Chapter 414 Raven’s Gamble

The voting results are out, 8:11, and the content of Volume will be released next. The planning of Volume will also be written at the same time.

……

Archbishop Thomas looked unhappy.

Having said that, it’s not that he can’t cooperate with Raven to a limited extent, but that doesn’t mean he has to do whatever he wants with Raven:
“Earl Raven…”

“Your Excellency the Archbishop!” Raven interrupted Thomas:
“I know what you want to say, but that’s not the answer I want to hear.”

“The Orc War concerns the future of the Griffith family. I will not allow any unstable factors to appear. I must use all available resources.”

“Either you fully support me or you stand against me. There is no third way.”

Thomas’ cheeks were sticking to his gums, and there was clear anger in his eyes, but he could only hold it in.

With only five years left to live, Thomas had no doubt that Raven was ready to die together with him.

He had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.

Raven looked at Thomas calmly:
“You said before that I only consider the vision of success, that’s because you are the one who is afraid to face failure.”

“If this battle is successful, it will mark the beginning of the Griffith family’s millennial dynasty!”

“If we lose, and are reduced to ashes like countless other families, it would still be a happy ending.”

At this moment, Thomas’ heart was touched.

In the past few years, he has been too concerned about the gains and losses in front of him.

But if we look at history, if he could not become a cardinal, then he would be just one of the thousands of cardinals in history, a name that no one cares about in the corner of history books.

If he gives it his all, he can turn the center around if he wins; if he loses, what else can a 67-year-old man like him lose?

Raven’s voice reached Thomas’ ears again:

“Some people fear me, some people despise me, they call me crazy, shameless, mean, and cunning.”

“But you should know that I have never treated unfairly anyone who supports and follows me.”

“Let the past be the past.”

“I hope that from now on, we can establish the most solid alliance of interests between you and me.”

“Lord Raven, you should be the Empire’s Foreign Minister.” Thomas’ attitude softened again:

“But this is a big deal after all, and I need some time to think about it.”

“I need you to make your own decision now!” Raven bent his back, grinned, revealing his sharp white teeth, and stared at Thomas like a tiger.

A murderous intent that emerged from fighting in a sea of ​​blood and corpses permeated the air:

“Not next year, not next month, not tomorrow, but right now, right now.”

“Your Majesty Thomas!”

My heart beat violently.

Your Majesty is the exclusive title of the Pope, and it is also the future that Thomas once dreamed of.

He thought that this ambition had been buried by time, but when the call came, he still felt a kind of heat.

Either reject Raven and start a fight, or accept Raven and get caught up in an unpredictable vortex of fate.

“Lord Raven, you are really good at judging people.”

Archbishop Thomas smiled bitterly: “You convinced me.”

“I hope that in the future, I won’t regret this day.”

“Of course not.” Raven’s murderous aura suddenly dissipated:
“I think I can have a fresh game meal next.”

The smile on Thomas’s face froze: “How do you know?”

“You smell of blood,” Raven said with a smile, “and it’s the kind of blood that comes from a wild animal being gutted, skinned and limbed alive.”

“I don’t remember that you have a hobby of making specimens by yourself.”

An extremely unnatural smile appeared on Thomas’ face:

“I’ll excuse myself for a moment…”

None of the things Raven said before and after frightened Thomas as much as the last sentence.

He came to his secret room, and the floor was stained with Thomas’ bloody footprints.

In the small secret room there was a stone platform, on which lay a ripped-open brown bear.

Heat was still emanating from the opened chest cavity.

……

When he saw the bear paws on the table, Raven felt completely relaxed.

Power-hungry people who try their best to climb to a high position are usually extremely repressed and twisted.

They must maintain the absolute authority of the supreme power because that is the meaning of their struggle; but on the other hand, before obtaining this supreme power, they need to endure exploitation and injustice from top to bottom.

Thomas is undoubtedly such a person.

It was precisely because he saw this clearly that Raven dared to come here, dared to threaten Thomas, and dared to assert what Thomas had just done based solely on the smell of blood.

It’s a big gamble.

Fortunately, Raven won the bet.

Thomas had regained his usual calmness. After clinking glasses with Raven, he put a piece of bear meat into his mouth and chewed it carefully:
“Lord Raven, this time when we attack the Orc Empire, whatever you need, I will do my best to provide it as long as I can.”

“Food.” Raven was not polite:
“The more the better. This time I plan to lead 3 troops. The output of the territory alone is far from enough.”

