Chapter 485 — The Dagger

The Magic Web's first official program broadcast set off a wave across a quarter of the Southern Region—almost overnight, this incredible novelty, which could show people distant sights and was open to all, with its fresh and fascinating content, became the focus of eager discussion everywhere. And in the areas the Magic Web's communications could not yet reach, people likewise learned of the existence of Magic Web broadcasts: the swiftly printed newspapers devoted a full page to introducing this first Magic Web broadcast, explaining to readers the basic concept of Magic Web communications, the basic concept of broadcast programs, and the general content of the first installment of "Witches' Hour." And printed and distributed alongside this issue of the newspaper was one more thing:

A thin little book, titled The White Knight.

It was a volume of only a few dozen pages, and its paper and binding were cheap and plain, utterly unlike those long-winded, heavy, and costly scholarly tomes of the old days—and yet it was still a true book.

This cheap little volume, selling for only ten copper coins, was the first book in the Southern Region aimed at the whole populace, and its content was simple and plain as well—in its first half it told, in a manner akin to fiction, the story of the White Knight's birth; in its second half were the author's reflections on the way the Church of the Shining Star operated and his insights into the Holy Light. Between those lines, a path of the Holy Light that began directly from "man," wholly different from the old days of priests' sermons, sparked fierce debate among countless common believers.

Some were deeply moved; some were half convinced, half doubtful; but without question, the authority of the Church of the Shining Star was gradually crumbling among these people.

This was only to be expected: the Church of the Shining Star had adherents far and wide, but not every one of them could be a devout believer. What the vast majority of ordinary folk sought in following the Church was, in truth, simply peace of mind. These shallow believers' understanding of the Holy Light scriptures was itself very crude and fragmentary, and their conviction was not firm—so of course they were easy to turn.

After all, the doctrine of the New Dark Sun was still "the Holy Light"; it sounded about the same, and so long as it was "about the same," the great majority of common people would not trouble themselves to distinguish carefully: the greater part of their energy still had to go to their own lives.

And among the common folk there were, of course, steadfast supporters of the Church. Even now that the administrative halls had completely cut off the Church's avenues of preaching, creating two months of a vacuum of faith, and even with the propaganda power of the newspapers and the Magic Web broadcasts, there would still be those who insisted on the correctness of the old Church—this was unavoidable—but they were, in the end, only a minority, and with the passage of time their conversion was merely a matter of sooner or later.

As for the believers of other gods, who had never paid much attention to the Holy Light faith to begin with, their greatest feeling at this moment was "reassurance," for at last someone had stepped forward to curb the Church of the Shining Star's extremist outrages—they seemed not to notice that the Cecil Weekly's "Faith and Church" section contained not only discussions of the Holy Light, but that the common knowledge of the various great churches was being subtly implanted in it as well... or rather, they did notice, but for the vast majority of ordinary people, their sensitivity in this regard was far inferior to that of the professional clergy.

Within the lord's residence of Cecil, Gao Yang looked over the report Heidi had handed him—on it were the sales figures of The White Knight and the circulation of the newspapers in various places, along with the results of random surveys of the Magic Web programs around Xuanyao City. There was a great deal of content, and its general direction had largely not exceeded his expectations.

"There will be more newspaper commentary articles and supplements to come, along with regular Magic Web programs. The groundwork of publicity for the new church has also begun; Mr. Godwin Orlando has his article ready, and it will raise, in the form of a discussion, the question in the newspapers of 'whether a new order of the Holy Light ought to be established.' In addition, the publicity guides in various places have all begun to act, ensuring that even in those areas with low literacy and no Magic Web signal, there are enough people discussing these matters."

Heidi reported on the progress of each task, and before her, Xuanyuan Zong wore a faint smile of satisfaction.

"Very good," Gao Yang nodded, casually setting the report materials down. "This is exactly the work we ought to do, starting from the people at the very bottom—those priests have stood on high for too long, and they have no idea at all that the vast masses of ordinary people are the foundation of their Church. Once ordinary people lose their trust in and awe of the Church, the collapse of the Church of the Shining Star will require not a single shot or shell."

Behind Gao Yang, Rebecca listened to the exchange with a muddled look on her face (she had come to report on the technical intelligence of the Magic Web broadcast system), and at this point she could not help blurting out: "Can this really drive those charlatans out of the Frost Balance Cathedral?"

"What we are doing now is driving the influence of those 'charlatans' out of the hearts of the common folk of the Southern Region, but this is a very long-term undertaking," Gao Yang shook his head. "People's hearts are easily swayed, but not that quickly. The Church of the Shining Star has operated in Ansu for centuries, and its influence is deep-rooted; driving it utterly from people's hearts will take a long time. Making people doubt the Church is the first step; establishing the new church is the second; and after that we shall need years, even a decade or more, to gradually replace the old doctrine with the new, to make people accept this transformation of customs and habits in their very bones—this is not something a few issues of a newspaper or a few broadcasts can settle easily."

"Whoa—" Rebecca's eyes went wide with astonishment. "Does it really take that long to change people's thinking?"

Heidi shot this fawn a glance. "Of course it does. It took you eight years just to break the habit of drawing mustaches on your teacher's face, and now we're talking about changing the thinking of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people."

Rebecca stuck out her tongue. "Then... what about those priests in Frost Hollow City? When will they be driven out?"

"They will exit the stage before that—I have no intention of letting them stay in the Southern Region that long," Gao Yang said. "The Church of the Shining Star's influence will take a long time to erase, but those priests are different... driving them out takes only a single outburst of the people's fury."

Heidi could not help but frown. "Can that Amber really pull it off..."

Gao Yang glanced at Heidi and shook his head with a smile. "Honestly, you underestimate her."

Heidi looked half convinced. "Is that so..."

"When it comes to brawling, Amber may cower before anyone, but in moving about the bottom of society, leading her own people in sabotage and infiltration, she has a talent beyond your imagination," Gao Yang said as he drew a stack of materials from his desk. "You should have already seen the intelligence the Military Intelligence Bureau agents sent out of Frost Hollow City; then you should take a look at these as well."

Heidi took the materials in bewilderment, and as she read, an expression of astonishment came over her face.