Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 496 Wind

773
Innis, Trier, Cathedral of Light.

In a room with dark curtains drawn, the "Secret Saint" Butis sat at the table, with a crystal ball in front of him emitting a faint light.

He closed his eyes, and rubbed his palm in the air at a short distance from the crystal ball. As the divination results appeared, Butis frowned slightly, showing a little confusion.

After a while, he finished the divination. The dim light inside the crystal ball gradually disappeared, and the room gradually became brighter. Butis took off his hood and covered the crystal ball with a piece of opaque cloth at hand. After a set of actions, the aura of the charlatan weakened a lot.

"Unbelievable, why is Miss Audrey Hall in the Southern Continent now?"

This was something that confused him greatly.

Butis finally found time in his schedule to pick up Miss Audrey before the Dark Saint urged him.

He was having a headache recently because of the Abraham family's contact with the Church of the God of Mystery next door, so he temporarily put aside the task assigned to him by the Aurora Society.

As a traitor of the Abraham family, Butis knew that this family, which had been passed down from the Fourth Epoch to the present, was still a lean camel that was bigger than a horse. The secret knowledge and extraordinary items held by those old guys were enough for the Abraham family to be protected by the God of Mysteries. He had tried to harass, obstruct, and even assassinate them during this period, but to no avail. He even nearly exposed his identity during the assassination. If he had been a step slower, he might have been caught on the spot by the saints sent by the Church of the God of Mysteries to protect him!
If he was really caught for assassinating a member of Abraham's family, Butis could not guarantee that the Creator Church would firmly rescue him - since two churches were involved, it would be considered generous to save his life.

However, apart from assassins, corpse collectors who are proficient in walking in the spirit world, and apprentices, the only assassins who can move at such a fast speed are assassins.

How he became the "Secret Saint" was no secret in the Aurora Society, and the Abraham Family would not miss the opportunity to reveal the truth. Butis suspected that the saint had already guessed his identity.

...How annoying! He shouldn't have left so many people alive!

Butis became angrier and angrier as he thought about it. Thinking of the former Mr. X, Louis, who was suspected to have been killed by someone hired by the Abraham family, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

He desperately needed something to distract himself.

"A noble lady of this age, and a remaining member of the Loen Psychological Alchemy Society, shouldn't she stay at home and enjoy afternoon tea?"

"Is there any omission in the information that the Dark Saint gave me? And why does the divination show that now is a good time to pick her up?"

Butis looked at the crystal ball and was puzzled by the two divination results: "Now is a good time to pick it up" and "It will be extremely dangerous to go to the South Continent now."

He stood up, drew aside the curtains, and saw that the weather above Trier was clear, but in the distance ahead, dark clouds seemed to be gathering.

"It seems that this young lady is about to face some danger in the southern continent. She might even die. This is an opportunity for me to help her in time of need..."

"But do I need to risk this to help?"

……

"From His choice, the White Tower can accommodate him quite well."

"The country's internal economic crisis, the shortage of relief food, the fierce conflicts, the imperial system left by the Son of Chaos, and the sailors and people who have lost their jobs due to the tension in international relations." The Demon of Knowledge said, "All of this can be solved by taking back the colonies."

The number of anchors owned by the God of Thunder may be the highest among all gods. Fear and power are the most primitive desires of human beings. If we follow the classification of anchors by human gods - in addition to believers, non-believers who have a certain impression of gods can also serve as anchors - then even in Intis, the countless survivors who have suffered traumatic psychological disorders due to the flood can be regarded as anchors of the God of Thunder.

However, as a country of faith in the God of Thunder, Loen's situation is extremely bad. It can even be said that it is facing internal and external troubles. The Demon of Knowledge does not even want to elaborate on the various shortcomings, because even citizens with a little social experience can see the fatigue.

But this time the Thunder God's attack on the high ground was a stroke of genius.

If there is no food, it can be obtained from the colonies;
There were no precious metals and spices to be mined from the colonies;
There was no ocean fishing or transnational shipping trade that could be restarted after the return of the colonies.

