Overturned Tower

In the end, the Pope's "promotion" did not fully agree to Russell's invitation.

This is considered normal.

It would be better to say... if he defected to Russell immediately, Russell would doubt his sincerity.

That was an obsession that lasted for more than a hundred years.

He used the highest-level "divine descending device" to brainwash himself, and transformed himself into a digital life similar to a monkey-faced eagle. How could a person who had twisted his life to such an extent believe that Russell had a better solution to everything and immediately shelve his plan just because of Russell's words?

Even Russell himself did not expect to make the Pope an immediate friend.

What he really wants to do is to tell the other party the secrets...the knowledge about the "Twilight Egg", about the "Dragon", and about the "Grey Dome".

This is knowledge that His Holiness the Pope did not understand before determining his own “salvation plan”.

He knows many secrets, but whether it is "spiritual relatives", "original psychic energy", "twilight", or "the elves' plans", he only knows part of them. Precisely because every link was slightly wrong, the accumulation of these errors made his plan less feasible than the elves.

Russell didn't have to do anything at all.

He doesn't need to defeat the opponent, nor does he need to kidnap and extort. There is no need to scream and talk... He only needs to calmly and clearly fill in the missing part of the truth of the other party, and he can directly disintegrate all the efforts made by "His Holiness the Pope" so far.

Because the truth itself is powerful.

This Pope indeed has extraordinary confidence and courage - he always prioritizes using the technology he has just completed on himself instead of looking for consumables for experiments. Without enough confidence and courage, it is absolutely impossible to do this.

And from this behavior alone, Russell can taste the underlying behavioral logic of "promotion" and his character.

——This old pope should actually be a lonely person.

He originally invented the divine descending device, not because he wanted to use this technology to fight against mages. It was because he realized that something seemed wrong with the "god" the church believed in.

It can be said that "Father Andrew" back then was quite strong. He was not even a bishop at that time, just an ordinary priest. And he even dared to raise the topic of "exploring the nature of the power of Holy Orders", using the bones and souls of saints as materials to modify human personality and will——

The church at that time was not yet called the Cyber ​​Church, and it did not have the ultimate goal of “cyber eternal life”. They are really the old, conservative church group.

Andrew's behavior is no longer "touching a taboo" in the ordinary sense. It can even be said that he was lucky enough not to die.

The fact that he could tinker with this technology alone shows that he probably doesn't have any friends, and even the final test product can only be used by himself. And after this thing was made, he went directly to the Pope at the time... This shows that he has no emotional intelligence at all.

This is obviously because Andrew is very simple - he believes that this is the truth about the power of Holy Order, and he feels that his research is completely correct, so he has no fear and does not even find a backstage or agent.

In order to prevent anyone from interfering with it or stealing his research, Andrew didn't even leave any backup, and went directly to the highest-level person in charge.

That is to say, the pope of that generation was enlightened enough, and the pressure from the mages at that time was strong enough, otherwise Andrew would never be alive today.

Later, after the death of the Pope, Andrew, as a hero, became the Pope. But he has never let go after more than a hundred years - this is not because he has a strong enough desire for power, but because he does not allow the church to be distorted in the slightest.

Changing the pope is a very normal situation, and the changes in attitudes and operational strategies brought about by the change of the pope are also very reasonable.

Because the Cyber ​​Church is always an organization... As an organization, it is normal for it to constantly adjust to the changes of the times. Even when he was the pope, it was very normal for his personality and methods to change with the changes of time.

However, Andrew did not allow anything to change.

He even used the divine descending device he invented to brainwash himself to maintain the purity of his position and to keep the Cyber ​​Church unchanged for hundreds of years.

He has an urgent desire to change the world, and he has a sufficiently superior talent... But he did not use this ability to climb up and become an elf. Instead, he conducted long experiments and research alone. And after he finally got the results, there was still no one around him.

This is precisely because of his paranoia.

He does not believe that others can inherit the Cyber ​​Church and make it better. After all, someone who has only lived for a few decades is definitely not as wise and experienced as someone who has lived for more than a hundred years.

And this kind of arrogance and self-confidence is actually not fundamentally different from that of an elf...it's just that his body is not that of an elf.

He is like an ascetic.

