Chapter 492: Returned Home

Chapter 492: Going Home

The war between the Moon God Religion and the Samsara God Religion continued. Since the primary battlefields were mostly at sea, the consumption of fleets and sailor-priests on both sides was immense, essentially leaving them in a state of deficit. The warships built and the sailors trained in the rear were simply insufficient to match the depletion at the front.

Yet despite this, after Foden issued a request in the name of the Whipper, the two religions still immediately dispatched a fleet each to help maintain the Regulations of Order.

This was a humiliation... but it was not the first or second time the God Religion of Order had humiliated them. Once anything happened often enough, it became easy to get used to.

What Karen did not know was that during the days he was drifting at sea, the God Religion of Order had signed a decree with both Samsara and the Moon God respectively.

Order and Samsara had signed the Redemption Decree. In fact, this decree had taken effect long ago. If Order had not returned the two captured main fleet warships to Samsara, Samsara would have been completely unable to sustain the outer battlefields against the aggressively oncoming Moon God Religion in the early stages, and by now, the war situation would likely have been pushed into the Sea of the Dead, beginning the Battle for the Defense of Samsara Valley.

Of course, Order's spoils from the First Day War had actually been mostly returned by now. The splitting of interests between the two sides had basically been completed during the Dark Moon Island negotiations, yet even now, Order still had an endless stream of spoils of war that could be returned to Samsara.

Anyway, as long as Samsara still possessed the capacity for redemption, Order could endlessly spit out spoils of war. If Samsara could be more decisive and even sell the Gate of Samsara, Order would certainly be able to spit out corresponding spoils of war.

Order and the Moon God Religion had signed the Lease Decree.

Since the last epoch, back when the Moon Goddess Artemis was still present, the Moon God Religion had been continuously annexing other moon-system faiths, a process that had not stopped even in this epoch.

Therefore, the sphere of influence of the Moon God Religion was vast and wide, and it overlapped heavily with many other religions.

The contents of the Lease Decree involved modifying the mythological narrative system of a specific moon-system branch church belonging to the Moon God Religion within a certain area—for instance, changing it to state that this moon-system deity had once fought under the God of Order or had positive contact with the God of Order. This allowed the faith of Order to enter that region openly and rightfully, implanting the faith of Order directly by using the already developed faith regions. Order could also open publicly recognized missionary posts in those areas.

In the religious war, other churches had also stepped onto the field one after another. Though they did not directly participate in the fighting, the exchange of interests behind the scenes was certainly not small. Naturally, the one that ate the most, and ate from both sides until its mouth was dripping with grease, was the God Religion of Order.

According to common sense, the wisest choice for the two great religions at this time should be to make peace. Yet, making peace happened to be a taboo within both religions right now, especially during this white-hot phase where both sides had already paid a massive price in casualties; peace advocates were often viewed as targets for suppression and criticism within their own churches.

Most importantly, if the God Religion of Order did not speak up to call for a truce, neither of the two below dared to stop, because both knew very well that whichever side Order chose to stand with, that side would inevitably rise up and bite the opposing side to death;

Therefore, for now, they could only watch helplessly as they fought their own war, allowing Order to continue sucking their blood.

As the fleets of both sides began to sail toward this island and assume attack formations, the Frost Dragon began to climb higher and pull away, clearly avoiding the possibility of becoming a target.

Although it was impossible for these two religions to do such a thing as long as their minds were still functional, it was inevitable that some lower-to-middle-ranking priests might suddenly experience an explosion of righteousness and want to orchestrate a rebellion against their superiors.

On this point, Karen highly agreed with Foden's caution.

However, the ensuing battle was not spectacular; it could even be described as dull and tedious.

By the time the God Religion of Order stepped forward, the forces of the Watson and Delan families had already suffered a psychological collapse. Those pirate captains were already prepared to turn coat and bind their masters to surrender the moment Order's ultimatum arrived or a representative to negotiate surrender appeared.

