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## Chapter 564: Shirek's Responsibility
But so what?
Although the Dark Sun Cult was built by Shirek with all his heart and effort, if the Dark Sun Cult were to face downfall, Shirek wouldn't feel distressed.
Instead, he would be relieved of a heavy burden and immense stress.
Currently, the Dark Sun Cult has at least 100 million believers.
This is a massive number.
However, the truly completely brainwashed fanatic believers are only one-twentieth of that, roughly five million.
Although as Shirek continued to grow, the ability of the Language Fruit significantly increased.
However, changing thoughts through sound requires time, and people are mobile.
Many factors can cause people to leave; they might occasionally visit a Dark Sun Church, but this isn't enough for them to become complete believers of the Dark Sun Cult.
The areas with the highest increase in believer numbers are not the newly developed islands, but the core areas of the Dark Sun Cult.
The Cult has a deeper foundation on these islands.
Even so, this can continuously provide impetus for the Dark Sun Cult's development.
Although the Divine Light Empire's believers are spread across half of the South Blue, when it comes to the number of core believers, they aren't much more than the Dark Sun Cult.
Faith is a way of life, a habit; truly reaching the degree of sacrificing everything is extremely difficult.
When faced with danger, it can be abandoned at any time.
This is the advantage of the Dark Sun Cult.
However, the current Dark Sun Cult is both powerful and fragile.
Many people become believers of the Dark Sun Cult without realizing it.
Although the Dark Sun Cult doesn't exhibit any overt force organizations, the strength it possesses is powerful enough.
With powerful organizational ability, the Dark Sun Cult is the largest customer in the North Blue underworld's arms trade.
Every year, they purchase a large amount of guns and ammunition, distributing them to the Cult's believers.
Utilizing the strength of the believers, united together, they spontaneously drive out invading pirates.
Under absolute firepower, many pirates flee in disarray, not even daring to provoke the Dark Sun Cult.
The Dark Sun Cult is equivalent to having an army numbering several hundred thousand to over ten million, which is an extremely terrifying force in the North Blue.
Of course, the Dark Sun Cult's development is very unstructured, lacking a unified structure, and hasn't fully utilized the strength it possesses.
This also limits the Dark Sun Cult's development.
After all, there are only a few core members of the Dark Sun Cult.
As for the Dark Sun Cult's positioning, Shirek hopes it will be a shadow covering the Four Seas, omnipresent.
Hidden in the shadows, anyone beside you could be a member of the Dark Sun Cult.
Currently, the Dark Sun Cult is divided into three parts.
Katerick manages all the churches, the vast number of believers, and the various factions that have been brainwashed.
Dag manages the Shadow Kill Hall and a large number of unofficial killers.
Ellison controls the large amount of assets belonging to the Dark Sun Cult.
Flandre controls all the intelligence of the Dark Sun Cult.
Over the years, the Dark Sun Cult has also promoted and selected many talents, enriching the Cult's strength.
Various talents have further accelerated the Cult's development.
Establishing the Dark Sun Cult was a whim of his, but now there are things he wants to do with it: to make the North Blue break free from the World Government's control and become the Kronos Kingdom's garden.
The Kronos Kingdom is connected to the North Blue, and the North Blue is even the Passage connecting the Kronos Kingdom to the other three sea areas.
Its importance is self-evident.
The Four Seas, the world's most vast sea area, holds the largest population, the most islands, and the most kingdoms.
It is the Kronos Kingdom's most important goods dumping ground, containing enormous interests.
For the Kronos Kingdom, it is indispensable.
As the Prince of the Kronos Kingdom, he has an obligation to help the Kingdom control the North Blue.
Although the New World possesses many rare resources, in terms of scale, it is destined to be incomparable to the Four Seas.
Furthermore, the North Blue has a superpower, the "Golden Kingdom" Hilton Kingdom, whose influence in the North Blue is considerable.
What if one day the many factions in the North Blue unite to restrict the Kronos Kingdom?
This is bound to happen sooner or later.
Perhaps it won't occur before the World Government's downfall, but the Kronos Kingdom is an outsider to the North Blue.
Past trade was conducted via island turtle, but what about now? The scale of trade has expanded countless times, and many products belong to the Kronos Kingdom, though many people are unaware.
In these years, the Kronos Kingdom has invested heavily, and countless companies, factories, and even islands have been acquired by the Kingdom.
