One day later, in the East District, within the territory actually controlled by the Remann Gang.
"Charles, I have some things I need to tell you."
Silas summoned the leader of the Remann Gang and said.
"Your Excellency, what do you need?"
The man entered and asked respectfully.
Silas looked at this man.
This guy was essentially a greedy and treacherous scoundrel, but by coincidence, through a series of events, he had taken control of the Remann Gang and several nearby streets, becoming the executor of Silas's will.
If not for Silas's mental suggestions and the pressure of his strength, Charles would have done exactly what previous leaders did: bully the residents and bleed them dry.
Before, even if Charles had objections, Silas had kept him in check. But now he had plans to leave.
"I need to go away for a while. I'm temporarily leaving everything here in your hands."
He told him.
"Ah?"
Charles froze, then showed a look of appropriate surprise. "Why would you leave?"
"I need to go out and spread the faith."
Silas explained casually.
"At the shortest, it'll be two or three months. At the longest, four or five years, and I might not come back at all. You'd better behave yourself."
"This... this is truly unfortunate."
Upon hearing this, Charles sighed with apparent helplessness.
"You have such grand aspirations, I don't even know how I could persuade you to stay."
Ma'am M's figure slowly materialized beside him.
"He's lying."
She said with a smile.
"I can sense it. Right now, his heart is so happy he's about to jump for joy."
Of course he was.
Free from the powerful control of his superior, facing alone a large group of sheep who wouldn't resist and could create massive wealth... how wonderful those days would be! He wouldn't even dare to imagine it.
Too bad Silas wouldn't let him off so easily.
"Swish!"
Ma'am M extended her finger and inserted it into Charles's head.
Charles, who had been chattering away expressing his feelings, immediately froze, then his expression became vacant.
Ma'am M's finger stirred inside his head, modifying his cognition.
"Your attitude toward the people in the district should remain the same as before I left."
Silas said to him softly.
"At the same time, keep the district low-key and gradually relocate those who don't want to stay here anymore."
To stay hidden, he planned to reduce the scale.
Aside from the core flock, those temporarily staying here could slowly be arranged elsewhere, until they no longer attracted attention.
"Alright."
If he were in his normal state, Charles would never agree to such things, but right now he was being controlled and accepted Silas's suggestions without any resistance.
After this, Silas made another round through the territory, making the same arrangements with all the gang members.
Silas's "Shepherd" potion was almost fully digested.
By now, he basically understood the rules of acting:
First, feed the flock, ensure their survival, and provide them with means of livelihood.
Second, guide the flock.
The sheep are ignorant and need faith and direction. Guidance can come through preaching or teaching principles.
Third, protect the flock.
The sheep are innocent, weak, gentle, and easily harmed. They must be protected from the claws of beasts.
Through these three points, the flock would gradually recognize him as the shepherd and trust him.
A spiritual connection formed between them, and this connection ensured the digestion of the Shepherd potion while gradually pulling his sanity away from madness.
"Flash!"
Just as Silas was still lost in thought, a deep crimson light suddenly flashed before his eyes.
Then gray mist surged forth, and within the mist, he saw a tall figure praying with head bowed:
"Respected Mr. Fool, please tell Mr. Temperance that the exchange has been completed. He now needs to transfer the formula to me."
That fast? The Sun can really pull through!
Silas felt a surge of joy.
He turned and found an empty room on the street, quickly wrote down the formula, created a persona, transferred it through a sacrificial ritual to The Fool, then waited for The Sun to transfer it to the Chief, so they could verify it.
Long story short, from morning to afternoon, he finally successfully obtained the "Black Knight" potion formula.
Silas eagerly unfolded the note and read the text:
Sequence 4, Black Knight.
Main ingredients: The curtain remnant of a Shadow Knight, the condensed flesh of a Grigori.
Supplementary ingredients: The shadow traces of a Grigori, the black liquid of a Shadow Knight, one drop of blood from each ritual participant, 10 drops of lemon balm essential oil.
Advancement ritual: Without using violence, induce the corruption of more than ten thousand people.
The higher the sequence of the corrupted, the better the ritual effect.
Additionally, the more concentrated the transformation points from normal to corrupted are in time, the better the ritual effect.
"What?"
After reading the entire formula, the corner of Silas's mouth twitched violently.
The corruption of over ten thousand people? This is too crazy, too cruel!
No wonder it's a pathway controlled by that lunatic, the "True Creator."
He felt his heart grow half cold.
The potion formula he'd gone to such lengths to obtain required such an extreme ritual to complete.
However, it also mentioned that the higher the sequence of the corrupted, the better the ritual effect, which should reduce the required number of people.
Right, wasn't that Lovia also planning to advance to Sequence 4?
Silver City only had so many people.
They couldn't possibly sacrifice the entire city's population for her ritual.
Since Lovia dared to openly hand the formula to the Chief, there must be a better way to solve the ritual.
And setting the ritual aside for now, just collecting the Sequence 4 extraordinary materials would be a major task, possibly taking a very long time.
During that period, he could slowly think about how to solve the ritual.
Thinking this, Silas finally began to relax.
He looked at the note's contents once more.
After ensuring he'd completely memorized it with his spirituality, he rubbed his hands together and burned the note.
Ma'am M's figure emerged in the firelight.
"The corruption of ten thousand people is no small number."
She said with a smile.
"Backlund has five million people. If you develop for a few more years, maybe you could pull it off."
"Shut up."
Silas glanced at her coldly.
He was gradually discovering that this being, as his own persona, seemed to be closer to his cold-blooded side.
Aside from showing obvious emotion when facing Cecilia, she displayed a completely indifferent attitude toward others.
Fortunately, others couldn't see her. Only Silas knew what his other persona was thinking.
Ignoring Ma'am M, he turned and left the room.
Tonight was the time he'd agreed to meet with Sharron.
They would go together to the abandoned botanical garden in northern Backlund, where the Queen had built a new castle to continue holding gatherings.
The Queen's gatherings were relatively high-end, with talented participants.
Perhaps he could obtain his potion's main ingredients at the gathering, and maybe even find a solution to the advancement ritual.