Chapter 737: Arrogance and Stupidity

Chapter 737: Arrogance and Folly

The Order Cult's purpose in sending an investigation team to the Desert Cult was to use "investigation" as a pretext to scout out the actual situation of both sides, paving the way for the Order Cult's subsequent intervention.

In any case, the Order Cult's "original intention" to annex and control the Desert Cult, turning it into a puppet affiliate just like the Pamires Cult, had never changed.

It was just that the Order Cult's original plan was to support the breakaway factions of the Desert Cult, using them as a breakthrough point.

This plan had initially been implemented quite well; even when the assassination of the entire family of Wolforon, the chief bishop of the Yorktown district, occurred, the Order Cult, despite having uncovered clues, intended to swallow the insult for the sake of the greater strategic interest.

However, Grand Priest Norton, who later emerged from seclusion, forcibly overturned this tacit agreement of convenience, leaving the Order Cult with no choice but to interrupt their original plan and switch to publicly condemning the Desert Cult's heinous actions against Order, while supporting the Desert Cult's suppression of the breakaway factions.

From then on, the Desert Cult and its breakaway factions completely tore off their masks, and civil war erupted.

Initially, many factions within the Order Cult murmured against the Grand Priest's action of overturning the plan, including many who originally supported him, but as the civil war progressed, these murmurs gradually dissipated.

Because even without the support of Order, the strength displayed by the rebel Desert Cult in the civil war was truly astonishing; although the orthodox Desert Cult possessed an absolute overt advantage at the beginning and achieved one so-called great victory after another in suppressing the rebellion, they could never achieve complete success whenever a crucial node was reached.

Then, the rebel Desert Cult launched a series of effective counterattacks, and their agents planted inside the orthodox Desert Cult began a rhythmic defection, causing the orthodox Desert Cult to gradually lose the initiative on the battlefield, unexpectedly dragging them into a stalemate phase of the civil war.

Today's conflict was also a representative masterpiece of recent times.

Originally, the desert rebels had secretly assembled and launched a surprise attack on Maqina, the sacred land of the desert, but the heavily guarded Maqina sacred land withstood the opponent's offensive.

Yet this sudden development forced the Order Cult side to accelerate the entry process of the investigation team; according to the plan, after arriving at the Maqina sacred land, the investigation team would begin to transfer and converge with the first few batches of the investigation team that had arrived earlier.

However, an anomaly still occurred.

First, a mutiny broke out in one of the defense legions of the Maqina sacred land; the primary head of cult affairs and the head of defense personally went there in an attempt to defuse this internal conflict, but the number two figure of the sacred land took the opportunity to defect outright, not only controlling the other high-ranking priests but also working from the inside to close several important defensive arrays within the sacred land, ushering the external rebels in.

Therefore, by the time Karen and the others teleported over, the rebels had already breached the sacred land, and the remaining desert forces within were still putting up a final resistance, though having lost their leadership and order, they were merely making a final, futile struggle.

...

At this moment, within the teleportation array hall, the gaze of everyone in the investigation team was focused on the two deputy leaders.

For this investigation team, there was one principal leader and eight deputy leaders, and this final batch was led by two of the deputy leaders.

Yet, what Karen found unbelievable was that under such tense and critical circumstances, the two deputy leaders actually started an argument.

Yes, that was right, they were arguing, and they could not be bothered to use any isolating barrier, so everyone could hear the contents of the dispute.

Deputy Leader Ze'an suggested leading the investigation team to break out immediately, taking advantage of the fact that the rebels had not completely mastered the Maqina sacred land to leave this place quickly, and then seek to rendezvous with the main body of the investigation team.

Deputy Leader Yamrek insisted on staying put, making contact with the person in charge on the rebel side, and having the rebels courteously escort them away, which could avoid potential casualties that might occur during a breakout.

Moreover, most people in the investigation team supported Deputy Leader Yamrek, so the scales of the decision were tipping toward Yamrek.

Richard cursed incomprehensibly: "Damn! Have they got paste in their brains!"

Karen looked at Richard and shook his head.

They didn't have paste in their brains; rather, it was the result of a fixed mindset and the reality of the situation.

If Karen were the leader of the deputy leaders here, he would undoubtedly issue the same command as Deputy Leader Ze'an without hesitation, seizing the initiative as much as possible in such a crisis.

Staying here to wait for contact with the rebels was actually a disguised surrender of the initiative, handing over their own freedom, safety, and a whole series of rights to the rebels.

This was unacceptable to Karen; whether by personal character or professional attribute, he rejected this passive attitude toward crises.

