Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 181 Guidance
In 1706, inside an underground chapel in London, the spacious chapel resembled a palace. Burning candlelight illuminated the chapel, and a large crowd dressed in black monks' robes silently watched as the elderly scholar, following the ritual, walked step by step onto the platform.

No one could have predicted this scene. The former middle-aged scholar has now gained the recognition of the entire Presbyterian Order through his curiosity and hard work, and has become a master of the Presbyterian Order.

At this moment, there are more than thirty members of the Secret Order who have come from all over Europe to witness the ceremony. Apart from those members from the Middle East, Asia, and the newly discovered Americas, half of the Secret Order members have gathered here. Each of them has an ancient mission, whether poor or rich, young or old, from different cultures and countries, but all have vowed to dedicate their lives to the Secret Order.

When the scholar put on the black monk's robes embroidered with special symbols, the many members of the secret order looked at the "master," then humbly bowed their heads and praised him in a common ancient language.

Different genders, different accents, only that deep and resonant voice echoed in this underground church.

"The gods rejoice, the gods rejoice... You are the one who knows the mandate of heaven, you are the one who has glimpsed the secrets, inheriting the ancient bloodline, preserving the eternal loyalty. You must remember, what cannot be spoken, what cannot be heard, what cannot be seen..."

……

London, 1725, the residence of the famous scholar Isaac Newton.

Everyone knows that this unprecedented scholar is in his laboratory, but few people have actually seen him. People have all sorts of speculations about him, but most of them are just absurd ideas that cannot stand up to scrutiny.

Inside the study, the elderly scholar was writing something, with a young apprentice beside him, quietly waiting for the scholar's instructions, though the scholar, when engrossed in his work, often had no time to attend to his apprentice.

After a while, I put down my pen.

Newton rubbed his forehead to relieve his fatigue. He was already eighty-three years old, and his continued vitality was thanks to the various secret arts of the Hermitage. But there were no immortal beings in this world. Even vampires needed long periods of sleep to maintain their energy, let alone a human like him.

After reviewing the text he had written one last time, the scholar nodded in satisfaction.

"Lorenzo, give these to the Secret Order."

He instructed his apprentice beside him, who respectfully took the thick text and left the study. Outside, a series of Italian questions and answers between the apprentice and a woman rang out.

Before long, the apprentice entered the study again and bowed as he spoke.

"Mentor, the matter has been handed over to Peter to handle."

As a secret organization that has existed for over a thousand years, the structure of the Priory of Sion has become incredibly complex. Initially, the Priory of Sion consisted of just a group of hermits, but it gradually branched out into many factions. At its peak, the true members of the Priory of Sion numbered no more than a hundred, but the number of its various affiliated factions exceeded a thousand. Without these affiliated factions, the Priory of Sion would not have been able to contend with beings like the vampires.

The Hand of Peter is one of the affiliated forces of the Priory of Sion. Peter, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, was known for his unwavering steadfastness and was a cornerstone of Christianity's great achievements; the Hand of Peter naturally signifies praise for him. Its members are mostly determined warriors who have contributed significantly to the Priory's struggles against other supernatural entities. Although Lorenzo is merely an apprentice of the scholar, he is also a full member of the Priory and one of the leaders of the Hand of Peter, thus naturally having the authority to command it.

The scholar nodded, didn't ask any further questions, and then remained silent for a while before speaking.

"Lorenzo, do you remember Galileo's letter?"

"remember."

The apprentice's voice filled his ears, and the scholar closed his eyes.

More than thirty years ago, he was invited by the Secret Order to assist in the interpretation of Galileo's letters, because Galileo had said that they contained his help for those who came after him. However, after scholars carefully examined the letter for a long time, they finally determined that there was no help or secret in it, which greatly disappointed the Secret Order at the time.

But as the scholar grew older and learned more, he seemed to have a different idea.

"Galileo... He appeared so lost and uneasy in his letter, saying he could no longer resist that force, full of regret and fear, but in reality... Heh, that guy truly lived up to his name, Galileo, a pioneer worthy of my respect."

The scholar adjusted his glasses and chuckled, then looked at the apprentice beside him and asked again.

"Lorenzo, why do you think Galileo is considered the founder of modern science?"

"This……"

The apprentice hesitated for a moment. He was more of an apprentice serving the master than a scientific one, and he was more interested in mystical techniques than science.

The scholar shook his head.

"Because Galileo was the first person to believe in the practical application of science. Before him, scholars, including Aristotle of ancient Greece, believed that speculation could explain everything in the world. But he was different. He believed that experimental facts were the gateway to truth. He advocated human reason and opposed the mystical speculation of scholastic philosophy. Therefore, he was the founder of modern science."

He paused for a moment, then continued.

"To be honest, he was once my spiritual mentor. When I saw that letter, I was more shocked than you can imagine, because I couldn't imagine that someone who advocated reason would choose to obey that statue out of fear."

