Four Hundred Eighty-Sixth Communication
Inland of Northern Ufeiga, in the capital city of Adus, Adis.
During the night, in the outskirts of Adis, within the Radiant Church… or rather, at the back of the Enlightenment Mark Temple’s hall, there was a small garden. The highest representative of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect in Adus, Muhetar, stood here, his expression serious as he gazed at the bright moon in the sky.
At this moment, not far from Muhetar, a cleric of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect suddenly rushed over hurriedly. After running up to Muhetar and bowing, the cleric respectfully spoke:
“Sir… Have you finally decided to take action?”
With a hint of excitement in his eyes, the young cleric directly addressed Muhetar, while Muhetar responded with little expression, calmly saying:
“Well, almost… I still had a bit of hope for Shadi earlier, hoping that he would remember his promise, not be swayed by power, and return under the glory of the Supreme Deity. But from tonight’s outcome, it seems Shadi still has no awareness of his own corruption…”
Muhetar sighed as he said this. The cleric beside him looked slightly fierce after hearing his words, then continued speaking:
“Shadi wants to continue being an opportunist, trying to deceive us. Unfortunately, we can no longer tolerate his disgusting behavior. He is a betrayer who does not keep his word! There is no need to keep such a betrayer around!”
The young cleric firmly stated. After listening to this, Muhetar remained unmoved and slowly replied:
“I have given Shadi ample opportunities. Since he hasn’t repented so far, there’s nothing else to do. If he doesn’t choose a side, we will help him choose one.
“Hale, from now on, strengthen the surveillance on the heretic envoy group. Do not let them have any chance to leave Adis. Inform the Holy Guardian Corps to always be ready for battle.
“After tomorrow, when the third round of negotiations ends, launch a surprise attack on the heretic envoy group. At the same time, see if Shadi will protect them. If he does, we will control Shadi and our people will take over all affairs in Adis. He only has one strong ancient ghost as his trump card, which is troublesome but not a threat.
“For the revolutionaries in Shadi’s faction, we can simply demand they surrender their resistance and hand over power. If they refuse, we will act more forcefully. For the heretic envoy group, we need not worry too much. Besides the leading nun, everyone else can be eliminated. It would be best to capture the leading nun alive for public burning…
“The achievements in Adus were hard-won. We must not let them fall back into the hands of heretics. We need to eliminate any possibility of compromise with heretics to prevent another Shadi from appearing.”
Standing in place, Muhetar slowly conveyed his orders to Hale, who listened intently. As Muhetar finished speaking, Hale’s eyes gleamed with excitement. He fervently responded:
“I understand, Sir… However, I think since we are going to act, why don’t we go all out? Why not eliminate Shadi along with the revolutionaries? That way, we could control the entire revolutionary army. After all, that guy doesn’t want to be controlled by us anyway.”
Hale directly told Muhetar, who paused slightly before continuing:
“Shadi deserves to d*e… but now is not the time. In the Adus Revolutionary Army, he has great popularity and high influence. If he is killed in Adis, the entire revolutionary army will know we were behind it. Many revolutionary groups in other cities where our influence is insufficient may break away from our control and even align with the heretic church. Therefore, Shadi cannot d*e yet. Not until we have more deeply influenced the revolutionary army.
“Our current actions are not aimed at Shadi. We just want him to make a statement. As long as the heretic envoy group is killed in Adis, the church will never accept him. Without illusions, he will have to stay with us. Once we have more deeply controlled the revolutionary army and Adis, we can deal with Shadi later…”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Muhetar gazed into the distant night and muttered, “I understand, Sir. I will arrange it immediately!”
Hale bowed again to Muhetar and quickly left. The scene was left with only Muhetar.
After Hale left, Muhetar glanced at the empty surroundings and lightly scoffed. Then he quickly left the scene.
However, he did not realize that nearby, a sharp gaze had been fixed on him for some time. As a Red Tier “Lamp” Extraordinary Being, he did not sense this gaze at all.
Inside the hidden space of the Enlightenment Mark Temple, Doro stood in the simple temple garden, focusing on the direction Muhetar had left. Ever since Muhetar returned to the Enlightenment Mark Temple, Doro had been closely monitoring him from the hidden space, gathering intelligence that would normally be impossible to obtain. Doro had heard every word of Muhetar and Hale’s conversation clearly. Now, Doro knew exactly what Muhetar and his group were planning and understood that Vania and herself were in danger.
“This is bad… The patience of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect members is so poor. They want to tear off the mask now. To force the revolutionary army to stand with them, they are planning to directly attack the church’s envoy group in Adis. These guys are crazy!”
Standing in the hidden space’s garden, Doro frowned and thought seriously. She hadn’t expected the Savior’s Incarnation Sect to be so radical, actually willing to k*ll church envoys. Initially, they only planned to use hired bandits indirectly, and they didn’t expect a bandit group to completely annihilate the envoy group, only to scare them off.
This time, they wanted her to personally intervene and directly eliminate the church envoy group. The diplomatic consequences would be severe, almost forcing the church to send troops. Muhetar and his group were essentially pulling the entire Adus Revolutionary Army down with them.
Doro originally thought that even if the Savior’s Incarnation Sect considered attacking the envoy group, they wouldn’t do it so directly. If they truly wanted to oppose the church, they would try to drag things out and prepare. But she didn’t expect them to actually want to do it so directly, without considering the consequences. This made Doro feel very troubled.
