Restart the lab in the Bastion of Disobedience.

To be honest, the idea really surprised Gawain, who looked at Kamel in great surprise: "I remember...... We've emptied several of the labs in the Bastion of Disobedience. ”

"We moved the specimens and most of the equipment that could be moved, but I mean the labs themselves," Carmel explained his thoughts, "There is a divine protection and early warning system in the Fort of Disobedience that is integrated with the building, and it can't be removed, and it's still working. This system uses mysterious 'exotic technology' to protect against the power of the gods, and it has proven its effectiveness when we cut the corpse of the giant deer, Amon, and we can experiment with it inside the protection system. ”

"Will this system interfere with the judgment mechanism of 'divine punishment', resulting in inaccurate final experimental results?" Gawain asked, "What if it shields the perception of the God of Light...... Even if we safely activated the Light Rune in the Fortress of Disobedience, it does not prove that the process is safe in the present world. ”

A voice with a strange resonance came from Kamel's body: "You don't have to worry about this, the protection system has no shielding effect, it only has a protective function. ”

Gao Wen pondered for a moment and nodded slightly: "You are an expert in this area, and I approve of your plan." But there's one last caveat...... The Fortress of Disobedience is located in the Shadow Realm, a world that we can't currently travel freely, and at the moment only a thousand-year-old Gondor Magic Gate can open a passage to the Shadow Realm, and we still haven't figured out how the door suddenly reopened. Therefore, once the connection between the two worlds weakens during the experiment, the Magic Gate collapses, and the experimenters in the Shadow Realm will be trapped inside forever. ”

This is undoubtedly a huge hidden danger, and it has terrible consequences - explorers who are good at taking risks (making death) may have become accustomed to encountering "accidents" such as the collapse of magic doors, time and space turbulence, and ancient seals while exploring magical ruins, and even regard such accidents as some kind of "exciting romance", but for Gawain, everything that cannot be explained by technical means, unknown and uncontrollable must be avoided.

Kamel had obviously thought about this in advance, and he replied quickly: "It's true that we haven't fully analyzed the connection between the Shadow Realm and the current world, but through more than a year of hard work, I have repaired the monitoring system of the 'Shadow Portal' and added an early warning mechanism to it - by monitoring the fluctuations of the Shadow Realm, we can predict the collapse of the Shadow Passage at least an hour in advance, if you have an hour...... At least enough to evacuate people. ”

As a high-level technician who has survived from the ancient Gondor period, Carmel has a different affection for the Fortress of Disobedience than others, and he also understands the technical value of the fortress better, and he has been trying to find a way to excavate valuable technical heritage from the severely damaged fortress, and the study of the ghost portal at the bottom of the fortress is one of the projects he has worked on to this day.

It's a pity that there are not enough high-end talents in the territory at present, and there are very few people who can study with Carmel on projects involving the Fortress of Disobedience.

Hearing Carmel's answer, Gawain exhaled softly: "Since that's the case...... Let's do it, we need to understand the secrets of magic. ”

……

In the Basilica of the Holy Light, in the city of St. Sunil, the elderly pope listens to the latest news from the bishops.

“…… The flames of war have burned into the plains of the Holy Spirit, and the Eastern Legion may break through the defenses of the Kingdom Army before the harvest festival and advance to the area of the giant wood crossing, where a large number of displaced refugees are roaming the plains due to the impact of the war...... It has become increasingly difficult for us to communicate with the Diocese of the East. ”

"In the central, western, and northern parts of the plain of the Spirit, the situation is better, and the frightened populace and the petty nobility are increasingly going to the churches for solace......"

"The activities of the cultists have not decreased, especially in the eastern part of the plains, where the death of all things will occur frequently, coupled with the pressure of injuries and illnesses brought about by the war, the local nobles welcome our priest ranks......"

"This war is lamentable," echoed the voice of Pope St. Ivan III, the aged pope sunk deep in his seat, the light of holiness shining on his compassionate countenance, "infighting, power, profit, but innocent people are drawn into blood...... The outbreak of this war proves that without the guidance of God, people will eventually be trapped in foolishness. ”

After making a conclusion, the old pope raised his head and looked at a tall bishop below: "Bishop Megaul, is the operation to cut off heretics in the central region go well?" ”

"The faith in the central diocese has become more and more pure, and we have defeated several counterattacks organized by the Church of the Gods," said the bishop of Megaul, bowing his head, "and most of them fled to the east, while the rest fled to the mountains and forests of the west, or to the south. ”

"Very well, continue your work," the Pope said with a slight nod, his slightly cloudy gaze sweeping across the Great Hall of Light, "...... We have to steer people on the right path, and this war has served as a warning – that ideological divisions have led people into a whirlpool of power struggles, and that if there had been a united faith, the situation might not have been so aggravated. The church of other gods can't do that, so let's just do it. ”

Veronica Moen, who was standing next to the Pope, glanced slightly away at the old Pope.

