So, the moment they saw fentanyl, even if they tried to suppress it with reason, their bodies would react involuntarily.
In an apocalypse without the suppression of morals and rules, they sowed the seeds of rampant drug use and now must reap what they sowed.
Of course, Shawn couldn't be 100% sure if Bray would accidentally eliminate people from the Zealots' side, as perhaps a very small number of people might react to fentanyl.
But so what?
Didn't Shawn choose to let Bray handle this matter precisely to screen people who might have hope of entering the Prison in the future?
Those whose addiction was deeply ingrained and who would react strongly to fentanyl were also the targets Shawn wanted to filter out.
Shawn preferred to nip potential dangers in the bud right here.
Although it seemed a bit cruel, these people were the guarantee for the Prison's vigorous development, and Shawn didn't want any mishaps.
"After the previous round of confrontation, there are less than 500 The Cult members left gathered here."
"I wonder how many will remain after the re-screening by the drugs?"
Shawn looked towards the 'Hundred Wood Forest' with the jungle, and he hadn't untied any of the people hanging there.
To wield power, one cannot be soft-hearted, and this becomes even more true as the number of people in the Prison grows in the future.
These people had revealed Shawn's whereabouts, and even if Shawn hadn't gotten into trouble, Shawn wouldn't keep them.
When there are more people, there are more problems to consider.
Shawn did not ignore potential major hidden dangers in the future for a little immediate gain.
Just as Shawn had to screen the Zealots' members over and over again.
"Forget it, let them all die here. I've already shed enough blood; they're no exception."
Shawn shook his head.
What happened here naturally couldn't be known by the Prison, at least not while they hadn't fully grown.
Just as Shawn had thought before, they still needed to experience and witness more.
Shawn roughly explained his fabricated new doctrine to the Zealots, which was more or less an 'apocalypse-adapted' version based on the red doctrine.
Shawn called it—American Apocalypse Characteristics.
By replacing the old doctrine with the new, Shawn wanted to correct their ideological concepts in a short period.
Thanks to Shawn's identity as a deity, no one stepped forward to object; in front of Shawn, they were as docile as babies.
After telling Mr. Smart to compile the new doctrine into a book, Shawn patted Elynn, who had been placed on a stall by the Zealots.
"Come with me."
Elynn slowly opened his eyes and silently followed behind Shawn.
The two walked all the way to a inconspicuous patch of grass behind the resort villa.
Shawn pushed aside the grass, revealing the face of the former The Cult leader.
He had been tormented by Shawn all night; after Shawn knocked him out a second time, he had been unconscious until now and hadn't woken up.
Shawn led the two, ignoring the struggling cries for help from the 'Hundred Wood Forest,' and walked into the woods.
Upon reaching a secluded spot, Shawn placed the The Cult leader on the ground and gave Elynn a look.
"Wake him up."
Huh?
Me??
Elynn walked to the The Cult leader with a conflicted expression, squatted down, and lightly slapped his face with half-strength.
"Didn't you eat?" Shawn frowned.
"No, I traveled all night," Elynn said somewhat aggrieved.
Shawn was a bit speechless and directly placed his sandbag-sized fist in front of him.
"Either you punch him, or I punch you."
Whack--!
Elynn didn't hesitate!
He slapped the The Cult leader across the face, catching him off guard, and his entire body jolted.
The The Cult leader, with a slightly swollen face, slowly regained consciousness.
The moment his vision cleared, he suddenly widened his eyes.
Because he saw both Shawn's and Elynn's faces at the same time.
The poor The Cult leader, at this point, still didn't know that everything had already been settled, and Shawn was here to finish him off.
Shawn looked at him with a smile: "I was so busy I felt like there was something I hadn't done, and only now do I remember there's indeed a crucial question."
Meeting Shawn's smile, the The Cult leader shivered.
"Everything I could tell you, I already have."
Seeing him stubbornly refuse to cooperate, Shawn didn't intend to waste time and directly got to the point.
"Where did the large amounts of fentanyl you distributed come from?"
According to the information Shawn had heard from those Supporterss earlier, the The Cult leader not only allowed Supporterss to use fentanyl freely but also regularly injected it into Zealots distributed in various places to maintain his rule.
The doctrine controlled them mentally, while the drugs controlled the Zealots physically.
This seemed like a long-term process, not a recent idea of the The Cult leader.
So there was only one truth.
That is, the The Cult leader controlled a large source of illegal drugs; at the very least, he would not be short of fentanyl.
This was the foundation of his control over North Carolina, so neither the Zealots nor the Supporterss knew about it.
As he spoke, Shawn also observed the expression of Elynn, who was standing beside him.
'Looks like he doesn't know either.'
Indeed, if he had controlled the drug source, wouldn't Elynn have rebelled long ago?
Why would he do things he didn't want to, suffering so much?
"What fentanyl? What drugs?"
Alright, the The Cult leader was still playing dumb.
Hearing the The Cult leader's reply, Shawn didn't rush, slowly squatted down and looked at him.
"Actually, I really didn't want to resort to force."
"I've taken your The Cult members, occupied your The Cult, overthrown your doctrine, and now to lay hands on you again, I feel a bit embarrassed."
Shawn's face showed a look of awkwardness, which made the The Cult leader's face alternate between green and pale, giving Shawn a live performance of 'intangible cultural heritage.'
He hadn't expected Shawn to be so ruthless.
He also couldn't understand how his The Cult, which he had controlled with both drugs and brainwashing, was so easily taken over by Shawn.
One must know that from last night until now, it had only been half a day. In half a day, his painstakingly created The Cult collapsed?
The The Cult leader's first reaction was: this man is lying to me.
But then, looking at Elynn, who was obediently following Shawn, he had no choice but to accept the worst outcome.
'Damn it, I really became a substitute.'
The most feared thing still happened; the world before the The Cult leader's eyes couldn't help but darken, and that warm dawn had not shined on him at all.
Even now, the The Cult leader still thought that Shawn had only taken over the The Cult with Elynn's help.
Suppressing his shame and anger, the The Cult leader said directly.
"I'll tell you! I'll tell you..."
He looked in one direction.
"In North Carolina, there's a supermarket there, a secluded place where no one passes by. I hid all the remaining fentanyl there."
Shawn heard this and looked at him playfully.
"Is that so?"
"Really, I swear!" The The Cult leader said with conviction.
The next moment.
Shawn gave him a resounding'smack' across the face.
Shawn grabbed his hair: "You forgot, I told you long ago that I came from the South."
The supermarket the The Cult leader mentioned was the one Shawn had accidentally discovered.
Shawn had searched it inside and out back then; if there was such an amount of fentanyl hidden, Shawn wouldn't have failed to discover it.
There were no illegal drugs in the supermarket, and even less in the warehouse, so was the The Cult leader really hiding it, or was he really trying to fool himself?
Shawn didn't hesitate and hit him again, making him dizzy.
Shawn stood up and let out a breath.
"Forget it, if I can't get an answer, just kill him."
"He's yours, Elynn."
Shawn handed the Stone Axe to Elynn; the The Cult leader was also a person, and one Stone Axe was enough to kill him.
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