Seven? Terry knew that he had no turning back.
And he really couldn't find a better way than now.
He has seen every leaflet that the Cecilians sent into the city, and he has heard the news circulating in the outer city. He knows that the Cecilians are preaching a kind of holy light that is almost deviant and blurs the boundary between man and god. Faith, frankly speaking, he also has a lot of resistance to these things. He has been a devout believer in the God of Holy Light for half his life, and he cannot accept the Cecilian's statement that "the holy light comes from the heart".
But he couldn't accept that the Church of the Holy Light now uses faith as a means of making money and the Holy Light as a means of violence.
He accepts Amber's invitation and then learns more about what he needs to do.
"We can find a way to interfere with the guards in the small church area, and at the same time close the defense of the magic circle, but the way to the cathedral is not under our control," the middle-aged low-level priest said about the situation inside the church area , "The Discipline Brothers and the Knights of the Holy See guard all the gates, and they only obey the orders of the Cathedral."
"How are the discipline monks and Holy See knights fighting? Do you think they will fight to the death to protect the cathedral?"
"... Discipline monks are more adept at faith trials and commandment spells. They are not strong in frontal combat. As for the Holy See knights... They were originally the strongest defense force of the Luan Cathedral, but the last time Bishop Lemont took away all the high-ranking troops. Knights, many of the remaining mid-level and low-level knights died while assisting the noble army in battle, and now the remaining combat power is probably less than 20%," Seven Terry said in detail, "It's just...they It's still deadly to the average person."
"Don't worry about this. There will be other forces coming in to help. You just need to tell me the route map and defense situation of the church area."
"good."
After handing over the most crucial information, Seven Terry felt suddenly relieved, and heaved a sigh of relief as if he had completed a major mission, while Amber looked at the eyebrows of the middle-aged priest The exhaustion accumulated over the past few days suddenly asked a seemingly casual question: "If I'm not mistaken, the power of the Holy Light of many priests in the church area should have declined to varying degrees..."
Seven Terry suddenly showed surprise: "How do you know?!"
"At the scene of the heresy trial, the effect of the magic spell cannot deceive people," Amber shook her head slightly, "Although I guess that the magic spell used to identify the heresy has a big problem, maybe it can make most ordinary people reveal A sign of wavering faith, but for you clerics who should be very pious in theory... its effect should not be so obvious. I carefully observed the expressions of each of you at the time, and your wavering, surprise, and panic are all genuine of."
Seven Terry fell silent, and the two low-ranking priests beside him also lowered their heads with complicated expressions. After a few seconds of silence, one of the low-ranking priests finally spoke: "...you have very good observation skills. powerful."
"At least one-third of the clergy have experienced varying degrees of power decline," Seven Terry went on to say, "the most serious ones even experienced level regression. In fact, to be honest, the power of the clergy has declined due to their own temporary confusion. It’s not uncommon for this situation to happen, but it’s probably the first time that such a scale of faith has been shaken…”
Amber then asked: "When did the loss of strength first appear in more people?"
"Since the order to collect ransom money and suppress the belief of alien gods came from the Plain of the Holy Spirit, my power of holy light has stagnated. There are many people in the church area who are in a similar situation to me. We cannot accept this kind of conflict with the Holy Spirit. Something that runs counter to light teaching.”
Amber blinked, and whispered thoughtfully: "It seems so..."
As Gawain had speculated, what happened to Wright was not a special case.
Although the recent radical behavior of the Church of the Holy Light has amassed a large amount of wealth on the one hand and rapidly increased the strength of the church, on the other hand, it has also caused the low-level priests who have conscience in the church to have too strong doubts. The separation between the teachings of the original scriptures and the actual behavior of the church has created more and more low-level priests like Wright who have shaken their beliefs, and as time goes by, this situation will only become more and more serious...
Is the Church of the Holy Light really unaware of these collapses at the bottom? Or... Even if they are aware of it, they still have a reason to do so, even at the risk of splitting the church and causing some clergy to abandon their faith, they must use this method of drinking poison to quench their thirst to make the church develop rapidly in a short period of time
Amber thought about it hard, and found that she really couldn't figure it out, so she simply shook her head and temporarily put this question behind her—anyway, she just came in to collect information and sabotage, and the real analysis of these troublesome things came from the rear That old zongzi is good at things, and when the time comes, tell the other party about the situation and let him worry about it.
