C14

"Mr Latimer, what do you think is wrong with me?" Tonight's live broadcast had only just begun, but Mistie was still conflicted over the question she got from the previous morning, "Tell me, even if my father asked Miss Emma for a bit of money, why wouldn't he be able to do so?"

"Yes, I know that the Miss Emma is very rich," I felt that I had to maintain my neutrality, "but extortion or extortion isn't something to be proud of either."

"No matter what the process is like, there's no way they ran into each other by chance. Since it's like this …" The Ms Mistie seemed to want to redeem herself in front of the cameras. She must have seen the voting results that were just announced, "Then the saying that we failed is no longer true."

"Hehe," I said with a smile. "In that case, why don't we go to that mysterious religion and look for clues?"

"Are you talking about 'Sleeping Religion'?"

"Yes," I felt very strange. "That person had promised to meet us at Greenbird Bay, and had even hinted to take us there. Don't you want to know for sure if Mr. X knew your father? "If this is true, I'm afraid …"

"I should be able to make it in time for the appeal." Because the Miss Emma is going to be out tomorrow afternoon, if we give evidence to the court tomorrow morning, maybe we'll make it in time.

But so far, I could barely feel that the Ms Mistie was seeking some kind of justice — some kind of doubt about the confusion of the case. I only felt a kind of blind persistence, as if I could do anything to prove my father's innocence. Personally, I'm not such a paranoid "detective" as to cooperate with her.

However … At the same time, I feel sorry for her...

We arrived ten minutes early, and as soon as I got out of the car I saw a few figures by the lake. They were all dressed in long black robes, and under the cover of the night they seemed to be one with their surroundings. Fortunately, my sunglasses have a visual enhancement program. The director told me that if I could completely expose this organization, it would be great.

I had heard a little about the existence of a secret organization in the world, whose core doctrine was that God was not in the real world but in the virtual one. I never thought much of it, because it doesn't make sense logically. However, I didn't know that their official sect name was actually such a comical "Sleeping Religion", but it sounded very similar to the characteristics of this current entertainment era.

One of the priests came straight towards us, and I thought he must be the mysterious man I had seen this morning, for, unlike the others, his face was still well hidden, and all I could see of him was his mouth and chin.

"Ms Mistie," I said in excitement, "Look, our old friend has come again. "It's him …"

However, he waved my hand, signalling for me to be quiet, and then bent over and whispered into my ear, "Greetings Mr Latimer, thank you for coming as you promised."

"Hur hur, we don't want to miss this adventure!"

"Are you looking forward to it?"

"Of course. Talking to the so-called God, haha …" I obviously didn't believe it, so I laughed. "Can I ask your name? "It's easier to call him that."

"Name?" For some reason, he seemed a little surprised, "You can call me Abaruba."

Abaruba? It must have been a simple fabrication. No one would call it such a strange and ridiculous name. However, for the time being, I have no way to find out his true identity.

I nodded. "Alright, Mr Abaruba. Now can we go to the 'Sleeping Religion'? "

"Oh?" "I didn't know people would call our church that."

How strange! Could it be that the name "Sleeping Religion" was a teasing term given to them by outsiders? In any case, I think it's a pretty good name, because according to the teachings, a normal person needs to lose his will to be able to see God, isn't that the same as sleeping?

"The Ms Mistie is waiting here as well. I think she needs to ask you an important question." I pointed at Mistie who was standing motionlessly to the side. I think she must have brought those two key photos, one of Mr. X and Ms. Emma's school photo and one of Mr. X showing his face at the church ceremony.

"What problem?" The Ms Mistie didn't seem to have reacted in time.

"Of course it's about Mr. X," I don't know why she is so stiff, "To meet the God of Virtuality is such a great thing … The church must be under strict management, and there must be a register for all the members of the church, so as long as you provide photos, you will definitely be able to find this Mr. X! "

"Of course." Ms Mistie was about to take out the photo from her bag, but Abaruba turned her body and retreated.

"Follow me, there isn't enough time." He then reintegrated into the other black-robed figures. If he didn't look at the front, he would be completely unable to tell who was who.

"Alright, let's wait and ask after we get there." Ms Mistie and I looked at each other and immediately followed his footsteps.

Abaruba and the others have their own cars. I had thought that maybe they would put on hoods or something to prevent us from finding out where the gathering place of the church is by some technical means, but they didn't do such a thing. Just close the door so we can't see what's outside.

