Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 373 Negotiation and Position (8k, huge code attribute explosion!)
Songyuan City, Golden Country Bank.

Inside the bank building, outside the room belonging to "President" Qiao Dewen on the top floor, four waiters stood on both sides, guarding the place.

Because President Qiao Dewen was having an "important conversation" with an "important guest", the waiters had already received orders from Vice President Gonzalo not to let anyone pass through here for the time being, so as not to disturb President Qiao Dewen and his "guest".

And behind the waiters, inside the door they were guarding.

Mr. Qiao Dewen, the "President" of the "Golden Country Bank" in Songyuan City, no longer disguised himself as a waiter as usual, but changed into formal clothes - it was a round-necked dress with a lot of gold thread inlaid on the lapels and cuffs. A pure gold brooch, symbolizing the identity of the "President" of the Golden Country Bank, was pinned on Qiao Dewen's right chest, and it was shining with a dazzling light under the light of the wall lamp.

His right hand was shaking a high-end glass wine glass, which was a quarter filled with purple-red wine, exuding a refreshing floral and fruity aroma.

Qiao Dewen's meticulously shaved face, with dark red eyes, stared at the "guest" opposite him -

That was a young lady.

She was wearing a black silk Gothic dress with delicate lace on the neckline and cuffs, and the pleated skirt was like a rose in the dark night. She had long silver-gray hair like a waterfall, which was lightly tied behind her head with a black ribbon. A few strands of scattered hair brushed her pale and delicate cheeks.

She wore a small-brimmed hat with a sarong hanging down her head. Her bright eyes flashed with fluorescent green light under the sarong. With a smile on her lips, she looked across at President Qiao Dewen of the "Golden Country Bank".

——That is the president of the Iris Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Index Carlos.

"Iris Chamber of Commerce" is a new chamber of commerce that has just been established in Songyuan City. It was born from the agreement contract signed by Luo Xiu, Gonzalo and Qiao Dewen.

All affairs of the Iris Chamber of Commerce were mainly handled by Intis, who was stationed in Songyuan City and was in charge of the "Holy Abyss" affairs of Songyuan Territory. According to Luo Xiu's arrangements and instructions to her, she received cash ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of imperial gold coins delivered from the Golden Country Bank on a monthly basis, and used a large part of it for the industrial expansion and operation of the Chamber of Commerce. With the endorsement and support of the Golden Country Bank, she had basically established a firm foothold in Songyuan City.

But now, only a small part of what Index and Jodwin were talking about was about the "Iris Chamber of Commerce".

"As you can see, Mr. Joe Devin."

With a smile on his face, Intis said to President Qiao Dewen in front of him:

"Asteras, the Crow of Despair, is dead."

"..."

"……Ugh."

Qiao Dewen sighed deeply, with a look of loneliness in his eyes.

……

before.

Right in front of Joe Dewen, Ms. Index Carlos came to him with a member of the "Funeral Mask" who had been turned against him, and also brought him information about another "Original Mask".

"The Crow of Despair" Astralis, like Jodwin, is one of the original creators of the "Mask of Funeral Song" and is acquainted with Jodwin.

Later, Qiao Dewen withdrew from the "Mask of Funeral Song", but Astralis remained in it and gradually gained a large part of the power in the "Mask of Funeral Song".

Astralis later defected to the Dark Principality and became one of the "Executioners". The "Funeral Mask" thus became a secret weapon of the Principality lurking within the empire.

In fact, there are other "original masks" in the "Funeral Song Mask" - except for Astraes, some of the other original masks that remain in the organization are still independent, while others have defected to the "Holy Tower Kingdom", but these do not conflict with the purpose of the "Funeral Song Mask" itself.

On the contrary, because of this, the "Funeral Mask" became a hub for communication between the Principality and the Theocracy.

But when facing the common and terrifying enemy, the "Nolan Empire", the two major forces do not mind sharing the convenience brought by the "Funeral Mask" and use it as a sharp blade that they hold together and can penetrate deeply into the heart of the empire.

