Inland North Africa, the capital of Adus, Adis.
At night, in the suburbs of Adis, in a small garden behind the hall of the Priory of Radiance... or rather, the Qiwen Temple, the highest representative of the Savior Descends Faction in Adus, Mukhtar, stood there, gazing solemnly at the bright moon in the sky.
Just then, not far from Mukhtar, a Savior Sect priest was hurrying towards them. After trotting to Mukhtar's side, the priest immediately bowed in greeting, then spoke with reverence.
"Your Excellency... have Captain finally decided to act?"
With a hint of excitement in his eyes, the young priest spoke frankly to Mukhtar, while Mukhtar, with little expression, slowly replied calmly.
"Almost... Before, I still held a glimmer of hope for Shadi, hoping he could remember his promise, not be tempted by power, and return under the Light of the Lord, but from the results of tonight, Shadi still has no awareness of his own degeneration..."
Mukhtar sighed and said. After hearing his words, the priest beside him's eyes turned slightly fierce, and then he continued.
"That guy Shadi wants to continue being a fence-sitter, wanting to keep fooling us. Unfortunately, we can no longer tolerate his disgusting ways. He is a faithless traitor! There is no need to keep such a traitor!"
The young priest said so resolutely, while Mukhtar, after hearing these words, still spoke slowly with an unmoved expression.
"I have given Shadi enough chances. Since he still hasn't repented by now, there's nothing we can do. Since he's unwilling to take a side, then we will help him take a side."
"Halle, from now on, strengthen surveillance of the otherworld delegation's situation. Do not allow them any chance to leave Adis. Notify the Holy Guard to be ready for battle at all times."
"Tomorrow, after the third and final round of negotiations concludes, directly launch a surprise attack on the otherworld delegation. At the same time, see if Shadi will protect them. If he does, directly control Shadi and have our people take over all affairs in Adis completely. He only has a very strong ancient undead as his trump card; although somewhat troublesome, it doesn't pose a threat."
"As for Shadi's Revolutionary Army, they can be simply asked to give up resistance and surrender power. If they refuse, then use force. As for the otherworld delegation, there's no need to worry too much. Except for the leading Sister, they can all be executed. It's best to capture the leading Sister so she can be publicly burned at the stake later..."
"The achievements in Adus were hard-won. Having finally returned under the Light of the Lord, they must never fall into the hands of the otherworld again. We need to cut off all possibilities of compromise with the otherworld, lest someone like Shadi appears again in the future."
Standing still, Mukhtar slowly conveyed his orders to Halle beside him. Hearing Mukhtar's words, a glint of excitement appeared in Halle's eyes. After hearing everything, he responded with fervor.
"Understood, Your Excellency... But I think, since we're starting to act, we shouldn't just target those otherworld envoys. We might as well just kill Shadi directly and control the entire Revolutionary Army. Anyway, that guy doesn't want to be controlled by us."
Halle spoke frankly to Mukhtar. Hearing Halle's words, Mukhtar paused slightly, then continued.
"Shadi deserves to die... but now is not the time. He is very popular and influential within the Adus Revolutionary Army. If he is killed in Adis, the entire Adus Revolutionary Army will know it was us who did it. Many Revolutionary Army units in other cities where our influence is insufficient will directly break away from our control because of this, and may even directly side with the otherworld Church. Therefore, Shadi cannot die yet, at least not before we have a deeper influence on the Revolutionary Army."
"Our action this time is not aimed at Shadi, but merely to force him to take a stance. As long as the otherworld delegation dies in Adis, the Church will never be able to accept him. Without his illusions, he can only continue on the same boat with us. It won't be too late to deal with Shadi after we have deeper control over the Revolutionary Army and the entire Adus..."
With his hands behind his back, Mukhtar gazed at the distant night and murmured. Hearing Mukhtar's words, a look of thought appeared on Halle's face, and then he nodded and spoke.
"I understand, Your Excellency, I will go make the arrangements now!"
Halle said so, then bowed to Mukhtar again before quickly retreating. For a moment, only Mukhtar remained on the scene.
After Halle left, Mukhtar looked at the empty and silent surroundings, couldn't help but let out a soft cold snort, and then quickly left the scene.
However, what he didn't expect was that not far from his surroundings at this moment, a sharp gaze had been staring at him since long ago, and as a Crimson Tier "Lamp" Extraordinary, he had no awareness of such a gaze.
