Richard stood beside the four-eyed man holding the communicator, surrounded by all the invaders, no matter their strength, lying passed out on the ground.
Even though Richard and Ulysses were only using avatars now, these First and Second Level small fry were no different from insects to them.
"Let me ask, can you tell me what organization you belong to?"
The four-eyed man looked around bewildered; Richard and Ulysses were too fast. Just a second ago, he was reporting everything was going smoothly, and the next second, the invading team had all fallen to the ground.
The four-eyed man pointed at Richard, his intense emotions leaving him almost speechless. Richard sighed and shook his head, waving his hand casually, and a Soul Witchcraft that could soothe the soul fell upon the four-eyed man.
"Let me ask again, what organization do you belong to?"
Before the four-eyed man could answer, a voice came through the communicator in his hand.
"We are the Fusion Party. Where do you come from, unknown strong one?"
Listening to the question from the communicator, Richard was slightly startled, not expecting that a question would let the person on the other end guess his identity.
To confirm his thoughts, Richard deliberately said ambiguously: "I come from the East."
On the other end of the communicator, a four-eyed man dressed in luxurious attire fell into contemplation.
"Could it be a Hidden Monk who went into seclusion during a great catastrophe?"
The history before the great catastrophe is an extremely niche and unpopular subject for ordinary people, and even if they deliberately search for it, they are often misled by many vague statements. But for these hidden organizations, the history before the great catastrophe is essential knowledge.
As a senior member of the Fusion Party, he was very familiar with the history before the great catastrophe. Hidden Monks were a branch on the evolution path of the four-eyed people before the great catastrophe, advocating for relying on internal strength without external aids.
Before he could continue talking, the communicator seemed to have been interfered with, or there was a problem with the signal. In any case, the communicator suddenly emitted a burst of interference noise, and the four-eyed man in luxurious attire sighed as he listened to this sound, spawning a ball of flames in his hand, burning the communicator into a heap of scrap.
"Alas, to have encountered a Hidden Monk who came forth, and actually at the Fourth Level. Most likely, the Snake King was driven back by some ancient skill, and it was all in vain."
The four-eyed man grumbled as he threw the remnants in his hand into the trash bin. He walked to the window, looking as if the entire city was beneath his feet.
Listening to the "zzz" sound from the microphone, Richard didn’t even need to think to know the signal was cut. This kind of portable information transmission tool had its base station inevitably controlled by an organization like the Control Bureau.
"Alas, since there’s no signal, I’ll just have to use your soul to supplement it."
Richard put the communicator into his pocket, then tapped the four-eyed man’s head. In the next instant, the four-eyed man’s head shattered, and his soul silently entered Richard’s body.
Anderson walked quickly to Richard’s side, sincerely saying, "Thank you very much for your assistance."
Richard smiled nonchalantly and said, "It was a small favor. I have a question I’d like to ask." Richard changed the topic, looking into Anderson’s eyes, smiled, and asked:
"What kind of organization is the Fusion Party?"
Anderson swallowed hard, somewhat stiffly.
Richard didn’t release any pressure, but his gaze left Anderson with no will to lie. His body resisted lying, and resisted any action that would lead to his death.
"The Fusion Party... is a group of terrorists. These guys are our enemies."
"Oh." Richard nodded slightly, "Could you be more specific? What does this Fusion Party do? Why are they against you?"
Richard’s voice was calm, but it carried an undeniable authority. Anderson considered himself to have met many important figures, even seeing the elusive Director of the Control Bureau several times.
But he had never been this nervous before now.
"The Fusion Party is a group of terrorists. They believe that it’s inevitable that we will eventually fuse with other worlds. Instead of being exhausted by endless invasion catastrophes, it’s better to accelerate the fusion and then concentrate forces to establish a foothold in the new world."
"Hmm," Richard was slightly intrigued, "That’s an interesting perspective. Their idea is indeed one kind of solution."
Richard’s words made Anderson’s body stiffen suddenly, worrying whether this person before him would switch to the Fusion Party because of his explanation.
"It’s just that this method has too great an impact on ordinary people. The world’s changes could make originally benign things become deadly. Those who haven’t embarked on the Evolution Road, if they encounter such major changes, could easily perish in large numbers." Richard mused thoughtfully.