I think this method is too childish for me, whose entire body is filled with sensors and wireless equipment. At this moment, I also heard the director's joyful voice in my ear: "Localization successful, current position is Greenbird Bay, you guys are moving northwest."

Naturally, I couldn't answer the director through the hidden channel, so in order to divert my attention, I started to chat with them. "Speaking of which …" Why did you bring us to the church? "

Mr Abaruba did not reply. He just sat quietly at the side and the other man in black replied: "There's no reason. This is only the will of the God."

"God's will? You mean God told you to wait at seven o'clock at the Greenbird Bay tonight to pick us up to go to the Gathering Center? "

"You'd better not ask too many questions," his tone was abnormally serious, forming a stark contrast with Abaruba's tone full of ridicule. "Gods do not like to ask too many questions."

"Fine." I couldn't help but roll my eyes, thinking that it wouldn't be long in the future anyway … As long as they arrived at the gathering place of the Church, wouldn't they be exposed in front of billions of spectators? At that time, it would be clear whether there was a God or not.

I obviously do not believe these words of seduction.

But not long after that, the director's voice became a bit surprised: "Latimer, we lost your signal, what's going on? Is there a problem with your wireless device? "

Lost signal? But I was too embarrassed to examine it closely in front of everyone. I only glanced at the locator in my lapel — it seemed to be working perfectly from the light!

But I couldn't answer the director directly, so I asked a little tentatively, "Where are we going?"

"To places where there are gods."

"But since you're a god, aren't you supposed to be omnipresent?"

"It's a place of contact with the gods."

"Must there be a designated place to make contact with the gods?"

"Not by man, but by God."

"Why doesn't God contact everyone?"

"Because most people don't believe in God." The man in black seemed to be rather impatient. He didn't reply to my question since then, and the entire car was silent. Meanwhile, Mr Abaruba was sitting quietly at the side resting his mind, as if he was completely out of the world.

Just when Ms Mistie and I were clearly anxious — even when we thought we had been fooled — the car door opened!

I couldn't see around me because the car was directly inside the building. All I saw was the drab white walls, as if the place hadn't been decorated.

So it seemed that every gathering place of the Church could also be completely different, because this place could even be built in a very short period of time. They only needed a dozen or so modified Eloi Access Chair to begin the strange ceremony.

We were almost driven out of the car, and I heard the director complain, "Where the hell are you? I've lost all my signal!"

Mr Abaruba smiled at me. "Mr Latimer, and Ms Mistie, please follow our priest into the experiential learning room now." Instead, he walked to another corridor and disappeared.

But even more horribly, as soon as we entered a room through the white lobby, I could no longer hear what the director was saying. My sunglasses didn't even have any connection to them — in short, they were just ordinary sunglasses!

I couldn't take off my sunglasses suddenly. It would only make me look strange. I think this room is the Experience Room, but why did Mr Abaruba, who was previously the leader, avoid it at the most crucial moment?

"May I ask that Abba from before …" But before I could finish my words, the loud music came to my ears.

It was similar to the chanting that was played in Ms Mistie's tomb — It was a constant cycle of puzzling sutras that were filled with the aura of a foreign land.

"Sit down, sit down!" We had to sit cross-legged on the ground. Then I saw that almost ten people were already sitting cross-legged in the room. Did they come to experience it together?

Ms Mistie and I did not dare to speak at all. It seemed that she was completely shocked by the black robed men's rude actions.

"Don't worry," I said, trying to comfort her.

I hoped it was just a fool's joke, but as soon as the chanting ended, more black cloaked men came in from the door, even with the rod in their hands. It was a little similar to Blacky's electric shock rod.

I turned pale with fright. "Everyone!" Weren't we invited here? "Why would you do that?"

The man in black didn't say anything. What made me even more surprised was that the people behind me didn't say anything either, as if they were waiting for something. Can't they see that this is all a cult? Could it even be a violent organization?

In the end someone even tapped me on the shoulder and said, "There's no need to get angry, buddy." He actually called me his partner!

He continued as if he was "comforting" me. "It's just a precaution to prevent people from not sincerely coming to see God."

I turned my head and asked back, "It seems that you have already been here many times."

He declined to comment, but one of the black-robed men stepped in front of me, and I instinctively shielded my head with my right hand. However, he didn't attack me. He only pointed to the black box in my left hand and said, "Experience users, please hand over the items that you have brought with you. We will keep them safe. No foreign objects are allowed to tarnish the Experience Ceremony! "

I have yet to hand it over, but I saw that everyone behind me had automatically taken off their belongings and handed them over to the black robed people. At the same time, the black robed person would also hand over to them a bracelet with a different number on it.