"Our influence in the East is very small," the old pope continued, "and despite the centuries we have used, the Loren family still refuses to allow the Church to penetrate too far into the East, especially after the outbreak of war, and the situation in the Eastern Diocese is deteriorating at an accelerated rate...... According to recent information, Edmund Mohn's attitude towards the church was even worse than that of Loren and his sons, and he had begun to publicly expel the church's pastors. ”

Veronica bowed her head slightly, "I regret what Edmund did. ”

"It is not your responsibility, the prince is so preoccupied with profit that he may have lost the most basic judgment," the old pope shook his head, and continued, "in view of the present situation, I think it is time to withdraw the bishopric of the eastern diocese. ”

The Pope's voice fell, and a slight commotion suddenly sounded in the Great Hall of Light.

The bishops looked at each other, and then discussed in a low voice, it was clear that the Pope's decision had even exceeded their expectations, and the Holy Light that lingered around these Bishops also shook with this commotion, and mixed and entangled with the "sea of holy light" rippling on the roof of the Great Hall of Light, making a buzzing sound.

Veronica looked up at the entanglement and turmoil of the light, and then she heard the old pope beside her cough lightly.

The commotion of the Light quickly calmed down and became unified again, and the bishopric's chatter ended, and one of the bishops took a step forward as if as a representative: "Your Majesty, after withdrawing from the Eastern Bishops' Conference...... What else do you have in place? ”

"This war...... is inflicting pain on the innocent," the Pope lowered his eyelids, and the holy light that lingered on his body rose and merged with the sea of holy light on the roof of the Great Hall of Light, which made his every word seem to contain endless power, "Only a unified faith can eliminate these blind and ignorant differences, and for this we need to fight heresy by more direct means...... The Holy Cult Army will join the war. ”

The bishops were in an uproar again, but this time they had been talking for a shorter time, for they had already vaguely anticipated such a development when they heard that the Pope was withdrawing from the Eastern Bishops' Conference.

A bishop with white hair stood up: "Your Majesty, we will support the Kingdom Army?" ”

"The rebels of the East are already enemies of the Light," the old Pope said in a deep and majestic voice, "for the sake of the Lord's cause, it is necessary for us to end our neutrality and join the side of the Kingdom Army. ”

Needles can be heard in the Great Light Hall.

Religious neutrality has been one of the basic rules of the country's functioning since the founding of the Ansu state.

The king's to the king, the pope to the pope, the royal family has no right to direct the operation of the Holy See, and the church cannot influence the rule of the royal family, which is a joint commitment made by the leaders of the pioneer army and the leaders of various churches who have overcome obstacles and worked together to break out of the wasteland after the end of the exploration.

However, this rule is about to be broken - the Holy Light Church, which has the strongest military strength among all sects, will participate in this royal civil war, and the participation of the Holy Church Army means that the Holy See is no longer a completely neutral organization that does not involve royal power.

After that, regardless of the final outcome of this war, the status and influence of the Church in Ansu will be completely changed.

If it had been before the civil war, the Ansu royal family would never have allowed this, even if the Holy Cult Army had entered the war in the name of "supporting the royal family", because it meant that the church was reaching out where it should not be, but in this situation...... The Kingdom Army is showing defeat under the weight of the rebels in the East, and with more unsettling news coming from the south lately, the two regent dukes in Silver Castle and the country's nominal heirs will have no choice.

Veronica stood silently beside St. Ivan III, the expression on her face did not change, and the bishops could not tell her attitude towards this matter from the expression of the "holy princess", nor could they guess whether there was a royal shadow behind this matter, but they could at least confirm one thing:

The royal family is not against all this.

"Your Majesty, your thoughts are far-reaching," said the tall Bishop Megaor, "for the cause of the Lord, it is time for the Holy Army to preach with the sword. ”

Another bishop expressed concern: "But in this way, we will not have time to withdraw the clergy and faithful in the eastern diocese, and we may be liquidated by the rebels in the east." ”

"The withdrawal of the bishopric was accompanied by the evacuation of the ordinary clergy and the missionaries – Edmund Moen was hostile to the Church, and that was the best reason for us to withdraw the clergy," said the old pope quietly, "as for the faithful...... The Lord will care for their souls. ”

……

The meeting in the Great Hall of Light is over.

The bishops left in order, and soon the vast hall was filled with only the elderly St. Ivan III and Veronica Moen, who stood quietly by the papal seat.

After a brief silence, the Pope's old voice reached Veronica's ears: "Veronica, do you also think that the Holy Cult's entry into the war is a challenge to the traditional order of Ansu?" ”

The Holy Princess was silent for two seconds, and then replied indifferently: "This matter is beneficial to both sides - the church will be able to develop further, the kingdom army will have a chance to reverse the decline on the battlefield, and the two regents will make the right judgment." And in my opinion...... Times have changed, and in the face of the changes of the times, the traditional order is not incomprehensible. ”

"Yes, times have changed, and there are new threats in the new era...... But there is more than one threat," the Pope sighed, his tone only sighing, "what is the situation in the South?" ”

"It's foggy."