He suddenly thought of one point: if he wanted to conquer this world, he would inevitably have to deal with the matter of world fusion.
Anderson was unaware of Richard’s thoughts. Upon seeing that Richard seemed to disapprove of this method, he hurriedly added, "Indeed. The casualties caused by this method are no less than those of a great catastrophe. Because of this, we and the Fusion Party are in a practically irreconcilable relationship."
"So what is your solution?" Richard suddenly looked at Anderson, "As a large dark organization, you must have your own solution."
"Well... with my level of authority, I have not encountered information regarding this aspect." Anderson hesitated for a moment and replied somewhat helplessly.
"My level of authority isn’t able to access it." Anderson emphasized, "Above me are the Fifth Level Administrative Commissioner, the Fifth Level Executive Commissioner, and the Director of Control Bureau.
Due to security reasons, much of the information is beyond my reach."
Richard glanced at the surrounding invading soldiers and said to Anderson, "I won’t deal with these people, handle it yourself. Additionally, I want to take a tour of this city, arrange a guide for me."
Richard spoke in a light and easygoing manner, like some commissioner sent down from above to inspect. Anderson, however, did not feel the slightest bit of resentment at this moment.
The L-1 base had no ability to restrain Richard; even if Richard wanted to travel the entire world, there was nothing he could do.
But Richard asked for a guide.
Even if Anderson were any duller, he could see that this was a sign of goodwill. Richard didn’t need a guide, but Anderson needed to provide him one.
Anderson took a deep breath, feeling a bit touched. If the projects and invasion disasters were as easy to talk to as Richard, how nice it would be.
He slightly bowed to Richard, "Thank you for your cooperation. I will arrange your guide as soon as possible."
Walking on the street, Richard observed the ordinary people around him while digesting the information found in that four-eyed person’s soul.
After becoming the World Master, Richard made some progress in Soul Witchcraft. During Soul Search, he no longer lost most of the memories as before.
Filtering out those trivial life fragments from the obtained memories, Richard soon uncovered the true nature of the Fusion Party—a group of extreme meritocrats and social Darwinists.
The ordinary members of the Fusion Party are mostly some who have less family wealth or those who excel in various fields as "elites." These people believe world fusion is inevitable and that the current four-eyed society spends too many resources protecting ordinary people.
They believe the current protection policy is simply drinking poison to quench thirst, wasting resources on protecting ordinary people which only makes the four-eyed people weaker. The four-eyed people should forgo most ordinary people, retaining only the elite and some select "breeds" to merge into the world, and then regrow in the New World.
After reviewing this four-eyed person’s memory, Richard sighed in his heart, thinking that these pseudo-elites are not uncommon in any world.
Where do these guys get the confidence to think they are the "elite" worth protecting?
Even if they were all protected, this bunch couldn’t possibly revive the four-eyed race.
Believing the weak should die, social Darwinists can never become leaders because at the moment they become leaders, they will naturally see everyone below them as trash and comfortably become a slave owner.
"Sigh, at least this Control Bureau seems a bit more reliable. At the very least, their doctrines and ideologies are normal."
People were coming and going on the city streets, even though just a few kilometers away was a district covered by the Big Snake attack where no one survived, it did not hinder those unaffected residents from leading their normal lives.
The invasion disasters had been frequent for a hundred years, the nerves of the four-eyed people had become numb.
"Ankarena, do you have any religion here?" Richard asked the guide Anderson had arranged for him.
Upon confirming Richard needed a guide, Anderson didn’t choose from his own subordinates but directly found Ankarena, a Third Level Action Commissioner.
As Richard’s first contact, Anderson deemed Ankarena suitable for the job of being a guide.
Because of the Control Bureau’s internal rules, and to resolve her own troubles personally, Ankarena skillfully accepted the task, memorized the entire city’s map in fifteen minutes, found Richard, and smoothly began her work.
"Religion? We have quite a few, are you interested in this aspect?" Ankarena cautiously asked.
"Yes, due to the invasion disasters, there are many religions among civilians, so many that even we can’t manage them all."
"So, there isn’t a very mainstream religion, only some regional small sects."
"You are correct. The religions here are often limited to a single district, at most affecting a few cities."
After getting the answer, Richard exchanged a glance with Ulysses on his shoulder, an unspoken understanding passing between them.
"This is an unexplored virgin land, indeed."