Never mind, it’s just a minor oversight, not a big deal.
Hitzfeld pressed his forehead and continued to discuss the follow-up plan with Luca.
"Who else are the Bloodsworn?"
"The leader of the Bellamor family, I call him Old Bellamor." Luca said, "He is too old and belongs to the last era. He was promoted to the Holy City because of his conquest of the rebellious alien races on earth."
After a pause, he continued, "The Bellamyde family is now responsible for collecting and organizing intelligence on the ground for the Holy City. They are one of His Majesty's most capable assistants."
"So there's a chance he might know me."
"Not necessarily when you were in Port Inian, but I definitely know you now."
"anything else."
"The head of the court physicians, Dr. Fermi."
"Oh, doctor..."
"Doctor Fermi was selected directly from the residents of Oujin. He has superb medical skills and understands many pathologies. Most importantly, he is also a blood mage."
Luca put emphasis on the word blood mage, meaning that she should not wrongly accuse good people.
Because there is a basic logic here: their enemy is the minions of the evil god, so they must be taking a mysterious path. In other words, as long as it is a blood mage, the suspicion will be greatly reduced, and Luca thinks it will not be Femi.
"I have my own judgment."
Hitzfeld ignored him, "Go on, who are the other main characters."
"The remaining ones are nothing more than the captain of the guards 'Cassius', the leader of the great family 'Dreyfus', and the false pope 'Improl'..."
"Ah? ...Improl? Is that the Improl I'm thinking of?"
"The descendants of the Nine Knights? That's what you're thinking... Yes, it's just as you think, at least that's what he claimed to the public."
"Does that mean there's something going on?"
"He is a fake pope. The power of the church within Oujin has been squeezed out. He is His Majesty's man, just sitting there pretending."
"So is he really Improl?"
"That's what they claim, but most of the Nine Knights' descendants died without a single survivor. We ourselves don't believe it. If there's a chance, I'll take you to the temple so you can experience it for yourself."
After talking with Luca in detail, Hitzfeld gradually narrowed down the list of suspects.
They are:
Blood Mage, also known as the leader of the Violence Agency, Morren Shaw
Intelligence chief Lao Beimo
Fermi, chief physician of the court
Captain Cassius
Dreyfuss
Pope Improl
Six in total.
It’s not that there are only six Blood Oath Takers, there are more than twenty left, but the status of these people is relatively too low. They are not qualified to enter the palace to meet the emperor, and their influence on the Human King is extremely limited.
Only these six people had the authority to see the emperor. Hitzfeld felt that the traitor was most likely hiding among them.
Now that she had seen Moren Shaw, the first impression was secondary. The main thing was the divine eye... Her left eye did not move.
"Well."
After a moment of hesitation, she asked Lukati: "I want to find the remaining five people as soon as possible and meet with them all."
"This is not an easy task." Luca frowned.
As the birthday banquet was approaching, many people from different clans and ethnic groups came up and their daily schedules were almost fully booked. Only Improl had a little free time.
"Then it's him." Hitzfeld stood up immediately.
"Don't waste your time."
"Take me there directly now."
Chapter 176: People Trapped in the Light
On the way down, Hitzfeld secretly called Xia Yibing and asked her if she had any feelings for Moren Shaw.
Of course it wasn't that kind of feeling, but Xia Yibing had begun to awaken Imar's talent to control vampires. Her ability to sense vampires was a second layer of insurance similar to her own divine eyes. Hitzfeld wanted to make sure that he was not making a mistake.
"It should be fine." Xia Yibing was not very sure. "He gave me a normal feeling... but there were not enough reference examples. After all, he was the first one... But he did not give me that disgusting feeling."
That means Luca’s trust in Moren Shaw was probably right.
Hitzfeld nodded, turned to look at Madeline, staring at her until she felt a little creepy.
Originally, Madeline was brought up to confuse the view and use her identity to muddy the waters... I didn't expect that there would be such a thing as the Blood Oath Bearer, who is directly controlled by the body of the Human King. It is almost impossible to instigate any one of them to rebel.
In other words, Madeline's usefulness was greatly reduced. It was useless to just regard her as a lost Neon person. Ou Jin's own Neon family was not living well - this was the information that Moren Shaw revealed intermittently before he fell into a coma.
"Why are you running so fast?" Luca jumped down the stairs in two steps and looked at Hitzfeld in confusion. "Are you in such a hurry after just putting down your luggage?"