It was when Index brought the "dream stealer" Pior to find Qiao Dewen to verify the information.

From Jodwin's mouth, Intis had heard Jodwin himself say that the "Crow of Despair" Astralis had indeed looked for him -

At that time, Astralis had become the "executioner".

His purpose in looking for Qiao Dewen was also very clear - he invited Qiao Dewen to return to the "Mask of Funeral Song" and go to the Principality with him to meet the "Dark Duke".

Astralis once wanted Jodwin to join the principality and become an "executioner", but Jodwin refused him at that time.

It is said that Astralis was dissatisfied with Joe Devin's refusal, and afterwards the "Gold Country Bank" in Songyuan City was targeted and attacked openly and covertly, and in order to settle these, Joe Devin spent a lot of money.

But as for the "price", Joe Devin was very vague, and Index did not ask any further questions.

All we know is that there is indeed some rift between Joe Devin and "Crow of Despair" Astralis - and after the arrival of Intis, who represents the "Bishop" Luo Xiu of the Red Maple City Church, she also brought Joe Devin information about "Crow of Despair" Astralis escaping into the Sea of ​​Spirituality.

The "Dream Thief" Pior had already received instructions from Rosso to secretly approach Astralis, so he could get information about where he would escape to. And what Intis asked Jodwin to do was just to hope that he would use his connections in the "Funeral Mask" to confirm the authenticity of this matter.

For Qiao Dewen, this was not a difficult thing to do.

Right in front of Index - "Delusion False Face" Joe Dewen, he walked to a wall as white as new, stretched out his hand and gently touched a certain place, opened the sealed secret door, and pulled out a drawer as thin as a hand.

There lay quietly a mask of "joy" and three crumpled pieces of paper.

Taking out a ball of paper and stretching it out on the table, Qiao Dewen then walked to a miniature "Golden Window" in his office and entered a short password into it.

Then - only two minutes later, there was a gentle knock on the door of Qiao Dewen's office, and an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, who looked like a loader in a factory, walked in.

His eyes swept directly over Index and the "Dream Stealer" Pior behind Index, and walked straight towards Jodwin. He took the newly unfolded note from Jodwin's hand, as well as the information about the escape of "Crow of Despair" Astralis given to him by Index and Pior.

The "worker" then left, and only about five minutes later, he came back and walked straight to Qiao Dewen again, still remaining silent and just nodded silently.

After that, the "worker" left again and never came back.

The Dream Thief Pior also left the room at Index's signal. Jodwin gave Index a somewhat bitter smile and said:
"Please don't mind it, it's just my informant."

"As a qualified businessman, 'connections' are always necessary. I have learned that the information about the escape of 'Crow of Despair' Astralis is true."

This is how the intelligence was confirmed.

After that, Qiao Dewen focused on the "Golden Window" - there was a picture of the desolate mountains outside the Red Maple City.

Not long after, he saw the air on the mountain tremble and tear apart, and Astralis, the "Crow of Despair", emerged from a huge crack.

That was exactly where Astralis would escape, as the intelligence pointed out.

Then, a gray fog rolled up, and Astralis was enveloped in it and disappeared.

Jodwin did not know what had happened there - he only knew one thing: Astralis had been attacked, but he did not know by whom.

The rising gray mist was definitely not [Glory]. Although he knew that all of this was arranged by the "Bishop", Qiao Dewen still felt a little frightened.

It was behind the scenes - Qiao Dewen couldn't imagine how many saints who were not [Glorious] were won over by the "bishop" just as he was winning over himself.

And the "bishop's" sister - "Index Carlos" who lives right opposite Jodwin, also exudes a faint aura of danger, which makes Jodwin always feel wary, but he can't see what the true fate of "Index" is.

However, Qiao Dewen was not prepared to dig deeper into this.

