"I do remember most of it, but I've never actually done it."
Aoda told him the truth.
The archbishop took out a map of the Aduolin Province from another bookshelf. The map clearly marked all the cities, towns, and nearly a hundred villages, as well as the mountains and waterways.
Antiya pointed to the location of White Wax Town and said to Aoda:
"Go back and tell Duolin that your primary task is to forcibly relocate all parishioners within the diocese to the area of White Wax Town, and then use the knowledge you gained at the Garrison Academy to build walls and defend the city."
Upon hearing the order to fortify the city and hold out to the death, a hint of difficulty appeared on Aoda's face. Antiya did not miss this change in expression, and he looked at the young tax collector in front of him and said:
" The Holy See will not abandon you. If all goes well, two more waves of reinforcements will arrive in White Wax Town. One wave will be the standing Holy Crusaders from Aduolin Province, and the other wave will be the Holy Crusaders from the Holy City."
"All you have to do is hold on. This might be difficult for other factions, but it's the easiest thing for the Tree Worship Church. After all, as long as Symbiotic Tree is implanted in their bodies, they can survive by just basking in the sun and drinking water."
At this point, Archbishop Antiya seemed to have come up with a solution. He sat back down in his chair, his tone softening and his pace slowing:
"Starting today, tax collection in White Wax Town will be suspended. The younger church leaders should drink plenty of water and get plenty of sunshine. If they have food, they can also replenish their energy. Their bodies will have a period of recovery, enough to serve as soldiers defending the city."
As he nodded, Aoda cursed the archbishop in his heart for doing something so incompetent.
He knew what kind of physical changes excessive taxation would cause to his followers, and he understood that they would gradually recover if he stopped doing so. However, if the Blood Corpse hadn't suddenly appeared, they might never have had this chance to catch their breath.
These people don't know how long they will be oppressed...
"Once they've recovered somewhat, we can select the most capable and shrewd among them for recruitment. We can also teach them some basics about Directed Alienation. With their help, and given that White Wax Town is bordered by rivers on two sides, building the city shouldn't be too difficult."
Aoda nodded calmly, and the archbishop continued his instructions:
"There's no need to send any more messages until the Corpse Tide recedes. I'll remember to send people to White Wax Town periodically to try and make contact with you."
"Yes."
Seeing Aoda's cautious demeanor, the archbishop added:
According to records, the Blood Corpse is like a tide, and it will only increase for a period of time after they are discovered.
"All eight parishes in the Aduolin Province will enter the same state of defense as White Wax Town; they will not let anyone into the city without my order."
"Let's go back now, I'm worried there might be Blood Corpse if we leave too late."
The archbishop's tone also carried a hint of concern, and if Aoda didn't know what kind of person he was, he would almost have been deceived by such concern and lost his trust.
But he could also hear the veiled criticism in the other person's words.
While White Wax Town is indeed a bridgehead against the Beneath the Corpse Tide, that doesn't mean the other towns are safe.
The archbishop meant that even if White Wax Town lost other towns, he wouldn't open the gates to let them in; in other words, he wanted them to truly "defend to the death."
Aoda bowing as usual, Auda turned and left, while Antiya sat down at his desk and began writing letters. As he himself said, the resurgence of the Blood Corpse was a major event of absolute significance. He even felt that the entire Tree Worship Church might shrink its defenses and abandon some territory because of it.
After all, while others might not know how the Tree Worship Church acquired such a large territory, he, as the archbishop of a province, certainly did.
When Aoda left Fir City, a commotion broke out among the garrison behind him, presumably because Antiya's first batch of orders had been delivered.
Blood Corpse, Fallen One, the Second Holy See... White Wax Town will soon become a treasure trove for the three parties to "jointly celebrate".
Hearing the commotion reaching his ears, Aoda knew that the test for the Second Holy See was about to begin. Whether it would perish, survive, or seize the greatest benefit, it all depended on how that " Son of God " would decide.
After two days and nights of travel, a watchtower finally appeared on the horizon of Aoda's view.
He rode his Hoofed Beast to the watchtower, greeted the militia captain named Darnell, and then continued toward White Wax Town.
After synchronizing the archbishop's reaction to the Blood Corpse with Duolin's, the two quickly received an invitation to an "online meeting" from Ed.
The detailed map of Aduolin Province that Aoda saw did not escape Little Green's net; the corresponding part of Ed's huge map was quickly completed.
Ed thus learned more about the geography of White Wax Town: the two closest towns to White Wax Town were Weeping Willow Town and Ginkgo Town, and the three towns were adjacent to each other. Every time Aoda went to deliver a letter, he would pass through the border area of these two towns.
The intelligence provided by Aoda also proved very useful during the local area network call.
Ed had already discovered some problems before this: whether it was the Eternal Domain or the Graycast Corridor, settlements of all sizes had walls.
But the Tree Worship Church has no city walls, at least not White Wax Town.
According to Aoda, while Fir City is walled, the seven surrounding towns do not appear to be.
Does this mean that the Tree Worship Church's vast territory is really just a piece of wasteland that nobody wants?
Or is it that the exploitation of the congregation is so severe that even corvée labor cannot be carried out?
Ed had no idea of the specific reasons, but he knew that the martial law decree issued by the Archbishop of Antiya for the purpose of maintaining stability would greatly facilitate his actions.
You're going to hold the city at all costs, right? Wait for reinforcements, right? You're forbidding anyone from abandoning the city and fleeing, right?
Alright, alright, since you enjoy playing like this, then don't blame me for starting to devour other towns in the Aduolin Province like a whirlwind of mini bread rolls.
In just a few seconds, Ed's plan had become much more complete.
If the archbishop's martial law decree is truly enforced, he is fully confident that he can devour Aduolin Province down to a single isolated city before the Blood Corpse Tide ends.
Just as Ed was mentally patching up his plans and making contingency plans, Duolin's question came again:
" My Son of God, shall we still build city walls?"
"Of course we should build it; it should not only be tall, but also long."
Ed answered frankly:
"Without city walls, we can't fool the reinforcements that are coming."
"But we don't have enough manpower either."
"It's alright, I'll have the Soul Returner do it, and..."
His tone became quite amused:
"Your thinking is a bit rigid. If the goal is to deceive the soldiers coming to reinforce us, then all we need to do is build a section of wall along their only route, right?"