Some awkwardness hung in the air as Shang Jianyao asked curiously:

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"It hurts." Focas didn't stop whipping himself, his voice trembling slightly. "But the more it hurts, the more I can forget the external world, forget the past, and see my true self."

That's... kind of weird... Which religious organization's ideology is this? "Initial City" is really decadent, many elders have some connection with different sects... No wonder internal conflicts are becoming more and more acute... Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment, then deliberately asked:

"You admire the true self, not a Ruling Age?"

*Slap!*

Focas gave himself another lash:

"No, 'Dawn' is the true self, the true self is 'Dawn'."

Another sect that worships the February Ruling Age "Dawn"... Jiang Baimian didn't equate the organization that General Focas and Boss Ugo belonged to with "Dawnlight Morningstar," because even from the few words she'd heard so far, she could see that there were significant differences between the two.

At least in the information provided by Pangu Biology, "Dawnlight Morningstar" had never mentioned the term "true self."

The Old Task Force members weren't surprised that General Focas and Boss Ugo believed in the Ruling Age "Dawn," because Ugo had previously demonstrated the ability to influence dreams.

And now, Jiang Baimian and the others finally understood what those devices in Ugo's room were for:

Their philosophy was to torture themselves, obtain pain, and find the true self.

"I thought you valued dreams more," Shang Jianyao said.

Long Yuehong thought the same thing, after all, the most well-known domain of the Ruling Age "Dawn" was "dreams."

Focas stopped whipping himself and took a breath:

"That is a misunderstanding of the world, and the path of heretics and infidels."

He threw the whip aside, picked up a damp towel, and wiped the blood from his body:

"Our consciousness can indeed be swallowed by nightmares, and we become 'the Heartless' in reality.

"But when we talk about dreams, we are not just talking about dreams.

"In our sect, dreams are a broader concept, referring to all the problems that obscure the true self."

The divergence is here... The believers of the Ruling Age "Dawn" explain "Heartless Disease" this way... Jiang Baimian didn't blindly sneer at the other party's theory.

When she was still a hundred thousand miles away from a conclusion, she wouldn't underestimate any so-called "truth." Sometimes, behind the absurd and ridiculous, there might be the deepest and most cruel reasons.

The stones from other hills can be used to polish jade!

Focas wiped his body and put on his clothes, his back still bearing many whip marks:

"'Mirror Teaching' and 'Dream Chasing Order' believe that the world itself is a dream. In a sense, this is not wrong, otherwise nightmares would not have the terrible ability to devour consciousness."

When talking about the followers of other Ruling Ages, the "Initial City" general casually mentioned two secret organizations.

"And 'Mirage Dragon Teaching'," Shang Jianyao helped Zhou Guanzhu and them fight for status.

Focas glanced at him and continued:

"But they want to use the power of the Ruling Ages to wake up from the dream and enter a new world. That can only be described as foolish.

"The Ruling Ages have long bestowed the method and power upon us, but we are blinded by dreams and have not realized it.

"Everyone has a true self within them. The true self is 'Dawn'. As long as you can find your true self, you can escape the dream and enter a new world."

Speaking of this, the lion-like general raised his right hand, made a fist, and tapped the side of his head:

"True self forever!"

"Oh, oh." Shang Jianyao watched attentively, as if he wanted to memorize every move General Focas had just made.

After Focas had put on his clothes, Jiang Baimian asked with a smile:

"Creating physical pain is your way of finding the true self?"

"Yes." Focas nodded slightly. "At every Mass, we exchange ideas on how to better torture ourselves. Some prefer using dripping wax, some prefer being pricked with needles, some constantly summarize the various techniques of binding, hanging, and whipping themselves, and some hope to be tortured by external forces rather than doing it themselves."

He then added:

"Of course, the focus is on torture, not pain. The former includes the latter.

"Besides pain, there is also humiliation, and mental torture. The simplest example is that some people try to draw strength from the pain of their partner betraying them, so they actively create opportunities to test them."

Your sect is indecent... Even with Long Yuehong's experience, he felt something was off.

At this moment, only one phrase flashed through Jiang Baimian's mind:

Different people have different aspirations...

Bai Chen originally wanted to ask, "Can you really accept these things? Will you really feel satisfied because of them?"

