A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 298 So similar, so very similar!

Upon hearing the words "Son of Prophecy," Shelbitten immediately stood up.

His expression was one of intense excitement as he stared at Elon.

His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he quickly realized his rudeness under the warning gaze of his boss, and sat down with a dry laugh, his eyes full of eagerness.

Elon wasn't surprised by his reaction; any normal person would react the same way upon hearing the words "Child of Prophecy."

On the contrary, Ike seemed very calm and even had the time to manage his subordinates.

“Don’t be offended, don’t be offended. We gangsters don’t have any refined hobbies, we just enjoy gambling.” He paused, then looked intently at Elon. “The British prince has appeared?”

Elon sipped his tea, offering no comment.

“I am different from my father. I never invest in businesses with uncontrollable risks.”

Ike and Quinn exchanged a glance.

"You mean the Child of Prophecy not only appeared, but you also got in touch with him? Oh, that's really impressive."

Ike's tone wasn't particularly enthusiastic; it sounded more like polite small talk.

The British government and the rebels are locked in a bloody battle in Lawrence, and crowds of young people are heading to the old capital to draw their swords. The Eternal Church has recently recalled bishops from all over the world, and the number of adventurers entering Britain through various means has tripled compared to the past. All signs indicate that the Child of Prophecy has appeared.

But Elon should never know who he really is.

Although he was the heir to the Branson family and a member of Congress in Eswell, he was nothing more than an insignificant politician or businessman in the face of such a world-class event. If someone like Elon, who had little to do with the British Civil War, knew about it, then King Aaron of Britain certainly did too.

The intensity of that war went far beyond mere bloodshed; it was a full-scale attack on the hero's location by the Dragonblood Knights and Aaron, using all the forces they could muster.

The significance of whether the prophesied child appears has nothing to do with the British monarchy, but rather with the Seventh Hero.

If, as the theologians interpret the Dragon Lord's prophecy, the Child of Prophecy is equivalent to a hero, then he only needs to go to the Island of Eternal Day at the center of the world and verify his hero status at the Holy See. No matter how hard the British government tries, it will be impossible to kill the hero who is under the Holy See's protection.

However, the point of contention is that the prophesied child cannot go to the Papacy.

The only way for him to prove his identity as a hero is to pull out the holy sword stuck in the stone of the old royal city.

This concerns the Eternal and Time Dragon Cult's plans for the future.

This concerns whether the hero belongs to the Dragon Lord or the Sun God.

Drawing his sword, defeating King Aaron, and ascending the throne as King of Britain—this is the future prophesied by the Dragon Lord.

However, there is one fact in this future that is not mentioned in the prophecy but is well known—the Child of Prophecy will become a follower of the Eternal Church.

Just as the first hero Link received baptism from the Church and the fourth hero Tetsuya Amamiya received baptism from the White Cult, the final seventh hero will receive baptism from the Eternal Cult.

The prophecy that "the true king's descendant will reclaim the crown and become king of the whole land" foreshadows that the prophesied son will defeat his uncle, the war will inevitably end, and he will ascend the throne with the whole of Britain united in his cause.

According to the traditions passed down from the ancestors of Britain, in order to become king, one must recognize the Lord of the Eternal Church as one's godfather and receive his baptism.

After the seventh war against the demons prophesied in the Gospel of Genesis, humanity's new era will no longer be the divinely ordained era promised by the sun. The key to which religion can gain the same influence as the Vatican today lies with this final hero.

In any case, the Eternal Church will spare no effort to fulfill the future laid out in the prophecy. The hero must draw his sword, defeat his uncle, rule the entire territory, and finally ascend the throne with the blessing of the Holy Lord.

And the Vatican?
Just give them a front-row seat when they ascend the throne, that's enough.

"The blood of a false king must end with the sword." King Aaron must die by the holy sword of the hero, not by the Eternal Cult or anyone else. The order of the prophesied son drawing the sword, taking revenge, and ascending the throne cannot be reversed.

Under this premise, the prophesied child cannot reveal his identity before drawing the sword.

Firstly, to prevent other religions from getting their hands on this hero whom the Eternal Sect had placed their hopes for in the future; secondly, to guard against King Aaron.

Aaron may not have been unaware that he had become a pawn of the Dragon Lord, like a clown in a stage play destined to fade into oblivion, trapped in the doomed path called "King" awaiting the fall of the Holy Sword.