As for jobs, as long as the colonies are cleaned up properly, a large number of people can be transferred from the country to open up wasteland. This can not only solve the problems of colonial independence and resistance, but also increase a large number of jobs at one time.

Loen is now a semi-religious country, and the church's participation in politics and extraordinary abilities that influence society are no longer concealed. Under the premise that the Loen Emperor is also Gad II, the God of Thunder, and a "tyrant", as long as Leodro's actions go smoothly, he can improve the decline in Loen in one fell swoop, let the Church of the God of Thunder regain the hearts of the people, and weaken the influence of the centralized order of the Sons of Chaos.

As for the labor force in the colonies...does that kind of thing matter?

The mineral deposits will not be reduced, forestry and farming can be restored, but hasn’t it always been the case that the fewer the indigenous people in the colonies, the better, or even preferably, they will be exterminated?

“The countermeasure is also very simple.”

Edward said while eating melon seeds, "You go to Loen now and release the Son of Chaos. Even if the God of Thunder has successfully seized the high ground by now, it will be difficult for him to compete for influence with Emperor George III who made bold statements and resonated with the people before."

"Besides that, don't you think the Northern Continent is beautiful now?"

Edward said to himself:
"I want to use Roselle's time as a comparison, but at least when the nations were burning in the flames of war, Intis was still the overlord of the continent. And now? Feysac tried to start a war, but had to withdraw hastily because he was afraid of the God of Thunder, causing Feynaport to leave with his entire nation, leaving behind corpses on the border and retreating back to the country, causing domestic conflicts to become more intense; small nations such as Lenburg perished; Intis originally received the favor of the Creator, but lost it quickly before it could rise again, and was submerged by the waters of the five seas, and now has become an empty shell of a country."

"There is almost no connection between the countries in the Northern Continent. Cross-border trade cannot be carried out. All countries are in economic crisis at the same time."

"Even Loen, seemingly the victor, experienced two major events: the airship bombing and the death of the emperor. The surrender of small countries such as Renburg only boosted morale, but after the war, peace and happiness did not come. Despair and confusion became the main theme of the northern continent."

The gods both suffered losses, and the humans did not gain happiness and victory.

The extraordinary power could no longer be suppressed, and the fact that the gods were the masters of the country was no longer concealed, as if slowly returning to the Fourth Epoch.

“It’s incredible…it’s so beautiful.”

"It's the same with Highland and Balam. Haha, the nature of the God of Death means that the people of Balam are not afraid of death and even welcome it. His country was destined to slowly die out sooner or later since the day he returned. He is more suitable to be the emperor of the underworld than to establish a country. Highland, it seems to have gained new hope and become an independent country. It is trying to take its first steps towards its own future, but it may perish at any time. It exists only because the storm has not yet arrived."

"I love the faint Mars and sincerely look forward to its demise."

As it involved different powers and instincts of different gods, the Demon of Knowledge did not answer. Instead, he looked back at Him and asked curiously:
"I think there are quite a few of your followers up there. Are you really not going to move from your seat?"

"Does anyone there believe me?" Edward couldn't help laughing. "Even if there are, I don't care. Let them die."

The Demon of Knowledge thought for a moment and nodded, "You are right. Even if the Highlands is my country of believers, in my opinion, only some people are worth saving. However, my nature determines that I will not sit idly by and watch Richard Ernst die. It doesn't matter that everything will decline after its peak, but I just can't understand you in this aspect. Your choice is too extravagant and is simply a waste of God's gift."

"Anyway, He is good enough and has made some achievements, but you can actually watch Him dying."

"Death is His best ending. The happiness He wants does not exist in this world."

The Demon of Knowledge said nothing more. After a few seconds, He asked another question:
"The omniscient and omnipotent being is half asleep and half awake. So, after He dies, what can you do? What do you want to do?"

Edward gave him a strange look:
"I found that many people have a misunderstanding, thinking that I have extreme malice towards humanity and want to destroy this planet and all humanity at the same time - when did I ever have such an intention? Not to mention God, let's talk about you. Would you want me to kill all your believers?"

