After jumping into the secret passage, Lu Xiao squatted down to absorb the impact of falling from a height.
Under the influence of the passive skill of Leap of Faith, the drop of up to 3 meters only made his legs feel sore and numb for a while, and they soon returned to normal.
'This passive skill is indeed very useful, but it's a pity that it's only E-level, and the damage reduction is relatively small. I don't know when I will be able to be completely immune to falling damage from heights like the demigod who talks about maraka.'
Different from the design of the tomb hanging high on the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore Church, the assassin's tomb in Santa Maria Novella truly conforms to the concept of "catacombs".
Dense bones can be seen in the upper and lower tombs on both sides of Lu Xiao's landing point. It seems that this place was indeed used as a tomb in the past.
The entire underground tomb was very large. Lu Xiao opened many mechanisms along the way and moved forward cautiously. It took him more than an hour to reach the final door of the tomb.
The token stone plate taken out from the sarcophagus in front of the statue is engraved with a hand popping out the Hidden Blade.
It represents the first person in history to wield the Hidden Blade, the owner of this cenotaph, the ancient Persian assassin Darius.
Following the old rules, Lu Xiao casually grabbed a few pieces of precious metal jewelry from the pile of belongings buried with him, and left the rest to La Volpe's thieves to clean up the rest.
While harvesting the second Assassin's token, Lu Xiao did not forget the true purpose of this infiltration operation.
In the passage leading to the main tomb, Lu Xiao found a small window that could peer into the church basement.
With the help of the rations he had already prepared, Lu Xiao spent the night bunking in this tomb with poor air quality, and finally waited for the cabal's meeting on Sunday the next day.
In order to avoid being discovered, Lu Xiao hid on the side of the small window and quietly observed the people attending the meeting with the corner of his eye.
Presiding over the meeting was Jacobo, one of Lorenzo Medici's advisors and the eldest member of the Pazzi family.
The temperament of this patriarch of the Pazzi family is completely different from the gloomy and vicious Francesco and Vieri, and he looks very elegant.
At the beginning of the meeting, he repeatedly stated that assassinating Lorenzo was an irrational decision, and hoped to meet the "Master" in person to persuade him to change his plan.
"Enough!"
A bloated fat man sternly stopped Jacob's complaint: "The plan to liberate Florence was formulated by the master himself. Jacob, do you want to disobey the master's order?"
"No, no, of course not."
Jacob has a relatively soft character, and will immediately bow his head and give in when someone yells at him: "I just hope to overthrow Lorenzo's rule in a more secure way. If the assassination fails, it will be almost impossible to get another chance.
"
"Stupid! Short-sighted! With the influence of the Medici family in Florence, if we can't kill them with a thunderous blow, how long will we have to wait to overthrow them?!"
Lu Xiao narrowed his eyes as he looked at the fat man confronting Jacob, "Umberto Alberti, your betrayal is so complete. I didn't expect you to be the most radical person in the cabal."
Francesco returned to San Gimignano ahead of schedule. Due to Jacob's seniority, the ill-tempered Vieri did not contradict him face to face. Uberto, who was eager to take revenge on the Medici, refuted Jacob mercilessly.
Kabu's warm thoughts.
Jacob, who was gentle by nature and did not like to argue with others, did not intend to exchange words with Uberto anymore. He looked at Vieri and moved the topic aside.
"Vieri, has the master arrived in San Gimignano?"
Vieri saluted Jacob with a thorough etiquette: "Yes, uncle, the master temporarily secluded himself in the city of San Gimignano under the hospitality of his father."
'oh?'
The corner of Lu Xiao's lips curled up. The experience of building a floor in the tomb was not in vain, and he successfully obtained the exact whereabouts of the "Spaniard".
"Okay, I will ask Lorenzo for leave in the near future and try to find time to return to the territory."
"Tsk!"
Uberto was too lazy to continue arguing with Jacob, his mother-in-law. With Master Rodrigo's character, it was absolutely impossible for him to agree to Jacob's proposal.
Without Uberto's interruption, Jacob began to show his administrative coordination skills as Lorenzo's adviser.
"Bernardo, how are the weapons prepared?"
A fat man with a happy face answered with a smile: "We are basically in place, we are just waiting for the master's order to launch the plan."
Jacob nodded and turned his attention to the two men dressed as monks: "I will use my personal connections to place you in the position closest to Lorenzo. Once I take action, I must ensure the death of Lorenzo and Giuliano.
"
"Archbishop Salviati, I will leave it to you to command the army that invades Florence."
Lu Xiao looked at the man called the Archbishop with a serious expression. Francesco Salviati, the current Archbishop of Pisa, is ambitious and holds a grudge because the Medici family refused to grant him the Archbishop of Florence.
, suspected of having a nepotistic relationship with the current Pope Sixtus IV.'
'With the connections this guy can mobilize in Pisa, we have to guard against him.'
The three monks nodded in agreement at the same time, and this routine gathering was almost over.
"Still the old rules, leave the church at a staggered time and don't arouse others' suspicion."
Jacob put his right hand on his chest and chanted devoutly: "May the Father of Insight guide us."
Others present also bowed their heads and prayed: "May the Father of Insight guide us."
…
"Spanish?"
Returning to the Auditore mansion, Lu Xiao told Giovanni the news she overheard in the tomb.
Giovanni asked in surprise: "He plans to enter Florence personally to preside over this conspiracy?"
As early as the assassination of the Duke of Milan, Giovanni had dealt with Rodrigo Borgia. It was after that encounter that the Assassin Brotherhood confirmed the identity of the leader of this generation of their old rival.
Lu Xiao shook his head and said: "It is not clear yet whether Rodrigo plans to enter the city. At least it is known that he is in San Gimignano now."
Giovanni rested his chin on his hand and pondered for a long time: "I have to stay in Florence to take charge of affairs and cannot leave the city to confirm the situation in person."
"I will write to Mario and ask him to send mercenaries and thieves to sneak into San Gimignano and closely monitor the Pazzi family's estate."
Luciano, the leader of the Florentine mercenaries, said worriedly: "I am worried about a problem now. Will the Spaniards take advantage of the contradiction between Siena and Florence to provoke Siena to launch a new round of attacks on Florence? He will hide behind the scenes and fish in troubled waters."
.”
San Gimignano, like Monteriggioni, is sandwiched between Siena and Florence, the two large powers in Tuscany.
Given Rodrigo Borgia's authority as a cardinal, if he really wanted to completely disrupt the situation, Luciano's worries were not completely impossible.
"You don't have to worry about this for the time being."
Giovanni explained: "The nine-member ruling party of Siena is preparing to return to the city under the collaboration of Pandolph Petrucci. The two generations of ruling teams are now fighting among themselves. Even if the Spaniards want to borrow
Even force cannot be answered."
"Pandolfo tends to have good relations with Florence. With the secret support of the Medici family, he is very likely to defeat the current Siena government and take power."
Luciano breathed a sigh of relief: "In other words, what we need to face is just the conspiracy group raised by the Spanish, mainly to deal with the sudden attack of the Pache family?"
"That's right."
Giovanni gave a serious order: "Lorenzo's manpower can only guarantee the defense of the core area of the city. Luciano, the security of the outer slums will be left to your mercenaries."
Luciano hammered his chest hard: "No problem."
Giovanni solemnly glanced at everyone present: "Everyone, Florence is about to usher in a period of violent turmoil. We must not let the Templars' conspiracy to overthrow the Brotherhood's allies, the Medici family, succeed!"