Realm of Power

In the Port of Hérault under the snowflakes, the long ribbon on the top of the Sky Temple was fluttering in the wind. At the front door of the Sky Temple, ten Sky Cult priest apprentices stood at the door, handing out leaflets promoting the Sky Doctrine to the passing people. , the sound of cheerful fighting, ignorant children playing in the vast square in front of the Sky Temple branch

As for the adults, looking at the grand scene of colorful ribbons flying in front of them, their tense nerves naturally relaxed. Although the war had only passed half a month, the battle that had just wiped out 100,000 people from the Eastern Army of Erault was still in the air. It feels like it has been a long time ago. The bustling caravans coming and going in the Port of Hérault cover up the atmosphere of the war, making it difficult for people to connect with the battlefield of a cruel war.

Although the tragic scene in the Port of Hérault is obvious to all, after all, what ordinary people in the Port of Hérault see are only the traces after the war. The piles of stumps and broken arms that were once difficult to get rid of have long been cleaned up by the imperial army and penetrated into the bottom layer. After the shock, the bloody stains were no longer strange. In this troubled world, who has never seen dead people? Do you still care about looking at the color of human blood? What's more, there is already a busy construction site there. The reconstruction and expansion of the Port of Hérault are absorbing the decadence of hundreds of thousands of refugees in the north of Hérault. Instead, this commercial city, which is about to stand as a super-large port city in the north of Hérault, is under construction. When the time came, there was already a fascinating atmosphere bursting out

The war is finally over. Regardless of whether they are optimistic or pessimistic about the prospects, everyone has the same sentiment. When they arrive at the Port of Hérault under the control of the Empire, their family's lives are probably saved, although the food that the Empire can provide is limited. It's not a lot, but it's enough to keep the family from starving to death, and mixed with the collected wild vegetables and tree bark, it can barely make it through the winter. While the women worked, the men looked at the huge expanding outline of the Port of Hérault and the large tracts of new fields that had just been cultivated outside the Port of Hérault. They talked to each other about how much farmland they could allocate in the spring, hoping to get through early. The empire will review the relocation and get a piece of land of your own earlier.

In the early morning, at the junction of the outermost slum areas, the self-formed black market began to gradually become noisy. When the refugees fled, they still had some valuable belongings and goods with them, and they were all scrounging through the black market. When the family gradually settles down, they have to take care of their face. Most of them are women holding the belongings, hoping to exchange them for something more affordable. The temporary villages formed by these refugees occupy a considerable area outside the Port of Hérault. The area of ​​Luogang was expanded about twenty to thirty miles ago, but these temporary villages composed of refugees have always been fifty or sixty miles in scope.

It is unrealistic for the imperial military to be solely responsible for such a large-scale public security issue. The imperial army is mainly responsible for the defense of several key pass areas. The temporary villages are handed over to mercenaries recruited by the Chamber of Commerce. Each mercenary is responsible for The responsible Kazhai is set up at the entrance of the village to monitor and prevent the refugees from causing chaos. A team of mercenaries patrolled the area. Every Eero refugee who fled carefully made way for them.

Near the north gate of Port Hérault, teams of horse-drawn carriages transporting construction supplies came out through the only opening. In a long line, with rare breaks, the empire almost wiped out the entire Port Hérault Chamber of Commerce. It was rented to haul supplies, and more than 30,000 heavy horses were transported by the Admiralty from the nearby coastline.

Now in the Port of Hérault, in addition to military horses, there are as many as 50,000 to 60,000 horses used for general transportation.

The empire's wealth once again stunned the forces in the nearby South European Barrow region. So many horses were used to build just one port. It is no wonder that when the empire fought against the southern coalition forces in the Istan region, all parties involved were mobilized. The force's cavalry group reached fifteen As many as ten thousand. In the era of cold weapons, the rationing of various materials required by such a large cavalry group was an astronomical figure. It is said that the Southern Allied Forces were defeated by the emperor alone. It is better to say that the Southern Allied Forces mainly relied on infantry combat power. In fact, They were trampled all the way to collapse by these hundreds of thousands of cavalrymen.

