A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

Several patrolmen brought him before a commander who was obviously of high status.

"Thomas of Bohemia?" The commander frowned, looking at Thomas's overly young face.

Being a junior officer at this age is fine, but if he wants to take the next step...

Forget it! These matters are not his business!

Thomas also noticed the commander's slightly unfriendly expression, but at the moment Thomas was completely confused and didn't know what was going on.

What am I doing?

"Come in!" The commander led Thomas into the barracks room.

Various teaching equipment have been placed in the room, including ship models, large maps hanging on the wall, sextants... and various books and brochures.

What is this for?

"Have you ever been a soldier?" asked the commander.

“Something like that,” Thomas replied.

"That would save a lot of effort... Have you ever commanded an army?"

"I guess so." Thomas recalled the time when he intervened in the Bohemian Civil War.

He has commanded troops, right?

"Oh, that's great." The commander's expression brightened considerably, and he pointed at the ship. "Have you ever fought in a naval battle?"

"No." Thomas answered firmly.

Until now, he still hasn't figured out what this means.

"Well, in that case, let's begin the first lesson! The content of the first lesson is to teach you the difference between naval warfare and land warfare!"

"The biggest difference between naval warfare and land warfare is... everything revolves around ships! Take the weather this season for example. Someone without sufficient stamina would freeze to death within an hour of falling into the water. Even someone with the best stamina wouldn't be able to survive all night! Therefore, falling into the water is effectively a loss of the battle. It's like falling off a horse and passing out in a land battle. While you're still alive, your fate is determined by God!"

"The second difference is that naval warfare is far more brutal than land warfare."

"Because of the first point, there's no such thing as a choice in naval battles. It's either total victory or total destruction. Stalemates rarely occur. In fact, any stalemates are bound to be short-lived."

"You must deeply understand this. In a naval battle, you must have courage, bordering on insane courage. You must be prepared to kill every enemy to achieve victory! You must also be determined to fight to the last man standing!"

"As for commanding abilities and mobilizing troops... they don't exist in naval warfare! Or rather, they're of little value! The flagship can only guide the other warships by its own example..."

"Wait! Sir!" Thomas finally couldn't bear it anymore.

"Why are you telling me this?"

I am just an ordinary monk in Rome!

"Ah? Aren't you here to learn naval warfare?" The commander was stunned.

"No!" Thomas felt that there must be something wrong.

"Are you mistaken? You're Thomas of Bohemia, aren't you?"

"It's me. But..."

"That's right," the commander interrupted Thomas. "I've been asked to teach you about naval warfare."

Thomas's mouth twitched.

"Sit down, Thomas! Relax," the commander said. "I only have two or three days to teach you because I'm very busy!"

Thomas patiently listened to the lecture for the whole morning.

I have to say, this commander's teaching skills are quite good, and he can really stimulate students' interest in learning. At least Thomas never feels boring at all.

It’s not so much that he is impatient, but rather that he is uneasy.

His intuition told him that there were no such coincidences in this world...or rather, this matter exuded an air of conspiracy from the beginning to the end.

After the morning class ended, the excellent teacher reminded Thomas to go to the cafeteria for lunch and then left on his own. When Thomas calmed down and walked out of the room, he saw the old man he had seen a few days ago.

Ah, you should call him teacher.

The old man had a kind smile on his face, but that smile made Thomas instinctively think of a bald old fox.

"Thomas, how's it going? Did you learn a lot?"

"Teacher... this... was arranged by you?"

Section 28 Temporary Training 2

"I guess so." The old man replied with a smile.

"Why would you arrange this?" Thomas was puzzled. "Why would I come here to learn about sailing and naval warfare?"

"What? Not good enough? Don't underestimate your lecturer. He was once the commander-in-chief of the Genoese fleet and won many naval victories for Genoa. His naval warfare skills, if not the best in the world today, are at least world-class."

"I'm not questioning his level, I mean... why should I learn these?"

"What? Isn't this what you need?" The old man looked surprised.

"When did I ever need knowledge of naval warfare?" Thomas almost thought the old man in front of him had senile amnesia, or at least had mistaken him for someone else. "Teacher, I need that secret technique, the jade bait!"

"No, you need this, you said it!" the old man insisted.

"What did I say?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to be the master of a city or a place?"

"Ah, I did say that."

"Yes, since my beloved student said so, as a teacher I have to think of something, right?"

"But what does this... have to do with naval warfare?"

"I've found the perfect opportunity for you!" The old man smiled even more happily. "A chance to truly rule a region!"

"what chance!"

"The Knights of Rhodes Island!" said the old man.

In his previous life, Thomas remembered clearly that Rhodes fell under the rule of the Knights Hospitaller (in fact, Rhodes was the territory of Byzantium, which was taken by the Knights Hospitaller unethically), becoming a nail in the Middle East for Christians after they lost Jerusalem.

However, this nail did not last long, as it was taken down by the Star-Moon Cultists after an arduous siege.

However, the Knights Hospitaller did not suffer a complete defeat. They were not annihilated, but were able to withdraw after admitting defeat and retreated to the island of Malta. They were later renamed the Order of Malta.

