My family runs an adventurer's guild.

"...Not to mention, Negan, you bastard, after failing to reconnoiter the ruins, you sent out the highest level of distress signal, forcing us to abandon our mission of hunting down the traitor and come here to clean up your mess!"

The captain of another special unit, the Wind and Flower Codex, also complained, "...What if our nation's heirloom, the Wisdom Crown of the Priestess, can't be retrieved because of this? Can you bear that responsibility, Negan!"

"...I can accept the accusations from the Dark Scripture. But the Wind and Flower Scripture...as far as I know, you Wind and Flower Scripture had already lost track of the traitor Clementine who stole the treasure, and were just aimlessly circling the border, weren't you?"

Commander Negan of the Sunlight Codex, fresh from a crushing defeat at the Great Tomb of Nazarick, said irritably, "...Besides, compared to the mysterious ruins that just appeared, a mere witch princess's crown is nothing! Gentlemen, you have all read the secret scriptures and should understand what this represents—it could be the return of the Eight Greed Kings, the second Demon God Rebellion, the loosening of the seal on an ancient evil, or even a great treasure bestowed upon us by the gods... But whatever this mysterious ruin holds, we must act quickly to prevent the Baharath Empire, the Kingdom of Re-Estize, or even distant alien forces from taking it all away first."

"...So, you're advocating for gathering all the forces here to once again conquer that mysterious ruin inhabited by evil monsters?"

An elderly woman dressed in a silver-white cheongsam frowned and said, "...But if this really is the palace of some demon god, with only the power of the [Wind Flower Holy Scripture] and the [Dark Holy Scripture], and the few remaining troops under your command, Nigan, I'm afraid you might not be able to take it down, right?"

Moreover, if this truly is the descent of a new demon god, then it will be a catastrophe for the entire continent. Humanity from all nations, and even those of other races, should be mobilized to suppress these invaders from other worlds. There is no reason for our nation to suffer the bloodshed alone…”

"...Lord Kerry, we still can't confirm what's inside that ruin! Although the [Sunlight Codex] did fail in their attack on the ruin, the monsters they encountered were just some vampires, gargoyles, and skeleton soldiers. They're still far from the legendary Eight Greed Kings and Demon Gods that ravaged the world. If there hadn't been so many monsters inside, exceeding our expectations, we wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat."

Seeing that the venerable old woman in the cheongsam seemed to be against launching a second attack on the Great Tomb of Nazarick immediately, a flustered Negan immediately argued, "...but with the addition of the forces of the Wind Scripture and the Dark Scripture, we should be able to take control of this ruin."

"...But what if there are even more powerful monsters inside the ruins?"

The elderly woman in the cheongsam named Kerry still seemed somewhat hesitant, "...Moreover, abandoning the original mission without authorization would have serious consequences."

"...Then, let's think about it from another perspective. What if this ruin didn't contain any more powerful monsters, but instead amassed a vast amount of wealth and buried precious artifacts...and because of our hesitation here, these treasures ended up in the hands of other countries or secret organizations? What would the consequences be? This isn't just a matter of a large sum of money; it would affect the balance of power in the entire world!"

Negan still insisted on his idea of ​​a quick victory, "...This ruin stands openly on the vast grassland, visible to everyone, and cannot be kept secret at all! Perhaps some merchants or adventurers have already reported its information to the emperor of the Bahars Empire?"

"...Captain Negan, Lord Kerry, please stop arguing. This matter is far too important for us to decide alone."

After a moment's thought, the captain of the Dark Codex smoothed things over by saying, "...Regarding this ruin and everyone's opinions, I have already reported it to the country using magic. Now, please be patient and wait for the high priests to make their final decision!"

Chapter 134, The Slane Theocracy's Suicidal Decision (Part 1)

Meanwhile, in the capital of the Slane Theocracy, in a heavily guarded secret room.

The nation's supreme rulers have just received breaking intelligence from the Kaz Plains and have convened an emergency meeting in response.

"...I believe you all already know the theme of this meeting!"

The High Priest, seated on the main throne, surveyed the assembled crowd. "...In the northern part of the Kaz Plains, on the border between the Empire and the Kingdom, a ruined palace, emanating an evil aura, suddenly appeared. Commander Negan of the [Sunlight Codex], who first discovered it, abandoned his original mission and launched a probing attack on the ruins, only to be ambushed by the monsters within and suffer heavy losses. Meanwhile, without the cooperation of the [Sunlight Codex], the decoy force's plan to ambush Captain Gazef also failed, and they were utterly defeated by a group of adventurers of unknown origin, suffering more than half their casualties."

