Chapter 297

In short, this is a good thing. It wasn't in vain that he infiltrated Arcadia for so long; now that the twins' favorability is maxed out, even if things come to a head later, it shouldn't be a big problem... right?

Forget it, it's better not to reveal his hand. Ryan has no intention of putting himself out in the open. Regardless of whether he is Old Bar or not, he is just Little Camilla now, the kind who would run away from a mere seventh-tier opponent.

Without the teleportation of the Janus Ritual, it will be more troublesome to travel back and forth between the various empires. Although 'Shally' can also travel, the distance of the Chaos Space she opens is not far, after all, she is essentially just a Sixth Tier powerhouse.

Unless she reaches the Eighth Tier, she should be able to teleport between continental plates, like Witch K. Otherwise, Ryan can only try to get the God of Desire to let him off the hook.

It's so annoying. Although the God of Desire is indeed very generous to him, he is still Outer Gods, and Ryan is still very uneasy.

If you were locked in that little room and couldn't get out, and every day the God of Desire did this and that to you... hmm? That doesn't seem so bad, does it??

Bah! Am I, Ryan, the kind of person who indulges in wine and women?

If it were the Earth Goddess or Janus, Ryan wouldn't be worried. After all, it seems that the true gods are helping him. It's just that the situation of the true gods is still unclear. If he can find more of Balshatt's diary tablets, he might be able to get the information he wants.

With this in mind, Ryan instructed 'Vainay' and 'Motis' to assemble a professional team to search for stone tablets in various ruins and secretly gather information. These things have very distinct characteristics; anyone who has seen them will definitely remember them.

The Gilded Merchant Group is one route, encompassing various ruins and royal treasuries, among others. Another important location is the treasury within the Gate of Janus.

As an ancient organization that has existed for thousands of years, the power of the Gate of Janus is unimaginable. Ryan suspects that the core secrets of the church may contain information about Balshatt. Of course, they will definitely promote Janus as the Creation God in order to gain more people's faith.

Unfortunately, Lin Qi's power isn't strong enough right now. We'll let her try later. If it doesn't work, so be it. Even if the Saintess were to casually search the treasury, it would raise suspicion. Sylvia was keeping an eye on Lin Qi before, and so was the Cardinal Bishop. This faction is clearly suppressing the Saintess Faction.

"However, there's more about this kind of deity worship in the Southern Continent."

The Southern Continent is where the Church's influence is entrenched, and for some reason, it has an unusually large number of divine relics, more than the Southern Continent and Northern continents combined. There are rumors that the Southern Continent is the origin of divine worship, but this claim has not been recognized by the Gate of Janus.

Three days later.

After discussing the expansion of the Arcadia Empire with the Twin Empress, Ryan set sail for the Southern Continent.

The twins didn't come along. The peace talks between the three great empires are the day after tomorrow, and this highly anticipated negotiation naturally requires both of them to be present. Moreover, Arcadia is currently suffering a blow, and the twins need to be stationed in the empire to oversee things.

However, to ensure Ryan's safety, Kachina sent the imperial general Sesia to protect Ryan.

Sesia's original mission was to lead the Imperial army to conquer the east, but between the eastern expedition and protecting Ryan, both Kachia and Kachina chose the latter without hesitation. In any case, the Imperial army still had many Watchers, so there was no need for General Sesia to personally lead the expedition.

Sesia has been the guardian knight of the twins since childhood, and her loyalty and strength are beyond doubt. Although she has not reached the seventh rank, her age is a good indicator of her future potential.

"Rider Ryder, you're not bringing anyone with you. What are you planning to do?"

Crossing the ocean from Arcadia to reach the Southern Continent doesn't take too long. The only thing to watch out for is the harsh weather at sea. Besides natural disasters, there's a region of persistent thunderstorms between the two continental plates.

No one knows how this thunderstorm zone formed, but it almost completely isolates the sea area between the northeast and southwest, deterring countless explorers.

