Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 700 - 602: Seeking Advice

Flap, flap——

A large, snow-white seagull descended from the sky, landing on a high branch of a big tree, tilting its head to gaze at the group of people below.

A group of commoners carrying wooden sticks and firearms pushed a well-dressed middle-aged man, whose hands were bound, to the riverside under the tree. The river beside them was in its high-water season, with turbulent waves and a deep water level.

Although disheveled, the middle-aged man of obvious noble descent still stood straight, glaring angrily at these former tenant farmers of his:

"You rabble have no right to judge me. I have never charged you a penny more in rent, nor have I committed any crime!"

However, he was kicked to the ground by someone.

Seeing his dust-covered and utterly disheveled appearance, a glint of satisfaction flashed in the eyes of the crowd:

"Esteemed Mr. Rodney, everyone is born equal, and oppressing the people is your greatest crime! Now you no longer have the right to say no to us, but you can choose to climb the tree or take a dive, hahaha..."

The commercial aristocracy’s "provocation" was of course exaggerated and untrue, but the long-standing conflict between the lower-class commoners and the ruling class was deep-rooted. Even if there wasn’t much personal vendetta, during an avalanche, no snowflake is innocent.

Even though there were many people gathered here, no one sympathized with him.

"Oh Goddess, save me!"

Realizing that this mob truly intended to take his life, the middle-aged man turned to run but was pushed into the turbulent river directly.

Splash!

He bobbed up and down in the waves a few times before completely disappearing from sight.

"Oh!"

"Let’s go catch more people."

Amidst cheers as if celebrating a victory, the "Rebel Army" departed in groups, continuing their hunt.

Meanwhile.

Far away in the Kingdom Mainland, St. James’s Palace, in the Queen’s study.

"Your Majesty, this is the fifth one, shall we continue to watch?"

Isabella pinched the bridge of her nose and waved her hand, and Aiven then closed the Mind Network.

After receiving Liweina’s letter and arranging the affairs of the territory, he rushed to Beckler alone to assume his duties as a consultant and Upper Council member.

For now, the "Mind Network" does not have the capability to transmit messages directly across continents, but with Aiven’s promotion, the "bandwidth" has also greatly increased, making real-time image transmission within the Tulip Islands quite feasible.

Especially after the three of them "experienced it firsthand" this time, they deeply sensed the turmoil in Ilya. Too many people had died, some indeed deserved it, but many more did not.

Yet no one cared about that anymore.

"Are nobles themselves so detestable to the people? If we lose our power, will we face the same fate?"

Always spirited and no less than a man, Crown Prince Liweina now had a few locks of hair hanging beside her cheeks, appearing somewhat worn and fragile, clearly deeply shaken by Ilya’s "Great Uprising."

As distant relatives, they could sit idly by while the Ilya Royal Family suffered misfortune, but the king being directly sent to the guillotine, and the indiscriminate slaughter of nobles, exceeded their limits of acceptance.

It was precisely because of this top-down, almost insane revolt, that Phaletis, initially prepared for a campaign, found themselves at a loss.

Seizing the opportunity, it wasn’t just the new ruling class of capitalists and the Constitutional Assembly conducting a planned purge, but the entire nation was settling scores with the former ruling class from top to bottom.

Now, as a foreign power intervening, they would only face a people’s war as vast as the ocean.

Seeing both of their unpleasant expressions, Aiven comforted them:

"Your Highness, don’t belittle yourselves, this relates to the national policies that have been followed for a long time in Ilya. The evil seed was planted from the very beginning..."

Since the rapid development of industry and commerce within Ilya, they have consistently pursued a "mercantilist" policy (industrial and commercial oriented). The country adopted measures such as tariff barriers, monopolies, wage suppression, and government supervision to ensure the international competitiveness of domestic industry and commerce.

Meanwhile, supporting industry and commerce inevitably required a large amount of additional tax revenue, so the Ilya government always imposed heavy taxes on the people. In reality, the entire nation bore the cost of the state machinery without receiving any benefits.

Initially, both commercial aristocrats and traditional nobles invested in industries such as commerce, mining, and real estate, sharing the benefits of "mercantilism."

But as conflicts between the emerging commercial aristocrats and traditional nobles grew increasingly severe, especially in recent years, traditional nobles found themselves losing ground to this new, united class with shared demands, and those favorable policies had long become exclusive benefits for the capitalists.

However, the traditional aristocracy, due to their ruling status, bore all the responsibility, much like shareholders retreating intact when disaster strikes while the legal representative is thrown in jail.

Aiven continued to take the opportunity to subtly influence the current and future rulers of the Kingdom:

"In a sense, this matter is not entirely without benefits. At least it allows the whole world to see the true nature of capitalists and take caution, so as not to repeat the mistakes of Ilya.

