Chapter 25

"Huh?"

"This is too ridiculous. Are the experts of your Roman Church just cabbages growing in a field?"

Qi Xing just wanted to complain, but suddenly he had a flash of realization, understanding—this wasn't a problem of cabbages, but rather, his way of thinking was wrong.

There is a type of game where players start the story operating only a Level 1 little nun, who might not even be able to beat a goblin in the wild. But they are either in debt, have a dream that requires money to realize, or some even need to save friends and family, or even protect the world.

So the players operate them to go out on adventures, fighting and progressing all the way. Within the story, it takes at most a month or two—not to mention saving the world—but before the ending, they can at least defeat the likes of Great Demons.

As for whether the little nuns will be stuffed with cream by demons during this adventure process, or whether the player will choose to engage in lewd events to let the little nun use [the path of corruption] to make money/get stronger faster, that is another matter. The point is… many people have played this kind of game, right?

Qi Xing had played it in his previous life, but Qi Xing absolutely did not want to operate it himself in this world again!

And when he turned his head to look, he found that although Elaine hadn't made a sound, she was standing on the side very awkwardly, with an unhideable gloom on her face.

The reason was simple, because Elaine was not one of them. She was not the kind of genius who could grow rapidly after going out to fight monsters for a few months and accumulating experience. Most of the top young female geniuses in this world—those who stepped into the [Inner Ring] level, such as Magical Girl Artemina—almost all grew up like this.

Children with excellent talent, go out and fight for about a year, without dying or becoming disabled, without becoming a meat weapon, without darkening and falling, basically, they would definitely have the level of a top expert. Very convenient, right?

However, Elaine had never had this aptitude; her strength was always stuck at the limit of the [Outer Ring].

During the last cruise ship incident, Magical Girl Artemina could exchange blows with Professor Van Stra for a short time without falling behind; Elaine could only fight with her brain, assist, and command. This was the difference in power intensity.

Hearing her master say this, Elaine would naturally only be more embarrassed and depressed.

All these reactions of hers did not escape Qi Xing's eyes.

"Father Amos, when you go back, tell those old nun abbesses that I have no intention of replacing anyone." So Qi Xing said, "If they continue to talk nonsense about my assistant, I will stop caring about the principles of respecting women and the elderly."

"Oh, that won't trouble you. I have already scolded them today."

Father Amos, the founder and chairman of the International Exorcism Association, said calmly,

"I scolded them all severely, telling them not to be stupid enough to play tricks on your side, and not to think about planting their own people here all day long. Don't worry, at least for these few days, they shouldn't have the time to look for trouble with you."

Oh.

That was actually quite impressive.

"Then why did you break into my room so late tonight?" Qi Xing was finally a little puzzled, "Just to tell me about a trouble you've already blocked? So urgent?"

"This is naturally part of the reason."

The old exorcist hesitated, raised his head thoughtfully,

"If I didn't come secretly, everyone would know that I had visited you."

"As everyone knows, we are friends." Qi Xing frowned, "Is there anything wrong with that?"

This time, the old exorcist did not answer directly, but looked meaningfully at Qi Xing and the evil god loli floating behind him.

"I want to know as soon as possible what you plan to do next."

Alright.

Anyway, Qi Xing didn't intend to hide it: "I want to find all the remaining twenty-nine silver coins."

This was also one of the reasons why Qi Xing came to Rome today. The stupid evil god did not provide a map function to automatically track the next silver coin. Qi Xing could only come to the Vatican to seek information in the place that might store the most occult knowledge in the world.

"You want to collect all of the [Thirty silver coins]." The old exorcist frowned, "Something no one has done for two thousand years. Anyone who gets a silver coin has the potential to become a hegemon, an emperor—and you claim to want to collect all thirty. You know how others will react when they hear that."

Qi Xing shrugged and shook his head: "No emperor has ever truly changed this world. Why should I care how others react?"

This statement brought a pause.

Father Amos sighed.

Qi Xing looked indifferent.

Elaine stood behind. On one hand, she was very grateful for Qi Xing's support for her; but on the other hand, she also felt heavy in her heart.

Samael floated above Qi Xing's head and yawned. I'm afraid these worries, fears, and interests entangling among humans were too boring for her. Meaningless. Why couldn't they just hurry up and fight for fun?

To be honest, Qi Xing was actually a bit impatient too. But since his friend clearly came with good intentions, he still patiently said: "Father Amos, if you are worried that I have been tempted by the devil, just say it directly. Don't speak in riddles or hesitate."