However, these thunderstorm zones are not too bad for Supernatural Being. Basically, with a Fifth Tier Transcendent protecting them, they won't die unless they do something reckless.

The ship had been passing through the thunderstorm zone for a day, and the outline of land could be vaguely seen on the distant horizon. Sesia saw Ryan standing at the bow, gazing into the distance, so she went over to ask him.

"Given the situation in the Southern Continent, bringing people here wouldn't be very meaningful unless we could bring tens of thousands of people. Otherwise, it would be better to act alone for freedom and secrecy."

"That's true, but how do we begin? I know absolutely nothing about these things."

Sending Sesia to lead troops into battle is fine, but as for spreading the faith, the imperial religious institutions have plenty of people to handle that.

She couldn't understand why Ryan didn't bring those people along. Although some religious organization staff were indeed of questionable character, at least they were professionally competent.

"Don't rush, I already have an idea, but let's get a clear picture of the situation before taking action. This isn't something that can be accomplished in a day or two."

"Is that so?"

Sesia nodded slightly and didn't ask any further questions. After all, Her Your Majesty Kachia had instructed her to fully cooperate with whatever Ryan did, and her mission was to protect Ryan's life at any time and in any place.

In other words, even if she dies, Ryan must live.

An hour later, the ship gradually approached the shore.

This is a port city called Port of Misi, which is part of the territory of the Kingdom of Loente in the Southern Continent.

Lorient worships the Earth Goddess, and the core power of the kingdom's state religion originates from the Ring of Abundance.

Although the main power of the Ring of Abundance is in the Eastern Continent, the Arcadia Empire is so powerful that the Ring of Abundance has focused its development on the Southern Continent in recent years, only occupying a small place in a remote corner of the Eastern Continent.

For this reason, Gemini has never paid attention to the actions of the Ring of Abundance.

Sesia looked around curiously. Port of Misi was far less bustling than the coastal cities of Arcadia, but it had a large population. She noticed something special: there were believers of different gods and religions everywhere. Merchants, residents, politicians, and even guards all wore badges symbolizing their respective churches.

This situation is unseen on the two northeastern continental plates. In the Arcadia Empire, the most active followers are undoubtedly those of the Earth Goddess. Even followers of the Gate of Janus are rare. As for other churches, they operate discreetly, far from being as blatant as they are now.

"Isn't the religious conflict in the Southern Continent quite intense? Port of Misi belongs to the Kingdom of Loente, so why don't the people of the Ring of Abundance restrict the people of other churches?" Sesia asked, puzzled.

Ryan shrugged. "It's simple. Because ordinary people are the foundation of believers, the church's attitude towards mortals shouldn't be restriction and suppression, but rather to win them over. Only by demonstrating its own greatness as much as possible can it attract more people. Of course, it will also use force secretly, but that's against the core forces of rival religions, such as supernatural strongholds."

"I see." Sesia said, suddenly understanding. "That makes sense. Mortals are the primary source of faith, and they are often easily influenced by their external environment. Some commoners don't even care which god they believe in; they just want a peaceful life."

"Miss Sesia understands this very well."

"After all, I've led troops in battle for many years, been to many places, and seen many people like this."

Sesia shook his head slightly. Even in the Arcadia Empire, there were many poor people who couldn't afford to eat. Class oppression created a situation of exploitation at every level, which ultimately resulted in the nobles at the top being extremely wealthy, while the people of the territories often went hungry.

The abundance of the territory did not equate to the prosperity of the people. Sesia always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't think of a solution. All she could do was eliminate those forces that offended the empire's borders and try to reduce the suffering of war for her people as much as possible.

"It seems Miss Sesia is also concerned about the common people," Ryan chuckled. "People like you are rare among the nobility."

Am I?

"Of course, those fat nobles don't care what kind of life their subjects want."

Ryan shrugged. He had experienced this firsthand back in Berman City. When he first regained his memories, he was ambitious and wanted to create a world where everyone was equal. But he later realized that such a thing was impossible, or rather, it couldn't be done overnight.

