From the God of Lies to the Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 202 The Approaching Crisis of Death

With the official appearance of the two extraordinary individuals and the rampant spread of news, almost the entire world knew about what had happened on Sicily.

They were unaware of Gabriel's situation; after all, it was a private conversation.

But everything about Lyon was already crystal clear in everyone's eyes.

The reactions of governments around the world are irrelevant. Given their inefficient government operations, even if they knew, they could only send agents to follow along and see if they could get a share of the spoils.

But the diplomatic response was anything but slow.

Almost immediately after the Italian government acquired the four bodies, two of them were forcibly taken away by several major NATO powers through diplomatic notes.

If it weren't for the country's prime minister's very clever decision to publicly announce that the remaining bodies would be donated to the Vatican free of charge and studied by a joint team from both countries, the remaining two bodies might not have been preserved either.

Although Italy is a prominent and influential country in the world, in the eyes of the world's top players, it is just a slightly bigger "trouble".

They can only rely on the Vatican's "tiger skin" to scare away those greedy people.

Therefore, the current Prime Minister is still smiling obsequiously at Mario, saying, "Your Holiness, thank you for your help. Otherwise, who knows how many problems would have arisen!"

"Italy is not the Rome it once was!" she said slowly, with a hint of regret.

The prime minister looked with lingering fear at the space outside St. Peter's Basilica, where she could almost see secret agents peering out from behind the walls.

The current situation is so insane that some older politicians have gone almost mad in the face of this "extraordinary" attraction!
Major powers can remain calm, after all, they have "strategic composure," but for smaller countries, this is not necessarily the case.

Especially for those old, powerful figures who are on the verge of death, their first reaction upon hearing "vampire" is "to prolong life"!
So they chased them all the way to Rome, wanting to get a share of the spoils from these corpses.

Mario's expression remained unchanged, and he calmly said, "Don't worry, Prime Minister Lomeni, this is the Vatican, the promised land of the Lord. They can't get in!"

As he spoke, he waved a beam of light, which soothed the woman and eased the worry on her face.

As the Pope, Mario is already very proficient in using these most basic "commandments of holy light," and in fact, in the news, these commandments are uniformly referred to as "papal divine arts."

Those people confidently asserted that the old Pope had always possessed such "divine arts," but simply didn't use them often. Now that he had descended to earth in supernatural form, he "had no choice" but to use them in order to maintain world stability and to inform his followers.

Although it's obvious to anyone with a discerning eye that it's nonsense, many people still believe it, further strengthening the Vatican's international standing.

Prime Minister Lomeni also seemed somewhat surprised. Of course, she knew about the Vatican, after all, it was on the territory of their country's capital. There were dozens of agents around this small country filming with high-definition cameras every day, so she had an extremely clear understanding of everything here.

For her, personally experiencing the power of the "holy light" was indeed a first, and this extraordinary comfort gradually dispelled some of her original thoughts.

Only after truly encountering the extraordinary did she realize just how powerful her self-confidence truly was in this elderly pope.

“Thank you so much for your help. Do you need these two bodies…” Lomeni asked, but Mario raised his hand to interrupt her, “Actually, madam, the Vatican doesn’t need these things. We’re helping you not because we want these things!”

His aged face was utterly calm. "We just don't want so many observers in this city. It's already affecting our normal lives, work, and training!"

"In addition, Madam Prime Minister, we can also discuss the matter of regional leasing..."

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Lomeni was taken aback and immediately wanted to object.

After all, she is a politician from a right-wing coalition, and her rise to power was based on nationalism and anti-immigrant actions, which is what makes her different from current European politicians.

While Pope Mario's words were supposedly about "regional leasing," everyone knew that this was the very reason the Vatican wanted to expand!
Now, with its superhuman power, the Papacy clearly no longer wants to operate within this small territory; they want more land, more power, and more people.

This is almost obvious. The Roman Catholic Church followed this development trend from papal authority to becoming a landowner, then gaining the right to form a military group, and finally becoming a state that controlled the military, politics, and religion! The most exaggerated time was when they used a single propaganda piece to incite half of Europe to carry out the Crusades. That was the most prosperous era of the Papal States. This legacy allowed them to occupy the entire city of Rome for over a thousand years, until 1871 when it became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.