But the problem was that this investigation team was not entirely composed of members of the Knights or the Whip of Order; within it, the members of the Whip of Order consisted only of the group currently led by Karen, accounting for a very, very low proportion, while the vast majority of the rest were clerical personnel, with many having used connections to get in to gild their political careers.

Earlier, when emerging from the teleportation array, less than half of the people could maintain a standing posture without slumping down.

Therefore, many of them knew well that if they chose to break out, it would inevitably cause many deaths and injuries in the process, and many among them would become numbers in the casualty list; this was not a random probability, but a very clear understanding they had of their own strength.

Coupled with the fact that everyone was accustomed to the detached position of the Order Cult in the church circle, under this fixed mindset, they did not believe the rebels would dare to harm the investigation team, because doing so might provoke the Order Cult into sending the Knights to directly participate in this civil war.

Karen did not think so; judging from the recent battle reports from the front line, the reason why the desert rebels had recently achieved a series of advantages was indeed partly due to their own penetration of the desert, but behind this, there should be another factor, which was that after the Order Cult announced its support for the suppression of the rebellion, the desert side received secret support from other orthodox cults in the church circle.

Karen still remembered the scene a few days ago when he washed dishes with Budalas in the "memory images"; the topic of conversation at that time was the Light invasion of Anxi more than a thousand years ago, and Budalas excitedly said that Order would next support the Anxi Cult, letting Light continue to bleed here.

A similar scene was very likely repeating itself now, a thousand years later, except that the roles were reversed, and it was the other orthodox cults that wanted to make Order bleed.

If that was truly the case, then as the real supporters behind the desert, those orthodox cults would probably be glad to see the desert rebels escalate the situation completely, thereby forcing Order to enter this civil war itself.

Even if the Order Knights could win all battles on the front battlefield in an absolutely crushing posture, the remaining counter-insurgency war could still continuously carve flesh with a blunt knife.

Although the Desert Cult did not have the largest number of believers, after all, it was originally just a large cult, its territory was vast, and the intervals between various sacred lands and missionary areas were very far; because it was mainly a desert region, the population was small, but there was plenty of bad land.

This point was very similar to the Anxi Cult of over a thousand years ago.

Great strategic depth, with an endless stream of resource support from behind—as long as these two conditions were met, a bleeding ground could be created.

Therefore, if everyone stood still now, waiting to be arranged... Karen was truly worried they would be sent to the gallows, and it would even be broadcast live to the outside world using communication arrays the entire time.

When the time came, the only thing they could probably do before execution would be to shout toward the communication array lens: "Long live Order!"

Now, the only hope was that Deputy Leader Ze'an could be a bit stiffer; even if he couldn't change the overall situation, he could at least cause a split, such as letting those willing to break out follow him.

However, Karen was still disappointed; of course, this disappointment was also expected.

Karen himself did not choose to turn around and run because he knew that he was now a member of the investigation team; ignoring team orders to leave one's post without authorization and act on one's own was a great taboo.

Unless you could guarantee one hundred percent that staying behind would mean being sent to the gallows, for as long as the rebels did not do so, what awaited you would be liquidation from the Order Cult.

The same was true for Deputy Leader Ze'an; even if he put forward his suggestion, he did not intend to bear the subsequent impact of splitting the investigation team.

Next, everyone just rested and waited in the teleportation array hall.

Deputy Leader Ze'an handed over all command authority; somewhat disheartened, he sat down himself.

Karen originally thought that Deputy Leader Yamrek would summon him, or if not him, would call other experienced group leaders to lead the personnel in combat sequence positions within the team to set up a simple security arrangement for the perimeter.

But after waiting and waiting, he actually did not call him, nor did he call anyone else; instead, he first had people restore the communication array damaged by the previous violent explosion and vibration, as he wanted to contact the Church.

It was just that repairing an array that was not of the same system was inherently tedious and difficult to complete in a short time, so Deputy Leader Yamrek himself first sat cross-legged on the ground, placed a copy of "The Light of Order" on his knees, and began to recite the doctrines to soothe the people's hearts.

This scene directly numbed Karen.

If Deputy Leader Yamrek were his subordinate, he should have already used this fellow to sacrifice to the flag by now.

But as it happened, the man was currently the highest official related to Order here.

Even Philomena, who usually disliked speaking, whispered at this moment: "So one must climb upward, so as not to give a pig the chance to be one's leader."

Karen finally walked up to Deputy Leader Yamrek on his own initiative; Yamrek raised his head and looked at Karen.

"Sir."

"Ah, Karen, you are truly young. I specially ordered someone to find you to attend the banquet the night before last, only to be told you hadn't arrived yet. You probably don't know, but I had a very good relationship with Wolforon; we were colleagues for a period of time in the past, he was my deputy, my good partner."

