The Pope was very old, his face covered with age spots. Had it not been for a lack of successors in God’s Country, it would have been impossible for soone over a hundred years old to still occupy the Papal seat.
The Archbishop of Light had indeed successfully taken that step, but those close to him knew the truth. The Archbishop of Light was already seventy. Under normal circumstances, how could he possibly break through? It was only because the Pope used the Holy Grail’s power to infuse him that he achieved this so-called ’breakthrough.’ In reality, it couldn’t even be called a true breakthrough, rely... a Half-step Star Soul.
However, the successor cultivated at such a great cost had been killed by ridiculous rumors. If the Bishop of Justice was the most furious one here, then the Pope must have been the most heartbroken.
"Audacious!" A Cardinal Bishop shot to his feet. "Mula, how dare you speak to the Pope like that?"
The Bishop of Justice continued to gaze directly at the Pope. Under such intense scrutiny, the Pope finally shifted uncomfortably and let out a long sigh. "I will give Aio his justice."
"Lord Pope, you often taught that justice might be delayed, but it will never be absent. But I have always wanted to ask you: is delayed justice still justice? When a person is already dead, what good is justice?
Do you know how despairing and helpless Aio was at that ti? You were his teacher; you should understand Aio’s character. Back then, everyone was accusing Aio—him, him, him, and him.
You all used to claim you were Aio’s closest friends, his most trusted allies. But what were you doing when Aio needed you most? And in the end, Your Respected Holiness," the Bishop of Justice paused, then looked at the Pope again, "what Aio needed most then was *you*! You were his teacher, the person he trusted most. At that ti, if only you had given him a single word of comfort, a little bit of trust, he would never have taken such a desperate path. Deep down, you believe in him just as I do. Why couldn’t you support him like I did? Why, in the end, did you say nothing at all?"
The Bishop of Justice slowly pushed back his seat. "Giving Aio justice is our duty; it’s what we owe him. As for other matters... I’m tired!"
"Mula, you are the Pope’s successor. So many matters still need you..." a female Bishop hurriedly called out to the Bishop of Justice.
"You know I never wanted to be Pope. I wouldn’t have agreed if it weren’t for the chance to continue investigating Aio’s case after ascending to the position."
"It has already been announced to the whole world. Do you plan to go back on your word now?"
"I know reneging would bring sha to God’s Country, and I won’t go back on my word. But I’m truly tired tonight; I don’t want to discuss anything. Just consider this... my prerogative as the Pope-to-be."
As he finished speaking, the Bishop of Justice slowly walked towards the door. The mont he opened it, a cold wind blew in, and his cloak fluttered like a candle fla. The sound of his footsteps faded into the distance, and his figure completely vanished.
Ultimately, no one in the Holy Temple spoke again. They all understood the Bishop of Justice’s feelings. Having been as close as brothers with the Archbishop of Light for decades, anyone would have struggled to accept it.
The next day, the Papacy announced the truth, vindicating the Archbishop of Light. In an instant, all of God’s Country was in an uproar. Citizens flooded the streets, venting the anger in their hearts. However, they failed to realize that they, too, had played a part in pushing the Archbishop of Light to his death.
Now, the entirety of God’s Country was in chaos. The Papacy of God’s Country was also overwheld and unable to offer Wang Lan and the others any assistance. Under Wang Lan’s command, the various teams of the International Security Council were active day and night. Perhaps the Hell Monarch’s forces were indeed exceptionally well-hidden, or maybe the resources at Wang Lan’s disposal were too few. There was progress, but it was minimal.
Those suspected of committing violent acts under the Hell Monarch’s influence had returned to normal. However, no matter how they tried to rember, they could not recall encountering anyone or being manipulated by anyone.
God’s Country was vast, with a population in the tens of millions. The City of Angels alone had nearly ten million inhabitants. The few people sent by the International Security Council were of no significant help.
"This is a huge deal. The top news stories around the world are all about the Archbishop of Light being wrongfully killed," Xu Xiangwen said, scrolling through short videos on his phone. Four or five out of every ten videos were about this topic.
"This might also be part of the Hell Monarch’s plan. Now that all of God’s Country is in turmoil, if I were the Hell Monarch, I certainly wouldn’t miss this godsent opportunity," Jiang Xinyu said thoughtfully.
"Inciting the people of God’s Country to cause trouble?" Xie Sisi imdiately understood.
"I’ve already had General Dyson deploy forces. If people are causing trouble, the Hell Monarch must be the instigator."
DRRRING— The phone rang.
Wang Lan answered the call, listened for a mont, then hung up and stood, walking towards the door.
"How is it? Any new leads?"
"General Dyson did indeed catch a few people stirring up public sentint. I plan to go take a look."
Since the command headquarters was in the hotel, he just had to leave his room and go down to the next floor. When he reached the lower floor, General Dyson was just coming out of an interrogation room. Seeing Wang Lan, he gave a wry smile and shook his head.
"What? No leads?"
"These troublemakers are all ntally abnormal, with clear marks of intrusion in their Spiritual Sea of Consciousness. It’s obviously the sa thod. Naturally, the mastermind behind it all remains untraceable."