But then she remembered that Focas had repeatedly emphasized "pain" and "torture."

This made her feel that he was impeccable.

"Isn't the death of relatives, comrades, and friends the most painful thing?" Shang Jianyao asked with a serious expression.

Focas's expression changed a few times, a rare occurrence:

"Yes."

His tone was very deep.

Shang Jianyao further asked:

"Then would someone deliberately let their relatives, comrades, and friends die in order to feel this kind of pain?"

Focas couldn't help but look at the guy up and down, as if he were looking at a pervert.

He said in a deep voice:

"How could someone who can deliberately cause the death of their relatives, comrades, and friends feel pain from their deaths?"

"That's right!" Shang Jianyao clapped his right fist into his left palm, looking excited.

He seemed to have resolved some inner conflict because of Focas's answer.

Focas didn't quite understand and didn't want to say more. He looked at Jiang Baimian and said:

"What kind of help do you want me to provide?"

Jiang Baimian had already prepared a draft in her mind. She smiled and said:

"If there is turmoil in the city and the responsibility of protecting Avia is transferred to the city defense forces, or if there is a gap, I hope that the general can provide some convenience during our contact with Avia."

"What if there is no turmoil?" Focas asked, not answering the question.

Jiang Baimian replied with a smile:

"Then we won't trouble you, General. We'll ask you for another favor later."

Focas remained noncommittal and instead said:

"If you are willing to share the gains from contacting Avia, then I can agree."

*Phew...* Jiang Baimian quietly breathed a sigh of relief and said in a joking tone:

"Actually, according to your philosophy, why bother obtaining the secrets left behind by Orei? Shouldn't you just focus on finding the true self?"

Focas looked around and said:

"Before finding the true self, we also have to fight against the terrible nightmare, lest our self-consciousness be swallowed. And the secrets left behind by Orei may reveal the truth of the nightmare to some extent."

Jiang Baimian didn't ask any more questions and smiled:

"Happy cooperation."

Focas turned to look at the window covered by the curtain and said as if casually:

"I should go back too. Gaius will be speaking at the Citizens' Assembly later."

...

After obtaining the radio transceiver from Boss Ugo, the Old Task Force immediately began debugging it in the car, and then sent a telegram to Pangu Biology.

The content of the telegram was similar to Jiang Baimian's draft from yesterday, but it added the matter of today's Citizens' Assembly and gave the speculation that "there may be turmoil," expressing their desire to take the opportunity to contact Avia.

Jiang Baimian hoped to get help from the company.

She felt that as a large force, the Initial City couldn't only have one intelligence network and the Old Task Force as a team.

After sending the telegram, Jiang Baimian turned her gaze to Giuseppe "Garibaldi":

"Does the company have any Awakened at the Mind Corridor level here?"

Giuseppe slowly shook his head:

"I'm not too sure. I'm only responsible for providing the corresponding information. I don't have in-depth contact with the people I meet. Before this time, I didn't even know you were so strong."

What he meant was that Pangu Biology had indeed dispatched many people to Initial City to carry out tasks. He had indeed met with a large number of them and given them the designated information, but he didn't know if there were any Awakened at the Mind Corridor level among them.

Speaking of this, Giuseppe made up for it with two sentences:

"However, there are really many teams and individuals in the company performing tasks here, so there is a high possibility of there being strong individuals."

"Individuals?" Jiang Baimian's eyes lit up.

Just as lone hunters are often stronger, those who perform company tasks individually rather than in teams are definitely not weak.

"Three," Giuseppe gave a definite answer, "but I've been exposed, so they definitely won't contact me again."

Jiang Baimian nodded thoughtfully and said to Bai Chen:

"Drive the car to the intersection of the Red Giant Wolf District and the Green Olive District."

There, they could hear the official broadcast of Initial City, which would make it easier for the Old Task Force to grasp the direction of the Citizens' Assembly. And once turmoil occurred, they could retreat into the Green Olive District in time—as a place where lower-level citizens and foreign wanderers lived, it lacked strategic importance and would not become the focus of contention. It would only produce some disorder and chaos, which would not threaten the Old Task Force.

"Okay." Bai Chen had the jeep accelerate slightly.