Chapter 219: The Usurping Corpse Eater Pope

"Quite the legendary tale. To think the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary, ranked sixth among the Level 1 Sanctuaries, would actually belong to you Corpse Eaters."

"So you actually have your own food source." Qi Suian had never imagined the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary would be the Corpse Eaters’ main stronghold.

And the Corpse Eater Pope is the Grand Elder of the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary, who wields the Level 1 Fire Seed Armor, the Ice Queen.

However, the second, third, fourth, and fifth-tier Sanctuaries under its command are all inhabited by pure-bloods. They have no idea that the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary, from which their own Sanctuaries branched off, has become the Corpse Eaters’ den.

When Qi Suian mentioned the Corpse Eaters having their own food source, he was referring to these splinter Sanctuaries.

"Yes, but only the Elder-rank Corpse Eaters get to feast on pure-bloods."

"Our staple is still mutants. After all, pure-bloods are far superior to mutants, both in terms of taste and the difficulty of acquiring them."

"I only get a quota of ten pure-bloods per month," Hayman said, a hint of a boast in his voice. "Mutants don’t taste very good, not nearly as good as pure-bloods..."

Hayman went on and on, describing the differences between the two.

Qi Suian didn’t interrupt. He waited until Hayman was finished before speaking. "To be honest, I don’t really have a discerning palate for food."

"So let’s get back to talking about your Corpse Eater Pope."

Hayman shook his head. "There isn’t much to say about him. He just used some scheme to become the Grand Elder, then used the Ice Queen’s Sanctuary to grant the Corpse Eaters refuge."

"Plus, the fact that we Corpse Eaters were once pure-bloods is what secured us a foothold."

"Otherwise, the Corpse Eaters’ status wouldn’t be much different from the Steel Brotherhood’s. The only differences are that we were founded a bit earlier, have more members, and are slightly stronger. That’s about it."

He wasn’t saying this out of loyalty; it was simply the truth.

After all, any Corpse Eater who managed to become a Cardinal possessed Level 2 bionic armor.

Every one of them was ambitious, desperate to climb the ranks and become the next Corpse Eater Pope, to obtain the Ice Queen Fire Seed Armor and take control of the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary.

But the Ice Queen Fire Seed Armor that the Corpse Eater Pope possessed was simply too powerful. They had no way to usurp him; if they had, they wouldn’t have survived to this day.

After all, none of the Corpse Eaters were originally pure-bloods from the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary; they were all outsiders who had immigrated later.

This ambition was sparked because the current Corpse Eater Pope himself had once infiltrated the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary and usurped the Grand Elder’s position through his own power.

This is what inspired the Cardinals to follow his example, fueling their ambition to rise above their station rather than submit to another’s rule.

However, since the Corpse Eater Pope had seized the position of Sanctuary Grand Elder through usurpation himself, he was naturally quite experienced at preventing those beneath him from doing the same.

As a result, no one had yet succeeded.

"What? You want to tell me about the leader of the Steel Brotherhood?" Qi Suian instantly understood his counterpart’s intent.

"That’s right. He’s quite a remarkable figure," Hayman continued. "You know how extreme the pure-bloods’ discrimination against mutants is."

"The Steel Brotherhood has managed to survive not because of the mutants themselves, but entirely thanks to their leader."

"Otherwise, if each of the Level 1 Sanctuaries dispatched just one suit of Level 2 bionic armor as a main force, all the mutants in the Steel Brotherhood would be wiped out in three days, tops."

Qi Suian didn’t doubt him, because Hayman wasn’t wrong.

Although the quality of the Steel Brotherhood’s mutants far surpassed that of ordinary ones, it didn’t mean they had enough top-tier combat strength.

The reason they hadn’t been annihilated yet wasn’t because they were particularly united or powerful, but because they possessed some kind of power that made the six major Level 1 Sanctuaries wary.

"Do you know what it is?" Qi Suian asked.

"I know a little. While I may not be an Elder in the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary, I am a Cardinal of the Corpse Eaters."

"According to Corpse Eater intelligence, the leader of the Steel Brotherhood possesses a Fire Seed Source Fragment," Hayman said.

Hearing this, Qi Suian’s eyes narrowed. "How credible is that?"

’Another fateful opportunity,’ he suspected.

"I’m not sure, but the leadership of the Level 1 Sanctuaries must know the truth." Hayman wasn’t considered part of the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary’s upper echelons; he merely enjoyed the perks without any real authority.

"There are only fragments of information about it, but one thing is certain: something happened in the Triumphant Eden, and that’s what triggered the Sanctuaries’ resource crisis."

"But the Grand Elders of the six major Level 1 Sanctuaries have never actually entered the Triumphant Eden, so they don’t know the full situation."

"But if the leader of the Steel Brotherhood truly possesses a Fire Seed Source Fragment, it means he must have entered the Triumphant Eden. It could even mean that the Sanctuaries’ resource crisis is inextricably linked to him bringing that fragment out."

Hayman only had a superficial understanding of these matters, so much of what he said was just speculation.

After all, he had no direct contact with the core issues, the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary was secretive, and these clues were things he had to dig up himself.

