Chapter 177-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
Percy took a deep breath. Without a doubt, Wen Jian, who single-handedly created the 'Blood Flower' Incident, was his enemy. If he chose to accept this bodyguard job, it would be a betrayal of his adoptive parents.
He found it very strange. He heard that Wen Jian was critically ill and the Sei Curia was preparing to elect a new Pope. Under these circumstances, was there still a need for Ye Zheng, or other enemies of Wen Jian, to risk making a move to kill him?
Percy took the letter sent by the Pope and read it over and over again.
The other party asked him to serve as his guard on December 1st, precise to the date. Why would Wen Jian know that he would be in danger on December 1st?
Even if there was danger, Wen Jian was surrounded by experts. Why would he specially invite a fledgling student like him to protect him? Moreover, there was old enmity between the two, which made it even stranger.
The only thing Percy could be certain of was that something very important would definitely happen on December 1st.
He took a pen and written a reply on the letter paper. He decided to accept the invitation.
Pretending to agree to Wen Jian might allow him to get news about his biological mother from him. If Ye Zheng or others wanted to make a move on Wen Jian, he wouldn't stop them either. He might even lend a hand. A person like Wen Jian should have died long ago.
After making the decision, Percy didn't feel any lighter in his heart.
It was rare to have nothing to be busy with during this time, having time to exercise more. Only by becoming stronger could he cope with the changing situation that will follow.
[Metal Transmutation] and [Death Rewind] were both very dominant abilities. Percy felt ashamed; his degree of development of his own abilities was still too low.
After replying to the letter, Percy pulled two companions along and rushed to the training ground for high-intensity practice. Lingyun Academy specially dispatched two teachers to guide them, hoping that all three of them could pass the Royal Knights' trial shortly after and become honorary alumni of the school.
While sweating profusely, Percy thought of Lu Qi for a moment. That girl who said she would achieve honor together with them—if Lu Qi were still here, she would definitely be training desperately with them, right?
He wondered what Lu Qi was doing now.
In the next few days, apart from high-intensity training, Percy received a reply from the Sei Curia informing him of the specific arrangements.
On December 1st, he went out early, bringing that mysterious small white pigeon statue. It was the symbol of the Colonna family. The letter specifically mentioned remembering to bring it along. Today, he would enter the Pope's Palace as a guard for the Colonna family.
On December 1st, the Pope's Palace lifted martial law and announced that the candidate for the new Pope would be revealed at five in the afternoon. Fourteen archbishops and noble representatives sent by the Royal Family were invited to the Pope's Palace, and the Saintess Ye Zheng was also among the invited.
The gods gazed majestically from above the painted dome. Sunlight poured into the meeting room through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the solemn and deep wrinkles on every old man's face. They sat around a long rectangular table. Among the fifteen people, only one young female face seemed out of place.
Ye Zheng tapped the wooden tabletop lightly with her knuckles. The abrupt sound caused the archbishops to look at her in unison.
"Bishops, are we waiting for the Pope to come and preside over the meeting?"
The old man sitting opposite her furrowed his thick white eyebrows. "Saintess, before the next Pope candidate is announced, all of us must stay here to prevent any accidents."
Ye Zheng let out an "Ah," and asked again, "Every Pope is elected through a secret meeting of the archbishops. Could it be that this year is different?"
"No different. Before you entered this meeting room, we had already finished the voting. The specific result will be announced at five in the afternoon."
Ye Zheng crossed her hands and rested her chin on them, her smile deepening. "So, the meaning of notifying me to come here is to accompany you all in waiting for the birth of the new Pope?"
With a muffled sound, someone slapped the table forcefully.
"Saintess Ye Zheng, it is already an exception for you to enter this meeting room and sit with us. What are you dissatisfied with?"
Another bishop with a kinder appearance patted the angry old man on the shoulder. Looking at Ye Zheng with benevolent eyes, he advised, "Ye Zheng, you have always been a good child. We have seen your virtues and contributions. Just accompany us old fellows quietly today."
Ye Zheng looked at him. Bishop Colonna, the elder brother of the current head of the Colonna family. He was also extremely prestigious and senior among the fourteen archbishops.
Riley, who might become the new Pope, was exactly from the Colonna family. The white carrier pigeon symbolizing peace and friendliness was their family crest.
The old man's seemingly gentle but turbid eyes flashed, his words hiding an unspoken warning.
—Don't try to pull any tricks. You have already obtained enough. Wait dutifully for the birth of the new Pope.
Ye Zheng sat at the lower right of the long table. She scanned every archbishop present one by one, as if she were the leader sitting at the head seat.
Some bishops were angered by her impolite scrutiny and were about to flare up, but unexpectedly, Ye Zheng suddenly stood up. Everyone watched her standing figure.
"Saintess, what are you doing?"
"Leaving, and then going to find Wen Jian."
Ye Zheng smiled, placing her desires out in the open without any concealment.
—Be dutiful? Impossible. Her goal was to become the new Pope.
The kind-faced Bishop Colonna's expression darkened slightly, his shriveled lips moving. "Ye Zheng, the entire Pope's Palace is currently under the highest state of alert. The Sei Curia and even the Royal Family have sent people over. You..."
"So what? I'm in a hurry to inherit the Mother of All—"
"Ye Zheng!"