“2 million pounds, within this year.” Thomas said, “The Eivor Parish can also allocate at least 3 million pounds of grain every year.”

Raven nodded: “Oh, right, what I said before…”

“Count Raven, I’m only a cardinal, not the Pope!” Thomas said, “Besides, the Pope may not agree to the conditions you proposed before.”

“How much can you give?” Raven asked. “Other things can be less, but the climate in the Orc Empire is complex, and we can’t do without the Bird of Paradise!”

“Hmm…” Archbishop Thomas fell into deep thought, and the knife made a harsh sound as it rubbed against the plate.

“3 magic crystal cannons, 20 boxes of 5th-level magic crystals, 10 birds of paradise.”

“I really can’t do anything about the Angel Legion, but the Eivor Diocese and the Nord Diocese combined can still put together a Holy Knight Order of about 500 people and 100 priests!”

Raven was a little surprised: “You can really get a magic crystal cannon!?”

The magic crystal cannon is the crystallization of the magic technology of this era. When there is sufficient energy supply, it can continuously release extremely destructive fifth-order magic.

It can be said that every magic crystal cannon is equivalent to having a tireless level 5 magician.

Due to its bulky body and the inability to be stored in space equipment, it is rarely used in field battles and is mostly used for defending cities.

The city of Majik in the northeast of the empire relied on the 13 magic crystal cannons on the city walls, which made Insa feel that a strong attack would not be worth the cost, and thus it was able to remain isolated and stand firm during the years-long war.

Thomas was somewhat pleased with himself: “I am not completely without help within the church.”

The host and the guests enjoyed the meal very much.

Next, Raven did not leave immediately, but stayed for a few more days to discuss some specific details with Thomas.

When it comes to the material transfer route, Raven’s strategy surprised Thomas:

“A farm of this size would require at least 4-5 million gold coins, and the annual maintenance cost would not be less than 20 gold coins. With this money, you could buy all the food in the empire!”

Raven wants to build a teleportation array between Eagle City and Blue Castle to transport supplies from Eivor.

“Compared to gold coins, I care more about efficiency and safety.” Raven shook his head. “In the Empire and Eivor, there are not many people who support me, and there are many who are hostile to me. They may not dare to do anything openly, but no one knows what tricks they are playing in secret.”

“When the army is out in the field, logistics is the most important thing that cannot be interrupted. The more safety there is, the more confidence I have.” There was another purpose, which Raven did not state explicitly.

That is, he needs to strengthen his control over Eivor.

Although Raven has always been in control of Twilight’s movements, she only has Margaret by her side, which is not reassuring enough, and there is also a considerable delay in the transmission of information.

Not to mention, Talon is also in charge of communications between the Empire and Eivor, and has been strengthening his influence in Eivor.

Once the teleportation array is built, Raven will be able to exert direct influence and control over Eivor at any time.

He didn’t want to hand over this principality that he had conquered with his own hands to someone else.

Five days later, when Raven was about to leave Mon’en City, a letter was delivered to him.

After reading it, Raven frowned slightly, showing some impatience:
“Tsk, you’re really causing me trouble!”

……

Time goes back to the day when Raven just went to Mon’en City.

“what–“

Julia yawned, sat up in bed, and ruffled her messy hair.

Drawing open the curtains, the scorching sun shone on the pajamas with a bear pattern on them, and Julia couldn’t help but frown.

I don’t know why, but she has become more and more sleepy during this period.

She originally only needed to sleep 7 or 8 hours a night, but now she would sleep for more than 10 hours at any time. Even so, she would often feel sleepy during the day.

So Julia went to see Patty, but after the examination, Patty refused to prescribe medicine for her. The Earl inexplicably gave her a three-month vacation to let her rest well.

Is this the side effect of cultivation?

“Strange…” Julia muttered and walked to the kitchen to make herself a breakfast.

As soon as she put the eggs in the pan, Julia sighed again: “Oh…”

Originally, her secondary sexual characteristics were overdeveloped, and recently they seemed to have started to develop again. Not only have they grown bigger, but if she put on a bra wrap, they would feel sore and swollen, which was very uncomfortable.

Now when I stand up straight and look down, I can’t even see my toes.

dong dong dong.

There was a knock on the door.

“Wait a minute!” Julia went back to the room, put on her clothes despite the discomfort, and opened the door.

Even though he was already very familiar with Julia, Thor was still a little dazed when he saw her.

Julia’s original simple and bold temperament now has a kind of feminine fragility that makes people feel pity for her.