Wearing thin linen, walking barefoot in the hot wind blowing in the desert. He was delighted to see the skin and flesh all over his body bursting open and the flesh drying up, and he regarded this as a perfect sublimation of himself. He regarded the pain he endured as sacred.

Just as he has ruled the highest-level organization on the Seven Islands for more than a hundred years, he has not been corrupted at all... The serious work without a day off for more than a hundred years is his penance.

The self-torture made him stronger and unwilling to search for "the deeper truth."

His pride and suspicion made him unwilling to cooperate with anyone, so he did not have any comrades.

"——From this perspective, rather than saying that you are pursuing the path of salvation, it is better to say that you just 'want to walk on the path of salvation'."

After telling those secrets, while the Pope was silent and thinking, Russell revealed all his psychological analysis of the Pope: "Because you don't want to think too much. You just want to do it...you will sacrifice Treat it as sacred, and regard asceticism itself as a reward.

"You don't want the 'best' outcome for everyone. You just want to complete a sacred self-sacrifice... From this point of view, you were not a qualified pope from the beginning. You are still The 'Father Andrew' back then was the saint who followed the path of salvation and wore the crown of 'Saviour'."

"...You may be right."

After a long silence, "Zhang Sheng" nodded slowly.

He frowned, with a solemn expression: "But I have to verify whether what you said is correct... [Egg of Dusk]. Even if everything you said is correct, it does not mean that there is nothing in your words. hide.

"Sometimes, you don't need lies to deceive people. It's just that the truth without certain key information is more deceptive. Not to mention...your identity prevents me from completely trusting you."

There was a strong hesitation in the Pope's words.

But when Russell heard it, he just smiled.

Because he knows... His Holiness the Pope has been shaken.

He didn’t even hide his plan, but spoke it all out calmly: “You can say this, which means you will eventually come to our side.

"Because what you are pursuing is the sacred path of self-sacrifice. You have also sought the truth, but you stopped after seeking this step... Why? Because until here, you only need to complete the 'sacrifice' Save the world, so you don't need other truths.

"The [Cyber ​​Immortality] Plan - put all human souls into machines, digitize them, make people lose their bodies, and therefore their emotions and personalities, so that the 'Dream' can no longer be tracked; and gather all human souls Able to reassemble the 'God of the World', to obtain the original spiritual energy like a perpetual motion machine, to push the dragon boat to the universe.

"But have you ever considered? After digitization, are the 'human souls' stored in the disk really unaffected by dreams? After everyone's dreams go offline, will the polluted ancient gods sealed in the dream world be affected? Will he be reborn?

"Have the elves really not considered your plan? Even if we survive the twilight crisis, how can you ensure that humans can still find and safely reach a new planet? Even if we arrive at a new planet, how can we rebuild our home and revive civilization? ? After leaving the earth, are we really safe? Will there be a new crisis in the universe? Will the elves fall? Will there be a war between the elves? Will the disk storing the human spirit go wrong? Piece it together Is the new god under control? Will it also be contaminated by dreams?"

Russell mentioned so many loopholes in one breath, and then looked at the old man.

He said calmly: "You may have considered it, but you ignored it.

"——Because you are afraid. You are afraid that if you continue to search for the truth, you will be in despair after finding all the truth. Because you are afraid that you will not be able to change all the mistakes and overcome all the crises with your own strength. But you don't You are willing to believe others...so your search for the truth suddenly stops at this moment.

"This is not bravery, Your Holiness. This is cowardice.

"This is an act of escape - the great wisdom gained from ascetic practice cannot purify the world. You are just using external pain to cover up the inner confusion."

"……maybe."

The Pope responded simply.

He was silent for a while, and then added: "But there is only one thing... It's not that I don't want to trust others.

"The accumulated wisdom of the group may stand above the group. But it may also be the accumulation of more mistakes... Children of your era have not read history. In history, ancient humans made various mistakes Self-healing behaviors are carried out through the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest.

"Even if time is extended indefinitely, the wisdom of the crowd is by no means the first choice. At best, it can only say, 'This will not be the worst result.' But what we need must be 'the best' ', even if it's just a little short, it will cause huge losses. Because there is only one chance for the 'final trial', this is not like a game, you can load the file if you choose the wrong one.

