A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"Not only the Grand Master, but in fact, everyone in the Knights Templar trusts him."

It was completely understandable. Without trust, he would not have sent the former Grand Master into a deadly trap. Nor would he have been able to take away all the remaining warships of the Knights after the Grand Master's death.

"Is he a far-sighted person?" Thomas whispered to himself.

“So, he’s a devout believer?” Thomas asked again.

"This..." The group of men looked at each other again, not knowing how to answer.

Are you saying they're not pious? ... The Knights Templar are an armed monastic order directly under the Church, and this is all certified by the Church. Are you saying they're very pious? It's just family business... How could that be possible?

These days, the more church-going a person is, the less pious they are.

The truly devout were the illiterate peasants and farmwomen—those who were truly devout to God, even willing to risk starvation and donate their food to the church.

"It's just... average." After a long time, Demetrios reluctantly answered.

Thomas nodded, which meant that this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Was it the guy named Ferdinand who had seen through the general trend and knew that the eastern side of the Mediterranean was destined to be lost, so he jumped to the side of the victor in time?

Or maybe the Star-Moon Cultists, or the Star-Moon Sword, made him an offer he couldn't refuse?

But it’s hard to say.

In the eyes of many, Christians are indeed at a disadvantage right now, but they are far from facing failure. Switching jobs at this time and selling themselves for the highest price requires extraordinary foresight.

Ferdinand is not a time traveler, so he has no concept of "historical inevitability".

"Is that so? Then why did he continue to fight against the Knights after his betrayal?"

"That's just the nature of a traitor." This time, the logistics officer nearby spoke up. He looked indignant. "In the eyes of evil, the light of justice is always so dazzling. To gain the trust of the Star-Moon Cult, he will definitely plot against us!"

Thomas smiled at this.

"No," he said. "He should be planning something against the Byzantines!"

"Captain, what do you mean?" Everyone was puzzled.

"The Crescent Moon Cult will definitely attack the Byzantines soon," Thomas said. "Although I don't know how they will do it."

He thought with some interest.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attack Rhodes Island.

Even though Thomas had just captured three warships, this victory could not change the fact that the Knights were weak.

This window of opportunity wouldn't last long, not even a few years. After all, in a shipyard of that era, it only took about a year to build a warship from scratch.

And what has been the biggest obstacle in attacking Rhodes Island in the past few years?

There is only one answer: the Byzantines.

Based on the basic political wisdom of "the lips and the teeth are cold", the Byzantines signed a mutual defense alliance treaty with the Knights.

In the previous life, when the Ottomans attacked Rhodes, Byzantium would have been crushed to ashes. But in this era, without the Ottomans, Byzantium is still alive.

The kind that lives a very exciting life and can afford to support a group of arrogant, extravagant and domineering royal family.

You want to attack Rhodes, but the Byzantines are coming from behind... It would be fine if you win the battle at sea, but if you lose, the landing troops will be trapped on the island.

No, there is no need for a head-on fight. If they just find a way to attack your transport ship, you will be in huge trouble.

Therefore, if you want to attack Rhodes, the minimum prerequisite is to deal with the Byzantine Empire.

At first, Thomas thought that the Crescent Moon Cult would use secret treaties or other means to cut off the Byzantines' aid.

After all, the interests of the alliance are not equal to one's own interests, and with the example of France, a filial Catholic, anything is possible.

This is clearly not the case now.

Although Thomas said this, there was obvious doubt in everyone's eyes.

Obviously, he didn't trust Thomas's judgment very much.

However, it is still early. Dealing with the Byzantines obviously requires thorough preparation and careful planning, which is not something that can be done overnight.

Nothing will happen for at least a week or two.

In the eastern Mediterranean, the season suitable for large-scale warfare is autumn, and now is spring.

There is still plenty of time for both the enemy and us.

This meeting is almost over.

All that remains is to redeploy personnel, prepare supplies, and allocate warships, so as to build a small fleet of five warships within a week or two.

According to the Knights' past standards, it was only half a squadron, or even not half.

For a knight order that once possessed three or four fleets, this was naturally a trivial strength, but now it was rare good news. At least they no longer had to worry about leaving the house.

However, these matters do not require the concern of the Grand Commander Thomas.

After his men had left, Thomas walked to the highest terrace of the Knights' headquarters.

He had a slight sense of control over his own destiny... although Thomas knew that he was still far from being able to control his own destiny.

Apart from anything else, the future catastrophe, that is, the inevitable siege by the Star-Moon Cultists coalition, must be survived.

If you can't get through this disaster, everything will be an illusion.

Standing on the top of the terrace, looking at the sky, there are stars all over the sky.

Thomas suddenly laughed out loud.

His Pope teacher must have dug a trap long ago and was waiting for the Star-Moon Cultists to jump in!

Damn, that old man is so bad.

But now, Thomas has dug a big hole from the small one and put some delicious bait in it.