"So, Master, you are the one who built all of this on his shoulders?"

The apprentice couldn't help but ask.

A quote from the scholar's youth is widely known: "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." This saying is so widespread that even apprentices, who are not particularly interested in science, know it. However, in front of the apprentice, the scholar's expression looked somewhat strange, and he coughed a few times inexplicably before speaking in a somewhat deliberate manner.

"Well... I guess you could say that, mainly because of my youthful arrogance."

Arrogance?

The apprentice was somewhat bewildered; he couldn't understand why the scholar said that. But clearly, the scholar wasn't very willing to explain, and then continued.

"Back then, I thought there were no secrets in that letter, and that conclusion wasn't entirely wrong, because it didn't mention it directly. You had to combine it with other things to understand Galileo's words... namely, the words of Leonardo da Vinci."

"Over the years, I've been searching for all sorts of information, and I've finally realized that Leonardo da Vinci was probably far more intelligent than any of us thought. He likely knew more about the secrets of the statue than all of us combined..."

At the end, the scholar hesitated noticeably before finally muttering to himself.

“I even suspect… that it may have successfully cracked the statue and activated it.”

……

Two years later, somewhere in London, a letter sent by a scholar before his death was opened.

"Brothers and sisters of the Secret Order, may God bless you. I have never dared to make any pronouncements, because I am not yet completely certain of the truth of everything, but on this deathbed, I have to tell you everything I have perceived, even though there may be some falsehoods and speculations in it."

"In my opinion, the secret in Galileo's letters is actually related to Leonardo da Vinci. In the letters, he said that he saw many things in his later years. We cannot understand what those things are, but without a doubt, it was what he saw that allowed him to know about the Priory of Sion, vampires, and many other things."

"Is it possible that... he saw something about Leonardo da Vinci?"

"Among all the custodians of the statue, Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo had the longest contact with it. Da Vinci was the first to discover the statue, while Galileo accompanied it from childhood to old age. Both had extraordinary understanding of the statue. Da Vinci said not to explore the secrets within the statue, but to let it sleep forever, because humanity could not resist its power. Galileo, however, while fearful, said he had a guide to pass on to future generations..."

"Then why didn't Leonardo da Vinci say there was a secret, while Galileo said the sculpture had a secret?"

“I don’t think Galileo knew more than Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, da Vinci may have been the one who understood the statue the most. But da Vinci didn’t say that the statue had any secrets. He just asked the hermitage to keep it safe forever because he didn’t think that humans were capable of overcoming the power in the sculpture. Galileo was different. While he was in the same fear as da Vinci, he mustered up his last bit of courage and subtly expressed that there was a ‘secret’ in the statue.”

"What kind of secret is this? A guide that Leonardo da Vinci considered useless, but Galileo believed was helpful to humanity. Why did the two men have such different attitudes towards this 'secret'?"

"Only after I realized this did I realize that the difference between the two of them was that they lived in different eras..."

"In Leonardo da Vinci's time, humanity was still incredibly weak, and gunpowder technology was just beginning to develop. Da Vinci deeply understood this, which is why he feared that power, because he believed it was invincible to humanity. But in Galileo's time, human technology had begun to change. He was the first to propose 'rational scientific experiments,' and he keenly realized this. Thus, he vaguely realized... that power might not be invincible after all."

"He was terrified by that power, unable to articulate it, and instead placed his hopes on future generations..."

"If I think about it from this perspective, when I re-examined that letter, I was able to find the hidden 'guidance' based on the alphabetical order..."

"The sculpture was found by the Secret Order not because the Secret Order was looking for it, but because it was looking for the Secret Order. The secret that the masters of the Secret Order had kept throughout the ages was exactly what it was looking for..."

"Perhaps this is the fate of the Secret Order; we are destined to face that sculpture..."

……

France, at a manor house in Paris.

Under the pitch-black night sky, the manor was brightly lit, with the sounds of men and women laughing and reveling at the banquet emanating from within. At the head of the banquet sat a pale-faced nobleman, his makeup impeccable and solemn, dressed in 15th-century attire, as if he had stepped out of the Hundred Years' War.

He looked at the group of men and women in front of him, covered his head, seemed to be in some discomfort, and muttered something under his breath.

"...The Hermitage..."

A strange whisper was urging him on. Although the whisper had always been there, it had never been so strong, making even the vague directions seem clearer.

After a long while, he raised his head, revealing his sharp fangs...

"Ah ah ah..."

With arms outstretched, amidst the panicked screams of the crowd, the nobleman's arms transformed into enormous bat wings, his red-glowing pupils indifferently surveying the humans before him. As a sudden black mist swept through the banquet, enveloping everyone, the screams from within the mist vanished one by one.

It is said that on that night, countless bats flew out from the manor, all heading towards the same place...

(End of this chapter)