The talks ended in a very friendly atmosphere.

Fang Zheng explained his plan to fight against Chaos to the Goddess of Sky. Although the latter was a little surprised, she still agreed to provide assistance. After all, for the current Order Clan, they need to expand the existence of Order as soon as possible to suppress the world destroyed by Chaos. In this case, it is not intolerable for Fang Zheng to borrow a small area as a "frontline base".

Of course, the intention is decided from above, but it is the people below who do the work.

"Master Fang Zheng, may I ask...how do you need the Seven Lights Church to cooperate?"

After returning to the church, the old Fawang was respectful to Fang Zheng. Although the conversation between the two sides was mixed with too many technical terms, the old Fawang did not understand anything. But at least he was sure that the young man in front of him was not an ordinary person, but a god like the Goddess of the Sky.

Although according to the religious view of "mortals", they are believers of the Goddess of the Sky and do not need to be so respectful to other gods. But from the previous situation, this young man and the Goddess of the Sky seem to be compatriots and colleagues... Well, this is another matter.

"As I said before, I will let Crossbell be independent, and the Seven Stars Church only needs to stay out of it."

"Is that so?"

The old King of France was somewhat surprised to hear Fang Zheng's answer.

"We can recognize Crossbell's independence as the Seven Stars Church..."

"But this will not benefit the Seven Luminaries Church. Instead, it will cause anxiety and vigilance in the Republic and the Empire."

Fang Zheng chuckled.

"So you don't need to do this thankless task. I came here this time just to reach a consensus with you. Of course, if possible, I hope you can help me promote it."

"publicity?"

"Yes, I think you are all familiar with the situation in Crossbell. I hope that after it is officially confirmed, you can use your influence to explain to the civilians the uniqueness and potential dangers of Crossbell, and why independence is their only choice."

Having said this, Fang Zheng spread out his hands.

"In the final analysis, Crossbell's independence is only for self-defense, and it will not actively annex other countries' territories. But just because I say this doesn't mean others will listen. There may even be other forces that take advantage of Crossbell's independence to incite similar behavior in other places. So I hope the Seven Stars Church can play a role in this regard. I don't like being used as a gun by others."

"That's no problem."

The old Pope lowered his head. After all, propaganda was one of the things the church was best at. Otherwise, they would not have become the spiritual banner of the entire continent of Semlia.

"But sir, do you need manpower from the Seven Lights Church? If you want to create a new religion..."

"Oh, that's not necessary."

"Why?"

Hearing this, the old French king, the Star Cup Knight and Rufina were all shocked.

"Not necessary?"

"Of course, I think you may have some misunderstandings about me and the Goddess of the Sky."

Fang Zheng chuckled and began to explain.

"As you have heard, what we actually do is to make the civilization of a world grow and develop, just like parents nurturing their children. Religion is just one of the means. In the early stages of civilization, using religious means to carry out propaganda and guidance is relatively advantageous, but it also has flaws."

"defect?"

"That's right."

Fang Zheng glanced at Rufina who asked the question and nodded.

"Everything has its limits. In order to publicize the greatness of God, you have exaggerated God too much, which will bring about certain disadvantages."

"this……"

"Take war for example. I admit that war will cause many people to become homeless and lose their loved ones. But war is an indispensable part of the advancement of civilization. An eternal paradise is certainly an ideal, but without the tempering of war, such a paradise is just an illusory dream. You should have discovered that there is more than just the continent of Semria in this world. It is boundless and has countless civilizations and races. You can certainly immerse yourself in your own happiness. But if a civilization tries to invade, then those who have no combat experience will only die tragically under the opponent's butcher knife."

Having said that, Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders.

"So to put it more cruelly, war is an inevitable part of the evolution of civilization. Although the Goddess of the Sky and I are unlikely to take the initiative to start a war - after all, large-scale wars will lead to the collapse of order and chaos. But if it is a war based on order itself, we will not deliberately stop it. But obviously, those who are involved in the war don't think so."

