A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

But the church itself lacks the power to do so and must rely on the power of the king, emperor, and lords. Honestly, it's now clear that ordinary appeals are no longer effective. The church must pay a price to gain the support of these secular lords.

A lot of power must be given up to satisfy the greedy appetites of secular lords.

And this price will inevitably cause dissatisfaction among people in the church.

In short, it's a complex matter, not a simple one. It's a complex business involving a single move that affects the entire system. No one can predict the ultimate price to pay.

Leo XI was also worried that if something went wrong, he would be infamous for eternity.

So he has been trying every possible way to strengthen the strength of several knight orders, but it was like a drop in the bucket and not very useful.

For a moment, I really couldn't think of any good solution.

It would be best if Thomas had a broader perspective and could go to the Holy Land to help, or even lend the artifact. However, he couldn't guarantee that.

Do the Knights of Rhodes Island still have any strength left?

While the successful capture of Smyrna was by no means a positive development in the short term, the Knights' territory had expanded, leaving them with a significant shortage of manpower. Without the giant golems, the Knights would not have been able to control the entire territory of Smyrna.

Based on his understanding of Thomas (although the two had only spent a short time together, the Pope still felt that he could see some clues), although this man was gifted and extremely brave, he was not the kind of selfless and open-minded person.

He was more convinced that Thomas was the kind of person who placed great importance on personal interests.

Repay kindness with kindness, and repay hatred with hatred. If it does not concern you, just stay out of it.

While he was pondering, there was a sudden noise outside.

When I looked carefully, I saw a man dressed as an ascetic outside the door, peeking inside.

"Come in," said Leo XI.

No outsiders would come to disturb us at this time. Those who could come here had been instructed in advance, or in other words, there was an emergency that needed to be reported.

"Holy Father!" The man came forward, saluted respectfully, and presented a document.

Pretty thick kind.

"whats the matter?"

"The information you requested last time has been delivered." said the ascetic monk.

"what news?"

"That's the news about the 'Wolf God' you mentioned."

"Wolf God? Oh, that..." The Pope remembered.

Thomas had written him a private letter before, hoping to inquire about this matter through church channels.

He didn't care much about it and directly handed the matter over to his subordinates to investigate. Now he has learned the result.

Such a thick booklet is obviously a very comprehensive and complete report.

The Pope began to leaf through the pages.

Although it was handed over to Thomas, he was also a little curious about this matter. After all, Thomas had never made such a request before.

Besides, who dares to call himself a "God" these days?

This person is either incredibly awesome, or a complete idiot.

The whole room became quiet, with only the sound of the Pope flipping through the pages of a book.

The ascetic glanced over and saw that the Pope's expression was becoming increasingly ugly.

He flipped through the pages slower and slower, but a hint of ferocity began to show on his originally kind face.

How can it be! ?

Time passed minute by minute, and the Pope had read most of the thick report booklet.

His face had turned very ugly.

"How is this possible!" Finally, the Pope raised his head and asked a question.

"If that's the case, wouldn't we be invincible?! The Star-Moon Cult would have recaptured the Holy Land long ago!"

"Holy Father," the ascetic lowered his head. "He has weaknesses. His spirit and soul are still mortal, even more fragile than the average person!"

"He has to adjust his mental state in some way to ensure that he doesn't turn into an irrational beast."

"Also, the time he can fight at full strength is very limited. Once his spirit can no longer bear it, he will lose his mind."

"A beast, no matter how powerful, is not worth fearing."

"If we're not careful, the Star-Moon Cult will suffer the consequences!"

Chapter 154 Conspiracy 1

Leo XI then calmed down and continued reading.

After a while, I finally finished reading the entire report book.

After pondering for a while, he asked.

“Is the content credible?”

"It was obtained through completely reliable channels," the ascetic said. "Although the content seems a bit exaggerated, I believe... its credibility is absolutely beyond doubt."

"If the Star-Moon Cult possesses something like that, why do they remain hidden?"

"It's ultimately a dangerous double-edged sword. If you're not careful, you could end up hurting yourself at any time. Therefore, even the Star-Moon Cultists don't dare to use it casually. They only use it when all conditions are right, or when they have no other choice."

"I understand," the Pope said after a moment's thought. "I'll write another letter. You must send these two items to Smyrna and personally hand them over to Grand Master Thomas."

"The Grand Master... in Smyrna?"

"The Knights are building a new castle in Smyrna," the Pope said. "The Grand Master is personally overseeing it, so he'll be in Smyrna for at least the next six months. Even if he's away for a while, he'll definitely return quickly."

"As you command, Holy Father."

Having said that, the Pope still drummed his fingers on the armrests of his throne.

This matter is very tricky.

The Pope can now roughly guess what the Crescent Moon Cultists want to do.

Thomas must have smelled something, so he wanted to know about the Wolf God through him.

However, I guess Thomas would never have thought that this matter would be so dangerous.

