Chapter 462: The Church's Plan
Restart the lab in the Bastion of Rebellion.
To be honest, this idea was really beyond Gawain's expectations. He looked at Carmel in surprise: "I remember... We have emptied several laboratories in the Fortress of Rebellion."
"We removed the samples and most of the mobile equipment, but I mean the labs themselves," Kamal explained his thoughts, "There is a set of divine protection and Early warning system, this system cannot be dismantled, and it can still be used at present. This system uses those mysterious 'exotic technologies', which can effectively resist the power of gods. Back then, we carried out the corpse of Julu Amoon. When cutting, the system has proven its effectiveness - we can experiment inside the guard system."
"Will this system interfere with the judgment mechanism of 'God's Punishment', resulting in inaccurate results of the final experiment?" Gawain asked, "If it blocks the perception of the God of Light... then even if we activate it safely in the Fortress of Disobedience Obtaining the Holy Light Rune does not prove that this process is safe in the present world."
A voice with a strange resonance came out of Carmel's body: "You don't need to worry about this, the protection system has no shielding effect, it only has a protective function."
Gawain pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly: "You are an expert in this regard, and I agree with your plan. But there is one last hidden danger... The fortress of disobedience is located in the Shadow Realm, a world we can't traverse freely at the moment. There is only one thousand-year-old Might and Magic Gate of Gondor that can open access to the Shadowlands, and we still don't understand how that gate was suddenly reopened. So once the connection between the two worlds weakened during the experiment , the Might and Magic Gate collapses, and the experimenters in the Shadow Realm will be trapped inside forever."
This is undoubtedly a huge hidden danger, and it has dire consequences-explorers who are good at risk-taking (death) may be accustomed to encountering the collapse of the Might and Magic Gate, time and space turbulence, ancient seals and the like when exploring magical ruins.” Accident”, and even regarded this resigned accident as a kind of “exciting romance”, but for Gawain, everything that cannot be explained by technical means, unknown and uncontrollable must be avoided.
Carmel obviously thought about this issue in advance, and he answered quickly: "We really haven't fully analyzed the link between the shadow world and the present world, but after more than a year of hard work, I have fixed it. The monitoring system of the 'Shadow Portal' and added an early warning mechanism to it - by monitoring the fluctuation of the shadow boundary layer, we can predict the collapse of the shadow channel at least one hour in advance, and one hour... at least enough Evacuate people."
As a senior technician who has survived from the time of ancient Gondor to the present, Carmel has a different feeling for the fortress of disobedience than others, and he also understands the technical value of the fortress better. The valuable technical heritage was excavated in the fortress, and the research on the shadow portal at the bottom of the fortress is one of the projects he has worked hard to date.
It is a pity that the current high-end talents in the territory are not enough.
There are very few people who can work with Kamel on projects involving the Fortress of Rebellion.
Hearing Carmel's answer, Gawain exhaled softly: "Since that's the case... let's do it, we need to understand the secret of magic."
...
In Saint-Sunil City, in the Cathedral of Holy Light, the old Pope is listening to the latest news from the bishops.
"...The fire of war has burned into the Holy Spirit Plain. The Eastern Frontier Corps may break through the line of defense of the Kingdom's army before the Harvest Festival and advance to the Jumu Road Pass. Affected by the war, a large number of displaced refugees are wandering on the plain... We and the Eastern Frontier Diocese It has also become more difficult to communicate with each other.”
"In the central, western, and northern parts of the Holy Spirit Plain, the situation is better. Frightened people and small nobles are increasingly going to churches to seek solace..."
"The activities of the cultists have not decreased, especially in the eastern part of the plain. The death of all things will occur frequently. Coupled with the pressure of injuries and illnesses brought by the war, the local nobles welcome our team of priests..."
"This war is a sigh," the voice of Pope St. Ivan III echoed in the Great Hall of Light, the old pope sunk deep in his seat, the holy light shining on his pitiful countenance , "Internal struggles, power struggles, and profits, but let innocent people get involved in blood and fire... The outbreak of this war has proved one thing: if there is no master's guidance, people will eventually be trapped by ignorance."
After making a conclusion, the old pope raised his head and looked at a tall bishop below: "Bishop Megall, is the operation to cut down heresy in the central region going smoothly?"
"The faith of the Central Diocese has become more and more pure, and the several counterattacks organized by the Ability God Church have been defeated by us," the bishop known as Megall lowered his head and said respectfully, "Most of them fled to the east, and the rest They fled into the mountains and forests in the west, or fled to the south."
"Very well, continue your work," said the Pope, nodding slightly, his slightly cloudy eyes swept across the Great Hall of Light, "...we must lead people to the right path, this war has brought us Here comes the warning - the differences of thought have caused people to fall into the vortex of power struggle. If there is a unified belief, the situation may not be so worse. The Church of the Ability God can't do this, so we have to do it. ."
Veronica Moen, who was standing beside the Pope, turned her gaze slightly and glanced at the old Pope.
