Chapter 372: Huge Amount of Information
"What a joke, how could those tricks used to deceive poor people possibly deceive people like us?"
The middle-class ladies from the royal capital frowned unhappily. Although no one spoke out loud to disturb others from listening to the play, it was difficult for these ladies, who were confident that they would never be bought by petty favors or worthless nice words, not to have doubts in their hearts.
In a high-end restaurant not far from the ladies' salon, several middle-class couples traveling together began to criticize the script of the radio drama even in a rude manner, thinking that the monks of the Prosperous Church who wrote the script might not respect well-educated people like them enough.
As the plot progresses, these middle-class people who claim to be "only a little bit away from being aristocrats" can no longer laugh...
Cult activities require funding. They cannot make much money just by defrauding the poor, and openly preaching is a way to death. Ordinary people cannot easily approach the nobles, so getting funding from middle-class families is the only option.
The actor who played the "cultist" openly put this shameless bandit logic on the table and began to analyze the weaknesses of the middle-class family:
"Families whose male owners earn more than 200 gold coins a year and can live in good neighborhoods are actually easier to deceive than poor people living in bad neighborhoods. They are always very anxious about losing their current lives, and invest too much energy and income in the education of the next generation, hoping that their children can fulfill the dreams they failed to fulfill and squeeze into a more upper-class circle. Targeting their expectations will achieve twice the result with half the effort."
"Yes, that's the case with the family we succeeded in a few years ago. As long as we let them believe that there is some magical method that can make their children smarter, or let them believe that we have some way to let their children enter better schools and have the opportunity to meet the young masters and young ladies of noble families, their vigilance will be greatly reduced. You know, people are particularly willing to believe in things they hope to come true. They hope that these fabricated lies will come true more than we do."
"Although this method works, there is an even simpler way. Why don't we try to make these gentlemen and ladies believe that we have something that even the nobles are chasing after? For example, a mysterious statue that can bring good luck, a magical ointment that can make people more beautiful, or a blessing potion that can make people healthy. As long as the scam is set up carefully enough, we can make a lot of money."
"Then it would be better to arrange for someone to pretend to be a noble from outside. As long as they are generous, well-dressed, and surrounded by a group of servants, it would be easy to achieve the goal."
"Your ideas are all very feasible in my opinion. I only have a small suggestion - perhaps we can consider defrauding multiple households at once. If these self-proclaimed smart gentlemen and ladies see that they have many companions, they will be more confident in their choices."
"No, no, this is too dangerous. If the noise is too loud, it will attract the attention of the night watchman."
"Don't worry, we can contact more than a dozen families at a time. Obviously, we won't be discovered if we just communicate normally. When the sacrifice is exposed , the night watchmen will need to spend more time to sort out the clues. After all, the relationship network of these good families is much more complicated than that of the poor. Our people can then arrange for a safe transfer."
"Why don't we rent a horse farm and set up a private equestrian club that doesn't require registration, and let the person who plays the noble become the VIP of the club..."
Next, the cultists carefully discussed how to set up traps for middle-class families, defrauding multiple families of their money, and then selecting a few "lucky" sacrifices from among the deceived middle-class people...
The lines, whose outline was provided by Zhao Zhenzhen and then artistically processed by Brother Lowell, were very detailed. The actors playing the cultists even made clear arrangements about which contact routines to adopt for people of different income levels and age groups, and which types of rhetoric to use to break through their psychological defenses.
A small part of these scams to deceive believers came from the investigation reports on local cults by night watchmen and security detectives, and most of them came from Earth... That's right, Zhao Zhenzhen directly obtained the materials from the anti-fraud department, and the details could not be more detailed.
The middle-class travelers who happened to come to Duta City today and heard this radio drama had cold sweat running down their necks into their clothes.
In the ladies' salon, the shrewd middle-class lady picked up the wine glass tremblingly, trying to scare the man by drinking.
In the high-end restaurant, the middle-class couple traveling together looked pale and no longer had any interest in commenting on the quality of the script.
Captain Mace, who was listening to the radio drama with several of his subordinates, turned his head and looked at the night watchmen: "...I heard that the cultists in this radio drama seem to be much more powerful than the 'Eternal Sleeper' believers we dealt with before."
A group of night watchmen wiped their sweat silently.
The night watchman's income is not low and is also considered middle class.
These night watchmen who receive high annual salaries but are still somewhat distant from the nobility and indeed envy and yearn for the nobility, also fall into the category of indiscriminate targeting in radio dramas - ask yourself, if they were fooled by such a scam, they might not be able to withstand it!
When the third act ended and the transition song started, many listeners found themselves breaking out in cold sweats...
To be fair, the plot of the radio drama "The Deceiver" is very weak and not as attractive as "Our Struggle" and "The Legend of Susan".
The entire drama takes place in only one scene, the place where the cultists have a secret meeting; there are not many actors who actually voice out their characters, only a few from beginning to end.
But - the amount of information is large enough.
It’s so loud that it can make people confused at first, but make them sweat more and more as they listen.
Bishop Lee Gene of the Diocese of Innadri, who is extremely picky about musicals, put down his nightcap and waited very seriously for the next act to begin.
Often, after the 30-second interlude ended and the fourth act began, many of the audience members sitting in front of the radio or speakers subconsciously held their breath...
