On the Place de la Saint-Russell, the sounds of flutes, violins, accordions, and lyres are interlaced or overlapped, melodious and scattered. The steam-spewing train travels through the crowded square, surrounded by flying white doves, along the tracks to the back of the church, to the interior of the church of St. Russell.

The huge and intricate gears and levers are arranged in a special pattern, which seems to be chaotic and rough, but it gives people a sense of divine majesty.

This is the headquarters and temple of the Steam Church, a place that is favored by the gods!

With the sound of a melodious whistle, the train slowly enters the station and stops at the platform inside the church of Saint-Rosell.

Archbishop, dressed in a white priest's robe and clergy cap, Horamick Haydn, who had been waiting on the platform for a long time, looked at the three embers who had stepped off the train, and had a gentle and kind smile on his face:

"Lord Ash, Miss Audrey, please come with me, someone wants to see you."

"Who?" Ember asked as he looked at Horamic calmly.

Horamik's face was solemn, and he said solemnly:

"It's the crown of the great sage."

"Great Sage." Audrey chewed the word carefully in her mind.

Within every major church, there will be a 'Triple Coronator'.

In the Church of the Storm, the Triple Crowned One is the Pope;

In the Church of the Night, the Triple Crowner is the Pope;

And in the Church of the God of War in the Vosak Empire, the Triple Crowner is the Patriarch;

In the Church of the 'God of Artisans' more than a hundred years ago, its triple crowner was also the Pope. However, when it was renamed the 'Church of the Gods of Steam and Machines', its Triple Crowned was also changed to the Great Sage.

It is also said that this reform was proposed by Russell the Great, who was consul of the Republic of Intis at the time......

The girl's eyes flickered, and she looked at Archbishop Horamik who was leading the way in front of her, revealing a noble lady who was ignorant of the world, and asked curiously:

"Archbishop Horamik, is it true that the legend that the 'Great Sage' was invented by Russell the Great?"

"Yes."

Archbishop Horamik turned his head, without any concealment, and nodded with a smile:

"The Triple Crowner of the Church of Steam was the Pope, but at the strong suggestion of Russell the Great, it was changed to 'The Great Sage', and it continues to this day. In fact, the reforms proposed by Russell the Great were much more than that. ”

After a pause, Archbishop Horamic continued:

"In the complete proposal of Russell the Great, the triple crowned one is the 'Grand Sage'. The archbishop and bishop will be the 'sage', the heart of the machine will be changed to the 'cathar', the deacon will be changed to the 'priest', and the common people will be called the monk......"

"But in the end, this series of reforms did not follow through as Rosell had hoped."

"Why?"

Although there was already a slight guess in her heart, Audrey couldn't help but ask.

"Because it's too complicated."

Horamik shook his head and said regretfully:

In the early days of Russell the Great, he devised a large number of different types of titles and positions, such as sages, genetics, logicians, and forges as high-ranking sages. And even among these four high-level leaders, there will still be subdivisions, such as the sages from high to low, they are the chief hermit, the master of the catechism, the old master of the machine, the acquirer of all things, the elder commander, and the data predator......"

"It's certainly a genius idea, but the size of the Steam Church can't accommodate such a large internal structure. This would make the Steam Church's stealing system too bloated to manage and act effectively. ”

Russell the Great knew this, too, so he didn't insist on carrying it all out. Only some of them remained, such as the Triple Crowned 'Great Sage', who was also a sage himself. ”

Of course, the original of the complete conception left by Russell the Great is still preserved in the church of St. Russell. Perhaps one day, the Church of Steam will be able to carry out this series of reforms, as Russell the Great envisioned. ”

Audrey bowed her head silently, as if she had realized.

There are many speculations about the Steam Church and Russell the Great, and the most mainstream is that Russell the Great and the Steam Church parted ways for some reason.

Even Audrey originally thought that the reason why the Steam Church did not implement the reforms of Russell the Great was because of the stiffness of the relationship between the two sides.

But Audrey also knows that if the relationship between Russell the Great and the Steam Church is really that bad, the Steam Church will inevitably try its best to erase the traces of Russell the Great in the history of the Steam Church and deny his contributions. But the Steam Church apparently didn't, and even its sanctuary continued to be dubbed 'Russell'.

