Chapter 191

Chapter 191

Many believed that the old harbor city had become a living hell, but in reality, it was far from that. While the outskirts with severe infections were no different from hell, the downtown area was a world apart.

The Salvation Society employed vastly different methods to control different regions. For example, in the least-infected areas below.

Fred Morse was an unremarkable corporate executive in the old harbor. He belonged to the middle class, benefiting from the advantages of his era. He held a good degree, worked at a decent company, and resided in the heart of the city with his beautiful wife and high school-aged son.

However, their mundane life was abruptly disrupted by the plague that swept through the city. Before they could react, the military had sealed off the city. They attempted to make landline calls to the outside world, but to no avail. Inquiries to the church only garnered explanations that the telephone lines had been cut and there were insufficient personnel to repair them.

Despite this, the Morses' lives remained dull yet secure, thanks to their accumulated wealth. They resided in the neighborhood with the fewest infections and the highest safety. Although the patrolling soldiers and church members restricted their freedom to venture out, they also shielded the family from infected individuals trying to infiltrate. This brought a sense of reassurance to the Morses.

Well, it would be even better if those priests didn't schedule religious activities so frequently.

As Morse gazed out the window in a daze, his wife returned home humming a tune. She wore a mask, rubber shoes, and full protective gear while carrying a large basket of food.

"Dear, why did you attend the downstairs activity again?" Morse asked, puzzled and helpless. "Didn't I tell you? It's not safe to go out much lately."

"Our neighborhood is quite secure. I see our neighbors going up and down without any protective gear," his wife explained. "Besides, Father Ivan is such a kind man. He's given us so much fresh produce that money can't buy."

She put down the basket of groceries, showcasing their day's finds: bread, fruits, vegetables – though there was no meat, their provisions were far better than those outside.

To the educated middle class, this was deemed reasonable, yet still insufficient.

"The prices have been soaring lately. A loaf of bread now costs 5 Euros! Why don't they just rob people?" his wife grumbled. "If not for our savings, we'd be in dire straits."

Morse was troubled by this too. While they had no immediate worries about food, he lacked access to information about the pandemic. Whenever he asked the priest, the old man always claimed everything was fine. Morse disliked the church, even with all its apparent benevolence.

"I'm thinking, should we join the church?" his wife said, leaning on her husband's back. "I've heard that if we join, we can get free bread and water every day. Our neighbor Amy has joined, and she's so proud. She also told me there's a special secret inside the church, something only believers can access."

"No, we've discussed it. We don't believe in religion," Morse replied, looking at his wife with surprise. "You were the one who brought this up when we first got married. Aren't you the one who detests those mysterious religious figures?"

"Well, but the Salvation Society is different. Look, they've helped us so much."

"How do you know they aren't doing this on purpose? See outside, how many followers they've gathered."

His wife grew angry. "Why would you say that? Father Ivan has done so much for us, and the church is genuinely doing good deeds! That's ungratefulness! I didn't expect you to be like this!"

Morse was speechless, staring in disbelief as his wife stormed back to their room. He found the situation perplexing. His wife, who had once despised religion, now seemed enchanted, attending the daily missionary activities downstairs. Perhaps the anxiety of isolation had driven people to cling to authoritative figures, and in their lives, that figure was the Salvation Congregation. However, Morse sensed something amiss, whether it was his wife's sudden change of attitude, his son following the priest like a shadow, or the neighbors gradually embracing faith – all felt like a spider's web slowly enveloping his existence.

He often felt suffocated, unsure how everything had transpired, and the ignorance about the outside world frequently irritated him.

Morse rose, putting the bread his wife hadn't managed to put away back into the fridge. That's when he noticed a package wrapped in brown paper beneath the food. Without thinking, he unwrapped it.

Unfolding the paper, the image that met his eyes made him instinctively hide it, looking around nervously to ensure no one had seen. After confirming his privacy, he coughed softly and retrieved it for a closer inspection.

Upon closer look, he realized it wasn't a photograph on the cover but a drawing, which briefly disappointed him. Nevertheless, he was immediately captivated by the remarkable skill with which the model had been depicted.

In this era, there were publications similar to Playboy, but during the quarantine, with resources scarce, even the most resourceful person would struggle to find entertainment. The church, with its strict regulations, always cited limited manpower as an excuse for not providing such distractions.

Morse, a university-educated intellectual, believed this was the church's way of controlling minds. With nothing to pass the time during the isolation, people were left to attend the dull sermons, which, though old-fashioned, could have a remarkable impact on the unsettled populace.

In short, the Morse family managed to have their basic needs met, but their entertainment options were woefully scarce; they couldn't even find a magazine to pass the time. Thus, upon catching sight of the risqué image, Morse's instinct was to keep it as a means to alleviate boredom.

Eroticism is the primary driving force in human society. One might prefer movies over books, or books over movies, but anyone with desires finds allure in the suggestive.

After all, who hasn't flipped through a couple of risqué magazines, videos, or recordings during their youth?

In every era, eroticism and bloody violence have been the most captivating attractions, stemming from the pursuit of taboos and the thrill of transgressing moral boundaries.

This particular lewd sketchbook, colloquially known as an "erotic doujinshi," distilled the essence of online forums' fan-made content. It combined titillation with storytelling, so much so that even Morse, initially uncomfortable with this style of illustration, found himself engrossed.

However, the book was incomplete, ending on an indecent cliffhanger, leaving Morse torn between pursuing and abstaining.

Eventually, after repeatedly perusing its pages, he couldn't resist wrapping it in a leather pouch to inquire of his wife, "Where did you get this?"

His wife, having cooled down, replied with confusion, "Mrs. Cathy gave it to me when I went upstairs today. She said I might enjoy the contents. What's wrong?"

Morse didn't quite grasp the situation but maintained composure, asking, "Where can I find Mrs. Cathy?"

Similar scenes played out across the quarantine zones. There was little else to do; everyone had been cooped up for too long, bored out of their minds. In a world where only a few households owned computers and television signals were scarce, isolation was sheer tedium.

The Church had orchestrated this intentionally, creating an information barrier to barely keep the enclosed ranch functioning. Thus, they prohibited newspapers from entering the quarantine zones, along with magazines and other time-passing reads.

However, lewd illustrations... were clearly beyond their purview. During this period, even the Church couldn't possibly control every last one of its members from indulging in corruption. Priests could be found everywhere, embezzling or inflating the prices of goods before reselling them. There were even instances of priests giving in to their desires and abusing their power to coerce women... The Church would never bother with such petty matters. In comparison, selling lewd books was too mundane to attract any attention from them.

They would never have imagined that someone would have the audacity to use lewd illustrations as a means to open up a market, only to later exploit this channel for conveying intelligence once their influence was established... Such an outrageous scheme.