"Now, you should understand, right?"
Elynn looked a bit dejected; perhaps for him, he had long since grown tired of this life.
After listening to Elynn, Shawn gained a completely new understanding of the Zealots organization.
It was entirely accurate to say it was a drug trafficking organization.
The entire organization, from top to bottom, was on drugs; the Zealots were passively injected with tranquilizers, and the Supporterss abused drugs wantonly.
The apparent leader was Elynn, but in reality, behind the Supporterss hidden among the Zealots, there was a true power holder.
All Zealots rarely gathered together; their seemingly scattered distribution across various counties for the information network was actually a deliberate act by the power holder to maintain the The Cult's stable rule, intentionally dispersing the followers and then brainwashing each one.
These followers might not have known each other before, but their skin color, eyes, neck rings… these markers would help them distinguish their own people.
Other than that, they seemed to have no other way to identify their own people.
"Wait a minute," Shawn suddenly spoke.
He looked at Elynn, confirming seriously.
"You mean, they only distinguish based on markers, and they don't have many communication devices to contact each other?"
Elynn replied without hesitation: "Frequent mutual contact is not conducive to control; he needs them to be unable to communicate normally."
Shawn's eyes suddenly lit up at the words.
"I know what you're thinking, but it definitely won't succeed; no one can succeed under his control," Elynn quickly advised, already having a psychological shadow.
"No one can?"
"Not even you?"
Shawn looked at him with interest.
"Me?"
Elynn lowered his head, glanced at his mismatched attire following Shawn's gaze, and responded somewhat strangely.
"Strictly speaking, I'm just a fake; as long as he says the word, I'll be secretly executed by those Supporterss hidden in the crowd. I can't shake his rule."
Elynn waved his hands repeatedly.
But Shawn's next words instantly caused Elynn's brain to crash.
"Who said you're fake?"
"From now on, you are real!"
"You said it yourself, didn't you?"
"In North Carolina, they only look at your face, just as they only identify their own people through neck rings and other features."
Meeting Shawn's meaningful smile, Elynn shivered, thinking of a possibility.
"You mean… you want me to impersonate him?"
Shawn feigned dissatisfaction, stood up, took Elynn's arm, and drew him close.
The two looked out through the VIP box's transparent glass, just in time to see the Zealots punishing the two Supporterss.
Flames rose in their pupils, and a smile curved on Shawn's lips.
"Impersonate? Of course not."
"What I mean is, from now on, you are him, you are Elynn himself!"
"They will pay for your face; I want you to gather them, without him knowing."
Shawn's hand rested on Elynn's body, and he could clearly feel his body tremble uncontrollably the moment he said those words.
In the slight reflection of the glass, Elynn's almost tearful face was mirrored.
Shawn's words were like a horse's hoof relentlessly beating Elynn's head, vying with reason for control of his brain.
If he had the guts, he would have done so long ago; how could he have been oppressed by that person for so long?
"Steady, steady." Shawn pressed down with his palm, forcefully holding Elynn's trembling body down.
"You just said it, didn't you? To maintain control, he won't let the Zealots communicate freely. The only ones managing the Zealots locally, besides you, are the Supporterss."
"So I want you to eliminate the Supporterss, and gather as many Zealots as possible before he finds out."
If the person Elynn spoke of was the game's official, then these Supporterss were like administrators.
They infiltrated the Zealots, using their identity as a cover, then subtly promoted the doctrine and eliminated anyone who wanted to resist.
Perhaps there were Supporterss among the convoy that pursued Shawn and his group back then.
They carelessly thought it was just another easy operation, but they didn't expect to encounter the Warden from the Prison in the South this time.
"This won't work, this won't work!"
"No matter how many people I gather, as soon as he steps out, they will all pledge allegiance to him again."
"He always finds a way to make them obey; I've seen it with my own eyes!"
Elynn was extremely anxious.
That person dared to let him be his'substitute,' clearly having made all preparations and not fearing his rebellion in the slightest.
"So I need you to lead your people towards his location. You just need to tell me where he is, and I will take care of everything else."
"Finally, I want to tell you."
Shawn leaned his lips slightly close to Elynn's ear, whispering.
"I am omnipotent, I… truly am a god."
The voice entered Elynn's ears, and his eyes suddenly lit up in the dimness!
Elynn felt a current run through his entire body, numb with exhilaration, completely lost in himself.
... …
On the other side.
The Alexandria convoy slowed down but maintained a steady pace; they had already driven through two-thirds of Tennessee.
Standing on the roof of the large vehicle, looking into the distance, from this position, they seemed to be able to see the intersection of the three states.
Once they detoured from above Georgia into South Carolina, it would only take one day to reach the supermarket.
Diana held onto the handrail, got off a passenger bus, and walked towards Daryl and the others who were gathered together.
"I wanted to ask earlier, why do we need to take a detour?"
Diana was a bit confused.
After they set off, she learned that the place they were going was the southernmost part of Georgia.
Logically, wouldn't crossing straight down from Virginia be the fastest way?
Just a slightly slanted straight route would lead directly to the Prison Daryl spoke of.
Daryl held a map in his hand, biting on a worn pencil stub, and looked up at her when he heard her question.
"If you're often active outside, you'll know what force majeure is."
"And right now, North Carolina has force majeure."
"Although Shawn has said it more than once, I still want to repeat: your luck is truly too good."
"Perhaps a gentle management style is also one of your fortunes, because otherwise, you would have probably been discovered by those lunatics long ago and burned until not a single hair remained."
Yes, the Zealots had not discovered Alexandria; it was that simple.
Even the Wolves were only recently encountered by the Zealots by chance.
They were not Shawn; they lacked the ability of a prophet and even more so, communication equipment. According to the original plot, they never left North Carolina until the organization was destroyed.
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