A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

Therefore, a military commander is needed here, just like Ferdinand before him.

And this Muzaffar was sent by the headquarters to replace Ferdinand as the commander.

Unlike Ferdinand who converted to the Star-Crescent Sect midway through, Muzaffar was definitely a true believer of the Star-Crescent Sect.

The kind where loyalty is beyond doubt.

His resume is impeccable and he is recognized as a person with strategic vision.

Of course, Ferdinand also had his own advantages, namely, he was very familiar with the Knights Templar and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, he had to go to the headquarters to undergo an examination for the opportunity to be promoted to Protector of the Nation, so he had to arrange for additional personnel to handle the work here.

The person who took over was Muzaffar.

"Muzaffar, what do you think?" asked the Grand Master.

"Although Lord Ferdinand has foresight, his vision is still not far-sighted enough," said the man named Muzaffar. "In my opinion, only a nation with a powerful fleet can seize this opportunity. This is because only by assembling a powerful fleet in a short period of time can this opportunity be realized. If left unchecked, the opportunity will disappear. In other words, apart from Venice and Genoa, no other power can seize this opportunity."

"But both of these countries are based on commerce!"

"According to what I heard in the East, businessmen are easily attracted by small profits and cannot make up their minds to do big things."

"Merchants are merchants after all. Even if they have a powerful fleet, they are nothing to be feared!"

"So, no one can seize this opportunity? We don't need to take any measures?"

"It's not that there are no people. In my opinion, there is only one force... the Church! If the Church realizes..."

The Grand Master gently stroked his beard.

He was not a short-sighted man; he knew that there was still room for improvement in the Christian world.

In other words, a large part of their current strength is wasted on internal friction, especially the church.

The same is true for the Star-Moon Cult.

Human nature is such that when the situation is favorable or balanced, it is easy to fight among oneself, but when the situation is overwhelmingly unfavorable, it is possible to reduce internal friction and unite to fight against external enemies.

"That's almost impossible." He rejected the other party's words.

For a church that is in a state of decline, corruption and inefficiency to suddenly rise again... well, the possibility is really too small.

"I'm afraid you've misunderstood. Grand Master, do you remember the Grand Master's Bloody Cross Banner? It's said that the Pope has granted permission to replace the Knights' original banner with the Bloody Cross."

"You mean... the bloody cross?"

A strange light flashed in the Grand Master's eyes.

This matter has become more and more mysterious... because the bloody cross flag has been used again and again.

As the saying goes, three people make a tiger. At the beginning, the Grand Master didn’t really believe it (of course, this did not affect his taking action), but with repeated confirmation of the intelligence, he had to believe it.

This is an "Infinite Magic Banner"!

The person holding the flag can use the magic provided by the magic flag infinitely, blessing everyone within the range without paying any price.

Of course, this "infinite" is not literally infinite. The power of the magic flag must have an upper limit in a short period of time, but it can automatically restore its power.

It doesn't cost anything and can be restored if left alone.

Even if there is a cost, it is very small.

Because the spies on Rhodes Island did not discover any special activities of the Grand Commander.

There were no captive sacrifices, no large-scale rituals, no demon worship, and no promotion of non-Christian beliefs. That pretty much says it all.

In ancient faiths, divine objects with such effects were not uncommon. However, they all came at a significant cost. They typically required large-scale religious rituals or human sacrifices to obtain divine favor and replenish the object's energy. Some even directly absorbed the life force of the possessor.

But this is the only thing that comes without any price.

It is truly unique, no wonder it is considered the greatest treasure bestowed by Christ to believers.

With the blessing of this flag, any army can become extremely terrifying.

Even if the combat power increases tenfold, it is an underestimation.

Of course, there are disadvantages, that is, if the incident happens suddenly and there is no time to use the flag, the true face will be revealed.

"You mean... with the help of this flag, the church only needs to hire a small number of troops... then what about the safety of Izmir?" asked the Grand Master.

I hadn't thought of it before, but now that someone has reminded me of it, it seems like this possibility is very obvious.

