Chapter 597

Chapter 431: Literature

On the north bank of Conquer Sea, in the southern Castilian city of Trua.

During the night in Trua, there was an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. In a luxurious suite at a high-end hotel near the port, a faint light was visible. Dorothy, dressed in her pajamas, sat on the sofa in the room, reviewing the interdimensional knowledge she had recently acquired through the Wolf bl**d Association’s secret transmission and the miscellaneous records from the library. She was confirming their origins and uses.

The interdimensional knowledge she obtained consisted of two parts. The first part, “Secret Rules of Vodou,” came from a world almost indistinguishable from the Earth she previously inhabited. She had heard of Vodou before.

Vodou is a religion originating from West Africa, created by the indigenous people as a means to resist the religious invasion by European colonizers. During the colonial movement period on Earth, powerful colonizers seized the land and enslaved the indigenous people, also bringing their own religion, Christianity.

Colonizers forcibly spread Christianity among the indigenous people, forcing them to convert. However, the indigenous people did not want to abandon their original beliefs but were unable to resist the colonizers’ overwhelming military power. Thus, they devised a strategy of pretended faith. They blended their original deities with Christian gods and saints, worshiping the colonizers’ God as their own deity while incorporating their religious rituals into Christianity, preserving their original beliefs under the guise of Christianity to resist religious invasion.

This unique form of belief continued to develop and integrate various elements, eventually forming Vodou. On Dorothy’s original Earth, Vodou still thrived, even becoming the state religion in some countries.

The “Secret Rules of Vodou” in Dorothy’s possession were the experiences and rules accumulated by the West African indigenous people during their efforts to disguise their faith. Given the similarities between the current situation in Xiaotree and that of the West African indigenous people, much of the content could serve as a reference for Dorothy.

The second piece of knowledge was “The Hidden Chapter of the Amakusa Cross Tragic Church.” This knowledge originated from the world of “A Certain Magical Index” (Magical Forbidden Book), where similar content existed in Dorothy’s previous Earth.

Amakusa Cross Tragic Church is a product of Christianity entering ancient Japan. Christianity began spreading in Japan during the Warring States period. After the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the Edo period, the new government banned the spread of Christianity and persecuted Christians. Under this pressure, Christians were forced underground, becoming an underground church.

The Amakusa Cross Tragic Church, existing underground, lived under constant pursuit by the shogunate authorities, thus developing methods to conceal their faith. Over time, they created a series of covert religious activities, specializing in operations behind the scenes.

For example, they combined Christian teachings with Shintoism and Buddhism, worshipping Christian deities as gods or buddhas, and blending religious activities into everyday life. They conducted rituals and chants secretly during ordinary daily activities like conversations, dressing, walking, and eating, to mislead the shogunate while maintaining their faith in secret.

“The Hidden Chapter of the Amakusa Cross Tragic Church” describes how to simplify, hide, and integrate religious activities into daily life. Reading it thoroughly would allow one to conduct religious activities in public squares.

Although the name Amakusa Cross Tragic Church is unique to the world of “A Certain Magical Index,” similar organizations existed in ancient Japan. The Christianity in “A Certain Magical Index” is similar to real-world Christianity.

Vodou is the indigenous religion of West African people, retaining their original beliefs by worshiping Christian deities as their own gods. The Amakusa Cross Tragic Church is the Christianity of ancient Japanese Christians, adapting their beliefs by worshiping Shinto and Buddhist deities as Christian gods or saints.

Though these two religions appear contradictory, their essence is the same. Both are strategies employed under the oppression of a powerful authority to preserve their beliefs. These are methods developed spontaneously to resist covertly. Despite the different deities they revere, both provide valuable experience accumulated during resistance, greatly aiding Dorothy’s subsequent work.

“With these two pieces of information, plus the secret transmission from the Wolf bl**d Association, my references are quite rich. Now I just need to wait for detailed information about Xiaotree’s beliefs and can officially draft guidelines for pretending to convert. With so many references, this won’t be difficult at all.

“Once this happens, Vania and the other pilgrims will be safe, the people of Xiaotree will be saved, the church’s influence will expand, and I will gain a batch of spirituality. It seems like everyone wins… Does anyone really lose out in this happy ending?”

Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy pondered. After carefully considering Xiaotree’s series of events, she had an idea.

“Speaking of which, how did Xiaotree, a South Island native who doesn’t interact much with the outside world, obtain such detailed intelligence about the lack of guards on the pilgrim fleet, allowing them to launch a precise ambush?

“The timing and location were perfect. This must have been a carefully planned ambush after gathering sufficient intelligence. But church intelligence isn’t easy to obtain. This couldn’t have been divination; even I can’t break through the church’s anti-divination defenses, let alone Xiaotree.

“So… Xiaotree must have received this intelligence through some special channel. Looks like I’ll have to ask them about it later.”

Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy pondered, then shifted her focus back to Xiaotree, preparing for the next steps.

…

At this moment, Xiaotree’s main island was still enveloped in darkness. After successfully persuading Anman, Vania, Anman decided to convene the elders from each island early the next morning to discuss the pretense of conversion. He promised Vania that once a decision was reached, he would send a letter to the church and open Xiaotree’s literature to her, so she could take it to their tribe’s priest for reference in formulating a suitable pretense conversion plan for Xiaotree.

However, Dorothy didn’t want to wait that long. She immediately signaled Vania to tell Anman that if he wanted to persuade the elders during the discussion, he needed to present feasible methods right away. Otherwise, differing opinions might lead to prolonged debates, causing them to miss the optimal opportunity for conversion.

If the church’s rescue team forcibly rescued some hostages or if the fleet arrived at Xiaotree’s doorstep before they chose to convert, the sincerity would be significantly reduced, making acceptance uncertain.

Therefore, every second counted. They must release the hostages and convert before the church took action. The entire Xiaotree leadership must quickly reach a consensus. Although Priest Anman held the highest status in Xiaotree, he should also consider others’ opinions. If specific execution plans weren’t presented during discussions, it would be hard to convince everyone.