Fang Zheng spread his hands and looked at the old Fawang.

"They would ask why the goddess didn't come to protect them and keep them away from the flames of war, causing them to lose their loved ones... Well, I once saved a few little ones, and their life stories were all very tragic. In fact, I originally planned to send them to the Sunday school of the Seven Lights Church, but after hearing the church's proclamation, these little girls basically all had similar doubts. If I hadn't changed my strategy in time, there might have been a few more anti-social and anti-church troublemakers."

“…”

Hearing this, the three of them fell into silence.

"Of course, based on my observations, the Seven Lights Church has done a good job so far, but you must also learn to keep pace with the times."

Fang Zheng reached out and patted the old French king on the shoulder.

"Times are changing, and people's thoughts will also change. In the Dark Ages, survival was the top priority, so it was okay to promote the goddess's gospel and protect everyone. But now, the Dark Ages have long passed. If the religious system of the new era is still operated in the same way as before, it will bring many conflicts and potential problems. The church cannot stand still and think that everything will be fine as long as it sees those sincere believers. The stronger the action, the stronger the reaction. Just like the snake that devours the body, it is the best proof. As for the status of the gods, you don't have to worry about it. Children will leave their parents one day and travel far away. The Order Clan has created countless civilizations, and they don't care about whether they can leave their names in history. As long as order exists and civilization is passed on, then everything they do is meaningful. On the contrary, if it is just to promote the dignity of the gods and finally destroy everything, that is an act that runs counter to the will of the Order Clan."

"Thank you for your guidance, my lord."

At this moment, the old Dharma King also lowered his head deeply. It was not like he had not thought about similar things. After all, the Seven Stars Church had not been completely reformed. However, this kind of reform method was likely to cause harm to the Goddess of the Sky herself.

The old Dharma King naturally knew about the deeds of the Goddess of the Sky, and his reverence for the goddess prevented him from doing such a disrespectful act. Now with Fang Zheng's suggestion, he felt much more relaxed deep down.

"By the way, you should be thankful that it is the Goddess of the Sky who is protecting you. I know another goddess of order. Her biggest hobby when she has nothing to do is to admire the love between men. She often uses her oracles to push the other party, under the euphemism of seeking true love... Well, compared to her believers, you are much luckier."

"Well……"

Hearing this, the old French king's face froze, and after a moment, he lowered his head deeply.

"Praise the Goddess of the Sky."

Fang Zheng believed that he was absolutely sincere.

After the problem with the Seven Stars Church was solved, Fang Zheng turned around and returned to Crossbell. Although he wasted some time because of the idiot society and dealing with the Seven Stars Church, Fang Zheng believed that this time was nothing.

Because Crossbell is already under his control.

"Bang!!!"

With the heavy sound of the door slamming, a man in a suit walked out of the study angrily and left. Seeing this, Ellie sighed, walked to the study and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Grandfather, it's me."

"Ellie? Come in."

Hearing the sound coming from inside, Ellie pushed the door open and walked in.

The study was in a mess, with overturned tables and chairs and smashed vases everywhere. Speaker McDowell sat behind the desk, watching the scene helplessly.

"Grandfather, why are they so angry?"

As Ellie started to clean up the mess on the ground, she asked in confusion.

“Aren’t there fewer protesters now than in the past two days?”

"Yes, the protesting crowd is much smaller than the previous two days, but the problem has also arisen."

"……?"

Ellie blinked and looked at the old man.

"question?"

"Yes, Ellie, you know, our Crossbell Parliament is the executive body of Crossbell. Logically speaking, if we shut down, the entire Crossbell will be in disarray without our organization and orders. Just like this protest, why did most of the parliamentarians remain silent at the beginning? Because they believe that the Crossbell Parliament is indispensable. If the Crossbell Parliament shuts down, even for just a few days, it will cause unavoidable problems for the entire city. Their original idea was that when that time comes, they will come out and show the importance of the parliament to the people, but..."

