The temptation to become a Level 5 Reality Bender was strong, but Loshu resisted.
Because, for now, it wasn't feasible.
This world was vast, with countless people. Unless he could orchestrate a global satellite broadcast, how could he brainwash everyone quickly?
No—even a satellite broadcast wouldn't work.
His reality-warping abilities weren't strong enough to influence people at such a distance.
If he had to rely on conventional methods—playing the prophet city by city—time simply wouldn't allow it.
The anomaly project designated CN-1451-2, which sought to replace Loshu, had already appeared in LoI-CN-1451-3. If he dragged this out too long, his activities in the CN-1451 anomaly world would be exposed.
And then, he'd have no choice.
There was one last point—the most critical one!
The real world couldn't withstand a Level 5 Reality Bender!
If Loshu truly became a Level 5, he wouldn't be able to stay in ordinary society anymore. He'd either have to live on Mount Olympus or the Roof of the World.
Become a reclusive sage?
No thanks.
He hadn't had his fill of the pleasures of the world yet!
This path was a dead end…
Abandoning this far-fetched idea, Loshu steadied his mind and faced reality.
This gang camp had now become his believer camp, with everyone worshiping him like a god.
He could definitely sleep soundly here tonight.
The real problem was tomorrow.
Starting tomorrow, he would launch his operation—violent conquest, seizing the entire city!
But this was just a broad plan. The specifics still needed refinement.
According to the former gang leader, now called "The Elder", this small third-tier city was home to over a hundred gangs.
The weaker gangs were similar to this one, while the stronger ones had hundreds of members.
These gangs were scattered across the city's ruins, each carving out their own territory.
If Loshu used his current method—converting them one gang at a time—it would take at least a month to finish.
Clearly, he didn't have that kind of time.
He needed a more efficient method—like gathering all the gang leaders in one place…
Yes, that could work!
Looking at his dozens of followers, Loshu instantly had a plan.
He had always been a lone wolf, preferring to do everything himself. But now, he had people under his command. It was time to change his approach.
"Let the followers handle the work, and when there's nothing to do… well, Shasha."
Loshu summoned the "Elder" of his cult.
The former gang leader had now completely become his lackey. Upon hearing the "Prophet's" call, he scurried over eagerly.
"What orders does the Prophet have for this humble servant?"
"Do you have paper and pens? Preferably high-quality ones."
The Elder's face fell.
Twenty years into the apocalypse, civilization had regressed. For these violent gangs, writing had become practically useless.
To them, paper's main purpose was wiping their asses.
Just as he was struggling, the burly "Second Elder" chimed in:
"Didn't this hotel have some notepads before? The paper was too stiff for wiping, so they were all tossed into the storage room upstairs."
The Elder immediately rushed to the uninhabitable fourth-floor ruins, rummaged through the debris, and finally dug out a stack of notepads.
Though yellowed after twenty years, they were still usable.
Next, Loshu picked a middle-aged follower with good handwriting and dictated an invitation letter, which was then copied a hundred times and stamped with an "official seal."
This seal was naturally a carved radish stamp made by a former engraver among his followers.
After a night of hard work, a forged invitation from the "Southern Coalition Special Envoy" was ready.
The next morning, all the believers from the gang camp set out under white flags, delivering the letters to every gang in the city.
Loshu's letter invited all gang leaders to a meeting at the city's central plaza at noon on the third day, to discuss the Southern Coalition's occupation.
By that afternoon, most of the believers had returned safely with responses.
Aside from a few particularly brain-dead gangs, most agreed to attend the summit.
Whether they supported the Southern Coalition's presence or not, all the gang leaders wanted to meet the Special Envoy in person—after all, this concerned their future.
Loshu estimated that if this operation succeeded, he could subjugate over two-thirds of the city's population in one stroke.
As for the rest?
If they still refused to submit, he'd just wipe them out.
By now, Loshu had been in the game world for over 24 hours, and the real world had reached noon the next day.
Site-CN-02 had already noticed his disappearance and launched an investigation.
However, since Loshu hadn't been missing for long, Site-CN-02 hadn't yet considered the possibility of an underground containment breach. Their search was limited to the surface-level hotel.
A team of investigators combed through Loshu's room but found nothing suspicious.
Most of his belongings were just clothes and toiletries—nothing unusual.
The photo linking to Site-19's antimemetic anomaly SCP-055 was always on his person.
As for other small items, they were naturally stored within SCP-055's containment chamber.
The hidden surveillance camera in the room had long been recruited by Loshu, but without his presence, it remained inactive—completely undetectable to normal people.
The only oddity was that the TV was still on, playing ads.
The team leader snapped, "Where's the remote? Turn that thing off!"
After searching the room, they realized the remote had disappeared along with Loshu.
Indeed, Loshu had taken the remote to ensure that after he left through the portal, Site-CN-02's monitoring room wouldn't notice anything strange on the TV screen.
The moment he crossed over, he pressed the "return" button, closing the other end of the portal.
That's why the TV was stuck like this now.
The investigators didn't pay much attention to the missing remote.
If even the person was gone, who cared about a stupid remote?
In the end, they just yanked the power cord to force it off.
After scouring the room for hours, they found absolutely nothing.
One team member speculated, "Could it be a Reality Bender? I mean, Achilles' Heel is already here."
The team leader's eyes lit up.
"Good point. Let's call them in to take a look."