And it is said that the empire made another gain in the Zhongbia region in the past few months, destroying a northern grassland royal court, absorbing millions of Zhongbia grassland tribes, and fearing that the strategic materials such as horses would be It’s not surprising that there are more horses, so even the imperial soldiers guarding the entrance to the Port of Hérault only made a cursory inspection of the horse team before letting them go.

But even so, the workload is not as big as usual, but it doesn't matter, the caravan teams recruited from each group gather together. Those who are familiar with each other are still chatting and joking while waiting to pass the door. At this time, would anyone dare to attack the Imperial Port of Hérault? Amidst the commotion, a squad leader of the Imperial Army standing at the door fell on a convoy being inspected. The convoy was under the banner of the Longlan Caravan belonging to the Order State in the city. There were more than a dozen carriages with heavy loads.

Behind them were fifty or sixty mercenaries from the caravan. Most of these mercenaries were young and strong men.

Among these mercenaries were a dozen priests of the Order State wearing flaxen hoods and white robes, with only one pair of eyes exposed. Such attire was the standard equipment of the priests of the Order State, and the Imperial soldiers were not surprised. Logically speaking, there is nothing to pay attention to, but the Imperial Army squad leader frowned slightly.

As an Imperial soldier who came out of a flesh-and-blood battlefield, he instinctively tensed up when he saw these members of the Order State with their faces covered and only their eyes exposed. It was a sense of danger. He was alert. The car was too heavy. It looked like it was made of luxurious and thin fabrics, but the ruts were deeply pressed down. Moreover, he saw a few red blood stains on the car body.

“You guys stop!

The Imperial squad leader shouted sternly, walking towards the carriage of the Longlan caravan. The Imperial soldiers at the door all raised their spears, and Imperial crossbows quickly poked out from the crenels high above the city gate. There was a tense atmosphere. Let the city gate be silent. "Captain Lucas, I am Bai Sith from the Longlan Chamber of Commerce. We met two days ago, why did we forget!"

The leader of the Longlan caravan got out of the car with a smile on his face, followed by several mercenaries. He came up to him with a smile on his face and said with a smile, "We just came from the capital of Ero, and all the people in this car are taught by me." The gift specially given by His Highness the Pope Putamia to the Sky Temple is confidential, and if it is opened without authorization, it will probably cause serious consequences!"

"A gift from His Royal Highness Pope Putamia?"

After hearing the leader's words, Lucas hesitated. The Empire and the Order Army are still in a period of interdependence, especially in the north of Erault. The nominal affiliation is still with the Order Army, and the caravan owner also knows him. , it is indeed the official background of the Order State. Regarding the situation in the Order's country, Lucas is just a squad leader. Who would know that Putamia is now the number one enemy of the Order's country? Otherwise, they would never believe this. Nonsense!

"Captain Lucas, Her Highness Potamia specifically stated that this shipment is extremely important and cannot be opened during the journey. Not even the Order Army has handled it. If Captain Lucas is really suspicious, he can follow us to the Sky Temple. You will know it when you unpack the goods." The sweat on the leader's face fell straight down for some reason. "And you see, in order to ensure the safety of the goods, Her Royal Highness Potamia sent us a dozen Templar guards, which shows the importance of this gift." The leader turned to the dozen or so people behind him and revealed only The man with the eyes said with a solemn expression, "For this shipment, we also lost a brother along the way." "They are the Templars!"

Lucas' eyes paused for a moment on the dozen or so people. No wonder he felt the aura of warriors from above. If they were the most elite Templars in the Order Country, everything would be explained. In order for Lukas to Cass was relieved. Bai Sis came to the dozen people. After talking for a while, he took a silver-white cross coat of arms from one of them. The coat of arms of the Knights Templar. In the last carriage of the convoy, the body of a Templar wearing a white cross is pressed with cloth, with only half of his face exposed. The Templar's shield and sword are placed Both sides of the body were covered in blood, and the pitted marks on the weapons were definitely not added temporarily. They could only appear after many fierce battles.

Seeing the body of the Templar in the carriage, Lucas relaxed his frown and his inner doubts were dispelled.

