I impersonated God in America

"The Statue of Liberty should belong to us!"

"We strongly demand that the Statue of Liberty be adorned with eagle feathers!"

"The Statue of Liberty needs a new deerskin coat!!!"

Pacco stood at the side of the procession, watching as the marchers carried the huge display boards past.

The display board features a painting of the Statue of Liberty in an Indian style.

A young Native American man carrying a display board walked past him, grinned at him, and gave him a thumbs up.

"Does it look better after the changes, bro?"

Pac stood there, stunned.

The crowd surged in and out of the surrounding area.

Pacco stood by the roadside, dragging his suitcase, watching the departing parade, then looked up at the billboards filling the sky.

Is this still New York?

[Where did I come from?]

Chapter 136 The Whereabouts of the Church's Legacy

Avignon.

The sound of the Rhône River mingled with the evening breeze.

"Looks like this is the place."

Bishop Paul stood in his bedroom in the Papal Palace, holding a scroll he had brought from Rome. His assistant carried a briefcase beside him.

Since the last time they found the golden horn among the Templars' relics, they realized that there might have been a flaw in their previous search methods.

Perhaps the church traditions prior to the Avignon period were intentionally concealed due to historical context.

Therefore, during this period, Bishop Paul has been leading the archaeological committee in a comprehensive search of various correspondence from the Avignon period as well as internal church documents.

As a result, when they were sorting through the property records from the time of Clement V, they discovered a batch of discrepancies.

The edict issued by Clement V dissolving the Knights Templar stated that all of the order's assets would be transferred to the Knights Hospitaller, but through extensive verification, they discovered that a large amount of wealth had disappeared from the seizure list.

The Knights Hospitaller were originally a hospital established in Jerusalem by an Italian merchant to provide care and medical treatment for pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land.

Later, during the First Crusade, a military religious order was formed to protect pilgrims and the Holy Land.

The order later developed into one of the three major medieval knightly orders and acquired territory in Malta.

The Order lost its territory when Napoleon occupied Malta, but it did not disappear. In modern times, it has returned to its original essence, becoming a global charitable medical organization once again.

This follow-up was discovered by them from historical documents preserved by the modern Knights Hospitaller.

At first, they thought that the wealth must have been intercepted by King Philip IV of France, since he was the mastermind behind the purge of the Knights Templar and most likely had annexed the order's wealth.

But in reality, the few fragments Paul looked through in the archives subtly pointed in another direction.

Avignon

The location of Pope Clement V.

What if that sum of money never left the Papacy, but instead went into the Pope's slush fund?

It should be noted that during the reign of Clement V, greed and corruption were rampant.

His coronation banquet cost an astonishing 1.5 gold coins, and he was openly criticized by his contemporaries for his extravagant lifestyle.

In his pursuit of wealth, he even introduced a tax on newly appointed faculty members, known infamously as the first-year tribute.

In other words, every time a position is changed, the entire income of the first year must be handed over to the papal treasury.

He also publicly auctioned off his teaching position.

Paul was startled when the thought popped into his head.

However, considering the Pope's personality at the time, this was not impossible.

As for why the experts couldn't find any clues afterward, it's highly likely that it's related to the supernatural forces at the time. After all, no one could have predicted such a variable.

If we follow the prophet Sibyl's speculation, the Church at that time likely still possessed a certain lineage, and the Pope was not without ways to secretly embezzle this property.

That's the biggest reason he came here today.

He looked at the summary of the case file in his hand.

This is a record of Clement V's daily life by church servants at the time. Although it is somewhat messy, one thing was recorded multiple times, and the handwriting was different each time, which clearly indicates that it was written by different church servants.

The Pope cherished a bronze mirror, but simply kept it hidden away.

Paul took it to heart and made a note of it.

After returning to Rome, with the Pope's unwavering approval, he found the so-called mirror in the inventory of property left over from the Avignon Papacy era.

"Now take out the mirror."

The assistant carefully took a bronze mirror out of the suitcase.

The mirror is about the size of two hands. Although it has been well preserved, it still shows signs of time.

There are some blurry lines engraved on the edge.