“A bunch of lunatics… Unreasonable lunatics…”
Doro exclaimed, encountering these irrational fanatics, her previous estimations were greatly off. Now, she needed to think of a response.
According to those guys’ arrangements, the entire envoy group is under surveillance. With a Red Tier ‘Lamp’ watching, escape is impossible. And if they don’t escape… they will have to face the inevitable direct confrontation.
“In Adis, besides a lot of chalk and black earth, the Savior’s Incarnation Sect also has Muhetar, a Red Tier extraordinary being. The bodyguards around Vania are powerful, but they are no match for a Red Tier. Even with me and Neve, it won’t change anything. Under absolute power, whether it’s a sneak attack or direct confrontation, there is no chance of winning.”
Frowning, Doro pondered desperately. Due to the mad actions of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect, they now had to confront them directly in Adis. But given the disparity in strength, Doro was not optimistic about such a conflict.
In Doro’s view, they couldn’t just fight alone against Adis; they needed allies. And at this moment, the only ally that could help them was Shadi, who had always maintained neutrality.
“However, Shadi is not yet our ally, so we must find a way to win him over.”
With this thought, Doro quietly closed her eyes and used prayer to connect via information channels to Vania, who was still in the palace negotiation hall.
…
Late at night, in the palace negotiation hall of Adis, the second round of negotiations was nearing its end.
Due to the mid-round withdrawal of members of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect, there were no results this time. Without one party, only the church faction and the revolutionary army faction exchanged meaningless opinions.
Around the large round table in the negotiation hall, Vania sat silently, her expression focused as she watched the revolutionary army representative speak. She listened carefully when suddenly, a familiar voice echoed in her mind. After hearing this voice, her eyes widened slightly.
“The Savior’s Incarnation Sect… they actually want to do this directly… How could this be…”
After hearing Doro’s voice in her mind, Vania’s expression showed disbelief. She suppressed her shock and listened calmly to Doro’s message, then her expression turned serious. She then turned her gaze to the other end of the large round table, where General Shadi of the revolutionary army was sitting in military uniform.
As time passed, both the church faction and the revolutionary army faction persisted in the doomed negotiations until the second round officially ended. They followed etiquette to conclude the unsuccessful meeting. Just as both sides were preparing to leave, Vania walked towards Shadi amidst the surprised gazes of others.
“Nun Vania, is there something else you need? Did you have something you couldn’t say during the meeting?”
Looking at Vania standing in front of him, Shadi asked curiously. Vania answered straightforwardly:
“No, this isn’t about the negotiations. I just want to give some gifts to Mr. Shadi before I leave Adis soon.”
Vania politely addressed Shadi. Hearing her words, Shadi paused slightly and then laughed:
“Hehe, Nun Vania, you brought us many important supplies when you came to Adis. That was already a great gift. Now you want to give us more gifts, making us feel quite awkward…”
“Mr. Shadi flatters me. The supplies we brought were just part of our duty as servants of the Supreme Deity. They don’t count as a big gift. What I want to give this time is not material like before, but a small keepsake. This keepsake is not for the revolutionary army, but for you, Mr. Shadi.”
Vania continued politely to Shadi. Shadi’s expression was one of surprise after hearing her words.
“For me?”
“Yes, please accept this.”
While saying this, Vania took out a brand new book and handed it to Shadi. After taking it, Shadi scanned the cover and found it was a collection of folk stories from the Main Continent called “Peter’s Story Collection.”
“What is this…”
“As you can see, this is a popular collection of folk stories from the Main Continent. It contains many classic folk stories from our side. Reading it will give you a deeper understanding of the Main Continent. I believe the premise for mutual understanding is mutual knowledge.”
With a slight smile, Vania said to Shadi. Hearing her words, Shadi was momentarily stunned, then smiled and accepted the book.
“So it’s like this. Well, I’ll accept it first and read it later.” With this polite response, Shadi accepted the book Vania offered. Those around were puzzled by Vania’s action, while others had their own thoughts.
“Peter’s Story Collection,” although it looks like a collection of folk stories, many of these stories contain religious elements. There are numerous folk tales about the Three Saints, though most aren’t recognized by the Sacred Summit. Despite this, they are widely circulated and influential. They are often the first books many common people read before encountering the Glorious Holy Scripture. Therefore, many people present thought Vania was subtly spreading the teachings of the Three Saints to Shadi through this book, as giving the scripture itself would be too obvious.
…
Outside the palace, on the streets of Adis, Shadi rode in a carriage back to his residence. Inside the carriage, he examined the thick storybook under the light, his expression showing a hint of doubt.
“Setute, can you see anything special about this book?”
Gazing at the book, Shadi spoke directly, seeking advice from the ancient ghost who always accompanied him. This time, however, the ancient ghost did not respond immediately as it usually did, causing Shadi to furrow his brow.
“Setute?”
Seeing that Setute did not respond immediately, Shadi continued hesitantly. In this instance, Setute’s spirit body slowly appeared in the space, though its mummified face seemed to show a hint of seriousness. Seeing this, Shadi asked:
“What’s wrong, Setute?”
“Nothing, I just heard a thunderbolt outside during the negotiations…” Setute said in a deep voice. Hearing this, Shadi became even more puzzled.
“Thunder? It seems there was. Is there a problem?”
“It doesn’t seem like a stormy day… and the direction of the thunder… in that case…” Setute murmured, as if thinking deeply. Watching Setute like this, Shadi continued to ask:
“In that case, what? Did you think of something, Setute?
“Mmm… sort of. I thought of something, but it might be overthinking…”
