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"You have too many secrets. From the time you changed your name to Wilford and spent nearly twenty years in the Polant Empire to the top of the political arena... I never thought that you were actually from the Horning Empire."
As one of the Pope's few friends, or one of his few living friends, she knows the Pope's secrets and past.
Ever since he underwent the transformation at the Horning Empire's testing ground, his time has forever stopped at that moment.
Strictly speaking, this acquired forbidden product should be called a demon.
Neither a demon nor a human.
The mortality rate of demon transformation surgery is extremely high, and one must go through countless tortures before there is a glimmer of hope for success. To some extent, it is equivalent to abandoning one's own race and turning oneself into a monster.
As a negative side effect, not only do they not have the true immortality of the demons, their lifespan is also greatly shortened compared to humans.
Perhaps for Lanclos, living to his forties was already a miracle. He had to endure unimaginable pain every moment, relying entirely on the tenacity of his soul to resist death, supporting this body that was about to collapse, and doing the last things.
"..."
The man in white robe sitting opposite him remained silent.
"Lancros, if you don't want to talk, then you don't need to talk, just listen to me."
Queen Keshia continued speaking in a gentle voice.
Originally, the Queen thought that this lunch would be a difficult test, but it became easier because of Lanqi's previous words.
Lancros is always changing, but there is always a hint of sincerity and humility in his green eyes.
She could see that, unlike most powerful people, the man in front of her had a sense of responsibility but not a desire for power.
This is why she is willing to treat him sincerely no matter how weird and unpredictable he is.
"To be honest, the more I get to know you over the years, the more unfamiliar you seem to me."
She looked at Lanqi,
"No matter what, I will help you. After you die, I will keep your secrets secret. You deserve to be remembered for generations to come."
Queen Keshia assured him.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Lanci replied.
Because the country believes in the Church of St. Paul, the Pope's voice in this country is quite high, actually even exceeding that of the emperor. For many decision-making issues, the emperor in office needs to listen to the Pope's opinions.
At this point, Lanqi roughly understood the story of the past twelve years.
During the first nine years of the war, his church made outstanding contributions to the fight against the Horning Empire, and its ecclesiastical power grew. On the surface, Prime Minister Wilford and Pope Lanclos were opposite sides of power, but no one would have thought that Prime Minister Wilford's other identity was actually the leader of the church.
He secretly continued to cede political power to theocracy, and finally gave himself a perfect ending, announcing the defeat of the political power and the rise of theocracy.
So in the following three years, Prime Minister Wilford became history, and a Pope who was above the imperial power was born.
now.
Perhaps the Pope's time is almost up, and as an old friend, the Queen wants to see him off for the last time.
"I hope I will never need to use my talents. A Saint Polante country that doesn't need me is a truly beautiful country."
Lanqi answered frankly and easily, without any pretense in his tone.
This shadow world seems to represent the last period of Black Sun Lanclos' life.
He had read the price of human demonization and distortion in the collection of books in Lichtens Castle on the border of the Horning Empire in the second shadow world.
It is difficult for a demon like Lancross, who underwent immature artificial transformation at the Imperial Test Field in his early years, to live beyond the age of thirty.
Now, Lanclos is almost 49 years old in this timeline.
It was a little hard for Lanqi to understand why he was still alive.
However, the advantages accumulated from the first three shadow worlds finally brought about a happy ending.
"You're still like this."
Looking at Lanqi's eyes, Queen Keshia said sincerely, the guilt and reluctance in her heart turned into waves of bitterness that surged into her heart.
She could not forget that Prime Minister Wilford had answered her in the same way when he first met her.
Even if he is let down by the empire, he will never let it down.
"You said you weren't hungry. I've said everything I wanted to say to you. I won't waste your time here. Please go back to the Pope's Hall."
Queen Keshia wiped her eyes, forced a farewell smile to an old friend, and said to Lanqi.
"Goodbye, Your Majesty."
Lanqi stood up, saluted to Keshia again and said goodbye.
After coming to this shadow world, there has been no prompt to exit the shadow world for such a long time, which made him feel that he should not stay here to eat.