And judging from the words of Archbishop Horamik, even in the latter part of Russell's life, the relationship between the Steam Church and Russell the Great seems to be far less bad than outsiders suspected.

But even so, it is difficult to deny the fact that the rebellion of Russell the Great in the late period is a fact. Although the relationship between the Steam Church and Russell the Great is not bad, it can be seen from the fact that they did not help in the end, and Russell the Great may have done something that they could not accept.

Audrey followed Ember and followed Archbishop Horamik through the corridor, flanked by large, brightly colored murals painted on the walls. The frescoes tell the story of the miracle of the 'God of Steam and Machines', the contribution of the Popes and the Great Sages to the Church. Audrey even saw a mural related to Russell the Great on it......

Finally, they came to the huge door tens of meters high, to the most sacred and magnificent temple of the Steam Church.

The great sage of the Steam Church, right among them!

Horamik stopped, still with a kind and gentle smile on his face:

"Your Excellency Ash, you must walk the rest of the road on your own, and I will wait here for you to come back."

The only thing the great sage wanted to see was Ember.

Audrey was obviously aware of this, stepped forward, and said softly:

"I'll wait for you here."

Thundered!

The huge door tens of meters high slowly opened with the sound of gears, and Audrey subconsciously raised her head and looked at the more than 100-meter-high dome inside the giant hall, and deeply realized her own insignificance.

With the roar of gears, Ember stepped into the temple, which symbolized the holiest place of the Vapor Cult.

The giant pillars on both sides, which are more than 100 meters high, seem to be waiting for a welcome in the middle of the road, and the gears on them are constantly running, tirelessly pushing the levers over and over again, as if playing a symphony of welcome.

Rumble!

The door behind him suddenly closed with a loud noise.

But Ember didn't answer, he just walked towards the high platform in front of the temple.

On the high platform, a figure seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

It is said to be a human figure, but it is not a person, but a puppet made up of countless gears, screws, chains, bearings, and other mechanical parts. He had the appearance of a human being, but only in appearance. Ember had seen dolls made by Horamik, but the dolls he made were often covered with a layer of 'human skin' on the outside, making the dolls look closer to the original body.

However, the puppet in front of me has obviously not undergone a similar 'transformation', but has taken on a completely primitive appearance. His mechanical head wore a triple crown encrusted with sapphires, emeralds, and other gemstones, a bright red papal robe, and a scepter of strange shape, also composed of mechanical parts.

And these are the standard three-piece sets of the Triple Crowner of the Orthodox Church!

Trample! Trample!

Ember approached step by step, and finally stopped three meters in front of him, and asked politely:

"The Great Sage?"

The puppet bowed slightly, and his head, made of massive mechanical parts, seemed to be as kind as possible, but in the end it was a slightly terrifying and hideous smile.

With this eerie smile, he took the initiative to walk down the steps, came to the embers, and introduced himself with a smile:

"First meeting, Your Excellency Ash, I am the Great Sage Kaul, Belisarius Kaur."

His voice was stiff, unemotional, not unlike the mechanical sound Ember had imagined.

"Great Sage Kaul?"

Ember's expression was a little more strange, and Leng Buding suddenly asked:

"What is your relationship with Russell the Great?"

Kaul's face showed a strange and complicated expression, and he sighed softly:

He ...... Sort of me as my friend, my name is related to him. ”

After a pause, Kaul spoke in a slightly nostalgic tone, in his distinctly mechanical voice, without the slightest emotional fluctuation:

"He once told me that one day I would become a great sage. Later in his life, he approached me and said he needed my help and wanted me to forge him an armor that would one day free him from his eternal slumber. ”

"Did you do that?"

Ember asked with interest.

He didn't rush to get down to business, but started talking as if he were a friend.

"Of course."

Kaul's mechanical voice seemed to carry a hint of seriousness:

"I've been building this armor for him for years, but I've been missing something and not living up to expectations."

Kaul shook his head regretfully, as if to calm down, and after a long time asked:

"Do you have any questions?"

