The villain's way to tame the protagonist

Anser, who was comforting Xitana, actually showed a somewhat affirmative look to Ji:

"A very crazy ideal, a very great...ambition."

Considering the church's goal of finding a world without ether, it is self-evident where this ether will be used.

"This ship, with the Saint at its core, will aim to find such a world. Once it reaches that paradise, this tower will play its final role - to completely transform that world into one suitable for mortals to live in, so that they no longer have to live in a narrow tower, and can truly live with dignity, no longer like livestock."

This is... the ultimate goal of the church, the paradise and heaven they seek for mortals.

The energy that spans the world is extremely important, but what really accounts for the majority is the ether that transforms the living environment of the entire world. The church has obviously studied this for a very long time and has absolute confidence in it.

Ji stroked the pendant in his hand, and the image of the Ouroboros was reflected in his old eyes.

"Soon after the final plan was finalized, I was born and became the youngest bishop in history. I also became... the most suitable, first executor."

The core of this plan is only one thing - the death of the emperor.

Only when the emperor dies can they make a move on the Tower of Wild Flame; only when the emperor dies will they have the opportunity to interfere in the empire on a large scale.

So Ji is just the first one, there will be a second one, a third one... What Ji has to do is actually just to lay the groundwork and prepare for the successors, but he didn't expect that Effisand would just "go away" like that.

No one expected it, not even the church, otherwise they wouldn't have been so hasty.

"I'm curious about how you convinced our Emperor to hide her identity as a bishop and work in the empire." Anser looked at him with interest. "She was still wise and brave at that time, wasn't she?"

"Because of his wisdom and bravery, he is confident that he can easily tame the foolish believers on the other side of the continent. No matter how firm his faith is, he will eventually become a citizen of the empire."

Ji looked at his fingers. The rings that originally symbolized his status as a grand duke had been taken off, but he seemed to see the marks of the rings engraved on his fingers in a trance.

"There were indeed many times when I thought... that I was really an Imperial," he said.

"But that's just what I thought." Anser's eyes were filled with regret, "Otherwise you wouldn't be wearing this outfit."

A pure black robe, the black-robed bishop of the church, this is the only identity he has that Ji recognizes.

The white robe symbolizes God's kindness and gentleness, spreading God's grace and glory to the world; the black robe symbolizes God's majesty and wrath, bringing God's condemnation and punishment to the sinners.

In essence, these are different means required for ruling, and the bishops know that this is just a formality, but in the past 800 years...how many of them have really worshipped the ideals of their ancestors as they worshipped gods?

If the pioneers and the original bishops saw the choices they made today, would they be relieved, outraged, or helpless?

"So so many innocent people should be torn to pieces by the aftermath of the ether flow, so many innocent people should be frozen to death in the wasteland of the north?"

Not only did they not trust Anser, they also knew that Anser would never agree to them doing these things in the North, so they had to provide cover, there had to be something to divert Anser's attention at all times, there had to be chaos, there had to be... war.

"Sacrifice, haha... another sacrifice."

Xitana no longer felt angry. She just felt it was ridiculous and... pathetic.

The girl looked at Mu sarcastically: "As expected of the founder of the revolutionary army, you are exactly the same."

Everything was clearly going on in an orderly manner, and there was an absolutely powerful trump card that could force Ansher to make concessions. But now, facing Sitana, who did not show any signs of extremism, and who had devoted a hundred years of her life to the entire plan, the uneasiness in his heart became more and more intense.

This uneasiness urged him to make a decision and ask the final question to change Xitana's mind - although he knew that now was not the best time and perhaps he could delay it a little longer, this impulse still urged Ji to speak.

"You... don't really think from the perspective of a superior, Lord Lance."

From this passage on, Ji knew that he had entered the countdown to his expected death.

“Those who truly stand at a high point and have a macro perspective are destined to ignore small things. It’s not that we don’t want to see them, but because they are obscured by greater goals. This is not a sacrifice, but a necessity.”

