A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

Large schools of sea fish swam and gathered around the ship.

We are already close to the island.

The Knights' fleet, primarily composed of medium-sized warships, with some light warships, was not intended for a decisive battle at sea with a powerful enemy, but primarily for patrolling and hunting down pirates.

At this time, on the deck of the leading ship.

Thomas stood at the bow, gazing far ahead, letting his cloak rustle in the sea breeze.

The destination is ahead, an irregular island, slowly getting closer.

"Andrea, what do you want to do? I don't see any pirate ships here."

"There's no dock here, so large ships can't approach. We can only send small boats. I've already made arrangements. I'll take someone there to negotiate. We can offer a reward and ask them if they've seen any pirate ships. However, we must conceal the identity of the Knights."

“What if they don’t admit it…?” Thomas asked.

"There are hundreds of people on the island. It's impossible that not all of them are unwilling to accept the reward. Moreover, we can secretly send people to the island to investigate. As long as we hide our identities, the pirates will not turn against us immediately." Andrea replied.

"Well, it's best to ask first." Thomas replied.

"Captain, what you said last time..." Andrea was a little nervous.

"Oh, you don't have to answer so quickly," Thomas replied. "I plan to further strengthen the Knights and find a way to have two of them become Protectors of the Nation... or at least halfway to becoming Protectors of the Nation!"

"Two men? That's two million florins..."

Although the Knights are rich now, it is absolutely impossible for them to come up with two million florins!

Andrea knew very well that the Church did not grant credit, not even to the Pope's students!

"Two million? More than that! I estimate it would cost six million per person!" Thomas laughed. Even the wealthy Venetians would find it difficult to come up with such a large amount of money in one go.

His method was simple: golden apples.

Gandalf once said that if you eat a hundred golden apples, you may be promoted from an elite to a protector of the country.

But now, on Thomas' apple tree, there are layers of ripe fruits... there are probably more than a hundred of them.

A golden apple could easily be sold for 70,000 or 80,000 florins. Theoretically, if 100 of them were sold, the price would drop, but 50,000 or 60,000 each would be no problem.

Of course, having said that, Thomas couldn't just sell it casually.

Even Thomas now has to hide this golden apple tree.

To put it bluntly, if the fact that he owns a golden apple tree (and it is an apple tree full of fruits) is exposed today, the biggest news in Europe tomorrow will most likely be the Venetian army attacking the Knights Templar!

This thing is so precious that even the Pope can't protect it!

Not to mention that Thomas is not without enemies now.

The Star-Moon Sword must still be preparing to deal with him. There are also even more powerful beings... and a host of hidden dangers.

Of course, when the Knights become stronger in the future and have the power to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean, that will be another story.

"Now that the Knights have occupied Smyrna, their forces have been dispersed. I'm worried that this will give the enemy an opportunity to exploit the situation, so I think it would be best to add a new Protector of the Nation within the Knights. Are you willing?"

"Thank you very much!" Andrea suddenly knelt down. "Master Thomas, I will...I will be loyal to you until death!"

Besides Andrea, there is another protector of the country...

Thomas thought about it and decided that Demetrios could be an alternative, but his loyalty was questionable.

Demetrios's abilities are fine, but he is loyal to the Order, but not necessarily to Thomas.

Not to mention that he had previously acted on his own initiative and launched a small rebellion.

Joseph couldn't... After all, he was "given" to him by his own cheap teacher. It was hard to say who he truly loyal to deep down.

It will take at least three to five years before further confirmation can be made.

Instead, Thomas thought of the Knights' instructor, Mansreti.

Although his background was clean, he had always been frustrated in the Knights Templar.

Being a coach who trains new recruits would definitely be an important and lucrative position in other places, but not in the Knights Templar.

After all, whether those recruits can join the Knights has nothing to do with this coach!

For those ordinary-level novices, it will be difficult to join the Knights no matter what you do. If you have the combat power of the core and elite levels, then you don’t need to please the coach.

Before Thomas took office, and even at the beginning of his term, Mansreti was still a marginal figure in the Knights Templar.

Position seems to be important, but it makes no difference whether he is there or not.

Later, Thomas wanted to develop the potential of the Knights as much as possible under the existing conditions, so he chose Mansreti.

Facts have proved that this knight is loyal and commendable. He took the initiative at a critical moment and stepped forward to help the Knights resolve a crisis.

And it had a very unexpected effect - it killed an important member of the Rhodes Island Chamber of Commerce who was originally planning to cause trouble.

While I was thinking, a shrill whistle came from afar.

Small boats from the Knights' side have already left the fleet and landed on the shore.

After a while, a flag was erected on the island, indicating that there was no danger and it was possible to land.

Andrea led the team to land, while the fleet dropped anchor and waited.

In the afternoon, about seventy or eighty members of the Knights Templar, including Thomas, landed on the island.

Many islanders were already waiting on the golden beach.

They had realized that the Knights were not the kind of plundering pirates - in fact, to be honest, looking at the tattered clothes of these islanders, even robbers would sigh.

