The Priestess Who Would Light the Flame

Regarding the selection of torchbearers, the determination of the specific route, and security—well, not every country is as safe as Turkey is now. For example, in Turkey, there are many places with Ali Baba and its cronies, especially in the area bordering Turkey and Russia, where the security situation is a complete mess.

Of course, the countries along the route were well aware that the France valued the Olympic Games highly, and if the torch relay or anything like that went wrong on their turf, the France would likely be very angry, and the consequences would be severe. Therefore, although they weren't particularly fond of these pagan activities, and had been quite dissatisfied with the France infiltration in North Africa, especially the recent France propaganda that Barbary pirates might threaten the safety of the torch's sea voyage from Italy to Spain, the France demanded that the Turkey Sultan immediately issue a religious decree ordering the Barbary States to cease their piracy at sea.

The Barbary States pirates have a very long and glorious history. Starting with Hayreddin, they made a fortune in the Mediterranean Sea through piracy. For a considerable period, Barbary pirates were the masters of the Mediterranean Sea, and the countries along the Mediterranean Sea coast even had to pay them protection money.

As a long-term strategic ally of the Ottoman Empire Turkey, France had rarely been harassed by them (as the France provided them with various logistical support at that time). As the Ottoman Empire Turkey gradually weakened, its control over its nominal territories in North Africa also greatly diminished. In reality, the Barbary States were only nominally subjugated to the Ottoman Empire Turkey; in fact, they were already independent countries.

However, because the French Navy gradually grew stronger over the years, France was no longer required to pay protection money to the Barbary Pirates. Later, the maritime power, Britain, also acquired this right.

Strictly speaking, there haven't been any reports of France ships being attacked by Barbary Pirates for many years, so the fact that the France are now making such claims clearly indicates that they harbor malicious intentions towards North Africa.

However, Turkey couldn't easily go against the France's wishes, so it issued this order—of course, whether the Barbary Pirates would obey was another matter. But the Barbary Pirates weren't fools; they certainly knew that provoking the France on this issue now could have very serious consequences. Therefore, the Governor-General of Algeria even issued an order prohibiting any maritime plundering activities from the time the Olympic torch relay arrived in Italy until the torch appeared in Madrid.

However, this command actually caused even bigger problems.

The Barbary States, including Algeria, Tripoli, and Tunisia, relied almost entirely on maritime plunder and protection money for their finances. A halt to plunder would drastically reduce their income, leaving them no choice but to survive. Therefore, given the anticipated temporary cessation of maritime activity, the Barbary Pirates felt they should seize the opportunity to plunder as much as possible before the ban took effect.

As a result, the Mediterranean Sea has become even more dangerous.

However, this danger has absolutely nothing to do with what is currently sitting aboard the world's most powerful five-star hotel at sea— the French Navy's newest and largest warship, named "Imperator".

This is a purely steam-powered warship, and a true ironclad. Unlike the former "Free Trade" which was sold to the Britain, her ironclad armor is not external; the entire ship is made of steel.

This ship has a standard displacement of nearly 7,000 tons and uses three of the latest three-cylinder steam engines developed by the France, with a top speed of 16 knots. (The France research on steam turbines has not yet made sufficient progress.) This speed is a little slower than the latest "Free Trade", but this ship has a smaller length-to-beam ratio, so it sails more smoothly and is more comfortable.

Besides its comfort, this ship also boasts superior defense and firepower compared to the new Free Trade, which was actually used as a raiding ship. The ship has two turrets, one forward and one aft, each equipped with a twin-mounted 150mm breech-loading recoil cannon.

Due to limitations in manufacturing technology, the France cannons at this time had relatively large buffers, and their efficiency was not high. However, with this system, the rate of fire of the France naval guns increased several times over. Considering the warship's high speed and strong defenses, it was already a nightmare for the navies of other countries at that time.

Because of the increased efficiency of artillery, the number of gunners and the space occupied by the cannons were greatly reduced, which freed up a lot of space on the ship to improve accommodations at sea. The ship was designed with the possibility of frequently carrying important figures in mind, so it even has a luxurious suite on board.