Within the hidden space of the Qiwen Temple, Dorothy was standing in the simple, distorted temple garden, gazing intently in the direction Mukhtar had left. From the moment Mukhtar returned to the Qiwen Temple, Dorothy had been closely monitoring Mukhtar from within the hidden space, obtaining intelligence that would be impossible to acquire under normal circumstances. Dorothy had heard the conversation between Mukhtar and Halle just now crystal clear. At this moment, Dorothy clearly knew what Mukhtar and the others wanted to do, and understood that Vanya and they, as well as herself, were currently in danger.
"'This is bad... These guys from the Savior Sect are so impatient. They want to turn hostile now. To force the Revolutionary Army to stand with them, they've chosen to directly attack the Church's delegation in Adis. These guys are absolutely crazy!'"
Standing within the hidden space's garden, Dorothy frowned and thought to herself with a serious expression. Clearly, she hadn't expected the people of the Savior Descends Faction to be so radical; they would actually do something like directly killing the Church envoys.
Although the Savior Descends Faction had thought about attacking the delegation from the beginning, it was always an indirect attack by hiring bandit groups, and they never expected a single bandit group to actually wipe out the delegation. It was just to make the delegation feel danger and persuade them to retreat.
And this time, they not only want me to personally take action, but they even want to go straight for the kill, destroying the Church delegation in Adis. The diplomatic consequences of this are extremely serious. It can be said that they are directly forcing the Church to send troops, which is not an exaggeration. This group of Mukhtar is practically dragging the entire Adus Revolutionary Army into martyrdom with them.
Dorothy originally thought that even if the Savior Descends Faction considered attacking the delegation, they wouldn't use such a direct method. If they were truly going to be enemies with the Church, they would try to buy some time and prepare themselves. But she didn't expect them to actually want to do it so directly, without considering any consequences. This suddenly made Dorothy feel very tricky.
"They're truly a bunch of lunatics... unreasonable lunatics..."
Dorothy sighed and said. Encountering such faith fanatics who don't play by the rules, many of her previous estimations suddenly fell short. Now, she had to think of a way to deal with it.
"'According to those guys' arrangements, the entire delegation is now under their surveillance. With a Crimson Tier "Lamp" watching here, it's impossible to escape. And if we don't escape... we can only wait for these guys to act directly when the time comes. A head-on confrontation is unavoidable.'"
"'Here in Adis, besides having a bunch of Chalk and Black Earth, the Savior Sect also has Mukhtar, a Crimson Tier Extraordinary, stationed here. Although the bodyguards around Vanya are strong, they are not enough in front of a Scarlet. Even adding me and Neff wouldn't help. Under the suppression of absolute power, whether it's a sneak attack or a head-on confrontation, there is absolutely no chance of winning.'"
Frowning, Dorothy racked her brain for countermeasures. Due to the crazy actions of the Savior Sect, they now had to engage in a direct confrontation with the Savior Sect in Adis. However, given the vast difference in strength between the enemy and themselves, Dorothy was not optimistic about such a conflict.
In Dorothy's view, confronting Adis alone was not enough; they had to find allies. At this time, there was only one ally who could help them, and that was Shadi, who had always remained neutral and on the fence.
'However, that Shadi is not yet our ally, so we must find a way to win him over.'
With this thought, Dorothy silently closed her eyes again and, through prayer, used the information channel to connect with Vanya, who was still in the negotiation hall of the palace far away.
...
At night, in the negotiation hall of the palace in Adis, the second round of negotiations was also nearing its end.
Due to the Savior Descends Faction members' departure midway, this time no results were achieved. In the second half, with one negotiating party missing, only the Church and the Revolutionary Army were pointlessly exchanging opinions.
By the large round table in the negotiation hall, Vanya sat silently in her seat, gazing intently at the Revolutionary Army representative who was speaking in the distance, listening carefully to his words. Just then, a familiar voice sounded in her mind. After hearing this voice, her eyes widened slightly.
'The Savior Sect people... actually want to just... How could this be...'
After hearing Dorothy's words in her mind, an expression of disbelief appeared on Vanya's face. She suppressed the shock in her heart and calmly listened to Dorothy's words within her mind. Then, a solemn expression appeared on her face. Next, she cast her gaze towards the other end of the large round table. Sitting there was the leader of the Revolutionary Army, Shadi, in military uniform.
Time passed, and the Church and the Revolutionary Army persisted in this negotiation that was destined to be fruitless. It wasn't until the second round of negotiations officially ended that both parties, following etiquette, concluded this unsuccessful meeting. Just as both sides were preparing to leave, Vanya walked towards Shadi. Under everyone's somewhat surprised gazes, she walked to Shadi's side.
