Chapter 412: Turtle Turtle, is your Pope from the Fanma family?

I have to say, this Yangyue World truly teems with talent while demons run wild; the already abnormal evil‑god churches aside, how can even the mainstream churches one by one be so outrageous?

This is the Dense Forest Church, whose core believers are a bunch of drug‑fueled lunatics who privately cultivate all sorts of chaotic odd‑magic plants, often striking in Blood Cross formations, staging scenes that would never pass censorship on D‑site.

This is the Holy Light Church, where good men are fierce, faithful women are ruthless, they hate evil as if it were a foe, each person wields a heavy cold weapon, quick to serve the public and uphold righteousness, and they have long enjoyed blasting heretical believers.

Especially the group before us, clearly just notified and forcibly hauled out of bed, are old men and old women.

Looking at their faces, even with something covering their eyes they still show a hint of sleepy drowsiness; now they can only swallow their anger and patiently sit by the table waiting for their turn…

Tsk tsk, I have to admit, although the moral climate of this gutter‑like Yangyue World is declining, Lao Ritou's people are still wild.

So if we calculate like this, I heard that over at Lingxi they worship a deity called the Goddess of Wealth, which would make their core believers…

It seems we need to urge the players to quickly lay down the electric infrastructure, so that every household in Sunlight World has a streetlamp in front of their door, otherwise there may not be enough power later!

And since the elder of the church, hailed as a pillar of the nation, is returning to court, and the newly rising divine selection is also arriving, the Elders' Council will inevitably show them considerable respect.

Therefore, the only one qualified to sit among these old fellows, wearing a tall hat and holding a scepter, is naturally the legendary Holy Light Pope.

In literary works, popes are often bearded old men, because climbing to that position requires years of experience; a young age is impossible.

Depending on whether one is cast as hero or villain, you can add a 【Kind】 or 【Wicked】 appearance tag, and it may well be a villain role.

But the person before me clearly defied Ji Ming's expectations: he turned out to be broad‑minded, with shoulder‑length curls, lips tightly drawn, sitting upright with a solemn expression…

Kui·Wu·Man·Zi.

What, you want to see the traditional free‑benefit role in this book? That's impossible!

When the two entered the spacious hall, the elders all rose, and the Pope slowly rose from the oversized armchair, rising like a mountain.

His white robe could barely contain his muscular body; his skin was not the normal rosy white but had a metallic sheen, and his nearly three‑meter height proved he possessed a terrifying giant bloodline.

So Ji Ming's breath even paused for a moment, and the first thought that surged in his mind was…

【Lao Ritou, your Holy Light Pope is from the Fanma family? That purity is just too high!】

It is precisely because of his steel‑giant bloodline that the contemporary Pope enjoys a lifespan far longer than ordinary humans.

Thus he appears to be a middle‑aged man, but he is actually eighty‑six years old, having attained the papacy only through senior seniority.

Yet even so, he looks as nervous as the surrounding elders, bowing his head upon seeing the Grand Archbishop, like a student spotting a teacher in a hallway.

No help; can they be any older? The Grand Archbishop is… super ancient!

【Alright, don't just chew it over in your head, say it out loud for Tennis to hear?】

"No!"

Tennis didn't notice Ji Ming's expression; she was busy pressing her hands.

"Alright, alright, don't be so stiff, just sit down."

Amid the sound of chairs being dragged, a particularly grating "kachi" caught attention—it was the overburdened Pope's chair screaming in protest.

Yet even as they obediently sat, they all kept their heads down, looking like students afraid of being called on in class.

"Eh."

The old lady couldn't help sighing, which was the very reason she gave up a comfortable retirement in the Holy See to run alone to Sunlight City—she'd lived too long.

When everyone around her was a junior she had watched grow up and even personally instructed, this old fellow had no chance of interacting with others on equal footing.

So she took over the Pope's speaking rights, delivering a talk as if performing a stand‑up routine, recounting her recent experiences in Sunlight City and on the northward journey.

