"Well... I know. I know what Governor Charles wants. As an ally, I am also willing to help. But I can't give you those things now."
"Why?"
"I just said that the God of Light issued an oracle that those things..."
"Stop it. I don't need you to repeat what you just said a second time. Don't use this kind of words to evade me again."
Faced with Charles' questioning, the Pope was not angry at all. He lowered his head and looked at Charles calmly.
"Oh, really? Then how do you judge? How do I, a native of Earthsea, know that the black boxes in those computers are hard drives used to store data? And how do I know that there is a serious danger in New Territories City?"
Charles was stunned for a moment. He looked carefully at the Pope in front of him, and all kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind.
"You don't need to hide anything in front of me. I can see all the doubts in your heart. First of all, I am not from the surface like you. Secondly, I am not a descendant of those foundations, and Dawn No. 1 did not tell me this. All this information comes from the omniscient and omnipotent God of Light."
"Where is the God of Light? That thing hanging above New Territory City can't even move. If the God of Light really exists, why doesn't He come out?"
"The God of Light really exists."
The Pope raised his right hand and stopped Charles from saying anything. "Don't rush to speak. Listen to my story first before you refute it."
"When my father went to sea and never came back, my mother became addicted to nutritious fruits and abandoned me. In order to have a bite to eat, I had to fend for myself."
"Fortunately, thanks to my beautiful golden hair, I was able to find a job in the port area and no longer have to wander the streets."
What kind of job in the port area requires blond hair? A question flashed through Charles' mind.
"Prostitute." The Pope slowly threw out a word.
"I was living a miserable life at that time. I would make the most humble wish every morning. I thought my miserable life would continue like this."
The Pope's voice was calm as water, as if he was talking about someone else, and then his tone suddenly rose and his eyes lit up.
"But the situation changed quickly. It was my turn. In July of that year, I hadn't had any customers for several days. I was very hungry, so I went to steal some food. As expected, I was discovered. They beat me to death and threw me into the garbage dump. At that moment, a voice rang in my mind."
"That voice was very gentle and kind, just like a soft hand caressing my hair and face. It was the God of Light. I received the call of the God of Light. He healed all my injuries, and I became the one chosen by God among thousands."
"With the guidance of the God of Light, I left my lowly job and joined the Church of Light, which was suppressed by the Futan Church at the time. With the knowledge He gave me, I led the church to continue to grow."
Charles looked at the Pope in front of him with a strange expression. He felt as if he had seen this kind of plot in a novel.
"How do you know that the voice must be the God of Light? Maybe it's something else? For example, an old grandfather?"
The Pope shook his head, "Because it told me that it is the God of Light."
"Do you believe everything he says?"
"Yes, I believe everything He says, because He can make me go from a lowly and lowly prostitute who is looked down upon by everyone to the Pope of the God of Light. No matter who He is, He is the God I will always love."
"When I first arrived in New Territories City, God gave an oracle that all records must be cleared immediately. He said so and I did it."
"Governor Charles, don't you believe it? Lies represent betrayal. As a believer in the God of Light, I will never lie. How old do you think I am now?"
Charles looked carefully at the sculpture in front of him. "90? 100??"
The Pope shook his head. "The God of Light has blessed my body. I am already 130 years old. You really doubt everything. What about this? Can you doubt this miracle?"
At this point, the Pope's statue opened his hands and his gentle voice suddenly became louder, mixed with undifferentiated male and female sounds.
The three-meter-high stone statue actually floated up from the ground, its gray body cracked, and soft white light shone from it.
"God of Light, you are the first one, God of Light, you are the last point, you created everything, you know everything! All things are born because of you! All things die because of you!!"
"Buzz~" A sense of oppression so tangible suddenly burst out from the Pope, and that sense of oppression pushed Charles back with difficulty.
When faced with that feeling, Charles had no thought of resistance.
But soon a strange feeling arose in his heart, and his lips trembled slightly, as if he was praising the God of Light with the Pope.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss" Charles felt the tentacles inside his skull start to move. They were twisting rapidly, as if they were afraid of something.
This feeling came and went quickly. Charles was shocked as he looked at the statue of the Pope in front of him that had returned to its original state, and his heart could not calm down for a long time.
He had previously thought that Dawn No. 1 was the God of Light, but now it seemed that he was wrong. Could the "God of Light" really exist? Charles' heart began to waver.
Looking at the astonished Charles in front of him, the Pope showed a faint smile on his face. He knew that the other party had realized how foolish he had been just now.
"The God of Light exists. This is a fact and there is no need to question it." The Pope announced the news to Charles again.
"The God of Light said that those things are very dangerous, so those things are very dangerous. There is no doubt about that either."
Charles looked at the Pope deeply, turned around with a gloomy face and was about to leave.
"Wait, aren't you looking for the surface? Our goals happen to be the same."
Charles turned to look at the Pope, "Don't you think you're putting the cart before the horse?"
"No, no, no. I just said that I can't give you those things, but I didn't say that I can't tell you about the information leading to the surface. The God of Light is also looking for the surface."
This sentence contains a lot of information. Charles doesn't know who the God of Light behind it is, but now it seems that even such a powerful Him can't find the exit on the surface.
"Since your God of Light is omniscient and omnipotent, it shouldn't be difficult for him to pierce through the dome directly, right? Why don't you do it yourself?"
The Pope shook his head. "As long as the God of Light takes action, He can easily bring us back to the surface. However, He is now trapped by His own power, so He cannot use too much of His power. He is in great pain now, and He needs our help."
(End of this chapter)