Chapter 47
Will he make a mistake?
The answer is always correct and unchanging.
Won't.
He won't make a mistake.
On the screen, the Pope lazily rested his chin on his hand, watching them with great ease.
"You must remain calm." The Pope, holding a cup of hot tea, looked at the celestial saint on the electronic screen and was about to say something when Hans, who had been standing silently by the French windows, suddenly turned around. The Pope chuckled inwardly, lowered his gaze quietly, and did not rush to speak. He slowly began to sip his tea, as if he had not noticed anything.
“But if I may be so bold, your plan is utterly clumsy,” said the Celestial Maiden. She hadn’t seen Hans standing behind her and was about to continue the serious discussion when a deep, cold laugh echoed in the study. “Ha.”
"What do you mean by 'keep your cool'?" Hans angrily questioned the Pope on the screen. "What is this? Do you consider me an ally or a pig to be betrayed at will? You'd better think about how to explain this to me!"
The irritable boy pointed out the floor-to-ceiling window to the Royal Army stationed there. Soldiers usually patrolled the area, but there were never as many as there were now.
All of this is thanks to the person right in front of me!
Hans gritted his teeth in anger, "Is this what you gave me?"
He glared at the Pope, demanding an explanation, but the Pope remained smiling, his handsome face still bearing the same gentle, gentlemanly smile. He looked at Hans with a smile, supporting his cheek with one hand, but he didn't intend to speak for a long time, showing that he wasn't going to explain.
Hans gritted his teeth, his fists clenched until they turned red.
The Celestial Maiden lowered her eyes, her expression remaining calm and revealing no emotion. Her voice, as always, was clear and cold, even somewhat aloof and serious. "Pope, I also think you'd better explain yourself."
"We've already forgotten how to play this game."
When they made their agreement, it was when the Saintess's starship entered the airspace above the Royal Forest under the pretext of requesting assistance that Hans stepped forward and led a team to repair the starship.
Of course, the starship couldn't be fully repaired in a short time, because it was deliberately sabotaged by someone sent by the Pope. Apart from the Celestial Maiden and the Pope's confidants, no one traveling with her knew about this. Then, the starship's malfunction became so severe that it couldn't be repaired. That's when Hans invited the Celestial Maiden to stay there for a while.
Given the circumstances at the time, Hans should have appeared with his men when the Celestial Maiden's starship entered the airspace above the Royal Forest, but he did not.
They thought they could turn the tables and become the players instead of the pawns, but they didn't realize how foolish they were.
The celestial maiden lowered her eyes.
However, she also didn't understand the Pope. When she boarded the starship, the original malfunction was already enough, but he still let her enter here on the grounds of insufficient energy, and even deliberately made her say those words in front of those elders who were always extremely vigilant.
This plan is utterly stupid.
He had put himself on the edge of danger, but the Pope remained adamant and refused to offer any explanation.
In stark contrast to the stiff atmosphere in the study, he even leaned back in the animal-skin chair with amusement, enjoying the massage from the servant behind him. He closed his eyes and laughed out loud, "Heavenly beauty! Don't you think this is quite amusing?"
“So what if I’m reckless? I did it on purpose,” he said with a laugh. “To let him know we’re hostile, to make him wary of us, and finally, to take his little darling away.”
Isn't this interesting?
Why didn't these two people grasp this point?
"You should start enjoying yourselves."
The Pope slowly opened his eyes. His handsome face looked only about thirty-five years old, still quite young. However, as everyone knows, the Pope is over ninety years old. Even in this era of high magic and high technology, people's average lifespan is still about the same as in the 21st century.
The Pope is already considered quite old.
To achieve immortality, one must ascend to godhood; that is true immortality, the highest blessing bestowed upon the strong by heaven in this era.
However, even after so many years in office, the Pope has still not broken through his cultivation level and ascended to the rank of chief god. Not to mention chief god, even attaining a divine position is very difficult...
He is already over ninety years old. If he does not ascend to a divine position soon, his physical lifespan will come to an end in a few years.
Everyone in the upper echelons of the Church of Light knows this perfectly well. They have even already chosen the next pope. Everyone is waiting for the man in front of them to die. But will he be willing to die?
If he wanted to, he wouldn't have planned all of this.
Since his physical body is no longer usable, we can just replace it with another one!
Why not just take over his body, get a stronger and younger one that's destined to ascend to godhood?
“There’s no need to hide our hostility; Hughes already knew.” The Pope’s gaze was no longer as gentle as before, but towards this young upstart, his eyes were filled with pleasure. “It’s rare for him to have a girlfriend, and he dotes on her so much. If you miss this opportunity, you’ll never have another chance.”