"Our influence in the East is very small," the old Pope continued, "despite our hundreds of years, the Roren family still refuses the church to go too far into the East, especially after the outbreak of the war, the situation in the Eastern Diocese is accelerating Deterioration...According to the latest information, Edmund Moen's attitude towards the church is even worse than that of the Laurens and his sons, and he has begun to publicly expel the pastor of the church."
Veronica lowered her head slightly: "I regret what Edmund did."
"It's not your responsibility, the prince is fascinated by greed, and I'm afraid he has lost his most basic judgment," the old pope shook his head and continued, "In view of the current situation, I think it is time to withdraw the bishops' conference of the Eastern Diocese. "
The Pope's voice fell, and there was a slight commotion in the Great Hall of Light.
The bishops looked at each other, and then discussed in a low voice. Obviously, the Pope's decision exceeded their expectations. The holy light lingering around these bishops also swayed with this commotion, and it was with the rippling on the roof of the Great Hall of Light. " Holy Light Cloud Sea" mixed and entangled together, making bursts of humming.
Veronica raised her head and looked at the entangled and turbulent scene of the Holy Light, and then she heard the old Pope next to her coughing softly.
The turbulent Holy Light quickly calmed down and became unified again. The discussion of the bishops' conference ended, and a bishop seemed to take a step forward as a representative: "Your Majesty, after withdrawing the Bishops' Conference of the East... What's the arrangement?"
"This war... is bringing pain to the innocent," the Pope lowered his eyelids, the holy light lingering around him rising up, blending with the holy light cloud sea on the roof of the Great Hall of Light, which made every word of his It seems to contain endless power, "Only a unified belief can eliminate these blind and ignorant differences. For this reason, it is necessary for us to use more direct means to fight heresy... The Crusaders will join this war."
The bishops stirred up again, but this time, they talked for a shorter time, because they had already vaguely anticipated such a development when they heard that the Pope was about to withdraw from the Eastern Bishops' Conference.
A bishop with white hair and beard stood up: "Your Majesty, will we support the Royal Army?"
"The Eastern Rebels expel our priests, and they are already enemies of the Holy Light," the old Pope said in a low and majestic voice. "For the Lord's cause, it is necessary for us to end our neutrality and join the kingdom's army."
Needle falling can be heard in the Great Hall of Light.
Since the founding of Anzu, religious neutrality has been one of the basic rules for the functioning of the country.
The king belongs to the king, the pope belongs to the pope, the royal family has no right to direct the operation of the Holy See, and the church cannot influence the rule of the royal family. Promise of.
However, this rule is about to be broken - the Church of the Holy Light, which has the strongest military strength among all sects, will participate in this kingdom civil war. The participation of the Crusaders in the war means that the Holy See is no longer completely neutral and does not involve royal power. organize.
After this, no matter what the final outcome of this war is, the status and influence of the Church in Ansu will be completely changed.
If it had been before the civil war, the Anzu royal family would never have allowed all this, even if the Crusaders went to war in the name of "supporting the royal family", because it meant that the Church was reaching where it shouldn't, but now In this situation... the kingdom's army is showing its defeat under the heavy pressure of the rebels in the east, and there is more disturbing news for the royal family from the south recently, the two regent dukes in the silver castle and the nominal successor of the country will have no choice.
Veronica stood calmly beside Saint Ivan III, the expression on her face did not change, the bishops had no way to see from the expression of this "Virgin Princess" that she was interested in this matter. They can't guess whether there is a shadow of the royal family behind this incident, but they can at least confirm one thing:
The royal family is not against all this.
"Your Majesty, your thoughts are far-reaching," said the tall Bishop Megall, "for the Lord's cause, it is time for the Crusaders to preach with the sword."
Another bishop expressed a trace of concern: "But in this way, our priests and believers in the eastern diocese who have no time to withdraw may be liquidated by the rebels in the east."
"While withdrawing the bishops' conference, we also arrange the evacuation of ordinary priests and missionaries - Edmund Moen is hostile to the church, and this is the best reason for us to withdraw the priests," the old Pope said quietly, "As for the Believers...the Lord will take care of their souls."
...
The meeting in the Great Hall of Light is over.
The bishops left in order, and soon only the old St. Ivan III and Veronica Moen, who was quietly standing beside the Pope, were left in this vast hall.
After a brief silence, the Pope's old voice came into Veronica's ears: "Veronica, do you also think that the Crusader's participation in the war is a challenge to the traditional order of Ansu?"
The princess was silent for two seconds, and replied indifferently: "This matter is beneficial to both parties - the church will be further developed, the Royal Army will have the opportunity to reverse the decline on the battlefield, and the two regent dukes will make a correct judgment. In my opinion... the times have changed, majesty, in the face of the changes of the times, it is not impossible for the traditional order to give in."
"Yeah, times have changed, and the new era has new threats...but there are far more threats," the Pope sighed, with only a sigh in his tone, "What's the situation in the south?"
"It's foggy."