Rosalind was taken aback when she heard Odis's words.
As a member of the secret organization "Morse Ascetic Order", she never even considered overthrowing the Rune government.
This made her take a serious look at Odis, because the "favored one of the gods" in front of her didn't seem so extreme.
Rosalind then cleared her throat and reminded them, "The Loen royal family has the support of three churches, and it seems that the royal family also has two angels."
Seeing the other person's expression, Odis smiled and said, "I'm not saying this so you can do it right now."
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He paused for a moment and said, "As I said yesterday, when you feel unsure how to solve the problem at hand, you might as well just do it."
"Once you start doing it, you'll know what you can accomplish and what you can't, so you can do the things you can accomplish."
Rosalind pondered for a moment before asking, "So your solution for helping the world's underprivileged is to open schools and do some construction work on this remote island?"
Odis shrugged and said, "At least the fate of the natives on this island has been changed, their lives have improved, and they have entered modern society."
"Without my appearance, they might not have been able to complete such a change even hundreds of years later."
Rosalind asked, "Can this model of compulsory education be sustained for a long time?"
"Of course," Odis said. "The case of Crus Island is somewhat special; it earns a lot of money from the pirates every week."
"By just taking a portion of the proceeds, we can provide compulsory education for every child and build hospitals and clinics."
"Look over there, that's designated land for construction. Soon, residential buildings will be built there, and this area will become even more prosperous in the future."
"Compulsory education will also become something that everyone considers normal."
Rosalind sighed, "Indeed, such a model would be difficult to replicate in the Northern Continent."
"It's not that difficult," Odis said. "You should have heard that I served as governor of Wotai for a period of time."
"Currently, compulsory education is being popularized throughout the entire Wotai state. The teaching environment will definitely be a bit worse at first, but as it becomes more widespread, the situation will get better and better."
Rosalind realized: "You're using the revenue from Cruz Island to develop Wotai State?"
"Yes, I did indeed draw a great deal of wealth from Cruz Island," Odis smiled. "You're probably thinking that this will make Wotai an isolated case, right?"
"But I can tell you that I have a certain plan for this development model and direction."
"The initial accumulation of wealth in a region is a huge problem in terms of development. By using the pirates' money to develop the power in other places, I am just solving the problem of initial accumulation."
"It's not that the entire Vote State will have to rely on Cruz Island for support forever. Some of the factories built there are already completed, the railway will be open to traffic next month, and commerce has already begun to flourish."
"If I hadn't provided the initial capital, this process might have taken more than a decade to complete."
"I have the ability to skip these past ten years or so, why not use it?"
Rosalind looked at the children reading in front of her: "So, Wotai State can currently support its compulsory education expenses on its own?"
"In the beginning, conditions were very difficult," Odis said again. "I've heard that there are places where classes are held outdoors, but once we get started, things will gradually improve."
Rosalind then asked, "Can this model be promoted throughout Remenberg?"
"Can."
"Can it be promoted throughout the entire Northern Continent?"
"Yes," Odis said. "Even the southern continent is acceptable."
He shrugged and said, "With initial capital accumulation, the problem of compulsory education is really not as difficult as imagined."
Odiston paused for a moment, then said to Rosalind, "The main problem facing the Northern Continent right now is that local governments have too little control over local resources, or rather, too many privileges are being used to divide up the benefits from the local areas."
"For example, the royal family, nobles, and the church—basically, the best assets in every place are in the hands of these three."
"Fortunately, there are gods in this world. Apart from maintaining its own operations, the church's assets are used to carry out some public welfare projects such as almshouses, church schools, and church hospitals."
"If gods are merely conceptual gods, rather than actual beings, then the church must be the biggest money-making group."
"It is precisely because of the existence of the church that the royal family and nobles dare not go too far."
Rosalind listened attentively; these were questions she hadn't really considered before.
In addition, she was somewhat unfamiliar with the "conceptual god" that Odis mentioned, but she could understand what he meant.
