Gallo Nalo, port of Maruri.

The man walked slowly on the docks, and finally stopped in a corner, looking at the still-sleeping port.

The air was filled with a moist mist, and the sea fog covered every part of the harbor, and everything in view was hazy, but even so, sharp and vicious edges could be seen behind the mist, and they were lined up like mountains.

Unlike the port of Rendona in Invig, there is no such thing as a stranger's hilarity, but an indelible sense of slaughter that has been vaguely agreed upon by the captains.

"It's so cold, it's almost freezing. ”

After the fog, another man followed, and from the vague shadow behind him, he could see that there were many more people standing not far away.

"It's been cold in the early mornings here. ”

The man standing in front replied, he slowly stretched out his hand and gently wiped the railing on the side, and the cold water droplets dripped down one by one, like a light rain.

"It's only going to get colder in the future. After a pause, the man added.

"I know, Currie, but ah...... I think the weather is just one of the problems, it's more about the things that make the captains very uneasy, and in the past few years they were just souvenirs and no one cared about.

But over the years, one by one, they have been reactivated, and although they are a little behind, the sound of the hammers in them is incessant day and night, and they are like resurrected undead, whimpering and roaring, until black smoke rises from the chimney. ”

The man picked up his cigarette and said as he looked at the other side of the harbor, the hideous, sharp phantoms.

Long before it was known as the port of Maruri, it was once known as the Maruri Naval Base, and the docks were filled with warships one after another.

It was through here that Gaul Naro threw a steady stream of troops into the territory of Invig, which decades ago the soldiers had called the banks of the River Styx, and the warships were the ships that carried people across the River Styx, and the soldiers left their homes one by one, and finally died on the land of Invig.

With the defeat of the Glorious War, the devastated Gaulna Lo needed to revive the economy, and at the request of the Invig side, the Maruri Naval Base was disbanded and transformed into the current Maruri Port, with only a small base on the edge of the port, but no one cared about it anymore.

Some of the warships that had not been demolished became museum-like existences, docked in the middle of them, until in recent years, when engineers began to industrialize them, giving everyone a hint of unease.

It was a battlefield where countless lives were buried.

"So you really decided to hold the establishment of the Orthodox Church here?"

The man asked again, he had not been optimistic about this plan, although it was said that the enthronement of the Orthodox Pope in the port of Maruri could be carried out directly through these ships, but such a direct and arrogant act was undoubtedly a direct provocation to the Holy Gospel Papal States.

"Invig has noticed this, do you want to add more enemies?" he was puzzled.

"Increase the enemy?"

The Director of the Iron Law Bureau laughed disdainfully.

"The Holy Evangelical Papal States have always been our enemies, it's just that we haven't found a suitable reason to go to war. ”

Currie said slowly, his face was pale, as if he had been in a dark room for a long time, his skin did not have many wrinkles, making it difficult to tell his age, and his eyes were deeply sunken, like a dark mass that was difficult to peep into.

"I know, but it's too rushed. The man said again.

The establishment of the Rhine League, the hijacking of Ivar...... One thing after another has been concentrated in recent years, like an invisible hand pushing the wheels of history and speeding up its progress.

"Is it all because that guy gave you the courage to speed it all up?" the man asked, as if thinking of something.

"Who do you mean?"

"The guy who called himself the Imam, and Migel, and the monster army they formed. ”

The man walked over to the fence as he spoke, and a faint light had risen behind the hazy mist, and the warm temperature was driving the damp mist little by little.

"This is a terrible army, enough to crush steam technology, is that what gives you the courage to wage a war that will last forever?"

The man asked again, he was Curry's lieutenant.

"Remember the story of the Mad King?"

Currie asked suddenly.

"Mad King, of course I know. ”

The man replied that, as a Gallina narian, it was a story that everyone knew.

The history of Gaulna Lo is inextricably linked to the Evangelical Church, and the faith has completely permeated the land, even saying that in some periods, it was not the king who was in charge of Gaulnalo, but the pope of the Evangelical Church.

Both Currie and the man were evangelical believers, but after joining the Iron Law Bureau, their faith was slowly stripped away and they eventually became like this.