Hitana had no reaction to this. She had heard too much bullshit like this. She always had only one choice to deal with people who said such things, and that was to kill them.

Since they can use their own grandeur to crush tiny dust, she will let this group of people know who is grandeur and who is dust in front of her.

But Ji suddenly changed the subject: "But I know you don't understand and are not interested in understanding such words."

"You know, I used to be like this, too."

"..."

"I became a bishop at the age of sixteen and came to the Empire at the age of seventeen. At that time, I was full of ambition and wanted to devote all my strength to the church and the long-cherished wishes of the pioneers."

"But after only two years, my first goal changed. The prosperity and luxury of the empire did not blind my eyes, but its chaos and distortion were unbearable for me."

Dormer raised his slightly withered old hand and clenched it, as if recalling the day when he held the staff and became famous in the empire.

"The Emperor at that time was as wise and powerful as His Royal Highness the Regent said, but even so, the empire's problems were still too numerous to breathe. Lord Lance, having read the memories of the pioneers, I know better than most people in the empire how sick the order of the empire is. But at that time... I was still ignorant and wanted to change this land that even the pioneers had to stay away from."

"Because I'm still young." He stared at Xitana's fiery dark red eyes that seemed to be flowing with molten lava, and whispered softly, "Just like you."

"Because Her Majesty at that time was enthusiastic about the empire, I could barely be considered someone who shared the same path as her. I changed the empire, built the empire, and fought for more resources and a higher status with my talent and ability. In just seventeen years, I became a Grand Duke without the support of my family."

Without taking into account the exception of Ming Frositana, Dormer is undoubtedly the top talent. He can become a bishop at the age of sixteen. Even if it does not mean that he has the power of the fifth level at the age of sixteen, it also means that his potential is limitless.

It took only seventeen years for a man with no roots in the empire to become a Grand Duke, which was enough to prove his ability and his... enthusiasm.

Ephisandre was a good emperor in the early days of his reign, and Dormer, who was able to catch her eye and be promoted so quickly, was naturally an upright person.

"So according to the plan, in order to be closer to the Tower of Eternal Raging Flame, I set my fiefdom in the north where no one wants to go, and became neighbors with the Iron Blade Family. The pioneer thought that his road to heaven was a failure, but I don't think so. I think that if one gives up transcendence just because he can't afford the price of embarking on the road to heaven, it is not the failure of the road to heaven, but the failure of the person."

"So I built the Skyfrost Tower. I want to tell the people of this land and even the entire empire... Even if you are not a noble, even if you are born in a humble family, you still have the hope of becoming an extraordinary person."

The old man smiled unconsciously, but was this smile a remembrance of his former high-spirited self, or was it a mockery of the foolish and ignorant boy?

"I have forgotten how many impoverished, humble and miserable extraordinary people I have helped. Most of them love and respect me, and even worship me, but that is only for me.

"At the moment they become extraordinary beings, they may burst into tears, but ten or twenty years later, how many people will still remember themselves shivering in the wind and snow? How many people...will help those who are the same as themselves in the past?"

"Then you also know, Lord Lance."

After the smile, there was a sigh. Dormer sighed: "The Skyfrost Tower is just like the Pioneer's Road to Heaven. Both are failures. If I had succeeded, you wouldn't be standing opposite me now."

Dormer once thought that as long as he provided opportunities, he could bring about change, but he was wrong. When those ordinary people who were once humble and weak completed their identity transformation, and when they spent decades as extraordinary people, everything changed.

The pioneer was not wrong, it was the young man who was wrong.

"In fact, this happened less than twenty years after the establishment of the Skyfrost Tower. No matter how much I pay attention to the atmosphere, it is doomed to be irreversible... Many people said they were tired, many people said they didn't want to continue, and many more people didn't even give me a reason - even though they were the ones who needed help."

