Douglas patted the arm of the sofa and said, "Ever since the Congress was established, because the heart of faith 'must' be based on the heartfelt piety and reverence for the God of Truth, it cannot be shaken. Therefore, only sorcerers believed in the God of Truth in secret or were bought over by the Church with money and materials. A cardinal has never been a spy for the Congress. But now, in terms of intelligence, we are finally no longer passive. Viken would never have thought that a red robe would be serving the Congress in secret."
He had a lot of mixed feelings when he talked about it. In the past hundreds of years, a lot of spies of the Saint Truth had been in the Congress. Sometimes, the members of the Highest Council did not expose or put them on trial when they knew who was conspiring with the Church. Instead, they passed false intelligence through the spies to offset the influence of other spies that hadn't been discovered. Although the Lord of the Undead was an "authority" who could invade brains and search memories, there were too many people in the Congress, and most of the sorcerers had their own secrets. It was obviously impossible to investigate them one by one.
Of course, the disruptive theories on the Cannon and the Doctrines had to some extent purged the spies who believed in the God of Truth. However, it was not until the Battle of Renstadt that the South Church was driven away, and the influence on the four countries on the strait and the north coastline was minimized. It was not until then that the spies in the Congress were truly reduced to the point that they could no longer influence the situation.
Correspondingly, no matter how many clerics lived a corrupted life, and no matter how much they hated their "superiors" and "colleagues", once they cooperated with the sorcerers, it meant that they had betrayed the God of Truth. Their heart of faith would inevitably be shaken and swallowed by the holy light. Therefore, the Congress of Magic could only deploy some spies in the level of priests. Those spies, because of their impure faith, had no hope of advancing into the level of bishops. Most of the time, they had to collect intelligence with spells such as "brain invasion".
"I've been wondering why Sardes and the pontiffs and saints of the North Church could cooperate with us without being affected. Why do they like to swear with the heart of faith?" Lucien had basically guessed the situation when he learned that the power of faith could be stolen, but he did not fully understand it until he learned the real method. The connection between the heart of faith and Mountain Paradise was partly under their control with the help of divinity. They could change the rules to some extent. If they did not violate their faith in the Lord, they would not violate it!
Douglas nodded. "We need to set up some red-robed spies in the North Church too."
He pondered for a moment and said, "Although directly announcing the method of stealing and using the power of faith to them without asking for an equivalent price will reduce our control over them, if we don't do this, they will definitely not believe us. Only when they see something tangible and obtain tangible benefits will they sink deeper and deeper into this path, unable to turn back. This is what we want to see."
"As for the control over them, firstly, it is a threat. At least before they become legends, they are not qualified to steal and make use of the power of faith. Once they are exposed, they will definitely be burned at the stake by the Grand Cardinals in the name of corruption and demonization. Although those Grand Cardinals all value the big picture, they certainly do not want to share the power of faith with another person when it concerns their own strength."
If they became a saint cardinal or a divine Knight step by step dutifully, the Grand Cardinals would not give them a hard time. Instead, they would share the method with them. After all, the dangers caused by the rapid rise of the Congress of Magic made them very vigilant. They clearly realized that they had to strengthen the legendary level and restore the number of legends.
Douglas paused and looked at Lucien. "The second method of control is temptation. We control the four countries on the strait and the north coastline. We control the enormous resources of believers. As long as they are willing to cooperate with us, we can help them steal the power of faith from the Church of Holm and other churches. It is a safe and abundant resource. They can't help but be tempted. After all, they have to be very careful when they steal from each other, or they will be easily discovered by the Grand Cardinals if they go too far."
The Church of Holm was closely attached to the Kingdom of Holm. Therefore, Douglas did not speak with certainty when he proposed the proposal but asked for Lucien's opinion.
"That's not a problem. The Church of Holm is just a tool to help us stabilize the believers. If they grow strong, it will not be good for us or for the Kingdom of Holm. One or two saint cardinals or divine Knight will be enough. Also, I'm afraid that Viken has secretly told the archbishops of those sects about the ways to become demigods." Lucien nodded his head. The Kingdom of Holm had only two legendary Knights right now. If the Church of Holm had more legends than them, it would be a waste of time.
Douglas agreed with Lucien's judgment. "Viken is worried that the North Church will surpass us, but he is certainly not scared of the sects such as the Church of Holm that do not even have legends. As a matter of fact, not only can we make use of the source of faith from the Church of Holm and other churches, but the power of faith from your Church of Steam can also be transformed and offered to the red robes. Hehe. Your 'research project' is truly versatile. You didn't think of it in advance, did you?"
