390: The Pope tries to smooth things over.

The Pope was too old; his loose skin was covered in dark brown age spots, and his fingers, resting on the pure gold armrest, trembled slightly, as if he needed to conserve strength even to speak.

Just two words brought the tense council hall to an immediate silence.

All the Cardinals, including Karl and Aldous, immediately lowered their heads, adopting a posture of respectful listening.

The Pope's cloudy eyes shifted, looking at Reinhardt, then sweeping over Karl's face, which was somewhat contorted with anger. He gasped before continuing, "Reinhardt, for protecting tens of thousands of believers, you have merit. Your memory loss was not of your own volition."

He paused for a longer time, his chest rising and falling like an old bellows. "But... the diocese has suffered heavy losses, and someone needs to... bear responsibility."

Finally, he made his judgment: "For now... Reinhardt Veloria is relieved of his bishopric and recalled to the Holy See... for recuperation."

"Diocesan affairs will temporarily be managed by Aubrey. As for Duke Faulkner... we will discuss it again... after we ascertain the attitude of Shidun Kingdom."

This decision was clearly a compromise, a fifty-fifty split that barely maintained a superficial balance.

Karl Morton's facial muscles twitched a few times.

He was clearly extremely dissatisfied with this outcome, but he dared not openly defy the Pope's order, so he could only glare fiercely at Aldous with sinister eyes.

Aldous was expressionless, bowing: "I respectfully obey the Holy See's decree."

"Good, you may go!"

Once the Pope closed his eyes again to rest, the bishops successively rose and excused themselves. Karl intentionally lagged behind, his teeth grinding audibly.

"Veloria, you, Reinhardt, are lucky." He cursed in a low voice, then turned and strode out of the hall door, the shadows cast by the colonnade falling across his face, making him appear even more somber.

Walking along the corridor paved with crystal stones, Karl's mind was full of calculations: "If Veloria doesn't work, the Bright Diocese in the Western Region can always be tried. It's rich in crystal mines, even wealthier than Veloria."

But as soon as he thought of his recent bad luck, his mood sank again.

The smuggling route to the Orc Kingdom had been cut off for almost a year. He had been on such good terms with those nobles in Barbatos before, so why did all contact suddenly cease?

The three trusted subordinates sent to investigate never returned, neither alive nor dead.

"Barbatos... it must be where you went wrong." Karl gritted his teeth, but dared not send anyone else.

Now, undercurrents surged across the continent. Veloria's disaster was just the beginning. If he lost more men over such a trivial matter, it would only give Aldous an opportunity.

A sixth-tier strength was a towering powerhouse in the eyes of commoners, but before true power, it was merely an ant.

Even a demigod powerhouse like His Holiness the Pope was subject to the constraints of lifespan, aging day by day, wasn't he?

He must seize the time to grasp more power, the more the better.

Karl quickened his pace.

[The current bishop of the Bright Diocese is old. As long as I find an excuse and create some 'achievements', it might not be impossible to promote Eugene.]

[As for achievements...]

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. Perhaps he should proactively find some 'trouble' to deal with... In the Netherworld, within Jiaotai Palace.

Shang Wan Ning leaned lazily on the phoenix couch, her legs crossed.

The high-hanging light screen before her was replaying the contentious debate that had taken place half an hour ago in the Holy See's Cardinal Hall, where everyone harbored their own intentions.

Ling Qi stood quietly by her side.

"Tsk, magnificent." Shang Wan Ning clicked her tongue, an undisguised sneer on her face.

"Look, they can twist black into white, and even bring the dead back to life with their words. To snatch a position, they'll tear off their own skin and throw it on the ground to be trampled. The skill this bunch of charlatans has for bickering and shirking responsibility is far superior to those ghost messengers under my command who only know how to follow the book of life and death."

[great host, does Little Four need to record this entire segment?]

In the Sea of Consciousness, Little Four's electronic voice rang out excitedly.

"Record it, of course, record it." Shang Wan Ning's lips curled into a mischievous smile. "How can those wooden heads in the Department of Judges not learn from such a classic lesson in blame-shifting?"

"If they can't even out-talk those cunning evil spirits when interrogating them in the future, where will our Underworld's dignity stand?"

[Understood. High-definition quality, lossless audio. Immediately encrypt and transmit to the Department of Judges' internal learning library. The title will be — 'On How to Elegantly Shift Responsibility: Holy See Cardinal Council Practical Teaching'.]

"Perhaps, great host can also show it to the Goddess of Light later."

"Little Four is really looking forward to her expression."

"Hehe ;-)."

"That's a good suggestion, I want to see it too."

Shang Wan Ning watched with great interest, casually scooping up Princess Shang Wugou, who was munching on a spirit fruit beside her, and rubbing her silver-white hair: "Fei Fei, watch closely. This is called the art of language, killing without a knife."

Princess Shang Wugou looked up with her small face, her crimson red eyes full of confusion. She swallowed the fruit pulp in her mouth and said indistinctly, "Mommy, they talk so much trouble."

"Can Fei Fei just eat that old man who keeps yelling?" Her chubby finger accurately pointed at Karl Morton, who was spitting saliva all over the light screen.

Ling Qi pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, a cold glint flashing across the lenses: "Little Princess Wugou, Article 7 of the Underworld regulations clearly states that 'consuming' cross-planar observation targets is strictly prohibited in non-essential circumstances."

Princess Shang Wugou pouted aggrievedly, lowered her head, and continued to munch on her fruit.

At this moment, the Pope in the light screen made his final judgment.

The compromise plan, which gave both sides a fifty-fifty split, made Shang Wan Ning let out an unreserved scoff.

"Secretary-General, send a message to Tudor." Shang Wan Ning flicked her fingertip, closing the light screen.

"Tell him to find a way to send a 'surprise' to that Vice-Councilor Karl, who has 'suffered a tremendous grievance'."

"I see he has too much anger, he needs some real 'merit' to calm down properly."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ling Qi nodded slightly, forming a hand seal and lightly tapping in the void. A message was already transmitted through the token.

Shang Wan Ning stood up and stretched languidly, her phoenix robe outlining a breathtaking curve with her movements.

[The show's over. Next, it's time for our new little laborer to officially start work.]

She looked down at Princess Shang Wugou, who was standing obediently, and a very 'kind' smile appeared on her face.

"Let's go, Fei Fei, Mommy will take you to see your workstation."

"At the bottom of the Wangchuan River, there are quite a few resentful hard bones accumulated, waiting for you to clean (devour) them."

Princess Shang Wugou, still holding the unfinished spirit fruit, followed along, bewildered, completely unaware of the dark and endless 'cleaner' career she was about to embark on.

Outside Jiaotai Palace, the pale smoke of Agarwood (Chenshui incense) slowly dispersed, leaving only the Empress's low, smiling whispers echoing within the hall.

"The Underworld doesn't raise young gods who just eat without working."

"My Fei Fei is so amazing, she's definitely going to be great!"