Because this is not about the poor being funded and rising to prominence, or officials being promoted and occupying high positions. This is not something that can be simply described by kindness and morality. From ordinary people to extraordinary people... this is already a metamorphosis of species, a leap that makes the gap so huge that the two are no longer subject to the same rules and constraints.

"I was confused for a long time at that time, and finally made a bold decision."

Leng Yu slightly pulled the corner of his mouth, it was more like self-mockery than a smile:

"If the changes don't work, then... start over again."

Thus, the revolutionary army was born under the leadership of Bishop Leng Yu, who was good at inspiring people and unifying thoughts.

"But in fact, I know better than anyone that the revolutionary army can never overthrow the empire. Even before doing this, I took the initiative to report my thoughts to Her Majesty, because I knew she didn't care. She would only find it... interesting."

The old man sighed tiredly: "Your Majesty at that time had already begun to show signs of chaos."

"She did find it interesting, and she promised me that she would let this so-called revolutionary army develop. She was looking forward to seeing how far I could go, and so the New World gradually came to... before the Battle of East Port."

"But I really had high hopes for them at the time. All those who gathered under the banner of the New World were people who truly wanted to bring blood and fire to the empire, people who were truly aware and talented... But they died very quickly, one after another."

Those gray eyes seemed to reflect the scenes of his former friends being annihilated in thunder and beheaded by swords. Those scenes had lost their color in Leng Xi's memory, leaving only pure gray.

“People with ideals will fight for them regardless of their own safety. People who fight for them regardless of their own safety are more likely to die.”

"Their death strengthened the momentum of the new world, attracting more people, more idealists, and more idealists died, attracting more people..."

"But Lord Lance, there are only a limited number of idealists in this world, so the Revolutionary Army has become the miserable state you see, because more and more people have gathered under this banner, but among them...how many of them are my dead friends?"

"Finally." Ji exhaled, his expression gradually relaxed, and his waist unconsciously bent down, like a kind bishop, like a... frail old man.

"In the end, I realized that I couldn't change the empire, and no one could change the empire. All I could do was fulfill my mission."

He looked at Hitana, who had not been shaken by his story from beginning to end and even had a faint sneer on her face, and said with a smile:

"Lord Lance, do you think that I am confessing to you and trying to win your sympathy with my past stories to prove that the church's philosophy is correct?"

"What else?" Xitana looked at him coldly, "Are you trying to tell me that you have lived for more than a hundred years and have done nothing but stir up trouble everywhere?"

Ji laughed loudly: "You are right. At least so far, my life has indeed been a failure. The so-called changes I wanted to achieve are just illusions."

"But that's not what I want to tell you, Lord Lance."

The smile on the old man's face disappeared, and he said seriously - even more seriously than when he told Xitana about the church's plan:

"I am not afraid of failure, Lord Lance. Please don't think that failure has made me change my mind. My beliefs cannot be shaken by failure."

Xitana frowned somewhat unnaturally: "Then why do you say that you failed here and there?"

"Because of time."

Ji looked at the wrinkles and fine lines on his palm and replied softly:

"Because I'm not getting any younger."

"Lord Lance, at this point, I will no longer argue about who is right and who is wrong, because I know that will not convince you. But I hope you can understand that right and wrong, winning and losing, can only be decided in a moment."

"I didn't change my mind because of failure. For a long, long time, even if I hit a wall again and again, I would continue. I chose to give up and return to my mission just because one day I suddenly realized that this is what I should do, that's all."

Dormer Grey Tower, Leng Salamander, Ji... He has spent hundreds of years with these three identities. Is it only the pain and failure he has endured during these long years that has changed him?

No, it’s more about… the years themselves.

He stared at Xitana, who was gradually losing her hostility. At this moment, he had almost given up his position as a bishop. Like a pure old man who had lost his former arrogance, willfulness and passion, he said to Xitana:

"Time changes everything, including people's hearts and ourselves. When I was sixteen, I couldn't imagine why I would be able to mingle with the Grand Duke seventeen years later. When I became the Grand Duke, I couldn't imagine why I would give up maintaining the balance of the Skyfrost Tower. When I built a new world, I couldn't imagine why this organization, which I had poured so much effort into, would end up being just a tool to cause chaos."

