Chapter 71

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< | Table of Contents | >>>]

—–

Chapter 71: The Queen’s Inheritance (X)

“Okay, I’ll go.” Qi Leren replied as if in a daze, falling into chaos as he watched the monk turn around and leave.

Qi Leren grabbed the hair beside his cheek, which was golden and slightly curly. It was obviously not his hair, and his vision was lower because of the change of height. In addition, the man had just called him “Maria”. Qi Leren knew what appearance he now had even without looking at his face—he had become Maria. No, it should be said that he was just playing the Holy Nun Maria in the Will of the World’s memory.

Recalling what had been said in the system prompt just now that “the death of such a field-level figure has accidentally triggered the memories of the Will of the World”, nine times out of ten he is no longer in the real world, but in a copy generated by the Will of the World’s memory, and in this copy, his identity was the saint Maria.

Worst of all, this copy had a role-playing model. He had to play the role of Maria, and couldn’t be found as abnormal by the Will of the World’s avatars. This was a hellish difficulty for Qi Leren who wasn’t familiar with Maria at all. What’s more, he didn’t even know what the Will of the World was. He could only guess vaguely that its “memories” were probably the history that really happened in this Nightmare World, and that it had a far-reaching impact on this world.

The system also gave his character a difficulty rating: A. Even if there were three opportunities to restart this memory, Qi Leren wasn’t sure that he could pass, but if he failed…

Although the system didn’t say anything about deducting the remaining survival days, sometimes it was the most dangerous thing to say nothing, because it probably meant that he wouldn’t need the survival days any more.

In this task, all his skill cards and items couldn’t be used. The only thing he could rely on were his own acting skills and Maria’s own strength—but he didn’t know anything about the power system of the Holy See, only knowing that his body was filled with a kind of sacred energy like the force of faith.

It seemed that he had to rely on acting skills.

Oh no, he also didn’t know what was happening with Ning Zhou now? Had he also been trapped in a difficult-to-beat memory? No, look on the bright side, Ning Zhou’s luck was much better than his. Maybe he wasn’t involved?

Probably, after all, Ning Zhou took the dragon ant queen’s hand at that time, and he was responsible for supporting the underground ant city. The residual strength of the dragon ant queen may not affect him.

But if Ning Zhou had received the same task as him…

Put shortly, Ning Zhou didn’t have the skill of “acting”!

Let’s pray that he would never be given this task.

After a pause, Qi Leren, who regretted not asking more about Maria from Ning Zhou, picked up the Canon that had just slipped from his knee and put it on the swing. He looked at the tree and realized that it would be struck down by lightning in a storm one day in the future, leaving a hollow tree stump full of grass and wildflowers, where he would come back from the dead more than 20 years later.

When walking up the familiar steps, Qi Leren couldn’t help but compare the pure white and clean Vatican with the old site of the Vatican in his memory. Now the Vatican was full of vitality, and the monks and nuns who were hurrying up and down the steps saluted him with a smile when they saw him. Qi Leren also learned to return the favor. Along the way, several people mentioned that the Pope was looking for him and invited him to the cathedral.

“The refugees from the Sea of Tranquility Desert migrated to neighboring parishes on a large scale in order to avoid the demon tide. Now several parishes nearby are arguing about how to resettle this group of refugees.” “Decentralized resettlement, it depends on the will of the Pope.” “Why was there such a large number of refugees suddenly displaced?” “It should be the time for the Dragon Ant Queen’s succession. A new queen is being selected, so there’s no time to take care of the demon tide.”

Passing monks and nuns were discussing the recent situation of the Underground Ant City, and Qi Leren eavesdropped on it. Based on the Dragon Ant Queen’s age, he could roughly deduce the present time.

Twenty-two years ago, before the first demon invasion.

The current Maria, had she met the Destroyer?

Qi Leren tried to recall the details heard from the people around him. Maria should have known Ning Zhou’s father for a long time. The original Destroyer was just as honest and principled as Ning Zhou was now, but as he moved closer to his own original force, his self began to be eroded by the force of destruction, and he eventually became the murderer who made people’s lives miserable.

The cathedral was just around the corner, and Qi Leren couldn’t help feeling deeply when he looked at this intact temple.

The huge statue of the Virgin Mary still stood on the round stone base in front of the cathedral’s steps, solemn and holy, and the gentle brow held a kind of compassion and tenderness. Around it, all kinds of angel sculptures surrounded it: some were reading, some were playing, and some were singing. No one here knew that the city would be destroyed this year. The Holy City was breached, and the angel statues were torn apart. The Holy Nun Maria poured her strength into the sculpture of the Virgin Mary, and let it hold the sword of judgment and crucify the Destroyer.

This beauty before destruction was distressing because it is destined to disappear.

Qi Leren took a deep breath, relaxed his steps, and walked towards the depths of the cathedral with a more feminine gait.

Through the thick door that once led him beyond salvation, the church that hadn’t been destroyed yet appeared before his eyes—there were huge colourful windows on the left and right sides, and the glass depicted the magnificent scenery of angels, saints, and heaven. A red carpet had been laid up to the steps, and on the wall he was facing, a cross more than ten meters tall was firmly nailed to the wall, except that there is no legend of Jesus in the Vatican of this world.

The Pope stood in front of the cross and nodded to the Qi Leren coming towards him: “Maria, come here.”

Qi Leren stood before him and bowed his head humbly.