But a true hero is a demon who refuses to be controlled by fate.

No matter how powerful the Eternal Cult is, it cannot control his kingdom. He still has an army, and loyal Dragonblood Knights and Dragon Tomb Deacons. He wants to change this future.

Killing the Prophet before he draws his sword is his only chance. Once the Prophet pulls out the Holy Sword, he will have all the power granted by the Covenant of the Savior, which means that Aaron will no longer be facing a small rebel, but the Adventurers' Guild, Grindelwald, the Cult of Seven, and the world's rulers who want to dominate the future.

In this context, unless the Eternal Church is a fool, they would keep the news of finding the Child of Prophecy a secret from only a handful of people.

Obviously, this "few people" could not possibly include Elon.

In Elswell, the name Elon Branson certainly sounds impressive. But from a global and historical perspective, it's more like, "Who the hell are you?"

Elon wasn't annoyed by Ike's distrustful attitude. He relaxed and stretched his chin, asking, "Don't you believe me?"

Ike gave a wry smile.

"Your Excellency, I have great respect for you—"

"I told you last time, just call me Elon."

"I swear by my faith that, personally, I deeply respect your abilities and ideals, but..."

"You should know that smuggling is not something that can be traced."

“Our manipulation of accounts, our disguises at customs, our white-glove companies set up in various places, and our bribery of brokers—all these methods can only fool ordinary people.”

"My business has only gotten this far because it's not worth having superhumans investigate it."

Acton paused, then spread his hands and said, "But if we were to transport those arcane weapons you want to Lawrence, not to mention how I could evade the school administration's inspections, the large-scale transport would definitely be detected by the front lines."

"Britain knows better than anyone that even with the support of the Eternal Church, the rebel army in Lawrence couldn't possibly produce that much arcane weaponry. What if they traced where these weapons entered Lawrence from and then followed the trail?"

Ike sighed.

"I don't think that King Aaron will care about the academy's reputation. Even with the academy's protective array, the Dragon Tomb steward can still send in a large number of low- to mid-level transcendents. At that time, my Golden Wind and I will disappear overnight."

"Are you done?" Elon asked.

“That’s all,” Ike replied.

“Boss, I’m scared,” Shelby said, trembling.

"Ah"

Elon put his legs down, his relaxed expression replaced by a serious one: "How you get into Lawrence territory is none of your concern. You just need to get the weapons there, and the Eternal Church will take care of delivering them to the front lines. No matter how much the Aaron government investigates, the Eternal Church will cover for you."

Ike's eyes instantly changed.

"It's just getting things into Britain, is that even possible?" "Are you serious?"

At the same time, the voices of his elderly grandfather, whose mind was aged, also said in unison, "Is this little Deng serious?"

Elon said calmly, "Once the first shipment arrives, I'll get your men out of prison. We'll be tied together, and if the Dragon Tomb Deacon comes, we'll die together."

"."

Ike remained silent for a long time.

The Branson family owns the largest trading company in Eswell, and they could certainly do it themselves if they wanted to.

However, if one goes through the corporate route, there are many people and many eyes, and mistakes are bound to happen.

If I really wanted to secretly smuggle batches of arcane firearms into Britain, only the Golden Wind in all of Eswell would have that capability.

"The black market can't get that many arcane weapons. They're all leftover stock from the Sixth War of the Demons two hundred years ago. Their reliability is questionable, and they're difficult to collect on a large scale." Ike raised a new question: "If we want to supply the front lines to support the war, we need arcane engineering companies in Axwell to supply them. But these companies all have Grindelwald as shareholders and are strictly controlled. We can manage once or twice, but doing it too often will definitely cause problems. Bribery won't work."

Elon bent down and picked up the small bell next to the fruit plate on the table.

He shook it.

A moment later, the butler knocked on the door of the reception room and said to the servant in the tailcoat, "Bring the contract and Father's seal."

When he finally saw the contract with just a few lines of text in front of him, Ike could no longer maintain his composure.

He gasped, staring at Elon in disbelief as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"When did you start planning this?"

The contract is very simple.

[Airborne Troops Logistics Management EPC Contract]

The following items include accommodation, food, and training supplies.
Quinn's gaze fell on the word "equipment," but he remained silent.

The air transport unit was established with the approval of Vice Dean He Mo.