"Because of this, I can't trust others. Because I already know clearly that they can't make the best choice. Then I would rather trust myself-"

"But you yourself still can't make the best choice."

"Yes."

"So, you are just deceiving yourself... You have been indulging in the 'dream' for a long time. You sit and watch the world, like a train that has gone off the rails, heading into the abyss."

Russell's eyes were meaningful: "Perhaps you have been contaminated by fantasy for a long time?"

Hearing this, the Pope suddenly raised his head and looked directly at Russell.

As if he realized something, his pupils suddenly shrank and he trembled violently.

"Change the subject."

Russell chuckled, and his tone gradually became no longer respectful, but became equal to the status of the Pope: "If you keep talking, I may accidentally kill you.

“I don’t want you to die here… Let’s talk about werewolves.

"You just made it very clear that the purpose of the werewolves is to carry out 'iconoclasm'... I am not talking about the iconoclasm in the news. It is just a warning and warning you issued to the company.

“What you really have to do is arouse a sense of resistance in people’s hearts. Companies have tamed humans and made them anesthetized without knowing fear... What you have to do is make people clearly aware that the end is coming.

"But you don't want people to overthrow the company and bring chaos; nor do you want people to break away from the company's rule and start carnival-like autonomy in the coming apocalypse. There is no great cause in your behavior... You just I just hope that people can use their own blood to wear down the authority of the head office and pollute the peace they whitewash.

"What you want is for the church to be the 'savior,' right?"

"……Roughly the same."

The Pope sighed and blurred for a moment.

He finally turned into Lycaon again, sitting in his seat dejectedly: "I thought what I did was right..."

"There is no right or wrong in this world, Lycaon."

Russell defeated the longest-lived "human being" in the world with just words, but Russell was not proud at all.

His gaze could even be described as "gentle".

"Do you really think that the head office knows nothing about the 'Werewolf Project'?"

Russell asked rhetorically.

Hearing this, Lycaon raised his head in shock: "You mean... no, it is indeed possible..."

"Yes. Sogo Island is not ruled by a board of directors, but by the Three Sages.

"So, if the three sages knew about the werewolf plan... what would their attitude be?

"The answer is simple. It's 'real,' but it's not beautiful.

“He’s asking people to seek the truth and distorting the lies that companies have constructed. But it’s missing order and it’s bound to lead to chaos.

"Then the question now is, is it good? If it is good, then it will be supported by the three sages, otherwise it will be opposed by them."

Russell meaningfully said what Alice once said: "'You can give them your love, but not your thoughts, because they have their own thoughts; you can protect their bodies, but not their souls.' .For their souls dwell in the House of Tomorrow, a place you cannot visit even in your dreams.'

"Do you understand? In fact, you are only one step away from the support of the three sages. Because you subconsciously modified their personalities and transformed their memories. Just like you created angels... you don't think What's wrong with this, just like you ordering the church to remain pure because you think that the sacrifices you can make, others should also be able to make.

"The mistake of the 'Werewolf Project' is just like you who only know part of the truth - it's always just a little, just one step away.

"At this point, you will be able to obtain salvation; at this point, you will be able to feel happy. But just a little bit... you will be able to obtain victory. But you stopped at the door of victory. After receiving comfort, you will not Move forward again.

"'Only a little bit' Your Excellency... Do you understand now? Where did you fail, and why did I win?"

I just finished it with 200 words left, but the word count is more than 4k, so I uploaded it directly. After uploading, Mao added another 200 words. If you see that the end of a chapter doesn’t quite feel like the ending, you can refresh the chapter~

Thanks Zeze for the reward! Thank you so much! ! The key supplies for cats when they are almost out of rice——

Then a chapter recommendation for a friend: "The Humanoid Blueprint Project"

After traveling through time, it makes sense to summon a humanoid to protect yourself because you are afraid of death, right? Because beautiful things make people happy physically and mentally, and because the world is a bit chaotic, it makes sense to summon more humanoids to help farm.

Finally, I report on my physical condition: today’s lowest blood oxygen level finally rose to over 90, and then I started taking ambroxol hydrochloride. I didn’t suffocate when I went to bed last night, and I haven’t had difficulty breathing for two consecutive days!

It feels like I survived, it’s not easy...