A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

This warship is not considered a regular army, but rather a mercenary force.

All spoils of war were divided into two parts. The first part consisted of smaller items, such as weapons and equipment, as well as gold and silver jewelry. These items were listed and then auctioned publicly among the crew. The proceeds from the auction were added to the total amount of spoils of war.

The second part was the larger items, such as the dhow itself and the thirty or so prisoners captured.

These will not be auctioned (because usually no one can afford them), but will all be sold to professional dealers after returning to Hong Kong, and the proceeds will also be included in the total amount.

If the enemy has a bounty on them, they will also collect the bounty, and the bounty will be included in the total amount.

The total amount is then divided equally into five parts.

The first part will be divided equally among the families of all the fallen soldiers as compensation.

The second portion was distributed to all disabled and seriously injured soldiers as a payment for their retirement or recovery (depending on the severity of their injuries). They would not be staying on the ship any longer, at least for a short period of time.

The third part is rolled into the ship's own fund, which is used for ship repairs, purchase of weapons and equipment, replenishment of food and beverages, etc.

The fourth share will be distributed equally among all ordinary crew members.

The fifth share goes to all special positions, such as the captain, first mate, second mate, lookout, boatswain, chaplain, doctor (if any), etc. Different positions have different proportions, with the captain having the highest proportion, who alone gets a quarter to a third.

According to a former naval commander, this was a common distribution method among pirates or irregular forces. Regular forces often used a different method, dividing the levy into three parts: one for the common crew, one for officers (including those in special positions), and one for the king.

Thomas had no share. Although many people thought that Thomas had participated in the battle and killed an enemy, he should have a share. However, Thomas declined.

He doesn't need this little money.

And this lesson is really important to him.

I have a complete understanding of naval warfare in this era.

In addition, this time of fighting against elite fighters was also a rare experience.

This was the first time he had fought against an elite enemy since becoming a Half-Step Protector of the Nation.

The Life Holy Spirit Golem from last time doesn't count... after all, it wasn't human. It couldn't be measured by human standards.

Thomas discovered that the Half-Step Protector of the Nation had undergone significant changes compared to the Elite High Level.

He originally thought that only the air mass in his chest increased, becoming more condensed, like liquid, but his mental field did not change much.

Previously in Rome, he had been able to sense those elite warriors through his spiritual field, but generally speaking, these people didn't stay still and wouldn't stand there for Thomas to examine closely.

But this time, when he looked closely at a very close distance, Thomas discovered that his mental field had also changed.

The perception of the spiritual field is more delicate.

I could only roughly feel the elite level before, but now, I seem to be able to distinguish the difference between the initial, intermediate and advanced levels of elite.

Although it may not be able to defeat the real national protector, it can already have a great advantage over the elite level.

Although we succeeded in defeating that elite high-level warrior with one strike, there were also several unexpected factors that helped.

First of all, for some reason, the opponent's knife broke as soon as it touched me.

Secondly, the other party was unprepared and careless.

So Thomas's surprise attack was successful.

If the other party had made sufficient preparations in advance, then... Thomas felt that he might not be able to defeat the other party.

It’s not that he can’t be defeated, but his special ability of turning his body into mist is obviously a unique way to escape.

You may not be able to catch up with it, and even if you catch up with it, you may not be able to kill it.

But if Thomas was the Protector, that would be different.

If it's about defending the country, then in theory beating the elite (even high-level elite) is no different from a father beating his son.

Crush them in all aspects. As long as you take it seriously, the elite will have no chance at all.

This is the difference between protecting the country and half-step protecting the country.

But now that Thomas got the jade bait, there is no need to rush.

The defense of the nation is within reach. All that is needed now is patience.

He has not taken the jade bait yet, because this thing can obviously only be used when the body is in good condition and in an absolutely safe environment.

It was suitable for the city of Rome, but not so suitable for either a barracks or a warship.

However, the jade bait is already in hand, so there is no rush at all.

There was another thing that particularly concerned Thomas.

That's what that cheap teacher mentioned, a piece of earldom-level territory... Rhodes Island.

To be honest, Thomas didn't feel anything special about this at first.

Thomas's impression of this place was that it was the territory of the Knights Hospitaller in his previous life, and was finally captured by the Crescent Moon Cult after a hard battle.

But after carefully asking his teacher recently, Thomas realized that this was a very good territory.

After all, with the current level of maritime transportation, Rhodes Island occupies a very important strategic location.

If I had to draw an analogy, I'd compare it to the Singapore Thomas had heard of in his previous life. In wartime, they could go out and plunder, not to mention it. In peacetime, they didn't have to do anything; they could just collect berthing fees from passing ships and make a fortune.

The island boasted a fortified castle, a good harbor, and a bountiful (relatively for an island) agricultural harvest. Most importantly, it was completely uninhabited. The emperor was far away, and the Pope's decrees were merely a token of respect.

Of course, it also has to face the offensive of the Crescent Moon Cult, especially its navy.

But... Thomas is a man who believes everything has a price. If Rhodes Island is truly good and safe, why would it be given to Thomas? Just because of his peasant background? Or because of his good looks?

If that cheap master really convinces the Pope, this is a great option. It's like pie in the sky!

Even if it meant war, he decided to accept the challenge.

The author says:

Author's words: Thanks to fellow reader Fighting Eagle for the two rewards.

Section 35 World Line 2

After returning from the sea, Thomas's short training came to an end.

After bidding farewell to his former naval commander, Thomas quickly returned to his residence in Rome.

That cheap teacher didn't come to see him, probably because the matter hadn't been settled yet... This was normal. For Thomas, this matter was like a pie in the sky, full of dreams.

