246 – Negotiations
“Master Ian, they’re just ignorant girls. Why do you stoop to their level?” A gentle, magnetic voice came slowly from the temple. A 31- or 32-year-old, handsome, endearing young man dressed in Archbishop clothing of the Sun Temple and covered in sacred light slowly emerged from the temple. 5 Bishops of the Sun Temple followed behind the young man. The light outside was outshone by the light of the young man.
Yang Feng praised secretly: “What an excellent medium! This one will be a challenge!”
As an outstanding and professional medium, you had to be covered in sacred light at all times, so that people would feel wors.h.i.+p, awe, and affection at first sight. In this way, missionary work would be more convenient.
When necessary, Yang Feng didn’t spare his spirit force to bless himself with Light of Intervention, which would make him look more genial and sacred.
In many churches, one of the most important criteria for selecting Priests and nuns was good looks. The more good-looking a person was, the easier they would get promoted in the churches.
In fact, in terms of appearance alone, the young man was a notch ahead of Yang Feng. After all, the young man was a professional medium.
When the dozen beautiful nuns saw the man covered in sacred light, their eyes flashed with admiration, then they bowed respectfully to him in salute and said: “Archbishop Esteban!”
The 5 Bishops behind Esteban scanned Bishop Akt, who was on the ground, with a glance, then their gazes focused on Yang Feng and their eyes flashed with a trace of anger.
Esteban smiled gently and said, “Master Ian, my people were a bit rude, please forgive me.”
Yang Feng smiled faintly. He didn’t expose the fact that when Bishop Akt came out, Esteban was hiding not far away.
Yang Feng said calmly: “Although I am a believer of the great Weave G.o.ddess, but I keep a humble and respectful att.i.tude towards the great G.o.ds of the Zaliah divine system. Akt incited disharmony in the relations.h.i.+p between the mighty Weave G.o.ddess and the mighty Sun G.o.d. My guess is that he ought to be a heretic who infiltrated the Sun Temple, and tried to strain the relations.h.i.+p between the 2 churches! He should be burned at the stake!”
When they heard this, the faces of the dozen beautiful nuns and the 5 Bishops suddenly changed dramatically.
Heresy was one of the greatest crimes you could commit in the churches of the Feisuo Plane. Once someone was convicted of heresy, what would await them was the most cruel capital punishment – being burnt at the stake.
The people of the Sun Temple didn’t think that Yang Feng would be so fierce, to the point of charging Akt with heresy. Once the charge was enforced, Akt’s soul would not be able to return to the divine country of the Sun G.o.d Dragoni, but would fall into the Underworld or Abyss.
Esteban felt a light chill in his heart. Still carrying a kind smile on his face, he said: “Akt is a bit short-tempered, and usually makes some minor mistakes. However, I can a.s.sure you that he is definitely not a heretic. I apologize in his stead if he offended you.”
Looking expressionless, Yang Feng said coldly: “Sir Esteban, I have 2,000 cavalrymen, 5,000 infantrymen, and a Wizard squad under my command. As long as I give the order, the Sun Temple in the Barroman City will cease to exist. Are you really going to make an enemy of me because of the trifling Akt? If something untoward were to happen to the Sun Temple of the Barroman City, I’m afraid that you might not be able to return to the divine country of the mighty Sun G.o.d after your death.
The faces of the people of the Sun Temple suddenly changed greatly, and a glimmer of panic flashed past their eyes.
The Feisuo Plane was a world of G.o.ds. On this plane, G.o.ds were represented by churches and clergymen. Pious believers would be pulled into the divine country of their G.o.d after death and be reborn in the divine country.
The Sun G.o.d Dragoni was a powerful G.o.d with his own divine country, and he could bring his believers into his divine country after death.
Many clergymen of the Sun Temple would willingly die in battle so that they could return to the Sun G.o.d’s divine country. However, if the Sun Temple was destroyed, they would have committed a great crime, and they wouldn’t be able to return to the divine country after death, which would serve as the greatest punishment for them.