"Why do you think of me like this? I am very concerned about the ecology of the universe. We all have authority related to history. It is a pity for a genocidal civilization with different choices to decline, isn't it?"

"After comparing the two versions of humans, I just think that humans are more suitable to survive in a world without extraordinary worlds, or a world with extraordinary but no extraordinary hiding. In this way, they can walk in the starry sky with their own strength, and they can also open up an extraordinary national system."

“So, my goal is actually…”

Edward stretched out his hand and drew a small circle in the air:
"Exterminate more than 80% of the human race, except for the sheep you and God need, cut off their history, deprive them of their extraordinary abilities, and force their society to regress to the tribal era. Then take them away and find a planet in the universe with an environment similar to Earth, transform it into an environment suitable for human survival, put them there, and restart civilization."

"I think this is the best way. Even if those humans perish, there will still be humans in the universe."

"And if they hadn't perished, perhaps, in thousands of years, you and I would have been attracted to that human civilization."

The eyes of the Demon of Knowledge lit up, and this description aroused some interest. The humans taken away by God would become sheep, and the humans taken away by himself would be screened through layers of selection, leaving only the most elite. And would the humans who were placed in other environments by the decadent kings at that time create a new history and a brand new knowledge system? He was actually looking forward to it.

"Like, right now—"

"I am looking forward to Richard's death. I can't wait to enjoy the breath of decay and crush the continent into my stomach."

……

As the number of critically ill patients in the hospital gradually decreased, a room on the second floor was specially vacated and reserved for the specially hired psychologist Ms. Letty Orr to use as a temporary resting place and office.

Audrey and the little girl from the Southern Continent beside her closed the door and walked along the corridor to the nearby stairs.

When passing by the window, Audrey habitually raised her hand to block the sun, but found that it was not sunny outside the window today, but cloudy. The dark clouds in the sky were very thick, and it seemed that a heavy rain would come soon.

Thanks to the puppet container, although Audrey's spirit can still feel the outside world, she will not feel hot to the point of sweating, nor will she feel cold and have stiff hands and feet. The puppet container has always remained in a relatively good condition.

However, being a psychiatrist for members of the Rose School is extremely dangerous.

There have been several medical incidents before, where the members of the Indulgence Faction who were receiving treatment suddenly fell into mania, but fortunately the strength and sequence of the attackers were under the control of Toufik and Audrey. Although they were inevitably injured, fortunately Audrey herself was an excellent psychologist, so there would be no psychological trauma, and she only needed to adjust her mood to continue working.

"It's going to rain."

Beside Audrey, a girl named Ana also stuck her head out to look at the overcast sky outside and smiled: "It would be great if it rained heavily. The reclaimed wasteland on the hillside and in the suburbs has always been short of water. All the people who reclaimed the wasteland have to walk several kilometers to fetch water from the well in town." "Is that so..." Audrey nodded slightly.

"I thought the southern continent always had plenty of rain and fertile land for planting."

Ana smiled and looked at Letty Orr's profile, and said without any other emotion:

"Miss Orr, you grew up in the North Continent, right? In fact, farmers in the South Continent almost all rely on the weather for their livelihood. If it rains too much, the crops will be flooded. If the sun is always bright, the crops will all die of drought. But now the church will let the Beyonders help us farm. Those Beyonders can carry dozens of bags of seeds at a time and turn over dozens of acres of land without getting tired. It's amazing."

“It’s hard for me to imagine applying extraordinary abilities to productivity.”

Recalling the scenes of zombies farming and resentful souls building houses, although I have seen it more often now, the surprise has not diminished much.

Audrey couldn't help but think of what happened in the Northern Continent - Extraordinary powers had gradually surfaced and infiltrated into people's lives from every corner. Audrey thought this was incredible at first, but she didn't expect that the Southern Continent would directly let Extraordinary people work and even farm.

