Putting his momentary wistfulness aside, after two days of searching and confirming that there were no problems with Dark Swamp, Fangzheng left with Shi Dong and company. Of course, the most important thing was to rely on the Nimf's search ability. After all, the black technology produced by the Little Angel from Sinapus was top-notch in this aspect.
The exhausted group returned to the Temple on their pegasi. Unfortunately, the grand welcome ceremony that Shi Dong had expected did not happen. Only a few priests stationed in the Temple came out to greet them. According to them, almost all the manpower of the Temple had gone out to the Order Fortress. Fortunately, they received the news in time, so the situation in the Order Fortress had stabilized. At least they did not have to worry about it being breached in a short period of time.
"A peaceful life …."
Sitting on a chair and looking at the scenery outside the window, Fangzheng let out a long sigh. They were currently at the headquarters of the Temple in the Northern Alliance. Unlike the exquisite and beautiful buildings of Star-Moon City, the buildings of the Temple here were full of the fierceness and wildness of the North.
The more Fangzheng learned about the Temple, the more he found that this organization was different from any religion he had in mind. In Fangzheng's memory, no matter what religion it was, they would always build their churches in the same mold. Not only that, they would also want their believers to be the same …. From this perspective, in Fangzheng's view, the so-called religions on Earth were actually assembly line factories that mass-produced puppet believers of the same ideology, mass-produced churches of the same style, mass-produced uniforms of the same style, mass-produced priests of the same sexual orientation ….
And their doctrines were similar.
But the Temple in this world did not seem to be the same. Their Temple was not as similar as Fangzheng had imagined. On the contrary, the buildings of the Northern Temple looked no different from the ordinary northern style buildings outside, except that they were bigger, more eye-catching, and had the symbol of the Temple hanging on them. From the outside, Fangzheng could not tell that this building had any blood relationship with the Temple of Star-Moon City.
He had to admit that the Temple did a good job of doing as the Romans do when in Rome.
However, where there were people, there would be Jianghu.
Looking at the scenery outside, Fangzheng couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he recalled what Shi Dong had told him before.
"Kid, you should know that all Grand Knights have their own fiefdoms. Of course, only Knight Commanders have something like a Knight Territory. Us Grand Knights can only get a small town at most. However, in order to 'commend' your heroic sacrifice, the Bishops couldn't be too harsh on you, so they made Silverflower Town your knight's fief. That place is a major transportation route, it's convenient and developed, and there's a lot of money there. According to the records, you were 'killed' in battle, and you had no descendants, so you were 'seized' by the Bishops. But now that you're back … Hehe, you know what I mean, right? "
Of course he understood.
Fangzheng was also a senior leader in his previous life, so he naturally knew how embarrassing this was. It was like knowing that a programmer could not write a game engine that met the requirements, but he still asked him to do it, and even publicly announced that he would make him the chairman if he succeeded, but the other party actually succeeded … Did he still want his face as a leader?
But this was the right thing to do. It was normal for an organization to fight for power and profit. Treating each other like honored guests … That was too scary!
Perhaps for ordinary employees, it was best for the company to be united and harmonious. But for a leader, a group without competition would be too boring. In fact, Fangzheng had stirred up trouble between the planning team and the design team more than once. Sometimes, he would even involve the programming team. Instead of forcing them to work hard, it was better to use this kind of competition to stimulate their resistance.
After all, if they were forced to work hard, they would resent the company no matter the result. But if it was a competition, they would only focus on their opponents and goals. And if there were rewards, there would be punishments. This was the most reasonable allocation of resources.
Although the military level of this world was much higher than the world Fangzheng came from, when it came to human affairs, there was actually no difference. Therefore, Fangzheng knew very well that his current situation was not good. On one hand, the Bishops gave him a particularly rich town to show their "magnanimity", but everyone knew that he was already dead and he had no children, so for the Bishops, this was like a "left hand to the right hand". On one hand, he did not suffer any losses, and on the other hand, the Bishops showed that they were "fair in rewards and punishments".
Of course, judging from how proud Shi Dong was when he talked about this, Fangzheng knew that he must have played a dishonorable role in it. Although Shi Dong kept complaining to him that "those old men don't believe you're still alive", Fangzheng could guess that Shi Dong must have thought that he would return, so he deliberately led the Bishops to such an outcome. After all, as long as he returned, the reward from the Bishops would still be his!