And when the fleets flying the banners of the Moon God and Samsara appeared and launched an attack against them, the pirates fell into utter despair. The three orthodox religions were moving against their two families simultaneously; what was left to resist, and could they even resist?

Thus, as soon as the fleet's artillery opened fire, the pirates scattered instantly. Those who should surrender surrendered, those who should flee fled, and more than half abandoned their ships to go ashore onto the island.

But the orders received by the fleets of the Moon God Religion and Samsara were to purge, so they did not accept surrenders. They would seize some pirate ships of decent quality, but the pirates themselves needed to be cleaned up.

The battle on the sea ended very quickly, and the two fleets began to land on the island.

The regular forces of a God Religion were not something these terrified pirates could match; under such circumstances, it was entirely a one-sided massacre.

There was still a long time before dawn, but the main fighting had already concluded. The occasional flashes of spell light visible on the island now were likely small-scale frictions that occurred when people from the two religions crossed paths, but overall they remained restrained, everyone helping Order hunt down and kill these pirates.

"Sigh..."

Foden let out a sigh. It was evident that he felt highly dissatisfied with being arranged to deal with two pirate families, equivalent to the army commander of the Vienna Empire being dispatched to apprehend two gangs roaming a certain street in York City.

However, his dissatisfaction was not directed at the High Priest's arrangement, because after the death of Lord Tycheson, the High Priest needed to use the most solemn and strict standards to handle these residual matters left behind after Lord Tycheson's passing.

Allowing the Whipper himself to lead the extermination of these two pirate families served a political statement that far outweighed its practical utility.

"Oggie, let's go over there and descend to the sea surface."

Foden let out a yawn, his eyes drifting toward Malin several times out of the corner of his eye.

Karen guessed that the Whipper found the previous scenes very boring, and even wanted to sit down to amuse himself with the ant he had just caught.

The Frost Dragon began to descend, and ultimately, the sea surface in the area below froze into ice as its massive body lay down upon it.

Before long, from two directions, a warship sailed toward this location from each side, stopping just outside the firing range of the ships' magic crystal cannons. Two small boats were dispatched from the large ships, continuing to advance toward the Frost Dragon.

Karen glanced at his subordinates, stepped forward, and took a position. The members of his team all stood in their respective places; the role of an honor guard was, in fact, precisely for this.

Barring any surprises, the two small boats approaching should carry the commanders of these two small fleets.

Foden sat down and snapped his fingers. Malin immediately knelt down and opened the cigar box.

Foden glanced at that fire spirit stone, as if thinking of something, looked toward Karen, and called out:

"Karen, is it? Come over."

Karen turned around and walked back.

"I'll teach you how to use this."

Foden placed the fire spirit stone on the ground, a strand of sharp black energy condensing at his fingertip, and sliced lightly across the top of the fire spirit stone, causing a thin slice of the stone to cut off and float up.

Immediately after, a ball of flame appeared in Foden's palm, igniting this slice of fire spirit stone, which transformed into an orange-yellow ring of fire before them.

Finally, Foden took a clipped cigar, pressed its tip directly against the ring of fire, and executed a perfect lighting.

Karen spoke up, "This subordinate did not know how to use it before."

Foden waved his hand and said, "I have said the same words to the High Priest."

As he spoke, Foden handed the lit cigar to Karen:

"I promised to let you smoke one earlier; that one wasn't good, take this one."

"Many thanks, Lord Whipper."

Karen took the cigar, took a puff, blew out a smoke ring, and then held it between his fingers.

At this moment, the two commanders walked onto the ice and up onto the dragon's body via its talons.

Karen even recognized one of the commanders—it was Lango. The other commander from the Moon God Religion was a middle-aged woman, wearing armor and a cloak, with a scar on her face, appearing somewhat gaunt.

Foden personally lit two more cigars, spreading his hands so that each floated through the air toward the two commanders, while smilingly saying:

"Our thanks to the Moon God Religion and the Samsara God Religion for their contributions and sacrifices in maintaining the Regulations of Order."