The Hell Monarch’s thod was truly formidable; for now, Wang Lan couldn’t think of a way to counter it. When the Hell Monarch injected his will into his targets, he would also erase their mory of that interaction. Even those controlled and manipulated by the Hell Monarch wouldn’t know. Since there was nothing in their mories, Spiritual Engraving would naturally reveal nothing either.
"Where are these people from? Do they have anything in common?"
"No, they co from all over God’s Country, and they haven’t been to the sa places. Of course, even if they had, we would have no way of knowing now, since their mories have been tampered with."
Suddenly, Wang Lan’s expression changed.
"Wang Lan, did you think of sothing?" General Dyson asked hurriedly. Wang Lan’s change in expression hadn’t escaped his eyes.
"Tampering with mories... I recall that in God’s Country, there is an art that can alter one’s own mories..."
"The Divine Kingdom Within!" General Dyson clearly knew of this divine art. "But isn’t that art only supposed to change one’s own mories? Can it also alter soone else’s? Moreover, this art is listed as forbidden, and only those at the Cardinal Bishop level within the Papacy are permitted to practice it."
"Every Star Martial Skill is constantly evolving and improving. What couldn’t be done in the past might be possible now. For example, for ages, no one could complete the developnt of the Extre Heat Light Beam, yet it appeared in my hands.
Besides, what you’re describing isn’t ’tampering’ but ’erasing.’ Altering one’s own mories and erasing others’ mories—don’t you see a commonality between these abilities?"
"If that’s the case, then this person could very well be among the upper echelons of God’s Country. Could it be... that even the high-level officials of God’s Country can’t be trusted anymore? Our difficulty in pursuing the Hell Monarch would then increase more than tenfold."
"No matter how difficult, we must always find a way to overco it."
Unnoticed, five days quietly passed. Too many things had happened in God’s Country during these five days—events as groundbreaking as the creation of the world itself. First ca shock, then anger, followed by riots, and later, repentance and prayer.
During these five days, the mood of the citizens of God’s Country changed daily; or rather, it was changing mont by mont. Wang Lan and his three companions looked at the Holy Light shrouding the entire City of Angels, feeling exceptionally calm.
"This Holy Light is truly remarkable; it can even influence people’s emotions. Under its glow, the people’s emotions were soothed so quickly. To go from losing their minds to regaining order in just five days—it’s truly beyond belief."
"If this Holy Light were used in our country," Xu Xiangwen mused, "we wouldn’t have so many problems. Do you know how much effort our nation has expended to resolve conflicts between different social classes?"
"If every country thought like you, the Papacy would be overjoyed," Jiang Xinyu remarked. "Then all of humanity would believe in the Heaven God Sect, and the Papacy would truly beco the uncrowned king."
"Wang Lan, do you think there’s a problem with this Holy Light Array?" Xie Sisi asked.
"Currently, it only seems to soothe people’s emotions and purify their hearts, but who truly knows?" Wang Lan replied. "What makes us human are our seven emotions and six desires. These are not things humans sought for themselves; rather, they were given to us by natural law during the process of evolution.
If everyone beca devoid of desire, then humanity would truly be dood."
"Perhaps," Xu Xiangwen conceded.
Holy Light is indeed a wonderful thing. If it had existed during the imperial eras, it would have been sothing all monarchs dreamt of. Monarchs would only need to indulge themselves, assured that the country was peaceful and the people lived and worked in contentnt.
And then the population would enter a sustained decline, until, a few hundred years later, the nation would completely disappear due to population shrinkage.
Five days had passed. The citizens’ emotions had been placated, but acts of repentance and prayer continued. Every day, thousands of people flocked to the major churches throughout the country to confess. The more fervently they had cursed the Archbishop of Light before, the deeper their regret now.
While the entire populace was mired in sorrow and regret, a video suddenly began to spread across the internet.
Wang Lan learned of this news imdiately, hastily opened his computer, and downloaded the video. When he played it, the person featured in the video was none other than the Bishop of Justice. In the footage, the Bishop of Justice held a baby in his arms. The infant was smiling at him, creating a scene of such harmony.
But soon, a shocking scene unfolded. The Bishop of Justice slowly drew a silver-handled dagger, and then... an image appeared that made Jiang Xinyu’s face drain of color and caused Xie Sisi to turn her head away, unable to bear watching.
The Bishop of Justice raised a cup filled with the baby’s heart blood, gently swirling it. The blood, as vibrant and cruel as red wine, eddied inside the cup.
"Damn it! Damn it! This scum deserves to die!" Xu Xiangwen pounded the table in anger. With a SLAM, a corner of the table shattered under his fist.
"Xiangwen, don’t fall for it," Jiang Xinyu said hurriedly. "This must be the Hell Monarch’s doing again. Have you forgotten how the Archbishop of Light died?"
"Of course, I rember! I’m not saying the Archbishop of Light deserved to die; I’m saying the person in this video does! I, Xu Xiangwen, consider myself fairly knowledgeable, but searching through all of history, you’d struggle to find such a monstrously cruel beast! How could he bring himself to do it?"
"For a beast," Wang Lan said grimly, his face ashen, "what wouldn’t they stoop to?"
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