Seven Terry didn't hear Amber's self-talk, and asked curiously, "What did you just say?"
"It's nothing." Amber waved her hand. "Let's settle this matter like this. We'll wait until the dust settles."
Seven Terry nodded slightly, but before he got up to leave, he suddenly seemed to think of another thing: "There is something I think I should remind you of—although I don't know what kind of extraordinary power you have prepared, but you must Be careful with Fran Braun, I don't think his condition is normal."
"François Bereng?" Amber raised her eyebrows. "According to information, he should only be a priest at the peak of the middle rank. If all the high-level powerhouses in the Southern Church hadn't been wiped out, it wouldn't be his turn to be the bishop."
"He is indeed at the middle level, but now he has mastered the core magic circle of the cathedral, and his strength may not be so easy to judge," Fran Bereng said with a serious face, "And since the heresy trial four days ago Afterwards, he locked himself in the cathedral without showing his face even once, and even the leader of the Order of Discipline Brothers did not get an audience, which is very abnormal. I prayed to the Lord, and the message returned by the Holy Light was full of disturbing There are phantoms and whistling sounds, I can feel a powerful force gathering in the cathedral, much like the Holy Light, but there is something else mixed in it... All in all, it must be treated with care."
"... Oh my god, I'm afraid it's not a routine for a breakthrough..."
Fran Terry didn't hear clearly: "What?"
"Don't worry," Amber quickly waved her hand, "I will report the situation to my superiors, please rest assured, this operation is very stable."
No matter what that François Berenger is doing in the cathedral, Cecil has enough power to suppress him. At worst, the team will make a fuss in the outer city, and then Byron and Philip will directly shoot at the inner city. Ping Sihai, in front of enough works of art, it is useless to be the protagonist who really breaks through the battle - the "array" is blown up for you...
Amber didn't realize at all that her way of thinking had been seriously influenced by Gao Wen before she knew it...
"Then I'm going back." After talking about the matter, Seven Terry stood up and performed a clergyman's courtesy to Amber. "You may be found if you leave the church area for a long time."
Amber nodded, but just as the three priests were about to walk to the door, she suddenly called out to each other from behind: "About your declining Holy Light power... Cecil has a solution."
In order to ensure that the "internal agents" in the church area can be more reliable, she decided to reveal some "bait" in advance.
Sure enough, Seven Terry stopped immediately, with an expression of disbelief on his face: "Are you serious?"
The power decline caused by wavering faith has always been an unsolvable phenomenon for priests. Basically, it can only be cured by the passage of time or self-breakthrough, and most people will not be cured in their lifetime, and can only be maintained at The power of divine magic is stagnant, but those Cecils... have a way
"It's not very clear in those leaflets, but Wright has indeed found a new way of the Holy Light, and this way... everyone has the opportunity to try."
Seven Terry's eyes became agitated, and there was nothing more tempting for a devout believer in the Holy Light than the chance to get closer to the Holy Light again: "Do you need any conditions?"
Amber thought for a while, and looked at the slightly thin bodies of the three priests in front of her with uncertainty: "Can you carry a forty-pound warhammer?"
The three priests looked at each other inexplicably: "... huh?"
"All in all, let's exercise your body first," Amber touched her smooth chin, and said thoughtfully, "Then exercise your ability to resist blows, run eight kilometers with a load every day, and then move bricks or something. After a month or so, you should be fine." I can become a qualified field priest... "
After the three bewildered priests left, the temporary stronghold became quiet for a while.
An officer of the Military Intelligence Bureau had an expression of admiration—of course, he did not admire Amber for tricking the three priests into exercising in the end, but admired what his boss said to Seven Terry before: "Boss, you bluffed!" Human abilities have not regressed."
Amber waved her hand nonchalantly: "When have I ever regressed? It's just useless in Cecil City."