Ever since he assisted Luo Xiu in killing the [Supreme] Order-killer and the illegitimate son of Marquis Bakar, "Villino Bakar", he and the "bishop" had long been grasshoppers tied to the same boat, with completely integrated interests.

He looked at the constantly changing gray fog in the "Golden Window" and was shocked, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a sense of security in his heart.

Until the rolling gray fog gradually dissipated.

Qiao Dewen saw that Astralis, who had just emerged from the "Sea of ​​Spirituality" intact, was now a corpse - his bloody body and broken limbs were embedded in the cracks of the rock.

After that, the image in the "Golden Window" disappeared and nothing was shown anymore.

……

"As you can see, Mr. Joe Devin."

Qiao Dewen heard Ms. Index Carlos on the other side, she said with a smile:
"Asteras, the Crow of Despair, is dead."

"On behalf of my brother, I thank you for your help and congratulate you. From now on, the threat and influence of the 'Funeral Mask' on you will be smaller."

"..."

"……Ugh."

Qiao Dewen sighed deeply and said in a somewhat lonely voice:

"The 'Funeral Mask' has fallen to this point... that was not what we were looking for in the first place."

"Now, Astralis is dead. Killing an 'executioner' is a meritorious act for your brother, the 'bishop' of Red Maple City, but for me... I just feel a little sad."

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Joe Devin."

Intis comforted him with gentle words, and then she continued:

"So, about the other thing—"

The smile on Index's face faded, and she turned serious, and said in a clear voice:
"My brother hopes that the 'Golden Country Federation' can end its 'neutral' wait-and-see stance and partially intervene in this war."

"You have also seen that there are countless termites like Astralis, the Crow of Despair, who are still dormant in the Empire. Not only is the Empire threatened by them, but the Golden Kingdom's industries in the Empire have also been destroyed and attacked time and time again by them."

"This is not what we want to see, nor should it be what you want to see. You can foresee this. If you let it go, you will only be plundered and devoured by these termites because you have resources, enough for them to continue to fight the empire."

"If you remain silent and do nothing, the Empire's attitude towards you will become even more negative. The Supremes are already dissatisfied with the Golden Federation's behavior of always watching and trying to gain greater benefits from the war. If this continues, the Empire will have to impose sanctions on you."

"So - my brother has given us a plan. Stop sticking to the 'neutral' position. The church welcomes you to truly intervene in this war. Becoming the Empire, or at least the Songyuan Territory, and becoming a truly solid backer of the church will only benefit you."

"..."

"I understand what you mean, Ms. Index."

Qiao Dewen smiled bitterly, a helpless expression appeared on his face, and said:

"Even though we are on the same front, the position of the Golden Federation will not change with my will. I hope you understand my difficulties."

"As you know, a 'neutral' attitude has always been the foundation of the Federation's diplomacy. In other words, with only these bargaining chips now, it is not enough. It is far from enough."

"If you want the Golden Federation to abandon its 'neutral' stance, intervene in the war locally, and form an offensive and defensive alliance with the Empire, as you said, Ms. Index, we need something else."

"I know that." Index nodded with a smile, "Of course I understand."

"What the Federation needs - or what the Federation must pay attention to - is whether you can gain more benefits from it, or whether your existing interests will be further harmed."

"For this reason, my brother specifically asked me to share something with you."

As she spoke, Index slightly turned sideways and took out a sealed document bag with the church's golden sun seal stamped on it from a soft bag beside her.

She held the document lightly in both hands and handed it to Qiao Dewen, and the bank president in front of her reached out to take it.

When Qiao Dewen received the document bag, he weighed it briefly and felt that it was a bit heavy.

He looked at Index, and after Ms. "Index" nodded opposite him, he took the silver paper cutter beside him and gently cut open the lacquer seal.

He then reached into his bag and pulled out a thick stack of yellowed paper pages.

With just a glance, Qiao Dewen's expression froze, and his fingers grasping the edge suddenly clenched.

