01.
night. dark. Black sanctuary.
"Yes, I'm sorry, please forgive me, please forgive me once, Your Majesty..."
The church candles were burning on the edge of the night, and the whole night seemed to be shaking, and the darkness was crowding here from all directions, oppressing him.
The priest who committed the crime of embezzlement was lying on the ground trembling, his whole body was already convulsed by fright.
The pope in a black cassock sits high on the holy throne, his black eyes are like abysses.
"I know it's cruel, it's not fair to you. But ah," he looked down at him, "maybe it's because I was too patient with people before, now I don't want to treat people other than my Lord." Anyone who is patient anymore…”
"No! Your Majesty! Don't—" The begging finally turned into a scream, and then the whole hall became silent again, only the sound of dripping water coming from nowhere, ticking, ticking, which seemed quite eerie in the darkness .
Monroe closed his eyes, immersed in the silence.
He heard rustling voices coming from the front, he heard the church envoy Leona Bell reporting the latest situation, and he also heard himself subconsciously uttering reasonable judgments and making delicate layouts. Although he still said this in his mouth, he didn't open his eyes, his thoughts seemed to float above his head, looking at himself quietly.
I used to have many appearances. Monroe thought.
When he was bullied by noble children in the church school, Teresa asked him why he endured those things, obviously he could beat them. He replied that it was not because of patience, but because it was the price that those born humble had to pay for wanting to climb up. Monroe was right, he was always right. But the world doesn't take pity on him for what he did right, the world has him cornered.
He never knew where he was going, even though he did a great job. After being adopted by the church, he went to the church school as usual, and then achieved one of the best grades. After that, he went to be a priest according to the usual practice, and was framed by others. Then he tried the path of a paladin according to the usual practice, and then he became a paladin naturally. Rather than going with the flow, it is better to go with the flow, like everyone in this era. But he happens to be good enough, he has no special hobbies, and he puts all his energy on self-improvement. So the better he is, the more those people hate him. He didn't understand, no one told him why, the people around him acted like sympathetic believers, the instructor told him that he should love everyone compassionately, the leader of the knight team told him that you should be united and you should love you Companion, it is your fault that others are hostile to you.
Compared with Leona Bell's tortuous experience and Spike Electra who crawled out of the dead, Monroe's past is not spectacular, but it is extremely terrifying. This is easily reminiscent of Gaslight, a stage play in which the husband manipulates his wife's thinking and makes her think she is crazy. One of the plots is that the husband often lights the gas lamp in the attic. When the wife asks, the husband says it's all about the wife. imagination. Things like this, denying your reality again and again, make you gradually start to doubt yourself, is there something wrong with you? Why do other people say that? Sure enough, you have a problem, so if you have a problem, you can change it... Gradually, you can't tell what is the real reality, and you can only accept the reality defined by the other party.
On Earth, this phenomenon often occurs in family education, and it also occurs in some companies, with a kind of brainwashing nature.
In another world, the church would often use this method to treat its own believers.
Monroe, as a person with excellent objective conditions, but with a church that wants to erase the past, will naturally be severely brainwashed and tortured by various means. The superior can grasp his shortcomings very well - he believes in the church, abides by rules and virtues, so by grasping this point, he can almost do whatever he wants with him.
What a horrible experience that was.
The Pope was somewhat impressed with Monroe, and he knew that most of the credit reported by the current bishop of the Holy City, Royce, actually belonged to Monroe. But the Pope didn't care, because being able to put all the credit for others on himself was also a proof of his ability. In his opinion.
What was Monroe thinking at a time like this
Constant self-doubt, constant negation from others, and because of his personal charm, he also has a group of followers around him, the most prominent of which is Theresa Shelley. For Teresa, Captain Monroe redefines the meaning of a Paladin for him. In the eyes of Monroe's followers, Monroe is the embodiment of a Paladin. They even only see Monroe, not the Pope.
— But these are burdens for Monroe, and they will only make him more confused.
The only thing he could hold at that time was the sword in his hand. He continued to build credits, he was injured in battles, and many times when his body was lying on the hospital bed, his soul was examining himself. What am I doing and where is my future going
At that time, he had actually vaguely realized that his future was not in the church. As a person who was treated like this and grew up, it was already a remarkable thing to have such an idea.
He offered to complete various assignments abroad. In fact, one of the reasons is to explore his own future. Later, going to the Demon Realm to guard the Demon King was actually an attempt on his part.
We all know the result of the last attempt.
Hill cut his back completely, showing him the true face of the church he had been fighting for. Everything collapsed, a road parted in the mist, Hill held out his hand to him, come, come to me.
