Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 338 Why Did His Holiness the Pope Rebel?
The past two years have been extremely difficult for Habisa II, the first pope of the Church of the Earth.

Over the past two years, he watched as the World Tree spread its clones to every corner of the empire, and as the wooden man gradually took over the renovation and reconstruction work of various cities and even all villages. Just when he wanted to follow the World Tree's example and take on the construction of various cities, the wooden man suddenly marched in a new direction.

That was a direction Habisa II had never considered. Using clones to communicate between different regions, the World Tree had monopolized all communication channels in the entire empire in just three months.

Of course, the original mail delivery still exists, but it's so primitive that it takes at least a week for a letter to be sent and received.

However, if it were a clone of the World Tree, a single morning would be enough to deliver the contents of hundreds of letters.

And what has achieved efficient circulation is not just information. But there is another thing that gives Habisa II a bigger headache than the monopoly on information: more than 80% of the currency in the entire empire is now in the hands of the World Tree.

As long as you deposit money with the wooden figure, you can find another wooden figure in another place and retrieve it intact. Over the course of two years, people have become accustomed to this convenience.

But Habissa II was completely unaccustomed to it. As the pope, he could clearly see the great hidden dangers involved.

While this poses no real threat to ordinary people, it is a serious concern for him as the Pope, and indeed for the Church of the Earth…

"If he goes further, will he start minting coins as well?"

The thought of this made Habisa II break out in a cold sweat.

And he was certain that the World Tree had probably already started minting coins, because many people had already discovered that when they tried to withdraw money in other places, what they received were not old coins, but obviously newly made coins—although those coins looked exactly the same as the old coins, this was actually a bigger problem.

"I just didn't have enough money, so I simply made some out of metal."

The wooden people explained this situation in this way, and this explanation was understood by most people, since not every wooden person in every place would have so many coins as a reserve.

People who are only focused on enjoying the convenience haven't yet realized what this really means, but Pope Hapisa II already knows that the World Tree is only missing a title to the right to mint coins.

"This monster..."

The ailing pope clenched his teeth.

Immediately afterwards, he coughed up blood again.

He had been coughing up blood like this for the past two years. He was originally in the prime of his life, but after years of suffering, he was nearing the end of his life.

In the past two years, he had thought about doing something, but he could not find an opportunity to act—while the World Tree had become increasingly integrated with the Earth Church and the local people.

Until now, it is like this.

He knew perfectly well what the World Tree was doing, and he knew exactly how much of a threat the World Tree was—but at this moment, he was completely unable to take action against the World Tree.

To take action against the World Tree is to take action against all the people, and even against the Church of the Earth.

Yes, even though he is currently exhausted, his current strength is enough to severely damage the World Tree. However, the consequence of severely damaging the World Tree is that the entire empire's infrastructure will come to a standstill, and communications will even regress.

As for the money and wealth that the common people have stored on the other side of the World Tree...

This was an unparalleled disaster; Habisa II dared not even contemplate the horrific consequences. "But if we don't kill them..."

If he isn't killed, then he has no reason to exist. Or rather, whether he is killed or not, he has no reason to exist now—only a few years have passed, the Earth Church has only been established for a few years, and the people have already begun to only know the Wood Walker and not him, the Pope.

Just like now, those shouts outside the window, celebrating the seventh anniversary of the founding of the Earth Church—but what are those people outside shouting about?
They were celebrating, they were cheering, they were giving thanks, thanking the earth for bestowing upon them the great Wood Walkers.

As for him, the pope...

who cares?
"Kill him! He must be killed!"

It felt as if a fire was burning in Habisa II's heart.

He had to make people see the ugliness of the World Tree, he had to make people know the ambition of the World Tree, and he had to make everyone know that he, the Pope, was working tirelessly for the sake of the earth beneath his feet!
"Yes! The earth!"

It was at this moment that a sudden inspiration struck Habisa II.

Yes! That's it! The earth beneath his feet is also his ally!
Or perhaps, from the very beginning, he was fighting for the land beneath his feet! He was fighting for the environment upon which people depend for survival!

As for those outside... Habiza II also admitted that people can indeed be tempted for a time, just like their ancestors, the Tatumbutos, who were tempted by the giant serpent and had the evil idea of ​​breaking away from the earth.

However, on the other hand, temporary deception does not equate to permanent deception.

People grow old and die, but the earth beneath their feet will exist forever—as those bewitched by the World Tree grow old and even die, a new generation of people will eventually grow on the earth.

Just like these newly born Tahririans.

Humans are nothing more than plants, nothing more than rabbits and wild dogs; even if they disappear for a time, they will eventually grow back.

"So...that's it!"

At that moment, Habisa II felt he understood everything.

He suddenly realized that from the very beginning, when he founded the Earth Church, it was only to better serve the earth. As for the believers and the people... it was they who were to serve the earth, not the other way around.

Now, they are relying on the World Tree, which is already a betrayal of the earth itself.

As the representative of the land, he should have punished them long ago.

"Yes! That's it! I should have made them suffer long ago!"

With that thought in mind, Habisa II had already taken to the skies.

Feel the power of the earth!

With a wave of Habisa II's hand, the vast city of Tahrir began to shake.

(End of this chapter)