“Withdraw all our men from Izmir,” Muzaffar replied.

"Give up?" The Grand Master narrowed his eyes.

"Grandmaster, you may have heard a famous saying from the East: 'To take, you must first give.' To fish, we must prepare bait; to hunt, we must set traps. If you want Rhodes Island, then you must give something. And this is only a temporary payment."

"Tell me more about your idea."

"Lord Ferdinand's actions have proven something to us," Muzaffar said. "We destroyed the Knights' fleet, and the Knights allied with the Byzantines. Therefore, we had no choice but to destroy the Byzantine fleet."

"Now that we've destroyed the Byzantine fleet, can't the Knights find other allies to protect themselves?"

"But... in other respects... we have reached an agreement with the Venetians and Genoese..."

"Grandmaster, if the Church is willing, they can certainly offer a better price. Besides, who can guarantee that the Venetians or Genoese will always be satisfied with the current conditions? Sooner or later, they will inevitably make new demands until we can no longer meet them."

"Then... do you have a better idea?" the Grand Master asked after pondering for a few seconds.

"It's a simple method—make the Knights become enemies with other factions. Throwing a piece of meat between two hungry dogs will definitely cause a quarrel between them. Defeat makes people cautious, while victory makes people arrogant."

"Besides, that banner... is now the pillar of the Knights, but it can also be the root of their downfall."

"Hand Izmir over to the Knights?" The Grand Master began to understand what the other party meant.

"Only temporarily. You must understand that no matter what happens—even if Grand Captain Thomas is incredibly resourceful and has all the resources he needs—if the Seljuks exert all their might, they won't be able to hold Izmir."

"Not only that, after the Byzantines' crushing defeat, the Seljuks now believe they have nothing more to ask of us. So, they turn around and threaten us from time to time, demanding various benefits by threatening to leave the order. This has had a very negative impact!"

The Grand Master lowered his eyelids. "Ferdinand will be leaving in four or five days," he said. "You need to work closely with him over the next few days and take over various matters. Just let things flow; there's no need to force anything."

"As you command," Muzaffar said. He lowered his head, knowing that the Grand Master was still somewhat attached to the flag.

But the so-called estimate of the enemy is lenient.

From the perspective of a bystander, it is natural to see that the flag is not easy to grab!

Since the Pope dared to hand over the flag to the Knights of Rhodes Island, he must have believed that the Knights could protect the flag.

Otherwise, how could you dare to take out such a sacred object and hand it over to an unreliable person?

They even dared not hand it over to the Knights Templar or the Knights Hospitaller in the Holy Land, but instead handed it over to the smaller, less powerful and less important Knights of Rhodes?

Of course, having said that, he could fully understand the Grand Master's thoughts.

Such treasures are truly perfect for a cult that has limited strength and needs to win over allies and form an alliance to fight.

As long as it falls into the hands of the cult, the strength and influence of the entire sect will immediately rise several levels.

Small investment, big profit, it's pure gambling.

But it's definitely worth a gamble.

Chapter 117 The Magician's Request

Thomas sat in his office, flipping through a pile of data tables.

He has promoted the "form system" in the finance and logistics departments here, and it has been very effective.

The advantage of a table is that it is simple and easy to understand. You don’t need to look through the data listed in mathematical papers. You can understand it at a glance.

Thomas did not need to actually control the operation of the Knights. If he did so, he would end up like Zhuge Liang, exhausted to death.

But he needs supervision, or at least to maintain the appearance that "I am supervising."

Judging from the table, the recruitment of new soldiers has gradually improved.

The growth rate is not rapid, but it does increase every month.

This should be due to the convenience provided by his mentor, His Holiness, and the effectiveness of the Knights' propaganda of "safe promotion to the elite".

This month, four more Italian nobles joined the Order as official members.

These people have been practicing martial arts since childhood, and their skills are at least at the mid-level.

As for lower-level soldiers or sergeants, it is now much easier to recruit them.

It seems that "Safety Promotion Elite" is indeed very attractive.