Although the areas controlled by the empire have security guarantees, most of the northern area of ​​​​Ero is still the territory of the religious army. Due to the great loss of strength, the original hundreds of thousands of religious army are now only 50,000 or 60,000, and in Putamia's Under the order, the control area was greatly reduced. It was no longer able to control such a huge northern part of Hérault, so it was only stationed in some key cities, and the remaining The area is in chaos and bandits are rampant. Without such a large number of mercenary guards, the caravan cannot cross this area at all. The empire has repeatedly asked the religious legion to clear out the bandits on these roads, but now the religious legion has It's because they have too much time to take care of themselves. They still take care of this. This time, even the Templars of the Order Army are dead. It seems that the Order Army still doesn't care!

"Okay, it's just a misunderstanding, let them pass!" Lucas raised his hand, the imperial soldiers retracted their weapons, and the road opened again. The Longlan caravan's convoy slowly passed through the north gate of Erro, and the convoy headed towards He walked slowly in the direction of the Sky Temple. After leaving everyone's sight, the covered horse The curtain of the car was lowered, and the leader of the caravan jumped onto the carriage transporting the corpse. After looking around, he made sure that he could not see it outside. Behind the car, he carefully reached out and pushed a Templar knight disguised as a corpse, his voice trembling. He said, "Lord Diga, everything goes well, the city gate has passed."

"It seems that the empire is just like this. I was afraid that they would recognize it and had to pretend to be a corpse. I didn't expect to pass the city gate so easily. Then I immediately found a secret place and asked the brothers to put on their weapons. Finally, they Let me ask, are you sure that the target is in the Sky Temple?" The Templar pretending to be a corpse sat up. He is a middle-aged man with a rugged appearance and a pair of dazzling eyes. The most unforgettable thing is the bridge of his nose that is taller than ordinary people. It looks like a barb, giving people a cruel and ferocious look. At this moment, the middle-aged man glanced outside the curtain, with a hint of disdain at the corner of his mouth, and took out a piece of white cloth in one hand to wipe the knight's sword.

"It can't be wrong. To make sure, I sent someone to keep an eye on it yesterday. Sure enough, I saw one of Putamia's personal maids appearing in the outer corridor of the Sky Temple. That maid has been in Putamia since she arrived three years ago. She has always been Potamia's most trusted confidant, and according to the latest news we got, Potamia is not in the Order Army, so besides here , Where else could it be?” The leader of the caravan gritted his teeth and said, “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed that this woman Putamia was the mastermind behind the rebellion in the south for ten years. Both of my sons were He died in the southern rebellion. This blood debt must be repaid with blood! There are no combatants in the sky temple, so even if you rush in, you will not be hindered."

"Lord Diga, please!" The leader of the caravan paused with a solemn voice and saluted the Templar Knight with great respect. "If the information is correct, I will kill that woman, even if she It’s His Holiness the Pope! “That Templar looked serious. Su returned the favor and inserted a dagger into his boots. This was the twenty-eighth weapon he had on his body. The convoy turned into a secret alley next to the Sky Temple. The mercenaries following the convoy skillfully blocked it. Stay at the intersection and don't let anyone enter the alley.

Deep in the alley, the braid that was "brushed" on the top of the vehicle's cargo was turned over, revealing a piece of gleaming armor and weapons. A dozen so-called Templars wearing turbans with only their eyes exposed came to the vehicle. Wearing the above weapons and armor on your body, each one is a mobile arsenal. If there are people who are familiar with the internal situation of the Templar Order, their names will be called out. The Hidden Knights

Hidden in the grand ceremony of the Order State is the name of a fallen commander of the Army of God. In order to obtain God's forgiveness, he finally chose to burn himself to illuminate the sky, and eventually became the shadow of God. This is also the case. The identity of the Hidden Knights themselves is that they are a special force in the temple responsible for dealing with traitors and cannot be seen in the light. The shadow army, their number reaches a hundred at most, and there are six or seven poets at the smallest. After each person becomes a shadow army, the previous history and records will be destroyed. They are sinners of God and are the ones who were taught by the church. Reformed felons, they are not Templars, so they do not need to abide by the Templar Code of Conduct.

"Enter from here, go through the long corridor in front and turn right, which is the kitchen of the Sky Temple branch!" The leader of the caravan came to one end of the alley with familiarity, fumbled on a dark black door for a while, and pulled out A black tab comes

"Pop" the wooden door opened, revealing the orange light inside.