Esteban still carried a refres.h.i.+ng smile. In a few words, he took a few steps back: “Master Ian, the Sun Temple has no intentions of getting involved in secular disputes. The Sun Temple will remain neutral so long as you don’t harm the believers of the Sun Church.”
At first, Esteban planned to prohibit Yang Feng from acting against the believers of the Zaliah divine system. However, under Yang Feng’s overbearing att.i.tude, he could only choose to just protect the believers of the Sun Temple.
Yang Feng asked: “How do you tell who is a believer of the Sun Church?”
Esteban answered unhurriedly: “Every devout believer of the Sun G.o.d will have a temple badge given to them by the Sun Temple on the door of their house. Please tell your warriors not to hara.s.s them.”
With a wave of his hand, Yang Feng cast a soundproofing spell over himself and Esteban and said with a light smile: “50,000 gold coins per badge! Each time I find a badge, I will charge the Sun Temple 50,000 gold coins.”
Esteban frowned and said: “The Sun Temple doesn’t has so many gold coins.”
Yang Feng said enticingly: “You can say that the Miracle City forced you to accept it! What does a badge worth 50,000 gold coins count for to the many major aristocrats of the Barroman City? You can charge them 100,000 gold coins!! Of which, 50,000 gold coins will fall into the hands of the Sun Temple? The Miracle City will be the culprit that forced the Sun Temple to stand down.”
“You‘re the devil!” Esteban sighed slowly, before revealing a smile and saying faintly: “In order to spread the glory of the great Sun G.o.d, I am forced to cooperate with the devil.”
G.o.ds had no need for gold coins, only faith. However, the churches in the secular world were always short on gold coins. Without gold coins, the churches would not be able to expand their influence.
After barely contemplating for a moment, Esteban made a wise choice. Anyway, he had Yang Feng as a scapegoat. No matter how much he charged for the badges, the greater aristocrats would only thank him, yet Yang Feng would receive all the hate.
Yang Feng and Esteban smiled at each other and the relations.h.i.+p between them became more intimate.
Yang Feng said: “Esteban, I need a proof of ident.i.ty of a Bishop of the Sun Temple.”
Esteban frowned slightly and asked warily: “What do you want it for?”
“I want to see the governor of the Molinson Province, preferably in a peaceful setting.”
“What do you want to see him for?”
Yang Feng smiled faintly and answered: “I think that the Molinson Province needs a hero who can defeat the Devil Ian. I hope that that the governor of the Molinson Province can be this hero.”
Esteban was silent for a long time before showing a smile and praising sincerely: “You really are smart!”
The governor of the Molinson Province was a waste. At first, Esteban planned to take the powerhouses of the Sun Temple and hold the Barroman City. However, not only did the governor of the Molinson Province run away, but he still caused the collapse of the more than 100,000-strong army. As a result, the Sun Temple opted not to act.
For Yang Feng, the governor of the Molinson Province was the best choice to act as the hero who reconquered the Molinson Province. Thus, Yang Feng wouldn’t have to face the powerhouses of the Morrince Empire. He could return to the Miracle City to recuperate and expand unhurriedly.
After all, the Morrince Empire was one of the strongest empires of the Feisuo Plane, and its comprehensive strength was more than 10,000 times higher than that of the Miracle City. If he continued to fight, then once the huge war machine that was the Morrince Empire was operated fully, it would be easy for it to crush Yang Feng’s Miracle City.
Up until now, Yang Feng made a fortune in the Molinson Province, he looted goods and gold coins worth hundreds of millions of gold coins. Once he returned to the Miracle City and digested the spoils of war, his strength would soar geometrically. His best choice now was to retreat and yield.
This was an overboard ploy, and Yang Feng wasn’t worried that Esteban knew of it.
Once the governor of the Molinson Province knew of Yang Feng’s intention, he was sure to grab at this life-saving straw. Besides, although the governor himself was a waste, but he had a huge force backing him, which could suppress all dissent.
Esteban said: “I’ll go with you to meet Bousso. With me there, it will be easy for you to meet him.”
