The Most Despicable Under Heaven
On Brown Gold Island, the smoke of gunpowder had not yet dissipated, and the acrid smell of burning mingled with the salty sea breeze, permeating every inch of the ravaged land.
Havitron Lang's face was ashen. His heavy military boots pounded on the gravelly ground, and all he could see were broken walls and congealed bloodstains. The tragic scene made one's eyes sting.
The battle, which had been going incredibly smoothly, took a sharp turn for the worse at the last moment, turning into a disastrous defeat.
"Go investigate that giant undead whale immediately, find out what's going on!" he said to Feimaina beside him in a deep voice.
Although Feimaina is not a necromancer, she is the most skilled in magic in the fleet, making her the most suitable person to oversee this task.
The Grand Magus Mentor nodded slightly and immediately led a dozen Magister to fly over the wreckage of the three fast warships to conduct an investigation.
"Take men and search the entire island for any remaining intelligence!" Havitron then turned to the captain of the guard and gave the order.
"Yes!"
Shortly after, the commander of the guards sent back good news. Although almost all the surface facilities on Brown Gold Island had been destroyed, Su Ming's command center was actually underground, where they discovered many documents that they had not had time to take away or destroy.
Most of these documents are not written in the language of this world, and are clearly written in a language exclusively for Su Ming —which perfectly matches Su Ming's habits of doing things as recorded in previous intelligence.
"Take a few officers and clerks with you, select the general texts, and organize a team to quickly analyze and interpret them!" Havitron ordered his adjutant.
"Yes, sir!" The adjutant acknowledged the order and left.
****
A communications officer flew to the island and delivered a reply from the Pope and the Council of Cardinals after receiving the "Expeditionary Crusaders's " report on the Battle of Brown Gold Island.
There were two correspondences. One was a commendation for the bravery of all the officers and soldiers of the mixed fleet, which was to be read aloud in public by Havitron to boost morale. The other was a letter to Havitron, which was full of rebuke. Although the supply point on Brown Gold Island was successfully destroyed, it was unacceptable that such a heretic as Su Ming had escaped from such a golden opportunity!
Havitron's anger and frustration surged instantly, and he crumpled the letter of rebuke into a ball.
Feimaina's investigation has yielded initial results. Based on the surviving mage's account and comparing it with the remaining Magic Power traces at the scene, she determined that the giant bone whale was summoned through combined spellcasting.
"Why does this sound like the Spirit Cloud scandal that caused such a stir before?" Havitron Trang frowned.
The "Spirit Cloud" system, which appeared a year and a half ago, was able to aggregate undead to greatly amplify combat power, thus causing panic worldwide.
"His Holiness the Pope and the Council of Cardinals recently announced that 'Spirit Cloud ' was just a misunderstanding and didn't exist at all." Feimaina also looked puzzled. "But how did it really appear?"
The adjutant rushed back, holding several pages of manuscripts. He handed them over with a complicated expression. "Marshal, Lady Feimaina, these are what we found in the secret room. These manuscripts record a system called ' Spirit Rain '."
"Spirit Rain?" Feimaina took the manuscript and quickly scanned it.
According to the document, the Final Bone Mad Machines recently completed the practical application of the "Spirit Rain" system. Judging from its characteristics, they control the powerful giant skeletal whale precisely through "Spirit Rain."
"This Spirit Rain seems to be just Spirit Cloud with a different name," Feimaina murmured.
"Damn it!" Havitron roared, slamming his fist into the broken wall beside him, sending shards of stone flying. "These necromancers were right after all!"
"Why did the Pope and the Council of Cardinals suddenly lift the warrant for Lingyun's arrest, and even openly declare that Spirit Cloud 'does not exist'?" an advisor questioned.
Havitron glanced at his adjutant, only to suddenly notice that the adjutant and the commander of the guard behind him looked strange, ashen-faced. The adjutant was clutching a piece of paper tightly in his hand, his hands trembling slightly, and he hesitated to hand it over.
****
Inside the cabin of the H-6 WZ, Su Ming contacted Katharine, who was far away in Dawn Territory, via radio communicator, and exchanged information and progress.
"The second phase of operations has ended, and we are now officially entering the third phase, the 'Shelling ' plan," Su Ming said. "In this phase, we have four objectives. Completing more than half of them will be considered a successful outcome."
