At this point, no conversation was needed; the The Cult Leader could almost perfectly deduce what had happened.
The cause and effect were not difficult to untangle, especially since Shawn was now brazenly sitting before him.
He slowly exhaled, "I knew it. Not keeping an eye on his side was a mistake."
"If my subordinates were more reliable, you wouldn't have had the chance to stand before me."
The The Cult Leader's voice remained steady.
"You're half right. Your people are indeed unreliable. To be precise, I haven't seen a single one that satisfies me so far."
The figures of those Supporterss flashed through Shawn's mind.
"But even if your people were tightly united, the outcome right now would still be the same."
"Because the one who came is me. As long as it's me, your fate will not change."
Shawn spoke with strong confidence and dominance.
It was as if he was telling the The Cult Leader, "Perhaps you'd feel resentful if you fell into the hands of others, but there's no need for that when facing me, because no matter what, as long as I set my sights on you, you can't escape."
"But I'm a bit curious," Shawn's tone shifted.
"Why couldn't you just stay in North Carolina? Why provoke survivors everywhere?"
"Don't you know that if you keep this up, no matter how many people you have, or how much firepower, you'll eventually be wiped out?"
"And then, as the The Cult Leader, what will become of you?"
But to Shawn's surprise, upon hearing his words, he merely shrugged, saying innocently,
"This isn't my concern. Elynn is the one who needs to consider all of this. From beginning to end, it was just him."
"Because... I am the stand-in, his stand-in."
What?!
The The Cult Leader's words made Shawn's heart sink, his thoughts submerged as if by surging waves, his mind trembling uncontrollably!
The The Cult Leader is Elynn's stand-in? Could it be that Elynn is the true The Cult Leader?
Shawn tried to recall Elynn's every word and action, but his genuinely terrified demeanor showed no sign of being faked.
Mental breakdown cannot be faked; Shawn had seen too many, so he was certain Elynn could not possibly be pretending.
But looking at the The Cult Leader before him, he had shed his clothes and was draped in silk, the entire room exuding overt luxury, as if desperate for people to see it.
Was he truly the stand-in Elynn deliberately put forward?
Shawn's thoughts were somewhat contradictory, but just before the seed of doubt could sprout, Shawn suddenly understood.
Regardless of whether Elynn or the man before him was the true The Cult Leader.
Based on the 'The Cult Leader' image Shawn had always assumed in his mind.
The The Cult Leader was a cautious person, which could be seen from his manipulation of a stand-in and his distribution of forces throughout every county in the state.
Behind his calmness lay madness, and the Zealots under his command were the external manifestation of this.
Shawn recalled a detail he had noticed earlier—the wooden pole forest where survivors were tied up.
Rather than someone tormenting them, Shawn was more inclined to believe someone was 'training' them.
Through the form of torment, driving them to mental breakdown, these people had almost reached the final stage of transforming into Zealots.
In other words, the person training them would certainly not be too far from them, perhaps even right before their eyes!
Shawn's gaze fell on the person before him.
Don't listen to what a person says; look at what he does.
If responsibilities were divided between the two Elynns, the man before him was training, was producing.
And Elynn's actions at the Auction House were about maintenance, maintaining the relationship with the Zealots on behalf of the true The Cult Leader, and sustaining their faith long-term.
From these two perspectives, who was more qualified to be the The Cult Leader of this The Cult?
If Shawn were to choose one as a Zealot, Shawn would choose the man before him.
This seemed somewhat contradictory; he was the one who personally inflicted those sufferings, so why would they still be obsessed with him?
That was indeed the crucial point.
But was there a possibility that precisely because of his training method, this means of personally inflicting pain, they would become even more obsessed?
Especially after they were thoroughly brainwashed and indoctrinated with the The Cult's doctrines.
Shawn suddenly stood up in front of the The Cult Leader.
He walked to the wooden window frame by the bed, raised his hand, and picked up the black book from it.
Shawn opened the first page.
—Other people are demons.
Very good, very familiar.
This time, Shawn continued to flip through, each page filled with handwritten script.
Shawn returned to the sofa and held up the black book in his hand to the The Cult Leader.
"Before I came, Elynn once gave me a hint."
"After I burned that green scripture, he told me: You really should have finished reading it."
"Before, I didn't understand what he meant, but after seeing this black book just now, I understood."
"The content isn't the key; the 'mark' is the key."
"There is only one The Cult Leader, and naturally, there can only be one scripture."
"Only through specialization can the The Cult Leader's uniqueness be reflected, so similarly, one of the two scriptures must be fake, and one must be special."
Shawn turned to the last page, smiling at the few ink marks left there.
He raised his hand, and a crisp snapping sound suddenly rang out; a ball of lamp oil appeared around the scripture, adhering to its outer surface.
Shawn could perceive that the The Cult Leader's pupils flickered uncontrollably.
"This is the lamp oil that group of Supporterss at the Auction House poured on me. I collected all of it."
A mechanical lighter appeared in Shawn's hand, naturally the one thrown by the Supporterss.
"You said you're a stand-in. I thought about it, and decided not to dwell on it."
"I'm a rough person by nature. Someone even called me a barbarian before. These brain-intensive things don't fit my persona at all."
"So a barbarian naturally has a barbarian's way of doing things."
Shawn decisively threw the lighter directly onto the scripture, and a flame suddenly shot up half a meter high. The flames spread across the coffee table, and the scripture was completely engulfed and scorched by the fire.
"No matter which of you is the true The Cult Leader, I'll just treat you as the The Cult Leader. The fake can be real, and the real can be fake."
"Elynn is gathering people and heading this way. Everything will be clear very soon."
After Shawn finished speaking, he saw the The Cult Leader suddenly leap from the sofa.
His hands and feet were bound, so he bit the water cup and splashed it towards the black book. He put the pillow on the coffee table and kept hitting it, attempting to extinguish the flames.
Eventually, he gritted his teeth and, disregarding his own safety, pressed his body onto the flames, not caring that he was also ignited by the lamp oil.
"You're truly crazy. Your stand-in doesn't have your courage."
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