"Of course, with the completion of the industrial revolution in several major countries, the situation is much better now than before," Odis continued. "Many millionaires and super-rich people have emerged in society."
"But once they have accumulated a certain amount of wealth, most of them use their wealth to buy a noble title and start spending money to enhance their influence, striving to become local councilors or members of the House of Commons."
"There are almost no exceptions to this, because once their wealth reaches a certain scale, if they do not want their wealth to be plundered, they can only have a certain voice in the political arena."
"This process is actually moving closer to the royal family and the nobility, because they have privileges that local governments are powerless to stop."
Rosalind realized: "So you think the problem in the Northern Continent lies with the royal family and the nobility?"
"You could say that," Odis said. "However, I'm not too optimistic about the parliamentary system either."
When a country is prosperous, its members of parliament will demonstrate a high level of professionalism; however, when a country begins to decline, its members of parliament will definitely accelerate the process.
The former is because everyone can share in the benefits, everyone is highly aware, and they strongly defend their country.
The latter was because there weren't many benefits to be shared, so they had to resort to certain means to obtain the benefits they wanted. The problem was, everyone thought that way at the time.
Rosalind then asked, "If the nobles and the royal family are overthrown, will the problem be solved?"
"The Republic of Intis is a good example," Odis smiled. "The problem has not been completely solved. The councilors and the wealthy have divided up the privileges of the former royal family and nobles, forming a new privileged class."
"Or rather, this problem is fundamentally unsolvable; as the old privileged class falls, a new privileged class will emerge."
Rosalind asked, "You can't solve it either?"
"My current power level is not yet at the stage where I need to deal with the privileged class," Odis said with a smile. "However, I have some ideas."
"Since there will always be privileged classes in any human society, we should not try to eliminate these classes, but rather impose certain restrictions on them."
"For example, if someone does something that goes against the basic national policy, the privileged class should be kicked out. There are also issues involving people's livelihood, economic entities, the right to life, and equality of personality, etc."
"Draw a line for them. As long as they don't cross it, we can use them to boost the economy and let them enjoy some privileges in normal times. After all, they have contributed a lot to this, so this can be considered a reward for them. But if they cross the line, we will eliminate them immediately."
Rosalind paused for a moment, because this seemed like a very mature idea.
Moreover, this idea is quite unique: if you can't eliminate it, then make use of it!
Then, an unprecedented sense of pragmatism filled her mind, making her understand many of the questions that had previously troubled her.
Rosalind was happy for a moment, but soon said with some helplessness, "Unfortunately, this world is dominated by extraordinary power. I support your idea and am even willing to help you."
"But we are still too weak."
Odis smiled slightly. He knew very well that Rosalind had been successfully turned the moment she said "we".
But these things are best left unsaid; they can't be explained too explicitly.
"Don't underestimate yourself," Odis said, "but don't put too much pressure on yourself either."
"We are demigods, so we should just focus on solving problems at the demigod level."
"Higher-level problems can be solved by people at a higher level, or we can solve them when we reach a higher level."
Rosalind smiled and said, "This is also about doing and thinking at the same time."
"Yes." Odiston paused for a moment, then added, "However, we can discuss this issue when we have time."
"Having an idea first, then putting it into practice, and finding solutions in practice is also a good approach."
Rosalind took a breath and smiled, "I always feel like no problem is a problem for you."
Odis laughed and said, "Don't think of a problem as a wall, but as a door. Find a way to push the door open, and you can pass through it."
After chatting for a while, Odis and Rosalind returned to Backlund and agreed on a time to continue their conversation.
Rosalind looked at the spot where Odis had disappeared, and felt that this trip to Cruz Island had been very fruitful.
Then she began to consider what she could do at the moment, based on her actual situation.
Overthrowing the Ruen government is an unrealistic goal, but we can learn from Odis's experience, find a suitable location to completely control the area, establish effective rule, and put Odis's theories into practice.
