After speaking, the rigid figure turned and walked away without hesitation.

He showed no concern about whether Naimes would follow him.

If not for the different era and world, Naimes might have even mistaken him for a robot.

Seeing that no one else had come to receive him, Naimes had no choice but to follow.

Ordinary people wouldn't even have the connections to request an audience with the Grand Commander.

The church's power essentially rested in the hands of two individuals—the Archbishop and the Grand Commander.

Among the clergy members, priests held significantly more authority at the middle levels.

When holy knights reached Steel Seed level, they would be granted honors, but their titles didn't change much, at most becoming senior knights with little difference from holy knights.

However, when priests reached Steel Seed level, they would be called bishops.

And bishops already began handling considerable church authority matters.

But once reaching Gold Seed level, holy knights' status would surpass them significantly.

Although various daily affairs were still handled by the Archbishop, most military power rested in the Grand Commander's hands.

"The fundamental reason lies in power!" Naimes understood the intricacies.

Steel Seed holy knights weren't known for their intellect—in terms of wisdom and intelligence, they couldn't match priests of the same rank.

But after reaching Gold Seed level, holy knights' immediate combat power would become overwhelmingly superior.

Moreover, holy knights at this level could command the church's conventional peak combat forces. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel-fire.ɴet

Their various perception abilities also wouldn't lag behind priests of the same rank.

Most importantly, while priests reaching this level were equally powerful, they would be weighed down by this very strength.

Gold Seed priests' bodies would undergo some degree of sublimation, but their souls received the greatest enhancement.

At this stage, Gold Seed priests' bodies would develop various problems under their souls' pressure.

Like the old priest—though only Steel Seed level, his body already showed some degree of light transformation and decay.

Gold Seed priests experienced even greater 'side effects'—they couldn't use their power for extended periods, otherwise bodily collapse became commonplace.

In terms of combat effectiveness and endurance, the Archbishop often could only serve as a figurehead.

Precisely because of this, although the Archbishop still held considerable power, the church's actual leadership fell to the Grand Commander.

Meaning the meticulous person currently reviewing documents before him was the most powerful individual on Biqing Whale's back.

"Naimes." Gilliman sealed the document and set it aside, then looked seriously at Naimes.

His eyes seemed to contain some kind of light that could see through a person's physical condition.

"Grand Commander!" Naimes placed his hands over his chest in salute.

"Good. Currently, you show no problems. On the contrary, you've accomplished significant merits." Gilliman nodded, then pulled out a document and placed it before Naimes.

"Open it. This concerns your transfer orders."

Naimes took the document and opened it, finding three branch options regarding his transfer.

"First: Remain directly in Breathspring City and join the inspection corps." Biqing Whale City originally had only three holy knight orders, but now had five.

The inspection corps was one of them, requiring members to continuously patrol all city corners to combat various violations, focusing particularly on suppressing cults, demon worshippers, and unauthorized witch experiments.

This currently represented the most intense combat 'frontline.'

Naimes knew personnel turnover in such knight orders was high—almost every month, holy knights died or were injured from intense battles.

"Second: Transfer to Wavetail Town. Currently, Wavetail Town's church lacks a senior knight." This resembled the previous arrangement with the stationed holy knight in Beiqi Village.

Except Wavetail Town was a town, so the stationed force wouldn't be one priest and one holy knight, but rather a priest group and several holy knight teams.

This amounted to a field assignment, with one key point being that most Dartmanley family members had now relocated to Wavetail Town.

"Third: Join the tribunal." Seeing this third option, Naimes paused, then realized this was Gotthard extending an olive branch.

The tribunal department's staffing varied situationally, with its main function being to investigate internal clergy members.

Recently, this had been the department Naimes encountered and interacted with most frequently.

"All three locations have submitted relevant applications for you."

"So I want to hear the concerned party's opinion."

Regarding these three options, Naimes basically understood which groups stood behind each choice.

The first option likely came from the Territorialists faction led by Gilliman.

But this wasn't necessarily Gilliman's own intention—rather, those local nobles gathered around him.

These nobles themselves faced various bloodline issues, often absorbing outstanding talent through son-in-law marriages, adopted sons, or retainers to optimize and activate their own bloodlines using others' heritage.

If Naimes chose this, he'd probably encounter numerous battles within the first two or three months.

But as long as Naimes performed adequately in combat, romantic encounters would immediately follow.

Once relationships were established, Naimes could transfer out of the inspection corps within three months to enter safer departments like city security or training corps.

As for instantly recognizing the third option came from Gotthard—before this, the tribunal had virtually no personnel, being viewed as the liaison between church headquarters and various branches, plus an internal investigation department constantly controlled and suppressed.

Gotthard's sudden arrival in Biqing Whale City most likely meant he entered the tribunal.

Choosing this option would immediately plunge him into the church's most intense power struggles.

The two factions opposing each other apparently intended to use Naimes as the central point of their conflict.

The second choice resulted from the Dartmanley family's efforts, simultaneously representing a compromise outcome.

Although Dartmanley had been forced from the power center, they still retained some remaining connections, making a transfer request for Naimes feasible at this critical moment.

Moreover, neither the Territorialists nor Governance factions wanted their conflict to become all-or-nothing, sparking full-scale war over Naimes.

Hence this external transfer option emerged.

"I choose the second option." After some consideration, Naimes didn't hide his decision, openly selecting the second option.

He enjoyed challenges but didn't want to become cannon fodder.

Although he aimed to navigate between both sides, he needed to weigh his own capacity carefully.

His short-term burst could exchange a couple of moves with Gold Seed level opponents—but only a couple of moves.

In this situation, while the second option meant dealing with the Dartmanley family, this suited Naimes perfectly.