A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

The Wolf's Den operates on two types of intelligence. One is everyday intelligence that is of little value. For example, information about the army's deployment or the monarch's decree. These are information that any normal person with eyes and ears can easily obtain.

The other type is the truly secret intelligence, which can only be obtained by breaking into a small circle and obtaining first-hand information.

The former will not be encrypted, but the latter will basically be encrypted.

After encryption, the assistant will not be able to read it.

The reason for this, to put it bluntly, is to guard against assistants who control the birds to deliver messages.

Birds don't carry messages directly from point to point. After all, birds aren't radio waves. While short-distance communication is fine, long-distance communication often leads to accidents. Therefore, for greater safety and efficiency, birds carry messages from one wolf den to another, traveling several times before finally reaching the wolf master.

To ensure that the information is not lost due to an accident with the bird, the assistant will make a copy (even if he cannot understand the encrypted file) for future proofreading. This proofreading process will not take long, about two or three months.

After proofreading to ensure that the information has been conveyed, the copied documents will be burned.

So this is something you really have to be on guard against. As the head wolf of a wolf den, you may be able to guarantee the loyalty of your assistants, but you cannot guarantee that the assistants of other wolf dens will be so loyal.

But precisely because key intelligence is encrypted, the alpha wolf usually doesn't care much about information leaks.

It doesn't matter if common information is leaked. Confidential information is encrypted, so no one can understand it if it is leaked.

But as a time traveler, Thomas knew that this idea was wrong.

There is no question of high or low value in intelligence; the only question is whether it meets the buyer's needs.

"Then I can't..."

"Two hundred florins, and I'll just look at it and then I'll go. No one will know."

Thomas said.

He took out a heavy purse.

A few minutes later, Thomas entered the Wolf's Den and looked through the documents.

As soon as he came in, he knew he had made the right bet.

Rhodes Island is a node for the Wolf's Den intelligence transmission, as it receives a lot of intelligence from North Africa.

The encrypted files were definitely incomprehensible, so Thomas simply skipped them and looked at the general intelligence.

……

In the middle of the night, Demetrios was awakened by a violent knock on the door.

He opened his eyes and saw none other than the new Grand Commander, Thomas.

The Grand Commander roughly pulled Demetrios out of bed, "Demetrios, urgent action!"

"Grand Commander, what's wrong?"

"The Knights, attack with all your might!" Thomas said.

"But the repair work...is not completed yet." We just came back from the sea.

"It's too late. Everyone must set off. We need all five warships, even if they're not repaired yet. We need to gather food and water and set off tomorrow. We must also set off the army. All eight hundred men must be aboard. Take the horses too! Take as many of the city defense troops as possible, but forget about it if we can't."

“We don’t have that many ships!”

"Then commandeer the merchant ships in the harbor! Whatever happens, we must set out tomorrow!" Thomas ordered. "Gather the men immediately. As soon as the Byzantines leave, we must set out!"

Chapter 81 Raid 1

The sun is shining and the weather is beautiful.

Standing on the deck of the speedboat and looking at the water, you can see the rippling waves.

Several Byzantines stood on the deck, enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

A few seabirds flew overhead, making pleasant sounds.

As for the treasurer who came with the Knights... he was still in the cabin and had not come out.

This is a small speedboat, its streamlined shape and huge sails give it swift speed.

This type of ship usually only transports people and not cargo. Although it has little combat power, most pirate ships cannot catch up with it.

It is a common vehicle for messengers and couriers. Of course, this kind of boat can only be used in the near sea, and there is a risk of capsizing in the open sea.

"It looks like the Knights will be out of pocket this time," the leading Byzantine gloated. "To fulfill their obligations under the covenant, they'll have to spend at least 100,000 florins."

"More than a hundred thousand, at least two hundred thousand," his companions judged. "Speaking of which, the Knights' wealth is far richer than we expected!"

They had received a response from the Knights Templar: they were willing to fulfill the alliance and send a squadron to assist the Byzantines in the war.

At first, the three people, including the captain of the guards, did not believe it.

They thought this was an excuse from the other party, because the Knights Templar now had no fleet at all - only five ships in total, half of which were still being repaired in the shipyard!

To put it bluntly, it is just making false excuses, delaying time, and not wanting to fulfill obligations.

Of course this is absolutely impossible. As an envoy, especially as the chief of guards for His Highness, he would never make such a mistake!

But he didn't expect that the other party would tell him that the Knights would hire a Venetian fleet.

Fully complies with the requirements of the Covenant.

Mercenaries are still soldiers! A mercenary fleet is still a fleet!

The three envoys didn't believe it at first! So in the end, the three of them accompanied a treasurer of the Knights to the Venetians, hired a fleet on the spot, and returned with them.

At this point, the three people were at a loss.

To be honest, their target was not the fleet, but the elite army of the Knights.

But... the alliance is originally a choice between two options. If the other party really sends a fleet over, they will have nothing to say.

If you refuse again, it will give the other party an excuse and they might even cancel the fleet.

The three messengers could only be together and sigh at the heritage of the Knights Templar.

Of the three, the Captain of the Guards appears to be the primary one, but his real purpose here is just to ensure he gets to meet the new Grand Commander.

The other two seemed to be just his followers, but in fact their status was higher than his.

