The Heavens: A Qing, the Yue Girl at the beginning

At exactly 10 p.m., just as the bells of the Royal Mechanics College of Marston finished their last chime, their lingering notes still lingering on the century-old cherry trees on campus, the candlelight in the prayer hall flickered gently in the evening breeze, casting long and short shadows onto the stone wall inscribed with ancient Latin.

A large, wheel-shaped chandelier hangs in the center of the dome, its warm yellow light filtering through the patterns of melting wax.

After nearly half an hour of intelligence gathering, Zhao Qing took the lead and sat down at the oak table in the center of the prayer hall, breaking the silence: "Let's go through the information we've gathered first."

She unfolded a hand-drawn map of Marston and pointed to the red mark in the center: "First of all, the city itself, according to the historical records found in the archives, Marston has absolutely no connection with our 'Macedonia'."

"It has a hereditary Duke of Marston, which established its independence more than a hundred years ago during a major upheaval in the Western world, but the entire duchy only has this one city of the same name, making it quite weak."

"The exact location is similar to Sochi at the western end of the Caucasus Mountains," she added. "Back in the Roman Empire era, Marston was famous for its hot springs. At that time, the city was still Byzantine territory, and the emperor's former hot spring palace still stands in the city, where life was leisurely and comfortable..."

"About fifty years ago, the former duke discovered that the city he owned was located precisely between East and West, a vital transportation hub connecting all directions. He decisively declared that Marston would break away from the alliance of Western countries centered on the Papal States and become a neutral commercial nation, not affiliated with any power."

"After that, Marston, having seized the opportunities of the times, experienced rapid development and was hailed as a commercial and academic capital. White campuses, terraced fields with swaying tulips, and black market shops selling oriental tea and porcelain could be seen everywhere on the streets."

"Dozens of institutions of higher learning, tens of thousands of students, the vast majority of whom are children of the wealthy and powerful. The Royal Mechanical Academy we are here, whose prefix 'Royal' comes from its founder, Nero, the last emperor of the old Roman Empire, is considered one of the top institutions of learning in the region."

"Their libraries and archives provide us with a wealth of valuable documents covering mechanics, engineering, the emerging field of alchemy, the dominant Messianic theology, and... modern history that attempts to record objectively but inevitably carries bias."

Maria of the Stars carefully placed a heavy book, so heavy it required both hands to lift, on the table.

The book's cover is a dark black hardcover with oxidized, darkened pure silver trim along the edges. In the center, a complex symbol resembling a cross combined with a gear is embroidered in gold thread.

"This is a copy of the Covenant, the supreme scripture of the Messianic religion. After reading it, I discovered a very interesting phenomenon—the religious systems of this world are quite different from what we know."

She turned the pages, skimming over the scriptures written in ancient Latin and ornate script: "The Vatican claims that there is a unique God in the world, and that the world and mankind are God's creations."

“However,” she emphasized, “the Holy Scriptures only give this ‘one God’ a vague name and person, without extolling his specific image. More importantly, the image of ‘Jesus’ never appears in the entire Holy Scriptures, nor is there any record of ‘incarnation,’ ‘passion, and resurrection.’”

"It has a Christian shell, but a completely different historical origin; after all, it is another world."

"Without Jesus or a similar 'Son of God' figure, naturally, the 'astronomical calendar' used here is not related to the birth of any person in history."

Shi Yiguang interjected, "According to records, the beginning of the 'Star Calendar' refers to the day when God sent angels to earth for the last time to establish the 'Starry Covenant' with the ancient people."

"In other words, the timeline of this world is based on 'sacred events' in religious legends."

"Xiao Shi" sat with his back against the mosaic glass window, holding a volume of "The History of the Battle of Elop and the Origin of the Holy Church": "The Canaanites, the oldest navigators in the world, used stars to mark their routes and called this vast continent they knew 'Starry Ancient Land' and calculated its area to be 750 million hectares."

"The hectares, meters, minutes, and seconds used here are exactly the same as those used in our area; they are all the same unit standards."

"Irobo, the name of the western world, means 'land of sunset' in the Canaanite language. The corresponding eastern place is called 'Asu,' which means 'land of sunrise.' The two sides are bordered by the Caucasus Mountains."

"When people in the East greet the sunrise, the West is still asleep in the pitch-black night. It is so vast and beautiful, and there are many places that humans have never been to."