At this point, Speaker McDowell smiled bitterly and spread his hands.

"Now half a month has passed, do you think there have been any changes in the city?"

"Uh...nothing has changed."

Ellie thought about it carefully, then shook her head.

"Yes, nothing has changed."

Speaker McDowell walked to the window, looked out, and sighed.

"Everything in the city is operating as normal. Why do you think this is happening?"

“…”

"Starlight Technology."

Without waiting for Ellie to answer, Speaker McDowell answered himself.

"They have their own security forces, they have their own shops, they have their own community hospital, and they have reached a cooperation with the Medical University. They control the routes of the guided buses from Crossbell to other places. Almost every aspect of life in this city is controlled by Starlight Technology. I didn't expect that Starlight Technology would penetrate Crossbell to this extent. Do you know what this means? Ellie?"

Speaker McDowell turned and looked at Ellie.

"The existence of the Crossbell Council is no longer meaningful."

“…”

"This is not a protest, but a coup, a coup without the smoke and blood. The other side doesn't even need to send assassins to murder us or send a team of soldiers to imprison us like in the drama... Hehe, our existence is completely irrelevant. With or without us, Crossbell will be business as usual."

At this point, Speaker McDowell gave a wry smile.

"Now I finally understand why Mr. Fang Zheng came to tell me all this that day. To him, this was just a notice - a notice to take over the entire Crossbell from the Crossbell Council. It's that simple."

Speaker McDowell closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

"And this is all due to our own arrogance. We are the ones who caused all this."

"Grandfather?"

Facing Speaker McDowell's mumbling, Ellie looked at him in surprise, and the latter shook his head.

"Yes, it's us. The members of the Crossbell Council are used to doing things for their own benefit. You should know that before Starlight Technology settled in, there was no such thing as a shuttle bus from Crossbell to other villages. When Starlight Technology settled in, it proposed to build a bus route with Crossbell as the center to connect other towns and villages. At that time, no council member was interested in this. They even laughed at Starlight Technology for having too much money to spend. After all, it takes a lot of Mira to open up roads and maintain the guided vehicles, and it only costs ten Mira to take these guided vehicles."

McDowell chuckled.

"Ten Mira, what can Ten Mira do? Even if all the people in Crossbell make a round trip, it is still not enough to cover the maintenance costs of the buses and roads. Starlight Technology is basically a losing business!"

"But this also makes it more convenient for people from other villages and towns to come to Crossbell."

Ellie also hurriedly defended herself.

"And with the bus, they don't have to worry about being attacked by monsters on the road. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes, this is a good thing, but the problem is that it requires a lot of money. The members of the Crossbell Parliament are not willing to spend such a large sum of money just to make transportation convenient for the residents of nearby villages and towns. In their opinion, the other party has come here for so many years, so why spend money to show them? Besides, those villages and towns only have a few hundred people in total. If they spend money specifically for them, will the citizens of Crossbell be happy if they know it?"

“…”

Ellie stopped talking, but her expression clearly showed that she disagreed with this argument.

“This is the result of the deliberations within the parliament.”

Speaker McDowell looked away.

"Things like this have happened several times over the years, such as developing the old city, paving the way, and providing funding for the police station. In the eyes of these congressmen, Starlight Technology is just like a fool. Just like what Mr. Fang Zheng said, they are not worried at all that Starlight Technology will have any bad ideas, because if Starlight Technology crosses the line, the Empire and the Republic will not sit idly by. In fact, this is exactly the case."

"…What do you mean?"

Hearing this, Ellie's heart suddenly rose to her throat, and Speaker McDowell shook his head.

"Just now, the ambassador sent by the Empire told me that the Empire is very dissatisfied with the current situation in Crossbell. They are likely to... end the farce in Crossbell by cutting off its commercial relations."