The black sun hangs high

Chapter 229 The old, the weak, the sick and the disabled
Just like the stereotypes that other things in the Dream Sanctuary left on Hugh, the black mask derived from the Mirror Messenger also seemed to have the same characteristics of risk and reward.

Now, although Hugh is able to continuously acquire the instincts, memories, and knowledge that originally belonged to other beings by devouring and absorbing the power of the Dark Abyss offspring, some unsettling phenomena have begun to appear as he further uses the black mask.

Even though he has now removed the mask and restored his original appearance and physique, the thought patterns and tendencies that originally belonged to Berva are still subtly influencing him.

This gave Hughes a severe sense of disorientation.

He gently tightened his grip, crushing the black mask in his palm into shattered mist. Hugh stood up and went to the window. He slowly lifted the dusty curtains and looked at the dilapidated street outside. Then he opened the window, letting the cold air from outside blow into the room.

This might help him regain some clarity.

Bourwa's personality, thoughts, and habits were far more extreme than the Black Sun Society mage he had previously transformed and imitated. His unwavering faith in the Black Sun Society and the ancient gods far exceeded Hugh's imagination. He was simply a fanatic, deeply convinced of the miracles performed by the Black Sun Society and the traces left by the ancient gods.

This almost perverse way of thinking and belief eventually transformed into a severe hostility and resistance towards everything in Vain.

By imitating Bourwa, Hugh could tell that this guy was already indifferent to everything happening around him. In Bourwa's heart, there was only the goal of joining the ancient gods or the Dark Abyss court as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, among the emotions that remained in Bourwa, Hughes discovered that when Bourwa was betrayed by him and devoured by the Dark Abyss's offspring, his wish to throw himself into the Dark Abyss's embrace did not seem to have been fulfilled.

Clearly, the harsh reality still falls short of the vision in Börva's heart. As defective products originating from the Dark Abyss Palace, the offspring scattered throughout the city of Seren do not bother to distinguish whether the food they are eyeing is actually a follower of the Dark Abyss.

"You're going a bit too far..."

Hugh looked at the familiar reflection in the glass window in front of him and said something half-jokingly.

However, the imitation of Bourwa must continue in any way.

Although "Shug Ernst" is now the true manipulator behind the Tricolor Brotherhood and other large rabble, all orders on the surface still have to be issued through the identity of "Berva," which is determined by Berva's identity, experience, and position within the Tricolor Brotherhood.

In order to avoid unnecessary disputes and changes as much as possible, Hughes deliberately reduced his public appearances, maintaining contact and communication only with those believers of the Black Sun Society.

Now, all the survivors in the entire city of Seren have been mobilized.

Iris Street has established a cooperative relationship with the members of the Legal Committee. The former is required to provide cover for the latter and help the scholars of the Legal Committee advance their research on the offspring of the Dark Abyss, while the latter has joined Iris Street in management and recruitment. After receiving this batch of fresh blood, Iris Street's activities have immediately become more frequent.

Although General Butz had very obvious doubts about Hugh, under various constraints, he still kept his original agreement, restrained his previous racial and ethnic biases, and began to widely gather and recruit survivors near the south side of Seren.

As for the perilous north, it has now become the domain of bandits and raiders.

A strange yet orderly ecosystem took shape in just a few days.

The bandits and thieves under the Tricolor Brotherhood were sensitive to their surroundings and quickly noticed the changes in the city. However, under Hugh's deliberate guidance, the scattered groups of bandits scattered throughout the city quickly replaced the original survivors and became the Tricolor Brotherhood's priority targets.

Although the conflict continues, the survivors in Seren are now beginning to cluster together.

This is the first step in the strategy of the Shug Project to deal with the growth of the Dark Abyss offspring.

He believed that neither bandits nor ordinary survivors should continue to be food for the Dark Abyss' offspring. Before the research led by Justina, a scholar from the Legal Committee, made new progress, the death toll in the city had to be controlled, and those who had some knowledge of the changes and arrangements in the city should absolutely not be captured by the Dark Abyss' offspring.

"Avoid all unnecessary losses, cut off any possibility for those monsters to learn our plans and intentions... Shrink our defenses, consolidate existing safe zones, and make long-term plans based on our resource reserves... Re-establish a stronghold at the south gate, and maintain communication with the external Legal Committee member, Mage Valery..."

Such plans are being quietly implemented.

The entire city of Seren seemed to have become a giant chessboard, and under Hugh's manipulation, the game that would determine the fate of the survivors and the children of the Dark Abyss finally began.

……

In the afternoon, Hugh, disguised as Borg, made a brief appearance before the members of the Tricolor Brotherhood. After issuing a series of orders and carrying out the usual rewards and punishments, the ugly mage, who instilled fear in all the bandits, returned to his laboratory once again.

It is only natural that “Berva” is favored and given important responsibilities by the leader.

Moreover, it seems that the experiment he is conducting is indeed very important. Therefore, although the other members of the Black Sun Society are envious and jealous of "Berva", they dare not say anything, after all, it is an order personally given by their leader.

Using the laboratory as cover, Hugh, who had returned to his original form, leaned on his cane and, led by a member of the Brotherhood, openly arrived at the basement door of the Tricolor Brotherhood's headquarters—a place that the Brotherhood had transformed into a huge temporary underground prison, a harsh, cold, and sunless environment.

The air was filled with a suffocating odor.