"After all, was the Mad King Orim seduced by the devil, or did he not want to continue to be ruled by faith, and swung his sword at the theocracy?" Currie said, "but it doesn't matter, he failed, he wanted the people to be free of ignorance, but in the end he was killed by the people he wanted to save." ”

"You should know more about this kind of thing than I do, after all, your ancestors were dragon-slaying heroes, aren't they?"

Currie turned his head, looked at his lieutenant, and slowly pronounced his name.

"Cornele Garrel. ”

Cornell was silent, and the story of the Mad King still had a short ending, when Olivier Garrel, the hero who killed the Mad King, became the new king, and his bloodline continues to this day.

"It was your grandfather who recruited me to the Iron Law Bureau, and I remember what he said to me on the first day, when he said that I would die for Gaulnalo, and he asked me if I had the courage to do so?"

Currie stared straight at the end of the mist, the gray sea.

I said that of course I had courage, and he asked me if I had the courage to abandon my faith.

I was young at the time, and the words were like thunder, and I remember what those people called us, they said that Gallinaro was the land of God, and that if the Holy Gospel Papal States were the firstborn sons of God, then we were the second sons of God, and I had always lived with honor, even when I was hungry, to worship the gods of my family.

Little by little, I climbed out of the dark ditch, stood in the light, joined the army, and came to your grandfather after a great deal of hardship, and I felt that my life had reached the most honorable moment, but at this moment he made me turn away from my faith. ”

Currie fell silent, and it was a long time before he spoke slowly.

"It was a difficult process, and I almost broke down, but I succeeded and threw those sacred beliefs into the filthy gutter. ”

"One of the rules of the Iron Law Bureau is that there must be no faith...... You didn't say that, I always thought you were a cold guy from the beginning. Cornell was a little surprised, and only today did he know that Corey was also a fanatic.

"It's a terrible world, people like me who come from the bottom always need something to deceive themselves, such as faith, although poor, but my parents are devout Christians, they don't expect to be changed in this life, they only pray for the blessing of the next life. ”

Currie said slowly.

"Did your father tell you about the rest of Olivier's life? ”

"No ......"

Cornell was a little puzzled, they were still discussing religion and belief just now, but Currie immediately brought the topic to the ancestors.

The hero who killed the Mad King.

"This is the story that your grandfather told me when Olivier sat on the throne of the Mad King...... Guess he reacted?"

Currie looked at his face and smiled meaningfully.

"Reaction?" Cornell thought for a moment, although he was Curry's lieutenant, he hadn't experienced much.

"Having gained honor and power, he should be in ecstasy, from a commoner to a king, looking down on all beings. ”

"Indeed, Olivier was at first what you say, but he has since changed. ”

Currie told a story that Cornell didn't know.

"One day he sat on his throne and looked down at the people, but suddenly he did not feel joy, but on the contrary he felt a fear that he had never felt before, and no one could understand what was going on, and the king became so frightened that he could not sleep every night, and all day he wailed blasphemous words.

In the end he died, killed by his son. ”

Currie paused and asked again.

"Do you know why?"

Cornell shook his head, he didn't know, this history has been forbidden to be mentioned in the royal family for some reason, and the only person who knows about it in his memory is his grandfather, after all, he has always been known in the royal family as a traitor.

Because his son knew what his father was afraid of.

Olivier knew very well that he was not sitting on a throne, but in a shackle, and he suddenly realized that he was not a king at all, but a dog of the Evangelical Church, all the people of Gaulnalo, all the believers, a cute puppy. ”

Currie laughed, but the smile was terrible, and the pale cheeks felt an indescribable chill.

"The Evangelical Church can see Olim as the Mad King, and he can also see the hero Olivier as the Mad King, after all, the devil or something is just a reason, as long as the Evangelical Church gives an order, those pious puppies will bite him to death.

Olivier realizes this, he is just a dog with a crown, but he wants to be a man, he is a hero, but he knows very well that if he shows the slightest disobedience, he will become the next mad king......

