Rebirth in 1958: Getting rich starts from Nanluoguxiang

Chapter 1295 The Annihilation of the Knights of St. John

There was no movement; all eyes were on the entrance to the Colosseum. Robert turned and glanced at Mousse, who nodded and, without turning back, gestured to several Inquisition deacons.

The deacons rushed out, and Robert smiled again, opening his arms to welcome the cheers of the believers in the stands.

The Pope resides on the top floor of the Vatican. His bedroom is extremely luxurious; the bookshelves have been pushed open, revealing an open door—it turns out to be a secret room.

The secret room was very spacious, more than two hundred square meters in size. Two walls were lined with shelves displaying various antique utensils. On the side without shelves, there were more than one hundred large boxes containing gold bricks and gold dust collected by successive popes over the past five hundred years.

In the very center of the secret chamber, there was a shelf with a set of golden armor hanging on it. This armor was a sacred object made by Ferdinand the Great of the Holy Roman Empire. The entire armor was made of gold, and when a few rays of sunlight shone in, the golden armor shone brightly.

Beside the golden armor is a longsword, the foremost of the three great swords of Europe, called the Sword of Eternity, which is also a sacred object. Popes throughout history could only wear the golden armor and hold the longsword on the day of their coronation.

The Pope was very old, his face full of wrinkles and his beard long. He carefully wiped the armor with the deerskin in his hand. He did not intend to pass this armor on to the next Pope; he wanted to be buried with the Pope so that he could wear it when he went to heaven and let the Lord see it.

In reality, this was just a wishful thinking on his part, because all the popes throughout history had thought the same thing, but none of the successors had their armor buried with them.

The Pope glanced out the window toward the Colosseum, where the crowd was bustling. He checked the time and realized it was time for him to make an appearance. What if people thought he was dead if he didn't attend such a grand event?

He slowly walked out, turned the knob on the statue of the Virgin Mary on the bookshelf, and the bookshelf creaked shut. In the instant it was about to close, the Pope seemed to see the golden armor tremble slightly.

He rubbed his eyes. The bookshelf had been restored to its original state, and no one could tell that there was a secret room behind it.

The Pope shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. It seemed he was getting old and his eyesight was failing; he would need to find a few more virgins to help him regain his youth.

He put on a long robe embroidered with gold thread, wore a crown, and, leaning on a scepter, walked down the steps one by one.

The guards outside the square, 110 in armor and wielding spears, stood watch over a 16-horse carriage until the Pope appeared in the square.

All the guards knelt on one knee, pounding their fists on their chest armor and shouting in unison.

"God is with us forever."

The Pope boarded the carriage and, escorted by the Praetorian Guard, slowly drove towards the Colosseum...

Seeing that the Inquisition's deacons had not yet returned, Robert waved to the Knights of St. John, who then ran in orderly fashion toward the door.

Robert opened his arms and shouted.

"God's grace and blessings upon all people, may the Lord's love fill the world, may the Lord's salvation shine upon all beings, Amen!"

One hundred and twenty believers in the choir began to chant from the Bible.

The nobles in the stands joined in the chanting, some devout believers were moved to tears, and some knelt on the ground, repeatedly making the sign of the cross.

……

The dungeons of the Inquisition were located beneath the Inquisition itself. When the Knights of St. John arrived, they were astonished to find the entire Inquisition deserted, and the dungeon doors wide open.

At the commander's order, all the members dismounted and followed him into the dungeon. Suddenly, the dungeon doors slammed shut. The dungeon was filled with corpses; all thirty-five members of the Inquisition, except for their chief, Mousse, lay dead there.

Red dots lit up all over the dungeon. The knight commander, who was a little nearsighted, leaned close to each red dot and was so frightened that his soul almost left his body. He took two steps back and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"There's a bomb..."

Before he could finish speaking, muffled explosions rang out one after another. Blood and flesh flew everywhere in the dungeon, the Inquisition building shook a few times, and then collapsed into ruins. The entire Knights of St. John were wiped out.

The explosion startled all the horses, but with a tiger's roar and a wolf's howl, the horses gradually quieted down. Uncle Qing slowly emerged from the shadows, with a tiger cub and a white wolf beside him, their bodies splattered with blood.

Uncle Qing lifted his bloodied hands, took out a white handkerchief from his pocket, and gently wiped the blood from his hands. Sophia, supporting Zuo Wenbin, also came out with a complicated expression.

They thought they were doomed, but to their surprise, their son-in-law and Uncle Qing rescued them from prison. When Sophia heard that the Vatican was going to burn her in front of all the European nobles, she was not afraid, but felt a sense of emptiness, which was the result of the collapse of her faith.

"Didn't Aymu and the children come?"

Uncle Qing answered respectfully.

"The young mistress has already set off for London with the children, escorted by Master Arthur and Miss Susanna. You can rest assured."

Sofia had a complicated expression on her face, and she hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Having killed so many people again this time, how does Charlotte plan to deal with the Papacy?"

Uncle Qing smiled slightly.

“My young master said that since the Vatican is best at performing miracles, he will perform a miracle for everyone to see. As for the Pope and the cardinals, my young master’s idea is to replace them with a new batch.”

Sofia and Zuo Wenbin looked at each other, speechless with surprise.

"Replace the Pope and the cardinals?"

Uncle Qing nodded heavily.

"Yeah, if they don't listen, we'll replace them all."

……

Inside the Colosseum, Robert and Mousse waited anxiously for Princess Sophia and her companion to be brought in, when the Pope's carriage entered the arena.

Robert and Mousse exchanged glances, knowing they had no choice but to go greet the Pope first.

Holding his scepter, the Pope waved to the believers in the stands while pulling Robert out of the car by the arm. His smile remained unchanged, and his lips moved slightly.

"How are the preparations going?"

Robert hesitated for a moment; under these circumstances, he couldn't hide it.

"The people sent to escort Princess Sofia have not returned yet; something may have happened to them."

The Pope waved his hand and spoke softly.

"No matter what, two people must be burned at the stake today. If Sophia and the others escape, then two more will be replaced. For over three hundred years, our Vatican has never publicly burned any heretics."

Even if you two do something today, you must create two heretics, understand?