On the surface, they might appear to be ordinary factions, but in reality, the Kronos Kingdom stands behind them.
Conquering the North Blue is also the overall strategy of the Kronos Kingdom.
At the Kronos Kingdom's current speed of development, even without obstacles, it would take a hundred years before others notice.
And other factions won't watch the Kronos Kingdom's expansion idly.
Among them, the Hilton Kingdom is the biggest obstacle.
Unlike other superpowers that hide their sharpness, the Hilton Kingdom has always maintained good relations with the World Government.
Although they closely cooperate with various superpowers, support the Rocks Pirates, support guilds to suppress the Marines, and support the Flying Pirates, who can guarantee that one day the Hilton Kingdom won't suddenly betray the Kronos Kingdom?
Like the Kronos Kingdom, the Hilton Kingdom also has a marriage alliance with a Celestial Dragon Family, the Mustrude Family.
The Kronos Kingdom's development in the North Blue has also been obstructed by the Hilton Kingdom.
In the contention for interests in the North Blue, the two Kingdoms naturally have conflict.
However, in the grand scheme of things, these are nothing.
Facing the World Government, the various superpowers are still united against a common enemy.
Because only when the World Government falls can they seize the largest piece of the pie and gain more interests.
Before that, any operation that disrupts cooperation is foolish.
Furthermore, the Kronos Kingdom is in its prime under Hades' generation.
Both "Pluto" Hades and "Glutton" Titan are world's top-tier monsters.
Even the World Government doesn't want to offend the two of them.
Reconciliation with the Kronos Kingdom is essentially reconciliation with Hades.
After all, the World Government and Hades have a deep-seated animosity because the World Government killed Hades' father.
Facing the even more dominant "Pluto" Hades, if they don't reconcile, who knows what great price they would have to pay?
Although the World Government doesn't like Garp, they have to admit Garp's combatant strength.
Such a Garp was completely suppressed by the younger Hades, making it hard to imagine how terrifying Hades is.
Shirek naturally doesn't know these things, but he is clear that the Hilton Kingdom will eventually become an enemy of the Kronos Kingdom.
Therefore, he must prepare in advance.
Even if he cannot destroy the Hilton Kingdom, he must weaken its influence.
He needs to ensure the Kronos Kingdom controls the majority of the North Blue so that any actions by the Hilton Kingdom cannot affect the Kronos Kingdom's commercial activity.
The first step in this is to become the Uncrowned King of the North Blue Underworld.
At the same time, he must control more islands and factions.
Here, his identity as a Marine is a powerful aid.
And the more chaos there is in the Great Sea, the faster the Dark Sun Cult will develop.
Dark Sun Cult ships wander everywhere in the North Blue, bringing poor people and homeless orphans to live on the islands where the churches are located.
The number of new pirates born in the North Blue is currently the lowest among the Four Seas, thanks to the existence of the Dark Sun Cult.
The number of Dark Sun Cult churches is present in most areas of the North Blue, but the coverage is not wide; most churches are concentrated in one area.
The Cult also pays to employ killers or guilds to hunt down human traffickers and rescue those poor people who are about to become slaves.
In the Four Seas, without needing particularly powerful force, Shirek wants to create a paradise.
Because on the islands where the Dark Sun Cult is located, very few pirates are born.
Even if they become pirates, they are believers of the Dark Sun Cult.
The future Revolutionary Army, in overthrowing the Member Nations, will not rely on the strength of strongmen, but on the vast number of civilians.
Just based on this point, destroying the Dark Sun Cult is not easy.
At least several million people would have to be killed.
Moreover, there is no evidence to justify taking action.
The Marines who have this ability are constantly being infiltrated by Shirek and the Dark Sun Cult.
After all, the total number of North Blue Marines is only 100,000.
If the Dark Sun Cult wanted to, they could make it 200,000, or even more.
One can imagine the scene if the World Government decides to take action against the Dark Sun Cult: the entire North Blue Marines rebel, and even many Member Nations, Kingdoms, Factions, and the vast number of residents oppose it.
That would be an interesting picture!
Thinking about everything he had done, his heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment.
Shirek propped his crossed legs on the table, the corner of his mouth curving into a slight arc.
His eyes were slightly narrowed, appearing terrifyingly eerie in the dim light.
