Before Norton's science exhibition even opened, the Aodelan Empire, which had been plotting for its own benefit for years, took action first.
At the request of the Pale God, the Aodelan Empire used ships to transport holy water by waterway for distribution to coastal cities.
During this time, they chose a road that was blocked by various countries... Unsurprisingly, the ships carrying the holy water were intercepted by the blockading ships of various countries, and the holy water was dumped into the river as garbage.
Upon hearing this news, Miles XIII flew into a rage.
They declared, ' The Pale God is the faith of the people of my Aodelan Empire, and the Holy Water is a blessing from the God of my Aodelan Empire. The Pale God bestows holy water for the sake of the nation and its people, to cleanse the world of its filth; this is the manifestation of God's light. Yet your nation, in its self-righteousness, destroys the ships carrying the Pale God's holy water and pours out that sacred essence, truly showing contempt for the dignity of the Pale God!'
On July 7, 1567, the Aodelan Empire, citing the Holy Boya Empire's disrespect for the Pale God, launched a military campaign, deploying its navy and provoking a small-scale conflict with the Holy Boya Empire at sea under the pretext of defending the dignity of the Pale God.
This small-scale conflict acted as a fuse, instantly igniting the already tense and explosive situation in the Southern Continent!
Norton's research on the Pale God has not yet been made public. Although other countries know that he is indeed miraculous, compared to the size of a country, the Pale God is still not qualified!
From their perspective, which lacked experience of the Papal State era, individual combat strength was always inferior to that of a massive force.
Their main reason for fearing that Pale God was his identity as the Vampire Progenitor and his command over the Vampire race.
Although the Pale God currently commands only a few thousand ancient, resurrected Vampire, each one released is like a mobile plague, rapidly and massively increasing the population.
Such extraordinary military power is not to be underestimated. This is also why they were previously wary of this Pale God.
But now that the pretense of civility has been completely shattered, there's no need to be afraid anymore!
The Holy Lord Church, which was once despised and scorned, was established as the 'orthodox Church ' by the Holy Boya Empire, the Holy Noah Empire, and the surrounding united small countries in just a few days. Cities and palaces in various countries were adorned with large-scale paintings of God and even religious decorations to prevent Vampire attacks.
Nearly a thousand years later, the most effective means of combating Vampire is exactly the same as that of the Papal State in the old days. It has to be said that although the Holy Lord Church was bad in the past, it has always held on to the last pure land of mankind.
However, to the outside world, the Holy Boya Empire and the Holy Noah Empire still claim that " the Pale God is the common God of the Southern Continent, and should rightfully be high above, untouched by mortal affairs! Our Holy Boya Empire and the Holy Noah Empire are willing to recognize the Pale God as the legitimate God of the Southern Continent, and from now on, we will honor the Pale God to sit firmly on the high throne and enjoy supreme status!"
These two countries clearly want both: on the one hand, they are using the Holy Lord Church's methods to combat the Vampire invasion, and on the other hand, they want to sow discord between Norton and the Aodelan Empire, thereby creating a crisis of trust between the Aodelan Empire and Norton.
Amidst the probing exchanges between the major empires, the technology exhibition held by the Pale God proceeded smoothly and as scheduled in the imperial city of the Aodelan Empire.
It's September, and the weather is getting increasingly hot.
One after another, horse-drawn carriages carrying all sorts of instruments arrived, appearing on the streets of the imperial city.
The technology exhibition held by the Pale God had already spread throughout the entire Southern Continent due to its inherent media impact.
Its reputation was already extremely high, and now, with the addition of its 10 billion yuan subsidy program, it has attracted a wide range of people, from amateur scientists to renowned scholars, to attend the banquet.
Some people want to make a name for themselves here, some want to make connections with the powerful and influential, and some want to actually receive financial assistance.
Regardless, this first science and technology exhibition in the Southern Continent will inevitably be recorded in the annals of the Southern Continent because of the taboo of the name of the Pale God and the fact that it was the first of its kind.
The location of this technology exhibition is within the royal estate of the capital city of the Aodelan Empire.
Because this science and technology exhibition covers all aspects, any invention or something that didn't exist before can be brought over for exhibition these days.
This also led Norton to directly requisition the royal estate as the venue for his exhibition.
The entire estate, covering more than 7,000 acres, is more than enough to serve as the venue for this exhibition.
Preparations for the exhibition began more than a month ago, and now it is finally fully completed.
This exhibition is not open to the public, but even so, the number of people applying to visit is still in the tens of thousands.
Aside from this technology exhibition, the main reason for this is the public opinion surrounding Norton himself.
Ever since the Pale God was unearthed from the mountain behind the Holy See, it has been hailed as a divine being by major newspapers in the Southern Continent. The people of the Southern Continent have long been curious about its existence, and any report about the Pale God in the past would make the newspapers extremely popular that day.
Who wouldn't be curious about the existence of such a legendary and mythical 'ancient god'?
Unfortunately, Norton has never been interviewed in public, and apart from Sak City and his entry into the capital, he has never made any other public appearances. Therefore, the essence of his existence remains extremely mysterious.
Today's technology exhibition is not just about promoting technology; its main focus is actually the first public appearance of the Pale God Norton.
This explains the large crowds; journalists from various countries alone make up about 30% of them.
In September, with the sun shining brightly, the highly anticipated science and technology exhibition, which had been in preparation for a full month, officially began.
A vast crowd was gathered by staff, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the exhibition's key figure: Pale God, Norton!