Sword of Dawn

Page 299

Just this corner is already shocking.

However, Gao Wen still believed that there was something wrong with this plan, and there were too many uncontrollable variables. Even if everything was implemented smoothly, it would not usher in the best results.

It’s just that at least at this stage, this plan still needs to be implemented—the transformation of the Church of the Holy Light is inevitable. Whether it is for social stability or for the development of the new empire, he must ensure that it has the greatest influence in the country, The sect with the most followers obeys the laws and regulations of "theocratic monarchy".

After talking about some details about the rebellious plan and the reformation of the church, Gao Wen slowly breathed out.

"That's it for today, that's all for the topic of rebelling against the plan," he leaned back in his chair, "I'm going to sort out this information, if I think of any problems, or if you think there is anything else that needs to be told to me Yes, let's continue talking."

"As you wish," Ophelia smiled, "but before I leave, I have something else to do."

"Oh? You said."

"It's the previous topic, about the reform of the church," Ophelia said, "The current situation of the female priests in the church is... embarrassing."

Chapter 0668 Guess and Clues

Hearing Ophelia's words, Gawain raised his eyebrows: "The female priest is in an embarrassing situation? What's the matter?"

"After the battle of defending the city, the church's original Holy See Knights and battle priests were severely reduced. Now they are undergoing reorganization and reorganization. The patriarch is going to transform those who pass the assessment into white knights, but there is a problem... female priests And the female knights don't seem to be very comfortable with the White Knight's... style and equipment.

"In addition, as far as I know, the main priests of the Southern Church are composed of the White Knights. Of course, they are all powerful warriors of the Holy Light. They are very reliable on the battlefield, but as a window to spread teachings, their style is a bit..."

Ophelia was a little hesitant when she said this. She seemed to feel a little entangled with the experience of a thousand-year-old disobedient, but she still said the following: "Their style is not very suitable for getting close to the people. .We tried to reopen the confessional in the church district, with white knights on duty, hoping to relieve the pressure of the people after the war, but there was little response..."

Gao Wen almost guessed what was going on.

Ophelia sighed, her tone was quite helpless: "Frankly speaking, after the people who go to the confession room know that there is a white knight inside, they are very worried that if they tell their mistakes, the people inside will jump out Hammer yourself to death - even though we both know it's impossible..."

Gao Wen couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead.

This situation does exist—I don’t know which link went wrong (it may be related to the personal style of the Patriarch). The Southern Holy Light Church has embarked on a certain point of no return since the reformation. It is based on the "religious Although there are ordinary priests and nuns, its main structure is the White Knights and the "mechanical monks" who assist the operation of the war group. This militarized organizational form is combined with government affairs The way the church is controlled ensures that the Southern Church is highly controllable and loyal, but on the other hand...

There seems to be something wrong with its style of painting.

In the southern border, during the state of war, there was no problem with such a church, but the too rigid and cold White Knights had a natural lack of "affinity", which became a shortcoming under the current situation.

And the other point mentioned by Ophelia is also a fact: the current white knight suit is not suitable for female priests, this must be redesigned.

Even without considering all the above-mentioned issues, it is necessary to properly arrange the female priests in the process of church reform. In this regard, Wright may not have mature experience. If Ophelia wants to implement any measures, Naturally, he came to ask Gao Wen for his opinion.

"The church in the north is going to be restructured, which naturally includes all priests and monks. You go to count the number of combat-type and civilian-type priestesses, and discuss a new set of organization and management methods with Wright, and show me the plan. In addition, I will also Arrange for the research department to establish a project as soon as possible to produce equipment suitable for female priests."

"Thank you for your understanding," Ophelia bowed her head in thanks. "Other than that, I have no other questions."

Gao Wen nodded: "Let's stop here today."

Ofelia stood up, and before exiting the study, she turned her head slightly to look at the bookshelf next to her, and nodded slightly with a smile.

After she left, the air next to the bookshelf immediately trembled and twisted, and Amber's figure jumped out of nowhere, yelling, "She really saw me!"

"Your stealth can't be hidden from her, didn't you know it before?" Gawain looked at the half-elf, "We have discovered you at the same time since you entered the house-but I am a little surprised that you are so quiet Waiting by the side for so long."

"I'm just curious about what you guys are talking about," Amber waved her hands, "And I'm more or less the director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, so I still have a good eye for when to interrupt and when to be quiet."