Later, Malta was besieged by the Crescent Moon Knights again, but this time the Knights fought to the death and finally won.

Later, a naval battle that nearly decided the fate of the Mediterranean took place: the Battle of Lepanto, in which the Knights of Malta also participated.

And in this lifetime, things seem different.

At least Rhodes Island wasn't taken by the Knights Hospitaller out of spite, but rather gifted to the Vatican by Byzantium (though that's just the surface, what really happened behind the scenes is hard to say). The Vatican, with Rhodes Island as its base, established an independent knightly order, the so-called Knights of Rhodes.

Malta also established another knightly order under the control of the church, the Order of Malta, which has nothing to do with the Knights Hospitaller. It can also be called the True Order of Malta.

As for why this happened, Thomas didn't know.

He had only heard about it before, but had never been interested in going into the details.

After all, what does Malta or Rhodes Island have to do with Thomas, who earns three thousand... no, three florins a month?

"The Knights of Rhodes Island? But that's the Knights! What does it have to do with me?"

"I have found a connection that can allow you to become the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes Island!" said the old man.

Thomas stopped and looked his cheap teacher up and down.

"I know there's a difference between a Grand Master and a secular lord," the old man explained patiently. "But that's a knightly order directly under the Vatican, which means the Grand Master is practically an independent lord! No one's controlling them. Even the Pope is far away. Tell me, isn't this a rare opportunity?"

Why does it sound so reasonable, but I always feel like something is wrong?!

"Isn't that... the front line?" Thomas finally understood what was wrong.

"Yes, that's why I asked you to come and learn naval tactics." The old man patted his chest. "Now you understand my painstaking efforts, don't you?"

Thomas's mouth twitched.

"Wait, can I become the Grand Commander directly?" Thomas asked.

Wouldn't it be possible that he would first join the Knights Templar, then slowly rise through the ranks, and only after three to five years, having fought in hundreds of battles and made countless contributions, could he be promoted to Grand Master?

That would be a big loss!

Although Thomas wanted to become the master of a city or a place, he also had to consider the cost.

When he arrived in Kyiv as an elite novice, there was certainly no problem in doing so.

But now he is half a step away from being a protector of the country!

As long as Thomas returns as a protector of the country... he will be the next Grand Master of the Sunflower Knights.

No one can question this.

Even the previous deal reached with other branch leaders (that is, giving up the succession to the leader) can be ignored.

If I don't feel embarrassed, then others will feel embarrassed!

If someone couldn't figure something out, someone would help him figure it out - without Thomas even having to do it himself.

Of course, this wasn't to say Thomas had taken advantage. In fact, for a patriot, the position of Grand Master of the Sunflower Knights held little appeal.

As long as the Protector of the Nation speaks, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar is nothing... The Grand Duke of Kiev will immediately offer him a hereditary earldom with both hands!

There would even be no problem in marrying a daughter here immediately.

Even if the Grand Duke of Kiev is unwilling (after all, he already has a Protector as a son-in-law), it doesn’t matter, because there are many monarchs in this world who are eager to be crowned.

There is no way. In this era, protecting the country is so popular.

"Of course!" said the old man.

"This kind of thing... can you decide? Teacher, I'm not questioning you... but shouldn't the Pope... the Holy See, alone, have this authority?"

"Well, I actually have a very close relationship with the Holy See," the old man said with a smile.

"How deep?" Thomas was unconvinced. After all, he had dealt with charlatans many times and knew how much they could talk.

"No one in this world has a closer relationship with the Pope than I do!" The old man boasted directly.

"No matter how close you are, can you kiss better than your brothers?"

"Not only that, even before he became Pope, we were inseparable, closer than brothers!" the old man assured him, patting his chest. "So don't worry about this matter; everything will be arranged!"

Thomas decided that he would find out who his teacher was when he returned.

"By the way, teacher, I don't know your name yet..."

"People used to call me Piccolomini, but not many call me that anymore," the old man said. "Let's not talk about that anymore. Study hard, you'll find it useful. As for your original position, I've already arranged it for you, so don't worry. Just stay here for a few days and learn something new."

"Oh, right! I almost forgot something!" He patted his head. "I brought you what you wanted!"

He took out a golden box from his ascetic robe, which looked like it could not hide anything.

Section 29 Temporary Training 3

"This is..." Thomas took the box puzzled.

The box is not big and not heavy in the hand, which shows that it is not real pure gold, but gold-filled or gold-plated.

But he didn't know what this cheap master meant by giving him this thing? He immediately opened the box and saw something inside.

If I had to describe it, it would be like the plastic that was common in Thomas's previous life, or... jade!

When you touch it lightly with your fingers, you can tell that it is not hard, but rather soft, similar to the feeling of cheese.

He realized what it was almost immediately.

This is "jade bait"!

The legendary secret medicine...

Thomas' original goal was to find the formula and make the secret medicine himself.

But I didn't expect that this cheap teacher would send one directly to me.

When he looked carefully, he saw that the jade bait had been cut into nine pieces of equal size, obviously to be divided into nine portions for consumption.

"This is……"