Karen forcibly suppressed the impatience in his heart; was this the time to reminisce?

"Sir, your subordinate suggests whether we can first take men to set up a perimeter guard; this would also make it convenient for us to grasp the dynamics outside in a timely manner and grant us a greater degree of safety space."

"No, no, you cannot do that." Yamrek reached out and stroked his graying beard, "This easily causes unnecessary conflict with the rebels. I am afraid they might misunderstand that we are directly participating in the civil war between the orthodox and rebel desert factions, which could very likely cause the opposite effect. You are still young; you do not know how a tiny misunderstanding under such a chaotic situation can trigger extremely troublesome consequences."

"But, sir, our Cult has already publicly declared its support for the Desert Cult's suppression of the rebellion; I don't think..."

"Muddled." Yamrek shook his head, educating Karen in the posture of an elder, "A declaration is a declaration; as for what specific things can be done and what cannot be done, the high-level rebels on the desert side should have a very clear mind. They dare not do anything to us, haha."

"But they acted against Chief Bishop Wolforon's family."

Yamrek glared at Karen: "One is a thing done secretly in private, and the other is a thing done publicly; can these two things be the same? Besides, as for Wolforon's matter, whether it is truly as the so-called investigation report said is not yet certain. I have read the investigation report; the evidence is actually not detailed and solid, much of it is conjecture."

Karen pursed his lips.

"Just wait quietly for the situation outside to clear up; do not do superfluous things. Under these circumstances, the more you do, the easier it is to make mistakes. Young man, do not be so impetuous, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Cullen was left with no choice, for not only did Amarek hold absolute dominance now, but the majority of the investigation team also supported him.

Yet, at that very moment, Vice Leader Ze'an, who had previously sat there in utter despair, stood up once more, walked over, and said, "Cullen, take a few men to the perimeter and make some basic arrangements."

Amarek immediately voiced his displeasure, "Ze'an, did you not say you would wash your hands of this? Why interfere now? Remember, in the hierarchy of vice leaders for this investigation team, you rank below me!"

Ze'an replied, "But have you forgotten, Amarek? The rebels do not know our Order's investigation team has arrived, nor do they know we are currently inside this teleportation array hall. Are you not worried that when the rebels charge here, they will simply fire a magic crystal cannon straight into this hall?"

Amarek was momentarily choked by his words.

Ze'an continued, "You must at least dispatch some hands to the perimeter to seek contact with the rebels. I admit you are right, and I agree with your decision that the rebels would not dare touch us. But what if their vanguard rushes straight in here before their leadership arrives? If they place us under violent detention or subject us to humiliating treatment akin to prisoners of war, it is the face of our Church of Order that will be lost.

You must have someone inform the rebels of our identity and location in advance so that we may receive the courtesy we deserve!"

Amarek hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. "Very well, we can proceed with that first."

Ze'an looked toward Cullen and commanded, "Cullen, select a group of men..."

"Cullen cannot go. Young people are prone to rashness, and if by any chance..."

Ze'an immediately corrected him, "Cullen successfully organized similar matters back with the Church of the Crypts. He has experience in this regard."

Amarek sighed in resignation, finally waving his hand. "Fine. Cullen, go make the arrangements. Remember, do not provoke any conflicts without authorization. Just hand over the necessary information to them properly."

"Yes, sir."

Having received the order, Cullen finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Although he could not break out early, being positioned on the perimeter allowed him to temporarily avoid the worst-case scenario. He might even be able to observe the situation from the outside; if things turned sour, he could still attempt to hide or forge a new path of escape.

However, once time was squandered, the success rate of both hiding and breaking out would diminish significantly.

Cullen gestured to Richard and Philomena, then looked at the seven members of the Whip of Order in his own group, speaking directly in a tone of command:

"Bring your men. We are heading out now to establish a picket line."

"Yes, Team Leader."

"Yes, Team Leader."

Although they had only just met and all the heads here were older than him, since he was the team leader, his orders nonetheless received a disciplined compliance.

People from the same system were truly convenient to employ. Furthermore, everyone's view on the current situation generally tended to align.

With seven members plus their respective two attendants, the numbers were actually sufficient, and Cullen had no intention of indiscriminately recruiting more. Yet, he still walked over to another spot—where Vice Leader Ze'an had previously been sitting.

Now, Vice Leader Ze'an and Vice Leader Amarek were staying together, having erected an isolation barrier to converse in hushed whispers, leaving only Ze'an's four attendants behind in their original places.

As he held a higher rank, the number of his attendants was double that of the others.