The two commanders each caught a cigar. Lango took a puff without hesitation and smiled, "It tastes quite similar to the staple food inside the Gate. I now know why those young people who entered the Gate for trials in the past couldn't get used to the staple food inside; it turns out to be the taste of raw tobacco, haha."

Lango knew that the person sitting there was Order's Whipper, and he also recognized the young man beside him. Sometimes, genuine cheerfulness is also purposeful.

Foden looked at Karen and asked, "If I remember correctly, you have entered the Gate of Samsara."

"Yes, Lord Whipper." Karen paused and continued, "I have met this Samsara commander, Lango. He should be a native from inside the Gate who took over this body."

"He is right," Lango immediately chimed in.

"Is the world outside the Gate fun?" Foden asked.

Lango shook his head and said, "I've been entirely occupied with fighting, I haven't had time to have fun yet."

Karen silently rolled the cigar in his hand. On this occasion, since the Whipper hadn't asked him, he had no right to speak, and could only guess that Lango was representing Samsara to test Order's attitude.

The meaning behind these words seemed to be that Samsara did not want to fight anymore.

Foden did not pick up on this, but silently smoked his own cigar.

The woman stood there, holding her cigar, also remaining silent.

The scene fell into a sort of awkward stagnation.

Because he was relatively close to Foden, Karen noticed that when Foden exhaled smoke, a glint of dissatisfaction flickered in the corner of his eye. Who was this dissatisfaction directed at? The Moon God Religion?

Foden spoke up, "Commander Latiya?"

"I am, my Lord Whipper." The female commander saluted the Whipper.

Foden blew a puff of smoke at Karen,

and asked:

"Do you know who he is?"

"This..."

Clearly, Latiya had no idea.

"It seems our commander does not usually read official dispatches or newspapers. Ah, of course, too busy fighting wars, no time for that. Let me introduce him to you. He is the observation mission dispatched by my Order to your Church, acting under a warrant personally signed by me.

A while back, your Church claimed that every member of my Order's observation mission had perished at the hands of Samsara.

It seems,

he..."

Foden pointed at Karen, then at the other team members present:

"It seems these people are all corpses 'awakened' by my Order, are they not?"

Latiya felt somewhat bewildered and could only reply: "My apologies, Lord Whipper, I know nothing of the specifics."

"The Order has no intention of taking sides exclusively... though personally, I lean toward your Church. After all, a war once erupted between the Order and Samsara."

Lango immediately saluted: "That was the fault of my Samsara, daring to provoke the Order. But please rest assured, Lord Whipper, the internal purging within Samsara has been completed, and such a mistake will absolutely never be repeated."

Latiya had evidently received no specific notification or instructions, so she could only respond using her own perspective and reasoning, which was far more difficult than commanding a modest fleet.

Foden continued to address Latiya: "A preliminary investigation suggests that your Church seemed to desire the demise of my Order's observation mission, the better to drag the Order into the water to take a side. Had the people died and their corpses been disposed of, that would be that. But as it happens, they are still alive. What are we to do about this?

Should the Lord Bishops upon your Church's Mipos Archipelago come forward to face cross-examination?"

"Lord Whipper, I am entirely unaware of these matters..."

"In your war, my Order wishes to favor no one, but the Order does not wish to be treated as a fool, nor will it ever permit such trampling and offense.

The High Priest is exceedingly angry at certain actions your Church took regarding the observation mission.

Please convey these words, Commander Latiya, exactly as they were spoken."

A look of horror crossed Latiya's face. The Church of the Order—were they planning to take a side?

Lango sighed silently in his heart. He understood that the Church of the Order intended to extinguish this particular fire.

Unsurprisingly, the next move would be to strike at Samsara.

Foden spoke up: "Samsara's actions in the Mipos Archipelago violate the Regulations of the Order."

Lango lowered his head, hesitated for a moment, and said: "Yes, certain actions of my Samsara have violated the Regulations of the Order."

"In one month, in the District of Dingge, my Order will convene a hearing regarding the Mipos Archipelago incident."