After all, others might not know his identity, but how could Shi Dong not know? Didn't he already see himself as the Saint Paladin?
But now …
"What a headache …"
Fangzheng reached out and pressed his forehead. He was now waiting for the bishops to summon him, even though Shi Dong had assured him that there would be no problem. Although Shi Dong had assured him that there would be no problem, Fangzheng knew that things were not as simple as Shi Dong thought. Humans were animals that sought advantages and avoided disadvantages. Although Archbishop Karl had promised to put in a good word for him, friendship alone was not enough.
More importantly, Fangzheng himself was also a little hesitant about the path ahead.
Because Fangzheng did not particularly want to accept this reward.
To Shi Dong, this conferment was a good thing, but Fangzheng thought even more deeply. Because if he accepted the reward, it would mean that his relationship with the Holy Cathedral would deepen.
Of course, if Fangzheng had to put it bluntly, he was afraid that the Holy Cathedral would send him to his death.
This did not mean that the Holy Cathedral wanted to eradicate dissidents or deliberately send him to his death. In fact, from the performance of Matt and Shi Dong, Fangzheng could see that the reason they could reach their current positions was not only because of their strength, but also because of their awareness.
To put it in a more old-fashioned way, they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the good life of the people and for the preservation of Order!
In fact, this was a matter of course. If you wanted to join an organization and become a senior member, you had to obey the organization's leadership, uphold the organization's rules, and contribute your strength to the organization.
If Fangzheng grew up in this world and received the humanities education here, he might really have such thoughts.
But unfortunately … Fangzheng was an outsider! He had no intention of dying for the sake of this world. Perhaps as time passed, he would gradually change his mind. But that was definitely not the time!
Besides, most people in this world had blond hair and blue eyes. They did not look nostalgic at all.
Therefore, compared to Shi Dong, Fangzheng did not particularly want to accept the position and identity of a Grand Knight. He really had no interest in sacrificing his life to save Order.
But if he refused, it would definitely leave a bad impression on Shi Dong and Matt. After all, they had different values and lived in different worlds. Of course, this was Fangzheng's own doing. If only he had not joined the Holy Cathedral to hide his identity. Now that things had turned out this way … who was to blame?
It must be Shi Chen's fault!
Fangzheng silently cursed the guy whose whereabouts were unknown before he reined in his thoughts once again. There were ways, of course. If everything went well, he could achieve his goal. What he did not know now was the situation within the Bishops. Based on his own experience, hmm …
Knock knock.
At that moment, a knock on the door interrupted Fangzheng's thoughts. He raised his head and looked at the door.
"Come in."
Kacha.
The door opened, and a nun walked in. She bowed respectfully to Fangzheng and said.
"Your Excellency Fangzheng, the Bishops are waiting for you."
"Okay, I understand. Thank you."
Upon hearing that, Fangzheng stood up and nodded at the nun with a smile. Then, he looked out the window. In the courtyard, Nimf was leaning against an evergreen tree, playing with the squirrel in her hand with a happy smile on her face.
This was the kind of expression a little girl of her age should have.
Fangzheng retracted his gaze and looked at the nun in front of him again.
"Please lead the way."
Perhaps because of the tense situation at the frontline, there were only three Bishops in front of Fangzheng this time. One of them was the vampire Bishop Karl whom Fangzheng had met before. The other two were a chubby man and a skinny man. Since they did not intend to introduce themselves, they could not blame Fangzheng for giving them codenames.
Fangzheng walked into the hall and came in front of the three of them. He bowed to them, and the three of them nodded. The skinny man picked up a document in front of him and glanced at it a few times.
He then asked, "You are the Apprentice Guardian Knight of Star-Moon City, Fangzheng?"
"Yes."
Fangzheng raised his head and answered while looking at the three of them. Bishop Karl appeared very calm. The skinny man's expression was a little serious. Only the chubby man seemed to be smiling and seemed very friendly. But Fangzheng was keenly aware of the hidden meaning under the other party's smile.
In Fangzheng's experience, when a person smiles at you for no reason, they either have something to ask of you, or they are hiding their true feelings.
With this in mind, Fangzheng smiled inwardly.
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