Megan's delicate face did not smile because of Xia De's words. She looked at Xia De scrutinizingly:
"Many people like to use such big words to win the favor of those ignorant little girls or aristocratic girls with fantasies. A man who is humorous, compassionate, and has his own ideals and ambitions is very attractive to young girls."
After saying this, he realized that this seemed to mean that he was no longer young, so he asked:
"So you are that kind of person?"
"To gain favor?"
Xia De looked at her unexpectedly:
"I just wonder if anyone can realize or look at this from a historical perspective. Years from now, this is also a small microcosm of civilization."
"Interesting point, you can keep going."
Megan nodded slightly, and Shade continued:
"The present era is a turning point in civilization. The world and life driven by the wave of steam industry are completely different from those hundreds of years ago. Nobles and big businessmen can seize more opportunities and grab more wealth and power. The lower class people, as a consumable, have become the basic fuel for the development of civilization. Theocracy, which is intertwined with royal power, plays its own unique role in this era. All of this is condensed together, isn't it the scene in front of us, where the poor receive relief food?"
The stranger frowned slightly:
"I wonder how future generations, if there are any future generations, will evaluate this rainy morning."
“Isn’t it like this every time there is social change?”
Megan leaned against the carriage and continued to ask, and Shade nodded:
"Most of the time, yes. But since civilization is progressing and developing, there must be some changes. It can't be the same every time... The development of civilization is an upward spiral."
Megan raised her eyebrows:
"This sentence is very interesting, civilized, and spiraling... Maybe you can call yourself a thinker."
Shade shook his head. He liked this kind of girl who could look at civilization and history from a higher perspective like himself, an outsider. Although Megan Edwards was from this world and this era, her special identity and experience made her, like Shade, unable to integrate into this society normally. She also didn't think of herself as a member of any country.
She escaped from all this, and in the process of fighting with herself, she glimpsed the picture of the progress of civilization like a foreigner. Although it cannot be said that Megan and Audrey are completely similar to Shad, at least their views are the same.
"The upward spiral in our era means that we are about to reach a time when everyone should have the opportunity to go to school and choose their own life through their own efforts, rather than becoming street trash or factory profiteers. Moreover, isn't it also the basis for promoting the development of civilization when more people gain knowledge and choose their own lives?"
He looked at the people in line, they were all adults, homeless children like John in the garbage can usually not come here. There was a special place for children to receive relief.
The stranger pondered over civilization and everything in front of him, and he said nothing more. If he had not accidentally known that the end of the world and the great catastrophe were coming, he might have faced it all more deeply. But it is not too late now. The stranger likes to think about how the historical experience of his hometown can be used as a reference and promotion for this world with extraordinary power and gods. This kind of thinking and even practice is a pleasure unique to strangers.
Megan tilted her head and watched Xia De frowning in thought. The great witch of wisdom and knowledge liked to watch people think, and she liked to watch the man in front of her think even more.
Although the weather was bad, the delegation still arrived at the church as scheduled. In order to protect these important southern guests, the police were not allowed to enter the church, but they still arranged more patrols around the Peace Church.
Of course, in Xia De's opinion, this was a completely meaningless act. Even for the sake of its own reputation, the church would never allow anyone to carry out any dangerous actions on its territory.
After the delegation and the reporters who were allowed to enter the church entered through the main entrance of the church, Shade left the carriage and followed in. Megan waited in the carriage. If the Forlan brothers wanted to meet their elder, Shade would bring them here.
It was not difficult to enter the church, or rather, no one would stop someone dressed like Shad.
But he did not immediately go to find Brother Fulan, but sat in the main hall of the church for a few minutes, looking up at the huge metal holy emblem. When the old priest with a white dove on his shoulder passed by, Shade stood up and stopped him:
"Father, I need your help with something."
The clergy of the Church of War and Peace also wore common robes, but the details of the decoration were different from those of other churches. The unknown old priest looked younger than Father Augustus. He asked Xiang Shade kindly:
"Young man, what are you going to do?"
"I want to confess to you and make a donation."
He spoke in a Tobesk accent, and the old priest nodded, leading Shad through the corridor on the right side of the main hall and into the confessional.
This place is very similar to the confessional in the Forgotten Church. After closing the door, Shad can only sit on a small bench in the dark, huddled up, watching the rays of light shining in through the small holes in the wooden lattice window.
But he didn't mind, and said to the priest on the other side of the confessional through the wooden lattice window:
"Father, I am not a very faithful believer, and I did not intend to visit here today. It's just that when I passed by just now, I saw the people queuing outside to receive relief food, and I felt pity for them."