As he spoke, the half-elf showed an exclamation expression on his face: "But having said that...it's really an amazing inside story, their understanding and research on gods is really a bit scary, in fact, half of what I heard was a bit scary. I regret listening in - that Veronica doesn't mind saying this in front of me, it seems that she really wants to cooperate with us."

Gawain looked at this half-elf who said he regretted listening in, but actually looked indifferent, and couldn't help asking: "After knowing the truth about the secrets of God and the rebellious plan, are you not touched? I Remember that you claim to be a follower of the Shadow Goddess..."

"First of all, I don't claim to be, I really believe it, and secondly, I'm not an ordinary believer, I'm God's Chosen, don't believe me, I'm really God's Chosen!" Amber emphasized vigorously, then flattened her mouth and said in a low tone Come down, "To be honest, it would be a lie to say that it has not been touched. I don't believe that the goddess' kingdom of God is such a terrible place, and I don't believe that she is really full of malice towards humans... I chatted with her, she is a Very gentle God, she also taught me how to cook, how could it be like what Veronica said..."

Gao Wen was stunned when he heard Amber said that the goddess taught her how to cook, and reconfirmed that this guy's identity as God's Chosen is bullshit. However, he remembered what he had known about this half-elf for so long Seeing this guy talking about these things so naturally, and seeing her not bragging at all, Gao Wen became a little suspicious again——

Could it be true what this guy said?Or at least, she thought it was true...

But how is that possible? It is not that there is no belief in the Goddess of the Night in this world. Although this belief is rather special, believers do not have large-scale gatherings and churches, but at least there are some gods and high-ranking priests in the Dark Night Domain. They never mentioned that the Goddess of the Night is a god who can teach people how to cook... Anyway, what kind of god would do this?

"I'm a bit suspicious of what you believe in," Gao Wen said with a frown, "Then what do you think now?"

"...I want to ask the goddess and listen to her own explanation." Amber's expression became serious, and she said word by word, "Next time I come into contact with high-level shadow believers, I will also look for clues from them .In short, I can't believe what Veronica said before there is no real evidence."

At this point, she quickly added: "Of course, I believe that most of what she said is true, or at least has evidence to follow, and other gods are probably as dangerous as what she said-but the Shadow Goddess is definitely not !"

Looking at Amber with a determined face, Gao Wen finally realized one thing: this half-elf probably really believed in the Shadow Goddess—and not the kind who just believed in it just because it was free.

But this guy's usual words and deeds don't even show the slightest sign of faith.

This caused Gao Wen to fall into endless entanglements.

He had to take a deep breath to calm his entanglement, and said in a deep voice: "I respect your beliefs, but in any case, it is necessary for us to cooperate with rebels at this stage. In the long run, we will also We must be prepared for the dark future that Veronica describes, and I don't want to create divisions and misunderstandings among us on this point."

"I understand." Amber nodded, and her drooping ears raised slightly again, "Anyway, what Veronica wants to do now is just to divert human beliefs. I am the Chosen of the Night, and my beliefs are not affected. The impact of this transfer, and if one day it really reaches the worst step... that can only prove that what she said is right, and I have nothing to hesitate."

Just like Gawain knew her, this half-elf has always been aware of issues that need to be taken seriously.

Rebels and gods...

Gao Wen sighed in his heart, and the information he heard from Veronica/Ophelia today caused waves in his heart again.

What kind of existence are those gods that really exist in this world? Are they guarding this world, or are they looking forward to the latter's destruction?

Even the disobedient cannot explain the contradictory qualities of the gods, their seemingly chaotic, but sometimes rational and tendentious behavior, but can only proceed from the facts and prepare day by day for thousands of years , ready to meet the moment when the gods show their malice.

Regarding the true characteristics of the gods, Gao Wen actually had his own guesses:

Perhaps, those powerful beings are too beyond the understanding of mortals, and they can no longer be measured by simple "good and evil", because the concept of good and evil is just a concept created by mortals trapped in their own cognition.

The gods may operate in a higher and more incomprehensible logical system. Their actions to protect the world or destroy the world have nothing to do with good or evil, but have other reasons.

The second possibility is more creepy and disturbing:

God, could it be crazy?

In other words, could they be a kind of "creatures" that periodically fall into madness-when a certain "doomsday moment" comes, all the gods will turn into madness uncontrollably!

The words "this is a countdown" left behind by the two legendary powerhouses who crossed the gap and came back half-madly actually refer to the countdown for the gods to maintain their sanity...

If this is the second possibility, then Veronica is now carefully transforming the Church of the Holy Light, and trying to block the "mortal bridge" without disturbing the gods is probably really meaningless: whether the gods will start the end It has nothing to do with whether the rebels have alarmed them at all, but only a countdown.