Sounds painful, right, he was a man, a hero, but he was forced to live as a dog, and in the end he lived like the walking dead, and then he went crazy. ”

Corneel's expression froze, he knew the Iron Law Bureau's aversion to faith, but he never knew this, he thought that he had only come to be Curry's lieutenant just to inherit the throne in the future, but now he felt that he was in contact with a darker core.

"His son succeeded to the throne, he knew very well that the Garrell family had to be a good dog if they wanted to live, he was not as conflicted as his father, he was a dog wholeheartedly, but in the end, we are human beings, and we always want to stand on our feet in this world, and it was from then on that the seeds of rebellion were planted, and the Iron Law Bureau was established. ”

"Do you remember how your grandfather died?"

Currie asked again.

"...... Killed by my father. Cornele replied with difficulty.

"Yes, father-killing, this is the fine tradition of your Garrell family, but do you know that it was planned by your grandfather?"

Currie added that he was the most trusted man of Cornell's grandfather, and that he knew all the gloom of the Garrel royal family.

"Your grandfather, known as the closest to the Mad King, held a feast, called all the branches of the royal family, and then poisoned them all, so that Garrel's blood was left with yours, and in order to quell his atrocities, your father personally executed him, cut off his head in front of the people, burned his body, threw his ashes into the ocean, and his name became taboo, and was regarded as a disgrace to Garrel. ”

"I know ......"

Cornell's body trembled slightly, a memory he was reluctant to look back on, the biggest shadow of his childhood, he witnessed his grandfather's death, his blood-stained head flashing before his eyes.

"You know, Cornell, everybody's thinking is different, some people like sweet, some like spicy, some want to live as a human being, and some want to be a dog. ”

Corrie reached out and pressed Cornell's chin to force him to look at him, a formidable gaze with a dull stare that was hard to see, as if the soul in it had been traded to the devil.

"Yes, what's wrong with a dog, wearing a funny crown, eating delicious food, holding power, just barking a few times when the master needs it, and the master tells us to start a glorious war, then let's start it, anyway, it's not us who die.

Ah, this kind of life is really perfect, the only price to pay is to get on all fours, but...... But at the end of the day, we're human, aren't we? We're all human, Corneel. ”

Corrie's voice was calm, and the hazy and damp moisture of the sunrise was dissipating, but Cornell didn't feel any warmth, but felt like he was sinking deeper into the ice cellar, his limbs cold and deep into his bone marrow.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the rise of Inlwig has captured most of our attention, there has been a split within the Evangelical Church, the mighty Demon Hunting Order has become history, we have united the Rhine League, and the Orthodox Church is also attacking the faith of the Evangelical Church little by little. ”

Currie grabbed Cornell by the neck, he couldn't breathe, but he didn't dare reach out and slap the arm off.

"Now that your grandfather has killed all the would-be dogs in the royal family, your father has reinvigorated Gaulnalo, and you...... You will lead this great war. ”

"But isn't Orthodoxy another religion, and what is the difference between using it instead of the Evangelical Church?"

Cornell was puzzled, and he spoke with difficulty.

"At least, this time it's my own faith, or rather, this time the tools to manipulate faith are in our own hands. ”

Currie let go of his hand in disappointment.

"Cornell, you're too kind, it's not a virtue. ”

Currie looked to the other side of the harbor, and as the morning sun rose, the cold water vapor was dispersed, and the noise rang out, and the whole harbor woke up.

Countless workers carried their toolboxes and walked as far as the eye could see, there were silent warships one after another, they were produced at the end of the Glorious War, and before they could enter service, the Glorious War ended, but they were not dismantled, but stayed here, like a witness, witnessing the changes in the port of Maruri.

Workers adapted the new technology between the ships to keep up with modern technology, and it didn't take long for the turbines to come into operation with a rumbling sound and black smoke rising from the chimneys.

"But don't worry, you and me, Corneel, I'm a terrible and cruel man, leave those despicable things to me, and I will fulfill your grandfather's commission, and those things I still look forward to.

Yes, don't worry, leave it all to me, no matter how you judge me, whether I am a rebel or a thief or a hero who saves the country, it doesn't matter. ”

Currie looked at the ships with a genuine smile on his face.

"Gallo Nallo and me, me, Curry Ferré. ”