Actually, this is one of the inevitable issues faced when material civilization reaches a certain level of development. The social distribution system has undergone a structural error. Therefore, we cannot ignore the functions of the government, giving too much freedom to economic development. It is essential to establish appropriate primary distribution and redistribution systems..."

"Primary distribution and redistribution? What does this mean? Can you explain it to me in detail?"

At this moment, an abrupt voice suddenly sounded in the study, where there were only three people.

The three high-tier Transcendents, who should have had keen senses, turned around abruptly and found a handsome young man in a white robe sitting quietly in a chair with his fingers interlocked. No one noticed how he appeared there or how long he had been sitting.

Isabella was just about to call for the Kingdom Guardian, but the words got stuck in her throat.

Because they all recognized simultaneously who this stranger was. After all, within the entire Tulip churches, his murals and statues were everywhere. Even Aiven had seen them countless times.

In the True God Church, he is merely the messenger of the Goddess. But beyond the Seven Gods, he is a great existence worthy of directly bearing a divine name!

Although surprised, as nominal followers of the Goddess, the three did not forget to stand up simultaneously to perform the religious salute:

"Saint Angel..."

Just as the greeting left their mouths, it was directly interrupted by Saint Angel Bellenus, who raised his hand and directly addressed Aiven:

"Because a large number of the Goddess’s lambs have returned to the Divine Kingdom, I personally went to Ilya just now, but the situation I saw there was far more severe than I initially anticipated.

I was thinking of visiting Phaletis, where the ’Steam Industry’ develops the fastest, to see if there could be any inspiration, as the human social process should have patterns and traces to follow.

It seems my luck is pretty good now.

Favored of the Goddess, Person of the World’s Favor, my divinity tells me that you might have the answer to this problem."

Then Bellenus broadly explained to the three what he saw in the Ilya Kingdom. The Saint Angel, who wished to get answers from mortals, didn’t mind revealing some secrets belonging to the gods to them.

Moreover, it seems that if the Goddess wants to acquire true "Sea Monarchy," it will most likely fall on Phaletis Kingdom, which is already the foremost in the alliance. Resources can be moderately tilted towards it.

"That being has already begun to widely spread his faith in Ilya, preparing to converge in the place where the power of capitalists is strongest..."

Even to avoid attracting the True God’s attention, Bellenus didn’t mention any titles, but the three present understood what exactly happened in the realm they could not yet reach.

There are several cognitive levels regarding the unrest in Ilya now.

When most people are at the first level, thinking it’s a rebellion caused by the loss of high-end power in a Kingdom and ambitious traitors.

Aiven and the Phaletis rulers, who have been enlightened by his "capitalist class" theory, have already stood on the second level, knowing it’s a profound transformation with far-reaching impact that could determine the future direction of this world.

But the Saint Angel stands on the third level; all that happens in the mundane world is merely the surface. The deeper impact is the game among the True Gods, with the "God of Black Wings" striving to gain the [Capital Divine Position]!

Aiven also gained a valuable mystical knowledge—[Divine Position], spoken from the mouth of a Demigod, which is much more reliable than the scattered records in Witchcraft texts.

Gods understand and control the world authority corresponding to certain mundane affairs, and this magical authority can grant gods extra power.

The [Natural Divine Position] goes without saying, as the types and definitions of divine positions were set at the world’s inception, remaining almost unchanged through the ages.

The [Humanized Divine Position] exists only in societies of special intelligent beings, where a secular affair has enough influence over humans, the gods and their followers sufficiently understand this affair, and the number of believers is ample.

With the passage of time,

The [Divine Position] represented by this affair will gradually be born into human belief, and compared to the [Natural Divine Position], the [Humanized Divine Position] can rapidly grow stronger along with the enhancement of human social levels.

Of course, it also has to bear a series of adverse effects potentially caused by its sudden decline.

Among the Seven Gods, the five are [Natural Divine Positions]: "Dawn," "Frost Breath," "Brilliant Starry Night," "Eternal Flame," and "Howling Storm." Only the two youngest True Gods, the "Queen and Goddess of Navigation" and the "God of Black Wings," are [Humanized Divine Positions].

As a united front, a general description of the current predicament was given.

Bellenus’s eyes, glowing with divine light, fixed on Aiven, posing a question that made Isabella and Liweina’s faces turn pale: "Do you think in the evolution of human society, the secular [Royal Authority] is destined to be replaced by [Capital]?!"

Upon hearing this question, Aiven did not answer directly but gave a slight smile and asked in return:

"Destined? Then... do you know if capitalism is destined to perish?"

The first sentence was thunderous!

Making the Crown Prince, the Queen, and even nearly causing Saint Angel Bellenus, who almost doubted if this was an unsolvable problem, to feel a buzz in their brains.