Chapter 278: A New Storm
Chapter 278: A New Storm
Vanna and Valentine were both stunned by this sudden change, Pope Helena’s “judgment” is not so much a solemn religious ruling, but more like a deliberate result – the result has already been decided, just now the conversation is just a program.
Such a hasty “ruling” is of course difficult for Vanna, the judge, to accept, and even Valentine next to him is also difficult to accept, they spoke in unison: “Pope Coronation …….”
“It’s okay, it’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with it, there are always some changes and ups and downs in life, just like the storms are never the most unpredictable existence,” Helena waved her hand, interrupting Vanna and Valentine’s words, “And don’t fall into loss so easily, Saints Vanna –To step down from your duties as Inquisitor is not necessarily a form of discipline, it is merely that you are not suited for the job at this time, perhaps …… the storm has another favor in mind for you?”
Vanna was stunned at her words, seeming to vaguely hear some deeper meaning in Helena’s tone, yet just as she was about to ask something afterward, she saw the Pope in front of her shaking his head at himself.
“Let’s stop here for now, there are still some things that I need to see with my own eyes before I can decide,” Helena said lightly, “It’s been many years since I’ve personally stepped foot on this land in Prand ……. ”
She paused briefly as she spoke.
“You will return to the upper decks first, the lifts are ready and I will complete a benediction here – it won’t be long, we will meet on the upper decks.”
Barely able to react to what was going on, Vanna was “herded” back into the lift with Valentine, and it wasn’t until the lift had reached the top, and the two of them had left the car and were walking down the corridor to the upper deck, that Valentine broke the silence with a whisper, “Vanna, how are you feeling right now? …… feeling?”
He really didn’t think of a better way to say it to break the awkwardness.
Vanna stopped in her tracks.
Valentine stepped back a bit to the side.
“Are you serious about taking those two steps back?”
“I was afraid you were serious.”
“And a sneer, then it seems you realize how unusual this is,” Vanna shook her head and whispered, “Frankly, my initial reaction was one of incredulity and difficulty in accepting that this hasty and hasty ‘ruling ‘ was more like a bad joke than something that should have come from the Pope’s Coronation, but just now I recalled the details in the Pope’s Coronation’s words, and I always felt …… that she seemed to have another deep meaning.”
Saying that, she exhaled softly, “I think I should be patient and wait for the ‘storm to have another favor’ as the Pope Coronet said.”
“Your calmness and reasoning is indeed far beyond the norm – I’m afraid most people wouldn’t be so quick to think as calmly as you do when something like this suddenly falls on their heads,” Valentine said as he took another step forward, walking as he did so. “But I’m more concerned about another thing right now than that.”
Vanna frowned, “The other thing?”
“Dismissing an Inquisitor is only possible if a new Inquisitor takes over, and an important position such as Inquisitor of a city-state is one that must be ‘tested’ and appointed by the Pope himself – a process you should be well aware of, ” Valentine said slowly, “but the Pope Coronet made no mention of it at all …… This should have been a ‘necessary matter’ that was announced at the same time as the removal of the appointment or even well in advance. ”
Vanna subconsciously frowned, but did not speak for a moment, while Valentine continued, “Furthermore, she chose to announce your dismissal in a ‘secret room’ that no one knows about, if, according to the Church’s law, the secret that the Pope teaches in the secret room is not to be passed on to anyone else, no matter what the content of that secret is, it is a kind of ‘security code’. It is a kind of ‘security code’.”
Vanna had to admit that her younger self was ultimately not as well versed in the original storm canon as a senior cleric such as Bishop Valentine, and it was amazing that she hadn’t thought of these key points for a moment!
“What do you mean ……”
“Your dismissal will not be known to anyone,” Valentine looked calmly into Vanna’s eyes, “nor will a new Inquisitor take your place.”
Vanna was stunned, her brow furrowing slightly, “And how am I to continue to fulfill my duties in Prand?”
“I do not know,” Valentine said softly, raising his head and looking ahead to the exit of the corridor before continuing to speak after a moment’s thought, “but I suspect that you may not need to continue to fulfill your duties in Prand any time soon.”
……
Within the extremely vast space, Pope Helena stood silently between the dim firelight, and it was an unknown amount of time before she raised her head and gazed into the darkness in the distance.