At this moment, the news about the magic flag had probably spread to the taverns and hotels inside and outside the city.

There's no way. There are hundreds of people on the boat. You can't expect everyone to keep their mouths shut.

So this secret cannot be hidden!

So, what countermeasures would you take when facing a captain who has a powerful magic flag that can easily change the situation of the battle, but his own strength is very weak?

The answer seems to be easy to figure out even if you use your toes to think.

I just don't know who will come.

Thomas hoped that the person who came would be a protector of the country or a half-step protector of the country, rather than an elite.

To be honest, defending the country and fighting against the elite is really not challenging at all.

As long as the national defenders don't think about "capturing people alive" or "having fun", and are more serious or even go all out, it will be difficult for the elite troops to survive a few encounters.

Thomas has now gradually mastered his power as a protector of the country, but he lacks an opponent of equal strength.

But that's a bit too much to think about.

The most important thing now is to find the hidden agents left by the Star-Moon Cultists on the island.

No, there’s no rush!

Because hidden pieces are just as useful to him.

Chapter 75 Dispute 1

The morning sun sheds out endless light, illuminating the Star-Moon Sword flag on the top of the castle.

Ferdinand had just gotten up and was still washing up when he heard the footsteps of his young follower.

Young people's footsteps are always so hurried and easy to distinguish.

"Sir!" the attendant shouted, pushing open the door. "News has come in. The three warships that were originally scheduled to return to the harbor haven't returned yet. In other words, the news is true!"

"Oh." Ferdinand just uttered this sound casually and continued to wash.

He had long believed that the news was true.

It’s just that others won’t give up until they reach the Yellow River.

Although the seaworthiness of ships in this era was poor, it was common for them to go out for ten days or half a month without docking. So everyone still held on to a little hope.

But Ferdinand was a man who had little faith in chance. He believed the intelligence from Rhodes Island as soon as he heard it.

Three of our warships must have been lost.

This is also a personal trait.

If he still had a hope, he would not have betrayed the Knights and converted to the Crescent Moon Cult. Instead, he would have stayed in Rhodes Island, trying in vain to break through himself and become a Protector of the Nation.

However, by now, the hope of luck among other members of the sect has also been shattered.

"They're clamoring for an emergency meeting," the attendant said. "The Grand Master should have listened to everyone's opinions."

Grandmaster? Humph!

Ferdinand snorted coldly, but because he was washing, only the gods could hear it.

Even the young attendant who was standing nearby couldn't hear it.

"You don't care?"

"Who cares! But they really have a meeting, and I have to go there." Ferdinand said.

After all, if a group of idiots get together, they might really do something stupid and make some stupid decisions.

But he is the nominal military chief, which means that even if a stupid decision is made and serious losses are caused, he will be the one to take the blame in the end.

After a while, Ferdinand came to the conference room.

A lot of people have already gathered here.

His entrance did not cause much impact because the Grand Master had not yet arrived.

But someone had already jumped up and spoken over there.

Ferdinand recognized that they were Fatimids, or Egyptians.

The last time the slaves and ships were divided up, the Egyptians were the ones who made the loudest noises, as if they had done something remarkable and therefore deserved the largest share.

All he shouted was how brave his side was and how heavy the losses were in this defeat.

First cry miserably, then take the moral high ground and try every possible way to benefit yourself. The main point is that the crying child gets the milk.

This was quite understandable, considering the Fatimid dynasty's current weakness.

Unfortunately, although they understood, it was impossible to give up their interests. This was because the representatives of all other forces present were watching him perform like a monkey show.

They are all thousand-year-old foxes, why play Liao Zhai?

Ordinary people may not understand this, but how could these people not understand it?

He let the Fatimids dance around, but no one joined in. After a few dances, he began to understand the meaning of the dance.

So he sat down awkwardly, stopped talking, and waited for the arrival of the grandmaster with a sullen look on his face.

After a while, the old man in his seventies finally arrived.

He looks very old.

But now Ferdinand already knew that this grandmaster was a spellcaster who had touched the seventh level of the magic web.

In other words, most of his appearance is fake.

When the Grand Master arrived, everyone quieted down.

"I think," the Grand Master said, "everyone already knows about the new Grand Master...what's his name?"

"Call Thomas!" someone answered in time.

"Yes, about Thomas and his magic flag!" the Grand Master said. "First, I'd like to ask everyone what they think about this. Is it true or false?"

Having said that, everyone's attention naturally focused on Ferdinand.

He had once been a high-ranking member of the Order, barely meeting the standards of a high-ranking church official. If there was anyone present who understood Catholicism or the Order best, it was undoubtedly him.

"I believe it's true," Ferdinand replied immediately. "I've already said so."

"This time, Rome didn't send out protectors or use divine revelation. This in itself is evidence. Divine revelation can't be hidden from anyone. Since it didn't work, then it truly didn't work. In other words, either the Church has given up, or there's another reason."

"And now, we've seen why."