Chapter 868: The chaotic Xingbi
April 1st, that's April Fools' Day.
Four itself is the sacred number on the path of wisdom, just as the Tantra of the Foolish Songs is itself a tantra on the path of wisdom.
This is the day before the arrival of the Eternal Age, when the elves commemorate the death of Dionysus the Fool.
Not many people remember this incident today.
Back then, Hengwo hadn't yet ascended to the throne of Pillar God, and Xi Tiansi hadn't yet been born. The Age of Beasts hadn't ended, and the rule of "power" still existed—in this world of endless darkness, everything was primitive and barbaric. Winner takes all, the strong prey on the weak.
The Fool walks the land, frantically flattering the great men as "sages," yet harshly criticizing their selfishness, ignorance, stubbornness, madness, and greed. Even the Church and the Pope often find themselves among his targets.
He sympathized with those mortals who were helpless and in danger of their future in the war between the gods, and called them "fools". He scolded them, sympathized with them, and praised them at the same time.
As such, he naturally offended many people.
However, the Fool also had many friends, and he was also quite skilled in fighting. This only made people feel extremely frustrated. Many important figures in various places treated the Fool with respect and courtesy, fearing he would say something irritating or even have his words recorded in poems that would be passed down through the ages.
He is a strong man, but he stands on the side of the weak.
The sun had not yet risen, and the fool was the only fire in the darkness.
The foolish even dared to deny the gods—the celestial officials of the past were called "gods," and the apostles were called "followers of the gods." Even the fifth-level transcendents and phantom demons could be called "demigods" or "false gods."
People look up at the sky and see that all the stars are gods.
When people see the gods on earth, they must bow and kneel down to worship them.
Although the Fool himself did not become a god in the end, his will remained. To commemorate the Fool, April 1st became "Fool's Day", just like the holy days of other pillar gods.
...Although the Fool himself might not agree with this.
However, on this day, people's crazy behavior and presumptuous words are usually forgiven, because they can be called "commemorating fools and imitating fools." And many people will mix the truth with lies on this day, and the seemingly true and false speeches make them look more like fools.
Initially, people defined the time to lie as "before sunrise." Later, because this didn't fit with normal people's sleep patterns, it was gradually changed to before noon, when the sun, which illuminates the world, reaches its zenith.
But later, people gradually forgot the fool's name.
Today, the name "The Fool" exists only in occult texts, as a piece of arcane knowledge. Only the tradition of April Fools' Day remains in the world, but people have long forgotten for whom these lies were told.
The church happened to announce the lifting of its permanent neutrality on the morning of that day - if it had happened on another day, perhaps the controversy would not have been so great.
People were arguing fiercely, but no one knew whether this was true or false.
——Or maybe people already knew whether it was true or not from the very beginning, but some people just hoped it was false.
In Avalon, people didn't worry too much about this. Instead, many people regarded it as a topic of conversation - after all, everyone knew that this generation's Pope was an Avalonian, their Minister without Portfolio, and would soon become their Prince!
This is one of ours!
Isn't it a happy thing to take off the shackles and chains?
But in today's Xingtan, this news has caused great confusion -
At this moment, the Moon Children of the Red Keep gathered together.
The first Red Prime Minister, Pomponazzi, has died, and now the leader of the Moon Children has naturally become Queen Louise.
She is a powerful enough Son of the Moon, and now she is the power agent of the orthodox royal family - Valentine VII is her husband, and Valentine VIII is her child. When no other royal family comes forward to inherit the throne, it is natural for her to help the "bedridden" Valentine VIII to govern the country.
When they heard that the Theocracy had lifted its neutrality, their first reaction was - could this be directed at them?
"Don't be impatient."
Louise's face was gloomy, but her emotions remained quite stable. "According to the rules of the Theocracy, this is an internal power shift... Our father is Pomponazzi. He was one of the founders of Star Antimony and is not an outsider in any way."
"...But the problem is," a young Moon Child asked cautiously, "the current Pope is Aiwas Moriarty, right? As a human, will he truly follow the traditions of the Theocracy?"
“—he must follow.”
A middle-aged Moon Son who looked to be around forty or fifty years old spoke in a firm tone - he was General Lister, who was also the Minister of the Navy of Xingti.
Because of the Moon Children's unique nature, when they control a nation's upper echelons, they often prioritize controlling its navy. Without a firm grasp on the navy, they could easily be trapped by the "flowing water" vulnerability or drown at sea. Therefore, those controlling the ships must be their own.
Minister Lister, before becoming a Son of the Moon, had been posted to the Theocracy for over a decade. He could be considered an expert on the Theocracy among the Sons of the Moon.
"The elves of the Theocracy aren't saints without desires. Their cardinals are divided into several factions, one of which rigidly adheres to all traditions, and this faction is almost the loudest.
"And Aiwass is merely an acting Pope. He's not the true Pope... According to the White Saint, she will succeed him before the end of the year. In other words, he's merely a transitional figure. Under these circumstances, the Theocracy won't allow him to hold too much power."
"Is it possible," Louise modestly asked General Lister, "that the founding of the Eternal Theocracy was not led by Pope Moriarty?"
"This possibility exists, but it is unlikely."
The Minister of the Navy shook his head and said seriously, "It's just as I said—because opinions within the Church are always divided, if it is a 'unanimous' resolution, there must be external forces intervening and interfering with the thinking of those cardinals.
"The cardinals of the Theocracy are all stubborn freaks. Every one of them is as eccentric as the Black Face. On matters of principle, they won't compromise, and they wouldn't even obey the Pope's orders. So for them to collectively pass this order, something must have happened.
"I think, first of all, we can rule out the possibility that they're establishing a nation to interfere in the situation on Star Antimony. After all, the current situation on Star Antimony is just a minor conflict... We haven't even started a civil war. Although the Army Department has sided with the Society, they haven't attacked us, have they?
"In the elves' long lives, they've faced many more serious matters than this. For the elves, the current chaos on Star Antimony isn't even worth sending paladins to mediate—if the Theocracy had clearly stated, 'I don't want you to continue this trouble,' do you think we would have continued fighting?"
“…That’s definitely not the case.”
Louise was a little embarrassed, but nodded in agreement.
I have to say, if the Theocracy really puts pressure on them... they might really back down.
They had always believed that Pomponazzi was the first person under the Pope. But that was ultimately the first person under the Pope. Not to mention, Pomponazzi was no longer around.
And the person who killed Pomponazzi was on Xingtan - if the Theocracy put pressure on them, they could really take advantage of the situation and back off.
That way, at least they can retain their influence and power.
Because they never failed, they simply succumbed to the pressure of the Theocracy...
But who can withstand the pressure of the Theocracy?
Then people will understand them.
But if they were really crushed by the Theocracy, the situation would be completely different.
Fortunately, after General Lister's analysis, he was able to basically rule out this possibility...
Louise also breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as the worst-case scenario of "the Church intending to directly intervene in the situation on Star Antimony" can be ruled out, all other scenarios are actually acceptable.
The other side.
The Army Department took this matter very seriously.
However, they have a completely different understanding of this from the Son of the Moon.
——The Theocracy is coming for them!
And they also gave the reasons:
"Tell me," Master Walter said seriously, "who leaked it?
"About...the secret of the Tail Ring ritual."
Chapter One!
I got up late today. I haven’t been in a good mental state recently and have been suffering from insomnia for a long time... I didn’t fall asleep until almost six o’clock today. I will try to finish the second chapter around seven o’clock!
(End of this chapter)
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