The Four Hundred Eighty-Seventh Choice
On the streets of Adis, inside the private carriage of Shadi’s carriage, the semi-transparent ghost-like mummy spirit looked at the thick book in Shadi’s hand, with flickering flames in his eyes as if he was scrutinizing something. After seeing Setute’s performance, Shadi asked again.
“Can you tell what’s wrong with this book?”
“Hmm… Open it and take a look now, but don’t turn too many pages, just flip to the first page.”
Setute suggested to Shadi, who then directly opened the book titled “Peter’s Story Collection” and turned to the first page after the cover. What appeared before him was just an ordinary table of contents with nothing special.
“Don’t turn to any other pages, wait for a moment…”
Seeing the ordinary table of contents, Setute continued, listening to Setute’s words, Shadi did not turn the page, letting the book page appear in front of him. Soon after, the blank part on the page suddenly changed, and a line of Ufeiga text appeared out of nowhere.
“Hello, Mr. Shadi.”
“This… is an Extraordinary Item?” Looking at this scene, Shadi couldn’t help but frown and say. Meanwhile, Setute floating beside him spoke straightforwardly.
“To be more precise… This is a derivative of an Extraordinary Item. It’s a derivative of the ‘Traveling Book’, capable of exchanging text with the Traveling Book and other linked derivatives. In this land, this method of communication was once popular among the upper echelons…”
Listening to Setute’s words, Shadi couldn’t help but be secretly startled. Of course, he knew what Setute meant by referring to this land in ancient times. Thousands of years ago, during the ancient period when the powerful dynasty of ancient Northern Ufeiga flourished, before the Three Saints’ faith or the Supreme Deity’s faith had reached Northern Ufeiga, the extraordinary ancient civilization on this land emerged from itself.
“This… can communicate with other Traveling Books and their derivatives… So this is a relic of the First Dynasty?” Shadi continued to ask, and Setute responded next.
“It can’t be called a relic… At least, it can be said that it’s a product influenced by the First Dynasty’s extraordinary technology. However, due to the lack of various resources in this era, such products are mostly unusable. For the nun to use this thing to communicate with you, she has invested quite a bit…”
After hearing Setute’s words, Shadi scanned the book in his hand again, and after looking at the text, he replied.
“The nun of the Church gave me this under the pretense of giving a gift, it seems she wants to talk about some topics that can’t be publicly discussed. Shadi, how can I use this to communicate with her?”
“It’s simple, just write down what you want to respond with a pen. But don’t write yet, wait until she tells you how to use it. If you write now, it would be equivalent to telling her that you already know how to use this thing, which will expose your unusual knowledge of the dynasty. In such situations, it’s better to pretend to be ignorant.”
Setute reminded Shadi, listening to Setute’s words, Shadi wasn’t in a hurry anymore. He silently watched the page in front of him and waited. Finally, after a while, new words appeared on the page.
“Mr. Shadi, I hope to use this tool to have a more discreet conversation with you, discussing things that shouldn’t be said in public. If you wish to respond, simply write down your response with a pen. This time, I am communicating with sincere intentions and have important news to inform you.
“The only function of this book in your hands is remote communication. You can thoroughly check it, there’s no need to worry that I might use it against you.”
With great interest, Shadi read the words that appeared on the page, stroking his chin, he thought for a moment, took out his pen, and wrote directly on the blank space of the page.
“I have seen what you wrote, Sister Vania, let’s talk. Why do you want to discuss this with me in this form?”
Using neat handwriting, Shadi finished writing his response, then he began waiting again. Soon, new words appeared before him.
“It’s about the Savior’s Incarnation Sect, Mr. Shadi. Do you think you can cooperate with them to bring a bright future to Adus together?”
Looking at Sister Vania’s words, Shadi’s expression showed no surprise. He immediately responded by writing.
“Lord Muhetar extended a helping hand to our revolutionary army at a critical moment, we cooperated with them to overcome many difficulties, and we have achieved today’s success. In the past, it was like this, and in the future, why not?” Shadi wrote on the page, being cautious of Sister Vania, he didn’t directly answer her question.
“So… Mr. Shadi, do you trust the Savior’s Incarnation Sect? But if you truly trusted them, why would this negotiation be delayed until now? If the revolutionary army and the Savior’s Incarnation Sect were of one heart, everything should have been resolved long ago…” New words appeared on the page, Shadi looked at the text and felt displeased, then he wrote back.
