"Who is that nun?"
When Aponia left, not only the believers but even the Pope cast an admiring look at her.
From every angle, she appeared to be a pious and perfect nun, almost like she carried the shadow of the saints themselves.
The bishops exchanged looks and quickly responded, "Your Majesty, she is not from the cathedral, but from a monastery outside, here to make a pilgrimage."
"In these dangerous times, for her to come to the Holy City despite the risks speaks volumes about her piety. We should send someone to inquire about her well-being later. It would be ideal if she could stay in the Holy City."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
No one felt envious. After all, Aponia was so beautiful that when she sat there, she was practically the spokesperson for the Church. Even the Pope was moved by her presence.
"The position has been vacant since the death of the previous chief nun. If she is willing to take on this important task, she can be added to the candidate list."
"Yes, sir."
The Pope nodded with satisfaction. The chief nun was a mascot, and the most important thing for a mascot was their image. Even a mute would do. The previous mascot had died unexpectedly, and there hadn't been time to fill the vacancy.
"I didn't expect to meet such a perfect candidate by chance today. Truly, this is God's blessing."
"Praise the almighty God."
The group of bishops prayed on the stairs, leading thousands of believers to do the same. After a few moments, they returned to their normal state.
"Your Majesty, do we still need to continue with today's work?" one bishop asked quietly.
"Of course, in this age where demons are rampant, we should always have the sword in our hands."
"But volunteers are not enough."
"Then find more. In the Holy City, there are countless people willing to become the sword of God. Their beliefs will pass the test."
"Yes, we understand, then you..."
"I won't participate. The Fire Moth has something to do. I need to go to New York."
The bishops said no more. They knew the Church's position in the Fire Moth was not just as a financial supporter but also as an entity that could transcend national boundaries, influencing hundreds of millions of believers.
There had to be a seat for the Pope in the Fire Council. But the Pope had more on his mind. He also looked at the same sunset, sighing slightly.
That person still hadn't appeared, forcing him to take some risks.
**...
"Why hasn't that old guy come back yet?"**
Ryan hid in the shadows of a building behind the church. The building was the office and residential area for the church and had been a monument for hundreds of years.
The security had clearly been upgraded. Armed military police were on guard everywhere, but they couldn't detect Ryan, who was hiding right under their noses.
He had planned to wait for the Pope to return and have a proper talk with him, but hours passed, and still, no one showed up.
Tsk, my intuition tells me that he knows a lot more than he's letting on. I didn't expect him to go to New York.
Ryan overheard a conversation between several servants and shook his head in mild regret.
Going to New York was enough to confirm that the Pope was truly a member of the Fire Council. Among the council members, there were very few who were willing and able to build secret laboratories—like the pure-blood faction before and the faith faction now.
He decided he wasn't going to wait any longer.
Ryan stepped out of the shadow. After his earlier observations, he already knew where the entrance was—right in the garden at the center of the building.
A few priests were coming in and out, and the guards seemed to ignore them. This didn't seem like something too confidential. Most of the people were wearing several layers of disguises. After all, normal people wouldn't associate charlatans with science.
It has nothing to do with the Faith Sect. The Church's human experiments are a scandal, but others could find a reason for them. Like St. George, who was the earliest fusion warrior.
Ryan maintained his invisibility and passed by several sentries. In terms of eloquence and sophistry, no one could compete with these charlatans. He had even arrested two priests for questioning.
This was the Church's secret research. It seemed they were trying to create a sword of God to start a holy war. All the participants volunteered, with no kidnappings involved.
If I were a normal fusion warrior, I wouldn't do anything except report this to the higher-ups. But I'm very sensitive to secret research now.
Ryan was half-believing and half-doubting. To him, even if the Church really wanted to start a holy war, it didn't matter. All research should be coordinated by Mei. After all, wasn't it a waste of resources?
But there was another question: Why would a group of charlatans be doing human experiments? The seminary doesn't teach biology or physics.
Ryan didn't care much about the details. Even if the Church had some relics from the previous civilization, it wouldn't be a loss to take them and give them to Mei.
He arrived at the center of the garden and saw a deep pit, like a drained lake, with a silver-white metal gate on one side.
In a place full of ancient monuments, seeing such a modern gate felt odd.
"Triple electronic locks, biological detectors, and iris scanning. Two gates, ten meters apart, and the doors are over a meter thick. It'll take some effort to get through."
Ryan muttered to himself, the irony of the situation not lost on him. This security was beyond the standard of a Class A laboratory, but Ryan didn't intend to be a thief.
He let go of his wind power, and a gentleman with ice-blue hair appeared in the center of the pit. He wore a slightly revealing purple-red suit and pulled out a silver short stick, which soon transformed into a delicate cane.