"Otherwise, we still don't even know where the enemy is hiding or what they want to do, and this is entirely your responsibility, Master Luca."
Hitzfeld had reason to complain like this - you, Luca, spent much more time in Oujin than here, and should have had countless opportunities to notice something was wrong, but you didn't start to suspect anything until Agor was stabbed.
This is the territory that Luca and his people should control, but they don't even know whether there are enemies in this territory, how many enemies there are, and what the enemies' purpose is. Isn't this a huge failure?
"You can't blame me for this, dear." Luca frowned and was a little angry. "The monster that controls your Majesty's body... has survived from the ancient war of gods to this day. If you hadn't said it, do you think anyone would have suspected such a thing?"
"To be honest, you didn't trust me at the beginning. You should have confessed what you do in Port Inian so that I could prepare to help you in advance!"
"Oh?" Hitzfeld didn't say anything, but Xia Yibing stared at him and smiled, "Old man... are you sure it was a good thing for me to tell you that?"
Luca reflexively wanted to say of course, but he soon thought of the sudden death of Agor and others, and his body shuddered for no reason.
"Hmm..." He decided to change the subject after hesitating, "Let me think about it. You want to know about Improl. I can tell you about his deeds in detail."
As they stepped out of the door, the scene in front of them changed back to the street. Hitzfeld kept a pace parallel to Luca and listened very carefully, while Xia Yibing's face changed - the disgusting feeling of being spied on appeared again.
Didn't Aisuen feel anything?
She glanced at the girl and keenly noticed her left hand, which was placed on the other side of her body - that hand was clenched tightly.
I think he has the same feeling, but it's not the same as mine.
Yes, she had been very scared and nervous before, saying that she had felt uneasy since she set foot on this land, and she was extremely resistant to basking in the sun, saying that thing was not the sun...
Looking up at the sky, Xia Yibing frowned tightly.
Oujin City was still parked above the Sea King City, and the altitude it maintained was not exaggerated. But even so, a faint sunlight still shone through the clouds, forming a celestial phenomenon similar to the divine light on the sea.
It was as if there were several holes in the sky, with beams of light pouring down from each hole. People walking on the street would occasionally pass through the illuminated area, and every time they were enveloped by the halo, an expression of enjoyment would appear on their faces.
There happened to be such a light area at the door. Xia Yibing turned her head to look at Hitzfeld, and seeing that she didn't glance over here, she bravely reached out and scooped up a handful of light.
Feel nothing.
So we each noticed something that only the other person could notice...
Xia Yibing touched his chin and looked at the girl with a little more depth in his eyes.
Aisuen felt that the light on this land was disgusting, while I felt that there were hidden prying eyes around us, which was a disgusting feeling.
She probably has this feeling because of her identity as a Devourer, and I have this feeling because I can sense the blood hidden in people's bodies.
Is there a connection between these two?
Combined with what she told me before, could it be...
"Did he really appear out of nowhere?" A young girl's question came from the side, waking Xia Yibing from her thoughts.
Turning around, I saw that several people had already boarded the car. Luca was sitting opposite them, looking like he was going to have a good chat with them on the way, while Hitzfeld was standing by the door, gesturing towards them while turning his head to ask the question.
Xia Yibing didn't think too much about it for the time being. She looked back at the headquarters building of the Blood Mage Guild, confirmed that Gu's box was in the room, and pulled the girl into the car.
"I think so." Luca nodded. "In my impression, he has been there since I was very young, as long as I can remember... In Oujin, all those who believe in that path ultimately believe in him."
This should be very dangerous. If this Improl is really a master of the mysterious path, he can use this to guide these beliefs to the mysterious and turn them all into food for the evil god.
But Luca said he had never done that - Ou Jin's calmness lasted for a long time, which seemed to indicate that he did not mean that, that is, he was most likely trustworthy.
“I don’t understand.” Hitzfeld seized on the loophole in Luca’s words. “Since he has been here since you were a child, how can you say he suddenly appeared?”
This is very contradictory. I am afraid that in the eyes of this false Pope, it is you, Luca, who has suddenly risen.
"Because everyone says so!" Luca curled his lips, "This is why I can't see through him!"
After asking carefully, it turned out to be related to Moren Shaw.
