Chapter 215: The Pope (Anthony) sent me here

"Kwabada! Is this what he meant by safe and discreet?! Kwabada, I shouldn't have trusted him just now, this unreliable undead." Lord Nai Ge Li Si cursed angrily inside Seeing Ange's soul.

Seeing Ange tilted his head, scanned the surroundings—there were about twenty-odd Holy Knights, the leader of which was roughly level eight, about the same caliber as the Ma De squad he'd encountered before.

However, the condition of these Holy Knights before him was nowhere near as good as the Ma De squad's—their armor was old and tattered, with rust marks, the leather folds at collars and joints were peeling and the stitching broken, and their weapons weren't great either, some blades having quite a few chips.

Fei Li Ke unhurriedly condensed his form, dropped to his knees with a clatter, and pulled out five magic crystals from his body: "I believe in the Light, I pay my taxes!"

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was dumbfounded—this scene, why does it feel a little familiar?

The leading Holy Knight walked over, picked up the magic crystals and weighed them: "Oh, a believer of the Light, then you're one of us, but the tax fee has gone up, pay a bit more."

Fei Li Ke pulled out another magic crystal: "Small business, slow and steady, too expensive, next time I'll just take another route."

The Holy Knight hurriedly explained: "You brought a person with you, didn't you, no need, next time I'll count it cheaper for you, after all you have a devout heart."

Where does it show that an undead reeking of death has a devout heart?

The Holy Knight turned to Seeing Ange again: "What about you? Do you believe in the Light? If you do, pay the tax."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si sighed: "Just pay, just pay, save the trouble, same as what Fei Li Ke paid."

So Seeing Ange pulled out five magic crystals, and now there was trouble.

"Oh ho? A rich one? Hands up, I suspect you're smuggling contraband and possessing weapons of mass destruction, open your spatial artifact and let us inspect it." The leading Holy Knight barked.

Fei Li Ke lamented in a pained whisper: "Why did you give so much? Didn't I pay for you already, you should have made an excuse that you didn't have any, why did you even flash your spatial artifact? Now we're done for, if you don't bleed heavily, these vampires won't let us go."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si raged: "Kwabada, I'm furious, I originally wanted to get along well with you, but you forced us to show our hand, Seeing Ange, take out your Divine Knight badge."

Seeing Ange took out Li Ao Na De's Divine Knight badge.

"Ah! Divine Knight! Oh, entrapment—Holy Spirits above, forgive us my lord, we didn't know your identity!" Crash, the surrounding Holy Knights dropped to their knees in a ring.

The leading Holy Knight knelt on both knees, tremblingly holding up eleven magic crystals with both hands, presenting them before Seeing Ange, saying repeatedly: "Forgive us my lord, we didn't mean to, we didn't know your identity my lord, please be lenient my lord."

Lord Nai Ge Li Si roared directly on Seeing Ange's body: "Just because you didn't know you can extort ordinary people at will?! Just because you didn't know you can collect taxes at will?! Which department are you from? I'm filing a complaint about you with your leaders!"

"My lord doesn't know which department we're from?" The leading Holy Knight asked.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was stunned, how would it know which department they were from?

"If I knew would I still need to ask you? Speak quickly!" Lord Nai Ge Li Si said impatiently.

"My lord, pardon the offense." The leading Holy Knight tossed the magic crystals in his hand toward Seeing Ange, leapt backward, and shouted: "Brothers run, don't get caught—"

The surrounding Holy Knights scattered and fled in a whoosh, before the leading Holy Knight could even finish speaking, they had already vanished without a trace.

The leading Holy Knight couldn't finish either, because just as he finished saying 'don't get caught', his neck was gripped by Seeing Ange, who lifted him up like a chick.

Holy power erupted from the Holy Knight, but before he could do anything, Seeing Ange summoned Holy Light, patted it onto him, and directly slapped the Holy Power away.

The Holy Knight stared in horror, this was Stripping! The legendary Stripping, only when one's power holds an overwhelming advantage can it produce this Stripping effect on another.

Realizing that the 'Divine Knight' before him was not something he could resist, the leading Holy Knight's face instantly turned ashen, his whole body went limp. After Seeing Ange put him down, he obediently knelt on both knees and pressed his face to the ground.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was also somewhat astonished, asking inside Seeing Ange's mind: "You're already this powerful? You can subdue a level seven or eight Holy Knight with one hand?"

Seeing Ange tilted his head, somewhat puzzled—is it hard?

Forget it, Lord Nai Ge Li Si had already given up trying to figure out Seeing Ange's strength, this skeleton could even gain strength from farming, could gain strength from picking up a Druid's manual, and had previously collected so many soul fragments of Elven Druids, who knew what new abilities he'd mastered.

