Yao City.

A figure in black slowly appeared in the temple. He was thin and completely covered in a large black cloth.

In front of him stood a tall gray statue.

The face of the deity was blurry, maintaining a sitting posture in front of the stone table, as if overlooking the countless creatures below.

Under the statue, stood a person wearing a red cloak.

She wore a white mask helmet with two curved deer horns. This strange helmet looked like bone, marble, or white jade, with a smooth surface that reflected a cold light under the bonfire.

In the eye holes of the helmet were a pair of sharp and indifferent red eyes.

“What’s the matter?” the red-eyed apostle said.

The cloaked person lifted the hood, revealing a white skull inside.

Phileas opened and closed his jaws, somewhat restrained, and said, “Miss Sarina, Salt City is completely chaotic. The slave traders have completely transformed the city…”

“So what?”

Sarina didn’t care at all. “That’s the affairs of mortals. As long as they still believe in God Yao and offer their faith. Even if they kill each other, it has nothing to do with us.”

“I’m just… afraid things will get worse.”

The skull person carefully chose his words, “You see, a second sun has appeared in the sky, which is already very strange. And some of the citizens have mutated, but it is uncertain whether they are mixed with orcs or they have turned into orcs themselves…”

“God Yao and God Bai have not returned to this world yet.”

“I was wondering if you could take action and straighten out these matters? The population and faith are both important to the gods…”

The tyrant looked down on the skull person, “Are you teaching me how to do things?”

“No, no!”

“Then shut up.”

Sarina almost reprimanded, “Remember, we only serve the gods, mortals have nothing to do with us.”

“Yes.”

“Where is the snowman?” Sarina asked.

“I don’t know its whereabouts… Jimmy is always running around… Then I’ll go back first.”

Phileas sighed and turned to leave the temple.

Suddenly, Sarina’s voice came from behind.

“When the time comes, I will take action.”

Phileas felt slightly relieved.

This tyrant was not easy to deal with, after all, she was a noble demigod. She became an apostle because God Yao was powerful enough.

Phileas missed Miss Isabella and the Blood Knight Neville.

You only know what you had after you lose it.

Miss Isabella, the former chief apostle, was gentle and approachable, while Blood Knight Neville was silent but reliable.

Gods, when will you return…

After leaving the temple, Phileas rode the skeletal king beast and went straight to the outskirts of Salt City from underground. He wrapped himself tightly in his cloak, walking the streets and silently observing.

This city has changed now.

Many people on the streets have chains around their necks, they are slaves. The slave owners and traders occasionally wield whips, beating these numb-looking human properties.

Twenty years ago, after Mayor Shang Li died in a shipwreck, the businessmen took control of the government, and they made a series of deletions and modifications to Salt City’s policies.

Among them, the most important ones were two.

First, they abolished the mayor’s management system in Salt City and replaced it with a citizen council to decide the management of the entire city.

Second, they legalized slave trading.

The citizen council was just a facade, with the majority being businessmen and the Salt Clan. The Salt Clan, due to their superior bloodline and blood ties with Commander Salt Gel and Elder Salt Long of the Ascetic Sect, was the most powerful force among the humans in the city.

The businessmen and the Salt Clan controlled the citizen council and implemented a whole set of plans around slave trading.

First, they demanded that every citizen pay taxes. Every person had to bear the expenses of city construction and maintenance.

Different professions had different tax rates, with businessmen paying the least, scholars second, and farmers paying the most.

As a result, a large number of farmers fled Salt City and sought refuge in the east in Yao City, where they resettled and cultivated the land.

Unlike Salt City, the temple did not force everyone to pay taxes due to the strong theological atmosphere. However, the citizens there would donate money to the temple every year to maintain the cleanliness and solemnity of the temple and cover various expenses of the holy city. This was an unwritten custom there.

With the introduction of the tax policy, the preferences of the people in the two cities became more apparent.

The citizens of Yao City were mainly farmers, hunters, fishermen, and scholars, while the citizens of YC were mostly businessmen, craftsmen, and wealthy individuals from various industries.

In the long run, Salt City would suffer from a severe shortage of labor.

Therefore, the legalization of slavery was introduced.

Slaves could quickly fill the labor gap in various industries in the city.

Salt City allowed the buying and selling of slaves, as well as free citizens selling themselves as slaves. The main sources of slaves were the indigenous people and islanders with heretical beliefs, criminals, and debtors from overseas.

Slavery became a popular commodity in Salt City, and the cultural atmosphere of the entire city quickly changed.