A true pauper is not afraid of robbers - not every pirate is a slave trader!

Since you are not here to rob, we can make a deal.

Many villagers were carrying boxes, clay pots, and even wooden containers with things in their hands.

For the fleet, fresh fruits and vegetables are always welcome!

Among the Knights Templar, the knight who was an islander changed his clothes and did not trade on the beach. Instead, he went deep into the nearby village from the other side and went directly to the islanders in the village to inquire about news, especially news about pirates.

On the beach, negotiations between the two sides went smoothly, and they began to exchange goods soon.

The Knights' warships also carried some items for trading.

It is better to exchange various supplies in friendly places than to spend florins directly.

When asked about the pirates, the islanders were all bewildered. They had no idea there were any permanent pirates here, and even when a bounty was offered, no one said anything.

Thomas was confused, but then again, no matter what force it was, even to build the simplest base, they would need a dock or something like that.

There is no such infrastructure here at all, and small boats have to wash up on the beach, which is really not like it.

Soon, the transaction was completed and both parties hugged each other for the last time as a farewell.

Everyone packed up and returned to the boat. They seemed ready to leave, but they dragged their feet. Meanwhile, most of the islanders had returned.

Thomas' smile immediately disappeared. At a command, the knights drew their swords and guns, loaded their bullets, and waited for their companions to return.

There were actually two elite soldiers among the islanders on the seashore just now!

The author says:

Author's words: I'm going out tomorrow... I'll update one section in advance

Chapter 217: Bandit Suppression 3

The knight who went to the village just now has not returned for a long time.

Everyone was getting a little impatient, but at this moment, they saw a small figure suddenly running along the beach towards the boat from a distance.

"What is that?" someone asked.

"It's a child!" Naturally, someone with sharp eyes saw clearly. "In his hand..."

Thomas's face turned serious as he saw the child waving a piece of cloth in his hand.

It was a cloak of a Knights Templar, or rather, a fragment of a cloak.

Not all the villagers on the beach left. There were still a few people left, probably waiting for the Knights to leave.

The Knights' procrastination has aroused suspicion.

At the beginning there were only three or five observers, but now the number has increased to seven or eight.

They also noticed the little child running over there.

Immediately, a tall man quickly chased after the child.

Adults and children cannot be compared in speed, and although he ran in a hunched posture, he quickly caught up.

Before the child got close to the boat, he felt a pain on the back of his neck and was lifted up by a big hand.

"Oh? There's actually a kid from the village here..." The tall man pinched the other's neck, lifted him up with a smile, and put him in front of himself.

"You sneaked in here... what are you trying to do?" His narrowed eyes were filled with coldness. "What's that in your hand?"

This is a piece of rag with a cross pattern on it, and you can tell it's made of fine material.

But even so, it's still a piece of rag.

"I want to exchange it for some money..." the child struggled to make a sound.

His face was flushed and his eyes began to blur due to lack of oxygen.

"Exchange money? Where did this come from?"

"Picked it up..."

The tall man snorted coldly, snatched the rag and threw it away, then walked back with the child in his arms.

"My friend, why bother arguing with a child? Exchanging money to supplement the family income is also a good thing."

A voice suddenly sounded.

The tall man turned around and saw the group of people who had boarded the boat earlier but were reluctant to leave.

Just now, without making any sound, two or three people from the other side had come behind him without him noticing.

The tall man frowned.

"This is a child from our island. He broke the rules and ran out of the house without permission. How to deal with him should be based on the rules of the island."

He narrowed his eyes and stared at the person who came.

The man bent down, picked up the discarded rag, unfolded it and took a look.

It was a fragment torn from the Knights' cloak, and the pattern on it was clearly visible.

The answer is obvious, it’s the knight who sneaked into the village!

"But I don't think it's appropriate," said Thomas.

"Friends, you are just businessmen, right? I advise you to go back quickly and stop interfering in other people's business." The tall man looked at these people and his tone slowly changed.

There are only about seventy or eighty of these people... they can be dealt with!

Their large fleet was outside and could not dock and land directly, so they could only rely on small boats.

There's no need to be afraid of a small boat. If it really doesn't work, just wait until night, and you'll have plenty of time to evacuate!

"If you talk casually on this island, something bad will happen..." He stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

"What could happen on such a peaceful and quiet island?" Thomas said with a smile.

The tall man's eyes darkened.

"Friend, it seems you really want to go against our island? In that case..." He suddenly shouted. "Someone come!"

Suddenly, more than ten strong men emerged from the bushes a little further away, all holding weapons.

Not only here, but also people from farther away were emerging one after another. Their number was almost the same as that of the Knights, and they were all fully armed.

“There are quite a few people.” Thomas smiled.

The next second, his hand shook and he had already taken out his pistol from his waist, and a gunshot rang out.

An enemy holding a bow and arrow and about to draw his arrow fell to the ground, making his last struggle.

The knights on the small boat fired their muskets at once, knocking down at least twenty or thirty people in one wave!

Strike first! Even though the opponent was just demonstrating, Thomas didn't want to waste time with nonsense. He started fighting straight away!