"Unbreakable Alliance? His Excellency Triss spoke brilliantly about the abolition of slavery, and from the development of industry, the circulation of commerce, and the demands of war, he did not persuade the two chambers with his eloquent eloquence, but with visible interests to guide them to support your claims, and he was a veteran statesman, not like a knight of virtue. ”

The chief priest Prager spoke in a slightly mocking tone, but due to Aldrich's "bad" personality, he could only stab him a few words without pain.

"What are slaves? a bunch of things that have no private property, no place to stand, no guarantee of life, and can buy and sell like goods. This kind of system existed in the idyllic past, and the accumulation of stenching decay has long been unable to keep up with the pace of development of the times. ”

Tris met with the local chief priest in his union office, and he used to follow the call to the temple, but now the two sides have completely reversed their positions, of course, the biggest reason is the armored floating ship floating over the docklands.

"As long as the slave system is abolished and the slave subordinates on the West continent are liberated, once they gain personal freedom and property rights, they will become a thriving consumer force in the commercial market with their little savings. Isn't that what the temple of foresight should do to bring about this, rather than obstruct it in the shadows?"

The chief priest of Pragg had a handle in the hands of the Fourth Knight, so he could only swallow his anger and follow his topic: "Your Excellency Tris, there are millions of slaves all over the countries of the West Continent, and the changes in them are too drastic, I am afraid that they will cause continuous social turmoil, and it is not suitable for the current war in the southern principalities......"

On the contrary, political moves to abolish slavery can only succeed when the flames of war are about to burn to the brow, otherwise the conservative slavers will tacitly join forces against us. The stability and even rigidity of the political system in peacetime was itself an obstacle to the abolition of slavery, and vested interests opposed to any change to the existing order, even if it contained substantial benefits, and who would reject reform if it was accompanied by the risk of social unrest. Am I wrong that the diehards on the same side as the slave-holders include the Temple?"

Prager's chief priest looked a little embarrassed, and quickly changed the subject: "You have returned to Eastwood City safely, can the Skyfire be returned to the temple?"

"You don't have the courage to face up to your own flaws! This is also the fatal wound of the upper echelons of the temple that has been solidifying, and you have lacked the mechanism to clean yourself up. Even if you are not one of them, wait until a certain number of years and accumulate enough seniority to enter the core decision-making circle, so you will spontaneously maintain the system. ”

"That's enough!" Prager let out a rare loss of control, a menacing rant as a dark shadow suddenly awoke from its silence in the corner of the scavenger's office.

Aldrich hurriedly calmed down, with his current strength as the Grand Knight of the Eight Virtues, he gradually caught up with and surpassed the original strongest son of war, Marthas, and the ability of the Flying Wing Boots to walk in the air could steadily suppress the red comet, not to mention other means.

"The armored float ship is now unmanned, and the temple can take over completely, and it has no use value for me anyway. ”

Triss pointed his head with the index finger of his right hand, "The basic structure diagram, the new alloy formula, the key floating power plant, the dense element arrangement sequence, and the Nether crystal composition from the core of the floating city in the old era are all recorded here!"

Prager's nose sneered, "So what? With these materials and drawings, you can reproduce the Skyfire? What are you kidding?"

"I can't, but Eastwood City can, and we have an unfathomable Customs Union behind us, and most importantly a nearly complete steam industry. ”

"Let me tell you one thing, since I drove the Tianhuo home, before I took the initiative to contact the Grand Duke's staff, the masters took over the floating ship, and it only took them three hours to complete the survey. As far as I know, there were slight improvements in the infrastructure, as the superficial superfluous devices did not conform to aerodynamics, and the Skyfire and the floating ships built on it had to have a streamlined and smooth hull like a fish swimming in the sea. ”

"Aerodynamics, an emerging discipline that has emerged in recent years, I know that part of it has the influence of classical bionics. ”

Prager's words made Aldrich's eyebrows slightly raised, he did not realize that the upper echelons of the temple were not ignorant of natural subjects.

"Your Excellency the Chief Priest is indeed far-sighted, but it's a pity that a person with a flexible brain like you can't enter the core decision-making level, otherwise he shouldn't have allowed the strange-looking Skyfire to be in charge of the negotiations in the south, I didn't expect the vampires of the Undead Empire to be so stubborn, openly tearing up the agreement and trying to strangle the Knights of the Lucky Fortune Gold Coins, they must have known that the temple did not dare to turn its face. ”

Prager didn't dare to say a word, admitted it in person, didn't have to think about it, denied it flatly, believing that Knight Tris would slap him in the face with evidence.

"Forget it, I don't have the mood or time to intrigue with you, the war in the northern seas is coming to an end, and I still have to deal with huge orders and a swarm of competitors. You can drive away from the Tianhuo, thanks to the blessing of the temple, the sky of the Western Earth Customs Union will not be deserted from now on. ”

At last Aldrich gave him a verbal promise, and the chief priests believed that the decision came from both houses, which had chosen to compromise, as well as from the Grand Duke of Eastwood and the Customs Union standing behind him.

