Chapter 177

"Father, you're here."

Schiller stood up from his seat, went to greet him, and shook hands with the old priest; the old priest looked up and sized up this theater, and he said with emotion: "I haven't been here for a long time; I didn't expect that someone would still invite me here now."

Saying this, he followed Schiller and sat down in the first row of seats closest to the stage; there was also someone who had taken their seat earlier, and that was the Godfather Falcone sitting in the innermost seat.

He just turned his head to look at the priest and said: "Remember? In our era, this place was brightly lit; at that time, my favorite opera was 'La Traviata'."

"My favorite was still 'St. Louis'; at that time, both of these plays were popular for a while; this place was packed, and you couldn't even buy tickets at all."

The three of them sat in the empty old theater; on the dilapidated stage, thick dust had turned the curtain into a blackened dark red, the gold thread on it had lost that shimmering luster, and even the circle of light bulbs at the edge of the stage were mostly not lit.

"But I still like today's play better; what should we call it?" Schiller turned his head to look at the two; Falcone held a cigar, and amidst the flickering firelight, he exhaled a puff of smoke and said: "'Easter', how about that?"

"I think calling it 'It' is more appropriate."

"Why? Clown? Are you talking about the kind in the circus? Cat Getan Grand Theater did indeed have circuses come to perform, but that was a long time ago."

Schiller shook his head and didn't answer.

He said: "I invited the two of you here because I want to hear your story."

Falcone sighed, and the old Godfather said: "Let Daniel explain it to you."

Falcone and Schiller looked at the old priest sitting in the middle together.

The old priest said with a smile: "I was once a member of the Court of Owls, but that was a long time ago."

Old priest Daniel's voice carried a trace of nostalgia, and he said: "I said before, when I came to this land, it was full of vitality; I was kind to people, so I had some prestige among the gangs, and quite a few people were willing to give me face."

"At this time, that group of little birds found me; they were still far from being as powerful as they are today; they told me they were willing to share the secret of immortality with me; I acted very interested and then joined them."

The old priest leaned his back against the chair; he looked up slightly and looked at the top of the stage, where the moonlight sprinkled from the window was exceptionally bright; his voice passed through the falling moonlight and spread to a very distant place.

"At that time, they didn't have these killers yet, just a gathering of dignitaries, but later, they discovered a very special thing in Cat Getan."

"It's 'Fine Wine', right?"

"That's right; they discovered that under Cat Getan, there was a mysterious water source; its smell was like Fine Wine, making people intoxicated, and those who smelled this scent had their wounds healed, and even became younger."

"Immortality and never dying, what wonderful words; no one could refuse such temptation; so, the Court of Owls launched a plan to excavate and crack the secret of this water source, and use it, and then obtain true immortality."

"It is called, the Water Source Project."

"But at that time, this plan didn't proceed smoothly; those who adventurously drank this liquid all went crazy; in the end, they had no choice and wanted to crack it from the perspective of religious studies, so they found me."

"I knew from the beginning that they just wanted to use me, but that's fine, I also wanted to use them."

The old priest made a cross on his chest and said: "At that time, I felt that I was upholding the Lord's will to let His glory save this land; if it couldn't be done by ordinary methods, then another method could be used; the Lord would forgive me."

"They used that group of European nobles to help me build a cathedral, right on the land of the water source; afterwards, the Court of Owls killed them."

"The manor you live in now is what they left behind."

"So they didn't move away, but were killed?"

"That's right; the Court of Owls lied and said they left, but in reality, no one who participated in the cathedral's construction could leave here alive; the Court of Owls wouldn't let the secret of immortality have any risk of exposure."

"So, I lived in the cathedral, guarding there, watching Gothamites come and go, dying generation after generation."

"You always fail to get to the point when you speak." Falcone flicked his cigar and said: "This isn't a sermon in the cathedral."

"Don't say that, Your Excellency Godfather; today is Easter, let's have some patience for this." Schiller made a gesture of please continue, and the old priest nodded at him with a smile.

"Later, I cracked part of the secret of Fine Wine and used it to obtain special abilities."

"So, when I first went to the cathedral, you discovered my uniqueness?"

The old priest shook his head and said: "Actually, my ability isn't as powerful as you think; perhaps it was okay before, but now, I am old; if I am not in the cathedral, not standing above the Fine Wine pool, I am just an old ordinary person."

"But at that time, it was indeed so; when you first came to the cathedral, I was in a state of slight intoxication and saw some unique things, which is why I suggested to Falcone that he find you to solve his son's problem."

Schiller narrowed his eyes; he looked at the stage; in his vision, the old curtain slowly opened; the old priest stood in the center of the stage, behind him was the cathedral's Jesus crucifixion statue, and under his feet was the Fine Wine pool rippling.

He stood in the center of the cathedral; the Fine Wine floating in the air gave him a slight drunkenness; in the old Godfather's hazy vision, when Schiller walked in, he just happened to merge with the setting sun.

The golden sunlight burned his eyes; after the light disappeared, a shadow of a sun was left behind Schiller, only it was the deepest black after the sunset.