This finally made the old priest exhale, almost a sigh: "I don't worry that you will fall easily. But the devil is a big liar, very good at weaving lies."

Having said this, he turned his head and glanced at Samael floating there, while making a cross on his chest.

Qi Xing also looked up at the loli demon king floating above his head, noncommittally: "I don't think she is smart enough for that."

He originally thought this was insulting enough to Samael.

"It's not a question of whether the devil herself is smart enough."

Unexpectedly, Father Amos's next sentence was even harsher,

"Sometimes the devil can be stupid enough not to know that what she is saying is not true at all. Be careful, Qi Xing. Perhaps you have peerless power, perhaps you have kind intentions. But you might still accidentally fall into a pit while using dark power, just like the devil herself."

Samael basically didn't care how the things in this world arranged her. After all, in her eyes, these people were just NPCs she created. But hearing Qi Xing and the other singing in harmony like this, she couldn't help but complain: "Do you think you are very smart and very humorous?"

Neither of them paid any attention to her.

Just after finishing the last sentence, Father Amos suddenly raised his tone and said to the nun Elaine on Qi Xing's side: "Ah, it's already so late. Nun, can you give me a double espresso? Thank you."

Elaine was always smart. She was slightly stunned, and immediately realized that her master was deliberately trying to send her away to talk to Qi Xing alone—as for the devil floating on the side, no one could chase her away anyway, so everyone just pretended she didn't exist.

So Elaine didn't complain and obediently walked into the kitchen.

But she never expected what Father Amos wanted to say to Qi Xing.

As soon as Elaine left, the old exorcist leaned in front of Qi Xing and lowered his voice: "I haven't seriously studied the matter of the silver coins. But if you want to check, you can go to the underground library of Castel SantAngelo first—don't forget to bring Elaine, otherwise you won't be able to understand the books at all."

After all, Qi Xing really couldn't understand Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic—he only knew Chinese, English, and Japanese, which were enough for this lifetime—among the people he knew, only Elaine's language knowledge was extremely rich, even surpassing the cult leader of the Cultist Simulator.

"Okay." Qi Xing rubbed his temples, "I owe you a favor, Father Amos."

"No need to owe, because I need you to repay it now."

Unexpectedly, the old priest said,

"During this time, please be sure to protect Elaine well."

Huh?

"Beware of Black people, beware of Voodoo, beware of [Black Spartacus]."

Huh?!

"Can you not speak in riddles?"

Although Qi Xing complained immediately, when your friend insists on speaking in riddles, even if you have peerless power, it is actually useless—you can't beat him up just because he speaks in riddles, right? Is that something a person would do?

"Let's meet again another day, Qi Xing. Let's have a drink in a while."

After saying this, the old priest stood up from his chair and left in a hurry.

Although Qi Xing got the direction for the next step—to go to the underground library of the church's [Castel SantAngelo] to check information—he was also confused by Father Amos's words.

The next day, he learned what had happened at the Roman Curia.

The Roman Curia indeed did not dare to look for trouble with Qi Xing—even if Qi Xing held a silver coin of Judas, signed a contract with Satan, and even held the spearhead of the spear of longinus without returning it, they didn't have the guts.

But they summoned many high-level officials to hold a meeting and conducted a formal inquiry into the head of the [Association], Father Amos. They wanted to hold him accountable.

For example, they wanted to investigate the dereliction of duty of Sister Elaine, and the responsibility of Father Amos for not managing his subordinates and disciples well—since you, as a master, want to protect your disciple, then it is you who will be held accountable.

For example, they wanted to investigate the responsibility for the spearhead of the spear of longinus being stolen by Professor Van Stra—why could a second-rate parapsychologist slip into the underground treasury like walking into a supermarket and steal the most important holy relic of the Roman Curia?

For example, they even wanted to investigate some questions that Qi Xing wouldn't even think of, such as—

"Since 70% of the performance of the [International Exorcism Association] in recent years has to be attributed to [Master Leipu], why don't we dissolve the [Association] and hire him alone with a high salary? At least it's much cheaper than maintaining a useless organization."

The thinking patterns of people in this world always exceed Qi Xing's expectations!

—

[Small trivia not suitable for direct inclusion in the main text]

The [International Exorcism Association] also exists in our world. It was established at the end of the last century and is still operating normally to this day.

To a certain extent, it is the closest thing to the feeling of [Burial Agency] in Type-Moon in reality. Because although they were established by the Roman Curia, they really accept exorcist members from other religions from all over the world, outside the church. Even including witches, including monks, which is very incredible.