As a nicknamed "Queen of Taverns", she was once well-known in the circle of illegal mercenaries and adventurers in the southern border, leading a large group of gangsters and bullying the "big sister", how could Amber not have a good eloquence? How could it be possible not to have a set of skills that can bring the dead back to life
Living on the wildest and backward frontier of the Ansu Kingdom, dealing with all kinds of people all day long, this half-elf thief is very familiar with observing words and emotions and controlling people's hearts. Find out the situation of the people at the bottom of Lu'an City, and create such a large-scale sabotage.
It's not usually used, but it's just not needed.
"But having said that, Boss, what you said just now really has a lot of shadows of the Duke—"
"Nonsense, I usually take the time to sleep when I have nothing to do, how can I have the time to think about such boring things?" Amber rolled her eyes, "A lot of them are what Gawain... the Duke usually said, I see the situation Just copy it. But you can’t copy me mechanically. When you say something, you have to look at the target, like the priest today. He was born as a commoner, has a conscience, understands the suffering of the common people, and can clearly see the darkness of the Church of the Holy Light. He is To find a real and meaningful way out, so I said those words to him, but if it was another person, the same words might be bad things... "
"We understand, we understand," the subordinates nodded repeatedly, and then one of them asked, "Then next... should we contact the rear?"
Amber hummed, and looked at the tall and thin man standing in the corner of the room: "Skinny man, turn on the magic network communicator, internal channel 8. Gray wolf, you go outside the door to guard."
The miniaturized and specially made magic net communicator was placed on the table, and with a slight buzzing sound, this complex and sophisticated magical mechanism was activated. After waiting patiently for a while, Amber saw the crystal bloom on the top of the communicator. With a soft light, a holographic projection quickly formed above the crystal.
That was Gawain's face.
"The oil in the pot has boiled." Amber gritted her teeth as she looked at the holographic projection, "It's time to flip the table."
Gawain in the holographic projection nodded: "Is everything going well?"
"Development according to plan, but some situations need to be reported..."
Gao Wen listened quietly to what Amber reported, keeping everything in mind. After the report was over, he breathed a little, looked at the communicator in front of him: "I see, we will make arrangements in advance. You Stay safe there."
Amber in the projection waved her hands impatiently: "Don't worry, don't worry, I won't run away if the situation really happens, I'm such a timid person..."
…
Gawain helplessly looked at this fake who seemed confident and confident, shook his head slightly and turned off the communication.
Then he raised his head and looked at another magic network communication device in the study.
Above that device, an outdoor scene is emerging—
Countless people gathered in an open field. The torches in people's hands and magic spar lights in the distance illuminated the meeting place under the night. People's angry slogans and countless noisy voices came from the screen. The team members maintained order at the scene, while a few white knights wearing thick white armor, surrounded by brilliant holy light, and with thick iron-cased scriptures hanging from their waists with iron chains, stood in the center of the crowd, standing tall. The voices speak to everyone—they are the most prominent in the picture.
The voice of the witch Jibri came from outside the screen: "...this is Tanzania New City, and the excavation work is still going on. Thirty minutes ago, the engineers found a new cellar...
"...If Viscount Andrew hadn't built a new town here, I'm afraid these things would have remained dusty...
"...According to the testimonies of the witnesses, these cellars are one of the secret vaults set up by the Church of the Holy Light in the southern region. We have discovered a large number of gold and silver artifacts in the cellars, all of which are the property of believers. Some of them are voluntary donations by believers, and a large part of them It was collected by the church through ransom money, heresy trials, confiscation of civilian property, embezzlement of other church properties, etc. According to the books and records we searched from nearby churches, the local church originally promised that these properties would be used to repair idols, churches, etc. , distributing disaster relief supplies and raising orphans, but in fact more than 90% of them have become the private property of the church...
"Mr Wright, chief of the White Knights, said he had never seen such audacity..."
After a while, Jibri's voice suddenly sounded again: "Urgent news, Mr. Daedalus, the mayor of Hosman City, has just announced an amazing news. A large number of bones were found in the old nursing facility... It is suspected that orphans in the Housman area have disappeared over the past few years... "
The crowd on the projection screen was in turmoil, and the excited citizens gathered around the white knights, while the white knights held up the heavy power hammers in their hands, shouting slogans to expel the old church.
