Instead of Lycaon, an old man with wrinkles and sparse white hair appeared in front of Russell.
He looked like an old Magneto. The old man was sitting in the same position as before, showing a serious and quiet temperament... His green pupils were the same as Russell's, but they were completely different from Russell's sharpness.
eyes.
This old man claimed that...he was not "promoted to -12", but just "promoted".
——The initial “promotion”.
"……I see."
Russell took a deep breath and understood the dangerous implications hidden in these words from the ambiguous attitude.
Since the Sky Island Age, the pope of the Cyber Church has always been an elective system - and must be re-elected every seven years. And each pope does not only become a pope once... If in a certain era,
If two cardinals are good enough, then there is a high probability that the pope will rotate between them.
However, it doesn't actually matter who is the pope. It's just used to fool ordinary people.
Because if you want to become the Pope, you have to wear the "crown" that symbolizes the Pope and make yourself angelic. The highest-level angel named "Savior", everything he does is for the world, and he has a rational and
A compassionate and pure heart. Only a ruler who is "absolutely devoted to the common good" can gain people's peace of mind and respect.
Instead, the rulers themselves were deprived of their human rights.
Therefore... from a certain perspective, becoming the pope is not an honor, but a "sacrifice."
For the prosperity and survival of the church, he sacrificed his body and mind to attract the souls of ancient saints to enter his body. It is natural for his personality to change drastically... After the seven-year inauguration period, his personality was permanently changed.
, or it is very reasonable to simply lose the memory of this period of time.
That is the price of giving up the power of an angel again after gaining it.
Compared to the pope, who is essentially a "tool man" responsible for work, the named elves are more interested in permanent positions such as "house chief", "chief judge" and "secretary" who have power but are not so busy.
interested.
And Exaltation -1 is the first pope since the Sky Island Age.
At that time, the "Church" had just begun to change its name to the "Cyber Church", and the first pope, who was also the first host of the "Savior", was "Father Andrew" who had developed the divine descending device in the past.
To this day, almost a hundred years have passed, and there are only twelve "promotions".
However, he suddenly said now that there has never been a "promotion-12" in this world... there has only been one "promotion" from the beginning.
It can only be Andrew himself.
——The moment each pope puts on the crown, they are no longer the same cardinal as before. The thoughts injected into them completely change their sanity...allowing "promotion" to be reborn from within their bodies.
.
"Did you gain eternal life through this method?"
Russell asked: "Having controlled the power of the Cyber Church for a hundred years...what exactly do you want to do? What have you done?"
Even though his soul was trapped in a prayer device, Russell had no fear.
That's not the Yan Shuangying behavior of "I bet your gun has no bullets in it"... but Russell really has the means to flip the table now.
After the red shift exceeds eight levels, Russell is no longer purely human. Not to mention, for him, the "human" body is just a fragile consumable... Russell, who can modify his appearance at will, can just borrow it at will
A body can be rewritten into its own form again.
Just like he imitates other people, there will be no flaws.
If he must abandon his body, then Russell can also sneak into the dream world or enter the Internet. As long as he can obtain even a bionic human body, he can "backdoor the market" again. Just like when the monkey-faced eagle showed his true form
, and even cause disasters that must be solved by the self-sacrifice of the named elves...
——I can do this kind of thing now!
In a sense, Russell is the same kind as "promotion", and even goes further. At least promotion requires someone else to take the initiative to wear the papal crown in order to win the other person's heart... and Russell does not need to use such superfluous means at all.
.
From this perspective, it is not certain who’s home field is here!
"What can I do?"
The white-haired old man asked: "The power of the church is controlled by the elves, so what can I do?
"Rather than saying that the Cyber Church is independent of the seven sky islands... a more accurate statement would be that it is divided up by the seven giants."
Indeed.
Russell nodded.
Since the time of the religious war, a large part of the church's senior leaders have been elves. But now, as humans have changed several times, the elves from back then are still sitting in their positions... Even among the newly appointed senior leaders,
The proportion of people being transformed into elves is also getting higher and higher. Today, the Cyber Church has essentially become a pure elf force.
"The souls of elves have been solidified. They may be able to obtain the power of holy orders, but they cannot become angels. This means that elves cannot become the pope... Only pure-blooded humans can become the pope. Because of this,
All the cardinals at the top of the church have not turned into elves - because there are always people to sacrifice."
The old man sneered.
He just raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a mocking look on all living beings, mixed with compassion and ridicule: "In other words, you think my purpose of living in the world is to stay in this puppet-like position of the Pope to fight with those people.
Are the elves fighting for power?
"If I wanted to, I would have become an elf long ago. I have that talent, and I have been invited.
"I am indeed the first angel in this world...because my original test subject was myself.
"You know, I'm always like this. When I invented the divine descending device, I debugged it repeatedly on myself... I didn't even know that after I handed over the debugged divine descending device to the Pope for testing
When I accepted it, I was still the same me as before.
"But so what? I will not let children become my guinea pigs. The church will invite Lycaon because I recognize his talents and character, not because I regard him as expendable.
"Before Lycaon, I had already conducted experiments on myself. Only when I confirm that this transformation is safe and controllable will I popularize it to others.
"The only child I have fused with me right now is Lycaon, but there will be more soon.
"The monkey-faced eagle uses this technology to fuse the will of others with its own, swallowing and manipulating their individual minds. This is undoubtedly evil. It is not fusion, but domination.
"With me as the supervisor, I can ensure that the integration proceeds smoothly. I will preserve everyone's consciousness first, and when everyone is ready, I will be the first to dismantle the barriers of individual consciousness. I will always be the first
One, I am the leader, I am the pioneer.
"——At that time, under my leadership...human beings will merge into the true 'God of the Group'."