(end of chapter)
But so what?
Although the Dark Sun Cult was built by Shirek with all his heart and effort, if the Dark Sun Cult were to face downfall, Shirek wouldn't feel distressed.
Instead, he would be relieved of a heavy burden and immense stress.
Currently, the Dark Sun Cult has at least 100 million believers.
This is a massive number.
However, the truly completely brainwashed fanatic believers are only one-twentieth of that, roughly five million.
Although as Shirek continued to grow, the ability of the Language Fruit significantly increased.
However, changing thoughts through sound requires time, and people are mobile.
Many factors can cause people to leave; they might occasionally visit a Dark Sun Church, but this isn't enough for them to become complete believers of the Dark Sun Cult.
The areas with the highest increase in believer numbers are not the newly developed islands, but the core areas of the Dark Sun Cult.
The Cult has a deeper foundation on these islands.
Even so, this can continuously provide impetus for the Dark Sun Cult's development.
Although the Divine Light Empire's believers are spread across half of the South Blue, when it comes to the number of core believers, they aren't much more than the Dark Sun Cult.
Faith is a way of life, a habit; truly reaching the degree of sacrificing everything is extremely difficult.
When faced with danger, it can be abandoned at any time.
This is the advantage of the Dark Sun Cult.
However, the current Dark Sun Cult is both powerful and fragile.
Many people become believers of the Dark Sun Cult without realizing it.
Although the Dark Sun Cult doesn't exhibit any overt force organizations, the strength it possesses is powerful enough.
With powerful organizational ability, the Dark Sun Cult is the largest customer in the North Blue underworld's arms trade.
Every year, they purchase a large amount of guns and ammunition, distributing them to the Cult's believers.
Utilizing the strength of the believers, united together, they spontaneously drive out invading pirates.
Under absolute firepower, many pirates flee in disarray, not even daring to provoke the Dark Sun Cult.
The Dark Sun Cult is equivalent to having an army numbering several hundred thousand to over ten million, which is an extremely terrifying force in the North Blue.
Of course, the Dark Sun Cult's development is very unstructured, lacking a unified structure, and hasn't fully utilized the strength it possesses.
This also limits the Dark Sun Cult's development.
After all, there are only a few core members of the Dark Sun Cult.
As for the Dark Sun Cult's positioning, Shirek hopes it will be a shadow covering the Four Seas, omnipresent.
Hidden in the shadows, anyone beside you could be a member of the Dark Sun Cult.
Currently, the Dark Sun Cult is divided into three parts.
Katerick manages all the churches, the vast number of believers, and the various factions that have been brainwashed.
Dag manages the Shadow Kill Hall and a large number of unofficial killers.
Ellison controls the large amount of assets belonging to the Dark Sun Cult.
Flandre controls all the intelligence of the Dark Sun Cult.
Over the years, the Dark Sun Cult has also promoted and selected many talents, enriching the Cult's strength.
Various talents have further accelerated the Cult's development.
Establishing the Dark Sun Cult was a whim of his, but now there are things he wants to do with it: to make the North Blue break free from the World Government's control and become the Kronos Kingdom's garden.
The Kronos Kingdom is connected to the North Blue, and the North Blue is even the Passage connecting the Kronos Kingdom to the other three sea areas.
Its importance is self-evident.
The Four Seas, the world's most vast sea area, holds the largest population, the most islands, and the most kingdoms.
It is the Kronos Kingdom's most important goods dumping ground, containing enormous interests.
For the Kronos Kingdom, it is indispensable.
As the Prince of the Kronos Kingdom, he has an obligation to help the Kingdom control the North Blue.
Although the New World possesses many rare resources, in terms of scale, it is destined to be incomparable to the Four Seas.
Furthermore, the North Blue has a superpower, the "Golden Kingdom" Hilton Kingdom, whose influence in the North Blue is considerable.
What if one day the many factions in the North Blue unite to restrict the Kronos Kingdom?
This is bound to happen sooner or later.
Perhaps it won't occur before the World Government's downfall, but the Kronos Kingdom is an outsider to the North Blue.
Past trade was conducted via island turtle, but what about now? The scale of trade has expanded countless times, and many products belong to the Kronos Kingdom, though many people are unaware.
In these years, the Kronos Kingdom has invested heavily, and countless companies, factories, and even islands have been acquired by the Kingdom.
