
Guan Ling was also stunned: "I've seen him before. No, why is it him? Didn't Lu Mingze say that the storyteller was a woman? Of course, this is not important..."
The two looked at each other, and Cao Qian said first: "I just resigned and interviewed for a new large company. He is the chairman of our company. I have never met him in person, but everyone in the company knows him."
Guan Ling was shocked. "He's the chairman of a large company? Then why did he come to my barbecue stall a few nights ago? He was wearing a black shirt and had a cold face. He only ordered one skewer each, took a bite of each, nodded without saying anything, paid the bill, and left."
Cao Qian: "...Speaking of which, when I was working overtime the day before yesterday, a delivery guy suddenly delivered a bunch of skewers to a colleague who was also working overtime at the company. They were quite delicious..."
"The day before yesterday? Someone came to my place and bought a lot of skewers and took them away." Guan Ling.
The two of them looked at Xing Ye at the same time, and a strange feeling arose in their hearts.