A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"I'm sorry, Master Pierre." Thomas also felt a little guilty about entertaining such a distinguished guest in his humble home. "My humble abode is simple."

"No, I am moved by your discipline," said Pierre. "I have come here . . . with a letter for you."

He produced the letter which the Holy See had given him.

The content of the letter was not complicated. In fact, the Pope asked Thomas to provide as much assistance to Pierre as possible in the spirit of Christians helping each other.

Then, the two of them naturally talked about the holy land.

Things are not going well in the Holy Land.

Although the entire country (the Kingdom of Jerusalem) is trying its best to resist, the encroachment of the Star and Crescent Cultists from all directions has made the entire holy land exhausted and difficult to resist.

This kind of tug-of-war is the most terrifying because it is basically a matter of heads exchanged, with no chance of luck.

In a specific battle, you may win or lose, but when viewed in the context of the overall big data, it is a head-for-head exchange at a certain ratio.

The power of Christians in the Holy Land is ultimately too weak.

Even if the entire Christian world were to provide continuous aid, it would still not be enough.

After all, the Crescent Moon Cultists have the advantage of local combat.

Even if Saladin had not appeared, the power of Christians would still have been suppressed.

The Holy Land faced attacks from three directions: the Seljuks in the north, the Fatimids in the south, and the Buyids in the east.

Among the three parties, the power of any one of them is not inferior to that of the Holy Land, and it can even be said that it is difficult to fight one-on-one.

Now it was one against three. Furthermore, there was a steady supply of Crusader Legions from the more distant Crescent Cult nations.

Christians have the Knights of the Crusades, and the Crescent Moon Christians have the Crusade Legion. They are equally inspired by religious fervor and are no less powerful.

Therefore, the deterioration of the situation is not the fault of war.

Now was a rare opportunity to take a breather, as the Seljuks and the Buyid Dynasty were fighting, and they had no time to care about the Christians.

From this point we can see how much the power of Christians has weakened and it is no longer worth people's attention.

But even so, the Mamluk forces from the Fatimid dynasty still made the Kingdom of Jerusalem suffer.

This was because the Mamluks had already taken control of the Fatimid regime and saw the war as an opportunity to increase their own prestige and reduce the forces loyal to the Fatimids.

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Although Thomas knew that the situation was not good before, it was not as intuitive as what Pierre said today.

All in all, it was a battle that seemed hopeless.

Sooner or later, you will lose, it’s just a matter of losing sooner or later.

In fact, Thomas had been in the same situation in his previous life. Even without Saladin, the Christians would have declined under the constant siege.

It can even be said that even if the Christians won the Battle of Hattin, it would be useless.

It will only delay the time of final failure by a few decades.

The victory of the First Crusade was a special victory brought about by a specific time, a specific place, and a specific leader. It was accidental, not inevitable.

The core factor was that the Star-Moon Cultists were fighting among themselves, and outsiders took advantage of the situation and broke in.

Therefore, each wave of Crusaders achieved less and less results.

In the end, it was unsustainable.

So is the world.

However, the sudden rise of the Knights of Rhodes gave the Holy Land hope.

If there were a divine weapon to help, the situation would be completely different.

Whether it is the giant golem army or the banner of infinite spellcasting, although they are still important forces that cannot be ignored in battles involving tens of thousands of people, their true power can only be exerted in small-scale battles.

Because it can destroy an army of thousands of people without any losses.

The so-called tug-of-war turned into a one-sided killing.

Since they were all soldiers, there was no diplomats' nonsense. After briefly explaining the situation in the Holy Land, Pierre was ready to get the topic back on track.

He had thought it through before coming and decided that the best way to convince Thomas was to use the content from the scriptures.

A leader who is so pure and unselfish will definitely not be tempted by money or power.

We must bring out religious things.

The breakthrough lies in "helping each other".

Should Christians Help One Another?

Of course, that’s what the Bible says!

However, what is said in the scriptures is one thing, and what is actually done is another.

Because Rhodes Island was also under heavy pressure from the Crescent Moon Cult, they were obviously unwilling to lend their sacred objects.

After all, it is said to be "borrowed", but who can say when it will be returned?

So Pierre originally thought that Thomas would definitely make excuses for him, and at most he would just be pretending to be compliant and delaying time.

Other skills are difficult to learn and master, but the skill of "dragging" is something that everyone can learn naturally without a teacher.

But what I never expected was that Thomas agreed immediately.

Not to mention agreeing immediately, Thomas even took the initiative to suggest helping each other.

The two knightly orders, one focusing on the navy and the other on the army, should help each other and work together!

As brothers in the same religion, we must be selfless, united and create a common future.

That enthusiasm left Pierre stunned.

I don't know when Thomas took over the initiative in the conversation.

Originally he came to ask for help, but for some reason, it became Thomas who asked him for help?

