The residents of Cao were overjoyed at the Pope's arrival and put aside their work to come and behold his face.
After all, nearly half of them had never left their native city, let alone traveled to the distant city of North to meet their religious leader, which might be their only chance in their lives to see His Holiness the Pope.
From the moment he entered the city, Phil Gray was followed by a long tail.
They enthusiastically called out to His Holiness the Pope, and sang hymns praising destiny incessantly.
Phil Gray maintained a calm and composed expression throughout, returning their warm smiles. He didn't seem bothered by being a public figure whose every move was under scrutiny; after becoming a favorite of several deities, he had expected this day to come sooner or later.
Right now, he is only a subject of destiny. But what will it be like when he ascends to the throne and looks down upon the world, where all believers are his followers?
Realizing he might have been overthinking things, Phil Gray even engaged in a moment of self-criticism.
He yearns to become a god, not because he wants to gain power over others, but because he wants to go home, back to his true homeland, and now he also wants to help the alien world that took him in fight against the gods of the Abyss.
Before he knew it, his carriage had arrived at the lower city of Kao.
This place, inhabited by impoverished people, stands in stark contrast to the cleanliness of the city center.
The upper-class people following behind His Holiness the Pope were probably visiting this slum for the first time, and they found it hard to believe that such an environment could be inhabited.
But it is precisely in such an environment that the most devout believers in fate grow and nurture kind and simple souls.
He walked around a row of low, dirty houses and, relying on his memory, arrived at the place where the old woman and Barry used to live.
The narrow alley was clearly not wide enough for the carriage and the crowd thronging around him to pass, so Phil Gray had to get off the carriage and have his knights try to disperse some of the crowd.
"Let me think, where did I bury the crown back then?"
Phil Gray walked to the large open space next to Barry's house, a place where nearby residents gathered. Several round stone benches, worn smooth and shiny by generations of sitting, stood there, and four or five oak trees grew stubbornly, providing shade for people day after day.
He slowly crouched down between the second and third trees and took a brand-new shovel from Ernest's hands.
Dig!
The remaining people, unwilling to leave, watched His Holiness the Pope's actions with curiosity. Could there be some secret here?
After digging for more than two meters, Phil Gray still hadn't seen the crown, and he began to wonder if he had remembered it wrong.
After all, we were in a hurry at the time, so we wouldn't have buried it so deep.
"Boss, are you sure you're not mistaken?" Eli thought so too.
Then a trembling voice sounded behind them: "Your Holiness the Pope, are you looking for a crown?"
Phil Gray turned to face the person who had spoken and found it to be a ragged old man.
"Yes, how did you know?"
“Oh, I think I know what you’re looking for. Of course this guy knows!” someone in the crowd shouted. “A few months ago, his alcoholic son was sleeping here. He was half asleep when it suddenly started pouring rain. He was on his way home when he saw a crown being washed out by the rain!”
"Yes, what a huge and beautiful crown! His drunken son immediately sobered up, thinking it was a gift from the god of fate. He's so carefree; he immediately took the crown to the only shop in the city run by the Commercial Church. The shopkeeper asked him where it came from, and he said it was one of the treasures he dug up while adventuring with others. Hahaha, but the people from the Commercial Church said it was fake, made of ordinary iron, and the gems on it were just dyed stones. They told him to take it away quickly." A gentleman wearing a hat who looked somewhat down on his luck chimed in.
"And then? What about the crown?"
Phil Gray asked.
Even if Wendell and Valck Dodd were incredibly audacious, they wouldn't go so far as to give His Holiness the Pope a fake crown, would they? Could it be the work of the commercial church? But that's unlikely. There are gods in this world, and these businessmen are essentially believers; they wouldn't do something that goes against their faith.
"The drunkard naturally didn't believe it, after all, it looked so luxurious and beautiful. So he went to the neighboring city of Reis, but the shops there gave the same answer. The drunkard was extremely frustrated. He had hoped to make a fortune, but he didn't expect it to be a worthless craft. Just then, he was stopped on the road by a noble young man dressed in white. The noble young man said he wanted to buy the crown in his hand. Of course, he initially asked for an exorbitant price, but the young man could tell at a glance that the crown was fake and was only willing to give him one gold coin. The drunkard thought that one gold coin was enough for him to drink for a long time, not to mention that he had borrowed money for his journey to Reis and had to go home eventually, so he sold the crown."
"But a few days after he returned to Kao City, when he passed by the shops of the Commercial Church, he heard that the shop owner and two employees had been attacked one day, knocked unconscious and locked in the warehouse for a whole day. That day was the very day he had visited the shop wearing the crown! Upon asking about the shop owner's appearance, he realized that he was not the same person he had seen that day at all. He immediately realized that he had fallen into a trap!"
Another woman with a slightly hoarse voice said, "It's because the shop owners of the Commercial Church are on a rotating system, changing from time to time, that even we locals can't remember them."
"That's not rotation; it's that they've made enough money here and are going to make their fortune elsewhere."
Seeing that the conversation was getting increasingly off-topic, Phil Gray frowned. "And then? Any more news about the crown or that young nobleman?"
"After that, the old man's drunken son told everyone he met about his experience. He said that the wealth bestowed upon him by the god of fate had been swindled away, and he was so unwilling to accept it. In his regret, he drank even more heavily, and not long ago, he fell into a cesspool and drowned while drunk." At this point, the crowd burst into laughter, seemingly laughing at the farce, but the old man who had spoken first stood silently to the side, looking lonely and pitiful.
Phil Gray sighed, perhaps he had made a mistake burying the crown here in the first place.
"Did he tell you what that noble young master looked like?"
"I think I heard him mention it. That young master also had long gray hair and blue eyes. Hmm... according to his description, he does look somewhat like you," someone said hesitantly.
Upon hearing this, Phil Gray instantly thought of the person who had impersonated him at sea. Could it be that this guy had come to Kao City after deceiving Caroline?
Why did they steal the crown?
Who exactly is he?
Phil Gray was deep in thought when he suddenly saw someone rushing towards him from the crowd. Immediately afterward, smoke billowed, and one after another, men wielding axes and shouting slogans ran in his direction.
"Kill the dog Pope!"
"Kill the lackey of fate!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com