Of course, that was Moron Shaw before his body replacement and life extension, that is, the normal Moron Shaw. Luca respected this guide and professional mentor very much. In a conversation with him, he heard him say: "Improl is a bit strange. Your Majesty did not inform us of this matter, but he suddenly appeared in that position and began to guide people's faith. If he had not done anything since he appeared, I would definitely go and ask him clearly."
Moren Shaw lived much longer than Luca. According to Luca, he may be over 300 years old. He should have witnessed the creation of the false Pope.
From then on, Luca became curious about this fake Pope. He went to meet him and also asked other seniors about him. Most of the comments he got were that he was strange, but they couldn't say what was wrong.
"In other words." Hitzfeld narrowed his one eye, "You all think that he is a pawn placed there by the Human King, but none of you have ever gone to her to ask her to admit it in person?"
Is it that exaggerated?
Madeline was shocked when she heard this.
A bit too rough and careless, isn't it?
"Because there is no need." Luca knew what she was doubting and shook his head. "The Bloodsworns have all swallowed the blood species bestowed by His Majesty. To some extent, it can be said that they have the same flesh and blood in their bodies. Therefore, there is a sense of connection between the Bloodsworns. With this sense, they can determine whether the other party is a companion or not."
"Everyone feels that Improl is a standard Bloodsworn who couldn't be more standard, so this question is actually unnecessary."
"To be honest, it's not that no one has asked, but it seems that Her Majesty, who was still conscious at the time, had no intention of answering. So you see - she actually knew that this person existed, but she didn't say he was a liar or anything like that, nor did she ask us to deal with him, so of course we thought he was the person she had planted."
"I personally think there are indeed many mysteries about him." Luca paused and said, "But based on what he has done over the years... they all say he is 'trapped in the light'... the probability that he is a traitor is not very high."
Because he is an ascetic.
He has been guarding the dead temple all the time, guiding the chaotic faith and gradually concentrating it on himself. He never uses it to seek profit or do evil, and even relies on donations for food.
If a guy like this wanted to betray me, he would have done so long ago. There's no need to wait so long.
"Not always."
Hitzfeld frowned and was about to say something when he felt the car suddenly stop shaking.
"Here we are."
Luca stood up happily.
"Can you please stop looking like that?"
"Ou Jin is only this big after all."
Chapter 177 Who Should I Trust
The car was parked in the sun, and the light shone directly in front of the church door. When Hitzfeld jumped out of the car, he was hit by the light.
Suddenly, an indescribable feeling of being spied on, as well as the feeling that her mind and spirit were being invaded by some evil thoughts, came over her. Her body suddenly trembled, and she covered her mouth with her hands and bent over slightly.
Such a big reaction?
Xia Yibing had been paying attention to her reaction. Seeing this, she quickly took off her coat and put it on her head, making sure that her face and the back of her hands were not exposed to the light at all. She stared at the strange gazes of others and was led into the church by Luca.
Of course Luca saw what they did, but he didn't say anything. He just took them to the inner door and took out a silver bone rope in front of a nun and threw it into the donation box.
The nun's face, which had been stern a second ago, suddenly brightened up. She stretched out her hand to signal them to go in, and reminded them as they passed by: "His health is getting worse. You'd better not stay for more than 30 minutes."
Responding with "I will", Luca led them into the main hall first.
The main hall was very large, and the inner walls were made of the same gloomy and dark material as the outer contour, but there were more carvings. Through the torches hanging on the columns, they could see that the walls were densely packed with carvings of people.
Yes - people. There may be a thousand or even ten thousand carvings of people integrated into the wall. They look like their limbs are stuck together, some faces are smiling and some are crying, containing all kinds of faces in the world. It looks extremely strange and mysterious.
It is said that when things reach their extremes, they will turn into their opposites. Madeline found that this made sense. The scale of the wall carvings was too grand. From the base of the wall to the wall surface, and from the wall surface to the ceiling dozens of meters high, they were densely packed everywhere. The weirdness actually revealed a hint of "sacredness".
Hitzfeld's nausea and dizziness improved after she came in. She looked at the decorations here coldly, her eyes moving back and forth among the people who were worshipping and praying, but she didn't say anything more.
"Faith cannot be cut off." Luca said, "We have tried... to cut off the mysterious path in Oujin, and even deceive their cognition so that they only recognize the blood mage profession."
"But even if this temple is dead - as you can see, it is no longer as threatening as the Blood Temple on the ground. There are no high-level professionals of the mysterious path in the entire Oujin, forcing them to retreat to the ground. The problem of faith cannot be solved."
