Underground

Upon hearing this, Augustus's anger momentarily subsided. "So the deal itself wasn't the problem at all." He now understood. "These goblins were deliberately setting us up!"

"I never imagined that even a mere goblin would dare to openly toy with our Temple of Light!" the cardinal in charge of procurement said with a sorrowful expression.

Augustus felt an indescribable sense of powerlessness instantly engulf him. In all his years in charge of the Temple of Light, it had always been the Temple of Light that stood above all other powers, dictating everything. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

"Let's calm things down first; we can't let it escalate any further," the Pope instructed Bulameike, forcing himself to remain calm.

Now is not the time to take revenge on the goblins. As long as Su Ming is dealt with, these green-skinned dwarves will crawl on their knees and beg for forgiveness, Augustus thought to himself.

The Pope then rose, and together with several trusted officers, left the council chamber and returned to his office to analyze the current situation.

"The goblins themselves would never dare to cause such trouble," an officer said. "They certainly wouldn't help the Final Bone Mad Machines and the Dragon Race without a reason—they're enemies!"

Two months ago, in the battle of Gray Ridge, the Goblin Clan Dragon Race the East of the Ridge region of the ridge, and their Goldglint Fortress was smashed to pieces. In the end, they had no choice but to sign a humiliating treaty ceding territory and paying reparations.

"Then there's only one possibility: Su Ming spent a huge sum of money to bribe the goblin race!" an intelligence officer said.

Everyone agreed. Given the goblin race's opportunistic and mercenary nature, as long as Su Ming's offer was high enough, they wouldn't care whether the money came from the enemy, nor would they consider their relationship with the Temple of Light.

The goblins' public statement and subsequent accusations were clearly at Su Ming's behest. It's truly baffling how much money the Final Bone Mad Machines spent to get the goblins to go to this extent.

"Your Holiness, Su Ming is far more cunning and treacherous than we anticipated," an advisor said gravely. "These off-the-spot schemes and tricks were not seen in previous confrontations, showing that he is willing to use any means necessary."

"This also means that the Final Bone Mad Machines will definitely be outmatched in this battle against us." Another strategist offered a fresh perspective, "Because they can't compete with us on the front lines, they're forced to rack their brains and use all these tricks to weaken our fighting power."

Augustus nodded slowly. The fact that Su Ming used so many "unorthodox tricks" indicated that the Final Bone Mad Machines was apprehensive on the front lines.

"Keep a close eye on them! There can't be any more problems with the Expeditionary Crusaders!" he sternly ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the officers replied in unison.

In fact, the priority of hunting down Su Ming has been downgraded in the current Expeditionary Crusaders mission sequence. This is not to say that killing Su Ming is unimportant, but rather that given his caution and cunning, after the battle of Brown Gold Island, he will definitely not be reckless again and repeat the same mistake.

Even if the Expeditionary Crusaders find a new foothold, Su Ming will definitely escape before the two sides make contact again.

However, the pursuit must continue, primarily to further compress and squeeze the space of the Final Bone Mad Machines, disrupt their naval Final Bone Mad Machines, and leave their main force on Dawn Island as an isolated force.

"Immediately dispatch a supply fleet to Brown Gold Island," Augustus ordered. "Replace those useless Dragon-Breaking Cone with new weapons; ensure the expeditionary fleet's combat effectiveness!"

The officers sprang into action, assigning tasks and checking the supply lists.

"Your Holiness, we don't have many warships left," an advisor inquired. "Should we send warships to escort us this time?"

"Send them all out," Augustus said helplessly. "In the current situation, keeping two or three ships at home won't do much good." He sighed as he spoke, "It's better to send them all out; it will strengthen the Expeditionary Crusaders's forces."

"Yes, Your Holiness!" the staff officer replied.

Augustus, as if remembering something, added, "Also, for this supply run, do not use any supplies procured from halflings and dwarves!"

The goblins are having problems, and by extension, this suggests that the forces in the Eastern Continent are no longer reliable. They may have been infiltrated by Su Ming, who may have secretly tampered with these military supplies and set traps for them.

"Furthermore, conduct a comprehensive and rigorous screening of existing imported supplies from the Eastern Continent," Augustus instructed. "We must not allow any further threats to interfere with our operations!"