In any case, ever since he could transform into Luo Ke, Seeing Ange's strength was no longer something Lord Nai Ge Li Si could gauge.

Turning his attention to the Holy Knight, Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked sternly: "Name."

"Reporting to my lord, my name is Bu Lan Du."

"Age."

"Forty-three."

"Gender."

"Uh, my lord, isn't that something you can tell at a glance?"

"When I tell you to answer, you answer, no backtalk, slap."

The final word 'slap' left Bu Lan Du somewhat dazed, unsure whether he was supposed to slap himself or what was going on, when Seeing Ange's palm had already slapped onto his head, making his head buzz.

"Gender." Lord Nai Ge Li Si repeated the question, this kind of obviously-at-a-glance question, yet insisting you answer it, is itself part of obedience training, using this training to break down your resistance psychology, forming a conditioned reflex, making you answer other questions with less burden.

If he weren't lazy, Lord Nai Ge Li Si could have asked him how many times he wet the bed at what age.

"Male, male." Bu Lan Du answered hurriedly.

"Why are you blocking the road to rob."

"This, my lord, we're not robbing, we're just collecting taxes, you can't characterize us like that." Bu Lan Du raised his head, saying with a mournful face.

"Quibbling, slap."

Seeing Ange slapped his head again, making him buzz, his eyes almost seeing stars.

"Why are you blocking the road to rob."

"... Poor, but we're really not robbing, the troops stationed locally levy an eleven-tax in place, this is the right bestowed upon us by the Holy Light, it's really not robbery." Bu Lan Du refused to admit it to the death.

Although what they did was essentially no different from robbery, maybe even better than going to rob, they absolutely could not admit it, once admitted, not only would he be done for, the others would also be done for, and might even implicate their families.

How could it be such a coincidence? He was now starting to suspect this was entrapment, which Divine Knight would disguise himself as an ordinary person and trek over mountains under the guidance of an undead?

"Poor?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si really hadn't expected the other party to answer like that, but looking again at Bu Lan Du's worn equipment, this did seem like a very plain reason.

"Don't you get allocations from above? No equipment maintenance either?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked.

At the mention of this issue, Bu Lan Du's eyes couldn't help but redden: "Haven't been paid for several months, equipment maintenance hasn't been done for years, recently even cloth and rations are in short supply, we're about to be unable to survive."

"No way? Not even paying salaries? Your superiors embezzled?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si exclaimed.

Bu Lan Du glanced at Seeing Ange, trying to read from Seeing Ange's expression whether he was truly surprised or setting a trap, yet how could there be any expression on Seeing Ange's face.

Bu Lan Du hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and shook his head: "No, I heard it's because the eastern diocese of the main plane split, causing material shortages, that's why the pay can't be issued."

Seeing Bu Lan Du's gritted-teeth shaking-head look, Lord Nai Ge Li Si suddenly felt some sympathy for these Holy Knights, he was clearly still worried Seeing Ange was setting a trap, didn't dare speak the truth, had the bottom-level knights of the Church of Light become this cautious?

Lord Nai Ge Li Si felt like having a proper chat with him, and said a few words inside Seeing Ange's mind.

Seeing Ange nodded, and stomped the ground with his foot.

Swish, swish, swish—three pillars of earth rose from the ground, two short and one tall, the tallest being the thickest. Once risen, they quickly took shape, the top of the tall one spreading out into a tabletop, then drying. In the blink of an eye, two chairs and a table had formed.

He gestured for Seeing Ange to take out some fresh beetroot—certain varieties of beetroot could be eaten like fruit when fresh, with a very pleasant texture and taste.

"Sit. Eat."

Brando was shaken with uncertainty. Shaken, naturally, by Seeing Ange's little display—though there had been a fluctuation of elements, it had been too fast for him to sense it clearly. What struck him instead was a description in the Holy Scripture that fit this scene perfectly—the will of God.

God said, let there be light, and there was light… God felt the room was too empty, and so there were tables and chairs…

This was an advanced divine art—who was this Knight of God?

He sat down on half a buttock, trembling with fear, took a beetroot in his hand, but didn't dare eat it, kneading it anxiously.

After a heart-to-heart talk, Lord Nai Ge Li Si finally gained some understanding of the situation Brando and these Holy Knights were in.

According to Brando, the personnel of the Fallen Land were divided into garrison troops and reinforcements. What were reinforcements? They were the main-plane armies that came to the Fallen Land to assist in battle on a four-month cycle.

These armies were well-equipped, well-trained, well-paid, and had strong combat ability.

Originally, a thousand years ago, all units had been this kind of "reinforcement," but as the fighting entered a stalemate—especially after the establishment of the Fallen Land diocese—some personnel stayed behind to garrison.

These garrison troops came and went, but some stayed permanently, bringing along relatives and friends, even taking wives and having children. Decades later, their descendants became natives of the Fallen Land.