And the plot of the fourth act did not disappoint the audience's expectations - in this scene, the cultists in the play were attacked by the church, losing two core believers, and the risk of three others getting out of control increased, and a large number of sacrifices were urgently needed.
After a brief discussion, the group of people decided to share their respective "target objects" and work together to harvest.
A believer codenamed "Blue Bottle" asked his companions to provide financial and manpower support, and deceived several women who were in a romantic relationship with him at one time.
"I will pretend that I have offended someone I cannot afford to offend and need to temporarily hide from the public. I will then find these women one by one and ask them to elope with me. You must prepare a carriage and guards for me. You will take away each one I bring out."
"How did you manage to get so many women without making any noise?!"
"Don't think this is easy. I've spent all my money on these women, sending them flowers, gifts, sweet words and promises for the future... If it weren't for the hard work I put in every day, do you think women today would be willing to maintain a relationship with a man of unknown origin?"
"Women's words can be used to a greater extent, 'Blue Bottle'. You might as well spend more time to develop them into excellent sacrifices willing to bear children for you."
"I understand. I will let them choose between my love and the risk of pregnancy. Whoever is willing to risk her life for love, let her live a few more months."
"Hahahaha...you are such a blasphemer of love."
In front of the radio and loudspeaker, countless female listeners clenched their fists, and countless people cursed in their hearts.
The cultist codenamed "Scarecrow" handed over several gamblers he had been eyeing for a long time. For people like them who need to sacrifice human lives to maintain their own lives and supernatural powers, gamblers are equivalent to women who are willing to give up everything for love and are the best sacrificial resources.
Several believers shared the "living sacrifices" in their pockets. Next, they discussed how to trick these people and lure them into becoming sacrifices - either by threatening them with love, or by tempting them with unexpected wealth, or by making up well-paid jobs in other places. These are all extremely common and effective means of deception.
The total duration is 90 minutes, and it ends as a radio drama presented with a lot of dialogue.
Countless listeners in front of the radio and loudspeaker found themselves getting goose bumps afterward.
"It's horrible, there are so many horrible people in the world - it's horrible!"
When the audience, who had recovered from the extreme shock, shared their feelings with each other, the word they repeated most was "terrible".
Being robbed or robbed is already a very bad experience for most people. Who could have imagined that someone with the intention of taking your life would appear in your life?
What is even more horrifying is that the methods these evil cultists use to communicate are so effective that it is difficult for most listeners to become alert or even successfully resist temptation when they encounter them themselves!
At the Night Watch headquarters in Dutata City, Captain Mace turned off the radio and let out a long breath.
"Although it's a little beyond the normal people's acceptance... but it's obvious that this radio drama is indeed more effective than the notice we published in the newspaper. What do you think?"
The night watchmen in the room looked at each other, each of them still showing signs of having their worldview shattered.
After all, this is a dark canon that combines at least ten episodes of Today's Statement. Even for the Night Watchmen who have been facing cult members for a long time, it is inevitable that they will exceed their acceptance limit if they are suddenly stuffed with so much negative content...
"I don't deny that people who have listened to this radio play will instinctively be wary of those who approach them with ulterior motives." A night watchman said with a pale face, "But... won't this make people suspicious of each other?"
"This is indeed a problem. It will make people suspicious of the good intentions of others." Captain Mace nodded, "But compared to allowing people to make more friends happily, I still think it is more important to keep people vigilant."
After a pause, the captain of the night watch who had served for many years said with a vicissitudes of life: "Refusing the kindness of others to approach you may only result in the loss of a friend; being approached by someone with bad intentions and not being alert may result in the loss of one's life. Compared to a cruel death like that where not even the body is left, I would rather see the former."
The night watchman who raised the question fell silent.
A night watchman in Dutata City who has been on the job for more than a year is bound to encounter at least three tragic incidents where the victims' bodies are never found - just like Master Raphael who disappeared a week ago.
"You are right, Captain, life is the most important." The questioning night watchman sighed.
Captain Metz did not say much to his subordinates. After listening to this unconventional... no, radical radio drama, he, who originally had no strong aversion to the Innadri people, became more curious about the new regime that came to the Adler Territory.
"The person who advocated the launch of this radio drama cannot be Coulson O'Neill." After sending his subordinates away, Captain Mace fell into deep thought, "Then... could it be Lord Rex, or the black magician Yang?"
The cult problem in Dutata City is very serious, but the former Lord of Adler and the noble adults in the royal capital which is very close to Adler Territory have never paid attention to the cult problem.
No one knows the reason better than Mace, the captain of the night watch in Adler Parish - because this is not something worthy of the concern of the high and mighty.
As the radio drama "The Deceiver's Code" implies explicitly or implicitly, when cults cause chaos, the victims are often only middle-class people in the city.
It is impossible for the nobles to be bewitched by the cultists' tricks. If things get out of control, there are still the Night Watchmen to fight and the church to clean up the mess. It would be better for them to spend more time on hosting tea parties, cocktail parties, and banquets, which can not only show their financial strength, but also maintain social connections with people of the same level.
Captain Mace was very impressed by the fact that the Nadeli people attached great importance to the issue of cults and were willing to launch a radio drama that would definitely cause attacks from the upper class to educate the public.
"Tomorrow, go to the City Hall and ask about it."
Captain Mace made his decision and stood up to dress.
When people go to sleep, it is time for the night watchmen to start their work.
