On the truck, Ji Xun sat quietly in a corner. His "loner" persona was well established, and his colleagues didn't bother to engage him in conversation, chatting among themselves instead.
"Boss, where's the mission this time?"
"There was a worker brawl at the gunpowder factory. More than ten people died. I heard the bodies are in bad shape; it's going to be a tough job."
"Lately, the union folks have been causing a lot of trouble with their protests. People are dying every day, and I don't even know what for."
"I heard a consortium from Upper Town opened a factory, offering nearly 4000 a month in wages. That's way more than the other factories. At first, the gangs said it was a scam, and nobody went. But then those who did go got paid, and workers at other factories started to riot. The union is putting a lot of pressure on the gangs."
"Yeah, my buddy's a 'wall painter.' The gang has been ordered to assassinate several of the ringleaders."
"Four thousand for a general worker? Geez. That means our mortician pay should go up too."
Ji Xun listened to these conversations with a sense of detachment. Worker unrest had recently become the main source of turmoil in Wuzui City.
After Cao Sihai was killed, the Federation's senators realized that brute force alone wouldn't conquer the hard nut that was Wuzui City.
The consortium merchants were more farsighted and tactful. They knew that once the Old Continent was fully developed, Wuzui City would become a critical choke point, so they started grabbing resources in the city immediately.
With their immense financial power, they acquired, invested in, and built numerous factories, offering wages two to three times higher than the local standard to attract workers.
This quickly shifted the conflicts within Wuzui City from united opposition to internal strife.
Take the Golden Bay Dock, for example. Though controlled by gangs, the actual labor was done by common workers. Originally, with no risk involved, the pay was low—about 3000 a month for a dock worker. But with someone offering 6000, of course there would be unrest.
This was an obvious strategy. Even knowing it, there was no way to counter it. The gangs in Wuzui City couldn't compete with the consortiums on wages.
People tasted the benefits and were gradually absorbed. Now, it was too late to stop it.
In playing the game of power and economics, the lower classes could never match the politicians. The influx of hot money also caused prices to soar, forcing people to seek higher wages for survival, intensifying conflicts.
But this was a world of the extraordinary, where power ruled over politics.
The merchants' tactics weren't always so ruthless; not everyone had such long-term vision. Yet, it felt as if an unseen force was stirring things up, guiding events at crucial points, making the turmoil worse.
Ji Xun sensed a familiar strategy from the recent unrest, similar to how a few pieces of information in the Grand Cemetery Labyrinth had ended the Cao family's gubernatorial ambitions. No clear mastermind had been seen then, just as now.
It was evident that a skilled strategist was behind these disturbances. If this continued, the various factions in Wuzui City would implode even without external intervention.
In the previous world, where information was abundant, Ji Xun was used to such tactics. He even saw some benefit in it. According to his gathered intelligence, the mysterious "Old Continent" was a place with real legends of gods and demons—a land of true intrigue.
Before long, the steam truck arrived at the gunpowder factory. The brawl had subsided, leaving a mess for the morticians to clean up. Ji Xun and his team got off the truck and began their work, collecting limbs, applying chemicals, and bagging the bodies.
What started as a routine job turned eerie when the surroundings suddenly brightened. It wasn't the usual yellowish glow of gas lamps but a bright, silvery light.
Someone shouted, "Look up! What's that in the sky?"
Drawn by the light, Ji Xun looked up and was stunned. There, in the sky, was a bright moon.
A moon in the underground city?
He thought he was seeing things, but the luminous body hung there unmistakably, a silver crescent in the dark.
"How could there be a moon in the underground city?" Ji Xun thought, scrutinizing the sky. It looked like a projection, but he couldn't see any light source or beam.
"Where did it come from?"
As he gazed, a peculiar sense of calm and joy washed over him, a feeling he found strangely familiar.
"What is that thing?"
"Is it some new lighting device from Upper Town?"
"Hey, it's quite pretty."
The underground city residents, having never seen the moon, were baffled and curious, pointing and murmuring among themselves.
Ji Xun felt something was off, sensing that something big was about to happen. Then, in a flash of insight, he realized why the feeling was so familiar: it was like the sensation he had when looking at the symbol in the Grand Cemetery Labyrinth's chamber.
"Just like that symbol!"
He suddenly understood. "The moon is the work of those Old God cultists from the Tailor Street cellar!"
An unsettling realization struck him: "You have resisted a minor faith corruption."
"Faith corruption!"
Ji Xun was amazed and impressed by the boldness of the Old God cultists. They were trying to corrupt the entire city with this moon.
Those cultists had always hidden in the shadows, but now they were openly using faith corruption on such a grand scale. This was a major move.
Even with the Joker's immunity to faith alteration, Ji Xun might not have noticed it. This moment clarified the true power of his skill.
Faith corruption was like a mental enslavement. No other threat could compare.
He felt as if an ancient hand was reaching out from a grave, trying to regain dominion over humanity, evoking primal fears from their bloodlines.
"The faith corruption is serious business," he muttered, marveling at the cultists' audacity.
As he stared at the moon, a sinister smile crept across his face. "This makes things interesting."
Wuzui City, already a haven of violence and disorder, now had an added layer of danger.
This was the true nature of a world filled with extraordinary forces.
Faith corruption was nearly impossible to guard against. Even high-level curse card users would fall prey to it without proper measures.
The cultists' move was far more dangerous than the consortium's machinations.
The moon suddenly dimmed, and the night returned to its usual darkness. The moon had vanished as if it had never been.
"Interrupted?" Ji Xun thought. "Or did they run out of energy?"
He speculated that the moon required some form of energy to maintain. His logical mind considered it like a giant light bulb needing power.
"Where's the power source?"
Following this train of thought, he realized the energy might come from the sacrificial rituals he had seen in the Tailor Street cellar.
The moon appeared after a sacrifice. So, perhaps these rituals provided the necessary energy.
He recalled the Grand Cemetery Labyrinth, with its four pillars and sacrificial carvings pointing to a moon symbol.
With this in mind, he was almost certain that sacrifices preceded the appearance of the moon.
This revelation sparked a bold idea in his mind: if he could find another sacrificial site, he might find more of the secret mediums!
He didn't care about the Old God cultists. The world of curse card users and gods was beyond his current concern.
Wuzui City was full of hidden dangers. Others would surely notice the moon's significance.
Ji Xun's thoughts raced. If he could locate another sacrificial site, he might gain more secret mediums.
His mind clear, Ji Xun's eyes gleamed with determination. He would give those cultists a surprise they'd never expect.