“Thor, what do you want?” Julia asked.

“Oh, ahem, that’s it.” Thor came back to his senses and cleared his throat awkwardly: “I ordered something in Mon’en City and need to pick it up.”

“This thing is very important, and I can’t leave by myself, so could you please go there?”

“Of course, I won’t let you go in vain!”

Julia thought for a moment and nodded: “No problem!”

This made Thor, who had already thought of many excuses and was afraid that Julia would not agree, feel relieved.

It’s not that Julia and Thor have a close relationship, but Julia has been bored recently. Plus, she knows that Raven is in Mon’en City, so she is happy to go there.

Julia has always been very proactive. After asking clearly where to go and what to pick up, she packed some personal belongings and set off directly.

“Okay, go tell Turo.” Thor called his confidant: “The plan can begin now.”

That afternoon.

Hoyaz finished a day’s training and rushed back to his residence from the military camp.

It has been 9 years since Hoyaz came to Eagle Territory. He is now 22 years old and has a short beard on his chin. He looks much more stable.

The number of Wind Kings is increasing, and the size of the air force is expanding. Now, Hoyaz has also changed from a new recruit to an instructor responsible for training new recruits.

“He, Heyaz! I finally found you!” Ping’er ran over breathlessly.

He was a typical gray dwarf, only as tall as Hoyaz’s chest, but very strong, with gray-black skin as if he had just crawled out of a pile of coal.

“What?” Hoyaz was stunned: “Are you short of money again?”

“No, why do you keep bringing this up? I just borrowed it from you seven or eight times, it’s not like you won’t return it!” Ping Erde said in the sharp voice that is unique to the gray dwarf:
“It’s Julia who’s in trouble!”

Hoyaz immediately focused: “Julia? What could happen to her?”

Ping Erde’s face was full of impatience: “Come with me first, we can talk while we walk!”

Pingerde was on a day off today, so he went to Lion’s Pride to have a drink and relax.

We were having a nice drink, but then Turo and his friends came and sat at the next table.

Ping’erde never got along with these people, so he didn’t even think about saying hello. But as he was drinking, he heard something important.

Turo and the others said that Thor had obtained a potion that could make women obedient, and had successfully tricked Julia into drinking it, and was now preparing to take advantage of her at home.

“Are you sure?” Hoyaz stopped suddenly.

“Of course I am sure. Why would I lie to you?” Ping Erde said, “Hey, where are you going?!”

Hoyaz had already strode all the way to Julia’s house.

How could there be someone there?
The neighbor came out to talk and said that he indeed saw Thor come to see Julia this morning, and the two left together.

Both Hoyaz and Julia are orphans and have a deep relationship. Hoyaz has always had some unspoken feelings for Julia in his heart.

Now that the two facts were confirmed, Hoyaz became furious and jumped into a carriage on the street and headed straight for Thor’s residence!

“Mr. Hoyaz, why are you here?” The guard at the door came up to greet him.

“Get out of here!” Hoyaz had no intention of arguing with him. He jumped down, pushed him open, rushed into the door, and came to the door of Thor’s bedroom and kicked it hard!
boom!
The door hit the wall, shaking off the dust on the beam.

Thor on the bed suddenly turned around, with a look of panic and anger on his face:

“Hoyaz!? I know you have no parents, but didn’t the mammy at the orphanage teach you manners? Get out!”

As he spoke, an arm as thin as a tender lotus root slipped out from under the quilt.

Hoyaz’s eyes were red with anger:
“Thor, you deserve to die!”

Before he finished speaking, he had already rushed to Thor, grabbed the collar of Thor’s pajamas, and slammed Thor to the ground!
“Hoyaz, are you crazy!?”

Hoyaz didn’t answer, but kicked Thor in the crotch.

“Ow—”

A scream burst out from Thor’s mouth, shaking the floor!
Hoyaz was still not satisfied, so he kicked Thor in the face again. With a crack, Thor’s nose was shattered into pieces.

“Stop hitting me, stop hitting me!” the woman shouted, and at the same time her weak arms grabbed Hoyaz’s shoulders.

Hoyaz instinctively wanted to break free, but was worried about hurting Julia, so he turned around and said, “Julia, why are you…”

Before he could finish his words, he froze.

This is not Julia!

Heavy footsteps were heard and a group of guards rushed into the room.

Thor struggled to stand up from the ground, spitting blood on the ground, with a hint of triumph on his bloodstained face, and ordered the guards:
“Catch him!”

……

(End of this chapter)