"Sister Vanya, do you need anything else? Is there something you didn't have time to say during the meeting?"
Looking at Vanya who had walked up to him, Shadi asked curiously, and Vanya answered directly.
"Nothing. This isn't about the negotiation. I just wanted to give Mr. Shadi some gifts now that I'm about to leave Adis soon."
Vanya said to Shadi very politely. Hearing Vanya's words, Shadi paused slightly, then opened his mouth and smiled.
"Haha, Sister Vanya, when you came to Adis this time, you already brought us many important supplies. That's already a great gift. Now you want to give us gifts again, which makes us feel a bit embarrassed..."
"Mr. Shadi overpraises. The previous supplies were just what we, as servants of the Lord, must do. They are not a great gift. The thing I want to give this time is not supplies like before, but just a small souvenir. And this souvenir is less for the Revolutionary Army and more for Mr. Shadi himself."
Vanya continued to speak to Shadi very politely, and Shadi's expression also showed surprise after hearing Vanya's words.
"For me?"
"Yes, please accept this item."
While speaking, Vanya took out a brand new book and handed it to Shadi. After taking it, Shadi glanced at the cover and found it was a collection of folk tales from the Main Continent, called """peter's collection of stories""".
"This is..."
"As Captain can see, this is just a very popular collection of folk tales from the Main Continent. It contains many classic folk tales from our side. Reading it will allow Captain to understand the Main Continent better. I think the premise for reaching a consensus with each other is mutual understanding."
With a slight smile, Vanya said this to Shadi. Hearing Vanya's words, Shadi couldn't help but be slightly taken aback, then he smiled and accepted the storybook in front of him.
"So that's how it is. In that case, I'll accept it first. I'll go back and read it carefully." After accepting the book Vanya handed him, Shadi responded politely like this. Some people around were puzzled by Vanya's action, while others had their own thoughts about it.
"""peter's collection of stories""", although it looks like a collection of folk tales, many of these folk tales have religious connotations. Many stories within are folk legends about the Three Saints. Although most of them have not been recognized by the Holy Mountain, they are still widely circulated and have far-reaching influence. They are books that many ordinary civilians come into contact with before they encounter the Light Holy Canon. Therefore, many people present believed that Vanya was spreading the doctrine of the Three Saints to Shadi in a more subtle way, as giving the Holy Canon directly would be too blatant.
...
Outside the palace, on the streets of Adus, Shadi was riding in a carriage, returning to his residence. Inside the carriage, using the Light from the carriage, he examined the thick collection of stories in his hand, with a hint of doubt in his expression.
"Setuot, can you see anything special about this book?"
Gazing at the book in his hand, Shadi spoke directly, seeking advice from the ancient undead spirit that always accompanied him. This time, the ancient undead spirit did not respond to him immediately as it usually did, which made Shadi frown slightly.
"Setuot?"
Seeing that Setuot didn't respond immediately, Shadi continued to ask doubtfully. This time, Setuot's spirits slowly manifested in the space. Although it had the appearance of a mummy, a hint of solemnity seemed to show through its dry face. Seeing this, Shadi couldn't help but ask.
"What's wrong? Setuot."
"Nothing, it's just that during the negotiation just now, I seemed to hear a clap of thunder outside..." Setuot said in a deep voice. Hearing its words, Shadi became even more confused and asked.
"Thunder? It seems there was. Is there a problem with that?"
"This doesn't seem like weather for thunder... And the direction of the thunder was over there... In that case..." Setuot seemed to be muttering something in thought. Looking at Setuot like this, Shadi continued to ask doubtfully.
"In that case, what? Setuot, did you think of something?"
"Hmm... Sort of, I thought of something, but it's also possible I'm overthinking..." Setuot continued to speak incoherently. Hearing Setuot's words, Shadi was even more confused. At this point, Setuot changed the subject and asked Shadi.
"Let's not talk about that for now. Why did you call me just now?"
"I called Captain because I wanted Captain to look at this book. This was given to me by the Church Sister just now. She said it was specifically for me personally. I feel it's a bit strange, so I wanted Captain to help me take a look."
Saying this, Shadi picked up the collection of stories he had received from Vanya. Setuot shifted its gaze to this seemingly ordinary book. Its eyes, flickering with ghost fire, began to slowly examine it.