The social environment of the previous life gradually evolved and developed over time to become suitable for the current national conditions. But what about Augustus? Slavery was still in place.

However, he could still secure some benefits for his people. Ryan was too lazy to worry about that, leaving it to 'Vainay' and 'Motis' to handle. As long as the core direction was there, Ryan never insisted on taking any particular path.

Just then, several large caravans suddenly appeared outside the dock.

Those people were in a hurry, their faces visibly filled with anxiety. As they approached, some of their voices reached Ryan and Sesia's ears.

"Those lunatics from the Blood Cult are attacking!"

"It's a terrifying army! Run! Port of Misi is no longer safe!"

"Don't panic, the powerful figures of the Ring of Abundance will surely take care of them!"

"Blood Cult? The army of the Kingdom of Oen?"

The sounds were chaotic and disorderly, but the appearance of the three words 'Blood Cult' immediately shattered the peaceful order on the dock.

Ryan thought to himself that the Blood Cult didn't have a good reputation in the Southern Continent either; it was like they were bandits. It seemed this wasn't the first time he'd encountered something like this.

"Rider Ryder, what should we do?" Although Sesia was not afraid of any Blood Cult, the enemy seemed to be coming with great force. If a terrifying army rushed over and wiped out Port of Misi, they would have to leave quickly, otherwise it would be troublesome if Ryan got injured.

However, Ryan had no intention of leaving. He specifically chose to land at Port of Misi. As for the so-called terrifying Blood Cult army, it was not the army of the Kingdom of Oen at all, but the Holy Blood Army led by 'Shally'!

That's right, King Shally has already started the killing spree.

This time, 'Shally's' Holy Blood Army is the main force of the attack in the Southern Continent. He, Adele, and Shally have to look after each other, otherwise it will be really difficult to carve out a piece of land in the Southern Continent.

Originally, Ryan hadn't planned to bring Sesia along, but on one hand, the twins insisted, and on the other hand, Sesia was quite talented and strong, having reached the peak of the Sixth Tier at a young age, and would surely make further progress in the future.

He was, after all, Prince of Arcadia, and it was his duty to cultivate talent for the empire!

Right now, Ryan plans to use the power of 'Shally' to disrupt the situation in the Southern Continent, and then take advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters.

Anyway, the Blood Cult are just troublemakers, killing wherever they go, isn't that normal?

Ryan made an excuse to send Sesia to check on the situation, then opened the game and switched to the 'Adele' character interface.

After leaving the Babel Tower, Adele and the witch K established the Primal Church. The church's temporary address was in the Kingdom of Loente, in a manor called Kosei, separated from Port of Misi by only one city.

Ryan planned to infiltrate the Primal Church directly, using the Holy Blood Army to disrupt the situation and gather followers. With 'Shally' making such a move, he estimated that it wouldn't be long before the Kingdom of Loente would clash with the neighboring Kingdom of Oen worshipped the Blood God.

And I must say, when 'Shally's' Holy Blood Army arrived in the Southern Continent to deal with these kingdom forces, it was absolutely a crushing defeat. With a total of 800 people, under 'Shally's' leadership, they wiped out most of the 4,000 garrison troops of Port of Misi in less than half an hour.

By the time Sesia returned to Ryan's side, the Holy Blood Army had already broken through the defenses of Port of Misi and was rapidly advancing into the city.

"It's the Holy Blood Army!" Sesia's face was filled with surprise and confusion. "Rider Ryder, we must leave here as soon as possible!"

"Oh, Earth Goddess, how did the Holy Blood Army end up in the Southern Continent? Those damned guys, weren't they playing hide-and-seek with our people in the Empire?" Ryan asked in surprise.

"I don't know either. Perhaps the Augustus Empire wants to expand its influence into the Southern Continent. In any case, we need to leave quickly."

"Wait, Sesia." Ryan stroked his chin. "That Shally, does she know you?"

