Luoshu had dangled an irresistible bait—knowing that in a fractured coalition like this, someone would bite.
And once they did, he could pick them apart, piece by piece, until the entire army fell into his hands.
The Coalition's Response
The next day, the delegates returned with their leaders' answer:
"We accept. Make us apostles."
Their swift agreement had another factor—the 'holy water.'
The Southern Coalition hadn't marched north just for Luoshu's territory. They'd already fought several battles along the way.
And battles meant wounded soldiers—a far greater burden than the dead.
Burying the dead was simple: two men, two shovels, a day's work.
But the wounded? They required resources, care, and time—all scarce in this post-apocalyptic world.
Abandoning them would crush morale, so the Coalition had dragged them along, their numbers swelling into a logistical nightmare.
When the delegates brought back the "holy water," swearing it could heal any ailment, the warlords tested it on their worst cases.
While it couldn't regrow limbs, it sterilized wounds and accelerated healing near-instantly.
One bold warlord even cured his stomach ulcer with it.
Now, they were hooked.
The Warlords' Debate
An emergency meeting was called.
Pragmatists argued:
"I don't believe in gods, but this 'holy water' is real. It must be some lost medical tech—we need the formula!"
Opportunists countered:
"If divine power is real, why settle for water? Become apostles—get both!"
Skeptics scoffed:
"You're falling for a cult's lies!"
Greedy ones snapped back:
"Stay a mortal if you want. I'm getting power!"
The neutral faction proposed a compromise:
"Let those who want to try become apostles. We'll worry about the water later."
Final decision:
"Have them come to us. If they refuse, they're frauds."
The Delegates' Dread
When the delegates relayed these terms to Luoshu, they braced for refusal.
But his response stunned them:
"Agreed. We'll go to them."
Venturing into enemy territory was risky—but the allure of superhuman abilities would likely stay the warlords' hands.
And if they did attack?
Unobservability + Perception Block would let him escape anything but a perfect ambush.
Once talks began, his "Grand Scam" would ensnare them all.
The Apostle Ceremony
By the day of the ritual, Luoshu's Hume levels had recovered.
He arrived at the Coalition camp with his first-gen apostles as bodyguards, unarmed—easing the warlords' suspicions.
The power-hungry commanders smoothed tensions, and even the hardliners (who coveted the "holy water") held back, saving their demands for after the ritual.
But there would be no "after."
Luoshu declared that preaching was required before empowerment—a guise for his Cult Leader brainwashing.
Under its influence, all but the strongest-willed fell under his sway.
And for those holdouts?
Phase Two: Apostle Empowerment.
Using Overdraft Warping, he boosted his Hume, then repeated the "divine blood injection + Evolutionary Baptism" process.
What abilities the new apostles gained? Even he didn't know.
Because once again, he passed out from overuse.
The Aftermath
But it didn't matter.
The warlords—already half-convinced of divinity—fully converted upon gaining powers.
Even the skeptics wailed in regret, begging for a second chance.
The Southern Coalition Army was now his.
Days later, Luoshu awoke to a faithful army, its leaders helping him mass-brainwash the troops.
As for creating more apostles?
No thanks.
He refused to spend half his life comatose.
With 50 apostles (half of them ex-warlords), he now commanded:
A Holy Knight Order
An army uniting southern China's forces
Barring pre-apocalyptic WMDs, this force could conquer most of the wasteland.
And then—the system notification he'd been waiting for finally appeared.