Ai Yue Shu Xiang

Schiller smiled, lowered his head, and said: "Actually, I've always been a bit curious, how could Your Excellency Falcone invite a dangerous person like me to be your son's tutor? After all, anyone who sees my resume wouldn't want me to come into contact with their descendants."

"Are you talking about you investigating serial killers? Even without Daniel's recommendation, I wouldn't care about such things; this is common in Cat Getan; there are all kinds of lunatics here; I would rather have a lunatic than a fool."

"Let's talk about Evans; honestly, when he came to find me, I was a bit worried about him because I could clearly feel that something was wrong with him."

Falcone sighed and said: "I think you should have seen that he has two personalities."

"To be honest." Schiller looked at Priest Daniel and said: "Before this, that is, before Evans came to find me this time, I didn't notice at all that he had a second personality; how exactly did you do it?"

"Because at that time, Alberto was indeed dead, and there was only Evans; of course you wouldn't have any feeling; the personality you felt later was Alberto after resurrection."

"Do you think Alberto is the first personality?" The Godfather just finished asking this question when he answered it himself: "No, Evans is indeed the first personality; he is my son."

The Godfather sighed again; he felt that he had sighed too many times recently, but he still said: "When Evans was 6 years old, his mother passed away; I was immersed in the sorrow of losing my loved one and neglected taking care of him."

"One night, he snuck out to play by himself; after he came back, he was no longer himself."

"... Done by the Court of Owls?"

"How do you think the Court of Owls developed into what it is today?" Falcone asked back: "Just by relying on their cult theory? Not everyone buys that."

"That's how they lure the descendants of some upper-class figures, wash away their personalities, erase their memories, and then establish a more extreme personality that will eventually surrender to them."

"That is Alberto?"

"That's right; my child disappeared and became the owl's claw, but I am different from that group of ignorant fools; I won't mistake this kind of change for a child's rebellious phase."

"This is their common method; no parent would suspect that their children have been replaced; they would only think that the child's change is due to the increase in age."

The Court of Owls has one biggest loophole, Falcone took another puff of his cigar and then said: "They shaped a perfect personality, a perfect candidate who could become the Godfather."

"I can understand what they want to do; they prepared a perfect heir for me; as long as he takes over the position of Godfather, then Falcone and the Twelve Families will all be in their pockets; they are very confident that Alberto will satisfy me."

"But it is precisely this point that made me have great doubts, because before this, Evans was more like his mother, not me."

"Sounds a bit absurd, right?" The Godfather moved his fingers and said: "At that time, I also felt I was crazy, actually suspecting that my own biological son had been replaced..."

"When he raised the knife to stab me, I finally despaired."

"I was extremely painful, but couldn't find evidence; from a scientific perspective, I couldn't explain this matter, so I could only seek help from faith."

Next, Priest Daniel's voice sounded: "When Carmine came to the cathedral, I saw a father who had lost his soul; when he told me about these pains, I didn't think this was a joke."

Daniel sighed; his tone was somewhat guilty, and he said: "The method of washing memories and replacing personalities comes precisely from the water source under the cathedral; that was the method I found; in order to achieve my goal, I handed this method to the court."

"But after seeing Carmine, I knew. My approach was completely wrong."

"Those so-called excuses for joining the court to spread the Lord's glory were all just excuses for me to be tempted by immortality."

"When a desperate father stood in front of me..." Daniel's voice began to tremble somewhat, and he said: "The father saw his son nailed to the cross, blood flowing all over the ground, and I became an accomplice, becoming Judas holding the money bag..."

"I knew, it couldn't go on like this; I had to stop all of this."

"So you used the same method to wash away Alberto's personality and find Evans's personality again?"

"Fine Wine has another use, and that is resurrection; I didn't find Evans's personality again, but resurrected him."

"So..."

"Alberto was also resurrected."

"Remember the Water Source Project I mentioned before?" Priest Daniel turned his head to look at Schiller and said: "This plan is more than that."

"Over the years, the Court of Owls has used the method of polluting drinking water or rainwater to make very thin Fine Wine flow in many people's blood."

"The heavy rains a few days ago awakened them."

"Why did they choose to start the Water Source Project at this time? Although some people did go crazy in that heavy rain, the number is far from enough to shake this city."

"They must have other plans."

"There is another question, what's going on with that funeral? If it was just replacing a personality, there was no need to make it so grand, right?"

"That was the idea I gave him; I understand the Court of Owls very well and know what method they use to control this city; they have a special metal in their hands that can resist the effect of Fine Wine." Priest Daniel said.

"I suggested that Carmine tamper with the transportation of their raw materials, making that batch of goods unable to arrive on time, which meant many people didn't get effective umbrellas."

"Are you trying to deceive the court?"

"No, we know that forging the identity of brothers can only deceive ordinary people, but it can't deceive the Court of Owls."

"I was just warning them." Carmine held his cigar and said: "I know their little tricks and am not afraid of killing; if they must push step by step, then we will perish together."

"If they dare to touch my son again, I will turn Cat Getan into an empty city."

In the Godfather's tone, Schiller heard the ferocity of the King of Cat Getan's underground in that glorious era, as well as the determination of a father.