All the senior members of the various chambers of commerce present looked at President Harry, waiting to see how he would respond.

Harry Clark, the president of Magic Crystal, was at a loss for what to do. Everyone present was intelligent; whether he replied or not, wouldn't they think the same way?

Fortunately, President Harry Magic Crystal remained silent.

Sometimes, silence is a form of consent!

As luck would have it, Ron didn't hold back, adding insult to injury: "President Harry is well aware that although the God of Commerce perished in the first year of a catastrophe, his divine authority remains!"

Point out the priesthood.

As long as the laws of the God of God remain, resurrection becomes possible!

The gods are not easy to deal with; the ability to be reborn from a drop of blood is merely a superficial application of certain laws, let alone the gods of the divine order.

However, the one who caused the fall of the God of Godhood is no ordinary person either. Commercial activities have always existed in this world, yet the God of Commerce's backup plan still cannot be revived. This indicates that the opportunity has not yet arrived. Perhaps, the newly born kingdom is just the right opportunity.

Whether the other side succeeds or not is of little concern to Ron. Taking advantage of the Crystal Guild Master's wavering, Ron continued, "Gentlemen, this place is originally the kingdom of the Merchant Guild. How can it be called a kingdom? I, Ron, understand and support the Crystal Guild Master's faith. However, from now on, my Pope will assist the new country in being incorporated into the ranks of duchies..."

This is why Ron made the new kingdom equivalent to an empire. The Commercial Union Kingdom would have to be renamed sooner or later, and the Commercial Union Duchy would be more in line with the principle of commerce without borders.

Kingdom and duchy differ by only one word.

The Magic Crystal Guild Master said that calling this place a kingdom would better prevent other popes from entering... Now that they've called themselves a duchy, how can they stop other popes?

As soon as Ron finished speaking, Harry, the president of the Magic Crystal Guild, immediately understood Ron's subtext: he would help change the name of the duchy and help prevent the other popes from entering!

This is wonderful.

My God, there is hope for recovery.

Sure enough, President Magic Crystal completely lost his composure.

Then, the Magic Crystal Guild Master performed a devout ritual from a near-ancient era... The ritual wasn't complicated... In short, the specific gestures and such meant 'my god'.

Everyone present was stunned.

It's true, the Fallen God's contingency plan is unfolding before our very eyes, from near-ancient times to the present...

The term "near ancient times" (近古) refers to a period of time spanning tens of thousands of years.

Gods are truly immeasurable, even the fallen gods.

According to historical records, the God of Commerce was a male being who established a divine kingdom. In those days, he was also an unparalleled genius who planned for a multi-dimensional world. He not only joined the ranks of the gods, but his business also reached the abyss.

The fall of the god of commerce has been too long ago, and the only connection to the abyss remains war.

According to Ron, it would be unreasonable for him not to take commerce as his divine duty. The God of Commerce was just a step away from becoming the supreme god of commerce and managing the multiverse. At that point, perhaps the God of Commerce wouldn't even have fallen.

Too many businesses, making it difficult to categorize them, are like gambling on fate, which is a real shame, since the divine authority of commerce is supposed to be neutral.

The others understood why the head of the merchant guilds had vehemently opposed the mention of a duchy in the new kingdom. They reasoned that even kingdoms didn't cause trouble, so could a duchy be as peaceful as the Duchy of Feikang? Probably not!

The other chambers of commerce were actually persuaded and were even planning to put a puppet king on the throne at the right time.

If that's the case, Ron will only talk about constitutional monarchy.

However, for a commercial nation, it would be better to name it a principality.

"President of Magic Crystal, I'm sorry to bother you. But at this point, why don't you give us your honest opinion? When it really comes down to it, does your Magic Crystal Merchant Guild have the fighting power of a demigod?" Ron asked sincerely.

President Harry of the Magic Crystal Guild had to think quickly. After all, a great swordsman's mental strength was inferior to that of a great mage. In Ron's opinion, President Harry had been a little slow to respond.

"It can only withstand a demigod... This is beyond the capabilities of the Magic Crystal Merchant Guild, and His Holiness the Pope wouldn't..."