Both of them were experienced diplomats sent by the Byzantine court.

If the Knights refused this time, it would give the Byzantines an excuse.

Excuses are sometimes useless, but sometimes they are very useful, for example...retaking Rhodes Island.

After all, this place was once Byzantine territory, and His Majesty the Emperor had always intended to reclaim it. However, on the one hand, the Knights had a strong navy, making it difficult to fight them head-on, and on the other hand, they were Christian brothers after all, so it was difficult to attack them without an excuse.

The empire always has to pay attention to its table manners and its reputation.

Even if you want to be shameless, you can't do it, because if you really are shameless, the local princes and neighbors will not sit idly by. If everyone is shameless together, the empire will probably suffer a great loss.

Now that there is a traitor in the Knights Templar, they are forced to form a deep alliance with Byzantium...which actually gives Byzantium a good opportunity.

If there is sufficient excuse, even the Holy See cannot mobilize a large force to resist.

While the two diplomats weren't exceptionally gifted and couldn't create something out of nothing, they were certainly able to turn a minor incident into a major one, transforming the Knights' refusal to fulfill their alliance obligations into a campaign against the Byzantines, and then transforming the Byzantine campaign against the Knights and the recapture of Rhodes into an impeccably just war.

It should be pointed out that the Crescent Moon's siege of Rhodes and the Byzantine Empire's attack on Rhodes are completely different things.

Because the indigenous people on the island are almost all Greeks.

If the Crescent-Cross Cultists besiege, then these people are all loyal warriors of the Knights Templar, holding high the cross flag, following the pace of the Knights Templar, and fighting for their faith.

If it was an attack by the Byzantines, whether they would resist...that's hard to say.

Even if they were forcibly pulled over by the Knights, they would be unwilling to do so, and how much fighting spirit they had was a question.

Even a counterattack is not impossible.

Of course, the Knights fulfilled their obligations as allies...that's good too.

At least we got some cannon fodder, further weakened the Knights, and incidentally dealt a blow to the Crescent Moon Cult.

In short, the two diplomats did not have room to display their professional talents this time.

"By the way, I heard in the city that the new Grand Master has a magical flag in his hand!"

"It's already spreading in the tavern. They say the new Grand Master is a disciple of the Pope, and that's why he was gifted this extraordinary item."

"Magic flag...that's a good thing!"

While most magic items can only be used on an individual, the power of a magic banner is often used collectively.

This alone is invaluable.

Only families or countries with a long history could possibly possess such treasures.

But in the end, that's all it is.

It can be used to add icing on the cake, but it is difficult to use it to change your destiny.

"By the way, my lords, what kind of person is that Grand Commander in your opinion?" someone asked.

The person who spoke turned his gaze to the captain of the guards.

"Well, from what I can tell, he's not a warrior, but a politician." The captain of the guards recalled his time with Thomas. Although they hadn't communicated directly much, the time they had spent together was long enough for him to discern many clues.

"A politician?"

"He never shows his emotions, and despite his youth, he's quite patient," the captain of the guards said. "Although he's said to be quite skilled in martial arts, I think he'd rather fight with tables and abacus than swords."

"A young man of his age, if he were a soldier, would be easily provoked and excited, but he didn't do that at all."

"He's shrewd and tactful. In just a short time since taking office, he's been able to conduct several naval battles, initially stabilizing the morale of the Knights and consolidating his position."

"What a shame," the speaker sighed. "There's nothing wrong with a politician becoming Grand Master of the Knights, but..."

The Empire wants to take back Rhodes Island, and the Crescent Moon Cult is also eyeing it covetously.

One politician cannot stop this situation.

Only a warrior can do that.

"We can only see how far his magic flag can go!"

……

There were blue waves outside and a miraculous strong wind above our heads. We filled our sails and moved forward.

In the meeting room of the cabin, all the knights were already in place.

Twelve ships, including five warships, now carry almost all of the Knights' assets.

If anything goes wrong, the Knights can prepare to cancel the account directly.

This was the new Grand Master's insistent order, but even if he was arbitrary, he now had to give the Knights an explanation. What on earth was the Knights trying to do?

"Everyone, please look." Thomas unfolded the map. "This is our destination... Tobruk!"

The author says:

Author's words: Thanks to my fellow readers Wudi Zhanlong, Bingshi Lan, and SEERS for their rewards. I didn't notice them, sorry.

Chapter 82 Raid 2

The port city of Tobruk.

In Thomas's memory of his previous life, this place name was still associated with the famous German general Rommel during World War II.

Rommel defeated the British army at Tobruk and seized a large amount of supplies, which was a famous victory of the Third Reich in World War II.

It was after this battle that Rommel became a famous general.

In fact, if you look at the map, you will know that this place is very critical.

From Tobruk eastward to Alexandria, there is endless desert, dotted with occasional oases.

Although the maps of this era were crude, some things were still understandable.

After Thomas came to this world, he also made up for his lack of knowledge of history and geography.

Some things may change because of the existence of the magic network, but some things cannot be changed.

For example, climate and geography.

It should be the same as it should be.

"Tobruk was the first city established by ancient Greek colonists. They used it as an agricultural and pastoral base and an outer fortress of Bilinchi (in Thomas's previous life, this place had been renamed Benghazi). It was the eastern gate to the Cyrenaica region."