Chapter 1086 — No Longer Sacred
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
"I think that will be no problem." Luo Yan agreed to Gao Song's request without much thought—as though he were entirely unaware of how enormous the value was of those unique "large-scale social data" accumulated over more than a decade and held by the royal house. This was not shallowness of thought or a moment's negligence, but rather that in this era, no one in the relevant fields had ever studied such things at all...
Gao Yan nodded, an earnest smile on his face.
Luo Yan, meanwhile, sank into thought; it was a full half minute before he broke the silence.
"So what the Theocratic Council is to do is not to openly attack any church, nor to spread any negative image of any god," Luo Yan said as he pondered. "The Theocratic Council itself will not 'declare war' on any deity."
"Yes. That will avoid accelerating the 'countdown' to the greatest extent possible, and ease the misgivings of many member states—after all, though royal authority and divine authority are naturally opposed, the rulers of every nation must still reckon with the church forces within their borders," Gao Yan nodded. "In fact, the Theocratic Council will not only refrain from declaring war on any deity; it will even help the gods do some 'publicity'..."
"Publicity?" Luo Yan did not grasp Gao Song's meaning for a moment and looked rather puzzled.
"Secularize the priesthood, popularize the dogma, turn the gods into celebrities, and finally—make the faith system entertainment," the corners of Gao Yang's mouth curved upward. "We will not craft any negative image of any god. On the contrary, we will make them shine even more gloriously in shadow-dramas, magazines, and... and in the process... they will gradually cease to be mysterious, and cease to be sacred."
Luo Yan stared at Gao Yang, dumbfounded, as though listening to tales of the Arabian Nights.
Then he drew a long breath, and the expression on his face became more complex and remarkable than ever before. "...You are the most daring... even frighteningly daring person I have ever met."
At the very last, when he said the word "person," he seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he still did not substitute any other word for it.
Gao Yang caught that barely perceptible flicker of hesitation in Luo Yan, but he only laughed it off. "Don't you think this plan is well worth a try?"
"If you didn't bear the name Augustus, I daresay you'd have given me a proper fright," Luo Yan said, a small jest by way of preamble. Then his expression turned serious. "I'm in."
Gao Yang broke into a smile and lifted the wine cup in his hand. "To strive against heaven—there is no greater joy."
Luo Yan was taken aback for a moment. He turned the strange-sounding words over in his mind, and little by little a smile spread across his own face. He raised his cup as well. "To strive against heaven—there is no greater joy."