sinovels Chapter 178 The Vatican's Ambition
Chapter 178 The Vatican's Ambition
Vatican City Cathedral.
Inside the basilica, Pope Paul VI sat on his high papal throne, resting with his eyes closed.
Suddenly the heavy door was pushed open.
Madison strode in.
"His Majesty."
He came down the steps without bowing.
King Paul VI opened his eyes, paying no attention to his attitude, but instead looking down at him:
"How is it?"
"That idiot Strong didn't do anything stupid, did he?"
Madison did not answer. Instead, he took a tablet computer out of his robe, walked up the steps, opened a video, and handed it to Paul VI.
"You...you should see for yourself."
King Paul VI took the tablet and instinctively clicked on the video.
The video plays.
In the ruins of Raccoon City, three six-winged divine messengers were entangled by enormous black tentacles.
Immediately afterwards, the messenger's body began to collapse.
There was no holy light, no sacred feathers.
Only countless black maggots crawled out of the rotting flesh, and the stench was so foul that it made people feel nauseous even through the screen.
Paul VI's fingers tightened suddenly.
The scene on the screen continued, with the maggots devouring each other, making a slurring, unsettling sound.
"That's impossible."
King Paul VI seemed to have witnessed something unbelievable.
"This is fake. It must be a special effects-enhanced counterfeit."
"Those politicians in the US will use any despicable means to break free from the Vatican's control!"
"I also hope it's fake."
Seeing Paul VI's reaction, Madison spoke coldly and pulled a thick stack of documents from his robes.
"But this matter has already been personally verified by our people."
This is a comparison chart of energy wavebands. All the data shows that the energy fluctuations emanating from those monsters are 100% similar to the divine power recorded within the Vatican…”
Madison did not elaborate further.
However, the meaning behind those words was quite obvious.
Upon hearing this explanation, Paul VI's breathing quickened, but he still stubbornly grabbed the documents and began to flip through them rapidly...
As it turned out, with these written data documents right in front of him, he had no choice but to believe them.
Moreover, he had previously harbored doubts about the statue's unusual behavior while in the secret chamber.
Now, with the added evidence of data...
For a moment, he felt his faith begin to crumble.
"No... the Lord is light. The Lord is holy."
Paul VI could not accept this fact, nor did he want to accept it.
"These filthy insects could absolutely not be divine messengers! Absolutely not!"
"His Majesty!"
Madison, on the other hand, with no one else present, simply tore off his disguise.
"Let's face reality!"
The god we've worshipped for hundreds of years isn't some holy light bringing salvation; he's a bunch of winged parasites!
Upon hearing the other party speak so bluntly, King Paul VI swayed violently and fell back onto his papal throne, his face turning deathly pale.
His lifelong beliefs were completely shaken at this moment.
"How could this happen..."
He muttered to himself, his eyes vacant, like a lost lamb.
"If even God is a fraud, then what are we believers? What are we really conveying through our daily prayers? And what is the holy water we drink?"
however,
In contrast to Paul VI's distraught state, Madison appeared unusually calm, taking two steps closer.
"Your Majesty, you have lost your composure."
"Now is not the time to discuss the purity of faith."
King Paul VI looked up at him, his eyes bloodshot.
"Look out the window."
Madison pointed to the square outside the main hall.
"Those believers outside are willing to donate their entire fortune to the Vatican and are willing to die for a divine oracle."
Why?
Because they believed that God could save them.
They needed a source of emotional support, and we, just like everyone else, were that support.
Having said that, he continued without waiting for Paul VI to think.
"What the truth is doesn't matter at all. What matters is what the world believes."
These words silenced King Paul VI.
"According to the information I have now, this video has already been leaked."
Madison looked serious.
"Therefore, we must salvage everything before those believers go mad."
Even if we can't completely salvage the situation, we can't let the Papacy disappear in our generation. Do you want to be the last pope in the history of the Papacy?
To be the last pope?
Of course he didn't want to!
Upon hearing Madison's words, Paul VI's expression gradually changed.
The panic subsided. Ambition and the lust for power regained control.
"you're right."
King Paul VI straightened his back and straightened his disheveled robe.
"Faith is merely a tool for rule. What the tool looks like is unimportant, as long as it works."
Even an insect, if it can help us control the world, is a true god.