Based on subsequent restoration work by experts, they have determined the meaning of the patterns; they were written in Latin script.

Whom do you serve?

"..."

The two stared nervously at the mirror in front of them. Half an hour passed silently, but they noticed nothing had changed.

Bishop Paul couldn't help but sigh.

"It seems we might have gone astray on this path too. Let's move on to other work."

After all, they had a lot to deal with during this period.

Since the prophecy came true, their workload has not lessened at all. The appearance of the Son of Baal urgently requires them to find the possible locations of the seven deadly sins.

In addition, finding a way to pass on the tradition is also a huge undertaking.

It's baffling why, in Hollywood, which they see as a prime target for sexual misconduct, America seems to be doing absolutely nothing.

But upon reflection, it's not really a good idea for Hollywood, as America's main cultural stronghold, to throw the baby out with the bathwater because of a potential disaster.

"Damn America, handing over Mammon's power so easily."

hum.

Suddenly, Bishop Paul seemed to see a flash of light on the mirror.

He froze for a moment, then urged his assistant, "Wait, repeat what you just said."

"Huh?" The assistant was slightly taken aback, but seeing Bishop Paul's serious expression, he said, "America."

"next."

"Mammon."

hum!

"This is it!"

Could it be?!

Bishop Paul looked at the mirror that had reacted again and swallowed hard, remembering the Latin inscriptions on the surface.

Despite some struggle, he still managed to say, "I... am willing to serve Mammon."

Hey.

The mirror responded again, but there was no further reaction.

Lord, please forgive my words.

Just as Bishop Paul was confessing, he noticed a flying insect buzzing from the side and landing on the mirror.

Immediately afterwards, ripples appeared on the mirror surface, and the flying insect's body disappeared directly into the mirror.

"Wait, did you just see that?"

The two exchanged a glance, seemingly understanding something. Bishop Paul slowly reached out and gently touched the mirror with his fingers.

There was no resistance whatsoever.

Then, defying common sense, the small mirror swallowed him whole.

----------

Ta-da.

When Bishop Paul and his assistant felt something under their feet, they looked around and found a neat, square space illuminated by a pile of gold coins as tall as their waists, interspersed with jeweled vessels.

A row of silver longswords were hung on the sword stand.

A portion of holy anointing was placed in the very center.

Bishop Paul's eyes were filled with disbelief.

[It's actually true!?]

But when he thought of the incantation he had just heard in the mirror space, Bishop Paul fell silent.

Does that mean that Pope Clement V used to shout "I serve Mammon" every time he entered the palace?

……

"Bishop! Look at my hand!"

Suddenly, his assistant exclaimed in surprise.

He glanced over instinctively and saw that his assistant had already grasped the silver longsword in his hand.

But it is not important.

Importantly, he noticed that his assistant's arm was coated with a metallic sheen.

His strength is roughly the same as Giovanni's!

The Knights Templar, the silver longsword, extraordinary heritage...

Looking at the little treasure chest in front of him.

Considering that it was highly likely that the Vatican of Avignon had hoarded its heritage out of greed, even the usually mild-mannered Bishop Paul couldn't help but open his mouth and curse.

"F*** you! They're a bunch of filthy vampires!"

"Now I finally know how the legacy disappeared!!!"

"Contact the Pope and inform him of the situation here. Send reinforcements immediately. I suggest that Bishop Giovanni personally lead the team to ensure that the legacy is brought back!"

"Roger that!"

After his assistant left, he glanced at the small vault in front of him.

Bishop Paul couldn't hold back any longer and launched into another tirade of profanities.

"Bullshit! Our church has suffered so much because of this!"

Then, realizing that the root of everything was Clement V and Philip IV, Bishop Paul added a final sentence.

"Damn Frenchmen!"

Chapter 137 Giovanni and the Spiritual Slash

Papal States, Papal Training Grounds.

Afternoon sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and in the center of the training field, two figures were rapidly crossing paths.

Giovanni stands holding a sword.

He was facing a man in his fifties.

Her white hair was tied back, and she was wearing the uniform of HEMA (European Association of Ancient Swords).

The two main sword styles in Europe today are modern fencing and hema.