And in the process, we will summarize and learn, and when our strength allows, we will expand further.
To achieve this goal, we first need sufficient manpower and initial capital.
Rosalind plans to first reorganize her subordinates, and as for the location to establish effective rule, she can find a place on the southern continent or on the edge of the raging sea.
As she pondered, the framework of a plan emerged in her mind.
Finally, she realized that she could tell the two other "Ten Pillars" members who shared the same views that they should also try to use the mobile library to break the deadlock in their thinking.
When the time is right, they can also be brought into your plans.
...
Odis returned to the embassy and first reviewed the process of turning the enemy into a fugitive, feeling that it was quite successful.
However, Rosalind's power cannot be used right now, so maintaining the status quo is the best course of action.
It's not too late for the "Lord of Mysteries" to receive this power when he is confident enough to confront the "Hidden Sage".
At that time, it would be a natural thing for Rosalind to join the Lord of Mysteries, and perhaps some of her friends would also rise up together.
Odis considered his recent plans and other important matters.
There are two important things to do right now. The first is to get promoted as soon as possible. Even if I don't become an angel, becoming a "prophet master" will significantly improve my ability to cope with various pressures and allow me to do more things.
For example, once you become a Sequence 3, you don't need to worry about the Reynoldsburg royal family at all, and when the time is right, you can take over the country for yourself.
The second important thing is Shatas's wedding. We must make good use of their wedding to establish friendly relations with the elves.
The feud between humans and elves was settled in the Third Age. This extraordinary power currently has no one to pledge allegiance to, making them easy targets to win over.
After a moment's thought, Odis came up with a brilliant idea that would kill two birds with one stone: to have Bernadette attend the wedding as his partner.
This would both demonstrate strength to the Elven race and allow him to take his relationship with Bernadette to a more "public" level.
Odis thought it was a good idea and immediately went to Voteia.
They couldn't find Bernadette, and after asking around, they learned that she was now in the Chatyre region.
Odis then immediately went to the province of Chatyre.
Once he arrived, he wasn't in a hurry anymore. He leisurely strolled around the streets and inquired about the current situation in the state.
He soon learned that Long Ze'er had basically resolved the local power issue, eliminated a large number of bandit groups, and was now working on establishing a state government.
Mandy brought one of his subordinates from Backlund, who became the governor of the state of Chatyre, while the former head of the security force became the deputy governor, still in charge of security work.
This security team captain is quite legendary. In a dire situation, without the support of the governor or the Remnburg government, he made a deal with local forces and engaged in a years-long standoff with the bandit army supported by the Republic of Intis.
After arriving in Shattar Oblast, the security captain immediately sided with the people sent by the "Governor of Wotai Oblast".
It turned out that he had already heard about the changes in Wotai Province and had long hoped that Odis could intervene in the affairs of Shattel Province.
The other party's cooperation greatly helped Long Ze'er, so after Mandy wrote to Odis for instructions, she gave him the position of deputy governor.
If the other party can quickly change their mindset, they can also be reused.
The state is currently in the process of establishing order, so it needs the support of extraordinary and law enforcement forces. Longzel is definitely not going anywhere, and Bernadette will occasionally have to come to deter the extraordinary forces of the Republic of Intis.
After learning that the "Elemental Dawn" had intervened in the affairs of the State of Shattrath, the Republic of Intis acted with great restraint and hardly sent any more extraordinary forces.
Soon, Odis found Bernadette.
Her work isn't actually that busy; what the state of Shattar needs is "her here," not "her being busy."
Odis's sudden appearance surprised Bernadette, who was wearing a white shirt and trousers: "What's the matter?"
Odis smiled and said, "Of course I've come to see if the 'Mysterious Queen' is holding her post."
Bernadette sat in her chair, a slightly amused smile on her face, and said, "You don't pay me a salary, yet you expect me to stay at my post?"