Qi Suian stroked his chin, thinking. Although Hayman’s words were speculative, his guesses were based on clues, not pulled out of thin air.

"If even the Level 1 Sanctuaries aren’t immune, just how bad is the resource crisis?" Qi Suian was, of course, asking about Hayman’s home, the Frost Queen’s Sanctuary.

Hayman thought for a moment before replying, "Aside from the pure-blood quota, all other provisions have been cut three times. We’re down to about forty percent of the original amount."

"That’s an extreme cut. Does that apply just to you Cardinals, or to the Elders as well?" Qi Suian asked.

An Elder was a Cardinal, but a Cardinal was not necessarily an Elder.

"The Elders’ rations were cut too. The percentage wasn’t as high as ours, but it was still a thirty percent reduction."

"The Frost Queen’s Sanctuary is a Level 1 Sanctuary, after all. It’s a huge operation with high consumption, so the effects are more obvious."

"The small and medium-sized Sanctuaries noticed the effects much later than we did."

"So we prepared a number of countermeasures in advance. Unfortunately, none of them worked," Hayman answered.

"If the source of the resource crisis is suspected to be the Fire Seed Source Fragment that the Steel Brotherhood’s leader took from the Triumphant Eden, then why don’t they just make a move against him?"

"They could not only get information about the Triumphant Eden from him, but they might even solve the resource crisis."

"They’re wary of him, but if they don’t deal with this now, all they’re doing is sentencing themselves to a slow death," Qi Suian stated bluntly.

"I’m not a Sanctuary Elder. Who knows what they’re thinking," Hayman answered bluntly.

He was more like a field agent, constantly assigned missions outside the Sanctuary and rarely returning to the Frost Sanctuary.

His monthly share was even delivered by a special courier.

Even the pure-bloods he ate were frozen, not fresh.

"Fair enough. Next..." After getting a decent amount of information, Qi Suian began to ask questions more proactively.

And Hayman answered everything he could, holding nothing back.

"Anything else to add?" Qi Suian asked.

He was starting to see it clearly. Information flow in the Wasteland World was truly restricted. Hayman was already a high-ranking, powerful figure, yet he still didn’t know much.

Then again, his high rank and authority were limited to the Corpse Eaters; he had no hand in the Frost Sanctuary’s internal affairs, which was why his knowledge was so limited.

"Nothing else. So, are you going to keep your promise and let me leave?" Hayman asked, reminding Qi Suian of his earlier commitment.

"Yes, I plan to let you go," Qi Suian nodded. His study of Hayman was complete, and he had extracted all the information he needed.

Therefore, Hayman’s next and final destination was the Melting Furnace.

Qi Suian had said he would let him go, but he never specified where.

Letting him go into the Melting Furnace was still letting him go.

"It seems I really won’t be leaving here alive." Seeing Qi Suian’s attitude, Hayman understood that there was no way out for him.

"Sigh. We agreed to be hypocrites together. Why’d you have to go and drop the pretense?" With that, Qi Suian grabbed Hayman and tossed him into the Melting Furnace in one swift motion.

The entire process was as smooth as flowing water. After all, he had done this many times. How could he not be proficient?

’Next up is the Level 2 bionic armor. Once I’m done researching that, I can start on the Level 1 Fire Seed: King of Hundred Beasts.’

The reason Qi Suian didn’t start researching it immediately was because he didn’t want to bite off more than he could chew. Jumping right in would only increase the difficulty and prolong the research time.

As the saying goes, taking time to sharpen the axe doesn’t delay the chopping of wood. Qi Suian understood this principle well.

-----------------

"Second. I remember you were the first to follow me, weren’t you?" a deep voice reached Demir’s ears.

Demir looked at the leader, whose upper body was shrouded in shadow, his features impossible to make out. "Yes, Leader. Of everyone in the Steel Brotherhood, I was the first to join you."

He was the Second Elder of the Steel Brotherhood, a man second only to the leader himself.

As for the title of Grand Elder, that was held by the leader himself.

Facing his leader’s question, Demir felt a deep sense of unease. ’It can’t be... did word get out?’

’That shouldn’t be possible. Even the Corpse Eaters didn’t discover my true identity.’

"Then why did you betray the Steel Brotherhood?" The leader’s voice shifted from a low rumble to a furious roar. "You know the one thing I can never accept is betrayal!"

"Leader, I didn’t betray you! Someone is slandering me to..." Demir said in a panic.

"Enough! Are you still trying to deceive me, even now?" the leader cut him off.

Just then, Demir saw something writhing and twisted emerge from within the shadows. He couldn’t help but shudder, his blood running cold.

"Please, listen to my explanation, I..." Demir knew it was over. The fact that he had used the Corpse Eaters to stop Kemp and Cummings from bringing back the technology had been exposed.

"I know you had your reasons," the leader interrupted Demir again. "But that is no excuse for betrayal."

"And the only fate for a traitor is death."

The moment the words were spoken, Demir turned to flee. He knew the leader wasn’t joking.

But he was a step too late. As he turned, his entire body erupted into a mist of blood.

Even with a mutant’s regenerative abilities, there was no way to recover.

He never even knew how he died before everything went silent.

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