Plans Changed

The atmosphere in Port Tyler was a bit tense.

Soren's arrival shattered the original Order here, making the Slaughter and chaos increasingly frequent. What exactly happened in Port Tyler during this time is hardly worth mentioning; the changes in the waters surrounding Port Tyler speak for themselves. The corpses thrown into the sea, even the sharks being drawn to the shallows, give an idea of how many people died in Port Tyler during this period. The fall of one power means a greater distribution of resources; greater resources attract more people to fight for them, leading to even greater Slaughter and the fall of more powers. Then, certain powers grow stronger and stronger, swallowing up the vast majority of Port Tyler's resources.

This was clearly orchestrated by someone; the Guard Force were obviously under pressure, causing the chaos Slaughter to escalate and wipe out many nearby forces in the turmoil.

As for the ultimate beneficiary, there's no need to even think about it.

The first one is definitely the Temple of the Sea, the second one is the Storm Temple, and the third one is the Amazon Warrior.

A lot has happened during this period.

The Storm Temple appears to have compromised with the Temple of the Sea, rendering the Rosard Chamber of Commerce a complete scapegoat. The Storm Temple's followers received territories from other factions as compensation, while the Temple of the Sea controls roughly half of Port Tyler. The Amazon Women, relying on their formidable fighting prowess, have risen to power between the two Church; half the street where Soren now resides is their territory. The original owner has vanished, and the Amazon Women plan to connect the street and turn it into a large Trade Transit Station.

Oh, right.

A Storm Lord has appeared.

Without her, the Amazon Women probably wouldn't have been able to devour such a large piece of cake.

Temple of the Sea.

Soren appeared in the hall, where the Naga Priestess seemed to have been waiting for him. The priest's expression was somewhat excited, and upon seeing Soren, he immediately said in a deep voice, "The plan has changed!"

"Those Betrayer have made a new move; your task now is to find a way to seize their cargo ship."

Soren frowned upon hearing this.

The sudden change in mission after the target was revealed displeased him, but he still asked in a deep voice, "What happened? Why did you suddenly change the plan?"

A cruel smile appeared on the Naga Priestess's face. She slowly said, "These Betrayer went to the Soros Islands to Trade under the name of the Storm Church. But we never expected them to be traitors who would do anything for profit. These guys used Intrigue and poison to massacre a native tribe, and then seized the Gold Mine controlled by the natives. The traitors plundered that native tribe and loaded all their wealth onto ships to bring them back."

"News has arrived: their ships are loaded with gold and jewels!"

The Naga Priestess handed a scroll to Soren, and as he opened Soren, she recounted the events that had transpired. It turned out that after these Betrayer converted and joined the Storm Church, they had indeed established a presence in the Soros Islands. The Lord of Storms ' faith was widespread throughout the Soros Islands, and with this banner of faith paving the way, they could Trade with almost any coastal indigenous town. Things should have been that simple: these guys would make a fortune through Trade and then return home.

However, what was unexpected was that one of the indigenous tribes seemed to trust them too much, and even revealed the huge Gold Mine that the tribe secretly controlled.

The Soros Islands have many scattered mineral deposits, including a significant number of Gold Mine and Silver Mine.

This tribe was one of the indigenous clans that occupied relatively rich Gold Mine. It is said that their Chieftain had a throne made of pure gold weighing nearly half a ton, and to show off his wealth and power, he entertained them with a large number of pure gold utensils. However, this also brought disaster. Among the Betrayer caravan were followers of the God of Plague and Disease. This Fallen put a secret poison into the water source, and with the power of Plague and disease, he directly destroyed the indigenous tribe.

The rest is self-explanatory.

The Betrayer slaughtered the indigenous tribe, looted their wealth, and finally burned their settlement to the ground.

How much did they actually get?

The intelligence in Soren's possession did not explicitly state that it contained a vast fortune that would even tempt the Temple of the Sea.

These guys looted tons of gold!

The indigenous tribe's accumulated gold wealth, along with various gold and silver artifacts and jewels, were all loaded onto their ships and brought back. They even lost a large amount of Soros Islands copper coins, as the ships simply couldn't carry these cheap coins. Soren couldn't estimate how much money they made on this haul, only roughly guessing that their loot exceeded 500,000 Gold Daler!

A wealthy indigenous tribe that owns Gold Mine.

They may have looted more than ten tons of gold and silver from the tribe alone!

These guys made a fortune.

