CHAPTER 258: CHAPTER 182: THE EMPIRE IS TRULY HEINOUS!

Ethan couldn’t help but marvel at Teacher Cat’s unique "picking" ability, always managing to retrieve treasures in the most unexpected ways.

And most of these treasures belonged to others.

However, Teacher Cat emphasized, they were all picked up.

If she wasn’t caught in the act, she claimed it was picked up; she’d say that to anyone.

Ethan continued to leaf through the ancient book titled "Enlightenment."

The Master of Tides’ plan was initially very effective. Before departing, He imparted all research findings to the first council leader and outlined the primary research directions. In His grand plan, the Deep Sea Council had two major missions.

Firstly, to eradicate the traces where the Evil God has existed, interpreting the world-ending flood in ways comprehensible to ordinary people, as well as the wars that the people of the Western Continent once went through; secondly, to form a council of absolute loyalty responsible for jointly governing this undisclosed secret.

The Master of Tides acknowledged that this was a long-term study, likely spanning centuries, but time would help people forget.

During the tenure of the seventh council leader, the people of the Western Continent could evaluate the disaster with "rationality."

This was the notion gradually introduced into the minds of the Western Continent’s people by previous council leaders during their exploration.

Abandoning blind faith was regarded as proof of being advanced and civilized, which to some extent contributed to the current societal atmosphere of the Western Continent.

"’Using the objective world as a benchmark?’ Why does this phrase sound so familiar?"

Lindong, sitting on Ethan’s lap, looked at him suspiciously, "Haven’t you read this book before?"

This phrase alone was one Ethan had mentioned to Ave more than twice, and many of the propositions put forward in "Enlightenment" were exactly like Ethan’s ideas. Just limited by the times, they couldn’t actually get close to the Evil God like Ethan to conduct deeper research.

"Teacher, this is called the meeting of heroic minds, and the Master of Tides’ research was just the beginning."

He only put forth a thesis in the book "Enlightenment," and didn’t entirely believe that the Evil God was born from human faith, but rather some existence older than humanity. Thus, He believed that eliminating faith could weaken the Evil God’s power, yet might not entirely kill them.

If wanting to cause actual harm to the Evil Gods, one must further understand their essence.

Regrettably, until the Master of Tides approached His end, He hadn’t managed to find a "special weapon" to deal with the Evil Gods.

However, during the reign of the seventeenth council leader of the Deep Sea Council, a great upheaval occurred in the Western Continent.

A fleet of armored Empire people arrived by sailboat to the Western Continent, conducting friendly visits locally and demonstrating the power given to them by proper gods in Ophira and some port cities. The fleet was commanded by Saint Hilman, who at that time visited every continent seeking traces left by the Goddess of Life, leaving marks about the church on each one.

When the foreign faith was brought to the Western Continent, the council’s worst fears eventually materialized.

An increasing number of people began questioning the theories proposed by the council.

An alternative viewpoint with "theological color" regarding the world-ending flood spread in these cities. Initially, people were merely curious, but once the circulation of stories expanded, a group of theological thought followers emerged locally—back then it was the Empire’s golden era, with Western Continent’s people listening eagerly to stories brought from overseas, yearning for that distant Golden Divine Kingdom.

The mandatory bans proved ineffective, the more rigid the council’s prohibitive measures, the more people secretly believed in this doctrine. Fortunately, as Henry III’s ruling period arrived, the church and theology inevitably steered towards "guiding principles"—not accepted by everyone—and during exchanges with Empire craftsmen of the Golden Era, technology in the Western Continent soared. The widespread use of steam power later made them rise above, quickly becoming masters of the ocean.

In such social context, "atheism" once again took over.

This time, what changed the Western Continent people’s views was cultural pride.

They no longer had to yearn for the Golden Divine Kingdom across the ocean since their technology had already left it behind, hence "tech-centric" became a new trend imbued with a strong sense of superiority, promoted to this day.

However, the Golden Divine Kingdom also had a profound influence—research on the essence of the Evil Gods ceased altogether.

Even within the Deep Sea Council diverse voices emerged, people couldn’t help but question whether the original direction had gone astray? After all, studies led by seventeen council leaders yielded no substantial results, undoubtedly causing intense frustration, compelling them to seek alternative paths.

This is the second book.

The author was not the Master of Tides, but the twentieth council leader of the Deep Sea Council.

During his term, nearly all research related to the Evil Gods was halted, and with the leap in steam technology, council members preferred to dedicate their time to more meaningful endeavors.

For example, exploring beyond the Western Continent.

Setting maritime routes, enhancing ocean trade between different civilizations.

Propagating superior Western Continent civilization to some uncivilized countries, even exploiting local resources by certain "legal" means.

The Western Continent now advanced like a high-speed steam train, with myriad practical issues demanding urgent solutions.