Chapter 639 (1/2)
“I’m a little depressed,” said the God of Aristocracy, who was watching all the cheering going on in Golden Tower City from amidst the clouds. There wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face. On the contrary, he was feeling more distressed than happy. “I can’t help getting an inexplicable feeling, like I have just received a blow on behalf of the Church of the Void Mask.”
“Your feeling is quite accurate,” said the God of Protection with a smile. “The moment Golden Tower City gains its independence, a large area of the western and northern parts of the Mifata Federation will be considered substantially independent. But in this area, the various gods from the Church of the Void Mask God System will be in the dominating position, while your church will, at most, only have one or two strongholds.”
“In the first place, it was obvious that the best of all things had been taken by them; as a result of that, my followers were left with no choice but to fight a losing battle that would bleed them dry. How loathsome!” said the God of Aristocracy furiously. “Those guys from the Mifata Federation are really bastards! It was clearly Grey Tower City that first declared that it would be seceding from the Federation, so why are they attacking Golden Tower City instead? I have specially instructed and reminded my followers to stay low and not do anything that would attract unnecessary attention to them. Yet in the end, the arrow is still directed at us!”
“You can’t blame them,” the God of Diplomacy explained. “Grey Tower City came into existence at least a century ago. By then, it had already been regarded as a private plot of land set aside for the God of Scholars, so it has long been the equivalent of a semi-independent city. Over the years, the Mifata Federation had been suppressing the progress of Grey Tower City’s development. The Federation was also mentally prepared for Grey Tower City eventually wanting control over its own independence, especially when it was surrounded by a massive area of fertile land. But its geographical location was relatively remote at best, and the city could support and feed a larger population. It will not have a great influence in the commercial and political sectors, but most certainly, it is capable of going independent.
“By contrast, Golden Tower City’s geographical location is more prominent, and it certainly deserves the description of a commercial hub district. If it breaks away from the Mifata Federation, the business of the entire Federation will be affected—albeit a small impact. Compared to the Grey Tower City, which is not as indispensable of course, Golden Tower City will receive more attention.” As compared to the other gods, the God of Diplomacy had a more acute sense and clearer understanding of politics. He knew that in addition to its engagement in research on spells, the Mifata Federation was also a commercialized country where business was its true foundation. This was why the Federation had left Grey Tower City untouched, even though it was the first city to initiate a secession from the Federation, and instead focused on attacking Golden Tower City, whose decision to secede would affect it to a varying degree. The God of Diplomacy was best able to understand why the Mifata Federation had decided to attack Golden Tower City and not Grey Tower City.
“Not only that, Golden Tower City has a geographically pivotal position that concerns traffic over a large area from the western and northern parts of the Mifata Federation. So as you all can see, the moment the Federation Army fails to suppress Golden Tower City, cities within that area will start to demand independence because they know that since the Federation was unable to bring down Golden Tower City, then all of them would naturally be safe from the Federation. It would be highly unlikely for the Federation Army to make a detour around Golden Tower City just to attack them.”
“Hearing what you just said makes me even more depressed!” the God of Aristocracy heaved a deep sigh and said. “Doesn’t that mean that if I choose not to fight this battle, the Void God System will only be able to seize as much as Grey Tower City?”
“More or less… yes.”
“Now I shall get my followers to negotiate with those from the Federation, and also, I am going to support them in their crusade against those independent areas. What do you all think of this?”
The human gods kept silent; then after a while, the God of Heroes whispered, “Are you ready to put all dignity aside?”
Now, it was the God of Aristocracy’s turn to fall into silence. After a long time, he replied dejectedly, “No, I don’t think I can.”
Since he was not ready to lose face, then he would have to face up to such a suffocating loss.
Fortunately, in any case, this war of independence that Golden Tower City fought, greatly boosted the morale of the followers of the God of Aristocracy, forged stronger bonds among followers of the entire church, and found an opportunity for further development for the Church of the God or Aristocracy. This thus opened the gap.
Now, aristocrats from all over the world were watching Golden Tower City. They wanted to see if the Church of the God of Aristocracy had the confidence and capability to govern the city well, as well as whether the church could become a reliable ally.
On the other side, within the Sanctuary of Void God System, Sui Xiong and his followers were discussing this matter.
“Up to the end of this battle between the Church of the God of Aristocracy and the Mifata Federation, we are the ones who stood to gain some unexpected advantages. How delightful!” said Wall, amidst laughter. He continued to say, “Originally, when the Hart Family talked about wanting to leave the Mifata Federation to join the Republic of Northwest, I felt they were being a little too hasty. Now it seems like they must have figured this out long before—these guys are really people who have been semi-independent for a long time. They are not just your average, old cons trying to gain something to their advantage!”