"In the Canaanite worldview, the sun rises from the ocean east of Asu, passes over the vast Star Luo continent, falls into the sea west of Irobo, and returns east through a deep underwater tunnel, repeating the cycle perfectly..."

"750 million hectares? That's only 7.5 million square kilometers?" Xia Mi leaned against the root-carved pillar, slightly surprised upon hearing this: "It's not much larger than the Roman Empire at its peak, and it's far from being comparable to the entire Asia-Africa-Europe region... How did it shrink? What's missing?"

“The Canaanite data may not be accurate,” Xiao Shi replied casually. “In addition, I have noticed that although the East is dominated by the Chinese, it has actually replaced the territory of Persia.”

Xia Mi blinked: "Interesting, shall we spell out the continent?"

"The history of Irob is a history of war; since the beginning of humankind, war has never ceased."

Xiao Shi continued, "When the Roman Empire rose to power, the wars reached their climax. The monarchs of various countries all considered themselves conquerors and believed in the law of the jungle. The words 'Great Elop conqueror, chosen by fate to rule the world' were engraved on the throne of the Roman emperor."

"On ancient battlefields, the bones of the dead were trampled into the mud by warhorses. Later, there were even 'bone collectors' who would dig out the armor from the bones and remelt it into steel. After their grandfathers and fathers died in battle, the boys had to hold sword hilts with their tender hands. Their mothers and sisters were either treated as playthings or enslaved—it was an era of 'eat or be eaten,' and the whole West was ravaged..."

“The Messianic Church emerged around this time,” Maria of the Stars added, her eyes somewhat vacant, as if she were witnessing those distant scenes firsthand. “Initially, they were just a small group of priests spreading a completely new religion in remote areas, claiming that God loves the world and loves people.”

"God has only temporarily left this world, but one day God will return. On that day, the court of heaven will be in session, and all the crimes will be written in the heavens. One thing for another, and only those who believe in God can receive God's salvation."

"In Latin, Messiah means 'anointed one' or savior, and also represents the incarnation of God when He returns."

"The cult says that before the day of judgment arrives, a savior, the 'Messiah of Light,' will descend from the heavens. He will wear armor made of holy light and wield a holy sword formed from raging flames. Whichever direction he swings his sword, that direction will be a sea of ​​fire, and the armies of those who defy the gods will be reduced to ashes in the sea of ​​fire."

"Such doctrines would certainly offend the monarch."

Xia Mi scoffed: "What kings want is conquest, and what priests want is mercy. They don't match at all."

“That’s right.” Xiao Shi turned to the next page. “The kings made laws that allowed non-believers to go unpunished, but those who believed in the Messiah were to be hanged. Back then, every city in Elop had a gallows, and every day the bones of believers hung there. The original religious order of hundreds of thousands of believers was reduced to only a hundred or so steadfast missionaries.”

"At this time, the cult split—one group said that according to unofficial scriptures, there was an island called Avalon in the northern ice sea, a paradise left by God, and that going there would bring divine protection; the other group said that Avalon was a hoax, that the northern ice sea was full of icebergs, that wooden boats could not cross it at all, and that going to sea would be suicide."

"No one has ever reached Avalon; it exists only in ethereal scriptural narratives. Legend has it that it is protected by the power left on earth by the gods, where time does not flow at all, and it is an eternal spring paradise where no one dies and no one grieves."

"That kind of paradise sounds really, really far away."

"In the end, the priests who believed in Avalon sold all their possessions and set sail in a wooden boat unsuitable for long voyages, just like martyrs. Those who stayed behind were all later sent to the gallows by the king."

Interestingly, those who went to sea never returned.

"But one hundred and twenty years later, a city established by the Messianic Church suddenly appeared at the foot of the Apennine Mountains. They even changed their name to 'Messiah Church' and were preparing to spread their doctrines to every corner of the world, firmly believing that they had grasped the truth of the universe..."

"Because their ancestors found the legendary Avalon! The sacred texts have been confirmed! God has been confirmed! Therefore, the Messiah will surely descend from heaven, and the judgment of the Kingdom of Heaven will surely begin!"

“Hehe!” Xia Mi raised an eyebrow: “Avalon, isn’t that one of Odin’s Nibelungen? It seems that the Messianic Church worships him… It can be said that they have latched onto a powerful figure and even obtained the inheritance of a brand-new alchemical technique based on mercury.”