This was the lowest part of the Parade Ark, an area that ordinary people rarely had the chance to touch, or even had no way to understand, and she called this place “the belly of the beast”, which in a sense was actually not a bad saying at all.
Helena stepped forward, past the burning fire pits, and came to a spot that had not been illuminated by firelight before.
A cluster of flames spread as she stepped, gradually illuminating the entire dim space, reflecting what had not been illuminated before.
The coiled and veined structures of the floor, the huge tumors or nerve nodes hanging down from the high dome, the nerve cords as well as vascular struts dangling from the dome, and the huge pale supports that seemed like skeletons.
All these things, which had been hidden in the darkness, came into full view before Helena’s eyes as the firelight spread.
She finally stopped in front of a huge “pillar”.
This is a pillar made of a large number of complex structures coiled, stacked and formed, its surface is uneven and mottled, and there are a large number of nerve veins and vascular systems such as bas-relief winding, and in the depths of those nervous systems, you can vaguely see the complexity of the metal threads and the glittering silver light of the needles, as if it was spread from the upper layers. At the top of this pillar, on the dim dome, you can also see a more dense number of pendant organs, those organs surface grooves all over the place, it looks as if …… the brain.
Helena fixedly looked at the pillar for a long time, and then reached out her hand, slowly stroking those concave and convex grooves formed by nerve fibers.
“The Truth Academy …… is incredible technology,” she exclaimed softly, “who would have thought that a dead Leviathan could be ‘resurrected’ in such a manner ‘ ……”
As soon as she spoke, a low, writhing sound suddenly came from the pillar, and then a hoarse, aged voice rang out from some unknown structure, “First of all, I wasn’t considered dead from the start, and secondly, I don’t think my current self is considered ‘alive’ either! –To describe Leviathan in terms of life and death is a very loose term, little girl.”
“…… I thought you were sleeping.”
“I do sleep most of the time, but with your extraordinarily solemn prayers to Queen Gemona today, and bringing outsiders to this place, I felt I should be awake anyway.”
The corners of Helena’s mouth seemed to quiver a little, “…… And did you feel like seeing a satisfactory scene?”
“I just think you’re quite insensitive,” the hoarse, aged voice came again, “Isn’t she doing a good job, there’s no Inquisitor of the major city-states who can outperform her in the overall rating, and you’re just dismissing her, don’t say anything about the reason for the wavering faith… …We all know very well that as long as we can continue to fulfill our duties, this reason is the most insignificant.”
“This is the Storm Master’s arrangement.” Helena said faintly.
The hoarse, pale voice visibly froze for a moment this time before speaking, “…… Oh, I have no problem with that then.”
Helena shook her head helplessly, “I thought you would at least follow up.”
However, this time, that hoarse and old voice did not make the slightest response.
He was asleep.
……
In the vast and boundless sea, the steel warship Sea Mist was sailing through the waves, and as the warship gradually “healed” and its power was fully turned on at the moment, the thin layer of ice fog also reappeared around the ship, and kept generating small pieces of ice floes on the surface of the sea nearby.
Tirion came to the bow of the ship and looked out over the open sea ahead.
For some reason, he always felt vaguely uneasy.
At first, he thought that it was the aftermath of the “father’s injury”, the accumulation of pressure brought about by seeing his father several times in the coastal waters of Prand as well as in the city of Prand, however, as the Sea Mist ship moved further and further away from Prand, this uneasiness did not diminish, but rather, it was becoming more intense.
It was even gradually causing him to become slightly irritated.
It seemed that something was about to happen, or …… had already happened, and this matter was most likely related to himself.
He trusted his intuition as a Transcendent in this regard.
Tirian took a deep breath and pressed his hand against the railing in front of him, frowning in thought.
Just then, as if to corroborate this growing unease, a slightly hurried footstep suddenly came from behind him.
Tirion turned around sharply and saw that it was First Mate Aiden who was walking towards him.
This consistently calm first mate’s face was filled with nervousness at this moment.
Tirian immediately frowned, “What happened?”
“Just now the chapel received a psychic energy transmission from the home port, something has happened in the waters …… near Frost.”
“Near Frost?” Tirian felt his heart skip a beat and pursued, “What’s the situation?”
“…… There’s an ancient submersible device that suddenly appeared offshore of Frost,” Aiden couldn’t help but suck in his breath as he spoke, “It’s ‘Submarine Number Three ‘ – the eighth.”
(End of chapter)