Sunlight City was originally a strategic buffer zone jointly determined by the royal family, nobles, and the church, so its rundown, lawless state was unsurprising and was glossed over.

But the kingdom's southern region being a chaotic mess is beyond excuse; their own territory is like a marketplace, where even damn evil gods dare to come and carve up flesh.

Thus Tennis grew angrier as she spoke, eventually losing restraint and beginning to show the true nature of a Holy Light believer.

Indeed—it is—

Slapping the table.

"Look at how you all work! Huh? That… what's it… the Mud God! How dare they run amok in a viscount's domain, Bishop Fatawu! I recall that area used to be under your management, how did it decay so badly in less than ten years?"

The sweating, gaunt old man hurried to stand, immediately offering a deep bow.

"Sorry, teacher! When I left, the place was still relatively stable; I didn't know how…"

"Silence! While you're making excuses, fifteen villages have already been swayed by their demagoguery, sacrificing seventy‑one young lives, even choking them to death in mud; do you want me to let you feel it too!"

"I…"

Tennis ignored him and slapped the table again.

"And you! Bishop Sela, stand up!"

"Yes, yes… I'm here!"

An elderly lady truly wearing gold‑rimmed glasses also sprang up, her ornaments on neatly arranged white hair trembling in fright.

"I remember you also oversaw the Tower Parish, right? Speak! How did I teach you back then? The common folk's needs are low; as long as they're fed and clothed, all is well. What did you do?"

"I… I… I once guided them in farming! I also… I organized believers to build waterworks! So…"

"Silence! You built a damn… ah, I remember! I asked what that lump of stone in the fields was! You built a dam like that? The Rain‑of‑Mist God just dropped a bit of water and it collapsed? Do you know how many people you killed!"

"I…"

Tennis stopped addressing her and kept slapping the table, producing a crisp sound like a gunshot.

Moreover, the old lady acted like she were playing a revolver, calling names from her left side, skipping over the Pope in the middle, and continuing to the right.

In any case, none of these old men and women were competent; they're all big‑hearted fools who can ruin good deeds, tarnishing the church's reputation, and I, as a teacher, am disgraced along with them!

And the southern incidents can be somewhat excused, since the nobles are also beasts; how could they achieve great deeds alongside such vermin? It's understandable.

But the central region? This is the kingdom's heartland; although they're not as shameful as the south, many still choose to be blind and deaf, completely shirking their duties!

Ji Ming suddenly realized that the old lady's leisurely walk wasn't, at least not entirely, due to "no hurry" or "voting for Eleanor".

She probably got the idea from her sister Buluowa, wanting to take a cloud‑tour before lighting her lamp, to see what the land she's toiled over for years looks like.

Yet the result was.

"Only watching others and not yourself, don't think you're clean just because you've never served in the south or central! This side is already rotten; can yours be any better?"

The team was wiped out.

But the old lady had a blast venting all the way, yet to join the Council of Elders one must first become an honorary bishop, and to become a bishop one must first become a bishop, and moreover be a top-tier bishop with achievements, strength, and a record.

As a result, now that Tennisi has exposed it like this… oh oh oh, this won't do!

Having sensed a bit of danger, Ji Ming could only hurriedly send a voice transmission to the old lady.

【Calm down, Archbishop, put yourself in others' shoes; they also don't want an ominous old age, so let's not make things so stiff!】

Moreover, if we must say, it's actually not that every point is their fault.

For example, the one in charge of waterworks let the heretic god's followers directly summon divine power to rush a flood onto the dam; not to mention a mere earth-and-stone structure, even an iron-built one couldn't hold up.

Too bad Tennisi is a quickdraw; he's already finished scolding the bishops one by one, now catching his breath and regenerating mana on the spot, not knowing whether he's finished and done or preparing for the next round of outbursts.

But before she made a clear choice, the pope, feeling he couldn't withstand the full damage, spoke up first.

"Archbishop, I feel your anger."

The hidden archbishop probably learned this from the Holy Light Church; here, to become pope, one must temporarily give up one's name, representing that one has no personal affairs, and can devote oneself entirely to church matters.

