When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 697 - 655: Heading South to Black Snake Bay

The snow froze into window patterns on the glass, while the warmth from the brass pipes created a misty fog on it.

Due to the new recruits' camp being on holiday, Jeanne had nothing to do and was staying at Horn's Stag Room in the Holy Seat Mansion these days.

She sat by the window frame, licking her fingers, flipping through the newly released Demon Hunter novel.

This new Sacred Mechanism style of Demon Hunter novel is different from before. It's written entirely in plain language and slang, and compared to past content about hunting witches, it leans more towards adventure and exploring ancient ruins.

However, every now and then, she would let out a duck-like quacking laugh, which invigorated Horn's spirit while darkening his eyes as he was immersed in documents.

"According to Louise, it was supposed to pass around the New Year Festival, but it passed now." Horn crossed off two items as he looked at the schedule in his hands and said, "I thought Red Leaf Hill was going to act, but it turns out Clove Corridor made the move."

"Red Leaf Hill is after all too close to us; they have some reservations." Petier smiled and handed Horn a second schedule for review.

This schedule was for Horn's southern inspection next month.

Horn has two goals for this trip to Black Snake Bay: The first is to persuade most of the Secret Faction to unite, and the second is to hope the entire Black Snake Bay will join the Holy Axis.

Theoretically, Black Snake Bay is a huge treasure, with a massive amount of alchemical technology sealed away for a millennium due to imperial repression.

Even with just mountain copper, Horn had the weapon foundation to defeat Prince Kongdai and decree commands.

Even without such advanced structures and organizations, Black Snake Bay can't defeat Prince Kongdai; a domestic battle to drive out most of the Demon Hunters and Knight Order is still feasible.

However, at present in Black Snake Bay, a large amount of land is being occupied by the church and Demon Hunter organizations, like a dense net pressing down on the heads of the Black Snake Bay Secret Faction.

They are currently in a defensive, even struggling, state primarily due to their disorganized organizational structure.

Horn believes there are two main reasons for this scenario:

First, many of the Black Snake Bay Secret Faction are formed by fugitives, bandits, wild tribes, and secret organizations; they are inherently inclined towards anarchism.

Second, the periodic purges by the church often lead to a reshuffling of power within Black Snake Bay, preventing long-term development in one area, forming a habit of dispersed, nomadic survival.

But this scattered state clearly does not meet the times, and what Horn must do is merge and unite the small and large Secret Faction, ultimately forming a Black Snake Bay national entity.

Otherwise, Black Snake Bay is not a boost but a burden.

Given the current internal and external situation in Black Snake Bay, both Horn and the Imperial Cardinal Conference consider this a good opportunity.

After completing the first goal, Horn's second goal is to get Black Snake Bay to join the Holy Axis Monarchy.

Currently, the Holy Axis is a federal organization primarily established by the Saint Father's Association to resist the church. Its main purpose is to defend against church invasions.

However, this federal organization currently has only one member state, which is the Thousand River Valley Holy Monarch Country.

Horn's identity carries dual roles as Shepherd Leader of Thousand River Valley and Pope of the Holy Axis.

Of course, he hopes for Black Snake Bay and Thousand River Valley to form stable and close allied relations, possibly through a tariff union and military aid, turning it into Holy Axis.

As Pope of the Holy Axis, Horn always sees vassalage as an advanced form of alliance.

Moreover, through the Holy Axis's tariff union policy, Horn's influence can reach the Green Dragon Forest Sea and Ibe River estuary.

After breaking through Green Dragon Forest Sea and Clove Corridor, Horn's merchant ships can sail all the way to the Griffin Horn Frontier.

Even bypassing the Nao'an River route, directly heading to the sea for trade.

By integrating Black Snake Bay, the scale and strength of Horn's Holy Axis can be further expanded, thereby consolidating the defense line against the church.

Meanwhile, under the banner of Holy Axis, Horn can gradually expand his power through the tariff union.