"Odin may not be the only one involved."

Zhao Qing spoke up at the right moment: "It is said that the ship miraculously avoided countless icebergs, but eventually ran out of food and fresh water. On the eve of their death, the priests prayed together at the bow of the ship. At this moment, an orca suddenly passed by the ship, bit the anchor, and dragged them forward, towards the faint island on the horizon."

"It is common knowledge that whales in the Arctic Ocean are under the command of Leviathan, and this guiding behavior is no coincidence..."

She tapped the table. “The priests knelt and prayed, thanking God for His blessings. According to the old legends, God was angry with the depravity of mankind twice and destroyed the world, once with a flood and the other time with mercury, a highly flammable liquid metal that would release astonishing heat when burned.” “God commanded a rain of mercury to fall from the sky, turning the boundless earth into a sea of ​​fire, and only a few righteous people survived.”

"They speculate that this is a remnant of red mercury from one of the world's most devastating events, which luckily landed on a small island in the icy sea, was frozen, and has been preserved to this day."

"The flood came from Leviathan, and the red mercury came from Odin?" Xia Mi concluded from her analysis.

"The alchemists of the Order fused mercury with gold, silver, copper and tin to form high-quality alloys called mithril, mithril, shadow metal or wind metal, which are what we know as 'regenerated metals', and this became the capital for their rise."

Little Shi paused for a moment, then continued, "With the super technology that these derivatives led to, the Order accumulated astonishing wealth and eventually built the city called 'Florence.' The groundbreaking technology reversed the fate of the entire Elop. The last emperor of Rome sent the Black Knights, who were famous throughout the world, to conquer it, but they were all wiped out."

"In the years that followed, the 'Blazing Iron Cavalry,' a revolutionary weapon of war powered by high-purity red mercury steam and made of materials such as mithril, beryllium bronze, and corundum, swept across the West, crushing the armies of various nations one after another. Kings knelt before the Pope to repent and express their submission."

"Finally, the knights broke through the iron gates of Rome, declared Emperor Nero a heretic, and burned him at the stake. Half of the Roman Empire was incorporated into the Papal States, while the other half pledged allegiance to the Pope and established the New Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople."

“From that day on, the Messianic Church established its own country. Its name is very long. Its full name is ‘The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, established by covenant with God and protected by the Messiah of Light.’ Because the name is too long and difficult to remember, everyone calls it the Papal States.”

"The war thus ended. The new technologies brought by mercury and shadow metals flowed into various countries, and the world entered a period of rapid development, with the machinery industry becoming the mainstream in Irob..."

"Red mercury brought steam technology to its full potential. After being diluted, it was injected into a dual-flow ultra-high-pressure steam engine, allowing sailing ships to cross oceans even without wind. In the past, electricity was just a fantasy of madmen in Roman times, but now the noble districts of Florence are full of electric lights at night. The railways are built like a spider web, and a journey that would take three months can be completed in six or seven days."

"Then why are there still horse-drawn carriages on the street?" Xia Mi glanced out the window.

“Red mercury is too rare,” Zhao Qing replied casually. “Therefore, expensive steam technology can only be used for military purposes and the lives of nobles. Even in a ‘paradise on earth’ like Florence, the lower-class cities where commoners live still rely on candles for lighting. That’s a matter of distribution.”

"Specifically, a considerable portion of the technology remains at the level of the 10th to 13th centuries, while some has caught up with the second half of the 19th century, and a few outstanding ones have, to some extent, surpassed the 21st century..."

"It is worth mentioning that, whether in the Eastern 'Great Xia' Federation or in the Western countries, people drilled deep into the earth and found 'residual' red mercury. Among them, 'Ceylon', a Great Xia vassal state adjacent to the new Rome and located in a similar position to Cilicia, found it most easily, which triggered a war."

"The Ceylon War... In 1884, Justinian VII seized the opportunity to detain Princess Sugalo of Ceylon, who was on a mission to Constantinople. The two countries declared war. Due to Ceylon's fierce resistance, the Knights of the Lionheart suffered heavy losses. The whole Western world was shocked and sent reinforcements to slaughter Ceylon, sparing the women but not the men."

“Ceylonian girls aged fourteen and above were all abducted back to Constantinople, ranked according to their appearance, and given to Justinian’s allies to serve as playthings for everyone from the monarch to the knights.”