The wealth they Pillage even tempted the Temple of the Sea. Somehow, the news leaked, and now it wasn't just the Temple of the Sea who knew of their massive Pillage; the pirates of the Soros Islands and the area around Shipwreck Bay were all aware of this astonishing news. The Betrayer Chamber of Commerce's fleet had already changed course. However, pirates from all directions seemed to have spread a vast net, surrounding them from almost every possible route to the Soros Islands.

It wasn't just the Temple of the Sea that was making moves; even the Amazon pirates were incredibly excited. The Three Great Pirate Kings near the Soros Islands mobilized almost their entire forces to search for their trail.

This wealth is astonishing!

Soren was astonished when he estimated the approximate amount; if he could obtain this wealth, he could exchange it for a set of Legendary Equipment in the Wizard City.

The temple also needs money.

Every Deity's temple requires immense wealth to maintain its operation. This Temple of the Sea, at least several hundred years old, was built up bit by bit with money. The Spell and Divine Favor within it all require wealth to set up the Magic Circle. A crucial task for priests is to earn money and then develop their faith. While the Church of Deity rarely hoards wealth, they still need it because wealth is extremely important in the secular world. Wealth can forcefully create the Church's influence and directly cultivate a large number of believers.

Isn't the Lord of Radiance's immense influence precisely because he gives alms and aid to the poor every year?

Where did this money come from?

Wealth may not be the most crucial part of faith, but it is certainly an indispensable part.

A magnificent, solemn, and majestic temple versus a dilapidated, crumbling temple—it's almost obvious which will attract more believers.

Believing in this Deity brings monthly charity and aid, while believing in that other Deity results in nothing and requires donations and offerings.

For Commoner at the very bottom of society, there's practically no need to even make a choice!

They are just ordinary people, and all they can see is what's in front of them. Even the temple of Evil God, with its immense wealth, can easily expand its influence. Whether it's recruiting people to suppress other Church or secretly cultivating its own power, all of these things require the support of wealth. However, Church also have Church rules, and they cannot interfere too much in the secular world. Church need wealth, but they cannot act recklessly. After all, what Deity need is faith, and wealth is merely a tool to maintain that faith.

The Naga Priestess want this wealth.

This money is enough to expand the Temple of the Sea into Grand Temple. Whether it's the influence in the coastal areas, the rewards from the Goddess of the Sea, or the Divine Power gathered by the temple, these are all things she can't refuse. After the Temple of the Sea expands, she can completely suppress the Storm Temple. Even if a fight breaks out in the future, with the Grand Temple as her backing, she will not fear any Storm Lord.

The temple is somewhat like Wizard Tower.

However, it is not as powerful as the Wizard Tower, because the temple still operates on Divine Power, which is why Amber City Destruction, but the Temple District remained intact.

Soren fell silent for a long time before finally saying in a deep voice, "We don't have enough manpower!"

"If the news has already spread among the pirates, sending a Ghost Ship to fight for it is simply suicide! Those Betrayer have managed to hold out until now without being found, so they must have someone helping them. This amount of money is probably worth the Duchess's personal trip. Moreover, none of the Three Great Pirate Kings of the Soros Islands are easy to deal with, and almost all of them are no longer mortals. I'm worried that the Large Octopus will also appear. Priest Excellency should know who I'm talking about, right? That monster was a major enemy of the Church of the Sea back then, and it was the Goddess of the Sea Avatar who descended to Banishment it!"

"It seems to have a penchant for collecting wealth, and there are its admirers among the pirates; the likelihood of it appearing is too high."

Soren unfurled a Seafaring chart.

After a moment's thought, he pointed to a spot that appeared to be the location of an island and said in a deep voice, "According to the information I've gathered, there seems to be a Black Dragon in this location. It has been secretly maintaining contact with the Shipwreck Bay in human form. If it knew that there are five large ships laden with gold and silver treasures sailing on the sea, I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't be tempted."

The Naga Priestess fell silent.

She looked up at Soren with some surprise, seemingly deep in thought, before stating in an unquestionable tone, "I will send more people to help you. If the enemy is too powerful, I will gather the nearby Naga Sea Folk, and if necessary, I will personally intervene! The Goddess of the Sea is watching us; on the high seas, we have nothing to fear!"

"This wealth must not fall into the hands of others!"

It was dusk.

Soren slowly walked out of the Temple of the Sea, his brow furrowed as if deep in thought. He murmured in a voice only he could hear, "Totem Spirit!... How did those guys defeat the Totem Spirit?... Why didn't the Naga Priestess mention it?... Did she think I didn't know that native tribes worship Spirits?..." (To be continued~^~)