Odis sat down next to her and said seriously, "I'm here to see if you've kept up your post as 'Odis's girlfriend'."
Bernadette was taken aback: "How can we defend this?"
"She doesn't flirt or chat with other men."
Bernadette chuckled: "You mean those men with brains like pigs?"
Odis nodded slowly: "I'm relieved to hear you say that."
Bernadette seemed to only now realize: "I'm not trying to prove anything, I'm just stating the facts."
"I understand." Odis raised his chin. "In your eyes, I must be the wisest and most special one, right?"
"Narcissist." Bernadette couldn't help but laugh.
"Let's get down to business," Odis said. "Do you remember those five 'characters from the book' that I told you about?"
"The elves and nobles of the Fourth Age are to hold a wedding ceremony among the elves..."
Odis briefly explained his idea of winning over the Elven race.
Bernadette considered for a moment before asking, "Can ordinary people accept living with elves?"
At that time, some of the elves will inevitably appear on Crus Island.
"Those elves will have two options. They don't need to leave their accustomed habitats," Odis said. "Alternatively, we can designate an area for them to live in, separate from the ordinary people."
"What I want to do is, when I am powerful enough in the future, publicly declare that elves and giants have normal civil rights."
Bernadette nodded and said, "Doing so would indeed win over the elves, but we would also need to appease the common people and explain things to the Church of Storms and the Church of War."
"The people are easy to appease," Odis said. "The difficult problem is the Church of Storms."
He took a deep breath and said, "I have two ideas. The first is to recruit the extraordinary powers of these elves and have them serve as the official extraordinary beings of Lenburg, preventing them from appearing at sea."
"Secondly, we must ensure that they are within the sphere of influence of the Church of Knowledge. This way, we won't need to explain anything to the Church of Storms; we can simply inform the Church of Knowledge."
Bernadette laughed and said, "The resources of the Church of the True God are being used to their fullest extent."
Odis waved his hand: "A partnership, nothing more than a partnership."
Then he said, "I need your help with this. I've come to ask you for your assistance."
Bernadette frowned slightly, her beautiful brows furrowing: "Although my forces have always been in the Raging Sea, I have never had any dealings with the elven forces."
"I know," Odis finally got to the point: "I hope we can attend Châteauroux's wedding together."
Bernadette immediately understood Odis's intention: "Very well, our relationship should indeed be gradually made public."
Odis hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.
"What kind of expression is that?"
"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought about what kind of dress I should wear," Odis said.
Actually, he was thinking: This is the advantage of having a mature girlfriend.
There's no need for feigned shyness or repeated tugging in this kind of situation; this communication method is simple and effective.
The two then talked about the situation in the state of Chadère. As they talked, Odis leaned his chair close to Bernadette's and put his arm around her to continue the conversation.
Bernadette also cooperated by bending down slightly and leaning on Odice's shoulder.
The two of them were now quite used to this intimate gesture, and Odis began to try to put her hand inside his clothes to caress him; the firm skin felt very nice to the touch.
Bernadette's incredibly graceful figure, with its full curves yet without any excess fat, instantly ignited Odis's desire to explore.
Bernadette had been somewhat resistant to Odis's previous attempts, but this time Odis's "exploration" went much more smoothly.
Occasionally pinching her skin as a gesture of interaction would elicit bursts of laughter from Bernadette.
So the next goal is to conquer those two soft mounds on her chest.
Odis was not in a hurry; he knew very well that he needed to give Bernadette time to adjust her mindset.
A mature girlfriend can be very easy to talk to on some issues, but Odis is also very considerate of his feelings in other ways.
If a strong woman like Bernadette is too impatient, she may not be able to adjust her mindset or her self-esteem may not be able to accept it.
So Odis took things slowly and patiently, and enjoyed the process.
After spending some time being affectionate with Bernadette, both of them still had work to do, so they could only agree to have lunch together at a cabin on Cruise Island the next morning.
