I will be crowned king

The moment he finished speaking, Anson stared at Archbishop Luther Franz expressionlessly, without any wavering in his eyes.

It's not that he is really unmoved, on the contrary, using the word "turbulent waves" to describe Anson's mood at the moment is a little pale; the dignified Archbishop of the Ring of Order is actually a member of the Truth Society, and even judging from the other party's demeanor, he is quite... It may be a core member. If it is not shocking enough, there is nothing in this world that can arouse his emotions.

But...the problem is, there are too many.

Ludwig's adjutant was a member of the Society of Truth, the novelist he met on a steam train was a member of the Society of Truth, and the trainee priest who sold contraband at the Old Gods gathering was a member of the Society of Truth, and he was loyal to the Society of Truth. The subordinates are members of the Society of Truth, and the leader of the Holy See Monastery is a former member of the Society of Truth...

To be honest, even if Carlos II suddenly ran up to him and swore that he was a member of the Truth Society, Anson would probably be able to calm down and accept the result without any trouble.

Too much, too much indeed.

This organization is pervasive and infiltrates all walks of life, from workers in factories to the top leaders of a country. They are present in everyone. What is even more frightening is that they are actually an illegal organization and were attacked only more than ten years ago. A heavy blow to the Holy See nearly wiped out the entire army; and this also involved the independence of the Faithless Knights in the new world, the destruction of the Crecy family, and the heir of the Bernard family, Kroger, who was bewitched by the old gods and abandoned the power of his blood. In pursuit of blood magic...

This group of people is not bound by interests, at least not very intuitive interests. Their core goal is always to destroy the ring of order and the Holy See's ambition to integrate the world and realize the "heaven on earth"; for this purpose, they can cooperate with secular kings and rebels. Cooperate with the military, cooperate with the Old God Sect organizations, and even occasionally cooperate with the Holy See, and every time they are based on the interests of the collaborators, and never make any demands such as dividing the cake.

Well, of course you have to tolerate or think that one day, they will stand with your enemies or opponents and kill you for their goals.

They are the most trustworthy allies, because their starting point is your core interests; they are the most terrifying opponents, because you do not even have the possibility to bribe them; they are the enemies you least want to face, because someone around you Relatives and friends whom you trust very much may be one of them.

They are the Truth Society.

"Can I ask why?"

After a moment of silence, Anson, whose thinking was somewhat stagnant, couldn't help but say:

"Of course! No matter what the reasons are, I will never betray the Franz family. After all, Ludwig is my friend. Without him, you, and even Miss Sophia, there would be no me and me today. Storm Legion; I may not be a good person, but I will never betray my friends easily."

Anson folded his armor carefully and took a deep breath: "But... at least from my point of view, telling me this kind of thing will not do you any good to the Archbishop."

"There is really no benefit... What I did is equivalent to exposing myself to you. To you, this is a weakness that can be exploited; to allies, this is closer to a burden." Luther Franz nodded slightly and said agree:

"It's just that if the target is the Truth Society, then it will be a completely different matter."

"The Truth Society?"

"Yes, my mission is to formally extend an invitation to you to join us."

Looking at such a straightforward old man, Anson was speechless.

It is obvious that the other party has made careful preparations for this purpose, and even did not hesitate to hand over a handle directly in front of him, that is, he was not prepared to leave any room for himself; of course everything will be fine if he agrees, but if he does not agree...

"If I remember correctly, Draco once sent you an invitation, just before you were about to leave Clovis City with Ludwig and go to Hantu."

Seemingly not noticing the change in Anson's expression, Luther Franz, like an old man whose memories were suddenly recalled, began to speak: "According to him, you did not have the consciousness to step into the center of the storm at that time. , and would even rather stay away from Clovis, a place of right and wrong, be willing to endure grievances, and lead the army over the icy peaks of winter morning light."

"But at the same time, he seems to have great trust in you, thinking that sooner or later you will realize that avoiding the storm is meaningless. Only those who actively get involved in it are qualified to control their destiny." The old man shook his head silently:

"To be honest, I didn't agree with his judgment at first."

"According to my observation, you have an almost obsessive desire for a certain...I call it a 'comfortable state'; in an ordinary life, a small amount of wealth means peace, stability and comfort...even comfort is not necessary. Conditions, as long as the monthly allowance can be kept above five hundred gold coins, you may not be interested in anything risky."

"But once this 'comfortable state' is broken, your motivation to get the status quo back on track is endless. The Storm Group, Eagle Point City... are the premise that constantly urges you to achieve victory after victory on the battlefield. The pay is really generous enough, so generous that you can live without worries about food and clothing immediately after finishing this job.”

"I took advantage of this characteristic of yours and wanted to see if you could reverse the fate of the Ysel elves being ruled by the Old Gods or being completely destroyed by the Holy See. I promised to give the Storm Legion a structure if we win the war, and then... you The miracle created in ten days proved that my judgment was completely correct."

Looking at the Archbishop who sighed vaguely, Anson, who was slightly embarrassed, smiled stiffly.

"After that, I conducted another test to see if you would choose to turn back halfway and return to Clovis City instead of going to the New World... As a result, we all know that you did not do that." Luther Franz's expression was very dull:

"Of course, if you really do that, you are almost destined to not have any good ending - if the Holy See really wants to arrest you at that time, as the archbishop, I have no way to do it, so... it's a good choice."

"So based on past experience, I almost concluded that you will never choose to return to Clovis this time... Even if you are not independent, you should use various reasons and excuses to stay in Beluga Port. After all, you have achieved success there. It should not be difficult to continue to maintain this kind of 'success' with your ability and eloquence." The archbishop praised without hesitation, and then changed the subject:

"But...you're back."

Anson pursed his lips tightly and nodded slightly.