"Rest assured, Ron, I will do my best. Being on par with a demigod is enough; a duchy is sufficient..."

Could a demigod possess some powerful divine artifact? However, judging from this, the Magic Crystal Merchant Guild probably doesn't have any true demigods anymore.

Despite this thought, Ron wouldn't completely believe it; in fact, Ron hoped that a demigod really was in charge!

Just think about it. There's no reason for demigods to stay long. With disasters happening constantly, most of them just want to advance further.

Hearing this, the crowd was no longer so alarmed.

The fallen god's contingency plan for resurrection and his means of resisting demigods are quite normal.

After that, Ron asked about the other families' most secret abilities.

With the Magic Crystal Guild Master leading the way, Ron got the information he wanted this time. Excellent! The forces supporting him are strong enough now.

Next topic.

"I believe that since this place should be called a duchy, and we also need to prevent excessive infiltration by other popes, what do you think of a neutral camp?"

"Can."

"That's wonderful! With His Holiness the Pope acting as a go-between, gaining the approval of the neutral camp is the best possible outcome..."

"..."

With that concluded, let's move on to the next topic.

"This Pope believes that if the popes do not establish their principal denomination in the capital of the principality, then preventing the spread of heretical cults and other such issues becomes a crucial problem. This Pope has a preliminary suggestion..."

At this point, Ron took out a bunch of divine magical artifacts from his storage ring.

The divine magical artifacts here are of extremely high quality, many of them are master-level items, with divine runes attached to them. So many divine magical items have been piled up into a small mountain.

The round table was almost full. Ron adjusted his position and continued, "These will be used to identify the forces of the evil faction. The best magical artifacts for this purpose come from the Kingdom of the God of Light..."

Ron didn't need to explain the rest; how to exchange for divine magical artifacts from the Church of Light was within the scope of the merchant guild's expertise.

These magical artifacts are sufficient to begin the initial large-scale investigation. Once the duchy truly has the population of a continental duchy, then we can use the artifacts from the Church of Light.

We have the divine artifacts, but do we have people who can practice them?

Ron looked at Harry, the president of the Magic Crystal Guild.

Harry adjusted his position accordingly, understanding the meaning in the Pope's eyes.

"My God's divine office is still in place, but the number of priests and nuns we have developed is probably not enough! Otherwise, Your Holiness the Pope, please take back some of them first."

"No need, there will be enough for the priests and nuns in the future."

Using divine magic doesn't necessarily require priests or nuns. Ron, an unbeliever, can use it too, as long as he understands divine magic enough and is willing to borrow the power of a certain god. I believe President Harry can resolve this as soon as possible.

Of course, this is on the premise that this being is willing to lend its divine power. It would also be good to see how far the God of Commerce's plans have progressed.

It's likely that there was more than one fallen deity in history.

If we don't take action now during this year of catastrophe, we'll miss our chance.

A crisis can also be an opportunity; Ron wants to see what the other mysterious beings are planning.

Life and death, gods and abyss, disaster and opportunity, evil versus good... all coexist.

A crisis can be an opportunity for some; things often look different depending on how you look at them.

Because of his status as the god of commerce, Ron has set his sights on the other fallen gods; these deities in distress are perfect partners for ambush. ＜(?????)＞

It's unclear what His Holiness the Pope was thinking, but some people present felt that the young Pope's smile was rather mysterious...

The president of the Magic Crystal Guild saw it differently; he perceived the Pope's smile as a sign of impending success—excellent…

Alas, the Pope's status influences people's judgment! Ron only wanted to have some special cooperation with the gods who should have fallen in history, how could these people of this world understand?

What was essentially a heretical act was, in fact, made divinely ordained after he became the Pope.

hehe…

That concludes the agenda. Next topic.

...

...

The meeting went on until late at night. For the rest of the time, Ron mostly rested with his eyes closed, while they, including Yuna, worked on refining various details.

While closing his eyes to rest, Ron was actually refining the details of his plan, such as how to contact the fallen gods. After all, this was a conspiracy with the gods, and he could not be too careful.

Bosses, your time to be tested has come.