“Are you secretly communicating with me alone to sow discord between me and Lord Muhetar? Sister Vania…”
“No, I’m just stating facts, Mr. Shadi. The gap between you and the Savior’s Incarnation Sect is no longer a secret to most people in this city. I understand your difficult position. Your hesitation is to maintain balance between us and the Savior’s Incarnation Sect, to maintain this fragile status quo through silence. I understand your approach. Perhaps, for someone like you who doesn’t want Adus to suffer war again, this is the safest way.
“But you should also know that the conflict between us and the Savior’s Incarnation Sect is irreconcilable, this balance cannot last. It will soon be broken. Then, you will have to make a choice. Now, I want to remind you, seize the final opportunity for self-choice.”
Sister Vania’s words appeared before Shadi’s eyes, looking at the text, Shadi couldn’t help but be slightly stunned, then he quickly wrote back.
“The final choice opportunity? What do you mean? Does the Sacred Summit Church give us a final ultimatum?”
“No, those who will act are not us, but the members of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect. I have received intelligence that they plan to attack me and all the other envoys tomorrow. They intend to k*ll us in Adus to force the Church’s stance and your stance. If they succeed, there will be no compromise between the Sacred Summit and you. You will be forced onto the Savior’s Incarnation Sect’s warpath, accelerating towards war.”
Words like these appeared before Shadi, reading them, he felt a tightness in his heart, stunned for a while, then he wrote back.
“You said Lord Muhetar plans to act forcefully against you? Where did you get this intelligence from?”
“The source of this intelligence involves secrets related to the ‘Lamp’, so I cannot disclose it directly. But I can confirm that it is absolutely accurate.”
“Sister Vania, if you don’t clarify the source of the intelligence and provide corresponding evidence, it will be hard for me to believe your word…” Shadi wrote seriously on the page, and on the other end of the page, Sister Vania responded quickly.
“I naturally have evidence, Mr. Shadi. Perhaps you don’t know, Muhetar and his group have long been annoyed by your ambiguous stance. To tie you and the entire revolutionary army to their side, they have done many things behind your back. For example, during our journey by train to Adus, we were ambushed by a gang of bandits.” Vania’s words appeared on the page, and Shadi wrote in surprise.
“You were ambushed on the way here? This wasn’t mentioned before, right?”
“After we defeated the bandits, we interrogated them and found out their employer was someone from the Adus Revolutionary Army. We didn’t mention this directly because it would only benefit the Savior’s Incarnation Sect in formal settings, making negotiations even more difficult…
“After we confirmed the results of the interrogation pointing to the revolutionary army, we immediately used divination methods to verify it. Surprisingly, the divination succeeded without any obstacles. Mr. Shadi, the ease with which important information about the revolutionary army can be divined should make you realize its seriousness…”
Vania’s words continued to appear on the page, and Shadi’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“The revolutionary army’s information can be easily divined? Impossible… Our counter-divination has always been handled by Muhetar and his group. It worked well when we fought Baruch…”
“Just because it worked well doesn’t mean it’s running smoothly. If the Savior’s Incarnation Sect is controlling the revolutionary army’s counter-divination, they can choose not to run it, exposing the revolutionary army’s information directly. This makes it easy for us, who were ambushed, to divine the mastermind behind the ambush. The revolutionary army is deeply influenced by the Savior’s Incarnation Sect, and they control many areas indistinguishably. With slight manipulation, they can guide the divination results to point to the revolutionary army. In general, the victims would blame you directly. Whether you’re willing to continue negotiating under such risks is another issue.
“But… the Savior’s Incarnation Sect underestimated our determination and my judgment. I wasn’t scared by the ambush tactics, nor did I lose my judgment because of their tricks. I still came to Adus and negotiated with you without prejudice.
“The Savior’s Incarnation Sect has been privately acting without informing you, attempting to destroy the peace in Adus through force, even terminating the revolutionary army’s divination defense, putting the entire revolutionary army’s information at risk of being leaked. This is undoubtedly a betrayal. Do you still hesitate to deal with the traitors, Mr. Shadi?
“If you don’t believe me, you can immediately perform a divination to check the current important information of the revolutionary army. See if the revolutionary army’s counter-divination still exists. Of course, I know that ‘Enlightenment’ is precious, and you may be reluctant to use valuable ‘Enlightenment’ for such verification. Therefore, we can provide you with an ‘Enlightenment’ storage item. As long as you agree, we will deliver it to you via a secret channel in the morning.
A series of words continuously appeared on the page, reflecting in Shadi’s eyes. After reading them, Shadi pondered for a long time without speaking. Meanwhile, Setute spoke with great interest.
