Chapter 3227

Gad looked at him quite vigilantly. Shiler shook his head and said, "I don't want to get any secrets from you. I just want to know the process of the whole thing. If I were the Pope's person, understanding the process of the whole thing wouldn't make much sense to me."

Gad seemed to think what he said made sense. He sighed and said, "I'm not any Grand Prophet at all. I was just the most ordinary special affairs investigator before."

Shiler listened carefully to his accent, and then said, "You are an Italian?"

"Yes, I am a local from Rome. I worked in the Vatican before. At first, I was a museum guide, then I was transferred to the archives, and then I entered the Investigation Division..."

"What does this department do?"

"Actually, it's just odd jobs. If you have to say it, it's to understand the global religious trends, including the movements of some regional-level bishop personnel. You can understand it as a combination of the Public Relations Department and the Personnel Department."

"And then?"

"Do you know about the hotel incident many years ago?"

"I've heard of it."

"I was a newcomer at the time, and I had no background. The higher-ups wanted to use this matter for publicity and sent me over to take some photos and do some interviews."

"You entered the hotel?"

"I didn't want to go in," Gad sighed and said, "But the photos I took back and the people I interviewed didn't satisfy them. They wanted me to get some deeper news."

"At that time, I only heard that the hotel was haunted, but I didn't actually believe these things, thinking they were rumors, so I took advantage of the police resting at night and climbed into the hotel..."

"And then you discovered that the hotel wasn't actually haunted, but that many monster events occurred, and there were monsters in every room, and those monsters killed the victims?"

Gad looked at Shiler with great surprise, but still nodded and said, "That's right, but I was lucky and didn't encounter any very powerful monsters, so I ran out of there alive."

"You told the church all of this?"

"Yes, at first they didn't believe it, but later, they sent more people in. Some survivors' accounts were exactly the same as mine, and they had to believe it."

"Monster events on a global scale should all be created by the church using the monsters in the hotel, right?"

"That's right!" Gad appeared a little excited. He said, "They released the monsters in the rooms, let them create tragedies, and the church came forward to solve them. This created the church's status today."

"Very good, I have one last question," Shiler looked at Gad's face and asked, "The hotel tragedy happened about 80 years ago. How old are you?"

Gad opened his mouth and said, "I say I'm almost 100 years old, you certainly won't believe it, but I was indeed born in 1911..."

Gad actually looked very young, maybe about 20 years old. Shiler remembered that there were reports about the Grand Prophet in that book. Many believers respected him so much precisely because of his young appearance that had remained unchanged for decades, making them believe that the Grand Prophet was the true chosen one.

If he was born in 1911, and the hotel tragedy happened around 1930, then it is likely that he had not aged since he entered the hotel to investigate.

Gad pursed his lips and said, "I don't know if you are really the person sent by the Pope. If you are, you must go and tell him again that my encounter was an accident. He cannot obtain a longer lifespan through cult rituals..."

Looking at Gad's attitude, Shiler understood roughly what was going on.

The current Pope should be about the same age as Gad, or even older than Gad. He is truly almost 100 years old this year, which can be considered to be approaching the limit of human lifespan.

But obviously, the Pope is a normal old man. In more recent news reports, he has been sitting in a wheelchair, having lost almost all ability to move.

But this Gad, who is about the same age as him, still maintains a young appearance, and it seems he will continue to maintain it. Isn't this the immortality that humans dream of?

"The Pope wants to force the method of immortality out of your mouth?"

Gad nodded and said, "I said I have nothing to say, he doesn't believe it, but firmly believes that my immortality is related to what happened in that hotel."

Shiler narrowed his eyes and said, "You say it's unrelated, I'm afraid no one will believe it?"

"It is indeed related, but it's not any sacrifice ritual at all. He completely got it wrong."

"What did he get wrong?"

Gad opened his mouth, looked at Shiler's expression, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke, "I know you might not believe it even if I say it, but the Faraines matter is not an accident."

"What do you mean?"

"He thinks the tragedy in the hotel was a sacrifice ritual, and I obtained the benefits of the sacrifice, so I could always maintain my youth."

"He wants to replicate this sacrifice ritual?"

"That's right," Gad nodded and said, "Do you remember how many people died in the hotel?"

"I remember there were more than 200 bodies found."

"Actually, there were more than that. Most of them went missing. Some were witnessed appearing thousands of kilometers away, and all of them went crazy. The total number of victims should be more than 500."

Shiler seemed to think of something and said, "The Pope also wants to sacrifice so many people to obtain the same immortality as you?"