Currently, the remnants of the [Wind Flower Codex], [Dark Codex], and [Sunlight Codex] are gathered on the Kaz Plains, awaiting our next instructions. Negan advocates launching the next offensive as soon as possible, while the other two commanders have reservations. Gentlemen, please share your thoughts!

The High Priest's words seemed to completely exclude the remnants of Belius's decoy force from the front-line fighting force.

However, this is indeed the case; in high-level combat battles like conquering ruins, the strength of ordinary soldiers is really not very useful.

"...What on earth is the [Sunshine Ceremony] doing? They actually abandoned their mission without authorization! The entire national strategy has been thrown into disarray!"

High Priestess Sinedin complained with some dissatisfaction, "...What do these frontline troops take orders for? Especially that Negan! Not only did he abandon the mission, but he also ruined the unsuspecting decoy troops! And the [Wind Flower Scripture] and the [Dark Scripture] too, how dare they change their route after just contacting Negan? After this incident is over, we must recall them all and give them a good dressing down!"

"...Why are you being so nitpicky? I don't think the Commander of the [Sunlight Codex] did anything wrong! You're well aware of the seriousness of this new discovery on the Kaz Plains! In the worst-case scenario, this could even mean that the Second Demon God Chaos is imminent!"

Dominic, the Wind High Priest who once came from the Sunlight Scripture, immediately spoke up to defend his old unit, "...Compared to this, whether it's ambushing Gazef, hunting down the traitor who stole the Crown of Wisdom, or even searching for and defeating the Destruction Dragon King, none of these are that important."

"...Not that important anymore? You make it sound so easy! Do you know how many deals and agreements were involved in the plan to ambush Gazef?"

High Priestess Sinedin of the Water snorted resentfully, "...The grand strategy of uniting all mankind against external enemies has been disrupted!"

The attendees from the Church present at the meeting looked rather displeased by this issue, and some even joined in with their complaints.

The reason why the Slane Theocracy plotted to ambush the royalist general, Captain Gazef, of the Kingdom of Ri-Estize was not merely because of a secret deal with the nobles of the Kingdom of Ri-Estize, but because it involved a grand strategy concerning the rise and fall of three nations.

On this vast continent, humanity's sphere of influence is actually quite small, confined to only a corner in the northwest.

There are only five large human nations; the rest are small, weak city-states.

Among them, the Slane Theocracy is the core backbone of human power, responsible for coordinating and arranging various grand strategies for the development of human civilization.

The Bahars Empire, the Dragon Kingdom, and the Holy Kingdom are frontline nations, resisting invasions from various alien races year after year and launching timely counterattacks.

The Kingdom of Ri Yestize, on the other hand, is a human nation established on the safest land. It is regarded by the Slane Theocracy as the rear base of human power and has always done its best to protect it. The Slane Theocracy hopes that the kingdom can use its safe environment and fertile land to increase its population significantly, produce a large number of talents, and cultivate heroes who can fight against other races, so as to continuously supply the front-line countries with resources.

However, the Kingdom of Ri Yestize failed to live up to the protection of the Slane Theocracy. Its comfort and wealth led to its corruption, and it began to decay from within. It showed no intention of providing support to the front-line countries and even repeatedly clashed with the Bahars Empire.

In recent years, a massive criminal organization called "Eight Fingers" has emerged within the Kingdom of Ri Yestize. Relying on the support and protection of the kingdom's high-ranking nobles, it has been producing large quantities of drugs with impunity, not only poisoning the people of its own country but also attempting to dump them into the Empire and the Holy Kingdom...

From the perspective of the Slane Theocracy, this organization is nothing short of a traitor helping alien races destroy humanity!

This shows that the country is beyond saving!

Having reached its limit of tolerance, the Slan Theocracy finally abandoned its protection of the Kingdom of Ri Yestize and instead prepared to support the Bahars Empire in annexing the Kingdom of Ri Yestize. The plan was to use a bloody massacre to purge all corrupt forces from the country and then make fuller use of the Kingdom of Ri Yestize's human and material resources to pursue what the Slan Theocracy considered the "right path"—annihilating alien races and expanding human living space.

