Chapter 370: Chapter 370: A Starved Camel is Still Bigger Than a Horse

Austin Hale knew what Mr. Caelus meant.

Mr. Caelus had first made his name in the neighboring province. The local leadership there was incompetent, and after the cataclysm, law and order collapsed. Supplies were not properly distributed, food was scarce, and the people lived in misery.

The more people struggled to survive, the more lost and fearful they became about the future, and the more easily they turned to gods and ghosts.

And Mr. Caelus seized this opportunity to begin preaching his doctrines.

He told people that a "New God" was about to descend upon the world. The current cataclysms were merely a test for humanity from this New God. Only by following the New God could they find salvation. This message attracted many who were struggling in despair, and they became his followers.

Later, as his followers grew in number, Mr. Caelus’s power expanded, and he founded The Advent Sect.

After that, Mr. Caelus used the members of The Advent Sect to carry out terrorist attacks and raid government supply caches, doing everything he could to sow more chaos.

As the situation grew more chaotic, even more people joined The Advent Sect.

In this vicious cycle, The Advent Sect rapidly swelled to an astonishing size.

With this came Mr. Caelus’s ever-growing ambition. He went so far as to organize his followers to attack and burn down a government building.

This suicidal act was met with an immediate response. The state swiftly intervened, dispatching troops that easily wiped out The Advent Sect’s main base.

Most members of The Advent Sect were captured, but Mr. Caelus used the chaos to escape to Anworth with a few followers, hoping to start over.

However, public order in Anworth was good. The supply chain was reasonably well-managed, and social order was relatively stable. The people weren’t on the brink of starvation, so they couldn’t be bothered with any new or old gods.

Mr. Caelus tried his old tricks, collaborating with Anworth’s underworld power, the Hayes Family, to stage a terrorist attack.

Unfortunately for him, the attack was quickly neutralized by the Anworth police and armed forces. The government also promptly treated the victims, providing ample resources to help them rebuild their homes and replace their belongings. This made the public trust the government even more, causing Mr. Caelus’s follow-up plans to fall completely flat.

Despite trying every trick in the book, Mr. Caelus only managed to recruit a small number of believers.

Most of them were poor, so there wasn’t much money to squeeze out of them, which was nowhere near enough to satisfy Mr. Caelus’s ambition.

Mr. Caelus wanted to recruit followers from the upper class and tried every way he could to get in with Anworth’s wealthy elite.

But Anworth’s rich were busy participating in government-backed projects like indoor farming and new energy development. They looked down on people like Mr. Caelus and had no interest in associating with him.

The only wealthy family that didn’t shut the door on Mr. Caelus was the Sutton Family...

Thinking of this, Mr. Caelus gently toyed with the Buddha Beads in his hand and said to Austin Hale, "There’s not much left to squeeze from those poor folk... Remind Joanne again that she must secure the Sutton Family..."

Austin Hale nodded and replied respectfully, "Father, rest assured. Joanne is reliable. She will definitely complete her mission."

Mr. Caelus gave a noncommittal response and raised his hand to take a drag from his cigar.

After a moment, he mused, "The Sutton Family may be bankrupt, but before that, they were one of the top families in Anworth... A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. As long as we can dig up their hidden assets, it’ll probably be worth a year’s worth of donations from these poor believers..."

That was precisely why he had schemed to take on a goddaughter, having her get close to the Sutton Family to try and get her hands on all their assets.

When Austin Hale learned of Mr. Caelus’s plan to devour the Sutton Family, he recommended Joanne White to him.

Mr. Caelus was also very satisfied after meeting Joanne White. She was beautiful and delicate, excellent at stirring a man’s possessiveness and protective instincts—the perfect choice to drive a wedge between the Sutton couple.

So he simply fabricated the story of the "New God’s Gifted Fetus" and had Margaret Adler take Joanne White home with her.

Hearing Mr. Caelus’s words, Austin Hale quickly said, "Father, don’t worry. Joanne is devoted to me. She’ll follow our plan to the letter and get all of the Sutton Family’s assets for you!"

******

"Really?!"

Melody Summers’s eyes widened in shock after hearing Albus’s account.

She asked Albus incredulously, "It’s really Joanne White? Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?"

Albus licked its ice-cold little paws and looked up to reply:

[I’m sure I wasn’t mistaken, Host. It’s your ex-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend.]

Melody Summers was completely bewildered. She said in confusion, "Joanne White and the Sutton Family? How did they get tangled up? They’re from completely different worlds..."

"Also, how did Joanne White suddenly become a ’Goddess’? And that ’Mr. Caelus’... why does that title sound so familiar? I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere..."

Albus tilted its head and replied:

[It sounds like a title from a church or sect.]

Melody Summers frowned slightly. "A sect... Did Joanne White join some bizarre folk superstition group? And that ’New God’s Gifted Fetus’ you just mentioned, what the hell is that?"

Albus replied:

[Ethan Sutton’s mother said that Joanne White could give her a grandchild.]

"Huh?!" Melody Summers was even more stunned. Her eyes widened, her face a picture of disbelief, as if she had just heard the most absurd thing in the world.

She exclaimed in astonishment, "A grandchild? Isn’t Ethan Sutton impotent? How could they possibly have a grandchild? That’s utterly ridiculous! Besides, didn’t Joanne White just have a miscarriage a couple of days ago? Is she going to get pregnant again?"

Melody Summers really couldn’t understand Joanne White. Surviving the apocalypse was already hard enough for everyone else, yet Joanne was constantly getting pregnant, giving birth, getting pregnant, giving birth, getting pregnant... Forcibly increasing her own survival difficulty—what a hardcore person!

Albus rubbed against Melody Summers and asked, a little puzzled:

[Host, aren’t you going to deal with Joanne White? She orchestrated that online harassment campaign against you, and she stole your boyfriend.]

Melody Summers paused, then shook her head gently. "A piece of trash like Austin Hale? I should really thank her for taking him off my hands... Besides, last year I tricked them into buying that school district house. The White Family put in a million..."

That school district house, which was destroyed by a tornado, sold for four million. The Hale Family paid three million, and the White Family paid one million. If they hadn’t bought that house, the Hales and the Whites would never have had such a miserable life.

After all, Melody Summers remembered that in her past life, those two hadn’t broken up. In her past life, Austin Hale and Joanne White hadn’t managed to buy a house, so they still had their savings. After the cataclysm, they lived quite comfortably on that money.

In this life, they had ended up like this: one a fugitive on the run, his fate unknown, and the other homeless with an uncertain future. It could be considered a form of revenge.

Thinking of this, Melody Summers said softly, "A million for a lesson learned. Pretty good deal. As long as Joanne White behaves and doesn’t stir up any more trouble, I won’t go after her again."

Hearing this, Albus asked again:

[What about the Sutton Family?]