Gad nodded and said, "Yes, this is one of the reasons why he frequently creates monster events on a global scale. He wants to use special ways to kill those he thinks should be sacrificed."

Shiler and Batman looked at each other and immediately thought of the so-called curse on them, which was that once the mental health value dropped to the bottom, they would go crazy.

"Have you heard about the curse?" Shiler tried to ask.

"What curse?"

"Once witnessing certain monster events, or certain terrible things, you will suffer mental damage and finally go crazy."

Gad looked at them quite strangely and said, "Seeing terrible things and not going crazy, you still want to get more excited the more you look?"

"I mean, have you heard of such a curse?"

"No, but your description sounds like an inspired constitution."

"Inspired constitution?"

"Yes, some people are born to see more things than others, but when facing unspeakable terror, they will also suffer heavier damage than others."

Shiler captured the special look that flashed away on Gad's face, so he asked, "Are you of this constitution?"

Gad nodded slowly and said, "Precisely because of this, I was brought here. There should be a few other unlucky guys like me who will be brought here by him, and then sacrificed by him."

"You mean, the Pope thinks that sacrificing these inspired people can exchange for the same immortality as you?"

"It seems so. He has already done this, and it seems to have exchanged him for quite a lot of lifespan, otherwise he wouldn't have lived to this day."

"But you didn't use this method."

Of course not, Gad sighed and said, "I didn't say I was completely innocent. The method I used wasn't very proper either, but it was a last resort. I never want to repeat this nightmare, but he doesn't believe me. He thinks I gained more benefits than the torture I suffered."

"But you don't think so."

"Yes," Gad took a deep breath, his tone trembling, and he said, "If I could, I would like to exchange with him. I want to die peacefully, and I don't want to..."

"And don't want what?"

Gad pursed his lips and didn't speak, but Batman beside him spoke up, "He made a deal with a certain terrifying existence. To be precise, he is no longer a human, but an appendage of an Outer God, so naturally, he is immortal."

Gad looked up sharply, looking at Batman in disbelief.

"Don't mind it," Shiler said. "Theoretically, we are all appendages of Outer Gods. He just made a call to 'Dagon', and I made a deal with Nyar. What is the name of the Outer God in your house?"

Gad stared with wide eyes and open mouth, gesturing in the air for a long time and said, "Wait a minute, this shouldn't be very taboo and filthy..."

"It's already done, so don't add moral burden to yourself," Shiler said very calmly. "Humans who make deals with Outer Gods won't have a good end, but before the tragedy comes, we still have to maintain an optimistic attitude, or you can ask that Outer God if he knows the two of us now."

"This is simply a fantasy!" Gad said, "They are uncommunicable, they, they are incomparably terrifying, unspeakable..."

"Alright, Nyar, show him a hand," Shiler snapped his fingers and said.

Instantly, a tall black man appeared on the sofa in the living room, holding a book in his hand. He looked at Shiler with golden eyes and said, "Are you really not planning to read this novel? Bruce said it's wonderful and is willing to pay for it."

"Didn't you see I'm busy now?" Shiler was a little impatient. He said, "I'll talk about it when I have time."

"I knew it would be like this," the black man said. "That's why I didn't want to advance you power in advance."

After saying that, he disappeared.

And Gad beside him was terrified. Shiler didn't know what he saw, but it must be Nyar's usual trick of playing mystery. If Outer Gods had schools, Nyar should go to be a professor of "Human Intimidation".

Gad finally came back to his senses. His expression was a bit complex. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I thought what I was facing was terrifying enough, but I didn't expect you..."

"Alright, tell me about your 'he'."

"I encountered Him in the hotel. To be precise, I encountered a symbol. I felt the power in the symbol. At a critical moment, I summoned Him..."

"I saw a black shadow wearing a cloak standing under a huge dark stalagmite. His head was an irregular black lump, and his eyes flashed with green light."

"Under that huge cloak, I saw black bat wings, and countless Nightgaunts sucking milk, flying around like chicks waiting to be fed..."

"I felt the warmth of a mother's embrace. I urgently wanted to escape this dangerous hell, return to His embrace, and obtain His gift, so I saw myself stretching out wings and flying closer to Him..."

"I became one of those Nightgaunts, feeling His milk flow into my stomach, replacing all my blood, making me peaceful and happy..."

"When I woke up, I found that the wounds on my body were healed. Since then, every night, I could see him, and I wandered in his embrace..."

"Later I knew, when I saw Him in my dreams, my blood would leave me, go to devour other humans' souls, and drown them..."

"His name hovered in my mind—'Yibb-Tstll'."