“It’s not a sin.”
"No, while I pity them, I hate those big factory owners who rely on steam factories to exploit the poor at the bottom; I hate those incompetent nobles who rely on the legacy of their ancestors to eat and drink in the upper class. I know that factories have promoted social development, and the order of the nobles does maintain the laws and rules of the country. But that is not all after all. Sometimes I think that a necessary war may change all this."
The priest on the other side was silent for a moment:
"War and peace are mutually opposed, but they also complement each other. I will not tell you that war is wrong, this is not in line with the beliefs of our Lord. But young man, have you ever considered that war will cause more people you pity to lose their lives?"
“But it also has the potential to free more people.”
"Is it possible?"
"Yeah, so I don't understand and I'm very distressed."
After Shade finished his performance, he did not give the priest a chance to say anything. He slipped the anonymous bill through the gap under the lattice window. Both sides were dark, and Shade was sure that the old priest could feel out what it was, but he definitely could not see the specific number:
"I am very confused, so I don't know what I can do. Please accept this donation, at least it can give those who I pity a full meal."
"Thank you for your generosity, young man. Please listen to me. The meaning of war and peace is not... "
Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of a door being pushed open from the other side. He hurried out, but only saw Xia De disappearing at the door. He looked at the bill in his hand again, and immediately opened his mouth in surprise at the number on it.
So, what do you think
"It doesn't matter. This is not my hometown. When I find the root cause of the apocalypse and have the absolute ability to change everything, it won't be too late to do something. There is still a long way to go in the future."
Although the Carsenrick delegation came here together, not everyone moved together during the visit to the church. Unimportant members like the Foren brothers could walk around the church and participate in the church's daily activities like ordinary believers.
It was not difficult to find them. Even though the church was quite large, it was easy to spot the twins in the crowd. Xia De was just a little surprised to find that the two brothers were actually believers of the Righteous God - Peaceful Father.
When he saw the two men, Eric Foran and Charles Foran were sitting in the last row of seats in the most remote small prayer hall in the church, listening devoutly to the priest's sermon in front of them.
Shad sat next to his brother Eric, who wore a monocle on his right eye, and waited until the priest stopped speaking and the believers either stood up and left or prayed alone before he spoke:
"So it seems that the Orthodox Church hasn't discovered that you are Edwards' descendants?"
Eric nodded:
"Yes, we haven't found him yet. Our friends in Willendel have helped us a lot. But it should only be a matter of time before we find him. Although we rarely mention things about my grandfather's family, we have never avoided people we are familiar with."
As he spoke, Charles Foran took out a thick brown paper bag from the inside of his coat and handed it to Shade:
"The information you requested."
He seemed to be carrying this item with him, and it was unclear whether he was being cautious or had the same ability as Shade to carry items conveniently.
Shade put the paper bag back into his coat and put it in his pocket like a toy. Eric Foren asked hesitantly:
"Sir, do you know what happened at Green Lake the night before last? I heard that a great battle took place there, and the eyes of the Great One swept across the lake, and part of the secret of the Central Island was also revealed."
As he spoke, he bowed his head and prayed again, begging the gods to forgive them for their crime of mentioning the evil god in the church.
It seems that the intelligence network of the Forlan brothers is obviously not very strong. After all, they are not locals.
Shad replied:
"The night before yesterday, the cultists of the Drowned Cult fought with a ring sorcerer on the lake, which attracted 'attention', but the ring sorcerer dispelled the blasphemous power. At the same time, a strange tentacle man appeared on the central island to help the cultists, and then the ring sorcerer split the space with a sword, and found an island similar to the central island on the other side of the material world. Your ancestor rescued the tentacle man."
The two brothers looked at each other. This passage contained a lot of information:
"The Order of the Drowned? That's the one..."
No one dared to shout out the title of the evil god in the Orthodox Church, but Shade knew what he meant:
"Yes, the battle was fierce. Fortunately, the Great One has left his sight, but the Drowned Order should still be cooperating with one of your ancestors. It is most likely the First Lord. We talked about him in the bathroom last time."
The Fulun brothers frowned, things seemed to be getting more and more troublesome:
"So many things have happened. The Green Lake area is so dangerous... It turned out that we were right not to land on the island. I just don't know who the ring sorcerer is who can fight against the power of the cult and ancestors."
Charles, his younger brother, who wore a monocle on his left eye, muttered to himself.
"It's me."
"What?"