Thus Tennisi blurted out a sentence.

"Your Holiness, I don't want to hear such conciliatory language; now is absolutely not the time to relax!"

"Yes yes yes..."

"What yes! Do you know I encountered an assassination on the way?"

Since they, when doing dirty work in the forest, know to cover their faces and keep the bottom line of not losing face, we at least ought to maintain outward decency for both sides.

So Tennisi also has that tacit understanding; he won't expose the other's identity to harm relations, because if they really fought now, the loser would likely be our own side.

But that doesn't mean she'll keep this secret bottled up; at least sharing it with the pope before her is fine.

So the pope's expression instantly turned like he'd eaten a dead fly, but he didn't dare speak the truth, only able to continue putting on a brave front.

"The source of the assassins… we've been investigating, and during this time we've also eradicated several headquarters of the heretic god's church; your discovered problem does indeed exist, but we're also mending the pen after losing the sheep!"

"Hmph."

Tennisi placed both hands on the table, after a long while lifted his head.

"You all better be there!"

Everyone: "Present! Present! Present! Present! Present!"

Having relinquished power long ago, don't be fooled by her fierce speech as if no one dares to contradict; in fact, aside from leaning on her age to berate these ministers before her, Tennisi really has no other recourse.

So the old lady shook her head, letting out a silent long sigh.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, she noticed Ji Ming beside her.

She grabbed him over.

"This one is the divine selection chosen by the great deity in Sunshine City; you all remember his face, a talented youngster who will surely achieve something in the future."

She also had the line "At least you're far more capable than this bunch of incompetents" left unsaid, after all, it's better not to needlessly draw hatred onto others just for a momentary verbal satisfaction.

Having said that, she pulled Ji Ming away and left.

???

Only after pushing the door open and entering the corridor, immersed in the scene of the old lady scolding a table of old fogies, did he finally react.

"Wait a moment! Archbishop, are we just leaving like this? Isn't this a bit… too hasty?"

"Oh right."

Tennisi seemed to really recall something, and again pulled Ji Ming, who trailed like an accessory, back.

The old men and women around the round table now had varied expressions, just like in *The Last Supper*.

Some were discussing, some felt ashamed, and some simply huddled together crying; if painted, it could probably make up a historic scene.

And upon seeing Tennisi kick the door open, basically all of them, who had previously studied under her, hurriedly sat up straight like students catching the homeroom teacher peeking at their study period, putting on an act as if nothing had happened.

"You..."

The pope was about to ask the archbishop if there was anything else, when he saw her drag Ji Ming out again.

"I still have business; I won't stay on Holy ShanShang. Give him a verification code so he can fly off on his own later. Farewell!"

Having said that, she dropped Ji Ming and ran off alone without looking back.

【Ah this, speaking of which, Tennisi probably won't have a mental breakdown, hiding somewhere to cry, right?】

"The old lady has a big temper; I think she's more likely to find a rope and hang herself at the door."

And with Tennisi's second door-slamming exit, the atmosphere in the room, after a brief awkwardness, returned to its previous emo state.

The elders can cry and laugh; at worst they'll mutter a couple of curses about the old lady truly not giving face, and when she kicks the bucket I'll absolutely not cry at her funeral!

But as the pope, the pillar holding things together, his face can't show a speck of dust; he can only keep a stern expression, sitting firmly in the middle, swallowing whatever comes his way.

This is also the fundamental reason why Tennisi earlier didn't openly give him intensity; this is the Holy Light Church's face in the mortal realm, and the due respect must be given in full.

So he didn't let the elders keep their negative energy, but thought to divert their attention with something; as his gaze swept, he spotted Ji Ming standing guard at the threshold.

"Cough cough!"

He gave a somewhat stiff cough, gesturing to indicate Ji Ming's presence.

"Fellow believers, we, as senior members of the church, how can we only look out for our own seniors? That's too impolite; look, there's also a junior here."

(End of chapter)