She nodded slightly, thinking of one thing:
"Mr. Richard also told me a story. It is said that a long time ago, there was a belief in the southern continent. It was different from the Bound God or the God of Death. In that belief, the God of Creation was a madman."

"...He said that the southern continent at that time depended on the weather for food, and the humid climate was too suitable for plant growth. Therefore, roads were opened one year and were overgrown with plants the next year. Without roads, there were no cars, and without cars, the tribes were isolated and productivity was very low. People believed that the unpredictable weather was the unpredictable temper of the gods, and wars and human sacrifices were not only ways to please the gods, but also ways to reduce the population."

The myth Richard told was illogical and could not be found in any historical records. Audrey guessed that it happened in the Fourth Epoch or even earlier.

"A kind-hearted person who did good deeds lost his family and friends due to unfair treatment, and died of a serious illness. Such a thing cannot be explained in any myth. It either means that God does not exist, or there is no need to believe in God, or God is blind."

As Richard was busy, he said to her:
"But it wasn't strange for it to happen in the southern continent at that time, because God is an erratic madman, a psychopath. Anything incomprehensible in this land is not strange."

God either does not exist, is crazy, or is blind...

Audrey thought for a moment and interrupted the story.

Gaodi now had the help of extraordinary powers. It was not good to speak ill of God and angels, so she changed the subject:

"Ana, how is your mother's illness?"

Ana, who was suddenly asked, quickly came back to her senses and said, "My mother's condition has improved a little, and I can get enough money to buy medicine."

Audrey asked: "You went to work? But your studies..."

"I, I'm helping out at the hospital."

Ana's voice dropped. "I have classes three days a week, and I have to work the rest of the time. Mom can't go out to the fields yet."

Audrey was silent for a while - there were too many people to help, and her meager salary had long been used to subsidize others - and it was not easy to say anything else. The originally good atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

"My power is still limited, but I can only give a little warmth and a little light..." Audrey said in a low voice.

Sigh, I should find a chance to ask His Highness Richard for advice... Audrey wanted to make the request openly, to talk about what she had done recently, the difficulties she had encountered, and the confusion in her heart, but she was worried that the angels of the Southern Continent would be dismissive of the troubles of the noble girl of the Northern Continent: "...I can't come up with more money, and I'm about to be sent to Intis. How can I make the lives of the people of Backlund better before I leave?"

As for completely helping people find jobs and resume their lives, although she wanted to, she knew rationally that she didn't have the ability to do so.

At the same time, she also understood that even the powerful and mysterious Mr. World could not do this kind of thing.

Perhaps only a god like Mr. Fool can take action personally to fundamentally change the country and the lives of the people.

"Although the 'audience' channel is behind the scenes as much as possible, and although I always keep in mind the words 'caution' and 'careful' when doing things, and try not to put myself in a dangerous situation..."

Thinking of this, Audrey, the "Justice", subconsciously replied in her heart:
"But in this world, not everything can be solved easily and without taking risks... But sometimes, when I do something, I should think that I might die."

For example, when treating members of the Indulgence Faction who are higher in sequence than oneself, even with a demigod protecting oneself, accidents such as death or even disability are unavoidable. Indeed, even if the doll's body is destroyed, it will only allow the spirit to return to the body, but if one's own soul is eaten by the "grudge spirits" that have devoured one's soul before, then there is nothing that can be done to save the situation.

Audrey's inner mumbling stopped, and she was silent for a long time.

"The most feasible, least risky, and most helpful way for the people of Backlund is to find a way to get more food."

But from whom?

The Church of the God of Thunder has been distributing relief food for quite some time. It can be said that if it was not distributed by the church itself, but by any company or food merchant, it would have gone bankrupt long ago.

Hypnotize the people around you to provide some help? But... thinking back to the time when she persuaded her relatives to donate but was repeatedly rejected, Audrey really couldn't muster up the mood to lobby again. She had already invested too much money in the charity foundation. She also knew that the current economic downturn and the unstable situation in the northern continent would make it difficult to persuade them again. Soon she would be sent to Intis and even lose control of the foundation.

