Wales thought for a moment and then sighed, “These years, the only people that we have a good relationship with is the Mastiff Tribe. We also have a casual relationship with the Horse Race as well as the Pig Race, however that relationship isn’t that deep. We really don’t have a lot of connections.”
Zhao Hai frowned, then he said, “This is somewhat troublesome. Brother, we might as well go to the Matiffs and ask them if they have any other tribes that they have good relationships with. After all, a friend of a friend can still be a friend. We are allies with the Mastiffs and they also have other allies, this way we can have several allies.”
Wales stared, then nodded, “You’re right, what you said would be the best thing to do. Also, you have a lot of grain in your hands. I’m sure the Beastmen would have some of those. If you keep providing food, then having no allies will be taken care of soon.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “That’s also good. But let’s see how the situation goes first. Brother, the Prairie always lacked grain, but if the deficit is too much this time, then I’m afraid that someone might have been pulling the string in the shadows. We must take this matter into consideration. If people were indeed causing mischief, then we have to investigate it through, eliminate the problem at its roots.”
Wales knit his brows and said, “That is indeed a possibility. Although the Prairie always lacked grain, the supply would still be enough to go by. But this time seems to be very different, the amount of grain circulating is pitifully low.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “Then it seems like people are really causing this deliberately. I think we must consider the Radiant Church in this manner. Even if they got defeated last time, it doesn’t mean that they have already given up. It’s highly probable that they are the cause of this time’s crisis. If they really are, then I’m afraid that war is the only solution.”
Wales frowned, “But the issue with this is that the Cow-headed race’s losses would not be small if we really would go to war. For our Cow-headed race, wouldn’t that scenario be harmful?”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Big Brother, you should look at it another way. The Herculean Bulls now have enough grains, you now don’t have to fight for food. In the past, when you are battling against the humans, you were always at the vanguard, becoming the first to come in contact with the human army so that you can get more food. But now, that is no longer necessary. You can just state the reason that the Herculean Bulls had lost a lot during the fight with the Fighting Bulls. You can just hand the position of Vanguard over to other people. You can just stay at the back lines and relax.”
Wales stared for a moment before he laughed, “Right, Right. Brother you really are full of good ideas. Alright, we’ll do just that.”
Then Zhao Hai shook his head and said, “But Brother shouldn’t be celebrating early. This matter is only our guesses. We still don’t know if the Radiant Church is indeed behind this crisis. If they aren’t, then things would be more troublesome. But no matter what, Brother should opt to stay at the back lines. Even if you followed, you don’t have to take part in the battles. The Herculean Bulls cannot afford any more losses.”
Wales nodded, “Right, we should determine the cause of this matter first. In a few days we’ll go to the Mastiffs. They should be better off compared to other tribes since we had been sending them grains all throughout the winter.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Good, then Brother can get news about the Prairie from there. Brother, I’ll exit first. If you need me, just send someone and I’ll go out.”
Wales nodded and watched Zhao Hai leave. When Zhao Hai returned to his tent, he looked at Laura and the others and sighed, “Am I being excessive? Helping the Beastman deal with the Humans?”
Laura smiled faintly and said, “It’s nothing. If this matter is really related to the Radiant Church, then it would also be good for the humans if war were to happen. Except for the Rosen Empire, the Radiant Church had already spread their influence around the entire continent. More and more people have become believers of the Church. Some of them even donated all of their own belongings to the organization. The existence of the Radiant Church isn’t a good thing for the people. Even if they aren’t eliminated, it would be best to have them controlled. Because of this, I completely agree with you dealing with the Church’s actions.”
Megan also nodded and said, “Big brother Hai, the Radiant Church had already caused too much death to my family. It is right that we should deal with them.”
Lizzy looked at Zhao Hai and smiled, “Elder Brother Hai, are you feeling uneasy? You don’t have to, think about it, war is very good for our clan. What does the Black Wasteland really need right now? It is more people. If the Beastmen and the Humans go head to head with each other, the first target would be the Aksu Empire. When war happens, a lot of people from the empire would surely be displaced. At that time, we can have people take them and bring them into the Black Wasteland and then give them land to work on. They would then become people of our Buda Clan. Our Clan has two main enemies right now, first is the Aksu Empire, the other is the Radiant Church. If the crisis of the Prairie was indeed because of the Radiant Church, then when the Beastmen sends their troops, the Radiant Church would be heavily affected. And with the Aksu Empire being the first to be hit by the attack, their losses would be even greater. At that time, Brother Hai would have dealt with two major problems. So why worry?”
