Chapter 599: We... Will Control York City! (3/4)

Chapter 599 We... Will Control York City! (3/4)

Although this scale and spectacle could not compare to the true Knights of Order, the garrison knights were already the highest specification of armed forces that each region could mobilize.

While this force was nominally controlled by the chief bishop of the region, Karen had always known that the garrison knights of York City were held in the hands of Bishop Byrne.

Bishop Byrne handed a black token over to Karen, and Karen reached out to take it.

"I have already deployed a portion of the garrison to secretly enter York City from their base. When needed tomorrow, use this token half an hour in advance to transmit the signal, and they will appear and obey your orders."

Karen rubbed the token with his fingertips, remarking with emotion, "Playing this big?"

"Do you remember the Chief tapping the edge of his bowl with his spoon after finishing his meal?"

"I remember."

"He wanted to tell you that breaking the wonton wrapper is nothing; if you are going to do it, just shatter the bowl entirely!

It is just that the Chief is lacking the strength now, and surprisingly failed to shatter the bowl with the spoon back then, so he probably felt too embarrassed to say those words to you, which is why I am saying them on his behalf.

Do not be afraid of blowing things out of proportion. Haven't you been doing exactly that for the past half month?"

"If I order them to attack the Whiplash of Order headquarters building, will they follow through?"

"They will."

"Alright."

"Did you think I would warn you not to do it? No, in my heart, I am even looking forward to it, haha."

"No matter what, taking the garrison to the Whiplash of Order headquarters to arrest people is truly... unprecedented, right?"

"I, who handed the token to you, am not afraid, so what are you nervous about?

After this matter, I, who originally ranked at the very end of the bishop succession, have a very good chance of taking the Chief's position;

You will also be promoted. When the time comes, arrest more people and make a bigger scene. Anyway, with so much evidence of the bishops' crimes, the higher-ups will hold their noses and grant you another promotion just to deal with the situation or give an explanation to the entire church.

But our... path for further ascension will be blocked, and we will be nailed down to the positions of the next phase.

It can be said that if no major changes or events occur, the positions we are about to sit in will accompany us for the rest of our lives.

But then again, what is there to fear about that?"

Bishop Byrne opened his palm toward Karen and slowly clenched it into a fist:

"We... will control the York City Region!"

...

"Do we still need to prepare breakfast today?" Wick asked.

Alfred shook his head and said, "No need. Today's case briefing has been canceled. I just received notice that an official consultation meeting between the regional director and the acting bishop will be held at noon today, and all the reporters will be going there."

Wick reached out to scratch Ventura's head beside him,

sighed,

and said:

"I am not a pessimist, but with things reaching this point, I cannot control the pessimistic emotions emerging from within my heart."

"I remain optimistic."

"Oh, yes, Mr. Alfred, I believe that even if the guillotine were already fixed right above your head, you would still be able to face the sun with a confident smile.

But I cannot do it. You know how hard it was for me to find a new ship away from my teacher's negative influence, and as it turns out, this ship is actually about to sink as well, oh my god!"

"So, are you regretting it, Wick?"

"No regrets, I am just doubting myself. I suspect that I am an ominous person, and that my teacher went missing because I brought him bad luck."

"Believe me, Wick." Alfred placed his hand in front of Wick, "You are a truly fortunate person, enough to make most people in the world envious."

"Comparing who has it worse? Sure, looking at the fact that I am the student of the former High Priest, I believe the Sacred Church will not let me wander the streets and starve to death. If I contract some serious illness or get contaminated, they would probably allow me to run up a tab and get treated first when sent to the church hospital, even if I have no coupons."

"Haha."

Alfred did not offer any further explanation. In his view, people bathed in the radiance of a great existence were undoubtedly fortunate, and those who were already bathed in it but still remained unaware were even more fortunate.

The fortunate Wick turned his head to look at Philomena, who was sitting on the bench by the door, and asked, "The director hasn't woken up yet?"

Philomena replied, "He is awake, he went to see the director of the Second Office."

"What time is it?" Wick glanced at his watch, "Is our director going to participate in this meeting?"

Alfred replied, "Of course he is participating."

"Oh, right, I asked a piece of nonsense. If our director does not participate, who else is going to bear the responsibility for our side?"

