Liu Xing looked around the environnt and found that the Drears’ Guild had chosen the location well, as the forr underground prison was quite spacious, and the architectural layout was very suitable for a secret gathering, with large and small partitioned rooms around the central hall that could accommodate hundreds of people, providing suitable spaces for those who needed private discussions.
Moreover, since this forr underground prison was used to incarcerate so high-profile criminals, the decoration was quite luxurious, especially the huge chandelier in the main hall, which Liu Xing estimated would cost no less than 100,000 pounds to acquire.
As Liu Xing was pondering, he followed Dio to the so-called Room 3. If Dio hadn’t ntioned that Room 3 was a converted forr prison cell, Liu Xing would have thought he was in the presidential suite of a five-star hotel.
Truly, the evil of capitalism, even building a prison can be so extravagant and wasteful.
At the entrance of Room 3, Dio began to introduce Robert’s situation to Liu Xing, "From the very beginning of our Drears’ Guild, Robert has been unanimously elected as the president, because he was born into a famous family in England, so he has access to many resources that are very beneficial to our Drears’ Guild, such as this secret prison, which Robert has painstakingly ’taken over’. Of course, Robert is also a very good person, respected and trusted by our Drears’ Guild mbers. However, no one is perfect, and as an old-fashioned English aristocrat, Robert is full of a sense of superiority when facing people from other countries, even Scotland and Wales, so the mbers who co to attend our Drears’ Guild offline gatherings are mostly English, Chris, you understand what I an."
Liu Xing nodded, indicating that he fully understood.
After all, as a forr global empire, the sense of superiority of the English aristocrats has not diminished even decades later, when the British Empire has already degenerated into a "crying brother country" that can barely afford a long-distance fleet, they still refuse to change their troublemaker nature, spouting nonsense that is none of their business and which they are not qualified to manage.
So while Liu Xing was wearing a polite smile on the surface, he was inwardly filled with contempt for the faceless Robert, and also understood why the Drears’ Guild had not developed and grown stronger.
In Liu Xing’s view, if Robert could play his cards right, he would have the opportunity to turn the Drears’ Guild into a new transnational secret cult, after all, those who have been invaded by Cthulhu’s dreams can be found all over the world. But the result is that due to Robert’s racial discrimination, non-English mbers of the Drears’ Guild are unwilling to attend the offline gatherings.
So Liu Xing knew that the current Drears’ Guild was not of much use, because it might just be a "mutual aid group of patients" after all.
"Alright, let’s go in now. When you et President Robert, Chris, you can be a bit more affectionate, because Robert has a lot of relatives and acquaintances working in the police force, and knowing President Robert will be of great benefit to your work," Dio said, patting Liu Xing on the shoulder.
After saying that, Dio led Liu Xing into the inner room of Room 3.
In the inner room, an old man in his seventies or eighties was puffing on a pipe and reading a newspaper.
"Dio, it’s been a while," Robert said, putting down the newspaper.
Dio nodded and smiled, "That’s right, Robert, we haven’t seen each other in years. This is our new mber, Chris, he’s currently working at the London Police Officer Bureau."
Robert raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised, and said, "So you’re Chris. I’ve heard about you a long ti ago, because one of my grandsons is stationed at the Police Academy you attended, so I know your academic performance is very impressive. I didn’t expect you to join our Drears’ Guild, this is great news for us, as our Drears’ Guild mbers are mostly ordinary people, and there are quite a few so-called artists among them, so in the dream realm, we can’t really say we have any real fighters."
Liu Xing chuckled, inwardly mocking that even if the Drears’ Guild mbers were fully equipped in the real world, they might not be able to take on a Deep One in single combat.
However, if Liu Xing didn’t know that Robert was a racist, he might have thought Robert was a decent elder, as the aristocrat didn’t put on airs in front of a commoner like himself.
Of course, Liu Xing knew that Robert’s attitude towards him was due to two reasons: first, the targets of Cthulhu’s dream invasion were mostly powerless artistic middle-aged and elderly people, so a police officer like himself with outstanding abilities was a "precious resource" for the Drears’ Guild; second, "Chris" was a pure-blooded Englishman.
In addition, what surprised Liu Xing a bit was that the relationship between Robert and Dio seed to be quite good.
After the three of them had exchanged so pleasantries, they began to get down to business.
"President Robert, you should also know that the Cult of the Cadaver is trying to recruit our Drears’ Guild to fight against a group of Cthulhu’s fanatic believers, and according to the information provided by the Cult of the Cadaver, those Cthulhu’s fanatic believers have already entered the London tropolitan area, and what’s more important is that they may be hostile to our Drears’ Guild," Dio said.
Robert sighed and said sowhat helplessly, "Dio, you certainly know more about the Cult of the Cadaver than I do, so you should know that they are not a good thing either. I’m afraid they are no longer satisfied with operating underground, so I’m worried that our cooperation with the Cult of the Cadaver will be like ’seeking the tiger’s help to get rid of the wolf’, and the Cult of the Cadaver may pull a trick on us. And Dio, you also know that most of our Drears’ Guild mbers are just a bunch of nobodies, so we can’t expect them to fight against those Cthulhu’s fanatic believers, not to ntion that those Cthulhu’s fanatic believers may have the Deep Ones backing them up."
Dio nodded, also with a worried look on his face, "I think so too. Most of our Drears’ Guild mbers are unlikely to be able to use firearms, and they have already been terrified by those Deep Ones in their dreams, so they are just cannon fodder. However, the reason why the Cult of the Cadaver ca to negotiate cooperation with us is that they hope we can serve as cannon fodder to help them consu the enemy’s strength."
