I impersonated God in America

Local fire and police worked together to evacuate tourists and nearby residents from the hillside, while military communications vehicles parked on the perimeter to connect encrypted channels to the Ministry of National Defense.

The advance engineering troops set up a temporary support frame in front of the rock face and scanned the gray-white ripple area that the researchers had previously marked back and forth several times with a lead-lined detector.

The officer in charge of on-site command near the crater watched as the advance team entered the ruins entrance.

Due to the urgency of the situation and the shortage of manpower, this was the only way to allocate resources: most of the mountain passes were blocked, and a small portion of the entrances to the ruins were blocked.

Then a group of people wearing holy robes came from the other end of the mountain path.

Giovanni walked at the front of the line.

"Bishop, it seems the Italian military's hands aren't entirely clean."

"As expected."

He was followed by two priests and a young assistant monk who had just been transferred from the Papal States.

The on-site commander turned around and met Giovanni's gaze.

"Wait a minute, this is a military-controlled area."

"This ruin is more dangerous than we imagined. The church has a mission and needs to go down here."

"You are not qualified..."

"According to the joint agreement signed between the Italian government and the Apostolic Nuncio following the Sardinian incident, the Pontifical Council has the right to be informed and participate in any archaeological excavations involving religious relics subsequently discovered within your territory."

"My assistant has a copy of this agreement in his backpack, stamped with the official seal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Would you like me to show it to you right now?"

The commander stared at him, then glanced at the Papal States contact list on the encrypted communications list of the restricted area in his hand, and fastened the walkie-talkie to his waist.

Before they arrived, the military told them that if the church really came, they should try to stop it.

If we can't stop them, it doesn't matter if we let them in.

"Go in, and remember to report when you come out."

Then he added a note to his tactical log.

Military advance team, Papal special task force.

He had just finished writing and looked up when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a patch of air folding on its own on the outer side of the volcanic rock wall.

A young man dressed in a black robe walked out of the door.

Several scales that hadn't completely retracted under his skin were wrapped around his wrist.

"Oh no! Enemies!"

Before the commander could even raise his gun, he was struck on the back of the neck with an extremely light and swift snake tail, causing him to fall forward and onto the soft ground.

Xu Ge looked around and then went forward to tie up several guards and threw them behind the rocks.

[Let's stall for as long as possible; it should be over soon anyway.]

Xu Ge had only been through the passage for a short time.

On the other side of the hillside, Pacco, wearing a black robe and cloak, peeked out from behind a rock, looking around.

He swept towards the crevices in the rocks as he walked.

Apart from the pushed-away warning lines and the loose rocks scattered on the surface, there were no guards around the entire crater?!

"The guards at such an important place are so lax. They really are Italians."

--------------

Behind the rock face not far away, a staff member who had temporarily left to use the restroom was squatting on the ground.

He gripped the satellite phone tightly, his body trembling uncontrollably.

My back was pressed tightly against the rock, afraid of making any noise.

The superior's voice was still pressing me through the earpiece.

"What's the situation up there? Have the church members gone in?"

The staff member huddled behind the rocks, trembling as he covered the microphone.

"I don't know what's going on inside, but if you're asking the church...."

He paused.

"You might not believe it, but there's enough room inside to make a whole mahjong table."

"what?"

Chapter Forty-Five: Dumpling Vinegar

Xu Ge stepped onto the marble steps and walked down the stairs on the right.

The castle was much larger than he had imagined.

The candles hanging from the dome burned steadily in the enclosed space where there was not a breath of wind.

Every few steps on the wall hangs a portrait, the faces in the frames long since faded, leaving only blurry outlines.

The stone pillars on both sides of the corridor are covered with serpentine patterns that spiral upwards from the base of the pillars and extend to the ceiling.

It feels so damp. How did those students endure this place back then?

He added a sentence in his mind, but didn't stop walking.

As the owl had previously instructed, after entering the castle's main gate, go down the marble steps and do not go up.

The classrooms and dormitories are above, and the dungeon is below.

There are two ways to get to the dungeon.

On the left is the snake pit, and on the right is a password door—one accessible only to insiders, and the other requiring a password.

