Duolin felt that he could take on seven or eight Soul Returner (level 0 players) who had never gone into slumber, as long as he didn't engage in direct confrontation. Even against Soul Returner (level 1 players) who had gone into slumber once, he was confident he could hold off three or four at the same time.
There are twelve corrupted priests in the White Wax Town Church, and five guards on their side. Considering the fearless fighting style of the Soul Returner, and the fact that they are the attackers and the defenders are the defenders...
He ultimately gave Ed a conservative answer—
"Sixty people."
He said with certainty:
"If we receive fewer than this number, we may suffer heavy casualties and it will be difficult to completely eliminate the apostates."
Duolin continued to explain:
"If it's a surprise attack, the battle can be divided into two parts: clearing the church area above ground and the underground secret chamber area. However, we are not familiar with either of these areas, while the apostates could navigate them even with their eyes closed."
"Crackling sound."
Ed nodded in understanding. To put it bluntly, attacking a church is very similar to fighting in the streets. If you're not careful, it can turn into a meat grinder. And the other side, as the defender, naturally has the advantages of terrain and time.
But these Soul Returner, as visitors from another world, are always full of mischievous ideas, and the fact that they don't actually die means the other side is unaware of this...
Ed felt that the battle was truly evenly matched.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Ed looked at Duolin, who was about to speak, and asked.
"Crackling sound."
"There's one more thing."
Duolin's expression was extremely serious:
"Each priest in the Holy City has a Soul Tree. We must capture them alive if possible, otherwise the Holy City will soon find out that priests have died here..."
That is indeed a problem, Ed nodded, and began to ponder in his mind.
The test has been going on for a while now, and the monsters players have been dealing with are either animals or plants; they haven't actually fought any humans or humanoid monsters yet.
I've made the game so realistic, what if nobody wants to play it later?
After much deliberation, Ed decided to add some filter-related features in the next couple of days to encourage players to participate more actively in the campaign against the Tree Worship Church.
"Crackling sound."
What's the date today?
Ed suddenly asked.
"August 11th, 908 AD (Royal Calendar)."
"The previous excuse can't be used to delay any longer. We'll try to launch the attack before the end of the month."
Ed looked at Duolin seriously:
"I need a complete battle plan."
Operational plan...
Duolin repeated these words in his mind, feeling both familiar and strange.
He did receive command training at the seminary, but that was outdated knowledge from before the Demonic Tide, and the theory was still stuck in the stage of cavalry charges.
Now that they want to capture a church, cavalry is definitely useless, and the Soul Returner aren't as strong as the guards...
At that moment Duolin felt a heavy burden on his shoulders, but he was also very excited about it.
This is a golden opportunity to devise a plan for the Son of God. He will do everything in his power to win this battle and bring himself one step closer to the title of "Living Saint"!
The "crackling" sound continued, Ed finally couldn't hold back any longer, shifting his gaze from the three's battle plan to Seraphina, who was observing from the sidelines.
So what exactly are you eating?
Me?
Seraphina pointed to herself, swallowed the food she was chewing, and displayed the silvery-white stone in her hand:
"Mithril ore, what else could it be?"
Ed was speechless. No wonder it was so noisy; it turned out there was a Shattered running at high power next to him.
You bought this just to eat?
Seraphina shook her head, mimicking Ed's tone of imparting knowledge, and said:
"Idiot, eating is just the surface. In essence, it involves Shattered the ore, melting it inside your stomach, and then storing it directly in my alternate dimension as metal ingots."
It turns out to be an integrated industrial smelting system that combines Shattered, blast furnaces, conveyor belts, and warehouses...
Ed suddenly wanted to ask what to do with the slag, but since he hadn't placed any resurrection markers (seeds) nearby, he swallowed the question back.
Your eyes tell me you're thinking something very offensive.
Seraphina frowned; Ed could feel the temperature around them rising.
He shook his head and explained:
"I was just wondering, why don't you get the villagers of Dragonborn Village to help you?"
"No, they're quite skilled at smelting common precious metals, but their blast furnaces simply can't refine mithril, a rare mineral."
Seraphina shook her head regretfully and stuffed the half-piece of ore into her mouth:
"And these ores are quite brittle, with a good texture."
At this moment Ed was certain that Seraphina was simply craving something to eat, much like a large animal would crave a salt lick, a hamster would crave a chew stick, or a pet cat would crave a scratching post.
Ignoring these thoughts would only make Haji Dragon's image more and more like a small animal, so Ed asked another question:
"As a dragon, you must have a lot of combat experience, right? Do you have any suggestions for our battle plan?"
Seraphina answered while chewing:
"No, I've signed a contract with the Tree Worship Church, so I can't be their enemy. Besides, I have no interest in the petty squabbles of you little animals."
Ed immediately shrugged, like a little bear.
"I didn't ask you to fight them personally; I was just asking you to come up with ideas. Does the contract even stipulate that?"
Seraphina pulled out a silver coin from somewhere and examined it closely:
No, not at all.
Seeing this, Ed quickly pressed his advantage:
"Moreover, we are also part of the Tree Worship Church. This battle is an internal strife within the cult, and you are just an innocent strategic advisor passing by."
"Your contract should only stipulate that you cannot fight against the Tree Worship Church, it doesn't say you can't offer advice..."
"This..."
Seraphina felt that something was amiss, but at the same time, she couldn't help but think that Ed's words were flawless.
In another world, this would certainly be considered a major issue like interfering in the internal affairs of other powers, but in this world with its flawed system, it's hardly a problem.
"All right."
Seraphina swallowed the last mouthful of ore and said:
"When I was a child, I heard a notorious old dragon say that before burning a city, he always liked to make a commotion in the suburbs to lure the main force of the city's defenders away, and then fly up above the city to start roasting it... This might be of some help to you."
This dragon sounds like it's very good at de-urbanization...
Ed and Duolin exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves that although this trick was extremely underhanded, it still had a lot of reference value.
Ed had always been skeptical about the ending of Seraphina's little story.
Just like the previous story of "The Scheming Princess and Her Seven Siblings," this dragon girl's tale always takes unexpected turns and twists...
Ed tentatively pressed on:
What happened to that dragon afterward?
Seraphina shrugged:
"He's dead. A human hero chopped off his head, and they used his blood for a bath."