[FGO]: 124

The following period was pure pleasure torment for Jeanne.

On one hand, she had to pretend as if nothing was wrong, patiently listening to the girl's confession across from her and offering absolution. On the other hand, she had to endure Ryou's relentless teasing.

When the girl finally left, satisfied with her confession, Jeanne could no longer hold back and let out a series of moans that would make anyone blush. The sounds pierced through the wooden walls of the confessional booth, echoing through the sacred and solemn cathedral...

By the time Ryou had finally sated his accumulated desires, Jeanne was lying on the ground, completely limp like a puddle of mud. Ryou had no choice but to carry her in a classic princess carry, sneaking back to their residence without anyone noticing.

That day, Ryou indulged in various fantasies—uniform play, nun play, confined space play, illicit affair play, and more. Looking at Jeanne, who was still flushed even while asleep, radiating an aura of post-coital satisfaction, he couldn't help but feel his fingers itch with anticipation.

What kind of play should they try next time? It was something to look forward to.

After that wild experience, Jeanne seemed to have come to understand just how bold her lover could be. She no longer avoided him; however, her attitude toward him completely cooled down.

In the face of Jeanne's cold treatment, Ryou was nothing but accommodating. After all, he had indeed let his desires get the better of him that day, disregarding Jeanne's feelings.

Ultimately, Jeanne's heart softened, and after a while, she gradually forgave him. However, it seemed that the madness of that day awakened some unusual preferences in Jeanne. Sometimes, she would even take the initiative to ask him to engage in various new and strange plays.

And so, time flew by as Ryou shamelessly indulged himself. During this period, aside from implementing major military and governmental reforms and teasing Jeanne, he spent any free time he had in the dream trial. And then he sought to be beaten.

There was no other choice—after all, that guy Kojiro wasn't good at teaching; he only made him grasp concepts through actual combat. But thanks to him, Ryou's progress was remarkably fast. The proficiency of his skill [Advanced Cold Weapons Mastery"] had astonishingly reached 29%. At this rate, there was even a possibility that he could break through to the [Sword Saint] or beyond by the time he completed the dungeon.

As the saying goes, a small boat is easier to turn around. After a month of effort, the military and governmental reforms in Yokosuka were nearing completion. Following the reforms, the efficiency and cooperation across various departments had noticeably improved. The military, now motivated, was also more spirited than before.

In such a scenario, Ryou decisively ordered the military to prepare for another expedition to expand their territory. Of course, how could the matters of the Church be called an invasion? It was a mission to save the lost lambs.

The newly renovated conference hall welcomed its first batch of attendees. It was slightly smaller in size but equally grand in its fan-shaped design, with luxurious interior decorations. The only difference was that the central podium was significantly elevated, with a throne made of gold, encrusted with various precious gems, placed right in the middle.

This wasn't Ryou intentionally flaunting wealth; it was simply because in a world overrun by Kabane, gold and jewels were far less valuable than food and weapons. Moreover, the Church revered gold, believing it represented their authority. Thus, he had no choice but to agree to have the throne crafted in such a gaudy manner. Then, he awkwardly took his seat on the golden throne.

On the next level down, on either side of his central position, were two slightly smaller golden chairs, occupied by Jeanne and Ais, respectively. With this arrangement, Ryou immediately confirmed everyone's speculation about Jeanne and Ais' status.

By this time, the meeting had been going on for a while, and the vast, empty conference hall was becoming somewhat noisy.

"My lord, your followers believe we should first advance south, towards Kongoukaku!"

A priest stood up, first bowing to Ryou before loudly proposing.

"The Shogun, that heretical madman, attack our holy land. His sin is unforgivable. Besides, he's currently embroiled in a conflict with his son, making this the perfect time to strike!"

His argument seemed logical and convincing, but some disagreed. Immediately, another priest stood up from the opposite side, bowed to Ryou, and loudly countered.

"Father Ikeda, I disagree with your viewpoint. Our primary task now is to eliminate the descendants of false gods, to declare that our Catholic Church is the true faith of Japan!"

Since becoming devout Catholics, they had regarded the Emperor as the descendant of false gods. After all, the Emperor, despite his noble lineage, couldn't display extraordinary powers like Ryou, and naturally, those who had witnessed the various miracles performed by him transferred their faith to him.

Down below, the two priests started to argue over whether to attack the South or the North first, and soon, more priests and officers joined the debate. Initially, everyone was cautious, not daring to be too bold in front of Ryou, so they kept their discussions restrained. But when they realized that he wasn't stopping them and was instead watching with great interest, they all started to compete to share their ideas and speak eloquently.

The entire conference hall gradually became noisy.

The culprit behind all this was, of course, Ryou. At the start of the meeting, he directly posed the question of which direction to expand their territory in, to save more lost lambs for the Lord. Then he left everyone to express their opinions freely while he played the role of a bystander watching a tiger fight.

However, after listening for a long time, he still didn't hear the answer he was hoping for.

Ryou's face showed a hint of impatience, and he glanced at the seats on either side. Jeanne, dressed in full regalia, sat to his left, but the Holy Maiden was cold, exuding an air of authority. On the other side, Ais seemed completely uninterested in the meeting, her eyes dazed, as if she was about to fall asleep.

Ryou sighed. It seemed he would have to step in personally.

Clang!

He struck the floor heavily with his scepter. The crisp sound wasn't loud, but it instantly spread throughout the entire conference hall. Seeing that the lord was about to speak, everyone quickly quieted down.

Ryou nodded in satisfaction, then spoke.

"Followers of the Lord, this entire planet is the Lord's garden, so you must broaden your horizons. Do not focus solely on Japan; this planet is vast."