“Turn off the counter-divination? Hmph… Interesting. It seems those guys really can do such things. Once turned off, restarting it requires extra consumption. If they consider you and your subordinates unnecessary to protect, there’s no need to spend effort protecting your information. After all, if you become enemies, they will still be blocked by your own counter-divination, which is inconvenient.
“I think… you need to verify it. If the revolutionary army really can’t resist retrieval, it proves that the Savior’s Incarnation Sect’s lunatics no longer care about you. Of course, to verify, it’s best to do it yourself. If the storage item provided by others has any tricks, you could be in trouble…”
Setute muttered, listening to his words, Shadi’s face became extremely serious. After a long silence, he wrote back on the page.
“I heard your suggestion. When I return, I will verify it. This doesn’t require your storage item. If the verification result matches what you said, I will contact you again.”
…
Afterward, Shadi rode his carriage back to the temporary residence near the camp. In the study room of this temporary residence, Shadi instructed his subordinates to stand guard outside and closed the door.
Then, Shadi took out a storage item containing “Enlightenment” and another containing “Lamp”. After a simple ritual, he consumed the spirituality within the storage items to perform a divination. The target of the divination was himself, the leader of the revolutionary army. The result quickly showed that the divination was successful, and Shadi’s casually asked questions were correctly answered.
Standing in front of the desk, Shadi looked at the divination result with a heavy expression. After a while, he sat back in the chair behind the desk, took out a storybook, and opened a page, writing on it.
“Respected Sister Vania, my divination test is over. The result is as you said. The revolutionary army’s information is unprotected, Muhetar betrayed us…”
After finishing, Shadi held the pen and waited quietly for the response to appear. Soon, he received it.
“I’m glad you have a clearer understanding of the current situation, Mr. Shadi. Now, you probably realize that the members of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect are untrustworthy. Cooperating with them won’t lead to good results.
“Tomorrow, they plan to kidnap your stance by attacking us. Now, you still have the chance to choose your own stance. For the victory of the revolution, for the future of the people of Adus, and for the peace of twenty million people, please make your choice.”
Sister Vania’s words were filled with sincerity, Shadi felt as if he could see the white-robed nun speaking to him with a devout tone. This made him mutter to himself with a smile.
“Truly worthy of being a famous figure in the Church… Such fame at a young age, it’s not empty praise…”
Shadi sighed, then he picked up the pen and wrote further on the page.
“I am willing to stand with you for the future of Adus and the success of the revolution, but… peace is hard to achieve. There’s no need to mention the conflict tomorrow. My estrangement from Muhetar may become the fuse for another civil war in Adus.”
Shadi wrote, and soon, Sister Vania’s questions appeared again.
“Another civil war in Adus? Could it affect so deeply?”
“Of course. Through long-term cooperation, the Savior’s Incarnation Sect has deeply influenced the entire revolutionary army. Currently, in various regions of Adus, many revolutionary army units are more influenced by the Savior’s Incarnation Sect than by my faction.
“Looking at the current Adus, more than half of the revolutionary army units are influenced by the Savior’s Incarnation Sect, and a quarter of them can be fully controlled by Muhetar. If Muhetar gains the loyalty of many swing units, this war will be large and cruel. But for the future of Adus, we can only endure another round of sacrifices.”
Shadi wrote heavily about the current pessimistic situation, and soon, Sister Vania responded.
“Can’t a large-scale war be avoided? If we swiftly resolve Muhetar in tomorrow’s conflict, could there be a turning point?”
“Swiftly resolving Muhetar? I must be frank. Unless Sister Vania can persuade the Sacred Summit to send high-ranking figures like an Archbishop to rush to Adus, we have no chance of defeating Muhetar. At most, we can withdraw with minimal casualties. He is an Extraordinary Being at the Red Tier level, not someone we can easily confront. Even if we defeat Muhetar, it won’t stop the war.
“When I formally clash with Muhetar in Adus tomorrow, the conflict will immediately spread throughout Adus. The revolutionary army units stationed in various regions, especially those loyal to the Savior’s Incarnation Sect, will immediately launch attacks on units loyal to me. Regardless of the outcome of our confrontation with Muhetar—whether we defeat him or he defeats us—a large-scale war in Adus will be inevitable.
“This… is also the main reason why I have been hesitant to defy Muhetar and align myself with you. Because regardless of the outcome of the confrontation, the revolutionary army and Adus will pay another round of price.”
Sitting at his desk, Shadi wrote on the page, his eyes filled with solemnity.