Madison laughed. This was the ruthless pope he knew.
"I've stabilized things on the US side. Strong wouldn't dare release the video easily."
Madison said, "But the Lin family has a live stream that broadcast the whole process, and that kid named Lin Fan summoned some really weird tentacle monsters."
It makes me think of those legendary creatures.
Is it a legend?
Suddenly, as if he had just thought of something, King Paul VI stood up abruptly.
"We still have a way."
"Come with me."
After saying that, he lifted his foot and walked deeper into the church.
Madison was taken aback, then quickly followed.
The two walked through a long corridor and arrived at the Pope's private study.
King Paul VI walked to a row of mahogany bookshelves and moved one of the heavy ancient books.
The wall made a dull thud. The bookshelves slid open to the sides, revealing a downward stone staircase.
"Where is this place?" Madison asked, somewhat surprised.
"The private chamber reserved for the popes throughout history."
Paul VI picked up the lantern from the wall.
"Apart from the Pope, even cardinals are not qualified to know of this place's existence."
As Paul VI explained, he watched the other person walk down the steps into the underground.
Soon, the two arrived at the underground chamber. The chamber was not large, and the air was filled with the smell of moldy paper.
The shelves around the room were piled high with dusty files. The corners were even covered in cobwebs.
Paul VI walked to a stone platform at the deepest part of the palace and picked up a diary wrapped in sheepskin.
"This is a manuscript left by the thirteenth pope." Paul VI brushed the dust off it.
"The thirteenth pope?"
Madison reminisced about the history of the Papacy,
"The records say that he contracted a serious illness at the age of fifty and was called by the Lord. He was hailed as the most devout saint during his lifetime."
"Fake."
King Paul VI sneered.
"That was a lie fabricated to cover up the scandal."
In reality, he was a complete madman.
He disappeared, and disappeared after stealing the Vatican's greatest secret.
Paul VI opened his diary and turned to the middle section.
"Look here," Paul VI said, pointing to a passage of ancient Latin.
Madison leaned over to read it.
"I've finally found it. It's not a god, it's just a higher-dimensional energy entity."
I discovered the primordial crystals left behind after the fall of the gods.
If I can merge it, I will become the only god in the world.
I will replace those gods in heaven!
Madison's pupils dilate.
"What...what is he going to do?"
"He wants to become a god himself," Paul VI corrected.
Paul VI turned to the next page and continued reading:
"The godhood is too violent."
The mortal body simply cannot withstand it.
I must build a massive altar. I need the blood of angels to quell this rage.
Using the Pope's authority, I summoned thousands of divine messengers. I stripped them of their power and suspended them above the pool of blood. Given enough time, I can eradicate the impurities within my very essence.
The diary ends abruptly here. The following pages have been torn out, leaving an uneven cut.
Madison gasped.
"Hanging above the blood pool... thousands of divine messengers..."
At this point, he suddenly recalled the deformed creatures in the previous video and couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
"Could he... have succeeded?"
"If he had succeeded, he would have ruled the world long ago."
Paul VI threw the diary back onto the stone.
"I'm certain he failed. Perhaps he was devoured by the primal power, or perhaps he turned into some kind of monster. But at least it proves that there might truly be a way to become a god in this world."
The two exchanged a glance and both saw the greed in each other's eyes.
But Madison quickly asked:
"Even if we knew what use it would be, we don't have the divinity described in the diary."
"No, we do!"
King Paul VI said with certainty, "The idol in the prayer room seems to be obsessed with Lin Jianguo. I suspect..."
Before he could finish speaking, Madison interrupted him, his eyes wide:
"Does he possess divine power?"
"Even if they didn't, they would definitely have other ways. Otherwise, how do you explain why this family is so powerful?"
At this point, King Paul VI could no longer contain himself and spoke up:
"Pass down the order: assemble the Knights Templar, activate all forces and covert operations."
"At all costs, we must keep Lin Jianguo and his family there forever!"
Madison nodded emphatically.
"I understand. I will personally oversee the arrangements."
King Paul VI stared at the diary in his hand with a fanatical look in his eyes.
"Once we obtain that power, the Vatican will no longer need to be beholden to anyone."
I, Paul VI, will become the true ruler!
What bullshit angels, what rotten flesh gods, they all must bow down at my feet!