A countdown that no one knows the exact scale of, may come to an end at any time, and is probably still ticking now.

The tide of magic is impermanent and destroys the world, but at least the monitoring satellites suspended in space can give a certain degree of early warning of it, and if the countdown to maintain sanity really exists... Gao Wen really has no way to predict it it!

At this moment, Amber's voice came from the side, waking Gao Wen up from his contemplation: "Old Zongzi... your expression is a bit scary."

Gao Wen raised his head and temporarily suppressed the complicated thoughts in his heart: "No...it's nothing. Let's not talk about this for now, let's talk about you, what's the matter?"

Amber hesitated for a moment, and then said her original purpose of coming here today: "I found a clue."

"Clues?" Gawain didn't react at first, but then he understood what the other party meant, "You found a clue about Sally Randolph?"

"He is a royal shadow guard, and he was once canonized by Francis II himself, and has a hidden noble title, so he has a noble title and is not in the normal noble lineage list," now that he has spoken, Amber He simply said it all, "His last mission was to go to the Dark Mountains to find clues to the legacy of Gondor, and the reason why he stayed in the southern border and became a thief was because he defected."

Gao Wen: "..."

"Wait a minute, the amount of information is a bit large, I want to sort it out," Gao Wen rubbed his forehead, and couldn't help muttering, "Why is there so much information today..."

"This is the information I found, you can sort it out as you read it," Amber said while taking out the roster and record file she got from Dark Crow, "I've confirmed that it is indeed my adoptive father, The names and looks match up."

Gao Wen took the information and read it carefully. There is not much content on it. After skipping the experience of Surrey Randolph in his early years, the remaining content can be read in a few minutes. Have you mentioned his previous identity and experience?"

"No, I always thought he was a native of the southern region, a poor thief... But thinking about it today, he has a high nose bridge and slightly lighter eyes, which are actually... the characteristics of northerners..."

"This country is narrow in the north and the south, and the differences between the north and the south are small. You were young back then, so it's normal that you can't tell the difference, and his identity as a defected shadow guard...is really not suitable for an ignorant child to hear," Gao said. Wen quickly finished reading the documents, put them together and put them aside, "He defected during the mission of going to the Dark Mountains to search for Gondor's heritage. This is a breakthrough... Could it be that he was looking for the Rebellious Fortress?"

"I don't know, and I can't figure it out, even if what he is looking for is really a rebellious fortress, what is it worth for him to defect?"

"That's right..." Gao Wen crossed his hands, resting on his chin, and said in a deep voice, "This is really a problem..."

Chapter 0669 Gawain's Conjecture

The clues that Amber found were somewhat beyond Gawain's expectations—he had once guessed that Surrey Randolph might be a down-and-out nobleman, or he might have been deprived of his title due to a crime and had to remain anonymous, but he never thought that he actually It was a defected royal shadow guard, but he defected during the mission of finding Gondor's heritage... This is inevitably reminiscent.

It seems that the Ansu Royal Family is not really ignorant of the secrets buried in the Dark Mountains. Although most of the relevant inheritance has been lost due to the civil strife in the Bruma Moon, they should still have some clues. At least, they know the Dark Mountains There is something in it.

Of course, the premise of this guess is that what Surrey Randolph is looking for is really a rebellious fortress, not another Gondor heritage.

"At present, we have not found any other entrances and exits in the Fortress of Disobedience. As for the entrances that have been found, there is no sign of being opened," Gawain said while thinking, "And even if he did enter the Fortress of Disobedience, there is no way to explain it. His defection—it was just an ancient scientific research base, what could be there to make a royal shadow guard betray his king?"

"I can't figure it out... Looking back now, he is really a person who never mentioned his past, and his life was a mess." Amber shook her head, her voice was a little low, "He always took me around , changing addresses frequently, forging identities, and stealing chickens and dogs under the noses of local nobles to make ends meet, most of our energy was spent on this, which made me have a very bad opinion of him for a long time... But Now that I think about it, there is a reason for his actions."

"The royal family will not let a defected royal shadow guard go so easily. They must have been looking for him in the southern border for a long time, so he has to hide in Tibet. The business related to the extraordinary is monitored by the nobles, so he can only be a thief, or occasionally accept some mercenary missions as a wanderer, and he can't contact other mercenaries for too long, in case those mercenaries The identity behind it is the black glove of a nobleman."

Hu Po flattened her mouth: "Probably that's what happened..."

