Chapter 1120 Under the Temple

“So big!”

After Isabel came down, she couldn't help but exclaimed, "This is almost half the size of the Palace of Silver and Tin!"

Unlike ordinary churches, the Lambretta Chapel has a basement of quite astonishing size.

Of course, it couldn't compare to the size of a castle like the Vendôme family's. But the Silver and Tin Palace was less than one-sixth the size of Lionheart Palace. In Aiwass's memory, it resembled a three-story five-star hotel. Besides the vast Round Table Hall and banquet hall, there were only a few small rooms like bedrooms, studies, and collection rooms.

"The reason is that this temple itself was converted from a warehouse of a champagne factory."

Sherlock on the side gave the answer.

The basement of this temple used to be a huge wine cellar.

“Because champagne production requires a secondary fermentation to produce bubbles, the right temperature and humidity need to be maintained during the effervescent stage. Therefore, a fairly large cellar is required. And after successful effervescence, the wine needs to be aged on its lees – that is, it needs to be aged directly with the yeast that grew in the bottle, waiting for them to die and decompose, thus producing new aromas.

“This process usually takes at least a year and is key to the unique aromas of Champagne. The basement of the Chapelle des Rams, with its soft, fine-grained chalky limestone crust, is ideal for this process.”

Sherlock said quietly.

He didn't stop, but tapped the ground with his cane, carefully testing every possible trap or mechanism.

Their flashlights were too dim. Even if everyone present had night vision, they couldn't let their guard down just because they could see.

For Sherlock, this level of trickery by Ram Company was as easy as exposing it to the daylight.

“In my opinion, their willingness to transfer the wine cellar to the church…is not entirely for whitewashing.

"Just like what Yasen just said—they used industrial flavorings. From what I understand, they hired a Star Antimony alchemist to mimic the aroma directly after the secondary fermentation by mixing flavorings in precise proportions."

At this point, Sherlock glanced at Aiwass. "Just like... Master Nobel. Both were alchemists who couldn't stand the atmosphere of the Royal Alchemy Association and were expelled. But... heh. The knowledge in their heads is a treasure for other countries."

"Yes."

Aiwass nodded and said softly, "It was after this group of alchemists proved their abilities that Star Antimony's spies began assassinating alchemists who attempted to flee Star Antimony. Before that, the people of Star Antimony had no idea how talented these alchemists, who weren't particularly outstanding in the country, really were. They simply had too many alchemists... Even if they were to select the best, those who made it would all be talented."

“I also learned about winemaking when I was reading books before.”

Sherlock didn't respond, but went straight to the point, "Secondary fermentation only takes two months, while aging on the lees takes at least a year. Once they've eliminated this step through alchemy, they can quickly produce enough goods to capture the low-price market."

“They also considered handing over the wine cellar to the church.

"If it were given to anyone, the cellar's quality could potentially lead to it being sold to San Léo or another champagne house for a high price. It could even be used as evidence that 'Lamb' uses industrial flavorings' and spark public opinion. Only the church is different – ​​once the church is built, they will never move or sell the land to anyone else."

This is only natural.

——If a bishop of a church sold a church because someone offered a higher price, it would be a major event that would alarm the Church.

No matter how embarrassing it is, it can't be as shameful as this!

"As the sponsor, they can continue to use the cellar to age a batch of high-quality Ram champagne to tap into the high-end market. From this perspective, the church becomes their gatekeeper and security guard—few dare to sneak into the church to steal or poison. Even if they do, it's not their problem, but the church's. They can also ask the church for help with purification or something...it's just another round of sponsorship. The Iris Church is not like Avalon, which is funded by the Theocracy and the royal family. They have to be responsible for their own profits and losses.

"In my opinion... they could even create a new brand, like 'Blessed Champagne', to sell this high-end champagne that has been purified by Holy Light for a long time and has some additional effects."

Sherlock scoffed, "I just wonder if they have any smart people left."

"Um?"