Of course, the Slane Theocracy wouldn't work for nothing. In order to gain the Slane Theocracy's support, after annexing the Kingdom of Ri Yestij, which had twice the population of its own, the Bahars Empire would share a lot of power with the priests of the Slane Theocracy within the government system, thus achieving a theocracy-state co-governance.

(Although one is called an Empire and the other a Kingdom, according to the original work, the population of the Bahars Empire is only half that of the Kingdom of Ri Yestize. However, this is not a plot hole, because in medieval Europe, the population of the Holy Roman Empire was also less than that of the Kingdom of France for a long period of time.)

The Slane Theocracy and the Bahars Empire have reached a preliminary consensus on this plan after several rounds of consultations.

The problem is that the Slane Theocracy has always touted itself as the protector of all mankind. Whether it sends troops to attack a human nation or openly supports a human nation in destroying another, it will seriously tarnish the Slane Theocracy's glorious image and shake the country's highest beliefs.

In the view of the high priests, the least costly approach would be to induce internal strife within the Kingdom of Riyestege, then have the Empire and the Theocracy intervene militarily, and finally, through a series of political maneuvers, merge the Empire and the Kingdom in a way that minimizes bloodshed.

To incite internal strife in the Kingdom of Ri Yestize, it is necessary to weaken the royal family's ability to maintain stability and encourage the ambitions of the kingdom's nobles.

Therefore, the Theocracy reached an agreement with the corrupt nobles of the kingdom, who were destined to be purged in the future, to join forces to eliminate the royalist general, Gazef.

This was originally the first step in a huge plan, and there is still a lot of follow-up work to be done, which is currently being planned and prepared.

Who would have thought that this first step would be disrupted by an unexpected situation, how could the high priests who had been working so hard not be furious?

Recommendation: *Poverty Makes Me Capable*

Today I made a deal with a fellow writer from Qidian, [Three and a Half Cups of Cola], and he recommended his new work on Shuke, "Poverty Makes Me Invincible"—a lighthearted and entertaining online game novel where the protagonist transmigrates into a female character as an NPC. It's cute, witty, and a bit cunning.

Introduction

When the salted fish raises its head and begins to gaze at the starry sky, the Age of Space begins.

An Ran had no idea she would time travel until she smashed a monitor with her punch.

I had no idea that I would become an NPC in the game "Night of the Stars", and that I would be female.

A poor girl selling cakes in front of a dungeon?

The organization has decided that you will be the ultimate boss of the [Night of the Stars] 2.0 version!

She once sold cakes at the entrance of a dungeon, and she also led three thousand mechs to storm the royal city. The brilliance of the ancient star field tells of her valiant warrior prowess, and the network of the harmonious city spreads her fame and reputation.

We are no ordinary cake sellers!

Scamming other players, arguing with strangers—poverty makes me capable of anything!

This is Anran's "Night of Stars"!

……

"Even if she's the boss, An Ran is still my wife!"

"Bullshit! An Ran is my wife!"

"Quiet down! You're disturbing my view of my wife!" The guild leader slammed his fist on the table in anger.

Chapter 135, The Slane Theocracy's Suicidal Decision (Part 2)

However, although he was also annoyed by the disruption of the strategic plan, the Supreme High Priest also understood that there was a more important task ahead.

Therefore, when he saw the attendees complaining and grumbling, the High Priest immediately spoke up to stop them in order to maintain order in the meeting.

"...Gentlemen, please calm down. I understand your feelings, but now is not the time to reward merits and punish demerits. I called this meeting not to assign blame! Even if we must hold someone accountable, we must wait until this incident is completely over!"

The High Priest set the agenda for the meeting as follows: "...What has already happened cannot be changed. However, the subsequent actions will also affect the fate of the nation and humanity. Please do not let emotions cloud your judgment—what are your thoughts on how to deal with the mysterious ruins on the Kaz Plains, and on the proposal by Commander Negan of the [Sunlight Codex] to immediately launch a second raid on the ruins?"

"...Immediately launch a second raid on the ruins? Damn it, that bastard Negan, wasn't it enough that he just lost most of the [Sunlight Codex]? Does he want to drag others down with him?" The still resentful High Priestess Sinedin muttered.

