In the lonely cave, there were still only the hideous and terrifying statues and a white figure.

The white sand is so vast that you can't see the end at a glance.

And the gurgling spring flowing above seems to have no source and no end.

The old man bowed softly to the huge statue, as if to send the Lord away.

It was a long time before he slowly got up.

The white clothes on his body were as smooth as silk, and he was not stained with fine white sand when he got up.

The old man looked up at the hideous statue in front of him, and his cheeks full of furrows looked vaguely rosy at the moment.

Then he bowed his head slightly and stretched out his palm.

The skin on it was as smooth as a baby, and it shone with a radiant glow.

Seeing this, the old man smiled kindly, and then turned and left.

And the place where he was standing was a slight rise of white sand, which seemed to be a few millimeters higher than before.

The old man walked out of the cave, and the setting sun had gradually fallen into the horizon, leaving only a faint red in the western sky.

The twilight erases the sharp outlines of the peaks and softens them, revealing a quiet and somewhat mysterious beauty.

And the night came slowly but surely from the east, and the darkness was engulfing the place little by little.

Then the boundless darkness lifted a waning moon, and the continuous buildings were lit up with a glimmer of light.

Everywhere the old man looks, it is the foundation he has worked hard for.

Seeing this, the smile on his face softened even more, as if looking at his child's parents.

It's almost there.

It's almost there.

The old man thought to himself in his heart, but his gaze was as calm as water.

After the sacrifice with Her Highness the Holy Maiden, the place will become even more prosperous.

When the time comes, by the power of the Lord, everything will be under His control.

What the Duke of Arendelle, what the Ottomans.

In the face of the Lord's strength, these will be like chickens and dogs.

Just as the old man was thinking in his heart, several believers who seemed to have been waiting for a long time stepped forward and said.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, Priestess, has been brought back."

The old man seemed a little surprised when he heard this, and then looked at them with puzzled eyes.

Because he himself had to communicate with the Lord frequently, it was difficult for him to deal with some unexpected situations in a timely manner.

So the old man gave most of the things to others, and he only needed to grasp the direction of the main body.

"The priest has ordered this matter before, let Lord Taigarth take over."

Seeing this, the believers on the side hurriedly explained.

"Then he single-handedly orchestrated the death of the Duke of Arendelle, taking advantage of the civil strife of the Arendelle family to bring back Her Highness the Holy Maiden."

The old man thought carefully that the last time he had indeed entrusted this extremely important matter to the cronies of Taigas.

Originally, the last time he invited Duke Arendelle to join his side failed, he thought he would have to wait a few more years.

Wait until the death of this stubborn duke to have a chance.

But he didn't expect this cronie to move so quickly, and it didn't take long to bring His Royal Highness the Holy Maiden back.

Sure enough, it's his right-hand man.

The smile on the old man's face remained the same, but he seemed to be more pleased.

"Where is Her Highness now?"

"He has been imprisoned in a heavily guarded side hall where Lord Hayden is guarding it."

The old man nodded in satisfaction, since the incident of the Holy Maiden's escape, they had increased their care so that they would not have any more chances.

Several believers were about to leave, but they seemed to think of something.

"By the way, Lord Priest, Lord Taigarth asks when the sacrifice will be held, and it will be convenient for him to make arrangements as soon as possible."

"When is the festival ......?"

The old man's eyebrows raised, and then a trace of doubt appeared in his heart.

"Naturally, the sooner the better, and when the notice is given, the sacrifice can be carried out on a certain day."

Then he turned to the believer in front of him.

"Why didn't Tygas come and tell me about this kind of thing himself?"

The believers looked at each other a few times, but they did not know how to answer, so they had to stand on their own.

The old man frowned slightly when he saw this, and immediately asked them to call Taigath over.

……

It didn't take long for Christine, who was still in the room, to receive the message.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, because it meant that she was most likely showing her feet.

That's why the priest was suspicious.

But even so, there was not much surprise in Christine's eyes.

Because she had expected it.

Now that he has arrived at this headquarters, even if his identity is revealed, it is not a big deal.

Well, this is the original words that Ji Yan handed over to himself.

As long as they have the necessary need for the Holy Maiden, then even if their identities are revealed, they know that this is likely to be a conspiracy set up by someone else.

Then it is absolutely impossible for them to give up Elsie, at most, the guards will become tighter.

But is this a thing for Ji Yan?

Apparently not.

This is a conspiracy, an upright conspiracy.

As for letting Christine come here, it's just for the convenience of positioning.

The conversation turned back.

Christine also plans to meet the legendary old man after receiving the message from the sacrifice.

After all, in the process of inquiring about himself, he played an extremely important role in this story.

Soon she went out to the place where the old man was.

But on the way, she saw a lot of people who were still receiving things.

There are so many of them that they have not yet been receiving.

It's quite trustworthy.

Christine was a little surprised, but quickly relieved.

After all, if an organization wants to develop, it must be disciplined and do what it says.

It's no wonder it's grown to the extent it is today.

The sound of rustling came from the front, and it was the person who had already received the supplies.

"Alas, the winter has finally passed, and the seeds and food have been obtained."

The man held heavy seeds in his hands, and behind him was a large burlap bag with some dirt and rice husks leaking out.

He looked at them with a satisfied smile.

The woman on the side looked straight at the two bags, as if she was looking at some rare treasure.

Her breathing was slightly rapid, and her eyes glowed green.

But then, as if thinking of something, the green light disappeared and was replaced by a trace of loneliness.

"Now that the seeds are available, the food is gone"

"But, our children ......"

"Ahem, don't say any more."

The man suddenly looked around nervously, and then his eyes saw Christine dressed in white.

Especially when you see the gold-trimmed sleeves on her body.