He met a teacher for some unknown reason. The teacher waved his hand and first gave Thomas the jade bait he had always dreamed of, and then told him to prepare the most prominent identity and the richest territory for him.

Damn, even Thomas himself feels guilty.

When you first recognized your master, you should have bowed three times and kowtowed nine times, instead of just performing a casual greeting!

If it weren't for the obvious mismatch in age and appearance between the two men, Thomas would have almost thought he was their illegitimate child.

Well, at this point, even if the teacher wants to adopt me as his adopted son, I would probably agree.

In fact, if every teacher was so awesome and so generous… Thomas felt that he would be doing himself a disservice if he didn’t recognize eight or ten of them.

So Thomas didn't dare to take the initiative to look for anyone until the teacher gave him any further information.

After all, he didn't pay anything at all, it was absolutely zero cost. To push him in this situation would be too greedy and excessive.

Of course, Thomas did not waste this time.

He is trying his best to catch up on the history and geography of this world.

On the one hand, I was looking for books in the collection, and on the other hand, I was trying every possible way to find experts and seniors to consult for details.

Although I have studied history and geography before, I only have a general understanding of them and have never thought about delving into the details.

After all, these things were not very important in Kievan Rus.

It doesn’t matter if you know it, and it doesn’t affect anything if you don’t know it.

But now it’s different, these things are directly related to him.

In particular, he needs to compare the history he learned in his previous life with the history of this world one by one.

First of all, there were the Crusades. That still happened.

However, unlike previous history, this world does not have the Ayyubid dynasty, the great king Saladin, or the powerful Ottoman Empire - at least not now.

For example, the struggle for supremacy between the Star-Moon Religion and Christianity is actually a fight between two alliances.

In Thomas's past life, the Pope was the supreme ruler, but that was only in name only. The Church itself could not undertake military operations, so it had to rely entirely on the power of secular monarchs. This was also the origin of the Crusades.

If the situation becomes unfavorable, it is necessary to incite and organize the Second, Third, and Fourth Crusades.

In this world, the power of the church is much greater. Because in addition to the power of religious belief, the church also controls magic and possesses many miraculous powers. They have greater and more influence.

In other words, the church took the lead in this war.

He was not only the nominal supreme leader, but also actually shouldered many military obligations, as evidenced by the series of knightly orders he organized.

Furthermore, perhaps due to the existence of magic, many "historical inevitabilities" have been slowed down. For example, the Crusader States are only now showing a clear decline.

And the decline is a decline, it is still too early to fail completely.

For example, even Spain had just conquered the last Kingdom of Granada of the Crescent Moon Sect more than ten or twenty years ago.

The Age of Exploration had just begun.

This is surprisingly similar to some content in previous life history.

The circumnavigation of the world seemed to be a success, but the leader was not Columbus.

Of course, this is perfectly normal. Some things are historical accidents, others are inevitable. Take the Age of Discovery, for example. They wouldn't have been canceled simply because Columbus hadn't been there. At most, they would have been completed by a brother or a sister, perhaps a dozen or so years earlier or later.

With the general trend and the call of the times, the hero will naturally emerge.

Byzantium was still alive, but it could only barely maintain the last bit of dignity of the empire.

While it wasn't as tragic as losing everything and only retaining Constantinople, it was likely only a matter of time. The pagans had already seized most of Anatolia (roughly equivalent to present-day Turkey), establishing the Rum Sultanate.

Thomas vaguely remembered from his previous life that the Rum Sultanate was a remnant of the Seljuk Empire. It had rapidly declined due to internal strife, but this world wasn't that developed.

In short, the current situation is alliance versus alliance, PK and internal friction at the same time.

On the Christian side, France, the filial son of God, goes without saying. Venice and Genoa all care about money more than people... So within the entire alliance, there are a lot of countries trying to drag their feet, just like the history of Thomas' previous life.

Christian monks and priests...are still cheating, deceiving, and levying heavy taxes...no different from Thomas in his previous life.

But on the other hand, the Star-Moon Cultists are not much better.

It would have been fine if the Ottoman Empire had unified the world in the original time and space, but now it is divided into a bunch of countries, and the internal friction is quite a lot.

Where some are charging forward, others are lagging behind, which is no less severe than on the Christian side.

Moreover, it is true that Catholic priests cheated, deceived and levied heavy taxes, but those priests of the Star and Crescent Church are just so easy to deal with?

How is that possible!

The world is as black as crows!

In short, from Thomas's perspective, there's no need to worry about whether religion is good or evil. That's just the way it is.

However, objectively speaking, the Star-Moon Cult has already gained the upper hand in this competition of worst results.

We learned from the priests that the Galilee region (an area north of Jerusalem) had been occupied by the Star and Crescent believers.

This happened recently and is considered a major success for the Star-Moon Cult.

The connection between Byzantium and the Crusader States had been severed by land.

Regardless of the former or the latter, they all face an extremely serious problem: they cannot sustain the war of attrition.

There were no major battle failures, but we lost troops and territory slowly and bit by bit.

Either the city had to be abandoned after a long siege, or the army had to retreat after a long standoff.

The situation at sea was even worse.

After all, throughout history, the navy has always been a money-burning branch of the military.

The support that the church can provide is continuously decreasing, so the navy is also at a disadvantage.

On the other hand, the Crescent Moon Cult, especially those in North Africa, were able to continue harassing the coast of the Catholic League.

The navy of the Knights of Rhodes Island seems to have suffered a major setback recently.

It seems that the Grand Commander was also killed?

This matched the promise made by the cheap teacher. Although there was no news yet, Thomas now had a vague feeling that the cheap teacher might not have lied to him.