The wealthy purchased a large number of slaves. These slaves not only cleaned, transported goods, and cultivated crops, but also served as guards and were subject to arbitrary beatings.

And because slaves were private property, just like livestock, slave owners did not need to pay additional maintenance fees.

Therefore, the large number of farmers fleeing did not reduce the manpower in Salt City. Slave traders brought in a large number of slaves and sold them to the wealthy, filling the labor gap with cheap labor.

Phileas witnessed all these changes.

He had always suspected that the death of Mayor Shangli was related to their escape.

Unfortunately, there was no evidence.

The merchants never brought up this topic, as if it was some kind of taboo, as if Shangli had never existed.

Another key figure was Commander Yangel.

It was hard for Phileas to say what was wrong with him.

Yangel still patrolled with the corruptors every day, never slacking off.

Unless the Transcendent forces invaded or caused chaos in the city, Yangel never interfered with the internal conflicts of the human group.

Slavery itself was not a problem.

What Phileas was worried about was that the slaves and the second sun might cause a chain reaction.

Suddenly, a panicked voice came to his ear.

“The sun is out, hurry, hurry back!”

“My God, why so early today!”

At this time, the people on the street were in chaos, fleeing towards their houses, leaving the street in a mess.

Phileas looked up.

Although only bones were left, it did not prevent him from observing the world with the fire of faith. This was the power given to the Apostles by the gods.

In the sky, behind the normal golden sun, another sun slowly emerged.

The second sun was like the shadow of the former, completely black.

It slowly moved out from behind the sun, and the black shadow it released spread all over the sky, as if the entire sky had black cracks.

With the appearance of the black sun, accompanied by strands of black fog in the air, the whole world became dim.

In the corner of the wall, a wild dog lying on the ground suddenly arched its body. Its fur swelled, its body size increased by a circle, and there was a crackling sound of bones inside its body.

Black substances like blood vessels appeared in its eyes, saliva flowed from its mouth, and it was searching for prey.

The frenzied wild dog looked at the eaves not far away, where there was a half-grown child missing a shoe.

The child was so scared that his face was ashen, but his body was somehow stiff, trembling all over. He watched the dog monster coming at him at high speed, its sharp teeth getting closer and closer, and the rotten smell rushed into his nostrils.

However, the next second, the fierce dog monster that pounced on him was caught by a bone claw that probed out from the ground, and with a light squeeze, the dog monster immediately collapsed on the ground.

Phileas picked up a shoe from the ground and handed it to the child.

“Go home.”

The child took the shoe and hurriedly put it on.

“Thank you! Although I don’t have a home…”

“Can you tell me your name? I think, at least I can remember your name.” The child plucked up the courage to say.

“Just a passerby.”

Phileas’s hood suddenly shook with the wind, revealing the grim skull face inside.

The child’s eyes widened, and his face showed joy: “It’s you! Lord Phileas, the King of Bones!”

Phileas quickly pulled up his hood: “You are mistaken, I am just a passerby. Go quickly.”

“Yes, thank you, Lord Phileas!”

The child ran away, looking back sneakily.

Phileas sighed.

What am I doing?

At first, he just wanted to investigate the relationship between the second sun and the beastification. So when God Yao returned, he could claim some credit.

The Apostles under God Yao were too strong, which put a lot of pressure on Phileas. He was becoming more and more marginalized, and had to think of some ways to attract the attention of the gods.

What he didn’t expect was that because he killed many beastified monsters during the investigation, he was praised by the people everywhere, and even got the title of the King of Bones, and his fame was getting louder and louder.

Now, whenever he saw civilians being attacked by monsters, Phileas couldn’t help but take action.

One mistake leads to another… Now there’s no turning back.

The skeleton looked up at the sky.

God Yao, please forgive my vanity and weakness.

……

At the other end of the world.

A snowman was running wildly in an ice field, its snowball body rolling crazily on the ground, and its red velvet hat was blown back by the wind.

Behind it was a group of ice giants running in large strides. They used whole trees as weapons, swinging them crazily left and right, wishing to smash the small snowman in front of them to pieces.

Jimmy shouted, “Stop chasing, stop chasing!”

“It’s just a dragon egg, it’s not your egg, can’t you find another one! This is a gift for the gods!”

The ice giants behind were furious, and the trees in their hands were thrown at the little snowman in front.

Thanks: Eight-star hotel supports 100 Qidian coins.

(End of the chapter)