In a sense, this was the first army that Axwell independently possessed. Although it was not large in scale, Hermes actually had the idea of ​​throwing this army into the war against demons.

They were the only department in all of Eswell authorized to procure arcane weaponry on a large scale. Although they were also regulated, the regulator was Commissioner Ankuya, who had a good relationship with Elon.
Mi Yutong's father had done similar business before the military reforms.

Quinn knew, of course, that although the amount used was small, the potential was enormous if handled properly.

Using the jewelry store case as a pretext, they proposed establishing an anti-terrorism unit.
In every public speech, he emphasized the radical issue of urban independence, thereby stirring up nationalist sentiments among left-wing citizens and paving the way for the expansion of the air force.
Because of all of the above, coupled with the approaching war against demons, the academy not only did not oppose this matter, but also made things convenient for it.
Quinn had been wondering what the purpose of these airlift troops was. There was no risk of war in Eswell, and in terms of rapid reaction forces, there was no one like the school administration. Ankua had already completed the cleanup before the recent law enforcement officers arrived at the jewelry store case.
Is it all for now?
“Next week’s hearing,” Elon began. “If I can keep my seat as a representative, I can expand the airlift force to five thousand men and launch a large number of live-fire exercises under the pretext of the British Civil War. Do you understand what I mean?”

Ike's eyes narrowed, a glint of shrewdness flashing within them.

"Drill losses, inventory losses, transportation losses, repair and replacements, and then we'll bring in some ghost soldiers to eat up the inventory."

Elon nodded in satisfaction.

"It's not much, but it's enough for the front lines. Ike, what are your thoughts?"

Ike looked into his eyes. The two most popular young men in Eswell exchanged glances, scrutinizing each other like lions facing each other from opposite sides of a cliff.

Do you know the academy's principles?

Elon nodded. "Arcane neutralization. Arcane weapons must never be used in human warfare."

"In that case, we've committed a capital offense. If Grindelwald finds out about this, we're both finished."

Elon walked up to Ike with a teacup in hand, his relaxed smile magnified in Quinn's glasses.

Why are you two so serious? Don't you have any sense of propriety?

He smashed the teacup on the ground and shouted, "Failure is a capital offense! Success is a revolution! What are we afraid of Grindelwald for? The brave will protect us!!"

“The bishop of the Eternal Church has sworn an oath to me under the statue of the Dragon Lord.” Elon bent down slightly to meet Ike’s gaze. “After this is accomplished, I will be the first to see the Prophet.”

"The Divine Era is only a few short years away, but our lives are still long. Please believe me, I will not enjoy the future glory alone."

Ike got up, walked around him, squatted down, and silently signed his name on the contractor's contract.

He then handed it to Elon: "Ten crystal-loaded rapid-fire cannons will be delivered to Britain within three days. Give me an address."

Elon accepted the contract, and the two embraced warmly.

Quinn watched from the side.

Similar. All similar.

If the world can only accommodate the souls of two time travelers at the same time.

I am one of them, but there is only one hero.

Exclude Celia.

Who would that be?
There was something strange about these two people that he couldn't quite put his finger on, which made it difficult for him to make a judgment.

Currently, Elon seems to be the more likely candidate.

But if he is the hero and the Child of Prophecy is not, what is his motive for helping the Child of Prophecy?
Elon looked at Shelby: "They said it was out of consideration for my father's health, so the hearing was arranged at my house. You should have already met him. I need you to play Reeve Branson and attend with me."

"The time is set for next Friday."

"My secretary has compiled a list of any difficult questions or challenges I might face at the meeting. As long as I memorize the response scripts, there won't be many. I can handle the rest on my own. Can you do that?"

Ike chimed in, "I didn't let him leave even after you said all that. You can absolutely trust my brother. Don't let his naiveté fool you, he'll be a perfect actor."

"But... I think Mr. Reeve should be able to attend alone, right?"

“No.” Elon shook his head decisively. “My father will need to recuperate after today. He’s only out to spend time with my sister and to let you observe his demeanor. You just need to sit there; you don’t need to say much. Just keep a serious expression and you won’t give yourself away.”

"not enough."

Shelby said, "I need to take a closer look. I need to touch it. Otherwise, I can't guarantee it will be exactly the same."

Elon stared at him for a long time.

"Okay. Come with me, come alone."

(End of this chapter)