Chapter 135: Both hands ready

Needless to say.

The power of Hermanubis, this kind of power from a god, is indeed miraculous.

The three sacred rites Luo De obtained from his three Visions are all extremely powerful amplifications.

Moreover, he didn't experience any abnormal side effects; none of the problems Cyno had warned him about beforehand appeared.

Of course.

With so many abnormalities stacked together, Cyno naturally wouldn't let him off; after the sacred rite ended, he followed him and asked many questions in a row.

Luo De also followed the old habit of answering 'I don't know' to every question.

After all, the notion that shackles fell from the sky is ultimately just his personal guess.

Not to mention Luo De, even Nadixa, who can communicate with the World Tree, cannot confirm what exactly causes his uniqueness.

Fortunately, Cyno and the Great Sage are not on the same side.

Seeing that Luo De truly couldn't say anything, they stopped pursuing the questions.

The two also parted ways when they reached the vicinity of A Ru Cun.

Cyno began investigating the Great Sage's alleged blasphemy, while Luo De directly returned to A Ru Cun.

After returning.

Luo De's first order of business was to find Kantisi.

"Do you want to spread the news that you are the Red King's divine envoy?"

Upon hearing Luo De's words, Kantisi's eyebrows immediately knitted.

"This title is dangerous."

"Moreover, even the radical Red King believers might not necessarily acknowledge your identity as the Red King's divine envoy."

Red King believers in the desert are mainly divided into two factions.

One faction consists of extremely fervent radicals in their faith in the Red King; anything related to the Red King, they will mindlessly pursue, either obtaining it through legitimate means or directly seizing it, and they absolutely forbid anyone from uttering a word of dissatisfaction with the Red King, and they also harbor intense hostility toward the rainforest region.

The other faction is relatively laid-back moderates; they neither fervently believe in the Red King nor oppose the Dendro Archon's followers, advocating peaceful coexistence and believing that one should first live well before worrying about faith in the gods.

Besides that.

Furthermore, there are some who pay lip service to faith in the Red King but actually just want to use the Red King's name to cause trouble—false believers.

In A Ru Cun, the situation now is that radical and moderate factions coexist.

Part of the reason Luo De previously didn't want to expose his title as the Red King's divine envoy lies here.

After all, that was just a false title before.

Even Kantisi, who trusted him so much, was only giving lip service and never truly believed it.

Back then, if word got out that he was the Red King's divine envoy,

Not only would the Academy likely come looking for trouble,

the radical Red King believers would definitely come to A Ru Cun to seek verification.

If they discovered Luo De was a fake Red King's divine envoy, then any resulting violent conflict would be a mild description.

A worse scenario.

Namely, Luo De's false identity as the Red King's divine envoy wasn't exposed; instead, they forcibly confirmed it as genuine.

Once they do that,

they can proclaim the Red King's glory restored; with the radical faction's aggressive style, they would definitely dare to cause trouble in the rainforest region, and even openly clash militarily with the Academy.

That is what Luo De worries about most.

But the past is the past.

After obtaining three inherited sacred rites at the Priest's Divine Temple, Luo De can now confidently tell Kantisi:

"It's fine; let them come and try."

Cyno and the Grand Priest have both personally admitted to one thing.

That Luo De is now absolutely worthy of the title Red King's divine envoy.

Regardless of whether he possesses the Dendro Archon's power, based solely on his performance when inheriting Hermanubis's power, saying he is the Red King's divine envoy is by no means an exaggeration.

And that is precisely why.

Only then did Luo De conceive the idea of spreading the news that he is the Red King's divine envoy.

To oppose the Academy.

Adequate manpower is essential.

At the very least.

We need someone who can draw away and block most of the Academy's defensive forces, so that he can more easily prepare to release Nadixa.

The fervent Red King believers are excellent candidates.

Among them, those who are willing to obey, Luo De will keep them on standby for a good opportunity.

Those who are not obedient,

Luo De will also keep them.

Coincidentally, A Ru Cun is currently suffering a severe shortage of manpower; even bringing back the people of the Tanite tribe is far from enough.

Just to make up the labor force.

After hearing Luo De's final reason,

Kantisi pondered briefly, then smiled and nodded, saying: "Good."