In other words, Horn can annex Black Snake Bay in a relatively peaceful manner; his southern inspection is to face these groups directly and persuade them.

The only issue is that joining Holy Axis requires acknowledging Horn as the Pope.

"Brother Horn, are you sure you can convince them?" As Jeanne, the head guard of Horn's southern inspection, raised her head, she couldn't help but ask, "Can the Black Snake Bay people really listen to you?"

"Not sure, but as long as we play our cards right, I have a seventy percent chance to succeed."

"Why only seventy percent?"

"Seventy percent is plenty. If Clove Corridor hadn't organized a purge earlier for sugar and spice, I might not even have seventy percent."

Having accepted the Witch Council's invitation, before Horn's arrival, the Ruo'an Faction and Meigedi Commerce Association's persuasion group had already entered Black Snake Bay in advance.

But Horn doesn't rely solely on the persuasion group; his real trump card is "sugar and grain trade" and "military aid."

The sugar and grain trade can resolve the internal poverty and hunger in Black Snake Bay, while military aid can address external military threats.

If the Black Snake Bay Secret Faction can see the current situation clearly and wish to break free from this endless cycle, they are bound to side with Horn.

Hearing about the military aspect, Jeanne perked up immediately: "So when do we deploy troops to attack the church and those hypocritical temple knights?"

"No rush, no rush, let's toy with them." Horn chuckled, glancing down at the schedule, "We can assist Black Snake Bay with a batch of officers and soldiers, participating in the war as private mercenaries."

Judging by the attitude currently displayed by the Witch Council, they still haven't set their mind right.

Previously, Horn and his allies needed Black Snake Bay's assistance because they had exhausted a significant amount of strength during the Thousand River Valley civil war, which doesn't mean Horn's strength is weaker than Black Snake Bay's.

Yet Black Snake Bay still views Horn as a little brother succeeding thanks to their support, rather than an equal status.

Therefore, he wants Black Snake Bay to see the coffin, shed some tears, and then take action.

Thinking about this, Horn turned his head and asked Petier beside him: "How's the construction on the Ibe River docks?"

"Four temporary docks have been built, although unfinished, navigation is possible." Petier paused, "Of these four docks, three have been contracted out to the Ibe Foundation, and their construction speed is very fast."

The so-called Kush Foundation was organized by Grandmother Alco Vivian.

Upon hearing about this foundation for the first time, Horn couldn't help but admire the unity of the Ibe Knights.

The essence of the Kush Foundation is the Kush Knights of North County and the Ibe Plain, pooling resources and efforts to contract Horn's infrastructure projects, with those who have money contributing cash and those with strength contributing labor.

A large number of Kush Knights transitioned into foremen, bringing their relatives from their estates to assist with building roads, bridges, and other projects.

These Kus Knights not only lead groups but sometimes roll up their sleeves to work themselves, using their extraordinary knight endurance and strength to achieve impressive efficiency.

Most importantly, as the grandmother belongs to private fundraising, there is a guarantee involved.

And to ensure more projects are undertaken, the grandmother mortgaged a large amount of estate land ownership.

Moreover, to operate more projects and maximize interests, a large amount of collected cash flow was invested in construction.

In other words, the Kush Knights wouldn't see their money returning for a long time, even needing to work unpaid or contribute extra money.

Yet, the Kush Knights still work diligently, forcing Horn to admire the grandmother's tactics and the knights' family legacy of unity and sacrifice.

After all, without unity, sacrifice, and trust, they would have been assimilated or eliminated under the church's pressure long ago.

The Kush Foundation is a rare existence that makes Horn feel conflicted, because it speeds up infrastructure projects and concentrates resources for big tasks but also tends to form local factions in the Ibe area.

The most classic example being the rough small town adjacent to the several completed Ibe River docks.

In this small town, almost ninety percent are Kush Knights and their farmer relatives.

Pondering for a while, Horn finally wielded his quill, and added a note to the schedule.

"Before heading to Black Snake Bay, let's meet with that grandmother once."