After all, in this era where bloodline and background are important, although most professions require relying on one's father, the battlefield is one of the few places where you don't have to rely on your father.

After all, no matter who your father is, you will still bleed to death if you are stabbed.

Elite warriors are welcome everywhere.

Although the Knights Templar had no explicit rules, everyone knew that if an elite warrior wanted to join - no matter what his background was - he could immediately become an official knight of the Knights Templar.

No one has ever objected to this unspoken rule, not even the nobles who are most particular about their family background.

Apart from anything else, the two sergeants who had received potion upgrades some time ago have now been promoted to official knights of the Knights Templar.

Not only the church, but all other nobles, big and small, would at least promote their elite subordinates to knights.

But it is difficult to become an elite. Only one out of a hundred core-level warriors can become an elite, and the rest fall on this road.

He was thinking slowly in his mind and looking through the form when suddenly the guard came to report that Master Radagast wanted to see him.

Influenced by Thomas, everyone in the Knights Templar now calls the blue-robed wizard Master Radagast.

Although he was called the advisor of the Knights Templar, Thomas did not give him any work. In fact, he had nothing to do.

After all, Rhodes Island had been governed by the Knights for hundreds of years, so where was the place for magicians? Even for healing, exorcism, or anything like that, no one would turn to a magician.

Of course, food, clothing, housing and transportation are taken care of, but as for salary... well, Thomas selectively forgot about it.

This must be because the Grand Master was too busy to remember such a small matter, rather than intentionally neglecting Master Radagast.

A few minutes later, the blue-robed wizard came to Thomas.

"Grand Commander, I've been here... well, for a short while," Radagast said.

"Oh." Thomas responded without even raising his eyelids.

"Although you have accepted me, I'm afraid your subordinates still have some opinions about me. I am not very free to move around here now, as if I were a prisoner. Grand Commander, I want to walk around the island freely and take a look."

Was the old man being treated with hostility? This was exactly what Thomas had expected.

In the Christian territory, as a magician, you are indeed easily regarded as hostile.

"I'll tell them," Thomas said. "Specifically explain that you're an advisor to the Order, one of the Knights, and shouldn't be subject to any restrictions on your actions or surveillance."

As a frontline (or quasi-frontline) intelligence network, Rhodes Island had long been infiltrated by multiple intelligence systems. Even if the old man was a spy or had ulterior motives, one more wouldn't make a difference.

The old man smiled and bowed.

"Besides that, I just got some news from several channels and came to inform you as soon as possible."

"what news?"

"The Byzantines are very dissatisfied with your hosting of the Rus and Bulgarians. In addition, many people believe that the Knights' desertion during the battle was the main culprit for this defeat."

"Ha." Thomas put down the documents in his hand and laughed, which was rare.

"Master Radagast," Thomas said, stopping his laughter. "Do you have any information?"

"Yes," Radagast replied. "I have a few friends I can keep in touch with."

"In Constantinople?"

"There are some in Smyrna as well," Radagast said with a smile.

"If that's the case, could you please ask your friend for some information?" Thomas asked. "What share of the spoils will Smyrna, the Sultanate of Rum, receive from this victory?"

"Ah, well... my friend is not a prominent person, you know..."

"I know, so I don't ask for details," Thomas said. "In my opinion, when distributing spoils of war, the Sultanate of Rum would prioritize warships. But that's just speculation, so it would be great if we could verify it."

"Why do you think they chose a battleship?"

"Oh, because it's the most practical. The Seljuks fought two previous battles with the Byzantine Empire, and their navy was almost completely destroyed. They need warships," Thomas said. "Plus, they're closest to the Byzantines. If they can quickly rebuild their fleet, they'll have the capital to temporarily suppress the Byzantines. Anyone with a bit of common sense wouldn't go wrong in this regard... As for other factions, their motivation to choose warships is less strong. Of course, this is just my third-party speculation, and its accuracy is hard to say, so I hope to verify it. After all, anything is possible in this world."

"I'll be in touch," Radagast said, and left.

Thomas stared at the back of the old man in blue robe and was silent for a long time.

This old man is a little weird.