[Report from the Holy Inquisition on October 767, 10 of the Apocalypse Calendar—Lucas Bell, Yanar Mendes, and Blair Graham were found to be the "Fang Heads" at the Golden Country Bank branch in Sina City and have been eliminated;]

【…】

[November 767, 11 Tianqi calendar, the missionary office reported that the Red Maple City Church, together with the Border Court and the Square Monument Court, wiped out a total of 15 cultists of the "Fire of Rebuilding", recovered more than imperial gold coins, and more than gold national commercial bonds, which have been confiscated;]

【…】

[On December 767, 12 of the Apocalypse Calendar, the Secret Report—At the east gate of Red Maple City, the ‘Gold Country-Dickas Caravan’ brought six members of the Original Sect and tried to sneak into the city. Two of them were “priests” and four were “favored ones”. The six members of the Original Sect were killed on the spot by the four throne knights who were on patrol at the ‘Border Court’. The three Golden Country merchants and the fourteen caravan guards were imprisoned at the same time.]

[……] [Recorded from the Secret Office on December 767, 12 of the Apocalypse Calendar—On that day, the imprisoned members of the Golden Country-Dicasse Caravan were interrogated. According to the confessions of the Golden Country merchants Snowdia Dicas, Hakanan Dicas, and Ferro Dicasde, they did not know the true identity of the members of the Original Sect, and only said: "They are guests of the family, and the elders of the family require that they must be escorted well";]

【…】

These are all the "evidence" that Luo Xiu has been collecting since he joined the Church of Sina City and became the Holy Inquisitor, which shows that the Golden Kingdom has long been deeply infiltrated by the Theocracy and the Dark Principality.

Intis didn't know why her "Lord" was so obsessed with these things, and she was not curious. She just followed Luo Xiu's instructions and gave these things to Qiao Dewen to see.

Just as the "president" of the Golden Country Bank, Qiao Dewen, was carefully looking at the unprecedented information in his hands word by word.

Index was also observing the changes in his facial expression.

An expression of shock and astonishment first appeared on Qiao Dewen's face, and then he was overly panicked and terrified. Fine beads of sweat began to seep out of his forehead.

——He was scared.

In Qiao Dewen's eyes, the words on the pages in front of him seemed to have begun to flow, gradually wriggling and transforming into something that Qiao Dewen did not recognize and did not want to recognize.

Looking at the lines of text in his hand, Qiao Dewen also understood one thing -

The "Golden Country Bank" has long been infiltrated by the "Dark Principality" and the "Holy Tower Church"!
It was as if there was a wolf lying next to his bed, ready to devour his flesh and blood at any time, and he was completely unaware of it... At this moment, Qiao Dewen felt a chill down his spine.

Qiao Dewen had no idea about the information that the "bishop" of Red Maple City, "Rosius Carlos", had passed on to him through his sister, "Index Carlos".

Even though he was the president of the "Golden Country Bank" and the elder of the "Florence Family", the core of the Golden Country Federation, he had never known all this completely through any channel.

There were even a few things in there that were directly related to Qiao Dewen himself - he turned to a page in the document that directly stated that one of his former "waiters" was also a cultist of the "Funeral Mask"!
That should be the "Funeral Mask" that came later, the spy who was specially inserted beside him...

But some time ago, the waiter suddenly disappeared and never appeared again.

Qiao Dewen originally thought that he just chose to leave without saying goodbye because he could not bear the work of the waiter position... At that time, Qiao Dewen just asked Vice President Gonzalo to publicly fire him according to the bank's regulations, and also settled his salary during his tenure and sent it back to his hometown.

But now I think about it - the money I sent back to his hometown would have become stolen money!
Qiao Dewen only felt a chill, and his vision became increasingly blurred and dim.

Resisting the sudden discomfort, Qiao Dewen gritted his teeth and read the intelligence file in his hand page by page.

Then, he rolled up the stack of intelligence papers, stuffed them back into the file bag, and handed the file bag back to Index with both hands.

Intis took it, put the file bag back into her soft bag, and looked at Qiao Dewen with a smile:

"Your complexion doesn't seem very good."