He had no password, no permission from the guardian, and could not reveal his identity as an outsider.

So for him, there was no other choice but to take one path.

The only way is through the snake pit.

The bronze door to the snake pit was ajar, and a very faint fishy smell wafted from the crack.

He pushed the door open and squeezed inside. Behind the door was a passageway transformed from a natural limestone cave, with shallow grooves carved into the stone walls on both sides, where countless snakes lay.

Grayish-brown vipers, several poisonous vipers, and occasionally a few ridiculously large pythons coiled on the stone pillars.

All the snakes turned their heads at the same time the moment he stepped into the cave.

Hundreds of snake tongues trembled slightly in the quiet cave, catching the unfamiliar pheromones in the air.

A giant python, nearly ten meters long, slowly slid out from behind the stalagmite.

His scales were dark green, and his vertical pupils were exactly like his own.

It stretched its head in front of Xu Ge, its forked tongue twitched twice on the side of his face, and then it tilted its head away.

There was no attack, and no questioning.

He tilted his head very, very slightly, as if confirming something.

A moment later, it pulled its head back and slowly slid back behind the stalagmite, clearing the way.

[It must be the aura of my snake lineage; the snakes here have mistaken me for one of their own.]

He silently pressed his back closer to the cave wall and continued walking forward.

At the end of the passage was a heavy stone door.

He placed his hand on it, and the door hinge began to turn with a dull thud.

crunch.

At the same time, a door on the opposite side was pushed open from the other side.

Both doors opened inwards at the same time, and after the stone door was fully open, he saw a person standing on the other side.

He was wearing a dark cloak with the hood pulled low, revealing only his chin and neck.

The two people stopped at the same time.

Xu Ge was at the entrance to the snake cave, while the person opposite him was at the password door.

The corridor between the two doors was less than a few steps apart, and the torches on both walls illuminated the entire passageway.

He came in through the keypad door! He knew the password!

Xu Ge's brain was working at lightning speed.

The owl said the password was only known to the guardians and local students.

In other words, this person is either a guardian or an upperclassman who is still active on campus.

Regardless of their identity, they must be treated as locals.

On the other side, Pac stood at the keypad door, the thin thread under his cuff slowly retracting to the inside of his wrist.

[He came from the Snake Pit? Tom said the Snake Pit was a passage reserved for guardians and students, and the snakes there only recognized the scent registered by the academy.]

[If he could pass through the snake pit alone without being stopped by the snakes, there's only one possibility.]

Pacco subconsciously pulled the thread in her cuffs tighter.

[The other party is a Guardian!]

The two men, each under their hoods, analyzed each other from head to toe.

The two of them each drew their own conclusions.

The silence lasted for a moment, then they nodded in unison.

Without exchanging words or pleasantries, they continued walking forward, each with their own hidden agendas.

Leave now, don't follow me!

Why are you still next to me? Are you starting to doubt me?

Da da da.

After a while.

They stopped at the same fork in the road.

From here down, the left leads to the second basement level, and the right leads to a secret room.

Before this, the two of them had to walk the same corridor that completely overlapped.

No one took the first step.

No one spoke first.

They simultaneously turned their gazes to each other in silence, the torchlight flickering on the stone wall.

Why didn't he turn? Where is he going? Guardians don't patrol in pairs; if I go the wrong way, he'll definitely notice. I have to wait for him to go first!

[Hey, you better get out of here! What if I go the wrong way if you don't leave?!]

Pac tightened his grip on his wrist and cleared his throat.

I remembered a detail that Tom told him.

"The cracks on the second basement level might need some reinforcement. I'll go take a look over there."

Xu Ge's heart skipped a beat.

Crack.

The other party not only knew there were cracks on the second basement level, but also knew it needed reinforcement?!

Only the Guardians can perform this kind of maintenance task!

[They even know about maintenance tasks! There's no mistake, this is definitely a Guardian!]

In that case, the most crucial thing now is that he cannot let the other party realize that his understanding of this area is far less than his.

"Things have been a bit unstable at the Giants' place lately, so I'll go check it out over there."

Pacco secretly became more vigilant.

The other side knows the location of the seal and the condition of the giants?!