On the surface, they might appear to be ordinary factions, but in reality, the Kronos Kingdom stands behind them.
Conquering the North Blue is also the overall strategy of the Kronos Kingdom.
At the Kronos Kingdom's current speed of development, even without obstacles, it would take a hundred years before others notice.
And other factions won't watch the Kronos Kingdom's expansion idly.
Among them, the Hilton Kingdom is the biggest obstacle.
Unlike other superpowers that hide their sharpness, the Hilton Kingdom has always maintained good relations with the World Government.
Although they closely cooperate with various superpowers, support the Rocks Pirates, support guilds to suppress the Marines, and support the Flying Pirates, who can guarantee that one day the Hilton Kingdom won't suddenly betray the Kronos Kingdom?
Like the Kronos Kingdom, the Hilton Kingdom also has a marriage alliance with a Celestial Dragon Family, the Mustrude Family.
The Kronos Kingdom's development in the North Blue has also been obstructed by the Hilton Kingdom.
In the contention for interests in the North Blue, the two Kingdoms naturally have conflict.
However, in the grand scheme of things, these are nothing.
Facing the World Government, the various superpowers are still united against a common enemy.
Because only when the World Government falls can they seize the largest piece of the pie and gain more interests.
Before that, any operation that disrupts cooperation is foolish.
Furthermore, the Kronos Kingdom is in its prime under Hades' generation.
Both "Pluto" Hades and "Glutton" Titan are world's top-tier monsters.
Even the World Government doesn't want to offend the two of them.
Reconciliation with the Kronos Kingdom is essentially reconciliation with Hades.
After all, the World Government and Hades have a deep-seated animosity because the World Government killed Hades' father.
Facing the even more dominant "Pluto" Hades, if they don't reconcile, who knows what great price they would have to pay?
Although the World Government doesn't like Garp, they have to admit Garp's combatant strength.
Such a Garp was completely suppressed by the younger Hades, making it hard to imagine how terrifying Hades is.
Shirek naturally doesn't know these things, but he is clear that the Hilton Kingdom will eventually become an enemy of the Kronos Kingdom.
Therefore, he must prepare in advance.
Even if he cannot destroy the Hilton Kingdom, he must weaken its influence.
He needs to ensure the Kronos Kingdom controls the majority of the North Blue so that any actions by the Hilton Kingdom cannot affect the Kronos Kingdom's commercial activity.
The first step in this is to become the Uncrowned King of the North Blue Underworld.
At the same time, he must control more islands and factions.
Here, his identity as a Marine is a powerful aid.
And the more chaos there is in the Great Sea, the faster the Dark Sun Cult will develop.
Dark Sun Cult ships wander everywhere in the North Blue, bringing poor people and homeless orphans to live on the islands where the churches are located.
The number of new pirates born in the North Blue is currently the lowest among the Four Seas, thanks to the existence of the Dark Sun Cult.
The number of Dark Sun Cult churches is present in most areas of the North Blue, but the coverage is not wide; most churches are concentrated in one area.
The Cult also pays to employ killers or guilds to hunt down human traffickers and rescue those poor people who are about to become slaves.
In the Four Seas, without needing particularly powerful force, Shirek wants to create a paradise.
Because on the islands where the Dark Sun Cult is located, very few pirates are born.
Even if they become pirates, they are believers of the Dark Sun Cult.
The future Revolutionary Army, in overthrowing the Member Nations, will not rely on the strength of strongmen, but on the vast number of civilians.
Just based on this point, destroying the Dark Sun Cult is not easy.
At least several million people would have to be killed.
Moreover, there is no evidence to justify taking action.
The Marines who have this ability are constantly being infiltrated by Shirek and the Dark Sun Cult.
After all, the total number of North Blue Marines is only 100,000.
If the Dark Sun Cult wanted to, they could make it 200,000, or even more.
One can imagine the scene if the World Government decides to take action against the Dark Sun Cult: the entire North Blue Marines rebel, and even many Member Nations, Kingdoms, Factions, and the vast number of residents oppose it.
That would be an interesting picture!
Thinking about everything he had done, his heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment.
Shirek propped his crossed legs on the table, the corner of his mouth curving into a slight arc.
His eyes were slightly narrowed, appearing terrifyingly eerie in the dim light.
(end of chapter)