She didn't say anything more, just replied with that single simple word.

"Thank you."

After expressing his thanks, Luo De then went to find Dixiya to discuss another matter.

Have my people spread everything Ka Wei did in A Ru Cun all over Sumeru Cheng?

When she first heard of this, Dixiya expressed great doubt.

It's not that it's impossible.

She's just a little curious.

Actually, the fact that Duo Li invested heavily in A Ru Cun has long been known in Sumeru Cheng—no, throughout Sumeru.

Anyway.

Duo Li is, after all, a prominent figure throughout Sumeru.

There are people watching her every move.

Now she suddenly poured an astronomical amount of Mora into that desert village A Ru Cun for no apparent reason, which is surprising, and many merchants who have business dealings or competition with Duo Li come to A Ru Cun to visit, to see what scheme she's up to by throwing money around.

During this period, many people already know that the architect who redesigned and planned A Ru Cun is Ka Wei.

So even if we don't deliberately spread it, sooner or later the news about Ka Wei will get out in Sumeru Cheng.

"Spreading it like that probably won't be of much use."

"He's not building a second Kasazale Palace; constructing houses for a desert village like this won't qualitatively boost his reputation."

Dixiya is a mercenary, though.

But she also understands that for an architect, designing a landmark building is a great honor—for example, Duo Li's Kasazale Palace; that is the foundation for him to truly become famous throughout Sumeru.

Other than that.

The fact that Ka Wei was the chief designer during the reconstruction of Aomos Port is hardly known anymore.

And the project he is currently overseeing in A Ru Cun.

Put simply.

It's just some basic infrastructure.

It's good, but it has nothing to do with the art and beauty that an engineer pursues.

Especially since the Aier Kasazale Palace sets a high bar.

These may look impressive, but they're actually just ordinary construction results; even if you hype them up, they don't really boost Ka Wei's reputation.

Facing Dixiya's doubt, Luo De explained: "See if what Ka Wei is doing can attract some people."

Upon hearing that, Dixiya understood even less: "Attract whom?"

"Some people, like the seniors, who are willing to help the village."

Luo De's reason was very clever, and Dixiya believed it.

This is a predicament that the newly renewed A Ru Cun now faces.

It's still the same old problem.

The Academy's blockade and suppression of the desert are too severe, and the long-term brainwashing that has stirred up hostility between desert folk and rainforest people.

Although A Ru Cun has, thanks to Duo Li's financial power, quickly erected various new infrastructure, it still has no professionals from the Academy coming to work there, only a few that Duo Li managed to contact.

Just think: the only doctor in the village is Malufu, who can only whip up simple medicines based on experience, and that's pretty absurd.

Kantisi hasn't failed to try posting job openings in Kawanyi or other areas.

But the response she got was pitiful.

That's a real problem staring us in the face.

That is, A Ru Cun can't offer very high salaries, and even if it paid the same as the rainforest area, those Academy scholars accustomed to rainforest life wouldn't come to A Ru Cun, which they see as 'poor mountains and evil waters, wicked people everywhere.'

"What should I say?"

"Just simply publicize what Ka Wei has done?"

"Wouldn't that be a bit too monotonous?"

Dixiya pondered: "Should we shoot some video footage? You do have a camera, right? Perfect time to use it."

That's a good suggestion.

Luo De added: "By the way, make it into a pamphlet as well."

"Looks good to me."

Dixiya's eyes lit up.

Using textual descriptions plus actual photographs to create promotional material is not common in Sumeru.

Moreover, this method doesn't count as spreading knowledge.

Therefore it's not under the Academy's control, and it's still a usable method.

Using Ka Wei's deeds as a method to attract Aier Haisen to come.

This seems somewhat unbelievable.

But Luo De is very confident about this.

A clash between an idealist with romanticist coloring and a rationalist who is absolutely calm and puts reason above all.

So when the idealist gets the ideal he's dreamed of realized, the individualist, even if he's usually indifferent, can't help but become curious and want to see it with his own eyes.

As for whether these pamphlets can bring other effects.

That's hard to say.

If there is, great; if not, there's nothing to be done.

(End of chapter)