The Faith Order Surrenders
The First Apostle no longer concealed the truth from them, leading them to the small room where they saw the 'Venerable Lord' sleeping within the power field of the Enlightened Sanctuary. The group felt deeply saddened.
Upon seeing their 'Venerable Lord' in this state, the other apostles, despite their resentment, lost the will to continue fighting.
The First Apostle spoke up, saying, "'Venerable Lord's' physical condition is very poor. If it weren't for the special force field of the Enlightened Sanctuary, he might already be gone."
After thinking it over, the apostles finally decided to surrender to the Expeditionary Army.
Soon, the Third Apostle went to the Expeditionary Army's camp again.
This time, his attitude was even more humble than the first time.
He told Santos that the Faith Order was willing to accept the Expeditionary Army's surrender terms, but hoped for some leniency.
"Our 'Venerable Lord's' health may not be able to support a long journey, so a few of us can represent the high command of the Faith Order to travel to your territory."
Mizhene, upon learning of this, was deeply shocked and equally saddened.
Seeing this, Santos readily agreed, "His Faith Order Duke has granted me the authority to act expediently. Since your 'Venerable Lord' is indeed physically unable to travel far, he is naturally not required to accompany the army to the territory."
However, this means that the others will also have to return to our territory with our army and await my lord's decision.
Do you have any further objections to this?
The Third Apostle shook his head. "We have no objections. We'll leave it to you, as long as you, General, fulfill your promise to us and don't harm our poor followers."
"Don't worry, this is only natural."
The Third Apostle sighed, then looked at Mizhene: "While we are away, I'll trouble you to keep an eye on Venerable Lord Mystic!"
Mizhene nodded quickly. He still respected these apostles, even though he didn't agree with their management philosophy of the Faith Order.
With the apostles' decision to surrender, the believers on the other side of the Faith Order readily accepted it.
These faithful followers of the Faith Order were indeed extremely loyal. Even after experiencing such brutal battles and sacrifices, they readily surrendered without complaint after receiving orders from several apostles.
Seeing this, Santos became wary of the Faith Order again; such a strong psychological dependence was indeed unusual.
Unlike the relationship between ordinary lords and their subjects, even Duke could not possess such authority in the Golden Sunflower Family's territory.
With the formal surrender of the Faith Order, the Expeditionary Army immediately moved into some of the Faith Order Headquarters and began to occupy and collect what they needed.
As for the Faith Order's wealth and property, the Expeditionary Army left it to the Faith Order to manage, with the support of Mizhene's troops.
The Expeditionary Army would also send people to the Faith Order's library and Workshops, as well as the Faith Order's farms that grew large quantities of high-quality, cold-resistant plants, to ensure their preservation.
Fortunately, the Faith Order didn't have any ulterior motives and readily handed over the data and technology needed by the Expeditionary Army.
The Faith Order's technical personnel were very cooperative, and the priests who possessed the relevant skills and knowledge proactively reported to the Expeditionary Army, demonstrating great cooperation.
Seeing this, Santos was glad that he had chosen to let the Faith Order surrender voluntarily.
If the Faith Order does not surrender voluntarily, it will be difficult to get what you want from these Faith Order. Many of the Faith Order's techniques are in the hands of these people and are not written down.
After confirming that there were no further issues with surrendering, Santos personally went to the Enlightened Sanctuary where the apostles were residing.
At this time, in addition to Santos, Mizhene and the Expeditionary Army's medical personnel also arrived.
Santos also wanted to see the Faith Order's holy site and, incidentally, have the medical staff check on the true condition of that 'Venerable Lord'.
The situation was indeed not optimistic; the 'Venerable Lord's' vital signs were very weak.
The medical personnel that Santos brought along all agreed, "If it weren't for the Enlightened Sanctuary's miraculous abilities, this old man would probably have died long ago."
However, given the elderly man's condition, they suggested that he should be given medication and some liquid food to help his body recover and give him a chance to return to a conscious state.
Santos also consulted several apostles on this matter.
The apostles were also surprised when they heard the suggestions from the Expeditionary Army's medical personnel. The Faith Order's medical methods were acceptable, but most of the time they relied on herbal remedies, which was more like empirical medicine and difficult to analyze and diagnose in a more specific way. It was certainly not comparable to the entire medical system built by the Golden Sunflower Family through Victor.
The experience and skills of the doctors from the Golden Sunflower Family far exceeded the expectations of the Faith Order, especially the tools they used to examine the 'Venerable Lord' —whether stethoscopes or mercury thermometers—surpassed the Faith Order's knowledge.
Upon seeing such medical techniques, and with the doctors briefly explaining the principles, the apostles instantly understood the profound technical principles contained in these small objects, as well as the depth and breadth of the Golden Sunflower Family's entire medical and research system. They unanimously agreed with the doctors' treatment plan.
At the same time, they also hoped to meet Duke Golden Sunflower in Golden Sunflower's territory as soon as possible, and wanted to ask him to send the best medical personnel to treat 'Venerable Lord'.
Santos naturally wouldn't refuse the requests of these apostles; in fact, he was more than happy that they would all need his help, as this would greatly assist the Expeditionary Army in controlling the situation at the Faith Order Headquarters.
Santos immediately relayed the message via radio to the Intelligence Department's relay station, which then relayed it back to the territory, requesting that the territory send medical experts as soon as possible to treat the Faith Order's 'Venerable Lord'.
The apostles were also amazed by the wireless telegraph used by the Expeditionary Army, which fueled their curiosity about the mysterious noble territory that this army represented.
Even if the Faith Order had mastered the wondrous and unpredictable means of Enlightenment through the Enlightened Sanctuary, it would still be difficult to master such a powerful technique.
Seeing that Santos had so readily agreed to their request, the apostles reciprocated.
With their help, the priests of the Faith Order began to cooperate more actively with the Expeditionary Army, especially in conveying the current situation of 'the Venerable Lord' to the believers.
When the believers learned of this, even though the army had caused them great harm, they no longer rejected the army Venerable Lord it had the power to heal them. Instead, they began to cooperate with the Expeditionary Army and obey orders.
And the core believers of these Faith Order are indeed of relatively high quality and have good organizational skills.
In the following period, they first cooperated with the Expeditionary Army to clear the battlefield inside the entire valley, and the damaged buildings began to be gradually repaired.
Santos was also puzzled as to how these believers, who had just suffered the ravages of war, could so readily accept their leadership, even with the command of the apostles, in the face of enemies like them.
Mizhene quickly gave Santos a reasonable explanation: most of the believers in the Faith Order were converted from Barbarians refugees on the grasslands. They themselves had experienced great suffering, and the religious beliefs and education of the Faith Order had long since instilled in them a habit of taking life and death lightly.
Although they are willing to work hard and make sacrifices for the Faith Order and their own lives, once they choose to accept it, they can also quickly ignore the previous suffering.
Mizhene put it this way. "They themselves are people who have suffered greatly, and forgetting suffering is a skill they must master."