And the salary and treatment of exorcists formally registered in the Association are surprisingly good. You can sit and get money every month without doing anything, and you will get extra allowances when there is work—the Roman Church is really too rich, so scary!

In our world, there are only about two or three hundred formal exorcists in the [International Exorcism Association] so far.

However, in this world of the "Huangshu" quagmire, because the demand is obviously higher, the number, scale, and budget of the [Association] must be different.

029: Inquiry Meeting

"Stepping into the church as a sinner."

—For Father Amos, who had just entered the age of one hundred, this was a common occurrence. Because in his long life, he didn't know how many times he had repented for the mistakes he had made before the Holy Spirit.

But today his identity as a [sinner] was quite special.

The Basilica of St. Mary was an ancient building that had once been the Pantheon of the Empire during the Roman Empire.

Today, here, Father Amos would accept the questioning of the Roman Curia as a sinner—not because he offended God, but because he offended people.

All the windows inside the church were blocked, and only a few candle holders inside maintained the indoor lighting. While the church today was overly advanced in some aspects, it was unbelievably conservative in others.

Unlike the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans pursued the principle of [Unity of Gods]. The God-King Jupiter enjoyed undisputed power among the gods. The situation of the gods being divided and rivaling each other like in the Trojan War of the ancient Greeks was difficult for the conservative ancient Romans to accept. Therefore, most Roman speech squares were semicircular to highlight the undisputed core power of the God-King Jupiter.

Today, Father Amos would be questioned here as a sinner. And the [gods] interrogating him were lined up on both sides of the church.

In this era, the gods have passed away, only the Lord remains, however—

"Calling you at dawn brings no response,"

"You are silent when it is dark."

After whispering David's lament, Amos sat down in his seat, like a prisoner on trial, waiting silently.

The clerk, who had been silent, finally seemed to have been switched on, and began to read out the list of the Independent Investigation Committee:

Vice Dean of the Curia Privy Council—Cardinal Dominique Melville, Archbishop of Tonga.

Dean of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura—Cardinal Ricardo Perez, Archbishop of Litoria, Spain.

Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship—Cardinal Daniel Belvest, Archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay.

Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith—Martin Nguyen Van Thien, Archbishop of Hanoi, Vietnam.

Commander of the Order of the Holy Lance—Ms. Gwendolyn Van Stavia.

Grand Master of the Brotherhood of Wolves—Absent.

Lady of the Wallachian Little Dragon—Duchess Remina Tepes.

So many big figures.

"Grand Master Ophir is absent again?"

Cardinal Dominique's deep voice broke the silence. He lowered his head slightly and flipped through the records on his table.

He was the Vice Pope (Cancelleria) and the second most powerful person in the Vatican. In other words, he was also one of the people with particularly high power in the whole world. No one in this room was willing to pick up his conversation casually, including the Chief Exorcist.

Seeing no response, Vice Pope Dominique turned his gaze to Father Amos.

"Brother Gabriel, let's talk about business."

"Please go ahead, Your Excellency."

Amos replied calmly.

Although he didn't say it, the old exorcist could probably guess the reason for the absence of the Grand Master of the Brotherhood of Wolves.

Because just like [Master Leipu], that aloof Old Wolf, one of the top powerhouses in the world, most of them equally hated politics. Instead, they were more willing to focus on fighting against various dark evils in this world.

"Brother Daniel, please start the questioning."

The Vice Pope said.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Prefect Daniel of the Congregation for Divine Worship spoke slowly. His voice was as deep as a bell, and the face of the typical mixed-race descendant of Central and South America was full of wrinkles.

Father Amos knew why he could speak first. Because Cardinal Daniel, like the current Pope, came from Central and South America. His position was close to the Pope to a certain extent. In a sense, he, like Father Amos himself, was a trusted aide newly promoted by the Pope.

"Brother Gabriel, are you aware that the recent behavior of the [International Exorcism Association] has long caused controversy within the Church?"

Prefect Daniel said.

Father Amos raised his head, his eyes firm but also with a bit of determination: "If the Church is tarnished because of our behavior, then do you realize that this dust is exactly what those who are about to fall into the abyss stirred up when they were asking for help for the last time?"

Daniel did not answer directly. His aged fingers tapped on the table a few times. The cardinal official next to him understood and immediately turned on the projector. Dense data was then projected onto the temporarily erected screen.