"Yes, sir!" all the officers responded.

****

The Radiant Jurisdiction, the headquarters of the Mount Tai Paladin Order.

The Apprentice knight Ansaige was once again sent to help the logistics department purchase food and move heavy baskets full of rice, flour and vegetables.

A Apprentice knight like him was actually lower in rank than a private in the mess hall. The mess hall often gave special meals to officers and curried favor with them, so they could use the officers' names to assign Apprentice knights the hardest and most tiring jobs.

Ansaige spent the entire morning working before finally finishing everything. When he put down the basket, exhausted, he discovered that several beautifully bound booklets had appeared inside.

Like most lower-ranking knights, he was literate but never enjoyed reading. The books he had the most contact with were classics like the "Knight's Conduct Manual," which he had to consult when necessary.

As for the storybooks circulating among the upper class, he always kept his distance. They contained long, convoluted sentences and complex grammar, and a single sentence often required repeated reading to understand.

Even if you take the time to understand it, the plot is rather uninteresting, and the characters in the book are always spouting grand principles and reciting lengthy poems, giving it a strong didactic feel.

But at this moment, he couldn't resist picking up the booklet in the basket—the cover featured a stunningly beautiful nun wearing a light, thin robe that subtly revealed the glow of her skin.

After looking at the cover for a few minutes, Ansaige finally opened the inner pages, which should also contain illustrations.

"Abin's results in the paladin entrance exam were not ideal----"

The very first sentence of the text captivated Ansaige; he never imagined that this book was about someone from the lower class like himself!

Those from prominent families in the Temple of Light join the Holy Knights starting from the intermediate Holy Knight rank, and the subsequent assessments are extremely lenient. Only commoners like them, without any background, have to painstakingly pass the exams level by level, fighting tooth and nail with their colleagues in the training grounds, giving their all just to compete for the mere 10% of the regular promotion spots!

Ansaige couldn't resist flipping through the pages and found the book to be straightforward, concise, and the dialogue easy to understand. He became completely absorbed in the story and couldn't pull himself away.

The protagonist of the book, Abin, is not particularly talented, but he is resilient and brave. He comes from an ordinary background and is constantly suppressed and deliberately harassed by the noble officers who parachuted in. In the end, he barely passed the certification of a junior paladin and failed to obtain a better rating.

On the battlefield, he charged ahead fearlessly, making many contributions and earning the deep respect and affection of his colleagues.

The protagonist's childhood sweetheart joins the Temple of Light with him and becomes a devout nun. The two fall in love and, after Abin's courageous confession, begin discussing marriage.

But just as the wedding preparations were underway, his fiancée caught the eye of a member of Divine Covenant Faction Church. This "second-generation god" abused his family's power, forcibly assaulted his fiancée, and then cruelly murdered her to silence her.

After learning the truth, the protagonist Abin, was filled with grief and anger. He went to great lengths to seek revenge on this "second-generation god," but was defeated by the many guards around him.

Outnumbered and severely injured, Abin was thrown into prison. The "second-generation god" bribed the judge to frame Abin for his fiancée's death. Ultimately, Abin was sentenced to be burned at the stake and publicly executed in the Holy City Square!

As flames ignited Abin's robes and scorched his skin, a group of mysterious figures suddenly descended from the sky. They chanted in unison, working together to defeat the guards at the execution ground and the henchmen of the "second-generation god," rescuing Abin.

"Can you recognize this brand?"

66

The silver coins offered as a sacrifice of the lamb are now burning hot in the Holy Grail!

"Can you hear this prayer?"

The echo of an innocent man's shackles transformed into the roar of an organ!

"Hey, what are you looking at!" Ansaige was suddenly patted on the shoulder, and the book in his hand was snatched away.

Ansaige was startled and turned around sharply, only to find that it was another soldier from the same garrison. The two were not very familiar with each other.

"No, I didn't look at anything, I just found it on the ground." Ansaige lifted the basket, trying to appear calm, his tone indifferent. "I wanted to see who had accidentally lost the book, so I looked through the title page, but I didn't see a name."