When he took Hill's hand, he still didn't know where his future would lead.
But he knows who his future will be with.
So he said to him:
"I am not loyal to the Demon Race, nor to the Lower Realm.
My allegiance is to you alone, Hill. "
Everything after that, whether it is holding the power or becoming the dark pope, this is something that does not arouse much inner turmoil for Monroe.
The most important thing is that Hill told him more than once, you are right, you are excellent, you deserve better, you just do what you want to do.
Kindness, rivals, friends, loyalists, lovers... Hill means too much to Monroe. Because of too much, this relationship is not pure, but because of too much, this relationship is deeper and more crazy.
Now, it is no longer those external things that guide him forward, but Monroe's own heart that is no longer surrounded by fog.
02.
The 'Birds of Dawn' charity, which has grown stronger under the control of Jackson Sr.'s son Jefferson Jackson, has hosted several charity dinners at the Magnolia Empire - for the benefit of Hill, who created Those celebrities will also take turns to attend these charity banquets, they will take the lead in donating, and then encourage other nobles to donate as well. In addition to being able to have dinner with these stars, these nobles will also have their names published in "Magic World Magazine".
"Mayor, please help me." Jefferson Jackson said.
The mayor standing opposite him is the local emperor of this area. They have formed a civilian army. This place has always been a hard stubble, and no one cares about it. If this is the case externally, it will be even worse internally. Those commoners have become his private property, as miserable as slaves, and he has implemented an ancient right-the right of virginity. Every girl who wants to marry in this land must give him the first night.
"Master Jackson, we also have to survive. Why do you want to get involved? The civilians in the town are as hateful as rats. They steal, cheat, and do everything. They must use a strict system to deal with it." It’s okay,” said the mayor. He is confident, the Yulan Empire is different from Mullheim, the nobles in Muerheim have a lot of private soldiers, but the Yulan Empire is not like this. The nobles are too lazy to care about these civilians, and the young people may rush forward, but they will calm down after seeing this posture. What's the matter, is it possible that they still dare to kill people by themselves? Could it be that he would sue Emperor Yulan for such a trivial matter
It has to be said that the mayor has a good grasp of the psychology of most nobles in Yulan City.
It's a pity to meet Jefferson.
Fortunately, he met Jefferson now.
After listening to the mayor's words, Jefferson Jackson didn't even blink his eyes. He drew out his sword and stabbed the guard next to the mayor to death. Then he said the second sentence, repeating the first sentence : "Mayor, please help me."
His tone was still the same as before, with a pitiful feeling, as if he wanted to win the other party's sympathy.
Blood dripped from the tip of his sword.
"You—you..." The mayor's eyes widened in astonishment. He didn't expect that Jefferson, who looked no different from other noble young masters, could do such a thing.
Is this really the weak noble young master from Magnolia City? Aren't those noble young masters more trash than each other
"We are willing to save everyone," Jefferson showed a gentle smile, "after all, we are a charity organization."
While saying "charity," he raised his sword and stabbed another of the mayor's guards to death. Jefferson has learned swordsmanship since he was a child, and he is very high in single-round swordsmanship skills.
"So, Mayor, can you help me?"
He drew the sword from the guard's chest just as he said this, and the blood trickled down from the body, forming a small stream under Jefferson's expensive sheepskin boots. He smiled at him, and that smile was actually similar to that at the beginning.
this person…
The mayor involuntarily took two steps back and nodded in horror.
When Jefferson walked out of the town, the snow was falling, and the snow melted immediately when he stood on his clothes, as mild as a shower of rain. He looked at the gray sky and suddenly smiled. After staying in front of those big shots for so long, he must do something decent. He also found his way forward.
03.
The Caribbean sea is rolling with huge waves, looking at the unnaturally gathered black clouds, experienced pirates know that this is the power of magic, not nature. The waves in the distance seem to be rolling and flying with the white mane of galloping horses, and the waves seem to be able to swallow ships easily.
"Are you crazy? Rhodes! Are you going to start a war?" Captain Flynn yelled at Captain Rhodes of the Bird of Death while standing on the Gold, his voice was torn apart by the sea wind, because the Because of the shouting in the throat, it can also be passed to the opposite side.
"If you surrender, there will be no war. Your Excellency Flynn." Captain Rhodes responded on the deck. His voice was not high, but under the encouragement of magic, it could ring close to everyone's ears.
"I guess you must be crazy, I know you have support behind you, but I didn't expect you to attack the other four pirates." Flynn murmured, "God of the sea, stop this storm, Rod."
"I don't want to be patient anymore." Captain Rhodes sighed.