The people in the central monitoring room sat up straight, looking at the screen in shock. How could there be an extra gentleman at the entrance in the blink of an eye?
"Who is this?"
"I don't know, how did he suddenly appear?"
Before the guards could react, the gentleman walked to the door with elegant steps, placed his left palm on the door, and the crystal ice layer spread out. His palm pressed against it—
Crack.
The alloy door shattered like glass, and the intrusion alarm went off.
"There's an intruder at the main entrance!"
"Quickly notify the Fire Moth garrison!"
The monitoring room quickly issued an early warning, moving quickly but methodically as part of their usual drills. At this time, a middle-aged man in a red robe entered quickly.
"What's going on?"
His robe was a little messy, showing he had just been woken up.
"Bishop Astu, there's an intruder at the main gate. He's already broken through the second gate, and internal communication has been interfered with—all lines have failed!"
Main gate? Intruder?
The bishop was confused. How could a thief break in through the main gate? He looked at the screen, his confusion growing.
The elegant man was already walking through the passage. Despite the dense barrage of sentry guns and laser cutters, he was unfazed. The shells and beams bounced off him, and soon, he froze.
Very powerful, and even more elegant. His freezing ability isn't something a human could produce.
The bishop froze, shuddering as he realized something.
"An Apostle of God!?"
What Apostle of God? This looks more like a fusion warrior from the Fire Moth.
"Your Excellency, should we fight back?"
Bishop Astu's expression changed drastically. He had received news that the Fifth Herrscher had fallen, so why was someone like this suddenly appearing here?
As an insider, he was one of the few who knew this information, but with the communication disrupted, he couldn't contact the Pope.
What should he do? What had happened? Could this really be God's punishment?
"Your Excellency, the invaders have breached the third defense gate," a guard reminded in a low voice.
"Attack immediately, but don't notify the Fire Moth's troops. We'll handle this ourselves. I'll contact His Holiness the Pope at all costs!"
Can this be solved?
The bishop's expression was deadly serious. The guards could only nod, silently following his orders.
"Yes, sir!"
Boom—
An ice storm swept through the underground, freezing the metal and turning a group of soldiers into ice sculptures.
"The defense is much weaker than I thought. And why haven't the Fire Moths shown up yet?"
Ryan paused, leaning on his cane and looking ahead.
He had used thunder power to interfere with the communication system, but the city couldn't be completely isolated. No matter who escaped from the emergency exit, they could report to the local branch.
Rome was an important strategic location, and upper-level fusion warriors were stationed here, but the response was very interesting.
They had to resist but couldn't use full force...
With Ryan's sharp senses, none of these doubts escaped his notice. It seemed the Herrscher cosplay had worked.
"Never mind, let me do my thing first."
He continued walking through the underground, moving at a leisurely pace as if sightseeing in the church, observing everything around him.
There were many Cross emblems scattered about, and the guards didn't seem connected to the Fire Moth. This certainly seemed like a church operation, but the experimental equipment was sophisticated, and the surgical tools were on par with the Fifth Institute.
Ryan entered a lab and saw several humanoid figures floating in large glass jars. After a closer look, his eyes widened in shock.
The exposed muscles were incredibly strong, and a layer of honkai energy crystals coated their bodies. This signaled severe mutation. Logically, such failures shouldn't show life signs, and what caught his attention the most was the octopus-like head.
Isn't this the monster from Aponia's sketch? I see now. If I hadn't intervened, these things would have destroyed the city.
Ryan glanced at the creature in the glass jar, a sense of unease creeping over him. This technology seemed to borrow from fusion warrior research, but it was fundamentally different.
What carrier did these charlatans use for the fusion? Could there truly be a holy relic involved?
Ryan picked up a nearby experimental report. If this was just about fusion warriors, there was no need for them to study it themselves. Didn't the parliament have Dr. Damian?
His mind was full of questions as he quickly scanned the report. As one of the leaders of the fusion warrior program, Ryan soon identified the issue.
"Sample zero... They didn't even perform the adjustment experiment and went straight to the clinic. This is unscientific."
Ryan remembered how much time he and Mobius had spent on the first stable gene, and how they kept adjusting according to the carrier to develop the first generation of super-mutant factors. These people were going straight to the clinic.
Could there really be a holy relic? It didn't matter. Whether he found it himself or sent a piece of tissue to Mobius, it was worth it.
With that in mind, he turned his head and suddenly noticed the glass jar's surface crack. As bubbles surged inside, the creatures' eyes opened simultaneously.
These dozens of lifeless eyes locked onto Ryan.