"……hehe."

Qiao Dewen laughed dryly twice. At this moment, he really had no intention of joking.

"I think I understand what your brother means..."

Qiao Dewen looked up, met the expectant gaze of Index across from him, and said slowly:

"I see. The Golden Kingdom has been thoroughly infiltrated... in every sense of the word."

“We are indeed profit-seeking businessmen.”

"But the reason we stick together as a whole is not only to gain greater benefits, but also to avoid greater disasters - disasters that no individual can escape when they really come."

"I am all of me, I am part of my family, I am part of the federation - no one is alone. This is the foundation of our existence."

"But there are always people who want to become termites and sell the safe harbor to people who may become our enemies in a very ridiculous way and at a very absurd price."

"..."

"so what?"

Intis still maintained a calm smile on her face and asked President Qiao Dewen softly:

"I want to know, Mr. Joe Devin. What is your attitude?"

"..."

"I certainly hope that the Golden Country can conduct a thorough 'purge' from top to bottom."

“This is difficult, but it is worth doing and necessary to implement.”

"I understand, Mr. Jodwin."

Index nodded calmly.

"...Well then, Ms. Index."

This time, it was Qiao Dewen who asked Index:
"If - well, I do agree with you and your brother. The 'cleansing' within the Golden Kingdom should indeed start with changing the 'neutral' position. But, you... or Mr. Luo Xiu, what do you want to do?"

"Just explain what you just saw to the other elders of your Florence Family."

Index said clearly and calmly:

"There is also the Manston Family. With the influence of you and the Manston Family, it will not be difficult to influence the positions of other core families in the Federation."

"For this reason, my brother also specifically told me to tell you another thing——"

"My brother said: 'In half a month, the imperial army in Red Maple City and several fortresses around Red Maple City will officially launch a counterattack against the Principality.

Our target is [Fafnir City], and during the counterattack, we will capture at least six fortresses and three important towns.

If the Golden Kingdom can send troops to entangle the psychic army of the Holy Tower Kingdom in Songyuan Territory during our "expedition", perhaps we can give up some of the benefits we have gained from the "Judgment" expedition launched against the Dark Principality. "

"My brother also said: 'If Mr. Jodwin agrees with this and agrees with our position, Index, I hope you will tell him -

Tell him not to worry about intervening in the name of war, it could be 'peacekeeping', it could be looking for 'lost merchants', it could be anything else. '"

"That's what my brother wants to tell you."

Looking directly into Qiao Dewen's wine-red eyes, Intis paused and finally said:
"If you still have any concerns, you can tell us. You can trust me, trust my brother, we can help you solve it."

"..."

"You said so..."

Qiao Dewen sighed and said:

"Okay. I will tell this to the Florence family and other elders of the Manston family as you said."

"I can probably convince them. But I can't guarantee whether I can convince the elders of other families afterwards."

"That's enough, Mr. Jodwin."

Intis smiled, stood up from the plush chair, lifted her pleated skirt slightly, and bowed deeply to Qiao Dewen.

"Thank you again, Mr. Qiao Dewen, thank you for understanding and accepting our opinions and taking the time to talk to me for such a long time."

"Then - I'll leave the rest to you, Mr. Joe Devin."

"If there is any progress, I hope you can contact me in time. I will wait for you at the Chamber of Commerce."

……

Red Maple City, the Holy See.

"President Joe Dewen of the 'Gold Country Bank' has agreed that he is willing to try and make the Golden Country change its neutral position."

On the bed in the bishop's bedroom, Luo Xiu, who was covered with a flannel quilt, heard this somewhat unreal but clear voice.

His "favorite", Index, had transmitted the latest progress of the "negotiations" to him through the spiritual conduction of the "favorite emblem".

Qiao Dewen agreed, which was a good start.

Regardless of whether the higher-ups in the Golden Country will be more likely to make "neutral" decisions as a result, the seeds have already been planted, and there will be some impact that will be beneficial to their side.