“Have you heard about the recent changes in the Underground Ant City?” asked the Pope.

“Yes, under the crown of the Pope.” Qi Leren just wanted to say a few words about the Underground Ant City that he heard on the road, but suddenly he was shocked by the Pope’s stern voice.

“Evil spirit, why have you possessed Maria’s body?!” asked the Pope sharply.

“!” Qi Leren raised his head in shock to meet the Pope’s all-seeing eyes, but before he could come up with an excuse for himself, the scepter in the Pope’s hand had been held high, and a pure white light rose from beneath Qi Leren’s feet. The light engulfed him and instantly broke his consciousness.

[Remaining restart times: 2.]

When he woke up again, he was still sitting on the swing in the Garden of the Holy Tomb. The strange monk came up to him: “Maria, the Pope has been looking everywhere for you. Go meet him in the cathedral.”

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” Qi Leren answered.

When the monk left, Qi Leren paced nervously in place. What went wrong? Why did the Pope notice his abnormality? Was it the intuition of a field-level master? But this wasn’t the real world, it was just a copy created by the Will of the World’s memories… Was his behaviour flawed?

After all, he wasn’t familiar with Maria. After entering the cathedral, he and the Pope said three sentences in total, among which he only said one sentence. If there was any flaw, it must have been in this sentence.

When the Pope asked him if he had heard about the change in the Underground Ant City, he replied: Yes, under the crown of the Pope.

A total of six words, what could have been the flaw? Qi Leren reasoned and thought that there was something wrong with the appellation. Maria and the Pope didn’t have ordinary superior-subordinate relations. She would one day entrust her son who had the blood of the Destroyer to the Holy See out of absolute trust in the Pope, knowing that he wouldn’t hurt Ning Zhou. That was true. Even though Ning Zhou was excommunicated from the Holy See according to the Canon’s laws, the Pope hadn’t killed him. He didn’t necessarily know Ning Zhou’s truth and the danger of doing so, but he still chose to give him a chance to live.

Perhaps until Ning Zhou did something truly unforgivable, the Pope would have a hope and tolerance for the young man he raised.

“Wait!” Qi Leren decided to try it out. He stopped the monk who hadn’t gone far, and the monk looked back at him.

Qi Leren walked up quickly, smiled and asked, “What is it about? The changes in the Underground Ant City?”

“It seems that you’ve heard that the Dragon Ant Queen is at an important moment in the field succession. The recent demon tide was particularly turbulent. The Pope is worried about the instability in the gap between the two worlds,” said the monk.

“Compared to this, I’m more worried about the Pope’s crown…” Qi Leren showed a melancholy expression, sighed softly, and got the nerve to test it.

“Under the crown of the pope, it’s hard to avoid worrying more. Since you were a child, you’ve followed at the Pope’s side. He’s placed high hopes in you, and personally helped you choose your original force, which allowed you to inherit Saint Lawrence’s original force. As long as you absorb the force of faith step by step and temper your heart with it, you’re expected to be promoted to the field master before the age of 35. Maria, don’t let the crown down.” The monk looked at him gently.

Qi Leren’s heart suddenly burst, smiling and nodding: “I understand.”

The monk left, and Qi Leren took a deep breath. This exchange had given him a lot of information. Maria was brought up by the Pope himself. Listening to the monk’s tone, maybe Maria was being trained as the next Pope, and the two people felt the same as a father and daughter. Then, in private occasions where there were only the two people, his attitude towards the Pope was too distant and respectful. Imagine that a daughter suddenly called her father “sir” respectfully at home. How could people not be suspicious?

The path of the Holy See was quite different from that of players and demons. Both players and demons first found their original force and then moved closer to it. However, the Holy See first inherited a kind of original force from saints, and then improved themselves by absorbing and tempering faith, and finally achieved a field.

No wonder the Holy See’s field inheritance was so perfect. All the popes in the past dynasties were field-level, because this is a very safe road that could be reached as long as it was done step by step. However, from the perspective that the Holy City’s enchantment was breached and the Vatican was forced to migrate to Neverland, the field-level master of the Holy See was no match for the Devil. Yet the Prophet had condensed his field in another way, and his strength was enough to compete with the field-level masters of the devils’ side.

And Maria… She had burst into the field level, and it was likely that she had eventually followed a similar path to the Prophet.

Finally, Qi Leren had reason to suspect that the higher-ups of the church knew of Maria’s love affair, or at least had some speculation. There seemed to be something in the phrase “don’t let the crown down”… But right now, the Destroyer has not led the demons through the gap between the two worlds, which meant that the identity of Maria’s lover had not been exposed. So the Holy See simply opposed her love affair with a nonbeliever?

Qi Leren pondered the whole way, walked slowly, and didn’t rush to the cathedral.

He had to consider the countermeasures carefully, and couldn’t waste another chance of restarting the memory.

Just as Qi Leren was thinking, a youthful voice suddenly sounded behind him.

“Maria? Is that your name?”

Qi Leren looked back and a young man was sitting on the swing where he had just sat. He was glancing at Maria’s name written on the title page of the Canon, looked up, and smiled at her. The smile was full of the cunning of a young man, and his spirits were flying: “Hello, my name is Zheng Nanxing. I’m a foreigner.”

Qi Leren looked at him, stupefied.

He knew him.

Twenty-two years later, he would meet this man. By that time, his name was unknown, and everyone only called him…

The Prophet.

—–

[<<< | Table of Contents | >>>]