Chapter 163
Wow, even blasphemers see this.
People always need to compromise. Hebe pins the sin of sloth on the Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church might react strongly; but if she can prove that certain branches of the Orthodox Church are actively undermining the boundaries of the world and destroying the foundation of stability, Orthodox Church will find sloth to be no big deal.
Even blasphemy has degrees of severity.
If the latter is true, then Joan of Arc of Arc's killing was justified.
If she doesn't kill them, other permanent members of the Security Council will take action to help the Orthodox Church face.
Just like this excommunication. Although Gaul suffered heavy losses, with 50,000 priests killed, nearly 5,000 priests still survived.
To put it bluntly, these five thousand surviving clergymen are all qualified to become cardinals in the future.
Why? Because they survived extermination, because they proved their innocence, and because they proved their dedication to their duty!
The soldier chuckled.
Old Li laughed too, "So, Blanckug unintentionally helped us solve a big problem."
The soldier's smile faded slightly, "It wasn't unintentional. Blanckug said it on purpose for us to hear."
He reached out and tapped the blue software.
Why did Blanckug switch to Cathay's office software for the meeting at the last minute?
Old Li remained silent. "If that's the case, then Blanckug's words are not credible..."
"No, it's believable," the soldier said. "Absolutely believable."
The soldier glanced at the screen.
He knew the seating arrangement on the Blanckug Island Council and thought that Hebe was probably a wise woman, perhaps serving as Secret Councilor or treasurer.
"Listen to who Blanckug will be representing at the UN General Assembly next month."
But then I heard Toyokawa Shoko's voice coming from the other end of the screen.
"The position of Blanckug's plenipotentiary representative is now in your hands."
"Our Continuance Director, Ms. Morgan Le Fey."
The man with the sharp, hooked features sighed. As expected, this was a formidable old adversary.
He walked over and turned on the light in the room.
The incandescent light illuminated the resolute angles of his face and the name tag on his chest.
—"Chongyue".
239 Mycenae Expedition Team
On the Mediterranean Sea coast, in the Peloponnese Peninsula, a scientific expedition team is conducting research.
Their goal was to find the Mycenae civilization that had been lost there.
This information comes from the now-defunct and collapsed Gaul Orthodox Church, and after multiple verifications, it has been confirmed to have a 40% probability.
This research team was composed of officials from multiple countries, including not only Gauls, but also members of the Albion Special Inspection Agency, and even a special observer from Aurora... Upon closer inspection, wow, it can be said that almost all five permanent members of the Security Council sent personnel.
The reason for doing this is that since World War II, too much history has been lost to history.
When a country loses its history, it means that the country and its civilization will be forgotten by the world.
—From then on, they were lost in the "Secret History," also known as the Lostbelt.
What's most terrifying is that this loss and being forgotten doesn't happen overnight, but rather it happens naturally.
Only those who have attained the Twilight Realm can retain their knowledge through their achievements and recognize the existence of the "Secret History".
Most people are unaware that this phenomenon is occurring.
For example, the lost Egyptian lands —for North Africa and even the countries along the Mediterranean Sea coast, the land that is now Egypt was once a vast desert called the Sahara.
There are no magnificent pyramids, nor obelisks or sphinxes.
Only endless yellow sand and the eternally swirling storms remain.
However, after Hebe completed her conquest of the Lostbelt, the once barren Northern Sahara Sand Sea was transformed into Oasis Fertile Land overnight, and the Nile River changed from turbid to clear.
An Ancient Great Power suddenly emerged.
For the Ascended of the Twilight Realm, the appearance of Egypt was merely a novelty that had occurred a few months prior.
But for ordinary people around the world, and for those Ascended beings who can only reach the highest rank of Daylight...
History, culture, and legend all prove that Egypt (or as they call it, Kemet) has indeed existed here for thousands of years, and they will continue to exist here.
This is why the world's nations are so uneasy.
Having been accustomed to being chess players, they suddenly realized that not only the world, but even history, is a chessboard for higher-ups to vie for power.