Gao Wen began to ask some details about that year: "Did Pittman already be with you at that time?"

Amber scratched her hair: "Since I can remember, Pittman and my adoptive father have been friends, but I don't know exactly when they met - half-elves' memory ability in childhood is inferior to that of humans, It seems to be more serious on me, and my memory of that time is only vague."

"A defected royal shadow guard who hid in Tibet, unexpectedly made a friend like Pittman during his hiding, don't you think it's weird?" Gawain raised his eyelids, "A man who is running away from the royal family Pursuers don't normally associate with strangers unless there's a reason to do so—did your adoptive father ever mention that reason to you?"

Amber frowned: "He didn't tell me. I only heard that when the two of them were bragging, they would say that they would aspire to become the strongest combination of grand-rogues in the southern border - but the reason must be unreliable."

"You don't know, Pittman must know," Gao Wen said, "if given the chance, maybe he would be willing to say it."

Pittman, a druid who is both the eternal sleeper and the priest of the death of all things, hides many secrets behind his seemingly scruffy little old man image, and Gawain knows that he must still hide many things, among which Maybe it was about Surrey Randolph.

In the past, Pittman did not tell anyone these secrets, which may be a protective measure, but now Amber has found clues to her adoptive father, and more importantly, the former Ansu Kingship has ended, and Amber himself has even incorporated All the royal shadow guards should be able to say some things that they couldn't speak back then.

"I'll ask him," Amber nodded, "It's been so many years, it's time for him to tell me what happened back then."

"Well," Gawain thought for a while, and then said, "Another point, can you roughly determine when you were adopted by Surrey Randolph? How long after he arrived in the southern border? After a few years of incognito, Or did he have an adopted daughter by his side when he decided to defect?"

"Then I don't even know." Amber grabbed her hair again, her ears were shaking, "Why are you asking this? What did you think of?"

"A very possible hypothesis in my opinion." Gawain looked at Amber in front of him, his associative ability was fully exerted, "Have you ever thought that Surrey Randolph's defection might have something to do with you?"

"Me?" Amber pointed at herself with wide eyes, with an expression of "you're kidding me", "What did you say! I was a child at that time!"

"What if the task recorded on it is fake? What if he went to the Dark Mountains to find not some Gondor relic, but you?" Gawain pointed to the scroll on the table, "We can make a bold assumption, maybe His real mission is to find a half-blood elf with a special bloodline and hand it over to the Anzu royal family, or more extreme... The mission asked him to kill the half-blood elf, but he failed at the last minute, so everything can be explained.”

Amber stared at Gao Wen dumbfounded, as if deeply shocked by the other party's imagination, and then said after a while: "Conjecture is not guesswork, association is not imagination... You're almost making up a story, isn't it? Evidence—— Tangtang The Ansu royal family, what are they looking for a half-blood elf to do when they are full, and they even hired a royal shadow guard for this..."

"So I said, maybe it's because of your special blood. Don't forget that you only know that half of your blood is an elf. It's a mystery who the other half of your blood comes from. You know that your biological father is an elf, and do you know who your mother is? ?" Gawain tapped on the table lightly, "And don't forget a very important point: the Shadow Signet Ring."

The expression on Amber's face froze for a moment, apparently she had already recalled the origin and characteristics of that ring.

Gawain looked at her, and said slowly: "You can also use Francis II's Signet of Shadow, and you also have a ring that is exactly the same and has lost its magic power. This clue...don't you care?"

Amber thought for a while, then suddenly pressed her chest nervously, and took a breath: "Oh my god... I can't really be a remnant of the previous dynasty!!"

Gao Wen was so serious that he almost couldn't maintain his expression now: "The term remnants of the previous dynasty is not used in this way!"

"Don't correct my wording at this time," Amber waved her hand vigorously, "The possibility you mentioned really made me doubt myself a bit, it's obviously just a guess without any evidence... well, it's a little bit now Evidence, but is it possible?"

"I'm just talking about my own thoughts. I'm afraid no one knows about the specific situation except Surrey Randolph himself," Gao Wen shook his head, "But no matter what the truth was back then, even if it was true to my guess, now It doesn't make much sense now - the Ansu kingship is over, no matter what the king wanted your adoptive father to do in the south, this purpose has disappeared with the end of the dynasty, you are now free, don't think too much .”

After a moment of silence in thinking, Amber finally exhaled and smiled again: "You're right...the old royal family is gone, so why worry so much?"