The soldier picked up the booklet and casually flipped through a few pages. He was immediately drawn to the colorful illustrations in the book—a young girl, her nun's robe half-undone, was drawing water to bathe in a room; the scene was exquisitely detailed.

"Tsk tsk, such good paper and ink, what a waste to use this!" He slurped, not bothering to investigate further. "Since it's not yours, I'll take a look!"

Ansaige felt reluctant to leave, but dared not show it, and simply left in silence. His mind, however, remained filled with the relatable experiences of the protagonist, Abin, and the final sentence he had seen:

The day the saint returns will be the day the new fire cleanses sins!

****

On the outskirts of the Radiant Holy City, in a radio communication facility set up in the mountains, Yuya spoke into the communicator, giving Su Ming a detailed report on the recent work progress.

"We have already distributed a total of four thousand brochures of various kinds to the various military units stationed within the Radiant Jurisdiction through different channels," Yuya reported. "According to feedback, soldiers are now actively requesting these brochures, and the number is increasing rapidly."

Yuya used the guise of "promoting new publishing house products" and holding a "free trial reading event" to distribute these pamphlets to small vendors outside various military garrisons. According to the agreement, the vendor would receive half a copper coin as a reward for each pamphlet successfully given to a soldier.

Unlike the knights who received basic education, these small vendors only recognized the most common product names and numbers. They treated these as mere brochures, brazenly displaying them on their stalls as freebies for the soldiers.

The prostitutes, in particular, were very enthusiastic about this, Yuya thoughtfully launched a customized cover service, replacing the cover with a portrait painting of them.

"Alright, have your transmission lines evacuate immediately!" Su Ming ordered. "Such large-scale unusual activity will be discovered very soon."

"Understood!" Yuya replied, "I'll arrange it right away."

After igniting the first spark, a covert sales channel can then be built using soldiers who "like to read".

The second phase of the books saw a significant reduction in paper and printing quality, with simpler covers and titles such as "The Paladin Training Manual" and "Detailed Explanation of Barracks Rules," greatly increasing their concealment and dissemination.

Outside each military camp, there were vendors who specialized in selling contraband into the camp, and they would take over the follow-up work. Su Ming provided the borderline brochures for free, and the vendors pocketed the money from the sales; everyone got what they wanted.

As long as money can be earned and consumption exists, no transaction can be prohibited!

"What's the progress on Janet's end?" Su Ming asked.

"The eldest princess has now gone to the capital of the Star Empire, the City of Radiance," Yuya reported. "Yise has been tracking her. She just sent a report saying that Janet has gone to the palace to meet King Xialike."

In the City of Radiance, Yise could only send messages through the public magical communication network. It would be foolish to contact Su Ming directly at sea; it would easily attract the attention of relevant personnel.

Therefore, Yise contacted Yuya, who then reported the situation via radio.

"Very good. Have Yise keep a close eye on her. Once Janet Radiant City, find an opportunity to strike," Su Ming ordered.

"Don't worry, the Blue-Eyed Chamber of Commerce has already planted twenty wireless tracking devices around Janet," Yuya said. "They're all in her suitcase now."

"You guys have gone too far," Su Ming exclaimed.

"It was actually an accident," Yuya said helplessly. "The Chamber of Commerce brought out hundreds of bottles of cosmetics for Janet to choose from, but unexpectedly, the Princess bought them all."

"Alright, twenty it is. Just make sure we don't lose them," Su Ming said helplessly.

"Given the current situation, it would be difficult for us to lose track of them even if we wanted to," Yuya said with a light laugh.

"In short, caution is paramount in all matters," Su Ming said. "Yes, Chairman Su," Yuya nodded.

After hanging up the call, Su Ming leaned back in his chair, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted.

Capturing Janet is a crucial part of this plan. If anything goes wrong, or if our true intentions are exposed, the planning phase of this operation will end immediately, and we will launch a full-scale attack.

In that case, the benefits to the Divine Covenant Faction's campaign would be greatly reduced, and it would take much longer to make up for it afterwards.

However, in some ways, the risks of attacking Janet were more difficult to control than those of charging into battle on the front lines. After all, this was an operation deep into the heart of the Western Continent, and Su Ming lacked contingency plans.

Su Ming prayed silently, hoping that Yise and the others would be alright.

-Hong-