"What? You think you were cautious before?" Captain Flynn's mouth twitched, "You used to break the rules and attack pirates. You have always done this kind of thing. Everyone says you are a freak among pirates. You Do you actually feel that you used to be cautious?"
Captain Rhodes pondered for a few seconds before responding: "I haven't driven you all to extinction, this is indeed being careful."
Flynn almost fell off the Gold, this guy is so good! he thought angrily.
But Flynn had no choice. He knew that he himself was the weakest of the four pirates, and his combat effectiveness was entirely built up by magic spar. Now the bird of death has changed its guns - this is really a change of guns - in terms of equipment, personal combat power, and spells, the gold is not as good as the bird of death, plus the current prestige of the bird of death. Flynn changed his mind sharply, and said, "My friend, I think you should calm down. You can't wipe out the entire Caribbean Sea by yourself, not even Captain Jack."
"Why not?" Captain Rhodes asked back, and then he raised his voice with a solemn voice: "I want to re-establish the order of this sea."
"You're crazy," Flynn murmured.
"No." Captain Rhodes said.
"Are you sure you're not crazy? You, a human being, want to sweep the sea, are you sure you're not crazy?" Flynn said out of control.
"Well, maybe a little crazy." Captain Rhodes replied.
Flynn was almost driven crazy by Captain Rhodes like this: "You are really crazy." He repeated.
"But this feeling is not bad." Captain Rhodes pulled out his saber after finishing speaking, and a cruel smile appeared on his face, "Surrender or die, choose one, my friend."
Gritting his teeth, Flynn said, "I surrender."
"That's good." Captain Rhodes raised his hands, the waves gradually calmed down, the dark clouds dissipated, the sea returned to silence, and the sun shone through the split clouds. This scene was like a miracle, and the pirates on the Death Bird immediately began to cheer.
Flynn stared blankly at this scene, and he found that his previous dissatisfaction with Captain Rhodes was completely gone.
Such a powerful force far exceeds the power of human beings, and it is normal to do things that humans cannot do...
Captain Rhodes turned his head and suddenly smiled at him, "This is a good boy."
He stood in the setting sun, and the setting sun stretched his figure very long and cast it on the deck, that shadow looked extremely hideous.
… This is a pirate captain who works with the devil.
Flynn trembled involuntarily, and then suddenly had such an awareness in his heart.
As far as Captain Rhodes is concerned, what he is doing now is to follow the order from Leona Bell, recruit other pirate groups as much as possible, and let the forces of the Dark Holy See occupy an absolute position among the pirates in the Caribbean Sea. Now the Plague Islands are already under the rule of the Dark Holy See, and the Yulan Empire is also spreading the belief of the Dark Holy See among the common people through the 'Dawn Bird' charity organization, so Captain Rhodes' mission is not impossible. He also has the right to mobilize the demon warriors on the Jackdaw.
It is not necessary to mobilize the power of the demons with the Gold, but when fighting Duncan of the Invincible, it is necessary to mobilize the demon warriors.
After brewing for too long, Hill has already begun to stretch out his claws on the human world—really claws in various senses.
"Carl, Jack, I'll leave it to you." Captain Rhodes turned and returned to the cabin.
"Yes, Captain." The two said in unison.
Carl is the apprentice of Captain Rhodes and the actor who plays Will, the protagonist of "Pirates of the Caribbean".
Jack used to be the bottom pirate on the Death Bird. He played a handyman role during the filming of "Pirates of the Caribbean". The murder caused by the light music in the tavern, and later participating in "Pirates of the Caribbean", feeling the pirate spirit up close... Finally, he has really grown up, and the first officer is going to train this young man who started from the bottom into a future boatswain. But Jack said in a joking tone: "My name is Jack, and I will be a captain in the future."
At that time, the first mate laughed: "Carl, did you hear that? Someone is going to compete with you for the position of future captain!"
"Understood." Carl said vigorously: "I will beat him completely with my body and tell him why I am Captain Rhodes' disciple."
"You aim at the captain, and I aim to surpass the captain." Isn't it just talkative, the pirates are so talkative, "So you are destined to lose to me, Carl." Jack said.
"You boy, watch me beat you now!"
"Come on! Who is afraid of whom!"
Seeing the two teenagers fighting together, the first officer kept laughing. When he turned around, he saw Captain Rhodes looking at him, his eyes were a little soft.
The first mate was taken aback. so good. The atmosphere on board is really much better than before.
This is also one of the reasons why the first mate supported Captain Rhodes to join the Dark Vatican without any grievances.
All are growing, all are maturing, all are being alone, and all have become people who can hold up a sky for others.
In the end, under the leadership of Hill, these people will hold up the sky of the entire continent.
—