A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"I'm not sure, but if there is, it's not for me to know. In the short term, we just want the Knights' cooperation. In the long term, it would be best to accept the Knights as a vassal."

"Petite!" said Thomas.

"what?"

"I say, these merchants in Venice are all cunning and cunning, only wanting to reap the benefits without paying the price," Thomas said. "You don't even need to play these games. Just come to me and throw money at me. How can I resist money?"

"what?"

"If the Republic of Venice is willing to pay for the lease, I'll agree immediately. The Knights need a lot of money to build the castle, and I'm desperately short of it!" Thomas said angrily. "Do you know how risky this expedition is? It's a complete gamble!"

"Ah? Haha...haha..." Lucas laughed, "Maybe he thought you would offer too high a price."

"In order to eliminate this risk, it would be better to severely suppress the Knights, so that they can be used for free at a low cost."

Thomas suddenly remembered that this was what the Venetians seemed to be like.

In the previous life, the Byzantine Empire was tortured to the point of dying.

As a result, Constantinople was captured and the Venetians lost everything.

This is an innate bad habit, and I guess the Venetians will never be able to change it until they die.

"I searched your camp and salvaged the wreckage of the shipwreck, finding some securities and documents," Thomas said. "Did you eat up the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce?"

"That's a great word to use." Lucas was unusually animated at this moment, his once-dead eyes now gleaming with life. It was like the first time he and Thomas met. "I just finished..."

"Where are the fortunes of those from the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce?"

"I converted part of it into Venetian government bonds... I think you've already got it. I've deposited the rest in Constantinople. I can give you a signed document, and you can send someone to pick it up. It's not a lot, really, only about three or five hundred thousand. They have connections with a lot of pirates, and they've made way more money than they should have!"

Thomas went out and returned a few minutes later with paper and pen.

Lucas actually started writing the document, and the chains attached to the shackles on his arms rattled.

Quickly, he finished writing the document and threw it to Thomas.

"You don't seem afraid of death." Thomas took the document and read it. This really wasn't a trick. Although Thomas was mentally prepared, the other party didn't seem to have any such intentions.

"Actually, at that time..." Lucas said, "I used abilities I shouldn't have used."

"what?"

"I have a magical tattoo... a technique, uh, originating from the Assassins. It relies on life force to forcibly drive the magic, but the cost is that my life force will be depleted in a short period of time. I must return to Venice as quickly as possible to recover... but now it's too late," Lucas said. "Besides, even if I used its power, I couldn't defeat you."

Thomas remembered that when the two sides were fighting, feather-like blood-red patterns appeared on the opponent's body... That should be some kind of magic tattoo.

At the time, I thought it looked a bit sinister. Facts have proven that it is indeed not a good thing.

No wonder, even though he didn't torture or abuse him during this time, Lucas's condition was terrible.

There is a sign of a last gasp at the moment.

"Besides, it won't be long before you, Grand Commander, come to see me." Lucas chuckled.

"What did you say?" Thomas was stunned.

"The Wolf God is coming!" Lucas said. "If we're unlucky, he'll come at the beginning of winter. If we're lucky, he'll come tomorrow at the beginning of spring."

The author says:

Author's words: I may be traveling far away tomorrow, so I will update one more chapter today.

Chapter 187: Eradication 9

"Captain, do you think the Governor-General would accept such a loss and do nothing?" Lucas asked. "So the only answer is that there's a ready-made solution, and he doesn't need to do anything!"

"It's just a team of spies. What kind of loss is that?"

"The Governor's powers are not as great as you think. This is already a great loss."

"Tsk, you said the Wolf God was coming, wouldn't I hide?"

"You could hide before. But now..." Lucas smiled again. "Someone will give them the information."

Thomas uttered a small curse.

"I can leave by boat," Thomas said. In the vast ocean, who could find a boat?

"Let's not talk about the possibility of using prophecy to locate someone... Grand Master, you can certainly leave, but what about Rhodes Island? I mean the people there. Don't even think you can abandon them. No matter how powerful you are, or how strong the Knights' execution is, where can you go? Smyrna?"

"This one……"

"And if you escape alone, he can kill everyone in Rhodes Island!" Lucas chuckled again. "Grandmaster, can you accept this?"

"I……"

"And Smyrna!" Lucas added another chip. "Same reason."

Thomas was speechless for a moment.

"Besides, I can even imagine what the Wolf God would do," Lucas said with a smile. "He would send a letter in advance to tell you when he would arrive. And then ask you to wait for him here."

"I don't believe it!" But as soon as he said it, Thomas realized that he was wrong.

this is possible!

The Wolf God might indeed do this, because even if he missed, he could still achieve a certain effect.

"But... if he's so powerful... why do you think I'll just sit here and wait for death? Don't think I don't know his weaknesses. The Holy See has investigated him. While his body is formidable, his mind is fragile. If the battle lasts even a little longer, he'll lose his rationality... and judging by the current situation, his remaining rationality will only last him two or three more times. After two or three missed attacks, the Wolf God will no longer be a threat."

A beast that has lost its intelligence and only has instincts left is not difficult to deal with. If you really can't help it, just leave it there and leave it alone.

"Can the Knights... withstand two or three ordeals?" Lucas interrupted him.

"Or are you the kind of person who would allow your men to be slaughtered and killed just to save your own life?"

Thomas sneered a few times but said nothing.

"You know me well...how many times have we met?"

"If you were just an elite warrior, that would be one thing. But if you admit to being a protector of the country... that's another matter. So I'm sure you won't flee. You'll fight."