Hebe and Eris are Heavenly Beings who sit opposite each other across the chessboard, and who, if dissatisfied, will reach out and disrupt the entire board before starting the game again.
Having realized this, the twilight states dared not make any more moves.
This is why Morgan was not held accountable by other officials after the war.
Everyone was maintaining a balance of power and keeping each other in check, but then Morgan jumped out and started getting restless, not staying in Western Europe. She went to South Seas one day and to Bharata next... That was one thing, but before you knew it, she was fighting another high-ranking Ascended!
Can you understand the despair that wells up in your heart when you see the other side responding with missiles while you're still pressing the Nuclear Button and threatening each other?
As Morgan and Joan of Arc clashed with each other through imagery and symbolism, alarms sounded repeatedly throughout the nations.
Fortunately, the Skyflint's Excommunication arrived, and Morgan was given Yellow Card and sent off.
From that time onward, the twilight of nations shared a consensus: Morgan's death was not far off.
With such a huge commotion, the "Heavenly Beings" who can obfuscate and Closed Loop on the secret history must have already turned their attention to us.
No matter how powerful a nation may be, its achievements will be lost when a country, a civilization, or a period of history is erased.
Of course, besides Morgan, Albion also has Arthur, the Eternal King who wields the Relics of Authority, the Sword in the Stone, and is still at the height of his power.
Over a long period of time, Albion has deeply embedded his existence into this world.
Any study of Western European History, or even Global Modern History, cannot bypass the existence of Albion.
To erase Albion is almost unimaginable.
It is precisely because of this irreplaceable nature that Albion is a member of the Five Permanent Council Members, and the other countries are largely the same.
Currently, only the Republic of Zhendan and the Egyptian Dynasty can trace their history back to the First History.
The United States Federation was a relatively short-lived nation, but it united the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
—After uniting the ancient empires and Indian Native System of Central America, it was able to meet the needs of the United States Federation.
The United States Federation does not trace its history back to the First History because they cannot, but the European nations that inherited the name of Rome suffer greatly.
Theoretically speaking, the Roman Civilization, which reached its zenith, could not have appeared out of thin air; there must have been an earlier origin.
But what is it called, where is it, and what are its characteristics? We know nothing about it.
This is why European countries are so enthusiastic about archaeology and history. Once they can prove the existence of civilizations before the Roman era, they can naturally trace their history back to the First History.
Therefore, if the "Heavenly Beings" who influence the secret history want to take action against them, the price they will pay will be very heavy.
In the preceding era of Hebe, the Mycenae civilization predates the Greek Civilization by nearly a thousand years and is an important component of the Aegean civilization.
It inherited and developed the Minoan Civilization, highly valued military force, and can be considered the last glimmer of the Ancient Greek Bronze Age.
Most Greek Myths and Legends, including Homeric Epics, are set in this era.
In Homeric Epics, it is described that Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae and leader of the Greek army, used the Trojan Horse Strategy to trick Troy into opening its gates. The Greek Allied Forces then breached the fortified city, entered it, and engaged in widespread looting, burning, and killing, leading to Troy's downfall.
One of the Trojan princes fled in haste overnight, and his offspring were Romulus and Remus.
Of course, that was in Hebe's previous life.
In this present world, Greek Civilization has vanished, not to mention the ancient Mycenae and Crete.
At this time, the expedition team was crossing the famous Corinth Canal.
The Roman Emperor Nero attempted to excavate this canal in 67 AD, at the beginning of the Third History, but it was not until the 19th century that it was successfully excavated using industrial technology.
The reason is simple: the terrain here is a bit problematic—the canal is only 6.3 kilometers long, but the difference between the horizontal line and the shore is as much as 90 meters, making it the deepest canal in the world.
With the development of the times, this canal, which is eight meters deep and twenty-four meters wide at its widest point, can no longer meet the needs of trade.
"In the past, ships had to sail along the coast, and it was very dangerous to go around the Peloponnese Peninsula, so it was necessary to build a canal," Leμian whispered to Fiammetta. "However, now ships can sail on oceans, and the canal requires constant maintenance, so it is not cost-effective in terms of operating costs."
