I will be crowned king

While the Storm Legion was desperately trying to win over allies, the Holy War Army High Command was also not idle, and was also imagining and actively starting an "internal integration movement."

At this point in the war, a White Whale Port is no longer of great significance to the Jihadist Army. After all, even if it can be defended, it cannot eradicate the Loon family and the Free Confederacy under its secret control; but it can pose a threat to the Loon family. In other words, a holy war army that is nominally affiliated with the Holy See and fights for faith is extremely important to the Church of the Ring of Order!

For this reason, the Holy War Army must completely defeat the Free Confederacy in order to transform the entire New World into an outpost against the Old God Sect. The Holy See, once again has its own army.

So the newly appointed Sir Ferrers began to take advantage of his long-term responsibility for the Knights' external negotiations and good communication skills, and began to win over the leaders of various forces within the Jihad Army one by one, maintaining and continuing to improve the "Thirteen People" he had worked so hard to establish. collegial system”.

He always maintained an attitude of "one of his own" towards the Knights of Judgment, and maintained absolute respect for his old boss, Grand Master Grad Manfred, on all occasions; for Ludwig and Arthur Heriot Germany, he acquiesced to the previous inefficiency of the two, and even handed over the management of Beluga Port to the Clovis people.

As for the Hantu Jihad Army, which has not fired a single shot since the beginning of the war, he repeatedly praised it as a "model" because of its "activeness" in the Battle of Red Hand Bay, expressing his absolute belief that the brave Hantu people will definitely be able to use it. Prove your piety through practical actions.

Even to the Jihadi Army under his command, Philes fairly and openly allowed them to elect their representatives and become members of the thirteen-member collegial assembly; such a generous concession also gained him great favor and favor among the middle and lower levels of the Jihadi Army. prestige.

It should be said that the new collegial system still has a certain effect, more or less maintaining the unity within the Jihadi Army, even if it is only superficial unity, even if this superficial unity is well known and faked by everyone, even if it is only Only those who repeatedly self-hypnotize are willing to believe that this pretended unity is real.

And even this pretense didn't last long. Sir Philus, who repeatedly hypnotized himself, realized the true horror of this system.

According to the standards he set himself, all actions of the Jihad Army are decided by a consensus of thirteen people, and all participants are equal, so no one can disobey as long as they pass.

The original intention of setting this standard was to calm conflicts and reach consensus; but as a result, because everyone has equal status, if one person disagrees, it cannot be passed, so no decision can be passed.

After all, as long as it is a decision, someone will definitely benefit and someone will lose. Everyone is negotiating on behalf of one party. No one can let the interests of thousands of people behind him suffer. At least, the losses cannot be compared with others. big.

Of course, this is not actually a problem. Sir Ferrers anticipated that similar situations would occur when he designed this "collegial system." As the apparent commander-in-chief of the Jihad Army, his "fourteenth vote" was to solve the problem. Prepared for problems where nothing can be done and nothing can be accomplished.

But this immediately brought about the second trouble-the conflict of forces.

The contradiction between the empire and Clovis, the contradiction between the empire and Hantu, the contradiction between Hantu and Clovis, the contradiction between the south and the north, the contradiction between the royal family and the local area...

Originally, there were many conflicts within the Jihadi Army, and there were intrigues among each other, but because they were fighting independently, at most they were providing support or logistical assistance, the problem was not serious; but now the "collegial system" has brought everyone together, If collective action is required, the contradiction will be immediately exposed.

The Hantu Crusaders squeezed Clovis's ship capacity, Arthur's Legion robbed Fernando Legion's supplies, Ed Levent's Legion accused Ludwig Franz of excluding dissidents, and everyone insisted that Black Reef Port All the responsibility for the battle lies with Ed Levent...

Not to mention expressing opinions, if Philus reveals even a little bit of his own inclinations, the thirteen people will immediately become two distinct factions, and they can't wait to pull out their guns and swords on the spot and tear each other apart with their hands.