"Understood." Katharine's voice came through the communicator. "All variables are currently within our calculations; continue executing according to the plan."
After hanging up the call, Su Ming stretched, his tense nerves easing a little.
"Su Ming, what exactly is this ' Shelling ' plan?" Miao Xin asked, her soul flame brimming with curiosity. "Why didn't you destroy that Light Fleet from earlier?"
"Exactly!" Ainuobia chimed in, "We only destroyed three warships, but we lost a huge amount of supplies and the island's defensive arrays—it's a complete loss no matter how you look at it!"
Upon hearing this, Jielusi and Ruixiuli also came over.
Su Ming stretched his stiff neck, looked at the puzzled faces of the group, and decided to give them a proper explanation.
He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and drew a small black dot in the center. "You've been having a major misconception—our enemy has never been the Temple of Light, but the Divine Covenant Faction that controls the Temple of Light."
As he spoke, he drew a large circle around the Xiaohei with his pen, and then added a few wavy lines to the circle.
"The Divine Covenant Faction controls the Temple of Light by virtue of the prestige they have accumulated over thousands of years, their widely disseminated and universally recognized doctrines and values, and their vast number of believers spread across the continent—this is their moat."
"So that's why you launched the 'Cultural Mudslide ' project, promoting the dirty, dark side of the Divine Covenant Faction." Ainuobia understood. "The goal is to strip the believers of their faith in the light from the Pope and cardinals, thus undermining their foundation of rule and the cornerstone of their faith."
"That's right," Su Ming nodded. "Now we have Star Sand and the Pale New Words ' Saintess. You are the spokesperson for the God of Light, and so am I. So, on the moat of faith, we can barely contend with them."
As Su Ming spoke, he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten to mention, "It's not exactly a forced confrontation; we can actually gain the upper hand."
"How's my plan to force a male saintess into marriage?" Miao Xin said smugly. "Having Weiaoyasi replace Katharine as the saintess, isn't that a brilliant idea!"
"Indeed, your design was a great help," Su Ming said with a smile and a nod.
He then drew a circle of densely packed thorns around the black dot representing the Divine Covenant Faction.
"Besides its foundation of faith, the Holy See also controls a massive, violent army, many of whose high-ranking officials have overlapping and intertwined relationships with the Divine Covenant Faction," Su Ming continued. "But any army inevitably has its own interests and group stance. The Divine Covenant Faction, as the power holders, are merely the kernel within this thorny nut; there are actually many exploitable gaps between it and the outer shell!"
"So what you mean by 'Shelling ' is sowing discord between the Divine Covenant Faction and the army of the Temple of Light, causing them to fight amongst themselves?" Jielusi interjected.
"That's right," Su Ming affirmed. "Our battle plan this time isn't to destroy the Temple of Light's military forces first and then eliminate the Divine Covenant Faction —that would be too time-consuming and troublesome."
An organization with a population of 80 million is so massive that it cannot be completely destroyed by the newly formed Final Bone Mad Machines and Star Sand. Su Ming has no intention of engaging in a war of attrition with it.
He narrowed his eyes as he spoke, "So Katharine and I plan to do the opposite: directly destroy the Divine Covenant Faction's organizational and mobilization capabilities, thereby significantly reducing the number of enemies we ultimately need to eliminate!"
"But how will you do that?" Ainuobia asked, puzzled. "How do you plan to peel away this hard shell from the Divine Covenant Faction?"
Su Ming smiled, opened the tablet in his hand, and showed the things he had "inadvertently" left behind in the basement of Brown Gold Island.
****
"The Great Pill?!" Havitron finished reading the paper his adjutant finally handed him, his hands trembling uncontrollably, his voice filled with disbelief and raging fury. "Just for this piece of junk, the Holy See lifted the arrest warrant for necromancers?!"
"Marshal, the Pope and the cardinals wouldn't act so rashly," Feimaina said, suppressing her shock and trying to calm Havitron's anger. "They must have a deeper reason for doing this."
"No, it's true!" The adjutant's voice was choked with sobs and despair. "My brother serves in the Holy City Guard, and he secretly told me that the Holy City is in complete chaos lately. Every cardinal is indulging in revelry every night. Human traffickers are frantically sending beautiful women of all races into the Holy City, and there are auctions every day."