"It's just time, Lord Lance, it's just time."

It was failure, it was pain, it was the environment, it was the admonitions, it was the experience... it was everything that had accumulated over the long years that made Ji suddenly realize one day that it was time to give up.

It made him realize that only the church could change all this, and everything he had wanted to save and change was not worth mentioning.

"Why do you think Bishop Zerui said that forcibly shaping the bishop's consciousness and forcing his soul to become unconscious is the most important part? Why do you think we need to shape the saint into that appearance?"

"The 35th Saint was not deprived of her senses, nor was she educated or restricted in her thoughts and emotions. We directly told her her true mission... This caused her to have too much empathy for mortals. Her compassion for mortals was greater than her persistence in her mission. But there shouldn't be a real god who takes care of mortals meticulously. That's not salvation, that's captivity."

"Lord Lance, it is precisely because Bishop Zerri cannot predict his future self and what future bishops will think that they have to make that choice; it is precisely because the ship will drift in the maze for thousands or even tens of thousands of years that the saint cannot have human emotions."

Time, a power that transcends everything, is not time itself, but everything that is accumulated as time passes.

So, at this moment, Ji asked Xitana a question that could not be interfered with by any external object, and even Anser could not avoid it:

"I am willing to assume that the Regent is right, I am willing to assume that you are right, and I am willing to assume that a truly happy and perfect world will come in the next second."

"But how long can such correctness and happiness last? Supernatural beings and mortals... these two species that fundamentally should not be forcibly mixed together, how long can they live in harmony?"

"How can you and the Regent Prince be sure that your future self...will not betray your present self?"

Anser didn't say anything. He just looked at Xitana's profile quietly, waiting for her answer.

In the North, he had done everything he could to interfere with and change Shetana and make her move in the direction he wanted.

But this is the only issue he... has no control over, because this is the purest reality.

Because in the original future, the Wolf Emperor considered the world in this way.

The emperor who could split mountains and open seas with a wave of his hand knew better than anyone else in the world that she had become an absolute that could not be surpassed, and had become as supreme and absolutely great as the gods.

So she asked herself, in the distant future, can she be sure that she will not become an emperor? Can she continue to maintain that enthusiastic soul in the long time?

She didn't know the answer, so she chose to leave. In order not to leave herself a way out, she even commissioned Ming Furo to make instruments and exiled herself to an unknown area far away from this world.

And now, Hitana has been taught very well by Ansir.

She will seriously think about the issues between the supernatural and the mortal, and will begin to explore the nature and truth of society. She will no longer choose to just listen to Anser's instructions like a silly puppy, but will seriously think about everything she has to face.

With growth, with faith, and with... the shadow of the Wolf Emperor.

She will definitely realize the importance of the issue of loneliness.

This is Ji's trump card before he completely breaks off relations and uses the ultimate deterrent. He knows that if Xitana compromises, then Anser... will most likely compromise as well.

What Anser can do is the same choice he made that day under the moon, wind and snow.

However, at this moment when both sides were so calm yet solemn, a hint of...confusion appeared on Hitana Lancemalos's face.

Her head tilted slowly towards Anther's shoulder, and then touched Anther's head.

"Anser."

Looking at Xitana, Anser, who was a little dazed, came back to his senses: "...What?"

"What does this guy mean?" Miss Wolf's face became more and more confused.

The other two were obviously more confused than her. Even if they had considered their reactions, they could never have imagined that Sitana would be like this.

"What he meant was..." Anser paused, "You and I may not be who we are now in the future, and may not change our current thoughts, current...decisions."

"Ok?"

Miss Wolf tilted her head a little more: "Isn't that normal?"