"But that was only the beginning, not the end. The vassal state was destroyed, and the Xia Dynasty's imperial court was furious. The Xia Emperor declared war on the Papal States and all its allies, and the war has continued to this day."

"What a despicable face! Utterly devoid of conscience!"

Xia Mi was filled with righteous indignation: "This is the brutal nature of Western colonizers! Religion only provides them with another reason to slaughter the unbelievers, to whitewash conquest and plunder, and to facilitate hypocritical repentance! God loves the world? The 'mercy' preached by the Messianic religion? How laughable!"

"For the sake of justice in my heart, for the sake of world peace, I feel..." She took a deep breath, "...it is necessary to deliver the 'Scourge of God' and let those hypocrites taste what it's like to be trampled on!"

Xia Mi is highly experienced in dealing with the Vatican, and has both the reason and the motivation to carry out "revenge".

"What should we do? We have no choice but to kill!" Xiao Shi agreed.

“Cleansing away sins is a certainty.” Zhao Qing nodded. “However, this matter still needs planning and there’s no need to rush it.”

"...Anyway, if we wait another day, Marston, this neutral country, will be drawn into the war. The Crusader Guard will soon be stationed in the surrounding area, the entire city will be under martial law, and the Seraphim Knights and Pope Borgia III will be there in person. Judging by the time, they have already arrived."

Just then, thunder rumbled outside the window, a deafening roar, and the ground shook, as if it were the prelude to an impending storm.

On the towering prayer tower, the sheriff used a bellows to blow a wrought-iron horn, emitting an unsettling alarm.

Fully armed mounted police appeared on the streets, short swords crossed in front of their chests and gleaming rifles on their backs, quickly taking control of various traffic arteries and guiding pedestrians to nearby squares.

Driven by the steam engine, the gates of the city began to close.

Steam-belching supply wagons mingled with the Stein heavy machine gun fleet, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder.

Solemn mass music emanated from the steam pipes of the "Avalon's Ship" armored limousine, as if divine blessings were descending from heaven upon everyone in Marston.

"Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"

After a few seconds of silence, those who heard the Pope's prayer felt deeply honored and shouted loudly, their voices echoing through the mountains.

Zhao Qing raised his hand, signaling everyone in the hall to calm down: "There's no need to take the initiative, because the enemy is coming to us."

Her gaze swept over the faded murals on the walls of the prayer hall, as if pointing something out: "Look!"

Some scenes depict children running through thorns, others show women weeping at tree roots, and still others show dying kings fighting in flames. Above each painting, six-winged angels gaze down from the clouds at the suffering of humanity, silent and compassionate.

In religious art, these murals are called "manifestations," depicting stories of gods and angels appearing on earth.

These are ancient murals, hundreds of years old, dating back to the Old Roman era. Their brushwork differs from that of modern times; all the lines are simple yet sharp, conveying the feeling of an ancient hunting scene.

"How about putting on a 'Messiah's Appearance' act?"

Zhao Qing walked to the nearest "Manifestation of the Sage" painting. With a gentle stroke of his finger, a hazy, crystalline mist naturally drifted out. After swirling twice in the air, it transformed into a holographic, three-dimensional six-winged angel, hovering high in the dome. To the naked eye, there was not a single flaw to be found.

"At that time, whether the church comes to worship the holy site upon hearing the news, or comes to denounce the so-called 'blasphemous heresy' in anger, the initiative will be in our hands."

"That which claims to be 'the only one' has been the first to betray equality."

She smiled slyly, her expression and tone turning solemn: "In the beginning was the Word, which danced with all things; the light does not shine alone, nor does the abyss hold starlight. False gods adorn their authority with miracles, while true meaning often manifests itself in silence, as witnessed by this abandoned temple..."

"Today, we will forge a new crown with thorns and cleanse the Holy Grail with frost and snow! Let the distorted scriptures return to the wasteland, and let the monopolized grace be scattered among the dust! There will be no more chosen few, only awakened beings; no more eternal enslavement, only ceaseless questioning!"

The candles in the prayer hall burned volcanically without any wind, all bowing low as if in worship of the arrival of a true angel.

……

"Huh? Who's still in the prayer hall so late?" At the same time, the girl pushed open the heavy bronze door, her voice tinged with doubt, "The lights are still on... Did some careless fellow forget to extinguish them?" (End of Chapter)