Luo Xiu, who had the memories of his past life, knew clearly that this was the first step to change.

In the previous life - when the "Bloody Declaration" of Kuma Territory had just been ended by the Empire and the Empire's heavy troops were about to drive into the territory of the Dark Principality, preparing to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to inflict a heavy blow to the Principality, the "Holy Tower Kingdom" stabbed the Empire in the back, and several psychic legions invaded the border of the Empire and occupied almost half of the territory of the four territories.

This is not the end, it's just the beginning -

The Empire, attacked from both sides, was caught in a dilemma. The Dark Principality also began to recruit troops while the Theocracy was delaying the Empire, and repelled the Imperial Army that had counterattacked into the Principality.

As a result, the empire lost a large amount of border territory and millions of expeditionary soldiers were killed. Even though its overall strength is still the strongest in the continent of Fanor, it is difficult to organize an expedition of the same scale as the previous one.

And when the Theocracy grabbed a large piece of the pie from the Empire by "backstabbing", the Theocracy's envoys preaching peace quickly came to the imperial capital, met with Emperor Augustuswell, and conveyed the will of the "Pope" to him.

It was unknown what the envoy said to Emperor Augustwell. All Luo Xiu remembered was that shortly after the envoy of the Theocracy left the imperial capital, the emperor issued a new decree, establishing [Lost] and [Bitter Tea] as the legitimate destiny of the empire.

Afterwards, the Theocracy signed a new peace agreement with the Empire, in which the Theocracy returned the Empire's territory that had been occupied by the [Psyker Legion] - even though nearly half of it had been reduced to scorched earth, and more than half of the civilians had died in some kind of secret sacrifice - but the Theocracy did not recognize this, and the Empire did not pursue the matter any further.

In fact, from the player's perspective, this is not a bad thing.

It was also at that time that Luo Xiu, who was mainly active within the empire, also happily trained two small accounts of [Lost] and [Bitter Tea], and had fun playing the role of a wizard and a big warrior for a while.

However, for Luo Xiu, who is now the "Bishop of Red Maple City", maintaining the sole legitimacy of [Glory] is of greater benefit and advantage to him.

He also had no intention of handing over the "faith" that the "Holy See" had firmly held in the empire to the Theocracy.

It is necessary for the "Golden Country Federation" to intervene in this war, and it will happen sooner or later.

And now, President Qiao Dewen of the "Golden Country Bank" in Songyuan City has nodded in agreement.

All Luo Xiu had to do was wait, and continue to wait - wait for a new reaction from the Golden Country, and then he would decide what to do next.

He had even planned that if the "Golden Country" ultimately refused to change its "neutral" position, he would take more extreme measures to force them to agree.

——For example, let "Holy Abyss" disguise as the "Executioner", "Fang Head" and "Black Fang" of the Dark Principality to attack the banks, industries and caravans of the Golden Kingdom. This is an effective way to quickly draw the attention of the Golden Kingdom, but it is not yet necessary to do so.

"..."

While thinking about this, Luo Xiu reached out to the bedside cabinet and covered the lamp that emitted a clear yellow light.

He emptied his mind of all these complicated thoughts at the same time, allowing his thoughts to return to a clear state like that during meditation. Then, a sense of drowsiness surged up from his mind.

He was indeed feeling tired again - he had been through a lot in just one day.

Luo Xiu then slid into bed, finally opened the panel, took a look at what the players who were still online were talking about in the [Player Forum] and [Chat Channel], and then closed the panel.

He originally just wanted to take a short nap, but he couldn't hold it any longer.

If the clergy need him for something later, they should... wake him up...

……

Afterwards, Luo Xiu's consciousness gradually merged with his quilt, his pillow, and his bed.

Just before the morning sunlight is about to shine through the cracks in the window, casting a few rays of warm light in.

He finally fell into a deep sleep and sailed into the distant dreamland.

……

(End of this chapter)