I looked at Ms Mistie. She had already handed over her belongings, including the two photos. It was only then that I realized that the long rod the black-robed man was holding was not an attack, but a security device that could detect anything other than clothing that would stain the ritual.

When the black robed person that I spoke to saw that I didn't take action, he used the Black Ranking Technique to sweep across my previous body. The black cloaked man said, "Sir, please hand over the items that you should not have. I repeat, we'll keep it safe for you. " He took out a bracelet with a number on it – 8.

"Why would a foreign object taint the ceremony?" I wanted to put it off for a few more minutes, because from what I had just observed, the equipment I was hiding was working properly, sending out wireless signals. Although I can't hear the director, maybe my signal can get out. If this is a terrible cult — and it could even threaten our lives — I might be able to get more information for the people who rescued me …

However, right after that, the one who tried to persuade me was Ms Mistie: "Mr Latimer, you were the one who asked me to come participate in this experience ceremony, why are you resisting in such a panic now?"

The people behind him also said that the ceremony was not dangerous at all, but that in order to avoid the ceremony, they would need to temporarily remove the foreign object, especially the electronic equipment.

"Me?" At this moment, I really wished that I could tear apart the smiling Mr Abaruba's face, "It was Mr Abaruba who brought us here."

"Abba …" The Ms Mistie was a little confused, "Mr. Lu Ba?"

The black robed man shot a look at the two black robed men beside him. The two of them pulled me back, one at each side. I was completely unable to move. The black box in my hand fell to the ground.

"Be careful!" I don't want to break the company's most valuable equipment — — Time Capsule, even though it's still useless.

The black-robed man was rather nimble and managed to hold onto the black box in one move. Another man in a black robe came up and removed all the electronics from my clothes, so numerous that he had to put them in a bag — including my wireless headset.

These devices are designed to give viewers a real sense of what I'm experiencing — especially to give VIP users a better virtual reality experience.

The black-cloaked person once again shined the black rod across my entire body. This time, it did not buzz again, "Mister, thank you for your cooperation! Please wear your bracelet. After the ceremony, we will guide you to the items in box eight. " Then he handed the black box to the other black-robed men, who seemed to have left our belongings in another room.

But... But that was Eloi Film And Television Company … Daydream Theatre... The core equipment to be used in the current highest level of programs of Access Rate! It could change the flow of time! However, I still have some rationality. If I were to say this, there might be people who would be interested in me.

Maybe, as the people behind me said, it was just to keep the items for us, to get them back when the ceremony was over.

"Abba …" "I only listened to what you said, I didn't see any Mr Abaruba at all!"

This time it's my turn to be confused. "Didn't you see? The person who wore the same black robe as them just now, however, did not reveal his eyes. It's him, who called himself Abaruba. "Since this morning …"

Before I could finish my explanation, I heard the black-robed man's command again — apparently the leader of the group who was targeting me. "Please enter the access device in an orderly fashion."

The wall opposite me suddenly moved up, revealing the twelve Eloi Access Chair that were arranged in a circle around the center. I have already seen this scene in the video Allen had secretly taken. At this moment, I think that if I had known about the current situation, I might have secretly brought a holographic sphere with me. However, I carefully recalled the scene recorded by Allen. At that time, there wasn't any inspection equipment like the black stick, so it was obvious that the ceremony had been "upgraded". This made me even more certain that the so called "Sleeping Religion" was an evil organization. If it wasn't for some unspeakable secret, why would there be such a strict examination?

I laid beside the Ms Mistie's Access Chair and continued to ask: "You didn't see the Mr Abaruba? Not even in the morning? "

"What the hell are you talking about?" She didn't seem to understand me at all.

I wanted to ask more questions, but I felt a mosquito bite on my right shoulder. It turned out that the man in black had injected me with some sort of liquid. According to my previous conjecture, it was probably used for hypnosis. After all, in order to perform the ceremony, one must not only connect to the virtual world, but also lose the will to do so.

So which virtual world did they connect to?

Almost all the virtual worlds are occupied by entertainment similar to our "daydream theater," so where does God hide?

Would God suddenly appear in the "daydream theater"? Would it suddenly appear in the 'Robot Theater'? Or was it the Miss Emma's exit ceremony?

I thought it was funny, but then my thoughts started to blur, and I felt like my brain was fermenting... Fermented in a pot of chaotic "reality."