"This... I'm not sure. I've never faced her directly, but the Augustus Empire might have intelligence about me."

"That's true, but she definitely wouldn't recognize me."

Sesia was taken aback. "Rider Ryder, you intend to..."

Ryan stroked his chin and said, "The Holy Blood Army is probably here to scout ahead for the Augustus Empire. With the strength of Port of Misi, it will probably be difficult to withstand their attack. Perhaps we can take advantage of this opportunity. The City Lord of Port of Misi should be from the Ring of Abundance."

Sesia understood; Ryan was trying to infiltrate the Ring of Abundance.

However, this is indeed a good idea. After all, starting from scratch is too difficult. With Ryan's status Chosen of the Earth God, wouldn't it be easy for him to join the Ring of Abundance and rise to a high-level position? If he manages things well, he might even become the Ring of Abundance's agent in the Southern Continent.

Unfortunately, Sesia was wrong.

Ryan only intended to seize control of Port of Misi and then use it as his base.

This place is by the sea, and its transportation and economy are quite good. Later, the influence of the Primal Church spread here, gradually covering Lorient and then flourishing everywhere.

"I've heard that the City Lord of Port of Misi is a beautiful lady."

Ryan was secretly pondering how to take down his opponent when suddenly the relic in his backpack reacted; it was the relic he used to contact Jonathan.

Ryan was taken aback. Old Joe had been in the City of Desire for some time now, and if it weren't for the news, he would have thought the old man had died on a woman's belly.

"Sesia, wait here for me, I'll be right back."

After giving the instructions, Ryan quickly found a secluded spot and retrieved the belongings.

Jonathan's weathered old face came into view.

"Damn, Old Joe, have you been drained dry?"

Old Joe in front of me looked like he hadn't slept for three days and three nights; his hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and his beard was stubble.

"You've just been drained dry, can't you wish me something good?" Jonathan rolled his eyes speechlessly. "It's just that I was chased by a few elders for a few days without rest, it's not a big deal."

"Those veterans... you're amazing."

Ryan gave Jonathan the middle finger in admiration.

So where are you now?

"Of course it's the Kingdom of Lotte. I just came out. Where are you, kid? You didn't die in Arcadia, did you?"

"We'll talk about those things later, Old Joe. How about coming to the Southern Continent for a visit?"

"Southern Continent? How come you're always causing trouble?" Jonathan waved his hand. "I came to talk to you about something. Those guys in the City of Desire seem to be planning some kind of ritual to summon the Lord of Desire. I was trying to find out more, but I got caught."

"Leave the City of Desire aside for now. Come to the Southern Continent; I need your help with something."

"No, no, I'm not interested. I'm exhausted from running for my life these past few days."

Jonathan resolutely refused. After all the commotion over the past few days, he needed to eat and drink well and rest. He would wait until things calmed down in the City of Desire before going in to check on the situation.

Go to the Southern Continent?

Or should we look for Ryan?

Please, following that kid Ryan will never bring you anything good!

Ryan said, "There was a beautiful young noblewoman."

"Ryan, you know me. I'm willing to give my all for the Empire, even unto death!" Jonathan's tone was firm, his expression like someone about to join the Party. "Quick, activate your teleportation ritual, I'm coming right now!"

"Fuck your grandpa."

Chapter 183 Ryan: An Alternative Communication in the Mental World

Ryan realized that back in Berman City, Old Joe was actually quite a serious guy.

Although he would occasionally flirt with noblewomen, he focused his mind on important matters, working alone and bearing the pressure from the nobles of Berman City to seek justice for his people.

Now, well...

Since stepping down from managing the specifics of the Burning Covenant, he's started to let loose and do as he pleases.

Why do you, a Son of the Sun, go to the City of Desire every day?

If you said you were going to take care of serious business, Jonathan Ryan would never believe that reason, not even if you beat Jonathan to death.

However, it must be said that Old Joe is indeed reliable, and his strength has probably been fully restored now, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to escape from those Elders of Desire.