Liu Xing silently nodded his head. From the current situation, it seems that the Cult of the Cadaver indeed wants to use the Drears’ Guild as cannon fodder or to contain the followers of Cthulhu.
After a mont of contemplation, Robert spoke: "So Dio, what do you think now? Should we try to cooperate with the Cult of the Cadaver, but without involving any combat?"
Dio remained silent for a long ti before shaking his head and saying: "President Robert, your idea may not be very realistic. Even if the Cult of the Cadaver pretends to agree to our demands, they may turn around and betray us, letting those damned Fishn co to trouble us. So if we choose to cooperate with the Cult of the Cadaver, we’ll be in a difficult situation."
"Then what if we choose to refuse?" Robert said with a grim expression.
Dio sighed deeply and said with a wry smile: "I’m afraid the situation will only get worse. After all, President Robert, you know the thods of the Cult of the Cadaver. They are not an easy opponent. If we refuse their cooperation request, the Cult of the Cadaver may outwardly appear indifferent, but secretly find a way to stab us in the back, like revealing the situation of our Drears’ Guild."
Robert put down his pipe and said sowhat confusedly: "If those fanatical believers of Cthulhu know about the existence of our Drears’ Guild, they will definitely try their best to cause us trouble, because in their eyes, we heretics must all die... Forget it, we’ll just agree to the Cult of the Cadaver’s cooperation request. At least they’ll be our allies on the surface."
At this mont, Dio suddenly asked, "Chris, what do you think?"
Liu Xing raised his eyebrows, not expecting Dio to ask him this question at this ti.
However, Liu Xing quickly ca up with an idea and said seriously: "I’d like to ask a question first. Apart from the Cult of the Cadaver, are there any other powerful secret cults within the London tropolitan area? Since we can now confirm that the Cult of the Cadaver is just using us, even if we beco their surface allies, they won’t co to help us if we run into trouble. So we need to find another backup option."
Robert’s eyes lit up, and he smiled and said: "As an international tropolis, London naturally has secret cults that have set up their headquarters within the city. However, the strength of these secret cults is mostly negligible and not worth cooperating with in our current situation. But I do know of two secret cults with considerable power that might be able to help us out of our predicant, as their strength is not inferior to the Cult of the Cadaver."
"The first secret cult is called the Lake God Sect. The believers of the Lake God Sect worship a deity that only appears in lakes. This deity not only bestows great power upon its followers, but also grants them immortality. I’ve heard that there are several hundred-year-old elders in the Lake God Sect, whose strength is even greater than that of the average Deep One. More importantly, the Lake God Sect is peaceful and generally friendly towards other secret cults, so we might have a chance to cooperate with them."
"As for the other powerful secret cult, it’s called the Divine Lineage. This secret cult is quite mysterious, as apart from its na, I only know that its activities are limited to the area around London. In fact, once you leave London, you can’t find any trace of the Divine Lineage. Moreover, the identities of the Divine Lineage’s followers are also very secretive, with only two people known to . So cooperating with the Divine Lineage might be quite difficult."
Liu Xing knew that the Lake God Sect Robert ntioned was likely referring to the Gralki believers, while the Divine Lineage was referring to Miss Wang and her group.
"Based on what you’ve said, President Robert, it would be better for us to try to cooperate with the Lake God Sect. After all, we know too little about the Divine Lineage, and judging from their style, they might even refuse our cooperation request. More importantly, I’m not sure if the Divine Lineage would be able to handle those fanatical believers of Cthulhu, since if they were truly powerful, they wouldn’t be so cautious," Dio expressed his opinion.
Robert nodded and said, "That’s right, I also think we should first go and negotiate with the Lake God Sect for cooperation. If that fails, we can try the Divine Lineage. But Dio, you may not be aware of this since you’ve been living in Manchester, but the Divine Lineage is actually quite powerful. They’ve wiped out multiple secret cults in a single night."
Seeing that Robert and Dio had reached a consensus, Liu Xing didn’t feel it was appropriate to say anything further, as he was just a newcor to the Drears’ Guild. After all, even if he knew that the Drears’ Guild’s cooperation with the Lake God Sect was essentially jumping from the frying pan into the fire, or being sold out and having to pay the price, Liu Xing felt it was better not to voice his opinion.
As for Liu Xing, the downfall of the Drears’ Guild had nothing to do with him.
After making the decision, Robert led Liu Xing and Dio to the main hall for a eting.
At this ti, the hall was already filled with over a hundred people.
The hall was set up similar to the nearby English Parliant, so when the Drears’ Guild mbers sitting on both sides turned to look at Robert, Liu Xing couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.
After all, these hundred-plus people were all wearing various masks, and they looked rather eerie under the slightly dim lighting.
Liu Xing and Dio found two empty seats to sit down, while Robert walked to the podium in the middle of the hall and announced that the Drears’ Guild’s ergency eting was officially beginning.
After taking a mont to gather his thoughts, Robert spoke seriously: "Fellow mbers of the Drears’ Guild, the reason I’ve suddenly summoned you all here today is that we have encountered a major problem, a problem that could turn the Drears’ Guild into history - the fanatical believers who worship the Eldritch God Cthulhu have arrived in the London tropolitan area, and they may even be accompanied by the evil claws of Cthulhu, the Deep Ones. So we now have reason to suspect that these damned people are coming after us!"
As soon as Robert finished speaking, the over a hundred people in the hall unanimously drew in a sharp breath.
Then, the sound of discussion imdiately erupted.
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