"Actually... I always feel vaguely uneasy."

What she saw and heard in the Highland Republic broadened Audrey's horizons. In addition, as the daughter of an earl with a certain political sense, Audrey also noticed that the social structure here was completely different from that of the Northern Continent, or in other words, from any other country.

There are no nobles in the Highlands.

Well... probably because the leader, Mr. Richard, was not of noble birth, and because the nobles of the Highlands had long lost their status in the destruction of the country, and those who were brave enough to resist madly fled to the northern continent to survive. Not only did they not restore the royal family, but there was not a single noble in the current Highland Republic! There were only relatively wealthy local businessmen who were restricted by the state.

At the same time, there is currently no decent church in the Highlands, and even a considerable number of important members of the Rose School are receiving irregular psychological treatment... If someone had told Audrey before that a country could be established without the operation of the church and the nobility, she would never have believed it, but now such a strange country has actually appeared.

"It seems that... believers are the anchors of the gods. A believer is an anchor point. In this respect, there is no essential difference between a noble and a pauper. No one is more noble, and no one is lower."

"Normally, nobles and merchants can use their status, power, wealth and influence to help the church maintain its system and spread its faith, so they are more valued. But in the absence of the church, which is more important, a few thousand anchors or hundreds of thousands or millions of anchors?"

Audrey suddenly thought of a terrible possibility.

"The situation in Loen is already very bad. If the people really have no food to eat, then the next step will be to attack the grain merchants and nobles... and the number of civilians is far greater than that of the nobles and the rich..."

Faced with this truth that tore off the veil of tenderness, "Justice" Audrey was speechless for a moment.

"ah."

Just as she was lost in thought about her own things and walked downstairs step by step, she heard the birthday song.

Audrey looked up and saw that the nurse, Martha, who had aged by more than ten years due to the hardships of life, was waving at her and calling her over in the common language of the southern continent. The doctors and nurses who were currently unemployed in the hospital stood nearby, and the children without parents also jumped around Ms. Martha, looking at the butter cake with eyes full of desire.

She forced herself to smile. Just as she was about to go over, she saw Ana beside her looking out the window and exclaiming:
"It's thundering."

It's thundering... She looked out the window, and along with these words, the entire world suddenly turned silver-white.

The light came first, then the noise.

The huge roar almost broke Audrey's eardrums. Her doll body was affected by the sudden spiritual fluctuations, and the whole world suddenly became quiet. The strong flash affected her senses. She moved a few times in confusion, and then she found herself falling to the ground.

Her limbs seemed to be out of control. She waved her arms and legs with difficulty, struggled wildly, and propped up her upper body.

The hospital, which had been full of joy just now, suddenly became dead silent. She saw that half of the hospital had collapsed, the structure was completely destroyed, and steel bars were dangerously sticking out from every corner. A huge, weird doll was propped up above the hospital, on all fours, holding up the half that had not collapsed.

"------"

She recognized the doll, she recognized the scar on the puppet's face.

“————!!”

She shouted loudly, she thought she was shouting the other person's name, but in fact she just uttered some distorted syllables from her throat.

The crowd who were celebrating the birthday just now were beneath him. Some of them were crying, some had fainted, some were covered in blood, and some were pierced by steel bars and were wailing, but Audrey could hear nothing.

The butter cake that cost one soli slipped from Ms. Martha's hands, and her child was crying loudly in her arms.

This was supposed to be his birthday.

This should have been a happy celebration.

She stared blankly at the scene in front of her, as if she was watching hell silently unfold before her eyes.

TBC
------

"The Supreme God is a moody madman, so nothing that happens in the world is surprising" - the South American main god "Smoke and Mirror".

I can't stand it. I read a fan comic this afternoon. Which genius in the translation team translated the word "clan leader" into "leader"? ? The tribesmen were in danger, and the clan leader descended from the sky. Everyone shouted, "The leader is coming to save us." I was so confused and crazy when I saw this scene...