"This is a plant growth agent that can support the entire Eastern Province. God's Grace users who can accelerate growth or control plants can use it more effectively."
Shinobu Kocho delivered several newly prepared concentrated potions to Bishop An.
"As God's Grace users increase, the Religious State's advancement speed is accelerating. In two days at most, the entire Eastern Province can be integrated, so food must be sufficient."
"I understand, Divine Messenger. While other aspects might be rushed, I will absolutely ensure that no citizen goes hungry for a single meal when it comes to food," Bishop An said solemnly.
As he said this, he felt a slight urge to complain.
In fact, the country's current grain reserves were already enough to feed the citizens of the Eastern Province for ten years. Many low-quality grains were now being used to feed livestock.
Even if the entire Empire's population ate until they vomited every meal, this much grain would last for two years.
He had never imagined he would be troubled by having too much grain.
Because with too much grain, storage became a problem.
"There's one more thing I need to ask the Divine Messenger about."
"What is it?"
Shinobu Kocho was responsible for agricultural and medical matters, Sima Wei Zhi for commercial affairs, and Holy Son governed the entire country. As for her elder sister, Kanae, she was the leader of the God's Grace arbiters.
As the leader of the arbitration group, her elder sister had acquired a portion of the talents and powers of most God's Grace users through her Blessing. Her combat ability was much stronger than Shinobu Kocho's, second only to Holy Son.
Shinobu Kocho herself was unsure how strong Holy Son's current power was. Within this Religious State, Holy Son was invincible.
Bishop An said, "God's Grace priests with Divine Blessing for stealth have already infiltrated the Imperial Capital and learned that Esdeath, the Empire's Great General who is currently campaigning against foreign tribes in the north, will soon return with her army."
"Furthermore, God's Grace users with Divine Blessing for flight, who were sent north to investigate the situation, have also confirmed that the intelligence is true: forty legions of the Imperial Army are returning."
"It is likely that there will be a great war between our Religious State and the Empire."
"And our Religious State currently has no army. Do you think we need to start forming an army?"
Shinobu Kocho shook her head. "For now, the Religious State does not need citizens to form an army for war. God's Grace users are sufficient."
"We will also take action then."
It was merely an army of 400,000 ordinary people. She only needed to create a bottle of sleeping potion and disperse it into the air. Let alone 400,000, even 4,000,000 soldiers would sleep for days and nights.
Then, the God's Grace users could execute the guilty.
"I understand," Bishop An breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he still wanted to mention Esdeath, the Empire's strongest Teigu User, if the Divine Messenger would take action, there was absolutely nothing to worry about.
"Divine Messenger, Bishop An, the members of Night Raid have arrived, and there is also a Bishop among them."
At this moment, a familiar voice came from outside the hall. Shinobu Kocho and Bishop An looked over.
In the past few days, Chelsea had helped them handle a large number of state documents, saving them much trouble, so Chelsea was also a very important figure in the Religious State.
"Night Raid, indeed. The God did mention them to me," Shinobu Kocho said, looking at the group of people who followed Chelsea in.
Before descending to the lower realm, the information Lord Xia Wei gave her contained many parts about Night Raid. Every member was qualified to become a dependent.
She had gained a certain understanding of Lord Xia Wei's criteria for selecting dependents.
They were either truly capable of saving the world, or people who sacrificed themselves to save others, or possessed special skills.
In her view, Night Raid belonged to the second type: becoming assassins to hunt down decay and darkness so that ordinary people would no longer suffer,
and ultimately sacrificing themselves in the hunt.
Bishop An was surprised. "Night Raid? I've heard of them too. They're a famous assassination group that eliminates evil and brings peace. I didn't expect them to be companions who also received a divine oracle."
A Bishop, after all, was someone who received a divine oracle and established a Church in a region.
"Divine Messenger, Bishop An, hello! I am the Bishop of Night Raid, my name is Leone," Leone greeted them boisterously, not treating herself as an outsider at all.
"My name is Brand, it's a pleasure to meet the Divine Messenger and Bishop An."
"I am Mine, it's a pleasure to meet the Divine Messenger and Bishop An."
"My name is Sheele."
"My name is Najenda. I was once an Imperial General, and later a staff officer for the Revolutionary Army."
"My name is Akame."
"I am Lubbock."
All the members of Night Raid bowed respectfully to Shinobu Kocho and Bishop An.
They genuinely respected the Divine Messenger who descended from heaven to save the world, and even felt a certain longing. If they had possessed their current power before the God descended, they would have also gone all out to save this decaying world.
Shinobu Kocho smiled and said, "Welcome to the Church. Are you planning to continue your current profession,
or join the arbitration group?"
Leone quickly looked up at the Divine Messenger, paused for a moment, and thought, 'Her mouth is so beautiful.'
She couldn't help but recall how the God had pinched her chin before and said she looked ordinary.
If the God's Divine Messenger was this beautiful, then she truly was ugly. "Uh, well, I'd like to ask, how much power does a Bishop have?" Leone didn't immediately state what she wanted to do, but instead first inquired about what she could do now.
Shinobu Kocho was also momentarily stunned by the question, then smiled and said, "A Bishop can establish a branch Church in a region, but it must still be under the jurisdiction of the Church of a country. If you don't establish a branch Church, you can also establish a department within the Church."
"However, this department must be beneficial to the country and the Church, and must not have any drawbacks."
Leone grinned, "Understood. Then I think we, Night Raid, should continue to be assassins. After all, we're used to doing this. Suddenly switching to another job might mess things up."
The members of Night Raid also nodded in agreement.
Shinobu Kocho nodded. "Alright, in that case, here's your first mission."
Lubbock excitedly said, "A mission right after we arrived? This is great! Is it to assassinate Ernest?"
"No, it's to purge the high-ranking officials of the Revolutionary Army."
"Uh—" All the members of Night Raid shuddered, their expressions somewhat disbelieving.
"Just by your expressions, I knew this would happen."
Chelsea took the lollipop out of her mouth and looked at the members of Night Raid with a bit of pity.
"You wouldn't think the Revolutionary Army is really just as it appears on the surface, would you?"
"As someone who worked at the Revolutionary Army headquarters, I've long known about various unspeakable dealings that you don't."
"The Revolutionary Army is no better than the Empire. In fact, in some aspects, it's even darker and more corrupt than the Empire."
"Their so-called revolution isn't for the people of the Empire; it's purely for their own ambition."
"When I came to the Religious State, I also brought their criminal evidence. If you don't believe me, you can go and look through it."
"Underground human trafficking and colluding with foreign tribes to raid border residents are just the tip of the iceberg."
The members of Night Raid were incredulous. "What? Is this really the Revolutionary Army?"