His body trembled suddenly, and his heartbeat seemed to stop beating at this moment.

But soon the man reacted, swallowed a mouthful of saliva slightly, and quickly showed the same flattering smile on his face as always.

Seeing that the believer didn't seem to have any reaction, he hurriedly beckoned the woman and took the things away.

Walking a short distance, the woman whispered again.

"But isn't that the case...... We're not ......."

"What are you talking nonsense!"

The man stopped, a look of anger on his face, and he was about to fight.

But looking at the woman's pleading look, and thinking that the believer might still be nearby.

So the raised hand froze in the air for a moment.

In the end, the man chose to put it down gently, first carefully placing the seed in his arms, and then holding the woman along with the seed.

Feeling the uneven particles, the woman's complaining face gradually calmed down.

"Be of good cheer, the child is now with the great and loving Lord."

The man said softly, his large, cracked hand gently caressing the woman's dry, yellow hair.

"Our child is so well-behaved, he must be the one who is most beloved by the Lord."

He spoke in a heavy tone, as if he was affirming something.

"He's not going to starve and freeze with us over there, he's not going to be without new clothes."

"Believe he's going to be fine over there......"

The woman seemed to be appeased, and finally stopped talking, just silently bowed her head and followed behind the man.

Christine heard it all from afar, even though they thought they were far away.

But this isn't too much of a problem for occultists.

When she heard the words of these people, she seemed to understand why these people chose to trade their children.

Yes, it's essentially a deal.

The reason why these people are like this is not entirely because of the result of brainwashing, but because of the limitations of the times.

Even if the family can survive this cold winter, it is in spring.

They also had to think about how they would survive the next cold winter.

It just so happened that the Order of the New God came up with a solution.

Here they can exchange food and seeds that can be sown after the beginning of spring.

And two or three-year-old children are also a great burden for themselves, without any ability to work.

So they can only put all their hopes in the future, praying that their lives will be better and better in the future.

At that time, the family can afford one more mouth.

Thinking of this, Christine suddenly sighed.

When he was in exile in his previous life, the seeds that had been improved many times flowed into the entire continent.

So what she saw in exile at that time was not so desperate.

Christine had long heard rumors of people in the old days strangling their born children, but she had not seen them while in exile.

Now that I think about it, this rumor is not a rumor

And at the moment there has not been a single improved seed, so it is not unusual for this kind of trade to occur.

Because this is a time of greater despair, and it is difficult to see the future.

If there were no improved seeds, no population explosion, no ideas blooming......

This will definitely be maintained for a long time under the influence of mysterious forces.

Christine was slightly silent.

The indifferent gaze looked at the crowd that was slowly moving down the mountain, densely packed.

In the dark, the scene is like tiny ants.

Christine doesn't fully sympathize with these poor people who have to do everything they can to survive.

Because she can't do anything now, she won't have superfluous emotions.

The so-called sympathy and help others can only be done if you have the ability to do so.

If you don't have the ability to think like this, it's just futile and even implicates yourself.

But now that she saw it, she seemed to understand how she would take the first step of the organization if she took control of the North in her hands.

Food, population.

But it is bound to be a long process.

However, if you want to maintain law and order for a long time and maintain people's hearts, you have to do this.

After all, in the era to come, even if it is just an ordinary person, there will be a chance to come into contact with mysterious powers.

And this means that mystery will no longer be the privilege of a few.

Coupled with the rapid development of steam technology since then, all kinds of mysterious man-made objects will be transported to the bottom in large quantities.

Let them also enjoy a variety of convenient features.

And these items are far more simple and practical than mysteries, such as communication devices that replace communication stones.

Because the communication ability of the communication stone is far inferior to that of the communication device.

Its distance is often confined to a city of land.

Communication devices, on the other hand, can be connected from several cities.

Even if several communication devices are spread apart, it is possible to have a dialogue between people in one country and people in another.

It's much easier to use than a communication stone.

And most importantly, the cost of communication equipment is extremely low!

Even ordinary working families can afford it.

And with the development and progress of steam technology, there is also the technology applied to weapons.

This also gives ordinary people weapons that can damage warlocks.

To be honest, Christine is surprised by the speed at which steam technology has developed in retrospect.

It's almost the same every year.

In just a few decades, it has developed to an extremely magical degree.

High-rise buildings that reach into the sky, steam trains that don't need rails, and machines that are getting smaller and smaller......

The change was so great that it seemed that overnight, the world had completely changed.

In addition, I heard that there seems to be a combination of electricity and steam in the early days.

It's just that later, Christine began a long retreat because she was promoted to a warlock in the Dawn Realm.

If it weren't for the constant search for people who were spying on her, she probably wouldn't have taken a single step.

After all, the higher the realm of a warlock, the more "homely" a person is.

It is not uncommon to stay in one place for decades or even hundreds of years.

So by the end of the Steam Age, Christine had rarely observed those amazing scenes.

Either on the way to exile, or looking for a place to retreat and meditate.

Only occasionally when supplies are needed will they enter the city.

Then I learned about the degree of development of society from some newspapers.

Christine's thoughts ran away slightly.

But it was quickly regained, because it was useless to think about what I had and didn't have now.

Some things can only be built on a well-established system.

Without the most basic foundation, all this belongs to the whimsy.

Time flies, and Christine, as she makes her way through various buildings, finally arrives at the place where the priest is.

Looking up slightly, it is a magnificent building of pure white.

The architectural style made Christine almost think that she had come to a church in the Holy See.

There was no one at the door, so she stepped straight inside.

The style inside also seems to be completely copied from the style of the Holy See.

And in the center of the hall, there is an old man in white.

The old man turned around and looked at Christine for a long time before asking.

"Who are you?"