Therefore, the religious traces in this city are no less than those in ancient Rome, which also brought the Italian government's fear of the Papacy to its peak!
Mario, of course, knew what the other party was wary of, so he immediately said, "We can promise you that the Vatican will never infringe upon the political rights of other countries, and we will absolutely not interfere in your internal affairs. The reason I want land is simply for the future of this world!"

"The vampire crisis has arrived, and future demons will surely follow. We must have enough power to deal with the possible apocalyptic crisis!"

"Prime Minister Lomeni, you don't want this world to become a battlefield for demons and vampires, do you?"

Hearing this, Lomeni knew she had to give an answer, so she slowly said, "Your Holiness, this is a very serious matter, and I need to go back and discuss it with the council!"

She stared at Mario and continued, "However, I need the Vatican to guarantee that your forces will not undermine the rule of the Italian Republic in any way!"

The woman didn't mince words; she stated directly, "Our country will never again allow a powerful church-state to exist!"

“Of course, Madam Prime Minister!” Mario said calmly. “The Church has no intention of taking away your rights. We will serve the Lord wholeheartedly and do everything in our power for this world!”

He was telling the truth. Now that the extraordinary have appeared, anyone in the Vatican who follows him is someone who is determined to go to heaven!

Everyone's going to heaven soon, who's going to fight you for a few measly coins?
The papacy with faith and a future is fundamentally different from the papacy of the past, which fought for power and profit and used any means necessary for gain and influence.

They have even grander and loftier ideals!

Just then, Cardinal Lasinger rushed over and handed Mario a cell phone. "Your Majesty, it's a call from Lord Lyon! The situation is critical!"

Mario's expression turned serious as he answered the phone. "This is Pope Mario, Knight Leon. Are you still in Sicily?"

“Yes, Your Holiness, we are still in Sicily, and we have found traces of vampires here!” On the other end of the phone, Leon took a deep breath, as if he had seen something, and then other voices came from the side.

"My God, this damned place... is a hatchery!"

Upon hearing this, a chaotic commotion erupted on the other end of the phone before it was finally answered.

"Your Holiness, please immediately notify the Roman government to evacuate everyone in Milan! Evacuate them immediately!" Lyon shouted urgently.

"Evacuation?" Mario's expression changed drastically. "What did you see in Sicily? And what is the hatchery?"

“We… saw the aftermath of the massacre…” Lyon said. “Gabriel found some more information—oh, he’s a Brotherhood member I found. I’ll explain it to you once our mission is over!”

"But now, you may need to do as we say, with my reputation as proof!"

Upon hearing this, Mario finally understood just how terrifying this matter was. After all, in their minds, the reputation of the Paladins was more trustworthy than anyone else's!
A paladin's promise, backed by his reputation, represents almost the highest level of trust he can offer, but Mario still bears responsibility for the reputation of the Papacy:
"I need you to briefly explain what you've discovered before I can make this request. Ms. Lomeni is right here with me, and I believe you have the ability to do so!"

“Okay!” On the other end of the phone, Leon took a deep breath and said, “A mafia gang here was massacred by vampires. According to Gabriel’s discovery, more than 12 blood cocoons were found in this massacre. This is how vampires raise their offspring!”

"And these vampires are from the Tzimithi family; they're going to Milan to take revenge on the Torido family!"

"Both of these families are among the thirteen vampire clans. There is a great and irreconcilable conflict between them, and they cannot be stopped!"

"They want to replicate their millennia-old holy war in this era! And in this war, ordinary people are just their nutrient pumps!"

The call was on speakerphone, so Mario, Lasinger, and Lomini all heard what was said!
The three of them exchanged a glance, all sensing the panic in each other's eyes!

"Prime Minister Lomeni, you heard that, didn't you?" Mario said in a low voice, glancing at Lasinger. "Notify the Papal Guard and the Discipline Corps to prepare to board! We're going to Milan!"

(End of this chapter)