Amid the surprised gazes of the crowd, Ryou, with his fingers hidden in his wide sleeves, made a few subtle gestures. Then, he raised the golden scepter and pointed it at the space.

Suddenly, sparkling lights condensed into a realistic model of the Earth, suspended in midair. The model was over ten meters in diameter, visible to everyone in the conference hall.

The crowd couldn't help but marvel. Although he occasionally performed miracles, the more they witnessed, the more incredible it seemed, and they never got used to it.

"I have decided to invade here!"

Ryou raised his finger and pointed. A region on the Earth model suddenly lit up.

"That's…!"

The priests and officers all exclaimed in surprise. The highlighted area was none other than the regions of what is now Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and other countries.

Before anyone could voice their opinions, Ryou's calm tone, though understated, was filled with boundless temptation.

"This area is rich in oil resources and is a colony of Spanish, so the oil extraction equipment and refineries are already in place. As long as we occupy this area, we can quickly restore our oil supply, alleviating Yokosuka's severe shortage of oil."

Hearing this, the naval officers' eyes lit up. Currently, Yokosuka's oil reserves are diminishing with every use. Regular training could only be carried out near the docks, and sea patrols were maintained at the most basic level. If they could indeed find an active oil field, it would greatly relieve their current predicament.

"Besides, this area is located in the tropics, with a typical tropical island climate, fertile soil, abundant rainfall, and rapid plant growth. Agriculture is well-developed. If we plant rice, we can achieve up to four harvests a year, which would greatly ease the food supply strain in Yokosuka. The region also produces a wealth of fruits, natural rubber, spices, tobacco, and other agricultural products."

Upon hearing this, the priests responsible for governance couldn't help but brighten up. The greatest challenge posed by the Kabane outbreak was the vast farmlands outside the city that could no longer be cultivated, left to waste away while the limited land within the city struggled to meet basic needs, leaving the inhabitants perpetually hungry. Even after careful planning, Yokosuka's available land was still tight, and food was rationed.

If they could secure a territory with four rice harvests a year and abundant fruit production, it would be a true treasure trove. Not only would it solve the major food problem, but they would also have fruits as a bonus... Just thinking about the sweet taste of various fruits made everyone swallow involuntarily. With no spare land to grow fruit, many people had already forgotten what fruit even tasted like.

"The most important thing is that these are islands with sparse populations. Even if all the inhabitants on the islands have turned into Kabane, as long as we proceed steadily and carefully, eradicating them gradually, we will soon have hundreds of natural sea fortresses and production bases!"

At this, Shinjirou Konochi, the loyal subordinate of the Yomogawa Family, couldn't help but have his eyes light up. Ryou had always taken good care of this loyal subordinate. Shinjirou was officially in charge of coordinating all the military forces and was also the only one currently holding both the rank of Brigadier General and the position of Assistant Bishop. In terms of rank, he was the top figure under Ryou, Jeanne, and Ais.

With Ryou's authority and the many temptations he presented, everyone immediately pledged their allegiance to him. However, what they didn't know was that in another parallel timeline, the South East Asia were precisely the route Japan took for its maritime offensives. After occupying the three northeastern provinces, Japan, constrained by its backward infrastructure, had been stuck developing in those regions, unable to significantly boost the production of strategic resources like oil. It wasn't until Japan changed its strategy and attacked America and the Spaniards' colonies in South East Asia that this predicament was effectively alleviated. It was the abundant resources of the South East Asia

that allowed Japan to barely hold its ground against the United States for a few years.

Ryou's focus had always been global, showing little interest in Japan, a land that lacked both resources and fertile territory. Only the Shogun and the Emperor would treasure such a piece of land.

The meeting quickly confirmed the general direction of the invasion, and the next steps were to work out the details. These included the specific route of the invasion, the number of troops to be deployed, the commanders who would lead, how logistics would be managed, and so on. Though it was called a conference hall, it was Ryou's one-man show—his words were higher than any edict, more like a divine decree. However, to motivate his subordinates and stimulate their thinking, he allowed them to discuss the details among themselves, with him making the final decisions based on their reports.

With the overall direction set by him, the remaining details were quickly finalized. First, they would occupy Taiwan. Although Taiwan lacked abundant oil resources, it was well-suited for agricultural development. After securing Taiwan, it would serve as a bridgehead for the invasion of the Philippines, Borneo, and other parts of Southeast Asia.

The forces deployed for this operation would comprise about half of Yokosuka's total military strength. This included 5,000 army soldiers, with the navy deploying half of its fleet, including battleships like the Yamato and Shimakaze. As for the commanders, since this was the first expedition, Ryou decided to personally lead the campaign, with Ais accompanying him, while Jeanne, with her extensive war experience, would remain at the rear to oversee operations. The army would be led by Shinjirou, while the navy would be commanded by Yamato.

Although historically, Yamato had little combat experience, she had the added advantage of faith-based power. Ryou organized several simulated naval battles to select naval officers, and Yamato easily outperformed five opponents, securing victory. With computational abilities comparable to a high-level quantum computer, there was no chance of defeat for Yamato—it was simply impossible. With the absolute support of the navy officers and soldiers, Yamato was appointed to lead the entire fleet with the rank of Captain. Ryou was pleased with this outcome, as Yamato was loyal to him and her loyalty was beyond question.

As a result, every detail was quickly and efficiently implemented. This was the benefit of a dictatorship: efficiency and simplicity. If this were under a democratic system, it might take three days and nights of meetings just to decide where to attack.

Of course, dictatorship also had its downsides—namely, the dictators themselves could not afford to make mistakes, at least not fatal ones. Compared to the nature of democracy, dictatorship was efficient and straightforward but had a low margin for error. A single misstep by the dictator could drag the entire regime into the abyss.