Chapter 480 — Gibri's New Assignment

Watching the shifts in Gibri's expression, Gao Yang quietly took up a magitech device from beside him. Its structure resembled a simplified arcane-net communicator: there were only a few magic runes on its triangular base, but a high-quality projection crystal was set into its top.

Gao Yang placed the device on the table and activated it under Gibri's curious gaze: "Now look at these images."

The magitech device activated, and the images stored in the crystal were projected at once—this time, Gibri saw moving scenes directly, saw the church's people beating commoners in the street.

The footage was brief and shook violently, clearly recorded in a state of panic and concealment.

As a magic apprentice, Gibri was not surprised by a magitech device capable of projecting images; she was merely curious about the content: "My lord, these are..."

"Things that happened, and are happening, in Frostgate City," Gao Yang said gravely, looking into Gibri's eyes. "I ask you: after seeing these pictures and recordings, if you were to tell more people what you have seen and thought, and make them recognize the dark side of the Daystar Church, what would you say?"

Gibri seemed to understand what her task was. She spoke as she pondered: "Direct criticism and curses may be very effective on those already opposed to the Daystar Church, but on neutral parties and supporters of the Church they may backfire. Stating the facts in the most neutral manner, and laying out 'the Church has always been this dark' as plain fact, will win the greatest resonance. In addition, you can link the victims in these images to the audience of the propaganda, so that those who hear of these things realize that they too are the sort of people who may be beaten, plundered, and burned at the stake at any time. If you don't mind fabricating some additional intelligence, I can also invent a whole series of background details beyond these images..."

"We don't need to fabricate anything. We state only the facts," Gao Yang said calmly. "We need only state the facts. That is enough."

"Stating only the facts will be quite enough to achieve the effect you want," Gibri said at once, but then frowned. "It's just that there are so many people in the southern region—believers in the Holy Light, believers in foreign gods, the faithless... that is a very large number..."

As a clever woman, Gibri had already fully guessed the lord's intent, and as someone who did not herself believe in the Holy Light, she felt no resistance to the matter at all. Now the only thing she was curious about was how her mouth—ordinarily good for persuading only two or three people at a time—could accomplish what the lord required—

The lord had summoned her specifically, and had gathered all these materials before her (though she did not know how they had been gathered, since she had not yet had the chance to see the printing factories and arcane-net communication equipment in the domain). What he was after was surely a strike against the Daystar Church across the entire southern region—and such a thing could not be achieved by relying on one or two silver-tongued people.

Gao Yang looked at Gibri's face and slowly smiled: "What if your voice could be heard by everyone in the southern region?"

Gibri raised her head in astonishment and looked into Gao Yang's eyes, and then she thought of all the incredible things that had already happened in this incredible land, and all her surprise turned into the mindset of "the Mystic Vein Sect's outrageous maneuvers are bound to work, so don't ask questions, just do it": "...If such a thing really can be done... then I had better prepare properly."

"Then prepare, Miss Gibri," Gao Yang said, rising to his feet, word by word. "A new war has already begun."