Odis returned to Backlund, first sending a letter to Châteauroux, then making preparations to attend a reception as the Remnburg ambassador.
After finishing his social engagements, Odis saw that the night sky above Backlund was unusually clear, with a not-so-bright moon hanging in the air.
The pale moonlight shone into the room, and the phrase "bright moonlight by the bedside" had reached Odis's throat.
He took a deep breath, sat down in the chair, and stared at the slightly blushing moon in silence for a long time.
After watching for a full half hour, Odis finally got up from his chair, wrote a letter to Klein, and invited him to have a drink on Cruz Island.
...
In the early hours of the morning, Hugh Deercha, dressed in his knight's uniform, was still quietly waiting in a dark corner of an alley in the East End.
She was waiting for a wanted criminal with a high bounty. Actually, she rarely did this kind of surveillance work anymore, but the person she was surveillance for before was discovered by the criminal, and the clues almost went completely out of control.
Considering the bounty on this wanted criminal, there is no doubt that he must be an extraordinary being, because he has strong spirituality and counter-surveillance capabilities that are stronger than ordinary people.
So after finding the other party's location again, Hugh personally came to keep watch.
The other person didn't come home all night; they might have gone to see a prostitute or been drinking at a bar.
But Hugh was certain that the other party would return to rest in the early morning, because that was the safest time for the bounty hunters.
The streets were not deserted; many homeless people were fast asleep on the streets.
Every one or two hours, the police would use batons to drive them away. Although being woken up by the beating was unpleasant and they were easily injured, they had nowhere else to go.
Then the police arrived, shouting and driving away the homeless people. Some children living in the houses on both sides of the street were also awakened by the noise and started crying, clearly frightened by the police's voices.
Then came the sounds of parents, some scolding, some comforting.
Hugh watched all this quietly. The homeless were driven away, but three of them did not get up.
The police went up and kicked it a few times, but it still didn't move, so they cursed at it.
Look closely at the faces of those three people; they are already dead.
It is summer now, but people still die on summer nights, from exhaustion and hunger, though the death toll is slightly lower than in winter.
The body must be taken away the next morning, otherwise it will easily smell bad once exposed to the sun.
But those are things to be dealt with tomorrow. After the police chased the homeless people away, they went back to rest.
Soon, the streets fell silent again.
Xiu continued to keep watch, seemingly without any reaction.
At this moment, two thin, simply dressed men walked quickly over. They seemed to be chanting something in a low voice and squatted down in front of a corpse.
One of the men made the corpse sit up, while the other man held the corpse's head in his hands, and his ten fingers suddenly emitted a faint light.
Hugh frowned, not understanding what they were doing.
At this moment, the man holding the corpse's head shook his head, and the two men threw the corpse on the ground and moved on to the next corpse.
The same procedure was followed: one man helped the corpse sit up, while another held the corpse's head, their fingers emitting a faint light.
Suddenly, the corpse twitched.
Something's not right!
Hugh paused for a moment, her intuition confirming that the homeless man had already died.
What did they do to the homeless man's body?
The two men seemed quite pleased, whispered a few words of praise, then together carried the homeless man's body and quickly left.
Hugh took a step forward, but still didn't catch up.
She was pondering the identities of the two men. First of all, they were definitely not kind-hearted people helping to bury the homeless man's body. They must have had their own purpose in taking the body away.
But Hugh's main task today is to wait for that wanted criminal.
Finally, the target appeared!
Hugh stopped speculating about what had just happened and decided to issue a mission tomorrow to investigate those simply dressed men.
Then, she calmed herself and entered a hunting state.
...
The docks on Cruz Island are quiet at night.
The pirate ships that arrived at the island had all docked around the afternoon, and it was now dinner time, so the pirates on board had already gone to eat.
Odis paced back and forth on the dock.
Finally, a figure suddenly appeared from the illusion; it was Gehrman Sparrow, dressed in a formal suit, wearing a silk top hat, and with a cold expression.
