An Lan frowned and shook her head.

He had never heard of this group of exiled soldiers.

Lu Ning calmly asked, "I sense your faith. I am somewhat interested in you. Tell me about the Return of the Dead Brigade."

The young man was overjoyed to hear that his faith had been felt.

His eyes burned with fervor as he said, “Great Lord, it is you we believe in, the great Hand of the Underworld. Your oracle is our doctrine: ‘Death is the only path to the eternal land,’ and we are the travelers on this path. The Lord’s priests have formed this group to lead us in search of the eternal land.”

priest?

Lu Ning raised an eyebrow.

He then inquired about other information regarding the Return of the Dead Brigade.

The strongest member of the Returned Souls Guild is known as the Priest of the Underworld, who is said to be a priest of the Hand of the Underworld.

It was only because the young man was under a spell that he noticed something was wrong.

How could an evil god not even know his own priests?

Below the Priests of the Underworld are the middle-level leaders of the Corps of the Dead, known as the Funeral Masters.

As for ordinary believers, they are called the undertakers.

The ceremonies held here are all conducted by teams of funeral directors.

It must be said that the Church of the Dead is quite powerful.

After all, there are more than a dozen high-level awakened beings here.

This is not even the entirety of the funeral directors of the Returned Dead Brigade.

It's easy to imagine that the entire Returned Brigade must have a considerable number of high-level Awakened.

With the addition of a Saint-level Yellow Springs Priest, this Exile Brigade is even more powerful than a typical large base city.

Such strength wouldn't be considered weak even among cults.

You should know that some cults only have a handful of members, let alone saints, they may not even have high-level awakened beings.

Lu Ning then inquired about the young man's name, when he joined the Guiwang Brigade, and how he joined.

This young man was named Locke. When he joined the Return of the Dead Brigade, he was only at the fourth level of strength.

Base City 22 is a medium-sized base city, and the fourth-tier free awakeners are not particularly noticeable.

He encountered the Dead Souls during an expedition and was subsequently drawn to their doctrines, choosing to join them on their path to find eternal peace and escape the suffering of reality.

This happened more than fifty years ago.

However, although Rocco was a mid-level leader in the Guild of the Dead, he did not know much about the Guild of the Dead's core secrets.

He only knew the general organizational structure of the Returned Departures and some of the rights and obligations of someone at his level.

According to Locke, the priests of the underworld were said to have received an oracle from the great Hand of the Underworld more than a year ago, instructing them to go to the 233rd Mist to perform a ritual.

Locke also didn't know the specific details of the ceremony.

After gathering all the information Locke knew, Lu Ning said in a low voice, "Sleep."

The next moment, Locke closed his eyes and fell straight down.

An Lan frowned and said, "More than a year ago, was this the time when we encountered the Hand of the Underworld in the Mist No. 233?"

Jerry and Steve exchanged a glance.

"I think it's possible. Perhaps it's a contingency plan left behind by the Hand of the Underworld?"

An Lan pondered: "It's also possible that when the projection of the Hand of the Underworld appeared before, a divine decree had already been issued, but because the spatial gate was closed, the Returning Brigade ultimately failed to encounter the projection of the Hand of the Underworld."

Everyone nodded slightly.

This possibility is also quite high.

Ya'en then spoke up, "So what exactly is the Returned Brigade planning to do here? We need to find out."

“Indeed, it seems that the Returned Brigade has not yet fully completed the ritual, yet such a huge change has already occurred in the environment inside the 233rd Mist. Once the ritual is completed, the entire 233rd Mist will likely be in turmoil, and may even affect the area outside the mist!” Osiris said with a solemn expression.

Upon hearing this, the others also became serious.

"Let me ask the leader again," Lu Ning said calmly.

"good."

As before, Aishalin poured icy water on the dark-skinned old man's head to wake him up.

The old man sprang to his feet as soon as he regained consciousness, trying to flee to a distant place.

However, everyone was already on guard. As soon as the old man got up, frost appeared on his body, and he almost froze.

"Charm!"

Lu Ning's eyes flashed with pink light as he looked at the old man.

The old man froze, his expression contorting, a look of struggle appearing in his eyes.

A ninth-tier awakened being possesses considerable mental strength. Although Lu Ning is powerful in combat, his mental strength is only at the seventh tier. Even if his charm ability carries a trace of divinity, it wouldn't be so easy for him to charm a ninth-tier awakened being.

Just then, a silver glint flashed in Jerry's eyes.

The next moment, the old man's mental energy became chaotic, and his resistance weakened instantly.

Then, the struggle on the old man's face disappeared, and he looked at Lu Ning with fervor and piety in his eyes: "Great Lord...we have finally found you!"