Lango said immediately: "My Samsara will dispatch representatives to attend."

Foden looked toward Latiya: "The Church of the Luna should also send someone to observe."

Latiya nodded and said: "Yes."

"Let it be so, then. Thank you for your hard work, and please convey my gratitude, and that of the Church of the Order, to the sailors of your respective fleets."

Alfred stepped forward to see the guests out, and Vic stepped forward as well. Accompanied by Alfred, each took charge of a commander and made a gesture of "please."

The two commanders departed from the body of the dragon and returned to their respective small vessels.

Only now did Karen understand that bringing his team along was not merely to serve as a guard of honor; they were also the "human evidence."

Foden stretched, then patted the surface beneath him, saying:

"Very well, you may have your meal, Ogg."

"Roar!"

The frost dragon took flight once more. With the departure of the two fleets, the island was left in a bloody, wretched mess, and numerous corpses floated upon the nearby waters.

The dragon opened its maw, inhaling continuously from below, drawing a storm-like presence into its mouth gust by gust. Within the storm, Karen could discern faint, shifting silhouettes of men.

This was the consumption of the residual souls below, a midnight snack prepared by Foden for Ogg.

On the return journey, the sated Ogg was noticeably more spirited than when they arrived, its tail in particular sweeping back and forth, scattering the clouds across this region.

The dragon landed at the cliffs of the Fire Island, and the group set foot upon the ground. Foden said to Marlene: "Remember to issue the bounty hunts for the fugitive survivors of the Delan and Watson families."

"Yes, Whipper."

"Mm, my business here is finally concluded. You stay behind to look after things a bit longer. The environment on Fire Island needs another purging. Though the Castle family is very obedient, I do not wish for the future Fire Island to be left with only a single family of pirates."

"I understand your meaning, Whipper."

Foden nodded with satisfaction, took the bottle containing the ants from Marlene's hand, and without entering the villa, walked straight toward the area where the teleportation array was established.

In truth, within Karen's awareness, the final words Foden had spoken to him were not about cigars, but rather: "Once you return to York City, do your work well."

This left Karen somewhat curious as to what kind of change in his duties would await him upon his return to York City. After all, to do work well, one must have a position suited to the task.

...

During the day, everyone spent their time resting and catching up on sleep, all wishing to return home in the most spirited state of mind.

Only Purr went out riding Kevin, returning only at dusk.

"Where did you go?" Karen lifted Purr from Kevin's back into his arms. "If you hadn't come back soon, I would have gone looking for you."

The teleportation for their group was about to begin, and to miss it would mean waiting and tossing about again just to get back.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"Oh." Karen nodded, then looked toward Alfred. "What did Kevin say?"

"Young master, Kevin says that Purr went to release the confinement upon the sea beast that carried us here, and even imparted some methods of sea beast cultivation and evolution into its mind via a spiritual imprint."

"Mm, I see."

In truth, Karen had already forgotten about the sea beast, but Purr had remembered all along, and had said before that it would give the beast a grand gift.

The time had arrived;

Holding Purr, Karen was the first to step into the teleportation array, and the others followed him inside.

Vic stood at the edge of the crowd, looking around with great curiosity and anticipation. Gazing at Karen's back, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He could sense that this captain was a man with a powerful desire for control, so he would have to begin adjusting his own way of doing things.

Presently, his gaze shifted toward Philomena, who stood slantwise from him.

He had only learned of the accursed family back then by stealthily flipping through his teacher's notebook. His teacher seemed to have investigated the matter for a period of time, though for some reason, the investigation was later terminated.

It was likely forgotten; otherwise, once his teacher became the High Priest, there would clearly be many more channels and resources available to investigate those "unsolved mysteries" that had been untouchable before.

The array began to activate, its light enveloping everyone within the bounds of the formation.

Karen tightened his embrace upon Purr slightly to steady against the jolts and vibrations that might occur during the impending transport. Purr adjusted her posture, gave a soft sniffle, buried her face deep against Karen's chest, and continued her deep slumber.

"Going home..."

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