"Most of our civil servants in the Arcane City are descendants of the royal families and nobles of the six nations, officials of the Aize Federation, and local families and large chambers of commerce in the Arcane City." Merlin said slowly while stroking his chin.

He paused for a moment and continued, "With the rapid development of the Arcane City and its growing influence on the Aize Continent, the six empires, the Aize Federation, and other races have all keenly seen the development potential here."

"Therefore, all parties hope to gain greater voice in the Arcane City. Naturally, they hope that their children can climb up in the Arcane City and reach higher positions. However, positions are like cakes. The number is limited, but there are too many people coveting them. Everyone wants a piece of the pie. So what should we do? In this situation, trading came into being."

The Moon Goddess Selene couldn't help but sigh twice and said, "What a damned game of power! You guys are going to chill ordinary people to the bone by doing this."

Merlin sighed softly and responded calmly, "This is how the world works. The upper class controls a lot of resources, and the distribution of these resources is not absolutely fair. Many things cannot be achieved simply by thinking about them and working hard. It depends on the interests behind them. What you can bring to me and what I can bring to you is the key. In a sense, this is the helpless reality. The scarcity of resources determines the existence of competition, and behind competition is often a game of interests."

Merlin waved his hand, as if he felt the topic had gone too far, and hurriedly got back on track: "Let's continue talking about the promotion of the Arcane City. In the Arcane City, promotion requires political achievements, but most political achievements require a long period of sedimentation and accumulation. But how could those with status and background be willing to waste so much time to slowly endure? And, to be honest, most of them really don't have the ability to make real political achievements."

"Then what should we do? Is there no way to get promoted quickly? That shouldn't be the case, now that you say so." Selene keenly caught the deep meaning in Merlin's words and asked.

"Of course there are. As everyone knows, the Ancient God Cult is the enemy of the entire Aize continent and is a cult despised by everyone. Dealing with the Ancient God Cult has always been the top priority of any force in the Aize continent. In this case, if someone can successfully destroy a secret base of the Ancient God Cult, capture a group of active core members of the Ancient God Cult, or successfully prevent an evil action planned by the Ancient God Cult, etc., these are undoubtedly visible and tangible significant political achievements." Merlin said, pointing to the information and list of Ancient God Cult members stored in the cabinet.

"That's why I said these are the 'bargaining chips' of the transaction. Those forces provide me with all kinds of conveniences, whether it's support in resources or relaxed policies. I am willing to provide them with this information so that they can catch the followers of the Ancient God Cult through the clues we provide, and then make corresponding political achievements and finally achieve promotion. As for us, we can not only clear out some unstable factors, but also don't need to do it ourselves, and we can get a lot of benefits for nothing. It can be said to be killing two birds with one stone. Why not do it?" Merlin's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning, and he seemed quite proud of his strategy.

The corner of Moon Goddess Selene's mouth twitched slightly, and she couldn't help but sigh: "You...are definitely the scariest guy I have ever seen."

This is just the beginning. He has been very kind.

If those guys hanging on the street lamps from Blue Star were to come to this world, you would find that I am as pure as a piece of blank paper!

Merlin rolled his eyes and thought to himself, but he still had that nonchalant smile on his face.

Downstairs in the Arcane City - outside the ID card processing hall.

A group of fat otakus dressed as "card guys" and wearing clothes with Stacy patterns gathered together, looking nervous.

In the bag on the chest of one of them, a mouse was peering into the hall with a sneaky look.

This group of people stared at the direction of the entrance of the processing hall, as if waiting for the moment that would decide their fate.

Then, a man wearing a shirt with a sexy image of Alicia rushed out of the hall, waving his ID card excitedly and shouting, "I did it, I did it!"

This scene made everyone present breathe a sigh of relief, especially the rat possessed by the Lord of Plague.

The Lord of Plague could not wait to ask through the mouse: "Is it not giving you any trouble?"

The man was delighted and quickly replied, "No, it's easy. I got the ID card very easily."

The rat possessed by the Lord of Plague was secretly delighted, thinking that the plan had succeeded. It then urged other believers to hurry up and apply for ID cards.

A moment later, the followers of the Lord of Plague all happily received their ID cards. They gathered under the town hall, unable to contain their joy and burst into laughter.

Selene, the moon goddess who was sitting at the window, noticed this scene. She leaned over to take a look and thought that it was a gathering of "card guys" and "fat otakus". She didn't think about it anymore and just looked away without any intention of checking.

But inside the office, Alex knocked on the door and walked in, with a puzzled look on his face. He reported to Merlin, "It's really strange. I don't know what happened today. Many followers of the Ancient God Cult came to apply for ID cards."

"Isn't that a good thing? We have more 'bargaining chips'." Lin said as he took the documents handed over by Alex and examined them carefully. These people were exactly the group of believers brought by the Lord of Plague just now.

As for how we know that this group of people are from the Ancient God Cult, it is all thanks to a test report they filled out.

Anyone who applies for an ID card must fill out a test report for Ancient God Cult members.

Logically speaking, as long as you have a little bit of common sense, you will not be fooled.

However, the questions asked in this survey report are very tricky. The first few questions seem simple, such as "Are you a follower of the Ancient God Church?" and "Do you believe in ancient gods?" These questions make people let down their guard and think that they are nothing special.

However, the latter question is the real trap. For example: "The oath of the Ancient God Cult is 'In the name of XX, under the order of XX, we are willing to dedicate ourselves to XX and lead the world into disorder...' What's wrong with this sentence?"

Or "What is the key item mentioned in a secret meeting of the Ancient God Cult to open the ancient seal? Please briefly describe it."

And "According to the teachings of the Ancient God Religion, what kind of sacrificial rituals should be performed on specific days of each month? What are the specific steps?"

For true believers of the Ancient God Cult, these questions can be answered almost as a conditioned reflex, but for ordinary people, there is no way of knowing them.

Once the answer is given, they will be listed as suspects. If the answer is correct, it can almost be determined that they are members of the Ancient God Cult.