No one at the meeting raised any objections to this, not even Dominic, the High Priest of the Wind from the Sunlight Scripture. As a seasoned cunning old fox who had been in the political arena for many years, how could they not see through Negan's little scheme?

The reason why Negan, the commander of the Sunlight Codex, insisted on the various forces on the Katz Plains not withdrawing back to the country, but immediately launching the second raid on the ruins, was largely because: if he didn't do so, he himself would be doomed!

Because he had previously abandoned the mission of "ambushing and killing Captain Gazef" to explore the unknown ruins, and was also defeated by the evil monsters lurking in the ruins, resulting in heavy losses for the [Sunlight Scripture] special forces of the Theocracy's "Six-Colored Scriptures"—currently, even including Negan himself, the entire [Sunlight Scripture] only has ten people left, with more than two-thirds killed or missing, which can be described as extremely tragic.

In contrast, Belius, who partnered with him on the mission of "ambushing and killing Captain Gazef," also suffered a defeat in Karn Village, with almost all of his men lost. However, he was originally part of a decoy force, so it would be normal for him to be defeated or even annihilated.

Moreover, Belius could shift the blame for his defeat at Carne Village onto the Sunlight Codex, who abandoned the mission without notifying allies beforehand—what use would his decoy force be if it had perfectly executed its mission without the Sunlight Codex's cooperation?

Therefore, after his hasty retreat from the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Commander Negan, once he calmed down, became a crazy gambler, desperately wanting to wager all the resources he could find to turn the tide, and even wanting to drag other troops down with him.

If the campaign succeeds, he can make up for his mistakes; even if the campaign fails, he will be able to avoid punishment for the sheer number of people involved.

When everyone has suffered a major defeat, the superior can no longer relentlessly pursue the case of one of the defeated generals.

However, even though they saw through Negan's scheme, the attendees could not outright reject his proposal for a quick attack.

Because Negan's explanation is not fabricated either.

—As Negan stated in his proposal, no one currently knows what is hidden in this evil-smelling ruin.

Even more worrying is that, judging from a series of precedents such as the Six Great Gods, the Eight Desire Kings, the Chaos of the Demon Gods, and the Thirteen Heroes, it seems possible that this ruin contains anything inconceivable and indescribable.

Then, the appearance of such mysterious ruins on the Kaz Plains was indeed impossible to conceal from other forces for long. The Slane Theocracy also could not maintain control over this region for long—compared to the theocracy far to the south, the location of these ruins was significantly closer to the cities of the kingdom and the empire.

If the Slane Theocracy fails to seize the brief opportunity presented by its current (questionable) intelligence advantage and take action quickly, it will be left to watch helplessly as dominance falls into the hands of other powers, and the consequences will be completely unpredictable and unpredictable.

"...This is really troublesome! If this is the descent of a new demon god, then we should prepare for the worst and inform all the countries on the continent, including our nemesis, the elves, dragons, and orcs, to lure them to that ruin to be the first to test the waters."

If this ruin is just a huge treasure trove, then we should act before all other forces, conquer it first, and seize its treasures for ourselves—but this decision is really hard to make! What if we misjudge the situation?

"The Fire High Priestess, Benes, said with a troubled expression, and the other attendees nodded in agreement."

The reason they found the matter difficult was because it happened hastily, there was insufficient information, and they were unable to make an accurate judgment.

"...If this ruin is just a treasure with limited defenses, and we treat it as the hideout of a demon god and announce this information to the whole world, then it's like giving our enemies money and treasures—the kind of secret treasures that can greatly enhance their combat power!"

If this ruin truly harbors a terrifying demon, and we mistake it for treasure and rashly launch an attack, then the units on the front lines risk total annihilation—damn it, how can anyone make this decision?

High Priest Ivan continued, "...Your Excellency, High Priest, could you please repeat Negan's report on that ruin?"

"...Yes, according to Negan's report, the ruins resemble a dilapidated temple, surrounded by low walls. Inside, there are many messy tombstones and gargoyles disguised as statues. When the [Sunlight Codex] attempted to conquer the ruins alone, they encountered a large number of vampires, skeletons, zombies, and gargoyles, and suffered heavy losses before even entering the temple. They had no choice but to retreat urgently."

However, from the beginning to the end of the battle, the enemy only relied on numbers to win, and no extraordinary combat power of the level of a demon god appeared..."