Ember didn't hesitate and asked calmly:

"When will I be able to enter the world of painting?"

Kaul apparently expected this, and explained:

"The world of paintings owned by the Steam Church has a strict time limit for opening and entering. The most recent opening is tomorrow at 12 noon, and you can enter it with others after the ceremony for up to a month. After a month, the painting world will automatically teleport everyone out. ”

Ember pondered for a moment, then asked again:

"What's in the world of painting?"

"I don't know."

Kaul shook his head and replied mechanically:

"The world of painting is huge, and even I haven't been able to fully explore it, and I can't know all of its secrets. After all, the world of this painting was in the hands of the Church of Steam for a short time, less than two hundred years. ”

"What you have, it depends on what you need, and you need to find the answer yourself."

Ember frowned slightly, and suddenly asked:

"Did you come out of the Night Church?"

Kaul seemed to be down for a second, shook his head, and said:

"No, I did have some contact with the Church of the Night when I was younger. But I have never been a member of the Church of the Night, nor have I ever believed in the Goddess of the Night. ”

After hesitating for a second, Kaul wondered:

"Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing, I just think the way you talk is a lot like them."

Ember simply answered Kaul's question, though Kaul was still puzzled by the answer.

But Ember is well aware that Kaul is not the same as the Church of the Night.

The Church of the Night clearly knows more information, and has revealed its willingness to tell more than once, but always prefers to be a Riddler.

As for the Steam Church, they may really just just 'not know'.

——

In the Garden of Eden, in the center of the city, there is a magnificent church more than 80 meters high and supported by countless giant columns.

A figure slowly walked through the main entrance of the church, and Leigh saw a large but empty hall. In the depths of the hall, stands a huge cross with a gray-white statue of a dragon entwined around the cross.

In front of the statue of the dragon, there is a long table that is not very large.

At the top of the long table is an old man in a wheelchair.

His name is Bowy Dellaw, the core leader of the Psychological Alchemy Society.

Dellaw looked at the figure who had entered the church, and made a gesture of please with a smile on his face:

"Miss 'Lust', please be seated."

The woman known as Lust wears a black intricate dress and has a tall and outstanding figure, which makes people have no doubt that this is a stunning beauty. But unfortunately, her face is covered with an off-white mask, making it difficult to see her appearance.

On the cold gray mask, the two eyes sink to the middle of the bridge of the nose, as if looking at people from the bottom up, giving people a sense of funny, grotesque and secretly terrifying.

'Lust' sat in her place, looking at Durlaw with a calm expression:

"What do you need me to do?"

Her voice was crisp but cold, but it seemed to add a touch of charm to the invisible. Her movements are simple and direct, just a simple action of pulling out the chair and sitting down, but it seems to have a bewitching charm that makes people sink in, full of charm, so that people who have seen her unconsciously sink into it.

Dellau knew her character, and did not pretend to be deep, but smiled:

"I need your help to kill someone, and this person is in Trier right now. This mask is your reward for this action, plus an additional Tier 1 Seal that you wield. ”

"In charge?"

'Lust' frowned slightly, as if he was a little dissatisfied.

Dellao's expression was a little helpless, and he said with a wry smile:

"You should know that everybody is like that. Although you are nominally in charge, it is no different from belonging to you, is it? ”

'Lust' still frowned, but said no more, just asked:

'Am I acting alone?' Jealousy' is also in Intis, and Delis and Trier are not far apart, can I ask him for help? ”

Dellaw shook his head and sighed:

"Unfortunately, no, 'Jealousy' is currently on another mission, and this time it's up to you to do it alone. And,"

Dellaw paused for a second, took a deep look at 'Lust', and smiled:

"With your abilities, I don't think it should be difficult for you, right?"

'Lust' was silent for a moment, then asked softly:

"Where is he?"

"The Church of Steam."

The corners of Dellaw's mouth rose slightly, "His name is Ash Black." ”

'Lust' was silent for a long time, and then said softly:

"This mask is not for me, I'm going to be 'jealous'."

Dellaw's face did not change, and he smiled and nodded:

"I'll convince him, after you've completed your mission."

(End of chapter)