"I don't want to say that this may be your only chance to come back, but the consequence of doing so is that you must break the 'comfortable state' you are most familiar with. What you encounter may be enemies who want to tear you into pieces, or they may be Friends with ulterior motives, or relatives whose good or bad intentions are difficult to judge... are all unknown. From the moment we get off the ship, being passive at every turn is almost an inevitable result."

The old man stared at Anson closely, his expression gradually becoming serious: "In any case, this is a huge change, and it is worthy of my due attitude to observe your subsequent actions and decisions, and to provide the minimum assistance."

"It's not difficult for you to catch the 'Whisper' now, and it's not impossible to clear your name, but... you will dig out the truth of the 'Gangster Incident' regardless of the consequences, and turn yourself into the entire Crowe to achieve your goal. Being at the center of the dimensional storm requires courage that you never had in the past."

"Because the storm will never end easily after it begins, and the person who controls the storm is also the one who is most likely to be broken into pieces by the storm - now you who have broken my past understanding are truly qualified for me to personally send out this message invite."

The words that were not loud but clear echoed, but to Ansen's ears they were no different than Hong Zhongda Lu.

Although he knew that it would be impossible for him to escape the surveillance of the Archbishop, but hearing about his amazing transformation process from other people's mouths, no matter how good he was at keeping calm, he could not resist the urge to sigh.

The ups and downs experienced, the hardships endured, the ambition that sprouted, the awareness of understanding... It was the rainy night at Thunder Castle, the ice and snow in the Dawn Mountains, the sound of artillery at Carindia Port, the confidence of the great turn of the earth, and the rush to The determination of the new world is the ultimate sublimation of the upgraded blasphemous mage...

Yes, I am not the original Anson Bach, but I am also not the person I used to be.

No longer indulge in comfort, but face the storm and embark on the road of confrontation with fate; it is determined that even if the enemy is the world, he will not look back.

"So...that's why you decided to invite me to officially join the Society of Truth, right?"

The moment he spoke, he even let down all his vigilance and no longer had any defensiveness; after all, the fact that the Archbishop could ask such a question already proved that the two parties had already reached a spiritual level...

"Not at all." The expressionless Luther Franz said solemnly:

"I did this because Maurice Périgord came to see me personally. If you don't speak up, with your profit-driven character, you risk being instigated by the monastery to rebel."

Anson Bach: "..."

Everything seemed to be unchanged from the beginning. The archbishop, who still didn't notice Anson's expression at all, continued to talk to himself: "Even if the entire Holy See is regarded as an opponent, little Périgord is a very dangerous one. Because even if the two sides are enemies, he doesn't mind becoming your friend for a second."

"Now his goal is to destroy the political balance of Clovis and create chaos enough to paralyze the entire kingdom; based on this goal, there is no difference whether he supports the War Department or you and the group of people behind you, so When he goes out of his way to come to you in person, it means that he has begun to woo you."

To achieve the goal, no matter what the means, even regardless of friend or foe; I understand, this is the standard truth society routine... Ansen nodded understandingly: "So... in order to ensure that I will not become his ally, the truth society decided to take action first, is that right? ?”

"It can also be said that in the budding stage of chaos, it is necessary to contain what will inevitably happen to a controllable level." Luther Franz changed the topic lightly:

"This is not something that can be done easily, and it even requires taking huge risks; even if it succeeds, the price to pay is definitely not a negligible number - so we must be more cautious."

Anson did not answer immediately, and glanced at the stacks of Saint Isaac's relics on the surrounding bookcases.

Of course he knew what the old man meant: against an enemy like Little Périgord, conventional means would not work, so things must develop in the direction the opponent expects, but the intensity must be controlled, as long as the result fails the opponent, It's enough that it can't achieve its goal of paralyzing Clovis.

But this also means that we must personally destroy the existing balance of power and balance, abandon all the advantages of vested interests and the ruling class, and quickly support a new authority in the chaos.

"Can I think that by doing this, you are preparing to push the Truth Society from its position behind the scenes to the front?" Anson said in a deep voice:

"For me to become the leader of the War Department after joining the Pravda Society... I don't think it can escape the eyes of little Périgord."

"You are absolutely right, of course there is no escape... If successful, he must know that I played a role in it, just like the Franz family played a role in the trial."

Luther Franz did not deny this: "But fortunately, he does not know yet that I am actually a member of the Society of Truth... So we must let everything settle before this matter is exposed. ."

"You mean, this matter will be exposed soon?"

"It's not very fast, it's a matter of time - I said before that little Périgord is an extremely cautious person. Unless he encounters something that he has to do, he will never take risks. .”

"In addition to you, the previous conflict between Clovis and the Holy See must have also aroused his suspicion. Although I have concealed it for so many years, I still can't believe that I have really achieved a seamless performance; under the premise of uncertainty, It’s best to prepare for failure.”

After a short pause, Luther Franz spoke again: "As for bringing the Truth Society to the forefront... Do you think that after the end of the Holy War, today's Truth Society can still be called behind the scenes?"

This... Ansen looked stunned.

Does it count?

Of course not!

Not to mention the incident of the Thirteenth Council of the Elf Kingdom of Iser, the war of the Kingdom of Naxir to unify the three countries of the North Sea... the battle of Beluga Port at the end of the Holy War, the person responsible for mediating was that novelist!

"After the disciplinary war of the Ysel elves began, or more accurately, the sudden rise of Hantu, and the almost simultaneous riots in the three countries of the North Sea, the Truth Council unanimously agreed that the 'balance' maintained by the Ring of Order Church, It has reached the critical point of collapse, and it only takes a slight push to break it into pieces, so Anson Bach..."

"The storm has begun. Are you coming this time?"