The meeting between the two Grand Masters of the Knights Templar was short and warm.

After only half an hour of conversation, Grand Commander Pierre came out.

The expression on that face was very strange.

Although his followers were puzzled, they did not dare to ask any more questions after seeing their master's expression. They left by boat as quickly as possible.

On Thomas' side, as soon as Pierre left, all the high-ranking members of the Knights came over.

They are not fools. They have heard some rumors and can guess why the distinguished guest came.

Although the Knights Templar are now in great glory, it is all based on two artifacts.

Without these two things, the Knights would immediately be reduced to their original form... At least everyone felt that there was no hope of defending Smyrna.

"Grandmaster," Demetrios asked first. "What did you and Monsignor Pierre discuss?"

Thomas's face was beaming.

"About two knights uniting into a strategic partnership, working together to build a better future!"

The Knights Templar have people and I have a ship, so we can get together.

This was a golden opportunity, as the Knights Templar would not have had time to spare. However, the Buyid Empire was at war with the Sultanate of Rum, and the Holy Land was only facing the threat of the Fatimid Empire in the south.

Even though the battle situation is still unfavorable and we are beaten so badly that we can't even leave the house... we can still spare a certain amount of military force.

After all, the military forces originally used to defend the north and east can be withdrawn.

This is so important!

Everyone looked confused, and it was obvious that they didn't understand terms like "strategic partners" and "creating a better future together."

There's no way, this is not the word of this era at all!

But even if you don’t understand, you can guess the general meaning.

"You mean...we're working with the Knights Templar?"

"Yeah!" Thomas beamed. "They have an army, and we have a navy. It's perfect for collaboration!"

The Knights of Rhodes Island were far too small. Not counting the city defense forces, the army, and even the mercenaries, they couldn't even muster more than three thousand men. In fact, the only ones who could truly be considered their own, the only ones who could be deployed for reliable mobile operations, were the eight hundred marines.

Of course, there are no more than 800 of them now. We lost 150 in the attack on Smyrna, and they have not yet been replenished.

It's not that we don't want to recruit, but we have too many ships right now. Newcomers must first join the navy, after all, the navy is the core strength of the Knights.

Thomas wanted a usable army very badly.

Everyone looked at each other.

"Grand Commander, what do you want the army for?" Demetrios asked cautiously.

Could it be that Grand Master Thomas is so ambitious that he wants to destroy the Sultanate of Rum? Or at least conquer Anatolia?

Unfortunately, even with the two artifacts in hand, conquering Smyrna was already the limit of the Knights.

Even a dumb person can see this!

Human and financial resources have been stretched to their limits... well, financial resources aren't just stretched to their limits, they've already surpassed them. As we made clear at the last meeting, there's still a funding gap of one or two million florins that can't be filled.

No matter what, the Knights had to wait until the bastion of Smyrna was built and the rear was safe before they could expand further.

Now is not the time to cooperate.

If they cooperate now, it means the Knights of Rhodes Island will make a unilateral contribution!

At least this will be the case for the next one or two years!

"We need money!" Thomas answered bluntly.

If they wanted to build a bastion and completely incorporate Smyrna into the territory of the Knights, there would be a gap of 900,000 florins!

This is just the shortfall this year!

"Even if you need money, you shouldn't go to the Knights Templar. I suggest you go to the Venetians..." someone said.

"I don't want to borrow money!" said Thomas.

The Knights had only two options if they wanted a windfall: either seek help from the Pope or make their own living.

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The situation is now very clear. The Pope certainly cannot come up with so much money!

The Knights had no other choice. After all, knights held swords instead of abacus, so of course they couldn't do business, so they could only rob and extort!

Everyone stared at each other and slowly came to their senses.

Captain Thomas is... going to do something big!

"Grandmaster, what is your purpose?"

"There are a lot of Crescent-Israel states in North Africa. They all have ports but no strong navy. As long as we can capture these port cities... You know, a small city like Tobruk earned the Knights 200,000, so the other cities must have earned even more!"

Of course, the Knights could also make money as pirates.

Although pirates can earn a lot of money, they are dependent on the weather. If God doesn't give them face and they can't encounter any merchant ships, then there is nothing they can do.

On the contrary, the army can rely on its strength to make a living. After all, their cities and ports are not mobile.

Why didn't you do it before?

Because these cities are not easy to attack. Tobruk is easy to attack because the main force was diverted to fight the civil war.

Seven hundred people attacked in a sudden attack.

If they had not been withdrawn, please refer to Smyrna, the Knights would have lost at least dozens or hundreds of people!

In other words, without a strong enough army, Thomas wouldn't even know how to make money!

It just so happens that the Knights Templar have extra troops!

This is simply an emergency! Just when you want to fall asleep, you can get a pillow.

You can't be a robber without an army, and you can't be a pirate without a navy.

Thomas was able to do this with Pierre's help.