Richard sighed and said, "My grandfather said that this matter will be very serious, and the higher-ups are already prepared to define its nature."

"Hey, everyone, no matter what time it is, we must learn to face things with optimism." Alfred raised his hand, offering encouragement.

Wick asked in return, "Right now, besides you, who else can still smile? If the director is removed from the Whiplash of Order system, our team might completely disband."

"Come on, smile." Alfred pointed toward the two over there.

Muri showed a smile, and Ventura showed a smile as well.

Philomena also smiled briefly.

...

"So, can you let me out?" Neo said, grasping the bars. "Don't you think that losing me under such a splendid scene would be a tremendous pity?"

Karen smiled and said, "How do you manage to react so quickly to praise yourself?"

"I am doing this all for your sake. Think about it, when you are full of high spirits at that time, and you look around, how lonely would it be if there isn't even a single person who can lock eyes with you?"

"I cannot let you out for the time being. Besides, you must absolutely not come out on your own either. I don't want to disrupt their rhythm."

"Then why did you specially come down to tell me? To let me know that a splendid event is happening, yet I cannot participate and witness it? Karen, you are so cruel, you did it on purpose."

"Yes, I did it on purpose."

"Haha."

"Alright, just bear with the grievance for a little longer. If everything goes smoothly, you will be able to come out today."

"If things do not go smoothly, when you plan to attack the headquarters building, just give a shout, and I will open the array for you guys from the inside."

"Are you cursing me?"

"No, worst comes to worst, we will just go and join the Light Remnant organization. It would be quite nice for both of us to become minor elders. Or for safety's sake, we can find another orthodox sacred church to lie low in, so that even if Lasma can leave Mink Street in two years, it won't be easy for him to find you."

"Alright, I have to go to the meeting now. No, to be precise, I am going to plead guilty."

"Go on, go on, next time I have some fun news, I won't tell you either."

"Like the matter about Myra?"

"Who is Myra? A newly debuted movie star?" Neo shrugged. "I don't really like watching movies."

"How is your book writing going?"

"I have already come up with a good title."

"In half a month's time, you have only come up with a single title?"

"Oh, good heavens, you've never written a book, have you, Karen?"

"No."

"Then have you ever heard the saying that every literate person, at some point in their life, fancies themselves a writer?"

"And then?"

"And then, for the vast majority of people, ninety-nine percent of their literary passion is entirely spent the moment they finish coming up with the title."

"Alright, so what is the title?"

"My Struggle."

Karen: "..."

"Well? How does that title strike you?"

"Change it."

"Is it that bad?"

"It's utterly wretched."

"Really? I just felt that If I Were Given One Day of Light was a bit too on the nose."

...

The meeting was convened in the Grand Auditorium.

On either side sat District Chief Harry and Acting Chief Bishop Dunk, with their respective subordinates seated behind them.

The scene bore a striking resemblance to the summits between rival factions that Karen used to guard during his old security missions; in truth, it was practically the same thing.

Below them, reporters gathered in droves, flanked by an even larger crowd of onlookers, and the broadcast array had already been activated.

Yet, compared to those instances in Karen's past, the venue was far too quiet, for everyone already knew exactly what was going to unfold today, tacitly accepting that they were merely going through the motions.

When Karen idly swept his gaze over the crowd below, he could still spot quite a few female reporters casting sympathetic glances his way.

In their eyes, it was an absolute tragedy that a young man so handsome, capable, and prone to making front-page headlines was seeing his political career cut short just like this.

Down below, Alfred opened the dossier that his young master had handed to him before taking the stage, sharing the pages with Wiek, who sat beside him.

At first, neither man thought much of it, but after skimming through a few pages, both of their eyes widened in unison.

Alfred, however, was quick to master his expression, adopting a countenance that suggested everything was going precisely as anticipated, a faint, knowing smile playing upon his lips.

Wiek, on the other hand, clenched his fists tightly and began to hammer relentlessly against his own thighs, his eyes flushing red as a low rumble escaped his throat:

"Fire the cannons! Fire the cannons! Fire the cannons!"

"What is it?" Philomena asked Richard, who was seated next to her.

Richard observed Wiek's reaction for a moment before replying, "I have no idea, but it must be something good."

Up above,

The meeting proceeded in an orderly, deliberate fashion.