Isabel was a little confused: "But this shouldn't be useful, right?"

Although it has only been half a year since Isabel became a superhuman, she is no longer the ignorant newbie she was six months ago.

This is simple reasoning – if the purification of the church could fundamentally change the wine, then local churches would have stored a stock of wine and sold it to generate revenue, or perhaps give it as a gift to gain connections with those in power.

“It’s just useless.”

Aiwass, the most authoritative person present, gave a definitive answer: "It's just placed in the church's basement. This level of purification is simply not going to have any lasting effect on the wine—let alone underground, even placing it inside the chapel would be useless.

"If a consecration ceremony is used to bless it—like on Candlemas Day—it typically won't last more than three days, similar to the shelf life of holy water. Forget about aging it. Even if the wine is packaged and sold, the blessing effect will likely wear off before it reaches local distributors."

"I'm talking about psychology, Fox."

Sherlock shook his head. "Not everyone is fully aware of the consecration process for your devotees. Most wealthy people are fools outside of their areas of expertise. Business is not a path of wisdom. Merchants need a little bit of everything... intuition, luck, management, rules, courage... but at the same time, none of them are essential. Even if one is missing, it can be supplemented by others."

"After all, business is also a field of balance."

Isabel nodded.

"--Wait a moment."

Suddenly, Yasen's expression changed and he spoke loudly.

The others immediately stopped and looked at him. Sherlock gripped the scepter tightly, igniting the blue eyes of the Fool's Chant, ready to instantly cast different spells in case of emergency.

Aiwass also grabbed Don Quixote's card and asked cautiously, "What's wrong, Yasin? What did you feel?"

Although Arsene is a "Phantom Thief", he is not at the level to adapt to the Tao...but everyone's opinions and feelings are important, and Aiwass is definitely not the kind of guy who would underestimate the ominous signs clearly raised by his teammates.

Yasen stared at the wall and walked forward slowly.

He actually doesn't like this topic very much.

Just as he always enjoyed giving those unscrupulous merchants a hard time, he didn't bother analyzing their plans, arrangements, or intentions. Not to mention a merchant who dared to take advantage of a devotee... so he hadn't spoken to them before.

Because of this, he focused his attention nearby.

When Sherlock mentioned that the cellar here was made of "soft and fine chalky limestone shell", he grabbed a handful and crushed it bit by bit with his hands - it was like a kind of putty powder or dried paint. The crushing felt quite good, so after crushing it, he grabbed another handful.

This time, he felt something unusual...

When he crushed the limestone shell, he found a thin round tube inside.

Although he, as a high-level transcendent, could also see at night, he couldn't distinguish colors very well. But the feeling made him feel a little ominous.

"Evans," Yassen said softly, "could you please light this up?"

"Be careful, you need to adapt."

Aiwass reminded everyone.

He didn't even bother to reach out, and a faint light emanated from the antlers on his head. It was not glaring, just like the brightness and color temperature of the reading light from a desk lamp.

Under the shining light, the surrounding undecorated white-gray walls looked like an unfinished house.

Yasen stepped forward, reached out and dug out a piece of limestone.

The dense network of tubes underneath was revealed. Perhaps due to the light, or perhaps because they were exposed, like the nerves of a tooth... they even contracted inwards slightly, twitching for a moment, as if alive.

Bright red, dark red, interwoven together, like electrical wires hidden beneath the earth's crust.

“…It’s a blood vessel.”

Sherlock's face changed and he blurted out: "These are all human blood vessels!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the blood vessels began to twitch suddenly!

This is the first chapter, meow. Chapter 2 will be posted before 10 o'clock!

Yesterday, I was writing and felt so sleepy that I wanted to take a nap. I ended up sleeping from 8:30 to almost 5:00... a total of eight hours!

This is the first time in two months that I've gotten more than seven hours of sleep. It feels so good! I've been sleeping less than six hours a day this week, and today I finally got enough sleep. I feel like I'm back to normal!

(End of this chapter)