This suite was, of course, prepared for Napoleon, but it was Pauline was the first to use it.

This time, Pauline will travel to Greece, a Turkey territory, to be responsible for lighting the Olympic Games torch. This is Pauline's first time visiting a pagan country, and Joseph and Napoleon are somewhat uneasy about her. Only Lucien thinks that this troublemaker will only cause others to suffer, and there is nothing to worry about at all.

"Are you worried that Selim III will take a fancy to this madwoman and bring her into his harem? Ah, if that's the case, then I really have to pity Selim III," Lucien said so carelessly.

However, despite Lucien's words, no one could truly relax their security measures for Pauline. For example, elite guards were specially drawn from Napoleon's bodyguards to handle her security along the way, and a security expert named Berdon was transferred from the Ministry of Police Security to protect Pauline's safety.

Of course, Lucien was somewhat dissatisfied with Napoleon's choice to have the Ministry of Police provide bodyguards for Pauline. He felt that the guys in the Ministry of Ministry of Police clearly had ulterior motives, because this guy named Berdon was a young and handsome man.

However, Lucien didn't think the Ministry of Ministry of Police's scheme would succeed. "He's just a handsome young man? Pauline has seen plenty of those." Besides, if they could really marry Pauline off, well, Berdon isn't a bad guy after all.

Napoleon had always wanted to find a husband for Pauline from among his capable subordinates. However, these young men were all conservative in their thinking and were intimidated by Pauline. For example, two years ago, Napoleon arranged for Davout and Pauline to go on an outing together. The day before the outing, Davout suddenly claimed he had fallen from his horse and was injured, so he couldn't come. Napoleon even went to visit him and found that Davout was indeed injured. Later, Napoleon's brother-in-law, the loose-lipped Murat, accidentally let slip that Davout was initially quite excited about Pauline when he first saw her, but after hearing more about Pauline, he became hesitant. Later, he went to Murat's house to inquire about Pauline from Murat and Caroline, and then he fell and injured himself on his way home...

As for Joseph's students and assistants, Joseph felt it was best not to harm them.

So, by the standards of this era, well, Pauline is definitely considered an older single woman. The whole family thinks that Fouché might be using her good looks to seduce someone, and that Berdon is likely just bait. But the whole family also thinks that if Pauline takes the bait, it wouldn't be so bad.

Aboard the warship "Imperator," Pauline and her crew arrived directly outside the Port of Athens. In ancient times, Port of Athens was the most important port in the entire Mediterranean Sea, but by this time, its status was far less significant than before. So much so that the port didn't even have a dock suitable for the "Imperator." Therefore, although the "Imperado" entered the port, it had to anchor first, and then smaller boats were used to transport the crew ashore.

The Imperator was equipped with a crane that could lower lifeboats onto the sea, which is how Pauline and her companions reached the Greece coast.

The France ambassador to Turkey and the Turkey governor-general in Turkey, Ali Pasha, both came to the port to greet Pauline. Ali Pasha was puzzled that the France would send a woman to oversee the lighting of the Olympic Games torch, and he seemed quite reluctant to have to greet a woman—even the woman from the most powerful family in the world. Moreover, the woman was rather unremarkable.

For ease of movement, Pauline wore men's hunting attire, her hair piled up and tucked into a tall hat. She wore black high-top leather boots with spurs, and on either side of her belt hung a holster with two revolvers inserted—which was certainly quite inappropriate for diplomatic protocol.

However, one of the great rights of the strong is that they don't have to care about the opinions of the weak. Besides, Pauline has seen plenty of strange looks; in fact, she'd like to say, "I love the way you people look down on me but still try to be polite to me."

Pauline stayed in a palace prepared for her by Ali Pasha that day. Two days later, dressed in the attire of an ancient Greece priestess, she arrived, escorted by a entourage, at the site of the ancient Olympic Games —the ruins of the ancient stadium near the Acropolis of Athens. This site lies between the Temple of Zeus and the Temple of Hera in ancient Greece. It may have once been magnificent, but now it is merely a flat, empty space. The once incredibly grand temples on either side have long since crumbled, leaving only a few pillars.