The High Priest replied, "...Therefore, Negan insists that this ruin is likely a treasure left behind by the Eight Greed Kings or beings of equal caliphate, and that the various undead creatures and gargoyles he encountered are the guardians of this treasure. With more troops, it is possible to conquer it successfully."

Chapter 136, The Slane Theocracy's Suicidal Decision (Part 2)

"...That Nigan guy is really something... Just because he didn't encounter a demon god in the battle, does that prove there really isn't a demon god in the ruins?"

High Priestess Sinedin of the Water scoffed, "...He couldn't even break into the interior of the ruins!"

"...But what if there really is no demon god in the ruins, only treasure, and the defensive forces are only what he saw?"

High Priest Dominic immediately retorted, "...Once the news leaks out, putting aside the long-standing corrupt and weak Kingdom of Ri Yestize, the Bahars Empire to the north should have enough power to break through the resistance that Negan encountered before and seize everything in this ruin."

"At that time, that bloodthirsty emperor will possess even greater wealth and more formidable power. Will he still cooperate with us then?"

Everyone present wore solemn expressions upon hearing the potential suggestion raised by High Priest Dominic of the Wind.

The Bahars Empire, located north of the Kaz Plains, has a relatively small population. However, under the diligent rule of the Blood Emperor Gilkenif (Gil for short), its growing national strength and military power are evident to all across the continent.

Under this emperor's command, there was not only the most powerful magician in all of humanity, Fruda, but also many other famous and powerful figures serving him.

More importantly, the ruins were located in the northern part of the Kaz Plain, near the imperial border, not far from the Bahars Empire's border garrison. Compared to the Slane Theocracy, which had to cross the entire Kaz Plain to reach the ruins and could only deploy small elite units, the Bahars Empire could easily deploy an army of tens of thousands to launch a large-scale conquest of the ruins.

In other words, if the defensive strength of that ruin was truly only as weak as that encountered by the [Sunlight Codex], and if [Blood Emperor] Jill acted immediately after receiving the news, then the Bahars Empire would indeed have a good chance of successfully conquering the ruin first.

"...If the Blood Emperor gets the treasures in the ruins, it's not too bad. After all, the Blood Emperor is an outstanding figure among humans. But what if the treasures are obtained by a different race or some evil organization? For example, the Platinum Dragon King of the Argrand Council? Or our old enemy who has fought us for hundreds of years, the Elf King who is determined to 'spread his seed across the world'?"

High Priest Ivan of Light said, "...The Kaz Plains are not far from the Elf King's kingdom. Although the Kingdom of Argrand is further away, with the Platinum Dragon King's flying ability, flying across the entire Kingdom of Ri-Estize to reach there is not a difficult matter..."

"...Even the Kingdom of Ri Yestize on the other side of the ruins cannot be ignored! Although the royal family of this country is weak and the nobles are corrupt, there are still a few adamantite-level adventurers. I heard that the descendants of the 'Thirteen Heroes' are living there."

Furthermore, while the underground drug trafficking organization "Eight Fingers" in the Kingdom of Ri Yestize, which engages in rampant drug production and dumping, has committed heinous acts, we must admit that it does indeed have several very powerful members..."

High Priest Dominic of the Wind continued, "...If the mafia gets their hands on the artifact, then there's really no way to explain it."

"...Furthermore, there's that evil organization called [Chiranong], which enjoys manipulating corpses. Although they don't have many high-end combatants, manipulating undead is precisely their forte. If the ruins' defenses are primarily composed of undead, [Chiranong] might be able to easily break through them!"

High Priest Maximilian of Darkness added, "...but we are destined not to be able to keep the news of this ruin a secret for long..."

—In short, as the discussion progressed, the participants seemed increasingly inclined to launch a second attack on the ruins as soon as possible.

"...Wait, are you so sure that the ruins in the northern part of the Kaz Plains contain treasure and not a demon god?"

Upon seeing this, the High Priest of Water, Sinetin, couldn't help but shout, "...What if our judgment is wrong and causes heavy losses to our army?"

"...Your Excellency, High Priest of Water, in matters of war, no one can ever guarantee that they will be victorious in every battle."

High Priest Dominic of the Wind said calmly, "...But, can we choose to flee from battle out of fear of defeat? No, history has already proven that this is absolutely the worst choice! Even the gods will not protect cowards!"

The worst army in the world has never been one composed of poorly equipped peasants, but rather one made up of cowards who dare not fight!