Chapter 65: Behind-the-Scenes Communication
On the rooftop, Appius had put away his smile, his gaze returning to the distant horizon, once again entering a state of cold, rigorous, rational calculation.
The addition of Undead Phantom Sword undoubtedly increased the certainty of his plan.
However, a politician couldn’t rely solely on probability. Even with a 99% chance of success, there was still a 1% risk of complete failure.
As the city lord, he had to make good use of every card in his hand.
He took out his phone and dialed a special number. The phone signal went up through the atmosphere, reached the Church’s space-based communication base station satellite, and then, after special transcoding and encryption, descended again to Solomon City on the Apennine Peninsula.
Inside the Sistine Chapel, a slender hand answered the phone.
“City Lord Appius.”
“Pope Innocent.”
“Your Crusaders are causing me some trouble.”
“Are they? The Church has already anticipated this. They shouldn’t be able to harm your Olympia.”
“Even so, the nightly shelling is still annoying, especially when we are also preparing for the magic tide.”
“I understand. You are requesting aid from the Church.”
“The Church desires to negotiate, hence this call. The mortar fire is merely a nuisance; the matter we are about to discuss is the key.”
“Indeed. What kind of aid does Olympia require?”
“Space-based tactical nuclear warheads.”
The Pope’s voice on the other end paused. “Leviathan?”
“Has the Church not detected the enormous life signal at the bottom of the Aegean Sea? I assumed you were monitoring the entire world at all times.”
“Of course. That is precisely why I am concerned. Raphael has over 300 processes monitoring that Leviathan. We believe it is unlikely to awaken in the near future.”
“Can the Church guarantee with 100% certainty that it will not be awakened by the coming magic tide?”
“No. The term ‘100%’ does not exist in science. It is only used in theological propaganda.”
“Your seamless switching between science and theology is astonishing, but I am not a foolish, ignorant believer.” Appius said in a deep voice, “I am a politician, not a scientific researcher. As long as there is a greater than 50% possibility, a scientific researcher might believe it will happen based on mathematical expectation.”
“However, even with a 99% chance of success, a politician must eliminate the remaining 1% of potential risk.”
“Even if it means incurring additional costs in the negotiation?” Innocent chuckled. “Very well, after all, this poses no disadvantage to the Church.”
“What is your asking price?”
“We demand that Olympia sever all ties with Emperor Otto, including recalling all Transcendents within the Holy Roman Empire.”
“You should understand that Olympia does not hold the same transcendent position in the supernatural world as the Church does in the scientific world. I can promise to do so, but please do not harbor any unnecessary expectations.”
“Naturally. However, the Crusader mortar attacks will continue. This will help exacerbate the hostility between your forces and Emperor Otto.”
“As it will for the Church.”
“The Church cares not for worldly hostility.” Innocent said indifferently. “The Church’s sole focus has always been the Antichrist.”
“By Antichrist, do you mean Chaos?”
“That is the broader definition. You may understand it as such.”
“That does not explain your vigilance and apprehension towards Otto.”
“Then allow me to offer a less rigorous but more easily understood explanation.” Innocent carefully chose his words. “Emperor Otto is destined to be defeated in the coming war, just as the Crusaders are destined to be defeated in the upcoming battle.”
“However, Olympia’s concern has never been the Crusaders, and the Church’s concern is not Emperor Otto, but the Chaos lurking behind these events.”
“You preach that your supercomputer can calculate everything, so how can Chaos exist?” Appius asked coldly.
“Raphael was never created to calculate everything. Infinite information requires infinite energy to acquire, which is considered scientifically unfeasible.”
“Unfeasible? I believe it is impossible.”
“You see, this is the difference between Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.” Innocent sneered. “Although we both believe in science, we firmly believe that the laws of all things in the world can be understood, while you Orthodox believers are almost all agnostic.”
“Once trapped in the pitfall of agnosticism, your faith in science will waver, and you will succumb to the mysterious and the unknown.”
“It was your Church that first raised the banner of theology.” Appius said calmly.
“We disguised ourselves in order to maintain order, and reality has proven that this is feasible. What about you?”
“The original definition of the Antichrist is ‘mortal becoming god.’ The upgrade and advancement that you Transcendents yearn for will inevitably lead only to becoming a god.”
“However, this path has been proven to be a dead end, reaching its end means losing one’s sanity. Are there not enough demigods beneath Hippocrates University who tried to become gods but ended up insane? Why not show them to your Transcendents?”
“They voluntarily chose this path; everyone should have the right to choose.” Appius said.
“People can be responsible for the consequences of their choices, but who will be responsible for the destruction of human civilization?” Innocent’s tone became stern. “Constantinople has fallen. How much further do you intend to wander down this dead end?”
“With the magic tide imminent, shouldn’t the Church focus on Solomon City first?” Appius didn’t mention the fact that it was the Crusaders who conquered Constantinople, but simply changed the subject indifferently.
“We are prepared.” Innocent said coldly. “As for Olympia, as a condition of this exchange, we will provide two space-based neutron bombs, should Leviathan truly awaken.”
Silence fell on the communication channel.
Almost every exchange between the Eastern and Western Churches would erupt into arguments about differences in faith. The West believed that the East was playing with fire, while the East believed that the West was too conservative. There was no possibility of mutual understanding between the two sides in the short term.
Yet they could still reach an agreement on matters of interest; this had almost become a tacit understanding between the two sides.
“Where does the hour hand of Giotto’s Bell point now?” Appius asked.
“Six o’clock.” Innocent replied. “After the next magic tide arrives, it is expected to reach 6:30.”
Giotto’s Bell, a famous bell tower located at the Church headquarters, only had an hour hand on its clock face.
According to the Book of Revelation, once the hour hand reached 12 o’clock, a terrifying apocalyptic punishment would arrive. Therefore, there were always groups of believers piously prostrating themselves in prayer beneath the Giotto bell tower.
However, Appius knew that the hour hand of that clock wasn’t moved by the invisible hand of God, but controlled by the super artificial intelligence “Raphael.”
The countdown wasn’t for the world, but for technological civilization.
The closer it got to 12 o’clock, the closer technological civilization was to collapse, and the Church’s actions would become correspondingly more drastic.
“At least our goals are aligned.” Appius said.
“At least for now,” came the reply from the other side.
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