"Come with me to establish the picket line," Cullen said to the four attendants.

These four attendants, two relatively young and two older, were all male. Upon hearing Cullen's command, they exchanged glances before finally rising to follow him out of the teleportation array hall.

Along the way, Cullen sensed Vice Leader Ze'an casting a gaze over, and Cullen briefly met his eyes.

Once clear of the teleportation array hall, Cullen immediately arranged the deployment of the picket line. Because it was not purely defensive in nature, the sentry posts were intentionally placed at loose intervals.

Finally, Cullen gave emphatic instructions: "Remember, when conveying our identity to the rebels, use the method of the crows; do not show your faces in person. Also, ensure you have your signal flares on you. When the time comes, my signal flare will be the primary command. Is that understood?"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

"Then take your positions."

Cullen pulled out the signal flares and distributed them to Vice Leader Ze'an's four attendants, explaining the meaning of each flare as he did so.

Two of the younger men said with great excitement:

"Minister Cullen, I admire you deeply."

"Me too! You are truly remarkable, absolutely incredible."

"What is your relation to Vice Leader Ze'an?"

"He is an uncle to both of us."

"Ah, I see."

It was hardly surprising to bring one's nephews along into the investigation team for some experience and prestige.

Strictly speaking, Cullen had also brought along his own cousin—and, well, the future cousin-in-law unilaterally recognized by his maternal grandfather.

Upon entering his chosen sentry sector, Cullen observed that the rebels had essentially gained control of the entire Machina Holy Land. Many priests originally belonging to the Church of the Wasteland had begun to surrender en masse.

Those believers qualified to reside within the holy land's main city were often the core faithful, yet even their will to resist the rebels was feeble; no widespread wave of opposition materialized.

The remaining pockets of resistance on the Wasteland's side were being swiftly dissolved.

This was the inherent nature of a civil war. For most at the grassroots level, whether it was the Wasteland or the Desert, the only thing changing was the primary deity of their devotion. No matter who triumphed, the other faction's deity would not be eradicated, merely relegated to the second tier. Consequently, it was difficult for a bloodthirsty, do-or-die atmosphere to emerge.

As the rebels began entering to take over the major facilities within the holy land, the sentries Cullen had arranged proactively sent out crow transmissions, informing the rebel vanguard of exactly who occupied the teleportation array hall.

Even now, Cullen felt this course of action was sheer lunacy. Had they been seized the moment they teleported over, that would be one thing, but they were actually sitting idly by, waiting.

He had previously only heard of weak churches acting with utmost caution before major ones, but he never expected the reverse could also be true.

Before long, a contingent of rebels surrounded the teleportation array hall. At the center of their formation stood a massive Desert Strider, somewhat resembling the Giants of Order within the Church of Order; yet, while the Giants of Order were hideous, they at least possessed a human shape, whereas the Desert Striders were all hunched and stooped, covered in yellowish-brown fur like giant apes.

A platform rested upon the back of the Desert Strider, and from a distance, quite a few figures could be seen standing there, presumably of command rank.

In the sky, numerous giant sand eagles circled—some monitoring the ground, others broadcasting proclamations to pacify the populace.

Cullen drew out his signal flare and fired the command to "remain concealed."

Someone from the rebel ranks stepped forward to negotiate, and a short while later, five priests of Order emerged from the teleportation array hall. Each had meticulously arranged his canonical robes, presenting an impeccable personal appearance; they were clearly those who managed ritualistic affairs on regular days—and, well, who would also be responsible for feeding Sindy.

The reason for their inclusion in the investigation team was also a matter of comprehensive consideration, for if one wished to subdue the Church of the Wasteland, religious dogma and rituals could not be ignored.

At this moment, the five priests of Order advanced—one in front, four behind. The man in the lead used an amplifying spell to declare in a solemn voice:

"The Vice Leader of our Church of Order's investigation team resides within. Let the representatives of the Church of the Desert enter to pay their respects."

Next, if the Desert faction sent representatives to negotiate and treated the investigation team with proper courtesy, the team would be safe; they would not only be entertained but could also be escorted by the rebels toward the territory of the Wasteland faction.

Vice Leader Amarek would also win a reputation for remaining unflappable in the face of danger, maintaining the dignity and decorum of Order, thereby scoring points for his future career.

Yet, laughter seemed to drift from the platform upon the back of the Desert Strider—a laughter laced with utter contempt.

Immediately following,

The Desert Strider opened its immense maw, its teeth embedded with fire-attribute crystals beginning to glow, and in the next instant, a massive pillar of fire spewed down, reducing those five priests of Order instantly to ashes.

Burned away alongside them were arrogance and stupidity.