Through Bourva's memories, Hugh learned that the Tricolor Brotherhood had executed many survivors in this huge basement... and the methods were mostly extremely brutal. Some of them even became Bourva's magical experimental subjects—after completely getting rid of his identity as a member of the Law Committee, Bourva had become somewhat unscrupulous in these matters.

Hughes sighed silently, a cold smile appearing on his face. He then said to the Black Sun Society member who had led him there, "Let me see the people you captured today... I remember you said there were members of the Seren Mutual Aid Society among them?"

"Yes Yes."

After "Berva" confirmed Hugh's raid on the Legal Committee's headquarters, these members of the society had already elevated Hugh to a position even higher than that of society leaders like Herbert. Therefore, in front of Hugh, they unconsciously lowered their status to that of servants, and even regarded every word Hugh said to them as "a gift from the leader."

He gave Hugh a fervent look and said, “There are quite a few of them, nearly fifty in total… They occupied two apartment buildings before, all sorts of people, even the elderly and children, oh right, and several ‘Nightingales’.”

"There are so many people?!" "They're unlucky!"

The member of the society laughed and said, "We've already found out. These guys received a recruitment notice from Iris Street and were just about to set off with their men when they ran into us... They have pitifully few weapons and no way to resist."

Hughes nodded: "Has a similar situation occurred before?"

The member of the society recalled for a moment, then replied casually, "Uh... there was one a long time ago, but there were fewer than twenty people that time. They refused to join the Brotherhood, so they were all dealt with by the mage Borgia."

"Well, I see."

Then, the locked basement door slowly opened, and behind a magical fence, Hugh saw many pairs of eyes flickering with fear, hatred, and anger in the dim light.

Hughes stood quietly before these “captives,” and the moment he appeared, he heard two soft gasps from women—clearly, someone had recognized him.

Hughes knew without a doubt that the people who recognized him were the nightingales or bards who used to frequent Water Flower Street and Ladies' Street, since his famous nicknames first spread from there.

This is normal, after all, Hugh's "literary works" did indeed bring more customers and fame to these two special streets and the nightingales there.

However, Hugh's expression was extremely cold. His eyes, filled with deep shadows, quickly swept over the faces of these survivors, and the oppressive and intimidating aura emanating from them immediately made these ordinary people look away.

"Close the door for me, I need to ask them some questions..."

The society members bowed obsequiously: "You asked yourself?"

"Yes, I like the process."

The members of the society immediately made a call and led all the members of the Tricolor Brotherhood away, and closed the basement door for Hugh. The next moment, Hugh gently tapped the Black Sun Scepter in his hand, and a soundproof ritual that had been prepared in advance immediately took shape on the spot.

Immediately afterwards, a ball of magical light slowly floated up beside Hugh, the bright light allowing Hugh to better observe the people shrouded in fear and despair before him.

Hugh stood quietly in the light and asked, "Some of you know me, right?"

As Hughes expected, no one answered him.

His gaze swept across the room, and within seconds he successfully located his target: two thin figures hiding at the edge of the basement. They sensed Hugh's gaze and tried their best to hide behind the others. An elderly woman with a somewhat hunched back took a step forward with difficulty and used her withered body to block him.

Hugh had no intention of causing trouble for the two nightingales. He sighed and said, "I am Hugh Ernst. I used to live in Ernst's old house in Seren. That should be enough for me... I've heard that there are members of the Seren Mutual Aid Society here? Who are they? Please step forward."

Still, no one responded.

Clearly, the submissive attitude that the Tricolor Brotherhood members had shown in front of Hugh had led these survivors to regard Hugh as one of the same kind of people as those Tricolor Brotherhood thugs.

Hugh tapped his cane again, and the magic orb hovering above his head immediately began to change shape, transforming in the blink of an eye into a sharp arrow that shone with dazzling light. The arrow was aimed at the crowd behind the magic barrier, and the crowd immediately stirred.

Hughes's voice grew colder than the winter air: "I don't want to waste any more time, five seconds."

"Five, four, three..."

"it's me!"

Before the countdown ended, a figure standing in the first row walked out into the magical light.

This was a broad-shouldered man, but with a somewhat unsteady gait, who was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.

He was wearing glasses, with the right lens wrapped in cloth, making him look particularly disheveled. His left leg was injured, and his trousers were thick, suggesting that they were probably wrapped in two bandages.

Hugh looked at the man for two seconds, then asked, "Name?"

The man's lips trembled slightly, but he still stared at Hugh and gave his name: "Rudolph."

After receiving a positive response, the sharp arrow that had been transformed from a magic orb above Hugh's head immediately returned to its original form. Hugh stepped forward, stared at the members of the Mutual Aid Society in front of him, and asked, "Okay, Rudolf... were you captured while you were preparing to head to Iris Street?"

Rudolf did not answer, but nodded silently.

Hugh laughed. "What, you think Iris Street is a good place? I've heard that it doesn't really welcome the people you bring... Look, old people, women... and even children?"

He feigned surprise: "Looks like you're mistaking Iris Street for your mutual aid society's relief center?"

Rudolf's face twitched slightly. The somewhat timid man mustered his courage and said through gritted teeth, "Iris Street said in its announcement that everyone is welcome! We have no better choice."

However, before he could finish speaking, someone suddenly pushed his way out from the crowd; it was a tall, thin figure.

He shoved Rudolph aside and crashed into the magical fence, shouting at Hugh: "Sir! Sir...it's me! I'm the one who notified our Brotherhood friends, please let me out!"

(End of this chapter)