But then again, if it wasn't Thomas this time, not even the Pope would have imagined that there was such a dangerous person in the world... No, that can no longer be considered a human being, that is a monster, a demon, or maybe even a human-shaped remnant of the past!

Thomas must be given sufficient warnings and reminders in the letter.

The current Christian camp cannot afford the news of the death of another Grand Master of the Knights Templar!

Leo XI slowly composed his speech in his mind.

……

Rhode Island.

late at night.

Since the Knights' capture of Smyrna, the island's port has undergone a complete transformation.

It used to be a deserted place, but now it has become a busy place.

Because merchants and travelers coming and going here are aware of this simple fact: the Knights have the ability to protect this route!

The situation on the entire island was rapidly returning to the state it was in the heyday of the Knights.

There are now quite a number of merchant ships anchored in the port.

On a large merchant ship.

The huge ship swayed slightly with the sea.

On the deck, two men in elegant clothes were leaning against the side of the ship and talking.

"Brother John...you and I hit it off right away. Why be so secretive? Why not take out the golden apple and let us see it?" a man said in a dissatisfied tone.

"It's not that I don't want to, but the fact is that I spent a lot of money to buy that treasure. If I take it out easily, I'm afraid..." The person who spoke had black hair and black eyes, a high nose and deep eyes. You could tell at a glance that he was a Greek.

If there were locals present, they would probably be able to easily recognize that this person was none other than the eldest son of the president of the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, named John.

Although Rhodes Island is under the rule of the Knights, the Rhodes Island Chamber of Commerce has little to do with the Knights.

This place has been a key shipping hub since ancient times, so naturally there is no shortage of merchants on the island. The Rhodes Island Chamber of Commerce is composed of some local merchants.

It is not particularly large in scale, but it has a significant influence on the island.

When the situation in Rhodes Island was critical before, the members of the Rhodes Island Chamber of Commerce naturally fled far away to avoid disaster.

Most businessmen are like this!

But now that the situation has stabilized, they are the first group to return.

After all, it is a chamber of commerce mainly composed of local people, so it naturally has the advantage of being a local boss.

"The Grand Master is now searching everywhere for rare treasures to present to the Holy Father. As long as you satisfy the Grand Master, you will definitely get a lot of benefits. Why be so stingy?" Another man spoke again.

At this moment, he raised his face, revealing a face that Thomas was definitely very familiar with.

The Knights' Lieutenant, Knight Andrea.

As Grand Master, he had already earned the trust of the Knights' upper echelons. Since the new Grand Master, Thomas, took office, he has shown even greater favor to Andrea, entrusting him with important tasks. He is now the highest-ranking official remaining in Rhodes Island.

John hesitated slightly.

He knew that Andrea was now highly valued by the Grand Commander.

Although the Chamber of Commerce was quite influential in the local area, it was only among the locals. It had no influence on the Knights.

He bought this golden apple in Constantinople for nearly 90,000 florins.

It's not priceless, but it's a rare treasure. I didn't expect Andrea to come to my door today because of it.

"With the Knights' Order backing me up, are you still afraid I'll default? Besides, my Grand Master is a disciple of the Holy See... Not to mention Rhodes Island, even in Rome, is there anything I can't handle? Forget about anything else, even giving you priority in purchasing spoils of war, or even exclusive rights to trade goods, wouldn't be impossible."

This made John's heart move.

Although he has a strong background and the Rhodes Island Chamber of Commerce owns hundreds of merchant ships of various types, and is wealthy and powerful, appearing to be extremely prosperous, in fact, all of these belong to his father.

Whenever someone mentioned him, they would say, “Oh, he’s that guy’s son!”

This was extremely difficult for a young man like John, who was young and arrogant, to tolerate.

He was eager to build his own network of contacts and create his own legend.

And the friendship of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar... was indeed a great gift that touched his heart.

"You guys!" John turned and faced the servants and guards a little further away. "Bring my secret box here."

"Yes," a guard responded, then turned and walked into the cabin.

The ship rocked gently in the sea, but the guards were steady as a rock. Clearly no mediocre fighters.

"Wait a moment. I'll ask my personal guard to get the treasure." John smiled at Andrea.

"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry." Andrea nodded.

These guards are actually the key.

One of them is an elite warrior, John's personal bodyguard, but no one knows where his father found him from. He is loyal, smart, and keeps a close eye on him!

The other two guards are not as good, but they still have a high chance of causing trouble.

John watched his guard walk into the cabin, then turned around and was about to say something.

But Andrea in front of him suddenly took action.

A lightning-fast knife strike landed heavily on the back of his neck.

"You..." John remained stunned and fainted.

Chapter 155 Conspiracy 2

Andrea smiled, grabbed John, jumped up, and they both fell into the sea.

A small boat had already quietly approached below and pulled the two people out of the water as quickly as possible.

"Let's go!" Andrea gave the order immediately after getting on board.