The old man stood up in anger, interrupting her quickly. He stared at Ye Zheng in disbelief, his pupils trembling, as if saying—Why do you know about [Mother of All Things]!
Ye Zheng's expression turned slightly cold, taking in the expressions of the fourteen bishops present. Bishop Colonna reacted emotionally, and two other archbishops looked strange, while the rest looked at her and Old Colonna with more confusion, as if they didn't understand what the two were talking about.
Withdrawing her gaze, Ye Zheng blinked briskly at Bishop Colonna. "I think Bishop Colonna should have no objections. I will say hello to His Holiness the Pope on everyone's behalf."
Ye Zheng nodded somewhat perfunctorily, bid farewell to the meeting room, pushed aside the guards at the door, and went to visit Pope Wen Jian under the watchful eyes of everyone.
Inside the meeting room, Old Colonna was almost angry enough to pass out. The bishops on both sides hurriedly supported him. The old man couldn't understand why Ye Zheng would know of its existence!
From the reactions of the bishops, Ye Zheng confirmed that she had guessed correctly. Only a very small number of people knew about the existence of [Mother of All Things]. Inheritable creation abilities comparable to gods were not allowed to be known by too many people, otherwise the entire Sei Curia would become chaotic.
Wen Jian deliberately invited her to the Pope's Palace, wanting to use the eyes of many people to trap her. Rather than letting a wild beast prowl in the forest, it was better to put the wild beast in plain sight and restrict her with rules. This was a clever method.
Unfortunately, she only needed to play a small card indicating "she knows the existence of the Mother of All Things" to Old Colonna to disintegrate the restrictions on the surface. Because the other party would instead fear exposing the existence of [Mother of All Things] and dare not stop her from seeing the Pope openly.
This was an open scheme! Ye Zheng used her open scheme to defeat the open scheme set by Wen Jian, but next, it was the domain of conspiracies.
Ye Zheng walked in the spacious and magnificent corridor. Exquisitely carved semi-columns were embedded in the painted walls. She was the only one in the long walkway, yet she felt more than one gaze from behind.
A fulfilled person might be full of kindness on the verge of death, but a person with unfulfilled hatred would only become crazier when approaching destruction!
From the moment she entered this Pope's Palace, the conspiracy against her had already begun to operate. Ye Zheng could guarantee that even if she obediently stayed in the meeting room with that group of old fellows, Wen Jian wouldn't allow her to leave alive.
At this moment, the news of her leaving the meeting room had probably reached Wen Jian's ears.
As Ye Zheng walked, she suddenly saw a maid passing by with a broom and dustpan. After sweeping the ground, the maid seemed to turn her head inadvertently. Their eyes met for a split second before quickly looking away, heading on their respective paths.
Ye Zheng looked down at her steps. The maid just now was someone she had planted in the Pope's Palace.
During this emergency period, she did not allow her to transmit any information to the outside, because once exposed, she would undoubtedly die.
Ye Zheng knew her approach was a bit soft-hearted; it shouldn't be like this. The more critical the period, the more important intelligence was.
But it didn't matter. It wasn't too late to receive truly valuable intelligence today.
Ye Zheng walked into a hall. Her toe pressed against a ball of paper by the wall—this was the place the maid had just swept.
"Holy Grail, wine, paten, bread, Divine Revelation... Blood of the God?"
Ye Zheng identified the information behind the codes on the paper and recited them silently.
These were things Wen Jian had prepared in the past few days. It was possible they were items needed to inherit [Mother of All Things] today.
Things like the Holy Grail, wine, and Divine Revelation were items used in general ceremonies offering sacrifices to gods, which was not rare. But the appearance of Blood of the God made Ye Zheng certain that these were preparations for inheriting [Mother of All Things].
Ye Zheng was not unfamiliar with Blood of the God. In the Holy Judgment more than a month ago, she had held it with her own hands and secured the seat of the God's Chosen, although she had used some small tricks to make it get close to her.
Besides that, inside the paper ball was a brief layout of the Pope's Palace, with one place marked as a priority.
It was the altar located at the east end of the Pope's Palace. She had to leave this building first and cross a small garden to reach the altar.
Wen Jian would pass [Mother of All Things] to the next Pope there.
Ye Zheng's original plan was to find Riley first, and then disguise herself to replace Riley on the day of inheritance, tricking Wen Jian into giving her the inheritance. Unfortunately, they hid Riley too well; she couldn't find Riley at all.
She stopped by the windowsill and looked down. The Pope's Palace was large and luxurious. Solemn knights were patrolling in formation, wearing uniform uniforms and hats. But Ye Zheng easily spotted Percy from the rows of similar figures.
Not because she was so familiar with him that she could recognize him with joy from the crowd at a glance, but because she monitored his letters.
She not only monitored every letter others sent to him, but Ye Zheng even personally simulated the Pope's handwriting and seal, forging fake letters in the Pope's name and mixing them into the real letters.
Ye Zheng looked up at the clock tower opposite. The time showed 12:00 AM. In thirty minutes, Wen Jian would send someone to meet Percy at the auditorium on the north side. The purpose was not yet clear.
The person coming to meet Percy might be an ordinary servant or subordinate, or it could be an important character, such as Riley.
She still had the possibility of replacing Riley, because no matter where Riley was hiding before or how ingeniously he was hidden, today's Riley would inevitably appear in the Pope's Palace, breathing in the same space as her.
There were still five hours until the new Pope was announced.
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