After learning about how Zhao Hai does his things, Lizzy also decided to demonstrate her talent. She had always been a genius military strategist, her methods might be ruthless, but they were all very effective.
Zhao Hai sighed and said, “But the one who suffers the most in this situation would be the commoners. Especially those from the Purcell Duchy, because of our connection with them, I’ve been having second thoughts about this matter.”
Zhao Hai would get soft-hearted sometimes. He was only ruthless when it came to his enemies. Commoners weren’t his foes, he doesn’t have the heart to cause them suffering.[1]
Laura comforted him, “Brother Hai, this matter is set in stone. Think about it, if not for your presence, the Herculean Bulls would have already been extinguished. When that happens, the Beastmen would be placed in an awkward position, and a war would still happen. And that war would even be more chaotic than this one.”
Zhao Hai sighed again, “The Radiant Church is truly a calamity. Unfortunately for us, they have already infested the entire continent. It would be very hard to remove them.”
Lizzy frowned and said, “Elder Brother Hai, the rising of the Radiant Church is really very strange. Several hundred years ago, the Radiant Church was just a small church that Light Mages believed in. There were even some Light Mages that chose to believe in the Life God other than the Radiant God. However, after some time, the Church had suddenly become more and more powerful. From what I read in the Imperial Records, the Radiant God had descended, causing the Church to become more formidable until it reached its present scale. In just a short hundred years, the Church had become much more powerful than those Great Clans that had been around for a thousand years. There should be some secret going on behind the scenes.”
Zhao Hai stared, his face couldn’t help but change as he said, “Descent of the Radiant God? Is there really such a thing?”
Lizzy shook her head and said, “There aren’t a lot of things written on the records. But I think that it may be impossible. How can the Radiant God just descend?”
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, “Why would it be impossible? What if there really are gods in the continent? What if those gods needed the faith of people in order to get stronger? If that is so, then it would make sense that the Radiant God would descend and get more followers. That way, he would get much stronger while at the same time suppressing the other gods.”
Lizzy and the others stared, they didn’t think that Zhao Hai would say this. Meg was confused and said, “Young Master, I don’t understand. Aren’t they gods? Do they also need to compete for power just like humans?”
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, “Don’t’ think of gods as something special. They are just people who are more powerful. Since they are just people, then it would make sense for them to strive for power. If the continent did really experience a descent of the Radiant God, then the backing of this Radiant Church isn’t simple.”
Lizzy and the others felt that they were listening to words from the Book of Heaven. They had never heard of this description of the gods before. To them, what Zhao Hai said was too mysterious.
Zhao Hai cannot confirm that what he said was the truth. In any case, all of the novels wrote gods as this way. Even if the Ark Continent is different from those novels, it had Magic as well as Battle Qi. The possibility of this description being true is much higher compared to earth. Because of this, Zhao Hai believed that the gods of this world were just the same as those in the novels.
Zhao Hai let out a sigh and said, “It looks like we cannot completely eliminate the Radiant Church, since we might cause the Radiant God to be dissatisfied. For a god to descend on the continent, he certainly has his reason. If we go and eliminate his forces in the continent, they might get impolite. Even if our current forces can deal with 9th rank experts, we still cannot face a god. Our strength still falls short.”
Laura frowned, “Is this really the case? Brother Hai, are you sure that you’re not just thinking too much into it?”
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, “I also hope that I’m just overthinking. But no matter what, we should avoid that scenario from happening. We cannot have huge troubles coming our way.”
Lizzy looked at Zhao Hai, then she faintly smiled and said, “If there really is a god, then I don’t think that we really need to be afraid of him. I believe that even gods doesn’t have a mysterious existence such as the Space. Brother Hai doesn’t need to worry too much.”
Zhao Hai smiled and answered, “I also believe that gods cannot have a thing such as the Space. Otherwise, they wouldn’t need to descend and get some followers. They can just snatch some of them and lecture them inside their Space.”
1. ??? you literally killed innocent shopkeepers before??