He said, his eyes red, "My brother said that many auctions are even held in the residences of cardinals. They know the inside story, but they can't stop them. They can only go against their conscience and doctrine, and swallow their anger!"
Upon hearing this, Havitron felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, a tightness in his chest. He wasn't entirely unaware of the Holy City's dark side, but the past chaos had always been caused by young "second-generation gods," but now—
He kicked the ground hard, creating a small crater that revealed a mangled mass of flesh and blood—fragments of a fallen paladin, buried by the sand and dust kicked up by the explosion.
"Three main warships! The lives of over two thousand soldiers! The heretic Bone King we were just one step away from killing!" Havitron Trang gritted his teeth, his gums bleeding from the effort. "We risked our lives on the front lines, upholding the doctrines of the Light, and in the end, these people used us to exchange for their damnation!"
More officers learned of what had happened and gathered around, each one equally enraged.
"We're fighting desperately on the front lines, while they sit high above, impeccably dressed!" roared a blood-soaked officer who had narrowly escaped being caught in the explosion. His men, however, had suffered heavy losses. "These guys are all hypocritical devils!"
"And the tragedy at Sea of Divine Grace was caused by those second-generation gods—they let wolves into the house to vent their desires!" Another official who participated in the investigation of the Sacred Mountain massacre couldn't help but reveal, his voice filled with grief and indignation, "They deserve to die, but the Sacred Mountain Knights were completely wiped out because of it, and thousands of paladins and academy instructors sacrificed their lives in vain!"
"The Final Bone Mad Machines grew into what they are today by exploiting the gaps they created!" another officer shouted sternly. "The Divine Covenant Faction has caused this mess, and now we're left to clean it up, paying for their disaster with our lives!"
"God of Light above! I beg you to punish these Desecration demons!" a priest prayed, trembling.
Shouts rose and fell, and more and more officers and soldiers gathered around, their emotions running high.
Havitron listened to the rising and falling curses and accusations all around him, his heart filled with mixed emotions. Logically, he should issue a gag order to block the news and prevent a wider mutiny; but the anger in his heart was no less than that of anyone else present.
The three sunken warships were all his elite troops, and the captains who died in battle were all his most valued and trusted subordinates!
Moreover, such a scandal simply cannot be kept secret forever!
Haer Telang roared to the sky and tore the papal commendation order to shreds, sending scraps flying. The Brown Gold Island supply point had been successfully destroyed, and for the Northern Continent Jurisdiction of Light, it was now out of danger in the battle.
"Pass on my order!" His voice was hoarse but firm. "Immediately gather all the evidence and, in the name of the Expeditionary Crusaders, issue the most severe interrogation to the Holy See, demanding why they have betrayed the blood and sacrifice of the soldiers on the front lines!"
"Yes, sir!" the adjutant shouted.
****
Inside the cockpit of the H-6 WZ, Ainuobia's eyes were filled with amazement. "So that's the kind of plan you deployed!"
"So how long have you and Katharine been planning this?" Ruixiuli added. "No wonder Bay Owl runs away the moment he hears you discussing military strategy."
"We've been working on this plan for several months, repeatedly rehearsing and revising the details," Su Ming said calmly, putting away his tablet. "Actually, the process was quite fun; Bay Owl wouldn't understand the enjoyment it brought."
"You could learn from the Bay Owl and enjoy writing papers," Newman quipped.
"The matter of 'using the Great Pill for Spirit Cloud gain' alone is probably not enough," Jielusi said. "The Divine Covenant Faction has amassed power within the Holy See for centuries, with deep roots, and cannot be easily defeated. The Holy See's army depends on the Church for its existence; there may be intense conflicts between them and the Divine Covenant Faction, but they will not disintegrate like this."
"So this is just the first step in the whole plan. There will be three knives aimed at them." Su Ming's lips curled into a faint smile. "We will spread the stain of the Divine Covenant Faction throughout the world, making everything they rely on despise them!" he declared.
"If you can really do that, the Divine Covenant Faction will regret being your enemy," Jielusi laughed. "After this battle, you and Katharine will be a pair that even dogs would despise."
Everyone burst out laughing upon hearing this.
"So what if a dog dislikes you? It's not unfair." Su Ming rubbed his knuckles. "Military force is the sharpest sword, political intrigue is the most insidious blade." A sharp, cold glint flashed in his eyes. "Combining the two is truly the most despicable thing in the world!"