He suddenly mentioned the Church of Steam, and he seemed to understand another purpose of Lucien's research.
"I did have such an idea, but I had no files at that time and could only figure it out on my own. It was Viken's action that gave me the inspiration to mess up the situation." Lucien chuckled. He was not really a flawless strategist. Many things were inspired by other things. Otherwise, he would've exchanged 'files' with the North Church a long time ago.
Hardly had he concluded his sentence when Lucien was suddenly stunned. Then, he took out a dark green non-legendary puppet that he crafted, only to see that it was dyed in crimson.
"A red robe contacted me? So soon? "Lucien was somewhat surprised.
Douglas said as casually as usual, "Perhaps it's important intelligence."
"Okay. I'll project myself over and take a look." Lucien said to Douglas. This place was his demiplane, and he had to ask for his permission before projecting himself to the Holy City.
… …
A wagon was driving steadily on the road on the outskirts of the Holy City and did not stop until it reached a manor at the edge of the forest.
"Bishop Myers, thank you for hosting the baptism of our family." The owner of the manor, a viscount, bowed respectfully to the red robe who had just walked out of the wagon. His excitement was beyond words.
Although his late father had a very good relationship with this Cardinal, he knew that the difference in status between him and the Cardinal was too great. He did not expect the Cardinal to baptize his youngest son. Who would have thought that his polite invitation would be accepted!
"Your father and I grew up together. You're welcome. I'll take a bath in the chapel and pray in peace. The baptism will be held tomorrow." The bishop was a white-haired old man. He was peaceful but intimidating.
After entering the prayer room of the chapel, the bishop knelt before the cross and began to pray.
In the dead of night, he raised his head and looked at the cross and the inlaid Saint Emblem of Truth with complicated feelings. Then, he took out a delicate puppet and activated it softly.
The puppet suddenly emitted redness and moved its limbs as if it were alive. Then, it jumped up abruptly and looked at the bishop with its funny face. "Are you summoning me?"
Looking at the puppet that was only the size of his thumb, the bishop was deeply disgusted. Taking a deep breath, he said, "We've already learned the secrets of the artificial planet. This is the file you need."
Although the artificial planet was supervised by the saint cardinals, the cooperation of the red robes was indispensable. After all, they were not as independent as the grand arcanists who could do everything on their own. Therefore, the targets that Lucien tempted with the power of faith included the bishop of the Highest Theological College.
"Oh, well done. I admire you." The redness on the puppet immediately swallowed the files that the bishop offered.
The bishop said gloomily, "I've fulfilled your request. Don't bother me again."
"Is that so? Then, should I bother Philip, Astira, Maria, or Vaharall? " The puppet chuckled. The first three were the grand cardinals who were in charge of theology, and the last one was a giant of the Inquisition.
The bishop said angrily, "Devil, didn't you say that you would not threaten me?"
"You believed me just because I said it? I know that you know very well that I can never threaten you as long as you don't use this method. However, if you use it, you'll be implicitly allowing me to threaten you. "The puppet's face was even more hilarious." You made the choice yourself. Don't blame me. “
"Devil, damn devil!" The bishop gnashed his teeth, but he did not resist at all. When he tried the method and succeeded, he already knew the price that he was willing to pay. "I'm warning you. Don't ask for anything that's too outrageous, or I'd rather confess to His Holiness!"
After he became a saint cardinal, he would be able to get rid of the devil. By then, everything that he had done so far would be forgiven by the Church!
"That's more like it. I like to cooperate with people like you who know what they want the most. Rest assured. I hate threatening other people the most. I've always been a nice guy. A win-win situation is my view of cooperation." The puppet rambled on. "If the intelligence you provide in the future satisfies me, I can consider providing you with additional power of faith."
"What?" The bishop's breathing became heavy. Then, he saw that there seemed to be some holy aura on the puppet that was different from holy light.
"Do you still need to ask what this is?" The puppet laughed strangely.
The bishop was silent. He finally understood why the devil's temptation recorded in the Cannon could make angels fall!
…
"The information on artificial planets obtained by the Church does not have the special part that I added later, which means that that person exchanged for it before. Of course, it could also be that he constructed it himself according to the principles. After all, the style of the magic array of the artificial planets in this information is very different from ours," Lucien said to Douglas and Fernando while holding the information.
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