'With Gotthard's abilities, he will likely discover the Saint Child hidden in Finback Mountain. Regardless of whether the child has been relocated, soone should probably go take a look.'
'But that person absolutely cannot be ,' Nemus reasoned, imdiately thinking of the perfect scapegoat—the Dartnerly family.
The greatest misstep the Dartnerly family made to end up in their current state was, in fact, mimicking the old priest.
The old priest himself made many mistakes. Even in his old age, all he managed to create was a self-immolating version of the Saint's state.
Following in the old priest's footsteps by using a simplified version of his bloodline experints, it would be a miracle if the Dartnerly family could ever achieve the Golden Rank.
However, the Dartnerly family did not see it that way. They still clung to the arrogance of their Saint's bloodline, believing that with just a few thods to stimulate their Saint's Essence, reaching the Golden Rank would be effortless.
If they were to obtain the remaining experintal data left behind by the old priest...
And if he pushed them a little further, applying just a hint of pressure, they would more than likely head to Finback Mountain to investigate.
He simply needed to sit back and reap the rewards.
With a single thought from Nemus, the plan was set into motion.
Was not the entire purpose of establishing a faction to have these people handle tasks for him?
The current Construct Protocol was actually divided into two divisions: internal and external.
The internal operations were kept strictly under wraps, making it nearly impossible for outsiders to learn anything about them.
The external division, on the other hand, was primarily led by Fass and comprised a motley crew of unsavory characters from various factions.
Aside from Fass, very few people in the external division had ever witnessed the true nature of the Construct Protocol.
Most of them were completely oblivious to the internal division's existence, believing that the only figures above Fass were the alchemist Becky and a cult leader.
'For now, it is quite impressive to have developed to this extent in just half a year by relying on the Berserk Accessories. Furthermore, two hundred years' worth of faith has already been gathered.'
'The external division is currently a mixed bag. By weeding out the majority of the undesirables through this upcoming conflict, it will finally beco a decent organization,' Nemus mused as he opened the Book of Ages, gazing at the currently aningless text on its pages.
anwhile, the outside world was already showing signs of an impending storm.
Large, scattered raindrops began to smash against the ground.
At this mont, very few people were moving about outside.
This was a phenonon unique to the whaleback: Cloud Rain. Floating Whales had their own habits, often swimming toward rain clouds of just the right size and brushing against them with their tails or heads. This interaction resulted in torrential downpours accompanied by an omnipresent thick fog.
Under such extre conditions, ordinary people who dared to venture outside were virtually guaranteed to be knocked unconscious by the heavy, pelting rain.
Poorly maintained buildings would collapse under the deluge, leaving anyone trapped inside with almost no chance of survival.
Fortunately, during these storms, residents could usually seek refuge in nearby Church outposts or other reinforced facilities to wait out the Cloud Rain, which typically lasted anywhere from half a day to a full day.
Yet, even now, a few individuals still braved the torrential downpour.
Downing a glass of liquor, Das Ruweide felt a returning warmth spread through his body and let out a long breath.
"Damn the Dartnerly family. They couldn't just live their own lives; they had to go and stir up trouble," Das muttered. As a rchant and a business partner at the Old Bones Tavern, he normally would not need to deliver goods personally.
However, over the past six months, deliveries to the North District had occasionally run into issues.
Just thinking about that man—whose na was only one syllable different from his own—made Das grind his teeth in anger.
Daros and the other Holy Knights of the Dartnerly family embedded within the Church had been cracking down hard on these goods under the guise of patrolling the North District.
They were constantly trying to use these seizures to spark a major incident. Fortunately, Nemus had managed to improve their smuggling and delivery operations to so extent.
The outposts along the trade routes partially resolved the issue of transporting goods from the industrial production zones outside the city into the city itself. As for deliveries within the city walls...
Das took a deep breath, gestured for his n to follow, and stepped back out into the relentless Cloud Rain.
In the past, internal city deliveries primarily relied on evading key Church surveillance checkpoints and disguising the contraband as ordinary cargo to trade with the nobles in the North District. However, after Nemus arrived, he had improved the Holy Knights' benefits. Employing a mix of carrots and sticks, he had successfully convinced the Holy Knight interest groups at those key checkpoints to fall in line.
Even so of the more rigid, rule-abiding Holy Knights were now willing to run interference and provide cover for their operations.
When righteous duty was aligned with personal profit, even those stubborn individuals realized that cooperating was their best option, which was why they were willing to facilitate the trade.
To a certain degree, the smuggling operation had transford into a sanctioned, official business.
If the Dartnerly family hadn't ddled, they wouldn't have even needed to brave this atrocious Cloud Rain to make deliveries.
The transactions could have been easily handled by ordinary rchant caravans.
"I can't let down Mr. Nels after all the support he's given !" Das declared. Out in the Cloud Rain, visibility was dreadfully low.
As a hidden warlock, only his ntal power could navigate them along the correct path under such blinding conditions.
Back at the Old Bones Tavern, as a subordinate of Dong Luo and Dong He, his actions had technically been flawless. In fact, he was the very reason they had found an excuse to deflect Nemus's verbal assault at the ti.
Yet, despite the situation, he had managed to seize the nominal ownership of the Old Bones Tavern for himself.
Ultimately, that move had crossed a line and broken a major taboo.
Dong Luo, being a centenarian, possessed a broader perspective and was willing to let it slide.
But Dong He, a young Iron-rank priest in his forties, harbored a certain arrogance.
He viewed being suppressed by Nemus that day as a profound humiliation.
However, since they were now collaborating with Nemus, Dong He couldn't exactly go looking for trouble with him. Consequently, Das had beco his punching bag.
Fortunately, Nemus later intervened, stating that the smuggling operation required a qualified rchant to run it.
Managing the prices of various goods and handling negotiations during transactions required a professional's touch.
Although Nemus had Opper on his side, Opper alone was not enough.
Furthermore, the most crucial aspect of smuggling was stability.
Using this rationale, Nemus had shielded Das, allowing him to settle into his new position securely.
Over the past six months of working together, Das had grown increasingly convinced of Nemus's leadership.
That was exactly why he had personally accepted this dangerous delivery mission.
Amidst the relentless Cloud Rain, a small group of figures was silently converging.
It was the Scavenger leader and several of his subordinates.
At the sa ti, not far away, an armored figure slowly erged from the wind and rain. It was the Holy Knight of the Dartnerly family—Daros.
"The rchant Das is our target this ti," Daros declared, his deep gaze carrying a hint of a dark smile.
In their clashes with Nemus over the past half-year, they hadn't gained any advantage. On the contrary, by constantly making moves, several family mbers embedded in the Church had their mistakes seized upon by Nemus, resulting in them being stripped of their positions or thrown into confinent.
After waiting for so long, Nemus had finally grown careless and exposed a flaw.
Recently, they had secretly collaborated with a few associates to drastically increase the demand for whale products, consistently mounting pressure on the efficiency of the smuggling operation.
Even though smuggling was a semi-monopoly, failing to deliver goods over an extended period would severely damage its future prospects.
Today's risky delivery in the rain was essentially brought about by their machinations!
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