After confirming that Jacques was facing trouble, Naimes immediately notified his subordinates through the Oath Rope.

He simultaneously glanced at Isabella, who sat beneath the half-collapsed church with closed eyes, connecting to the grid and borrowing the faith power from the divine statue to restore her energy through divine arts.

Isabella definitely couldn't use up all this faith power, so if he could claim this faith power for himself, a major requirement for his ability evolution would be mostly complete. Original content can be found at novelꞁire.net

"Of course, if possible, I could also obtain the research results of the old priest."

"That way, perhaps I could reduce my own faith requirements."

Currently, it could be roughly confirmed that the old priest's research primarily focused on developing Holy Blood.

So-called Saints were essentially beings blessed by gods.

Because of this blessing, Saints could basically all reach Gold Seed level.

Yet in terms of manifestation power, Saints actually surpassed ordinary Gold Seeds.

The bloodline of Saints could therefore contain special power.

Precisely because of this, most descendants of Saints could become nobility.

Like the Dartmanley family.

However, this bloodline uniqueness would gradually diminish over time.

Gods rarely created Saints, which led some churches to occasionally research Saint bloodlines, using high-concentration Holy Blood to create individuals approaching Saints.

This was relatively normal circumstances, yet the old priest's experiments might not be so simple.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have failed despite the church's substantial investment.

To the extent that the old priest had remained deeply troubled for twenty years.

"But now, the battle on the other side should have begun too, right?" Naimes' thoughts couldn't help but turn to the other side.

Since he knew the old priest was causing trouble behind the scenes for bloodline experiments, the reason why the village guard had been intentionally or unintentionally spared wasn't hard to guess.

"If they can't find Lia, they'll go after the village guard. They're bound to capture Lia and extract experimental materials."

"At this point, what I need to do becomes quite obvious." Naimes instantly thought of how to obtain maximum benefit.

-----------------

The noon sun shone directly down as Op also contemplated what came next.

He had originally thought that after things settled down, it would just be smuggling starting up again.

He never expected that something big was coming.

However, this bloodline uniqueness would gradually diminish over time.

As for Op's future, the old priest didn't mention it.

Gods rarely created Saints, which led some churches to occasionally research Saint bloodlines, using high-concentration Holy Blood to create individuals approaching Saints.

Compared to others, Op had deeply witnessed the old priest's power.

At this point, he had long run out of options and could only follow the old priest's instructions, taking one step at a time.

"When the old priest's experiments failed back then, even though the church discovered numerous violations, they didn't pursue any consequences."

"The research only stopped because funding ran out."

"This time, it's just a continuation of the research. Perhaps if the experiment succeeds, the church will handle it lightly." Op could only comfort himself this way.

To the extent that the old priest had remained resentful for twenty years.

Most of his caravan members were either desperadoes from other places or die-hard loyalists whose interests highly aligned with Op's.

The bulk of the smuggled whalehide ore went to purchasing various experimental materials and tools for the old priest, while a smaller portion bought drugs to suppress the Nest Beasts within their bodies.

The remainder, Op used entirely on these people.

For these people, Op had invested considerable effort.

Since being controlled by the old priest eight years ago, Op had secretly been training enforcers, hoping to cultivate subordinates reaching Steel Seed level someday and break free from the old priest's control.

Unfortunately, advancing to Steel Seed was too difficult. He had six somewhat talented subordinates whose current basic numerical values were only around six to eight. Other caravan members had poor talent—even after years of training with resources, they only improved by one or two numerical points, making them practically useless.

Previously, these subordinates all hid within the caravan, rarely revealing their power and almost never attacking villagers.

But now, they could no longer afford such considerations.

"Go, capture him."

"According to intelligence, the opponent has controllable whale transformation power. Be careful of this transformation of his."

"As for those villagers, if you can clean them up while you're at it, then clean them up."

In the current situation, the more people who knew about these matters, the greater the potential trouble later. Thus, Op coldly issued his commands.

"Understood, just..." The subordinate raised his head, his words becoming hesitant.

This made Op pause. Could it be that the other party was reluctant to harm innocent villagers?

Then he looked at this subordinate of his, his expression momentarily dawning with realization. The man's right hand was missing its forearm—the result of blocking a blade for him during a dangerous situation.

Looking more carefully, he noticed the man's hair had already turned gray. Though younger than himself, he appeared more haggard and aged.

"What's wrong, Aro?" Op suppressed the irritation arising from the unfavorable situation and inquired.

"You need to plan an escape route, Lord Op." The subordinate named Borey Aro seriously offered advice he shouldn't have given.

Op's heart felt empty, then he forced a smile: "Don't worry, you be careful too."

"Little Luo's grave—the anniversary is almost here. Don't we still need to go clean it afterward?"

Aro just looked at Op, then lowered his head, nodded without another word, and charged toward the village guard's position.

Little Luo was his son. After the boy died from illness, his only reason for living was to protect Op, who had been willing to provide funds for treatment back then.

Op's thoughts were momentarily distracted, but he quickly refocused, preparing to cast the few combat spells he possessed.

Over there, the siege had already begun. With a low roar, Aro had already pounced toward the village guard.

And regarding this, the village guard had long sensed the approaching danger.

An arrow whistled past his fingertips, becoming a lethal threat that forced the one-armed Aro to roll aside to avoid it.

The village guard retreated backward while grabbing a new arrow.

The villagers beside him were also somewhat bewildered by this sudden attack, not understanding why Op's caravan members were suddenly fighting the village guard.

But the next moment, such questions vanished completely.

Because several arrows came flying toward them.

Some villagers couldn't dodge in time and were already hit.

The other caravan members wouldn't hold back just because they'd lived long-term in the same village.

Simultaneously, a black shadow emerged from the ground, having already advanced to the village guard's side.