A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"Perhaps the Byzantine Empire hopes... that Rome can share their pressure?"

"That's an unconvincing argument," Thomas shook his head. "The Byzantine navy was superior, so they didn't need to bring in outside forces. The beneficiary of this transaction was the Vatican, which needed to maintain sea routes to the Holy Land. In other words, according to common sense, the Vatican would have paid a high price for this deal. But in reality, as I just said, the price the Vatican paid to acquire Rhodes Island and establish the Knights Templar was practically nothing."

Leonard pondered the memory carefully, then suddenly clapped his hands.

"Grandmaster, I remember now. When I was sorting through the original archives of the Knights Templar, I did come across a record. It said that remnants of the old Order had appeared on Rhodes Island."

"In order to solve this problem, the Byzantines handed the island over to the Holy See and established the Knights Templar!"

"Remnants of the Old Ones? What remnants of the Old Ones?"

"There are no remnants of the Old Ones," Reynard said. "The original Knights searched the entire island but found no trace of them. They either left Rhodes Island, or were unexpectedly sealed or dormant, or perhaps captured by a magician... In short, the Knights found nothing."

"The Knights...got a great bargain?"

"It seems so. Perhaps it was precisely because they had no results that the Knights spent so much time searching. But in the end, they guarded this place for hundreds of years and found nothing, so no one mentioned it for a long time. Even the files were lying in a corner. If I hadn't carefully examined the files back then, I probably wouldn't have known about it."

"Furthermore, this matter has no meaning to the current Knights."

"Is that file still there?"

"Yes, I remember I placed this original document in the highest cabinet in the archives. That cabinet contains some early records of the Knights Templar. If you look through it, you should be able to see a detailed record of this matter."

"I understand. Thank you, Knight Reynard. You helped me solve a big puzzle."

"Grandmaster, I'm glad to be of assistance... But is this matter important?"

"Yes, because I'm worried the Byzantine Empire might go back on its word," Thomas said. "This time, our gains in Smyrna are likely to anger the Byzantines. They don't have the military force to deal with us yet, but that doesn't stop them from using public opinion to sway us. Therefore, we need those early archives to ensure the Knights' legitimate rule over Rhodes is unquestionable."

"I see."

"What about the information we seized from the city?"

"Luckily, most of these items have been preserved," Reynard said. "Give me some more time, and I'll be able to sort them all out. Next year, we'll be able to use these records to systematically collect taxes and ensure the Knights' income."

"Someone has suggested that the Knights Templar assign some knights to surrounding rural towns to strengthen their rule. What do you think?"

"Grandmaster, in my opinion, this is not feasible unless we completely conquer all of Anatolia, or at least are not afraid of the threat of a counterattack from the Crescent Moon Cult. Otherwise, this enfeoffment is not a reward, but a danger."

Chapter 157 Uninvited Guests

"The vanished... remnants of the old days?" Thomas walked outside, looking at the stars in the sky and muttering to himself. "Interesting, really interesting!"

Find a way to go back to Rhodes Island to look at this information... If there are still problems, maybe I have to find a way to go to Constantinople to look for royal information, or go to Rome to look for original information.

For Byzantium, it is estimated that information of this level would not be protected very strictly even if it was a confidential file.

You can get it as long as you spend money.

But perhaps a letter to Rome would suffice.

This isn't a difficult matter; my teacher should be able to handle it easily. I'm just worried that this might attract the teacher's attention and cause some unforeseen disturbance...

While thinking about this question in his mind, his feet had already returned to the City Lord's Mansion.

The City Lord's Mansion was only slightly renovated and not completely restored, so it still looks shabby.

But even though it is in tatters, there are guards on duty outside.

No outsiders are allowed to enter.

At this moment, an ascetic was blocked at the gate and was arguing with the guards.

"...I need to see your Grand Commander. I have something very important to discuss, and you can't afford to be delayed..."

"Sorry, the Grand Commander is not here... Your Excellency should come tomorrow!"

"...How could he not be here? I knew it while I was on the road..."

The ascetic clamored to get in, but the guards wouldn't let him in.

After all, the top leaders of the Knights Templar are currently holding a very important meeting and have no time to receive outsiders.

Especially at night.

Not even an envoy from Rome.

Not only were we not allowed in, but we weren't even notified!

What does it mean when the emperor is far away? This is what it means when the emperor is far away! In the territory of the Knights, even the Pope's envoys are useless!

Thomas came from the side and saw that it was a strange ascetic.

I haven't seen him before, but judging from his temperament, he is not an ordinary ascetic.

After all, Thomas has seen many ascetics now, so naturally he has developed some eyesight.

In addition, the spiritual field also shows that this is an ordinary person, not an elite warrior.

"Grand Commander!" On the other side, the guard noticed Thomas and immediately saluted.

The ascetic's gaze also turned over.

"Grandmaster Thomas?" the ascetic monk asked.

"It's me," Thomas replied. "Are you from Rome?"

"I brought something very important." The ascetic monk bowed his head and saluted, but said no more.

“Come with me,” Thomas said.

This time the guards naturally did not stop them and let them in.

"Grandmaster, your soldiers..." The ascetic spoke after entering. He was clearly very dissatisfied with the fact that the guards still refused to admit their responsibility after he was carried out of Rome. "That's a bit too much."

"Sorry." Thomas smiled. "These are extraordinary times, and I think it's necessary."

During this period, he ordered the Knights to be on high alert.