The Fallen Land was already harsh—supplies scarce, the land barren—and the garrison troops had to bear the heaviest casualties, their elites worn down terribly. Over time, the garrison's combat effectiveness declined sharply.

The main force fighting the undead became the reinforcements from the main plane, while the original garrison troops degenerated into second-line defense forces, guarding the long Central Mountain Range and human settlements.

The few elite garrison troops were all concentrated in Holy Wall City, defending the line before the Eternal Night arrived.

Second-line defense forces naturally didn't get much in the way of benefits, and with the church's incurable corruption from top to bottom, levies and skimming were commonplace. With no choice, everyone had to fend for themselves.

But in the Fallen Land, what way was there to fend for themselves? There weren't even many undead merchants running goods. When they finally caught one, they didn't dare squeeze too hard, afraid the other party would run elsewhere and the trade route would be cut off.

Now Brando's garrison village lacked clothing and food—not only were their rations severely insufficient, they were even in arrears, and their family members and villagers were going hungry.

The Fallen Land's productivity had never been enough to supply so many people, mainly because this was the front line, relying on a steady stream of supplies from the main plane in the rear.

But a few months ago, the eastern diocese of the main plane declared independence, calling itself the Holy Church. What a heaven-sent excuse! Although the supplies delivered by the Holy See hadn't decreased, the local parasites had all without exception found excuses to intensify their skimming.

But after all these years, Brando had actually gotten used to it. The village tried every way to grow a little food, he organized hands to collect some tolls on the road, and every so often went up to argue with the higher-ups—whatever they could wrangle, they took, and they could just barely survive.

If they really couldn't survive, they could flee to the other side—no taxes there.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was so shaken by Brando's description that he didn't know what to say. Back on the main plane, from Anthony, Shamara, and Faleh, he had some understanding of the church's corruption, but he hadn't expected the situation in the Fallen Land to be even worse.

This was the front line! Doing things this way—weren't they afraid the defense line would be breached?

"My lord, are you really not one of the local garrison lords?" Brando asked, a little frightened, repeating the question over and over, deeply afraid Seeing Ange was setting a trap for him.

"I told you, I'm not. Even my identity as a Knight of God is fake. I'm an ascetic from the main plane, sent this time on the Pope's orders to secretly investigate the corruption in the Fallen Land. To get the real situation, I did a little disguising."

As Lord Nai Ge Li Si spoke, he had Seeing Ange display Holy Light, while silently adding 'Anthony' before the Pope in his mind—it was Anthony who sent them. He'd go back to Anthony for a letter of appointment later. The Pope of the Holy Church was still a Pope, wasn't he?

Pure Holy Light was the best proof of identity. Brando didn't doubt Seeing Ange's identity—only worried he might be an entrapment.

"Let's go, take me to your village to have a look," Lord Nai Ge Li Si said, turning back at the same time to look for Feric, only to see Feric hiding in a crevice in a distant rock, poking his head out to look around.

Forget it, leave this undead merchant alone—having him follow would just be a hindrance.

Brando led the way helplessly. After walking for a stretch, Seeing Ange suddenly turned his head to look deep into the dense forest.

Deep in the dense forest, a Holy Knight in tattered armor was anxiously looking in this direction. Seeing that Seeing Ange had spotted him, he got a terrible fright and with a whoosh pulled his head back behind a tree branch.

Brando saw him too, and called out with a wry smile: "Come on out, everyone. My lord has forgiven us."

Twenty-odd Holy Knights shuffled out from their hiding places. Counting them up, not a single one was missing—clearly, Brando held great prestige among these men; not one had abandoned him to save his own life.

One of them, the youngest—a knight's squire—leaned on a crutch, limped over, and timidly called out to Brando: "Daddy."

"Your son? What happened to his leg?" Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked.

"When he was little, he fell off a horse and his ankle was shattered. Holy arts can only make it heal, but can't restore the broken bone," Brando said painfully, rubbing his son's head with guilt.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si asked, puzzled: "Isn't there Holy Essence? Why not use it? Even if the ankle is shattered, the worst you can do is chop it off and regrow it."

Brando and his Holy Knights exchanged glances: "My lord, you mean the legendary Holy Essence that can regenerate severed limbs?"

Lord Nai Ge Li Si exclaimed: "Legendary? You mean to say you've never actually seen Holy Essence?"

At this point, Lord Nai Ge Li Si suddenly had an idea, had Seeing Ange take out a bottle, and said: "I happen to have some here—one thousand magic crystals a bottle."

The expression on Brando's face instantly shifted from delight to disappointment.

"But, as long as you cooperate with me in investigating the corruption, this bottle of essence is yours—I'll heal your son's leg into the bargain. How about it?"