Gao Wen stood up, stepped forward to turn off the projection equipment, and behind him, Pittman's voice came slowly: "It's really scary."
Gao Wen turned his head and looked at the little old man who had always been wandering around the territory with a cynical and shameless face, with a hint of ridicule on his face: "Do you also think there is something scary?"
Pittman twirled his beard and said lightly, "Of course, I'm afraid of so many things. Otherwise, who do you think cultivated Amber's adaptable personality?"
Gao Wen glanced at Pittman: "Then what are you afraid of now?"
"Man, a crowd full of anger is a terrible existence," Pittman shrugged, "but I think you are more terrifying than that-because you are guiding everything. You are using a power that is different from the superhuman. And the power of the gun, the effect of this thing... is much more terrifying than what you described at the beginning."
"There is no difference between good and bad power, the key depends on where it is used. To deal with those who use holy light to do evil, sometimes you have to use some very tricks," Gao Wen said calmly, and then his face was slightly gloomy. Knowing that children's bones were found in those facilities... I knew that no matter how I dealt with those magic sticks, it would not be too much."
Pittman sighed: "Adopting orphans is a common method used by various churches to cultivate diehard combat power. It can not only increase strength, but also improve reputation, but not all children are compatible with divine arts. Without a little bit of spiritual talent, even using potions and rituals to catalyze it is useless, and it will consume resources if these are not useful, and I have seen some "bad seeds" of dark insiders... The hands of any church are not clean. "
"The churches seven hundred years ago were not like this at all," Gawain shook his head. "Those priests and knights who charged against the mutants back then probably never imagined that their successors would degenerate like this."
Pittman chuckled: "Did you ever think that when you woke up, you would see that the mutant had already hit the door of the tomb, and that future generations would lose your shield?"
Gao Wen immediately glared at the little old man: "...I'm anxious for you to bring this up."
Then he coughed twice and brought the topic back to the right track: "Compared to this, what do you think of the abnormality of Fran Bereng mentioned in the Amber report? The bishop locked himself in the cathedral, Are you drawing strength through some means to strengthen yourself?"
"...I don't think he can get stronger by drawing power or something like that, it's what wizards and warlocks do, but there's definitely something wrong with the situation. It's impossible for a normal bishop to lock himself up in a church in that situation If he doesn’t do anything, he can either continue to save the situation, or simply run away, or run out to brutally suppress, in short, he should do something.”
Gao Wen shook his head slightly: "In my original plan, Fran Bereng should take some desperate action at this stage, but I didn't expect him to lock himself in the church and do nothing, to be honest …It messed up my schedule a little bit."
Pittman thought about it, and after a while, the little old man who knew a lot about theology said, "Perhaps...he is trying to communicate with the gods, praying for power beyond imagination to help him overcome the desperate situation in front of him."
"Could it be a divine drop?" Gao Wen frowned suddenly, "Can he perform a divine drop?"
"...It's because it's impossible, so I can't figure it out. God's surrender requires a high price, and there are strict thresholds-only the legendary strong can support the god's descent without dying, and high-level powerhouses are paying the price of life and meeting certain requirements. After the conditions, you can perform a short-term divine surrender, and the priests who are lower than this level... don’t even have the ability to communicate with the gods, and his words can’t reach his god’s ears, who is he looking for?”
Gao Wen pondered for a full two minutes before he broke the silence: "All in all, it seems that more 'insurance' must be arranged in the next step. This step has been carried out, and there must be no mistakes."
Not everyone can understand Gao Wen's persistence and caution in this matter, only he himself knows about this matter—
In this world where extraordinary power exists and society is stagnant, this will be the first resistance of ordinary people to the extraordinary.
There may have been farmers who could not be bullied and raised their pitchforks to the knight master, and innocent people who had been convicted of heresy cursed loudly at the priest who judged themselves, but those occasional, powerless, and unable to arouse the slightest ripple of resistance It's all different this time.
This time, it was the first time that ordinary people who had been deceived and oppressed as a group rebelled against the priests who were another group.
The world has waited thousands of years for this first time, and if it fails, no one knows how long it will have to wait for the second time.
So, it cannot fail.