"Cardinal Bennett!" This was Nicky's first ti eting Angus. He was quite curious about the man Pope Mario had nad as the next candidate for the papacy.
Across the entire Holy See, there were currently less than ten individuals who could be called Cardinals. With two in Ro, three in Arica, and a few scattered around Europe, Angus's future ascension to the position of Pope was almost set in stone.
"Cardinal Dior, hello!" Angus greeted cheerfully. The two exchanged formal bows before diving into their discussion.
Angus was clearly no longer the simple small-town priest he once was. Over the past six months, having suddenly been thrust into a high position, he had co to understand the Ecological Niche of this world. Thus, he declared, "I will be going to Washington to speak with the Great Leader. As for the special trial taking place here, I leave it in your hands!"
"Naturally, the hidden truth behind this matter is that neither of us wants to trigger a genuine, head-on conflict. Therefore, we will avoid fighting if at all possible!" Angus continued to explain. "The mastermind behind the scenes wants both sides to suffer heavy losses, but the damage that would inflict upon this country is simply too massive!"
"Vampires and Werewolves are glaring like tigers eyeing their prey. Demons lurk in the shadows, and Demon Gods appear and disappear at random. For the sake of the believers in this country, we cannot recklessly go to war just to save face!"
He possessed a remarkably clear mind. He was fully aware of the strings being pulled from the shadows, and he understood the pros and cons of this situation better than anyone!
"Of course. I will save this believer, I will spread the word of this event, and I will make The Lord's Divine Glory shine across this realm once again!" Nicky declared loudly. "Unless absolutely necessary, we will not make a move."
"It is good that you understand. However, if you are threatened or attacked, please do not hesitate. Strike back imdiately!" Angus gave his final instructions before getting into his car and heading toward Luo City International Airport.
anwhile, Nicky took the mbers of the Religious Tribunal to rest inside the Church, waiting for the afternoon's trial to begin.
At the sa ti, under the deliberate guidance of certain individuals, this peculiar trial was transforming into a unique showdown between a Bishop of the Holy See and the Great Leader of Arica!
On the lips of many, Angus's reputation shifted drastically. Once known as a natural-born Saint and the protector of Christians, he was now being branded as the destroyer of Arica and a reactionary trying to tamper with the Constitution!
After all, the root cause of this entire incident was Golden Hair's attempt to stir up populist sentints, which had sparked a massive wave of public reporting.
Consequently, Angus's public opposition naturally made him the ultimate villain in the eyes of these populists!
However, compared to those who were too afraid to speak up, Angus held one massive advantage: he was a genuine Transcendent Being. He was a Transcendent Being backed by countless believers. Thus, unlike the previously one-sided public opinion, his words garnered the support of a massive audience!
The so-called "Clean Up" faction, which had previously held a dominant advantage thanks to Golden Hair's rhetoric and actions, now found themselves locked in endless argunts and furious shouting matches due to the influx of Christian supporters on the opposing side.
This was especially true on the internet, where supporters from both camps were tearing into each other relentlessly:
"Charlie was a true Saint! What he said was right. You opponents are just slandering a Saint like him!"
"A Saint? A man who supported genocide can be called a Saint? Your standards are dragging on the floor!"
"Are you people even human? Charlie is dead, yet you're still mocking and ridiculing him!"
"Oh? Then why didn't you step up and speak out when Aaron was being mocked back then?"
"Charlie was so pitiful. He died to support us, so we have to support him in return!"
"Pitiful? Do you pity the fact that he was a billionaire, or that he was richer than ? The Church hands out food and clothes, while your precious Charlie only ever supported your right to buy a Gun!"
"He was shot to death! Everyone in this country is guilty of Sin!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! But he was the biggest advocate for gun ownership. What do you have to say about that?"
Such exchanges were everywhere on the internet!
With the addition of Angus's supporters, the previously dominant Rednecks were shocked to realize they were losing the debate. They could only watch helplessly as this new group conquered territory across the web.
It seed to have devolved into a strict binary opposition: if you didn't support Charlie, you didn't support Golden Hair, and if you didn't oppose him, you didn't support Angus. Naturally, this was the result of Nuland and her allies secretly guiding the narrative, heavily fueled by Bai Yang fanning the flas from the shadows.
Watching from the dark, he felt an escalating sense of satisfaction. The feeling was incredible. No wonder the people of this country loved falling back into binary oppositions at the drop of a hat—the results were fantastic. Even simple bickering was funneling an incredibly dense stream of Wish Power toward him!