He needs to quickly figure out more about this era.
For example, the demon world.
For example, his friends in this era.
Now that he won, his friends in the movie world should also have a happy reunion.
"See you."
Queen Keshia waved to him.
Under the reception of the guards, Lanqi passed through a series of corridors.
He stepped out of the magnificent gates of Salem Palace and came to the door.
The streets of Helsalem were bustling with people, and citizens were busy coming and going. The noise of the city was always coming from both sides of him.
It’s different from a decade ago.
There is hope in people's eyes.
The fog of fear was dispelled.
The city also came alive.
After finishing his meeting with Queen Kershia, Pope Saint Paul was scheduled to return to his papal palace.
When Lanci's figure appeared at the gate of the royal residence, the members of the Knights Templar who had been waiting for a long time immediately knelt on their knees, as if they were seeing the arrival of a god.
They were dressed in silver armor with the emblem of Saint Polante embroidered on their chests and held sharp spears in their hands, like a group of guards of the sky.
"My Lord, His Holiness the Pope has arrived!"
"Glory - praise -"
As the Knight Commander chanted in a high and clear voice, the uniform voices of praise resounded through the sky like a raging storm.
Lanqi walked out slowly, followed by several clergymen dressed in gorgeous Apocalypse robes, who served respectfully on both sides.
Next, we took the temple vehicle back to the Papal Palace of St. Paul.
Ten minutes later.
The majestic fortress located at the top of the imperial capital can be vaguely seen.
Like an oil painting in the imperial palace, it always shines with solemn and sacred glory in the afternoon sun.
On the way, Lanqi looked out of the car through the mask.
Occasionally, one would see an old couple holding the young officers' belongings and praying with tears in their eyes, a young girl holding a newly opened lily and shyly saluting, and children excitedly climbing on their parents' shoulders, stretching their tender necks to look at the vehicle of the Papal Palace.
Lanqi watched quietly.
Before I knew it, the vehicle had slowed down and stopped in front of the Papal Palace of St. Paul.
The Papal Chamber is located at the highest point of the imperial capital of Hershalom. It is the residence and center of power of Pope Saint Polante.
The exterior walls are made of stone, with spires towering into the sky. There is a huge stained glass window on the front of the hall, which is surrounded by chalk walls and defense towers. In addition to the external infrastructure, the core area is the throne room of Pope Saint Paul.
Lanqi's footsteps echoed on the white stone steps, and the lights in the Pope's Hall were lit up.
He passed through the ranks of the Knights Templar in silver armor and entered the door of the Pope's Hall.
The door slowly closed, isolating the hustle and bustle of the world from outside.
The huge church was dimly lit, with only a few rays of setting sun shining through the window frames. The holy light of heaven fell on the red carpet in front of the altar.
Lanqi walked slowly towards the throne. The clergy stood on both sides of him and closed the several-meter-high black gold door of the throne room for him.
"..."
He stood in front of the throne and was not in a hurry to return to his seat.
Instead, he turned and faced the mirror on the side of the temple.
I saw a figure in the mirror, tall and straight, and might be mistaken for an old man. Perhaps it was because his youthful face was covered, and that was the impression he gave with his white hair.
The outer layer of the pure white robe is embroidered with gold thread, and the hem and cuffs are trimmed with gold. Inside is a dark red lining with a religious pattern of the Trinity embroidered on the front.
"Oh, I became the Pope?"
Lanqi took off the silver mask in front of the mirror.
In this shadow world, his attire has been changed into the Pope's robe, and his hair has been dyed pure white.
Standing in front of the mirror with the mask on, he didn't recognize himself.
"Wait, Lanqi, you seem to have an extra debuff."
Talia suddenly reminded.
She found that after Ranchi came to the shadow world, a strange state appeared.
But it was too secretive, and she was not able to identify it until now, when she was in the throne room and could use her magic without worry.
【Mind Rift】
[Category: Negative Status]
[Level: Epic]
[Attribute: Spirit]
[Rank: 9]
[The aftermath of the battle with the third ancestor, Duke Lachar. ]