Or rather, it's Klein wearing the face of the "strongest pirate hunter".
Upon seeing Odis, he asked in a rather cold tone, "What do you want with me?"
"It's nothing serious, I just wanted to show you the streetlights on Cruz Island," Odis said, pointing in the direction of the street.
To everyone's surprise, Klein replied, "I came to see it a long time ago."
Not only did I visit, but I also sampled the wide variety of snacks on the food street.
Odis was taken aback: "When did this happen?"
About a month and a half ago.
Why weren't you told?
"Isn't Gangkou Town a place that's off-limits to visitors?"
Odis laughed and said, "I mean, you're really not being fair! You came here without even saying hello."
"There's no need."
"If you give me a heads-up, all your purchases here will be free."
Gehrman Sparrow paused for a moment: "I'll tell you next time I come."
"Don't do it again next time, come on, let me buy you a drink." Odis warmly invited Klein to a bar and ordered two local specialty beers:
"Try it. It's brewed by a local resident who used to run a tavern in town. Now he focuses on brewing wine."
...
The surrounding area, which had been quite lively, suddenly fell silent as the patrons recognized them as "Mysterious General" and "Strongest Hunter".
Could this mad pirate hunter be here to hunt down the "Mysterious Admiral"?
But they don't look like that at all; they seem like two friends who came out for drinks after work.
Unfortunately, even if you were right next to them, you couldn't hear what they were talking about.
The patrons realized that the two men might have known each other for a long time, or even be friends. What were they plotting at this moment?
Are they going to hunt down other "pirate generals"?
...
Klein took a sip of beer: "It does have a very rich flavor."
Then he asked, "What do you want from me?"
Klein felt that "Mr. Garr" was not the kind of person who had the leisure to drink in a bar.
Odis looked at the other person: "Are you tired?"
Klein was taken aback. Although he didn't quite understand what the other person meant, his words touched him deeply.
The wealthy man's servants worried about whether they had served Mr. Dawn Dantes well, and the new friends he made at the party were most concerned about how many pounds in the pockets of this former adventurer and outlaw.
There are many people on the high seas who "care" about Gehrman Sparrow, but most of them are only interested in his bounty.
Miss Sharon and Maritch would seek help from Detective Sherlock Moriarty when they encountered difficulties...
Over the past year, Klein had been switching between these roles without feeling anything amiss, but when suddenly asked this question, his instinct was to say "not tired," but he opened his mouth and didn't say it.
Odis smiled and said, "Look, you're feeling pretty tired too, aren't you?"
He took a sip of wine and said, "To achieve your goals, you need to advance, digest the magic potion, advance again, keep digesting the magic potion, keep advancing."
"Even though we are already very powerful extraordinary beings, we have less and less free time."
"Finally I have some free time, but I don't know which friend to hang out with."
"I'm okay, at least I have a girlfriend. You're all alone, you must feel lonely sometimes, right?"
Klein glanced at Odis: "It sounds like you're showing off your girlfriend."
"Isn't it something to brag about?"
Klein almost lost his composure as Gehrman Sparrow: "Are you trying to make yourself feel better by making me feel even worse?"
Odis smiled and said, "Now, do you want to chat with me for a while?"
Klein didn't speak, but he also didn't get up to leave.
Odis took another big gulp of wine: "Do you miss home?"
Klein looked at Odis with a strange expression: "I am a ruthless bounty hunter and a crazy adventurer. Is it polite for you to ask me such a question?"
Odis laughed and said, "I've met Gehrman Sparrow, but I've also met Sherlock Holmes. I know very well that Gehrman Sparrow is an actor you played."
"Besides, even a bounty hunter should have a home. Can it just be a rock... falling from the sky?"
In this world, very few people would say things like "came from a rock".
Klein opened his mouth again, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Sometimes."
For example, when you see the two Chinese characters for "hometown".
Odis laughed and said, "That's right, it's just casual conversation after drinking, don't be so serious."