A portion of this Wish Power would serve as nourishnt for the growth of Christianity, while the rest would not go to waste either; it would beco the foundation for this country's Supernatural transformation!
"Golden Hair is truly interesting. If he possessed Transcendent Power, this level of attention and faith would be enough for him to Ascend to Godhood in this world!" Bai Yang remarked with deep emotion. "Unfortunately for him, all of this is about to beco ours!"
Under his guidance, more Transcendent Power would continuously erge, and this peculiar debate, along with the impending supernatural standoff, would beco the focal point of global attention!
"Crown, the Transcendent Beings from the Arican Officials have arrived. Just as you predicted, they utilized the treasure of that demonic dragon!" Alvin's voice rang out, prompting Bai Yang to nod in satisfaction.
"I knew they wouldn't give up. But what I want to know even more is what the Holy See will think upon seeing these Transcendent Beings!"
He was eagerly anticipating the reactions of the Holy See personnel when they laid eyes on this squad of Dragon-Blood Warriors, and he was even more excited for them to see Jose's reaction.
A clash between Transcendent forces, conducted under the watchful eyes of the entire world via global live broadcast—naturally, it would be a spectacular show!
Moreover, the appearance of Golden Hair's Transcendent Beings would strike panic into the hearts of certain individuals, forcing the global evolution of the Supernatural to accelerate even further!
"They all think this is nothing more than an exchange of Interests. Unfortunately, only we know that this is an opportunity to make the people of the world clearly recognize the true nature of the Holy See. We will just have to disappoint them!"
Bai Yang stated indifferently, "We might as well take this chance to Clean Up so people!"
...
Amidst this war of public opinion, Nuland and her allies were perhaps the most uncomfortable of all.
Because, to their utter shock, they realized that their place in this debate had completely vanished!
Indeed, within the political ecology of Arica, only two factions ever truly dominated the mainstream: the Republican Forces belonging to Golden Hair, and the Democratic Forces led by Nuland.
They constantly clashed and compromised, yet they dictated the very life and death of the nation!
Under such circumstances, it was an undeniable fact that all conflicts originated between them and stemd from their own existence!
But this ti, when the Holy See usurped their Ecological Niche and beca the true leader of a portion of public sentint, Nuland was astonished to find that their voices were being completely ignored!
Golden Hair truly was a political genius. Through this incredibly crude thod of segntation, he had achieved a precise filtration of his own supporters within the nation's power structure, and then swiftly shoved the Holy See onto the opposing side.
Subsequently, the issues of this realm suddenly morphed into a clash of faiths between him and the Holy See. He had successfully positioned himself as the opponent of the Supernatural. Without a doubt, the fact that a non-Transcendent like him could stand on equal footing with Angus was already a victory in itself!
Going forward, regardless of whether he failed or not, he possessed the foundation to win!
One could only say that Golden Hair had mastered the art of winning. In this matter, he only faced three possible outcos: a moderate win, a massive win, or an astronomical win. anwhile, the outco he had prepared for Nuland was nothing but an absolute, crushing defeat!
"We can't do this, Your Excellency the Governor..." Nuland was currently sitting in a conference room, listening to a subordinate's report. "The mont we try to stir up a topic, the opposing side imdiately compares us to the Holy See. They ask us what our Transcendent Power is, and they demand to know what right we have to be compared with the Holy See!"
"On the battlefield of public opinion, we're being simultaneously suppressed by both the Holy See and the White House!"
Hearing this, Nuland's face darkened. This was not what she wanted. She wanted those two factions to destroy each other, not for them to fight and end up wiping her faction out in the crossfire! It was utterly bizarre!
"Fundantally speaking, it's still because we don't have Transcendents... Golden Hair has such a loud voice simply because he announced that he has three Transcendent forces under his command!" Finally, the Secretary of State spoke up. "Therefore, no matter what, we must acquire our own Transcendent faction. According to our Think Tank's deductions, this is the only viable solution!"
The pressure this Twitter King exerted on them through Twitter was infinitely massive. And this ti, Golden Hair was using this very opportunity to tell the world that Arica possessed its own Transcendent Power, marking the starting point where they would no longer fear the Supernatural might of the Holy See!
"Then we need our own Transcendent Power too! Go, talk to those Vampires and Werewolves. Then head to The South and speak with High Priest Carl!" Nuland snapped viciously, her voice raised. "It's just the Supernatural, isn't it? Just because we don't have it now doesn't an we can't get it!"
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