"So now this place has become a tourist attraction..." Fiammetta said listlessly.
"That's right. According to statistics, about 11,000 ships pass through this canal every year, the vast majority of which are sightseeing boats," Leμian with great interest.
After the Special Inspection Department Team was disbanded, Mostima was summoned directly by the Throne Hall, while the remaining two were suspended from duty and placed on standby.
Later, Mostima was recruited by Iron Agravain and entered a deeper Secrecy Sequence; while they were transferred from the Special Inspection Department to become agents of the Albion Royal Archaeological Society.
Not long ago, news came from Gaul that traces of what appeared to be early Roman civilization had been discovered, and Albion was notified to send a joint scientific expedition.
Normally, this kind of thing would just be a routine notification, but influenced by Morgan, Albion actually sent people—albeit not many, only four or five.
The Gaul, realizing they had shot themselves in the foot, decided to go all the way and directly notified the other countries to form Joint Expeditionary Team.
After crossing the canal, everything around became desolate, with rolling hills and a bleak landscape.
Occasionally, you might see a few small villages, but they are sparsely populated.
We finally arrived at the Rest Area around 2 p. m.
The archaeological teams were subtly separated by nationality, each forming its own group, with the Gaul naturally having the largest number of members.
Leμian and Fiammetta were too lazy to deal with the Gaul. They called to their companions, who were also from Albion, and were about to sit down for a meal when they saw the observer from Cathay casually follow them over.
The other person was holding a bowl of instant noodles and very naturally asked to share a meal with them.
"This is unlike the people of Cathay we know," Leμian smiled. "I thought all Cathay people were excellent cooks."
"Oh dear, these are all stereotypes, stereotypes!" The man wearing sunglasses and with a folding fan tucked into his waistband complained. "These past two days I've been eating instant noodles with Chili Mama, or Chili Mama with canned chickpeas—and they're cold. Don't laugh, though. Right now, you're sitting across from me Stargazy Pie, and I've eaten every last bit of it."
"Mr. Wu is quite humorous."
"Actually, my surname isn't Wu..."
The man codenamed "Wuyou" grumbled inwardly, but obediently sat down to eat his fish and chips.
Even if Albion Cuisine isn't great, it's still better than instant noodles.
While they were eating, Fiammetta came over with a map.
They chatted openly and naturally, and Wuyou craned his neck to watch, but Fiammetta only glanced at him and said nothing.
After all, the other party represents the Republic of Zhendan...
The map marked the next few targets, some a dozen kilometers away and others several tens of kilometers away.
The leader on the Gaul side is still discussing the itinerary.
Where do you think they will choose?
"Shouldn't it be from near to far?" Leμian tilted her head. "Anyway, we're not sure which one is the correct target, are we?"
Fiammetta nodded and looked at Wuyou.
"Do the observers have any objections?"
"This is just my humble opinion."
"Look at the farthest point, that small mountain dozens of kilometers away. There's an ancient road next to it, and it's easy to defend and difficult to attack. If I were the City-State Monarch of this Mycenae city-state, I would definitely ambush a bunch of troops here... Sorry, sorry, I misspoke."
Wuyou coughed once. "Build Fortifications here, or a small town."
"The hill is indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack, but where will the water come from?" Fiammetta countered. "It's not easy to get water on a hill, is it?"
"That's true, but European Towns in that era were small. Natural springs or reservoirs were sufficient," Wuyou replied naturally. "That's why legends of Pure Water Spirit are so widespread in Europe, since people throughout history and across the world have been accustomed to throwing coins into reservoirs."
"Moreover, the location of this place is excellent."
Wuyou took off the fan from his waist, but instead of opening it, he gestured diagonally across the map.
This place is located near the Isthmus of Corinth, at the junction of land and water.
If the information provided by the Gaul is correct, then Mycenae should be characterized as "wealthy" and "rich".
The problem now is that there are no abundant mineral resources in the area.