This was not the first time that Rob and Van 'er the Fifth met.
As early as ten years ago, the two had met in the palace of the Kingdom of Shixin. But that meeting was accidental. Rob followed Demain to the Armored Rock City for the so-called extreme endurance special training. When they passed by New Tylte, the vice principal took him to visit Reinhardt VII on the way to get the financial allocation of the Royal College of Magic and Magic for the second half of the year. In the palace, they met the pope who was on a diplomatic visit to the Kingdom of Shixin.
The two passed by each other in the corridor of the palace.
At that time, when Luo Bu's reputation was rising, Van 'er the Fifth even stopped to give him a few words of encouragement.
After that, Rob became a sixth-grade sorcerer before the age of twenty and became famous all over the world. The Holy Alliance sent a special envoy to the Royal College of Magic and Magic on behalf of His Holiness the pope.
So far, the relationship between the Vatican and Rob had been relatively harmonious. Until the future Supreme Sorcerer Your Honor was involved in the Bretton family's affair with Lolo and finally stood on the opposite side of the Pantheon. After that, the relationship between the Church and Rob continued to deteriorate, and the two parties gradually drifted apart.
Van 'er the Fifth put down the pot of fine leaf awns in his hand. His eyes moved to the young man. After a while, the old man asked a somewhat unexpected question, "What do you think of the Church?"
Luo Bu thought for a moment before replying, "Small crimes should be avoided, but major crimes should be avoided."
Van 'er the Fifth was stunned for a moment and then laughed. "Small evil, big evil. Hahahaha."
The old man's laughter echoed in the Winter Hall. After a long time, he stopped and looked solemn. "The Church has existed for more than three thousand years. All the forces of the same period have basically disappeared. Only we have stayed. Why?"
"Some say it's because of the protection of the gods. Some say it's because the Pantheon has produced many sages for thousands of years. But these are not the fundamental reasons." Van 'er the Fifth paused. But this time, he did not wait for the young man to answer. Instead, he directly revealed the answer. "The reason why the Church can survive in the long river of history is that we always stand on the side of mankind."
"Oh?"
"You're right. There's always a rotten side behind any great power. After so many years, the Divine Temple is no longer the Divine Temple of the past. But why haven't our believers abandoned us? It's not because we're old enough, but because we're always righteous."
"Is your so-called justice referring to tricking innocent girls into killing them?" Your Honor, the future Supreme Magus, said calmly.
"It seems like you have found out a lot of things during this period of time." The old man said meaningfully, "This is the second question I intend to talk about today — how to define justice."
Van 'er the Fifth said unhurriedly, "Standing at our level, we naturally look at problems from a different perspective from ordinary people. If we want to benefit the entire human race, we must first look far enough. Some things may be unfair to individuals, but they are beneficial to the development and reproduction of the entire human race. At times like this, we have to make a choice and sacrifice some of our individual interests in exchange for the long-term development of our race. This is not necessarily a kind of justice."
"Justice that belongs to the majority?" Rob was noncommittal.
The old man smiled and did not argue on this question. Instead, he asked, "You've seen the grand occasion outside just now. The people of this city are welcoming your arrival. However, most of them have never seen you before. Their understanding of you is limited to a name and a series of titles. So why did they cheer before?"
The Pope looked into the young man's eyes and said slowly, "It's not because you're strong or talented enough, but because they know that you can represent their interests, or rather, you can represent the interests of the majority."
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I want to say is that power and obligation are always one. Everything you have now seems unbreakable, but in fact, it's extremely fragile. You are you because of the position you choose."
Luo Bu shook his head. "The reason why I am who I am is because I never choose a position. I only differentiate between right and wrong. However, I'm quite curious. Where did the Church of God place itself in the so-called Katerina Plan?"
The old man sighed and said, "It seems that you still don't believe what I said before. No matter how decadent and degenerate the Church is, its fundamental position will not change. We want those girls because they are vital to the survival of the human race. Otherwise, Bishop Saruman would not have risked a full-scale war with the Magic Association to attack you that night in Gudilesi."
"But as far as I know, among those girls, except for Lolo, who is the head of the Bretton Family, the others are very ordinary. I don't understand why the Church values them so much."
"You already have a guess in your heart, don't you?"
Rob heard this and fell silent. The figure of the giant of light he met on the top of Anarep had been lingering in his heart, but he had been controlling himself not to think of the worst these days.
After a long time, the young man spoke again, "How to save her?"
"Unfortunately, no one in this world can save her," Van 'er the Fifth said, shaking his head. "Her fate has been decided, and neither you nor I can change it. Even if you can protect her for a while, you can't protect her forever. Her mother Elua is the best proof. That child has been secretly investigating what happened to the Bretton Family all these years, but the Church is actually only responsible for cleaning up the aftermath. You have no idea how terrible the things you are going to face are."
"How do you know if you don't try?" Rob's expression had calmed down after the initial change, and then he said, "From today on, the Temple is not allowed to do anything."
"That's impossible," Van 'er the Fifth refused without thinking. "The crisis has come, and there is not much time left for human beings. The Church can't just stand by and watch. The Katerina Plan must be carried out."
"If you dare to do anything, I will announce the results of my research to the whole world," Your Honor, the future Supreme Magus, said lightly.
The Pope smiled and said, "The magic network is powerful, but as far as I know, it will take you at least ten or twenty years to repair that space …"
"It's not the magic network, it's mimicry magic. Magic and divine power have the same origin and can be transformed into each other. If this matter is spread, how much of the foundation of the Temple do you think will be left, Your Majesty?"
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