The two brothers looked at the man sitting on the same chair with them in astonishment. Shade looked up at the holy emblem in front of the small prayer hall with a normal expression. The miracle element here can even allow the church's ring warlocks to cast spells instantly:
"Why else would I know so much? Do you think I was just standing by and watching? It was raining heavily on Monday night, why would I go to Green Lake for no reason?"
Xia De asked back, and the Fulan brothers were speechless for a moment. However, Xia De did not come here to surprise them:
"I'm looking for you for two reasons this time. First, I need you to give me your blood. Don't rush to refuse, listen to me first. The aunt I mentioned last time, the daughter of Alphonse Edwards, the third son of the fourth generation, gave me her blood. After I used the relics to identify it, I found that her bloodline was quite abnormal. But as you know, the third son seems to be an adopted son..."
"My grandfather also mentioned it, but only once. His third brother didn't grow up with them. He came when he was five or six years old."
Eric nodded.
"So, I'm not sure whether your aunt's blood abnormality is Alphonse Edwards's own problem or the whole family's problem. I need your blood for verification."
Charles, the younger brother who wore a monocle on his left eye, looked at his elder brother and asked him to make the decision. The latter frowned and thought for a moment:
"Sir, your second thing should be to make sure we are ready to meet my aunt?"
"Yes."
"We have already discussed it. He is the elder after all. Please allow us to visit him. As for the blood matter, we will make a decision later."
"No problem. I'll leave first. In five minutes, meet me at the 'Madame Hermione Café' across the square."
With that, Shade stood up and left, leaving the two brothers to prepare their words for a while.
Five minutes passed quickly. When the Forlan brothers, who had folded their umbrellas under the eaves, pushed open the glass door of the ornately decorated cafe and listened to the bell at the door ringing with the sound of rain, they saw a familiar man sitting against the wall and the beautiful brown-haired lady next to him, who made them know at a glance that she was a descendant of Edwards.
They walked over somewhat stiffly and saw that the seats opposite them had been set with black coffee, milk and sugar. In front of Shade was hot chocolate, and in front of Megan was malt juice. It was a non-alcoholic drink with a strong taste and sweetness. When Megan ordered it just now, she said it was very healthy and good for keeping in shape.
"Good morning, aunt."
The two middle-aged men said to Megan, then pulled out a chair and sat down. Shad got up with his hot chocolate and sat down at the far window, leaving the conversation space for Edwards and the others.
This action of his greatly improved the favorability of the Forlan brothers. They looked at Shade in the distance, and the elder brother Eric Forlan lowered his voice and said with some doubt:
"Aunt, please forgive me for what I am going to say next, but how come... I feel like you are not alone..."
The sorceress looked towards Shade alertly:
"We won't discuss this issue this time."
Although the table was more than one meter long, she still had to suppress her disgust towards men:
"This time I want to talk to you about the family and what's happening now."
They talked for more than an hour in total. During this time, Shad finished his cup of hot chocolate, ordered some cream sandwich cookies, carefully studied the placement of the white napkins folded into the shape of paper cranes in the cafe, and happily teased the cafe's cat that came over to let him pet it.
When the conversation finally ended, the Forlan brothers took the initiative to pay the bill, and it seemed that the conversation went smoothly.
They said goodbye to Shad before leaving, and Shad and Megan returned to the carriage. Although Megan knew that Shad did not live in the Green Lake Hotel, she still wanted to send him back:
"The brothers said that the blood will be delivered to me this afternoon. The blood of the grandchildren of Aunt Maria, whom I know, will be delivered to your room at the Green Lake Hotel with their blood tonight. Remember to come and get it."
"Did the talks go so smoothly? I thought they would remain vigilant for a while longer."
Xia De was very satisfied with the result, and Megan smiled and said:
"After all, we are all relatives. Although the origin of the family has become a big problem now, it cannot erase the glory of the Edwards family name. Besides, isn't it because of you that they are so cooperative?"
She held Shad's hand:
"They probably think you're someone important. At a time like this, it's important to have a decent backer... Mr. Cat Without a Leash."
This is still hinting that Shade is the "God Summoner", and Shade still hasn't given a direct answer. When Jialina comes, let the witches communicate on their own.
"I hope the talks go smoothly. This way, I have met five of the eight surviving Edwards of the fifth and sixth generations."
Then he looked at Megan again and narrowed his eyes slightly:
"Maybe six... or eight."
The brown-haired lady pursed her lips:
"Don't you want to know what we talked about?"
They used magic to talk just now, so even Shad couldn't eavesdrop.
"If you tell me, I want to know; if you don't tell me, it means I shouldn't know. After all, everyone needs privacy, which is very important. I respect your privacy, just as you respect mine."