9th Region

They walked out of the town and came to stop in front of a carriage. It had the flag of 'Sal' family stuck on top of it. The Sal family was an average level noble family under the command of Scott consortium. Their main business interests were in property sector of the residential district. Dudian didn't expect the dark church have such deep connections.

Hawkeye acted as coachman.

"I deliberately used the carriage from the Sal family for our meeting." Kerry smiled: "They have deep connections with our region and you will engage with them a lot in the future."

Dudian was aware that there were lots of nobles who had deep ties with the dark church but he didn't expect such an in-depth relationship. He whispered: "Was the former house a temporary stronghold?"

"It was our secret liaison office. Those two old men who you saw were the top brass intelligence officers of the dark church. They have been responsible for gathering intelligence for decades."

Dudian glanced at the man: "Were you dispatched from the inner wall?"

Kerry faintly smiled as it seemed that he was aware of what Dudian wanted to ask: "I'm about to reture so there is no harm to telling it you right now. I was commissioned by the higher ups. They have deemed my job as a success and now want to bring me back to the inner wall as an elder of the supervision department. According to your voice you are young. I hope you can hold on for good and become my student in the future."

Dudian nodded: "I will work hard."

"Don't trust anyone in the dark church except Hawkeye and don't reveal your identity to anyone! The people are too sinister in this organization. I hope that you will succeed."

Dudian was silent. He wasn't going to trust even the Hawkeye.

The carriage passed through the city and came to stop in front of a remote neighborhood.

"Let's go." Kerry got off the carriage. They came to a luxurious manor. The Hawkeye handed out a medal to the guards at the door. They respectfully saluted the trio and let them inside.

A woman wearing a black suit greeted them inside the manor. She waved at guards gesturing them to leave. She looked at Kerry: "Greetings Elder."

Kerry nodded: "Little Crow, this is the new elder which I mentioned before."

The woman wearing the black suit immediately saluted Dudian: "Greetings new elder."

Dudian slightly nodded as he remembered her appearance, voice and smell.

The little crowd turned to lead them. They passed through a dark passage in the basement. It lead to a place that was about 10 meters under the basement. There was a spacious square that they reached. There was sounds of melodious music floating in the place. There were many members of the dark church gathered in the square. Most of them were wearing masks. Only the few who were the staff of the dark church didn't wear masks. The reason was that they were never going to live in the outside world.

Kerry's arrival caused burst of uproar in the square. The crowd whispered as they saluted Kerry.

Kerry smiled: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to retire. This is the new elder of the ninth region. Please warmly welcome him!"

Many had heard about the new appointment in advance. They looked at Dudian was fear in their eyes.

"Welcome new elder!"

"Welcome!"

Dudian nodded slightly as he listened to applause and cheers.

Kerry waved his hand gesturing everyone to recede. He led Dudian to a towering hall behind the square. There were two black angel sculptures by the door.

Kerry was the first to enter the hall. Dudian followed after him. Everyone was bowing their heads until Kerry and Dudian went into the place.

"It's the headquarters of the 9th region. Its my office." Kerry came to the second floor of the castle. The wallpapers of the luxurious place was colored in scarlet red. It looked like the place was smeared in blood. It gave a gloomy and hideous vibe. Hawkeye stepped forward and opened a door which led to a spacious room.

Kerry joined the room: "This is the office. There is file on the desk regarding the things in the recent time. I have finished almost everything. The rest will be up to you. However you shouldn't be worried as Hawkeye will help you to complete everything."

Dudian nodded as he looked around. His vision range was wide to he actually didn't need to look around to see everything.

Kerry saw that Dudian was concentrated on him so he continued: "Usually as elders we do nothing. We just solve some necessary trouble and disobedient people. The rest of the time we are free to do whatever we want. This is called 'animal glue mask' which is prepared for you. By kneading it you can change the appearance of the face. You won't need any masks in the future but can rely on this one."

He took out a fine box from the drawer and handed it out to Dudian.

Dudian was startled as he didn't expect there would be something like this. He looked at Kerry. He was startled as he understood why Kerry didn't wear any masks! He was using the 'animal glue mask' too!

"This mask is only for the elders. You have to make an application and submit documents in case you lose it. The application process is very troublesome so don't give it to others or lose it. It's not sold outside and only given to the insiders of the dark church." Kerry added.

Dudian asked: "What did you mean by the elder of the 9th region?"

Kerry gentle smiled: "You will get to know about it in future. Since you have asked then I'll give you an introduction. The dark church is divided into 12 regions within the outer wall. There are 12 elders in charge of each region. Hawkeye will give you details about the scope and forces of the 9th region so I won't elaborate on it."

"Is there any conflict between the regions?"

Kerry looked at Dudian's eyes. His heart turned slightly cold but he smiled: "It's inevitable! The small conflicts should be solved by the people on the same level. However you need to intervene to the big conflicts. IF there is a problem between the regions in mass then the dark church will decide the problem by voting. That's why you need to have good relationship with the elders of the other regions. There are a total of three factions at the moment. I belong to the faction of Night King. You will inherit the 9th region so you may chose to stay in the 'Night faction', choose another faction or don't join any at all. My advice is to continue to follow the Night King."

"Night King?" Dudian narrowed his eyes.

"Yes. That's the code name of the elders who is in charge of the third region. The 3rd region is the biggest and most influential within the 12 regions as they have the most number of alchemists and potion masters under their commands. Moreover they have a great potion master. The man can speak with Chai of Scott consortium and the leader of Huasheng consortium without a care. He is unfathomable."

Kerry continued: "The relationships you have are shallow at this point. So I advice you to make a good connection with the Night King. Our 9th region isn't a strong region and there are handful of 5 star alchemists under our command. You will inevitable suffer big if you get into intense conflict with other regions. Do you understand me?"