She seemed to let go of some burden, and in a short time she returned to her usual carefree appearance. After the topic was over, she asked Gawain about his next arrangement: "The current order of Saint-Sunil It has been roughly stabilized, the transfer of power in all aspects and the formation of a new management structure have been completed, should you consider the next step?"

"That's right..." Gawain leaned back, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the seat, "We've stayed in this city long enough."

After knocking on the handrail a few times, he turned to Amber: "How is the situation in the east?"

"The manpower sent by the Grand Duchess Victoria has joined forces with General Maryland, and the local nobles in the eastern region are basically cooperating with the recruitment. They even put together a reserve army and consolidated the defense line of Changfeng Fortress together with the Cecil Army. .”

"As expected," Gao Wen nodded, "The nobles of the Eastern Realm should be the most salvageable group among the many corrupt nobles in the old Ansu Kingdom. The Lun family is effectively governing, and the local nobles are still very sober in the face of war. However, the reserve army they put together should not be of much use... The real elite of the Eastern Realm has been wiped out in the Holy Spirit Plain, and the only ones left are The garrison regiment of Changfeng Fortress is reliable, and the reserve troops and leading nobles from other places will not be much stronger than ordinary noble private soldiers. What else?"

Amber sorted out the information she had, and continued: "There seems to be no movement on the border of Typhon, but Maryland is worried that the other side may be secretly accumulating power, and now she is trying to collect information and be on guard against Typhon's invasion at any time.

"White Sands Mining Company has taken over the mine again, and has begun to repair the railway damaged by the giant deer. At the same time, according to your order, the engineering team will continue to extend the previous Eastern Railway, striving to open the Iron Throne to the Near Changfeng Fortress - if there is an armored train, we don't have to worry about Typhon so much.

"As for the maintenance of the Iron Throne... it will take about half a month. It lost two compartments in the arsenal section, and the power ridge and shield group of the car body were also damaged by overload. The damage is quite serious. It is located in Glenn City and Cecil City The two heavy-duty factories are working overtime to try to compress the cycle again."

"In any case, the Iron Throne must restore its combat power as soon as possible, even if only half of the train reaches the border," Gao Wen said in a deep voice, "After the war, we are short of troops, even with advanced weapons and equipment, the current defenders of Changfeng Fortress are not enough It will definitely be able to stop the organized superhuman legion of the Typhon people."

Amber frowned: "Do you think the Typhons will really go to war in this window?"

"They have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, but errors and delays in intelligence may make them miss this opportunity," Gao Wen said, "Rosetta Augustus must be paying attention to the war on the Holy Spirit Plain, but he It’s hard to know exactly how much we’ve lost in the war—whether we’ve won badly or badly, and that has a direct bearing on whether he’ll order an attack.”

The people of Typhon were waiting for Ansu to shed their blood. Gawain understood this very early on, and in fact, the plan of the great Emperor Rosetta was mostly successful—despite the variable of Cecil's rise, but On the whole, all areas of Ansu except the southern border have been severely damaged in this war. Large areas of grain production have been turned into scorched earth, a large amount of grain reserves have been polluted or burned, and a large amount of youth power has been consumed. In this situation, No matter how elite a thin southern border is, it will be stretched evenly on this huge country.

The Emperor Typhon had indeed waited until Ansu's great decline, and he would attack at this moment, once and for all—but due to the inefficiency and errors in information transmission in this era, he himself may not have had time to realize this.

Gao Wen knew that he was a ruler who was decisive enough, cautious and cunning enough. His determination with iron fist could ensure that as soon as the emperor gave the order, all the war machines of the Typhon Empire would be activated in an instant, and they would attack Changfeng Fortress with all their strength. But his prudence... If used properly, it might be able to give Cecil a chance to save his life.

He said to Amber: "We must find a way to confuse the Typhonians about Cecil's real situation, and find a way to make Rosetta Augustus overestimate the defense of Longwind Fortress and overestimate what we will keep after the war." Strength."

Amber thought for a while: "I will help General Maryland formulate a plan, let him display the message of 'Cecile's victory', and try to make Longwind Fortress show a state of abundant military strength..."

"That's not enough. Rosetta Augustus is a formidable opponent. He won't just focus on Changfeng Fortress," Gao Wen said in a deep voice. It must be a big victory with minor damage, our food reserves are sufficient, the young and middle-aged are encouraged by the victory to join the army, the resignation of the Ansu royal family must be publicized more decently, and the royal knights are almost wiped out. There is no such thing as one out of ten legions.

"So far our propagandists have done a good job in these areas, but the propaganda in the eastern region is far weaker than that in the southern region... this must be made up for immediately.