Yang Feng was stunned somewhat, asking: “You’re going in person?”
Esteban replied meaningfully: “That’s right. Although Bousso is a good-for-nothing, but his backer, the Southern Consort Kateryna, is my greatest ally, so I have to pull him in myself.”
Having friends at the court was always helpful. In order to influence the Morrince Empire, the churches would send their agents into the court or the harem.
The Southern Consort Kateryna was either a believer or a firm ally of the Sun Church. In addition to the Sun Church, the forces of the other churches also had infiltrated the Morrince Empire deeply. In the Morrince Empire, the struggle between imperial and religious forces never ceased.
If it wasn’t for the divine bloodline coursing through the bodies of the royal family, the Morrince Empire would have been completely controlled by the churches. Although the imperial forces were slightly suppressed by the religious forces, but the imperial forces were still very strong and could not be underestimated.
North of the Barroman City.
An army of 20,000 odd people was on the run, with people taking off their leather armor and discarding their weapons just to make themselves lighter. Normally, they would have been restrained and severely punished by the officers. Currently, however, no one took charge of the army. Everyone just scrambled to flee.
“Faster, go faster!! Go faster, you rubbis.h.!.+” With a horsewhip in his hand, a fat man with s.h.i.+ny skin and a huge beer belly made a long face and berated continuously.
A general came forward and advised: “Governor Bousso, we’re already going as fast as we can! If we go any faster, the infantry won’t be able to keep up!”
Bousso shouted: “Then let’s abandon the infantry! We still have 2,000 cavalrymen. So long as the 2,000 cavalrymen escort me to the imperial capital, you all will be greatly rewarded. If we go any slower, the Devil Ian will catch up and kill me! Right now, we have to go faster, understood? You wastes!!”
The complexions of the generals around Bousso changed greatly, but they remained silent. Angry gazes focused on Bousso.
If Bousso, in his capacity as the governor, hadn’t ordered the generals to escort him away, the Barroman City wouldn’t have toppled over. These generals had already a.n.a.lyzed the situation many times. If Bousso had stuck to the Barroman City, he wouldn"t have lost. Unfortunately, Bousso was obstinate, and ordered the escape. As a result, the Barroman City easily fell into Yang Feng’s hands.
A handsome, young general immediately echoed the sentiment: “Yes, Sir Bousso is right! Can we escape with the infantry? We should promptly abandon it. With just the cavalry, we can escape the pursuit of the Miracle City.”
Bousso praised loudly with satisfaction: “Right! Ewan, you’re right! When I’m safe, I’ll promote you to a commander!!”
Ewan was overjoyed, saying: “Thank you, Sir Governor!”
Ewan scanned the indignant generals with a glance and said coldly: “Why haven’t you gone to carry out the order of Sir Governor yet? Do you want to rebel?”
Bous...o...b..llowed immediately: “Yes!! Go carry out my order! Otherwise, you will be charged with treason and your families will be implicated, as well!”
“Yes! Sir Governor!” The generals complied helplessly.
Under Bousso’s order, the 2,000 cavalrymen, Bousso, and the senior officers of the army quickly separated from the rest of the army and rushed ahead.
“Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
“We were abandoned!!”
“Scatter! We were abandoned! Everyone, disperse!!”
“…”
The more than 20,000 infantrymen howled, then suddenly dispersed and fled in disarray.
“What a genius this fellow is!” In the sky, Yang Feng, wrapped in black cloth, looked at the collapsed 20,000-strong infantry down below, and couldn’t help but praise.
The 20,000 infantrymen were the remaining most elite warriors of the Molinson Province. Without using poison, it would take Yang Feng some effort to defeat the 20,000 elite infantrymen in a direct confrontation. However, before he even made a move, the 20,000-strong army collapsed on its own, leaving him somewhat incredulous.
Esteban smiled bitterly and shook his head slightly: “He usually performs well. In his youth, he was a famous talent in the aristocratic circle. I didn’t expect that, when push comes to shove, his performance would be this bad.”