"A Protector created through divine inspiration and one achieved through rigorous self-training... those are two completely different things. Although I'm not a Protector, I know full well that only when one possesses character, talent, courage, wisdom... all of these exceptional qualities can one become a Protector. You possess neither courage nor confidence. Plus, with the divine weapon in hand... I simply don't believe you'd retreat before the battle, voluntarily giving up."

"Heh..." Thomas laughed.

He really didn't plan to escape.

Although the Pope asked him to retreat voluntarily, Thomas actually did not want to do so.

After all, he actually wanted to see the power of a quasi-god.

Especially a quasi-god whose strengths and weaknesses are equally obvious.

Besides, Thomas knew he had a way out—he had mastered the sixth level of magic, which could trigger instant teleportation.

"Captain, be careful... I've received a secret message from a source," Lucas said. "The Star-Moon Sword isn't as simple as it appears..."

Thomas looked at the other person with a little confusion.

"It's just a religious sect that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Although it has developed very well recently, it is probably accidental."

Thomas speculated that the Star-Moon Sword had relied on luck to recruit the Wolf God. With this powerful weapon, they were able to rapidly expand their power... Was that the case?

If he really had some ability, he wouldn't have needed to lie dormant for hundreds of years.

"Oh, it seems so, but it's definitely not that simple..." Lucas said. "Also... this may be different than you think. Tell me, why were they able to subdue the Wolf God?"

"Use some kind of magic..." Thomas thought for a moment. "Restore his sanity? Maintain his mental state?"

"Maybe not?"

“What’s that?” Thomas asked.

Unfortunately, as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he was shocked to see that Lucas had slowly closed his eyes while speaking, his breathing gradually became weaker, and then stopped.

The surface of his body also stopped moving, and the vitality of life quietly faded away.

Apparently this was the price he paid for using the magic tattoo. After holding on for so long, he was clearly exhausted.

"Wolf God...?" Thomas calmed down and thought carefully about the last information the other party gave him before his death.

Now that the Knights have solved the most important financial problem, the next thing to face is the threat of the Crescent Moon Cultists.

In other words, the Wolf God is his future enemy.

This enemy is very strong, incredibly strong.

However, he was not afraid. Instead, he felt a little excited because he had a strong enemy to fight.

Most people who practice martial arts are like this.

Since becoming the Protector of the Nation, Thomas hadn't encountered a single enemy worthy of his match. Sometimes, he felt the urge to show off his skills.

Coming back to his senses, he double-checked that Lucas was dead.

Both the spiritual field and the visual sense told him that it was a corpse.

He casually drew his sword and stabbed it into Lucas' chest.

A small amount of dark red viscous blood flowed out.

After doing this, the other party didn't move at all, so Thomas turned and left.

He walked to the prison gate and looked at the guards. "He's dead," Thomas said. "Bury him... not in a public cemetery, but with the utmost respect. Treat him as a guest of the Order."

"Yes." The guard responded immediately.

Thomas came out of the prison and made his way to the port.

The docks were bustling with activity, just as they had been when he had returned from the raid on Tobruk.

The expeditionary force has returned to Rhodes Island, bringing back countless spoils.

Relying on advanced freshwater preservation technology and soilless bean sprouting methods, as well as an advisor who could predict the weather, the expeditionary force did not encounter too many dangers on their return voyage.

Although the Portuguese had not arrived when Thomas set out to return to Rhodes, as all humans would do, after realizing that a big pie had really fallen on their heads, the Portuguese acted swiftly and quickly.

They quickly organized their forces, came to Ceuta, and took over Ceuta from the Knights.

Everyone also reached a friendly mutual assistance agreement and sent the agreement to Rome for notarization.

Well-informed businessmen had already heard the news and came here, wanting to share some of the benefits of this victory.

It was a perfect ending to this great expedition.

Chapter 188 Old Records

After standing on the dock for several minutes, a voice came from behind me.

"Grand Commander!" A voice sounded. Thomas turned around and saw Knight Andrea.

"Grand Commander, Lord Pierre has sent a letter." Andrea said.

"Ah... didn't he just leave a few days ago?" Thomas was a little surprised. "I guess he hasn't returned to the Holy Land yet... Does he have anything to say?"

"He hopes you'll go over early so he can show you the hospitality of a good host."

Tch…Thomas uttered a disdainful syllable.

Thomas got the lion's share of the spoils from the joint robbery by the two knights.

There was no other way. Building, maintaining, and operating ships required money, and Thomas was desperately short of it. On the other hand, while Pierre was also short of money (no one in the world was short of money, whether in his past life or this one), his need was clearly less pressing than Thomas's.

There must be a price to pay for getting the lion's share of the spoils.

As a price, or in order to further promote the friendly cooperation between the two knightly orders, he had to go to the Holy Land in late autumn to help fight the war.

The Knights Templar planned to launch a series of counterattacks during the winter to retake some of the lost territory.

In fact, the battle does not require the pitifully small Marine Corps of the Knights of Rhodes Island. What is really important are the two artifacts.

To put it bluntly, Captain Thomas sold himself for money!

Pierre wrote this letter because he was worried that Thomas would go back on his word.

After reading the letter briefly, Thomas sighed.

But after dealing with the Venetian affairs, he will have to prepare for the next step.

"Andrea, how much money can we get here?" Thomas suddenly asked.

"Grand Commander, I have found a few people from Smyrna. According to their calculations, we can piece together two million florins!" Andrea still feels incredible about this matter.