Kidnapping Xia Qian—that was the mission the Pope assigned to the Holy Maiden.
He was gambling, gambling that his girlfriend was the boy's weakness; if he could get her, he could get Hughes.
The boy was always proud, but now that his weakness had been exploited, what right did he have to remain proud?
The Pope's pleasure intensified, as if he could already see the beautiful scene he desired, his lips radiating joy. At the same time, a knock on the door suddenly broke the Pope's thoughts. "Your Holiness, the Queen from the Source of Life has requested to contact us again."
His expression turned cold, and all the pleasure on his face vanished in an instant. "No."
However, the person outside remained standing there, refusing to leave. Through his divine sense, the Pope could see the hesitation on the person's face. He coldly said, "Speak."
The servant outside the door trembled. "...Princess Xia Wen is also trying to contact you. She has made many communications from the hospital."
"We've already blocked her, but she keeps changing..."
They only came to the Pope because they couldn't control it anymore.
Although the Pope had given instructions not to answer the phone calls from the mother and daughter.
But one of them is the Empress and the other is a Princess; how can they simply refuse? Besides, Princess Xia Wen has a relationship with the Pope...
The Pope did not shut down the connection, so the Celestial Maiden could hear everything clearly on their end. However, she did not react much, her expression remaining calm and cold. But at that moment, the Pope ordered someone to shut down the connection.
He looked at the face of the Heavenly Maiden on the screen, his face still bearing that gentlemanly smile, "Heavenly Maiden, do your best."
Before the connection was shut down, he calmly looked at her and said, "Do your best to assist our Prince Hans. I look forward to you bringing Xia Qian back."
Hans is just a pawn; you're the one truly playing this game.
Don't let me down.
His unspoken meaning was almost entirely hidden in his eyes, and the Heavenly Maiden, who had been by the Pope's side since she was eight years old, could not possibly be unaware of it.
However, the Holy Maiden did not respond hastily, and did not even seem like a competent subordinate. She calmly looked at him, watching the Pope's eyes reveal his annoyance before the communication connection was completely cut off. He was in such a hurry to cut off the connection because he was busy dealing with Xia Wen's matter.
After all, the Holy Maiden can be played with at will. Even if the higher-ups of the Church of Light are fully aware of this, they won't do anything about it. But outsiders don't know, and they certainly don't know that the Pope, who has always been regarded as an incarnation of the God of Light, is like this in private. If Xia Wen's relationship with the Pope is exposed...
The Pope will surely be disgraced.
The Celestial Maiden clenched her fists inwardly.
But before that, we must deal with Xia Qian's matter first. Only by capturing that girl will she have the right to speak, and only then will Hughes go to the Pope. In this world, he is the only one who can stand against the Pope.
However, the boy was cold and ruthless, showing her no respect whatsoever. She had to find his weakness and frame the Pope in order for him to help her.
The Celestial Maiden clenched her fists, but just then, she heard a cold laugh from behind her, "It must have been tough for you to follow this perverted old man since you were eight years old."
"I thought our empire's useless people were pitiful enough. I never imagined you were a hundred times more pitiful than him!"
The "trash" Hans was referring to was Yu Si. He looked at the Heavenly Maiden with a mocking gaze, his mouth practically laced with poison. "Tell me! What are you bunch of idiots from the Church of Light planning to do now? You've come up with such a ridiculous plan for me."
“Your Highness Hans, even if we, the Church of Light, are foolish, you were the one who came to us first.”
"you!"
The saintess stood up, no longer impatient to remain seated. "I believe there's a misunderstanding on both sides. More important than this trivial misunderstanding is how to navigate this situation. I need your cooperation."
Hans clenched his fists, but the saintess gave him a cold glance, unconcerned. "You're very angry right now. You should control your hatred for Hughes. It'll only make things worse!"
Hans sneered, "I can choose not to do anything to Hughes, but Xia Qian!"
"Isn't that girl supposed to be the eldest princess of the Source of Life? Aren't you afraid?"
Hans clenched his fist. "I can forgive Hughes, but now you're even interfering with what I want to do with Xia Qian?"
However, the Celestial Maiden paused at this moment, saying, "I just wanted to ask about your plan."
She suddenly recalled the scene from before: the girl standing beside the boy, delicate and beautiful.
This fragility means it can be easily destroyed.
Like a flower.
Delicate and fragile.
However, this young girl was well protected by the usually aloof and cold-hearted Crown Prince of the Empire.
How long can he protect us?
Would he be willing to protect him?
The Pope said that this girl was very likely Hughes's weakness.
Is it really a weakness?
She just didn't believe it.
Hughes is like her, indifferent to everything.
He doesn't like weak people.
He would probably like someone strong, like her.
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