Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

"Since you're here, brother, let me perform the initiation ceremony for you first. We're all family here, so it'll be easier for you to get around outside in the future."

After Xiao Shuai sighed inwardly, he put his arm around Kala Mi's shoulder and continued walking inside.

Kala Mi asked worriedly, "Will there be any danger in joining your Brotherhood?"

"What? Are you getting cold feet? Are you even afraid of the Church?" Xiao Shuai chuckled.

"It's not that. Now that the Da Jing fleet has arrived, I wouldn't be afraid even if the Pope stood in front of me. But it doesn't seem necessary to join the Brotherhood. Having this extra identity might cause trouble when handling matters," Kala Mi said.

"Hey, it's okay. Our Brotherhood is very secretive. Our current location is underground at Old John's Dumpling Restaurant. No one knows about this place except for the core members of the Brotherhood, and they are all my trusted aides."

Hearing this, Kala Mi nodded.

"Let's join then, it's just some trivial matter anyway."

Xiao Shuai then shouted, "Brothers, come over here! We have a new member joining. Let's hold an initiation ceremony to welcome our new brother!"

The sound amplification effect in the underground space was excellent. As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of people wearing black cloaks rushed over.

These people were strangely dressed, and coupled with the surrounding lighting effects, they looked somewhat eerie and terrifying.

Kala Mi felt a chill and whispered, "Brother, our initiation ceremony isn't going to be some kind of blood oath, is it? I don't want to have a cut made on my body."

"No, it's not. Just follow along," Xiao Shuai said casually, then turned to face the crowd, "This is my brother Beller, whom I'd share life and death with. From now on, seeing him is like seeing me. Bring the stuff up, let's start the initiation ceremony now!"

A group of black cloaks simultaneously let out joyful cries, and soon someone brought a silver tray to Xiao Shuai.

A silver cover was placed on the tray.

Kala Mi looked at Xiao Shuai with questions in his eyes, not understanding what was going on.

Xiao Shuai smiled faintly, "The initiation ceremony is just to eat the thing in the tray. After eating it, we'll all be brothers."

With that, he reached out and removed the lid from the tray.

"Holy crap!"

A strong, foul odor immediately burst out, and a dark, sticky lump appeared before Kala Mi's eyes.

"Are you kidding me? The initiation ceremony is to make people eat sh*t?" Kala Mi's face turned pale.

This was not as pleasant as a blood oath.

Xiao Shuai said with displeasure, "What sh*t? This is the braised large intestine we made. All the brothers have eaten it. You can ask them if you don't believe me."

"That's right! Everyone has eaten it. You're not a brother until you eat it!"

"Eat it, this is Old John's Dumpling Restaurant's specialty dish!"

Faced with the enthusiastic gazes around him, Kala Mi felt somewhat trapped.

He took two deep breaths to muster up his courage and, gritting his teeth, stretched out two fingers and inserted them into the sticky braised large intestine.

He picked up a piece and, in despair, put it in his mouth...

"Just eat it, maybe it just looks bad, but smells bad and tastes good?"

"Ew... ew!"

"Don't spit it out, you can't be brothers if you spit it out!"

Listening to the cheers, encouragement, and applause around him.

Kala Mi's eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his neck were bulging. He suppressed his physiological instincts and swallowed it with difficulty.

But he was still bent over, retching non-stop.

"Good!"

The surrounding people smiled and applauded.

"Ew... ew! Are you guys not doing this on purpose? Ew!" Kala Mi said with difficulty, covering his mouth, "Can you guys be any more outrageous!"

The foul stench was still echoing in his mouth...

Xiao Shuai comforted him, "It's really not on purpose. When the Brotherhood was first established, only a few people were willing to follow me. I personally cooked a meal, and after we ate together, the Brotherhood was considered established."

"Who knew that the brothers would later collectively discuss that anyone who wanted to join the Brotherhood in the future would have to go through this procedure? Later, no one objected to this rule, so it was decided. Everyone would be unhappy if you didn't eat it."

"I see..." Kala Mi said in realization.

Understood! He understood everything now!

If it were me, I wouldn't want to either! Damn, I ate sh*t when I joined, so shouldn't the newcomers eat it too? Why not!

Thinking that there would be new members of the Brotherhood eating sh*t after him, he felt much better in his heart, and even began to look forward to it...

"Now you're officially a member. Our Brotherhood emphasizes equality for all, and we are all brothers. As for the rules, they are very simple..." Xiao Shuai turned around and said loudly to the crowd, "Brothers, tell him what our Brotherhood's slogan is?"

"Anything not prohibited by law is permissible!" A group of people shouted loudly.

???

Kala Mi visibly wilted a bit.

What a load of bullsh*t Brotherhood, why does it feel like I've entered a mental asylum now? You have to rebel and abide by the law.

"Aren't you guys rebels? How can you rebel and still abide by the law? Does that make any sense!"

Xiao Shuai shook his head, "The brothers are all law-abiding citizens, just rebelling against the Church. Moreover, 'Anything not prohibited by law is permissible' is one of the principles of the Imperial Guards when investigating cases."

"Besides, we can't have too much conflict with the Church right now. The larger our scale, the more the Church will notice us. But so far, because we were established recently and have been acting low-key, the Church hasn't paid too much attention to us."

"I understand. Tell me about the situation here. The Da Jing fleet is waiting for my news."

Xiao Shuai first nodded, then loudly greeted, "Someone, prepare some proper wine and dishes for my brother."

Then he pointed to the round table next to him and said, "Sit down and talk. A lot of big things have really happened during the time you guys were away."

The two sat down.

Xiao Shuai said, "The Da Jing's affairs in Fica have long been heard by the Pope, so now the entire Fica is extremely hostile to Da Jing. If you guys rashly appear in the port, they will definitely take action."

"But it's not like there's no room for maneuver. After you guys took the little king hostage, he fell seriously ill, and his health is still not good. Now, Duke Alvis is in charge of the national affairs of Fica. Although he outwardly completely obeys the Church, but in private... I know he has been selling Da Jing's goods on the black market behind the Church's back."

"Those goods should be the gifts given to Fica when your fleet came last time. It is said that he earned a lot of silver. This person is very greedy, maybe he still wants to continue to cooperate with Da Jing, so he is not the problem, the only problem is the Church."

Kala Mi interrupted him, "That's good, we have persuaded a priest on the Church's side, and he will negotiate with the Church. Is there any other news?"

"Yes, Steward Zheng and the others left me here with another task, a rebel prince of Da Jing has fled overseas, and asked me to pay attention to his news..." Xiao Shuai paused, "There is a person, maybe it's him, but I'm not sure."

"Three months ago, a country in the north suddenly launched a war, attacking its neighboring country. They publicly beheaded two cardinal archbishops... It is said that the emperor is an oriental person."

"What!" Kala Mi looked shocked, "Beheaded two cardinal archbishops? Are you sure?"

"Sure." Xiao Shuai nodded with a solemn expression.

The total number of cardinal archbishops in the entire Church is only about a hundred, and they are in charge of the leadership of various dioceses of the Church, and each of them has a prestigious status.

Two people were beheaded in a row, which is something no one dared to imagine, but it did happen.

"I didn't believe it at first, but later the Pope has personally gone to the north to supervise the battle. I have verified it in many ways, this news is absolutely true!" Xiao Shuai looked admired, "Someone actually dared to openly show his sword to the Church, it's really a rare event in a thousand years. If it is an oriental person, I believe only that rebel prince has such courage."

"He even dared to rebel against Da Jing, what's the point of fighting a Church?"

......