In this case, the "fourteenth vote" that was originally used to resolve conflicts simply became the ignition that ignited the whole room, so Philos became increasingly afraid to express his opinions easily.

But in this situation, if you don't speak, you are giving up power; and the power you give up will not disappear, it will only change a person or form and continue to exist.

In just a few days, Fellers began to feel that his presence was getting weaker and weaker. The people who really dominated the topic became the active Crown Prince Leon Francois of Hantu, and the leader of the imperial family Fernando Hered, plus Grand Commander Grad Manfred; the rest either didn't speak much, or chose sides based on their own interests.

As for the plan to divide and evacuate the real power in the hands of this group of people, it ended before it even started - the one who was evacuated was Philus himself.

It wasn't until he learned through the Vatican's intelligence channels that the New World Legion was preparing to retake Beluga Harbor after the armistice, and that Philus was about to turn into a puppet, that he woke up from a dream, but it seemed a little late.

Whether the current Jihadi Army can even make a useful and reliable decision, let alone obey orders, is a question...

……………………

"You have only yourself to blame."

Grad played with the pipe in his hand, squinted his eyes and said calmly: "On the day the Battle of Red Hand Bay failed, you should have foreseen this situation."

"The split of the Jihadi Army is inevitable. It is no longer possible for all parties to continue to be in vain with the Holy See. They will inevitably start to act for their own interests. The so-called 'surface unity' will only make this happen faster. It will even directly affect the base of the holy war army composed of pure believers that you finally formed."

"Then what do you think I should do, watch the Crusaders completely split, let the Clovis and colonial rebels collude, and give up Beluga Harbor?"

After hearing his boss's criticism, Philus, who was completely exhausted, sighed: "Master Grad, the last thing I need now is your cynicism, but really useful suggestions!"

"All I give is advice."

Grad still looked distracted: "You are too obsessed with keeping the so-called unity of the Jihad Army. This has weakened your authority as the commander-in-chief and lost the space to mediate between the various forces; everyone knows that as long as you maintain the so-called unity, If we live in the so-called collegial system, we can continue to ignore you, the commander-in-chief."

"Especially Hantu... Leon Francois doesn't have to do anything. As long as the Jihad Army can't do anything, he can get the best interests for Hantu - after all, they are the ones who least want to start a war."

"Then what you mean is that I should accept the dissolution of the collegial meeting and let them continue to do their own thing?" Philus became a little impatient:

"Or should we simply delegate power and only lead the Holy War Army loyal to the Holy See to face the New World Army?"

"It might have worked if you had done it in the first place, but now it's obviously too late."

Grad tapped his pipe on the table: "Even if it is to ensure the prestige of the Jihadi Army, the collegial system cannot be abolished, let alone the de facto split of the Jihadi Army."

"So what to do?!"

"It's very simple. Reveal the information about the enemy's upcoming actions." Grad said coldly: "Let everyone know that the colonial rebels will soon start to counterattack."

"Reveal it?!"

Philus was stunned for a few seconds, and soon understood what the leader was thinking: "Everyone?"

"Make it a well-known secret, a rumor that is believed from top to bottom." Grad nodded slightly: "That way you don't have to do anything and let those people decide how to solve this problem."

"It's not that I haven't considered this, but..." Philus hesitated:

"Is it really not going to hurt our intelligence personnel on the other side?"

"As long as you do it cleanly, it won't happen." Grad glanced at him: "This matter is not a secret. If I guessed correctly, the other legion commanders should have obtained it through their respective channels. Same intelligence.”

"So as long as we are low-key and secretive enough, they will only think that it is the other forces who are causing trouble and want to disrupt the currently balanced situation. They will never expect that it is the information actively spread by the Holy See - after all, at least on the surface , we can’t benefit from this, although there is no harm.”

After thinking about it seriously, Philus couldn't help but nodded.