As long as the commercial network throughout the West continent is still in the hands of the temple, then all discordant tones will be calmed down, in other words, the unfathomable strength of the West Earth has no intention of wrestling with the temple.

Personally seeing off the smug chief priest Prager, Aldrich sat down again, quill pen dipped in ink, and calculated the temple's strength.

"The eleven principalities in the south have been lost forever, and the two principalities of Middle-earth have been completely destroyed, which means that the commercial network has shrunk by at least three to four percent. The Three Kingdoms of Beihai have never been the traditional sphere of influence of the temple, and we have only been pioneering in the western region for a hundred years, and the temple has not taken a solid foundation. In other words, as long as the countries of Middle-earth are bulldozed, the temple is almost finished. It is estimated that the vampires of the undead empire in the south are fighting this idea, after all, the highest level of debt is to kill the creditor. ”

Tris continued to write and draw on the paper with a pen: "Five million gold coins, five million equivalent gems, nearly 10 million war start-up funds, this is the largest transaction in history, with the hegemony of the West Continent as a bet, sure enough, only the temple dares to start such a grand gamble." ”

It didn't take long for the Skyfire, which was hovering over the Scavengers' Union, to slowly move away, causing a large number of civilians who did not know the truth to watch, running and chasing the rare alchemical creation of the armored floating ship, until it left the field of vision, and then dispersed with interest.

Burgetta Vane Federi, who had not been relieved of his duties as a Guardian Knight, was the first to come to the Scavengers' Guild, and because of the difficult times they had gone through together, he not only deepened his friendship with President Tris, but also vaguely formed a potential alliance, just like all the members of the Knights of the Lucky Gold Coins, who were forcibly disbanded.

"It's not a big deal! I have placed a secret hand on the Skyfire to ensure that it does not leave my field of vision, and on the contrary, it is to return to the hands of the temple, not only to save their face, but also to secretly open a channel to obtain information about the temple. What exactly it is, about absolute confidentiality, can not be revealed to you. ”

"Can't even I say that?" said Burgetta Vane Federi, grabbing Aldrich's shoulders with both hands, and shaking him vigorously.

"When the time comes, I'll tell you for sure, and you'd better put away your curiosity now. After his expression became serious, the guardian knight of the temple could no longer shake his body.

"The favor of the temple is over, and now there is only a contract transaction, which is the only bond between the two parties, you should not take the initiative to tear it up, I believe that with the wisdom of the priest Prag, the contract will definitely be renewed. ”

Guardian Knight Bogta shook his head, as if to banish the superfluous trivialities, "Now let's get down to business!"

"I'm prepared!" Aldridge said with his left hand, "Please!"

"From a special source, I found out that the Grand Duke is preparing to secretly build an armored floating fleet, and it is said that there is a small amount of your stake in it as a reward for piloting the Skyfire home. Among them are the eldest son of the Grand Duke, the Grand Master of the Cold Mountain Knights, the chief of the Eight Leaves Master, and the senior councilors who are distributed to the Senate in bits and pieces, all of whom are the families of the city founders. It seems that it is not the core layer that is not qualified to be among them at all, as the biggest contributor and a powerful knight, coupled with the trend of the Triss family rising strongly and returning to the political stage, you will definitely be counted. ”

"Well, yes, you can't be Baron Federi! Yes, he and His Excellency Quincy Rodney have been friends for many years, and it is not difficult to know about the floating fleet. Also, what you want to say, I already understand. Doesn't the answer tell you explicitly?"

Aldrich stretched out his right hand, and Burgta, who had not finished speaking, was suddenly overwhelmed by ecstasy, and did not go around the desk, like a lion directly pounced on him, holding Tris's friendship with both hands.

"We are brothers who have gone through difficult times together, and I will never forget them. After Aldridge said this, he was immediately almost hit by a hard hug, and his outstretched hands hesitated for a moment, and in response he hugged Burgetta and patted him lightly on the back.

The turmoil of emotions quickly calmed down, and Triss returned to his seat to tidy up the messy table, Burgtha did not come to help, he had always been careful to do his duty in Aldrich's territory, after all, the entrenched scavengers had too many secrets.

"The Triss family, which has been operating Gushan for nearly a hundred years, the current head of the family has rearranged the sequence of heirs, and you have been promoted to second in the order of the original ten people, and the eldest son of the family is the threshold that cannot be crossed, and may be waiting for a deal. ”

Burgetta whispered Aldrich what he knew, and the Fourth Knight sighed, but did not say anything, and thought to himself: "The rumors of the arrival of the lord in Eastwood City have finally succeeded, and the sweet wine brewed by Victory is waiting for me to raise a glass and drink it." ”

"As far as I know, the direct descendants of the Vigilant Eye's generation are traditional nobles who specialize in knightly cultivation, and you should have a lot of common language. ”

Aldrich put the quill back in the inkwell, "I've got to go to the Lonely Mountain House when I'm done with the trivial business at hand, maybe it's true, as you said, they're waiting for a deal." ”