After all, Smyrna was not very stable, and Rhodes Island was short of troops.

The more this time, the more we need to show a tough attitude.

Anyone who dares to take advantage of this opportunity to attack the Knights is the enemy!

Anyone who dares to show his head will be killed immediately!

It’s useless no matter who you are!

After all, the messenger just now was more sensible and did not force his way in (after all, he was just an ascetic monk). Otherwise, the guards would probably have taken action immediately.

It wasn't their fault, it was Thomas who gave the order.

If you kill someone by mistake, don’t let them go!

……

On the other side, in the city of Rhodes Island.

It was late at night and everyone was asleep.

Several soldiers were setting out from the Knights' headquarters fortress on their daily patrol.

They had just walked a short distance when the leading sergeant noticed a figure rapidly approaching the Knights' headquarters out of the corner of his eye.

This man was wearing black clothes and a mask, hiding his face.

"Who is it!?" he shouted.

The other party heard the scolding, but did not stop for a moment and rushed straight to the headquarters door which had not yet been closed.

The errand boy who was in charge of closing the door was so panicked that he didn't have time to close the door in time.

In the darkness, silver light flashed.

The servant who was trying to close the door felt a pain in his chest and collapsed helplessly. It was as if a flying knife had appeared in his chest.

The door was not closed in time, leaving a gap wide enough for a horse to rush in.

The masked man was about to rush towards the crack of the door, when at this moment, a faint voice suddenly came.

"How dare you trespass into the Knights' Order!"

In the blink of an eye, a figure in armor appeared at the gate. It was a knight blocking the gap of the gate.

He holds a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, wears a face-covering helmet and a composite chain mail armor.

The posture was like one man blocking the way for ten thousand.

Two flying knives were blocked by the shield and had no killing power at all.

There was a strong enemy blocking the way ahead, and the patrol team that had not yet left had already turned back in a hurry. Seeing this, the masked man had no choice but to turn around and run.

But it was difficult to run because the shooters in the patrol had already started aiming.

If you run in a straight line, you'll be a sitting duck.

If you run in a curve, you will be caught up!

The man suddenly threw something backwards.

Suddenly, a cloud of white dust and smoke exploded, obscuring everyone's vision, especially the shooter's.

The darkness combined with the white dust greatly affects human vision.

"Want to run?!" On the other side, the knight at the door had already rushed out. At that moment, he exerted force on his feet and his whole body exploded with speed, exceeding the speed of a normal human.

He rushed into the cloud of white dust and caught up with the masked man.

The shield swung, hitting the opponent's body directly, causing him to stagger. At the same time, the sword in his other hand flashed.

Blood splattered and the man fell to the ground.

The battle was over, and the knight took off his helmet, revealing Andrea's face.

Although he had managed to knock the enemy down with one strike of his sword, he felt something was amiss. The enemy seemed to have no power to resist at all.

With one sword he lifted the man's mask, revealing that he was a young man. He struck him squarely in the chest, and blood gushed out like crazy. It was obvious that he was beyond help.

This person looked familiar... It took Andrea a while to remember that she seemed to have seen this young man at the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce?

Chapter 158: Intelligence from afar

In his private room, Thomas slowly read through the entire file.

Information about the Wolf God.

When the Venetians threatened him in the name of the Wolf God, Thomas didn't feel anything special.

I think there's a high probability that this is a quasi-god, and a small probability that this is a high-level protector of the country. But that's all.

But now after reading the relevant information, I understand... this wolf god is probably very dangerous.

Even by Thomas' standards, it was dangerous.

Only a few legends exist about the Wolf God's early days. He may have been Indian, or at least from the surrounding area. He likely possessed a naturally gifted physique, possessing the lithe and agility of a cat without specialized training. Perhaps he was sold by his biological parents, or perhaps captured and sold by human traffickers. Another theory suggests he was raised by wild wolves. Ultimately, he fell into the hands of a wandering circus, traveling the world.

This shouldn't be surprising, as such cases are common in this era. In fact, Thomas had occasionally encountered such unfortunate children in his previous life, even in modern society.

Perhaps because the circus staff treated him badly, or for some other reason, the child escaped from the circus when he grew up. After wandering alone in the desert for a few days, he met his adoptive father, the leader of a small desert tribe.

His adoptive father probably had a daughter but no son, so he took him in and treated him as his adopted son.

Perhaps because of his excellent physical fitness, he quickly became an excellent warrior in the tribe.

Unfortunately, this happy life didn't last long. Desert tribes often clashed over resources, and armed conflict broke out. His tribe was attacked by a larger tribe, and he and his adoptive father were captured.

The victors held a celebratory carnival, and in the midst of the carnival, they publicly executed his adoptive father and tortured him to death.

No one knew what happened next, but when people from their own tribe found this place, they discovered that there was no one left alive in the entire enemy tribe.

It is said that the scene was enough to make the bravest warrior's legs tremble so much that he could not walk.

It is not an exaggeration to call it a sea of ​​blood and corpses.

The Wolf God was taken back by everyone and was elected as the leader of the tribe.

From then on, any slight provocation would cause him to go crazy, lose his mind, and kill people indiscriminately.

Of course, the people of his own tribe understood the pattern of his attacks and used this to destroy the hostile tribe.

Soon, the Wolf God's tribe became the strongest tribe in the surrounding area and formed an alliance.

After the alliance was formed, conflicts among them were reduced significantly. After all, the tribes that were destroyed had left behind enough legacy, so there was no need to fight for the time being.