Indeed... the current goal of the Holy See is no longer to eliminate the Free Confederacy, and it is no longer important whether the war is won or not; instead, the Clovis people are competing with the empire for the ownership of several colonies; as a city on par with Sail City An important trade hub, Beluga Port is naturally one of them.

At this time, the colonial rebels came up, still in the name of "taking back Beluga Harbor". They must be anxious, and especially the empire... This may be the only way they can completely seize Beluga Harbor from the Clovis people. The opportunity to control the entire new world will never be passed up easily.

"This matter must be handled carefully, especially the Judgment Knights. It must not have anything to do with it." Philus said after being silent for a few seconds:

"I have several spies specially placed in Beluga Port to spread the 'rumors' locally first, and then spread them through the sailors on the fleet. This way it will be very difficult to find the source; even if it is found, We can only know that it started from White Whale Port, and the empire’s suspicions will only be on the Clovis people.”

Grad Manfred nodded slightly: "During this period, I will ask the Knights to keep a low profile as much as possible to avoid arousing suspicion."

"Okay, then I'll leave everything to you."

"Um."

A quiet atmosphere filled the captain's room, and the captain's heavy steps approached the door little by little; with the sound of the wooden boards, Philus narrowed his eyes slightly.

From the adjutant of the Knights to the nominal commander-in-chief of the Holy War Army, what he gained was not only a change in position, but also corresponding powers, as well as information that was originally inaccessible; and what caught his attention was a surname.

Philus.

In addition to himself, there is another knight named Philus in the Judgment Knights.

This surname is very rare, even rarer among nobles; and after the death of his parents, there are only two left, to be more precise, one - the murderer of his parents, his dear brother, was cut off by his own hands Head.

So...who is the other "Pheles"? Why can't the entire Knights find any information about him except his name?

Why does the Grand Master need to conceal his existence?

Obviously, no one will tell them this, but they can't stop themselves from investigating; an old god sect who was extremely evil and was killed by himself actually continued to serve the Knights in his own name and died of mercy. The Heart fell.

Normally, things seem to have come to an end here, but there is a missing person on the airship casualty list whose body has not been found.

Elizabeth Lemon...as long as she is found, all mysteries will be solved.

Of course, this takes a little time, and...patience.

Sir Ferrers pursed his lips tightly, trying desperately to hide his restless heart; he knew very well that as long as there was the slightest flaw, with the character of the grand leader, all his investigations could be in vain in an instant; even this kind of searching for the root of the matter could be in vain. The behavior itself is taboo within the Holy See. Once discovered, the risk is no less than direct betrayal...

"boom--!!!!"

The heavy sound of breaking the door interrupted Philus's thinking and also stopped Grad's steps; the two people with equally stunned expressions looked at the intruding figure and were stunned for a long time before they realized: "Your Highness, Leon. , you are..."

"problem occurs!"

Leon, who had no time to catch his breath and was sweating profusely, shouted to the two of them: "Moby Port is in complete chaos. Rumors are spreading everywhere that the colonial rebels are about to counterattack, and there are enemy spies in the Jihadist Army. They also say that once the war breaks out, , all the Jihadists who cannot escape will be slaughtered to avenge the Red Hand Bay!"

"Um?!"

"What?!"

Grad's eyes widened and he turned around suddenly, only to see that Philus had exactly the same expression as him, and there seemed to be a bit of grievance in his shocked eyes.

Of course I feel wronged. I haven’t had time to take action yet... Philus opened his mouth, but this occasion seemed inappropriate for proving his innocence, so he could only change the subject:

"Where did this ridiculous rumor start?!"

"It doesn't matter where you start. What matters is that Major General Ludwig Franz is almost unable to suppress the Jihadi Army and the surrendered colonial people in Beluga Port City!" Leon was extremely anxious:

"The Crusaders must take action immediately. Should they fight or abandon the city?!"