The young nurse froze for a moment before finally coming back to her senses. She simply couldn't believe what was happening right in front of her.
Earlier, she had witnessed the horrors of the zombies—seen countless people torn apart by them. And now, she was watching humans slaughter those same creatures with ease. The contrast was so great that her mind struggled to adjust.
Seeing her dazed expression, Lucien leaped up the stairs, came up behind her, and patted her on the shoulder with a grin.
"Haha, what do you think? This is the strength of the Cult of the Evil God. Interested in joining? Cult Master, you don't mind, right?"
"Of course I don't mind. She's not bad. But in that case, we'll need to gather five more cores. After all, more members means more equipment, and that means more cores," Malrik said with a chuckle.
Right now, in the early days of forming the group, the recruitment standards were simple—if Malrik liked someone and they didn't clash with existing members, that was enough.
The girl, however, was so blindsided by the sudden conversation that her brain nearly short-circuited. Her thoughts were in utter chaos.
"You… you're serious? I'm nowhere near as strong as you two. Why would you even want to recruit me?" She stammered.
She wanted to say yes, but she also knew she wasn't at their level. More than that, she feared that accepting might somehow offend them—and if that happened, she might not live long enough to regret it.
Malrik caught her worried look at a glance. He couldn't read her mind exactly, but he could more or less guess what was going through it.
"You think we were born like this? Not long ago, we were no different from you. If you're still doubting yourself, then I'll give you an interview," he said.
"An… interview?" she asked.
She really couldn't understand how things had gone from running from zombies to what now felt like a job interview.
"Do you want to become a delivery person?" Malrik asked directly, not giving her any time to think.
The young woman stood there, utterly baffled. She couldn't for the life of her understand what any of this had to do with being a delivery person.
"What… do you mean?" she asked without thinking.
"If I told you that, for a delivery person, nothing is impossible… that being a delivery person is the pinnacle profession of humankind—would you agree?" Malrik pressed on.
'Delivery people are that amazing? Wait… does he mean that the two of them are both delivery people, and this so-called Cult of the Evil God is just a gathering place for them?'
Although she was certain their definition of "delivery person" was like the normal one, it didn't seem entirely impossible to accept. After mulling it over for a moment, she met Malrik's gaze, took a deep breath, and said,
"I'll become a delivery person. Tell me—what do I need to do?"
"Congratulations on joining us. We won't force you to do anything—whether you work or not is up to you. Now… it's time to increase your strength." Malrik clapped his hands as he spoke.
Having a new member join genuinely lifted his mood. After all, the Cult of the Evil God wasn't exactly a powerful force at this point. To put it nicely, their total membership had just increased by fifty percent.
'What's going on here? I just joined, and they're already helping me grow stronger? Aren't you two trusting me a bit too much?' she thought, both shocked and a little overwhelmed by Malrik's actions.
Lucien, on the other hand, didn't care much. Since they had both agreed she was worth bringing in, that was enough for him. If she betrayed them, it would just be one more mistake in a life already filled with them.
Malrik took out a cord, put it away, then hoisted the corpse of a zombie over his shoulder before turning to her.
"Come into that room with me."
His words and actions were easily misunderstood—and, naturally, she misunderstood them completely.
Her face instantly flushed red, and she suddenly felt flustered and at a loss for what to do.
"I… I… I…" she stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Malrik, clueless, had no idea what was going on, but Lucien, with a bit more experience, more or less figured out that she had gotten the wrong idea.
"Don't get the wrong idea. The cult master's just going to make you eat something nasty. But don't worry—it'll boost your strength. Just make sure you don't throw up, or it won't work," Lucien said with a mischievous grin.
The misunderstanding instantly deepened, and countless strange, suggestive scenarios flashed through the young nurse's mind.
Meanwhile, Malrik's expression only grew more confused. He had absolutely no idea what kind of shady nonsense the two of them were playing at.
After all, he was… well, an odd sort—just an ordinary man who had accidentally stepped onto the path of enlightenment. There were plenty of things he didn't know and plenty more he couldn't understand.
"If you don't hurry up, I'll expel you from the Cult of the Evil God. I have no need for dead weight," Malrik said bluntly.
Though he was rather satisfied with her attitude so far, she was still just an ordinary person. She wasn't worth bending over backwards to recruit.
'Screw it. I've already placed my bet—might as well go all in. Whether I end up in heaven or hell will depend on this step.' the nurse thought.
A moment later, she clenched her teeth and made up her mind.
"I'll go with you," she said.
A man and a woman entered the room together to do something decidedly… ambiguous. All anyone knew was that a thick, viscous liquid Malrik had prepared was swallowed down in one gulp by the nurse.
Outside, Lucien stood guard, idly thinking about the current strength of the Cult of the Evil God and everything that had happened today.
'We've grown pretty quickly, but I'm already a core member of the Cult. I should start thinking about the future. Our strength in this area is probably among the best, but it's still not enough. Compared to modern firearms, a one-star rank isn't much. We really need someone powerful backing us.'
Easier said than done. Even if he knew what he needed, finding such a person was an entirely different matter.
His family had money, sure, but no access to powerful weapons. Being a member of the cult was one thing, but acting as its backer? Impossible!
'Sigh… Guess I'll take it slow. Rushing won't give me an answer anyway, he thought. letting out a soft breath.
Just then, Malrik opened the door and stepped out. He'd clearly overheard the muttering and gave Lucien a questioning look.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing much. Just some things about the distant future. Nothing urgent for now," Lucien replied.
Hearing that, Malrik didn't press the matter further. The fact that Lucien was even thinking about the Cult's future was already enough to please him.