Man on the ark, forced to become king

As he said, upon hearing that His Holiness the Pope needed a quiet room for conversation, the owner of the pastry shop, Liboli, was very happy to offer up his own house located at the back of the shop.

For him, it would be a good thing if His Holiness the Pope could stay here longer, as it would bring more publicity.

……

“My child, I am so happy to see you like this.”

In the quiet living room, even the knights who were with him were left outside. The Pope unceremoniously took two cans of juice from the host's refrigerator and smiled as he took the initiative to speak.

“I can feel the life energy surging within you, warm and pure… It seems you have found your own light and are no longer wallowing in the past, which is a good thing.”

"I heard that you've been staying at the sanatorium to treat Remy, and her recovery is going much faster than the doctors expected. That's good; everything is moving in a positive direction."

"We old folks are very happy to see you get out of the shadows and grow."

"You're probably celebrating too soon."

Mostima said something so quiet that the Pope's hand, holding the juice, froze in mid-air.

What's wrong with this child? He wasn't like this before, was he?

That's incredibly bad at conversation...

The Pope inwardly grumbled, placed the juice on the coffee table, adjusted his glasses, and decided not to continue the topic. He said seriously, "So, what do you want to tell me?"

"You know, right? Fiameta and I joined an organization outside of the major countries, and she should have written a report about it."

"That child did write a report, but..."

Recalling that rambling, vague 'report,' the Pope was both amused and exasperated; he had personally reviewed it.

"Her report contains no valuable information at all. We still don't know what organization you've joined, but that doesn't matter, does it? Wherever you go is your freedom, and we old folks won't interfere."

"No, in fact, what I'm about to say is related to this."

Mostima didn't know what was written in Fiameta's report.

However, bound by the Golden Law, she couldn't leak information even if she wanted to, as evidenced by the Pope's attitude; Lateran remained completely unaware of the Golden Tree.

Therefore, she felt it necessary to explain the specific situation of the Golden Tree first. Thanks to the outbreak of the war, the ban imposed on them had been relaxed a lot, and a lot of information could be shared. In addition, the leaf that Lin Lu sent also suggested that she contact the higher-ups in Lateran first.

“Our organization is called the Golden Tree, and the spell I used to heal Remian is one of the Golden Tree’s signature powers.”

"Before returning to Laterano, we lived at the Golden Tree Post for a while. In some ways, it was similar to Laterano, with a system called the 'Golden Law' that governed it. There was no oppression, no discrimination, no illness or suffering. Everyone had their place and could choose what they liked to do."

"It sounds like a nice place. If it's really as you say, then the Golden Tree is even better than Lateran, like a legendary holy land."

Upon hearing the 'Golden Law', the Pope's eyes narrowed slightly behind his glasses, and he smiled in admiration.

He didn't think Mostima had any reason to deceive him on such a matter, meaning that a place remarkably similar to Lateran had indeed appeared on this land.

Moreover, unlike Laterano, whose laws cannot be applied to races other than Fuzesakota, the laws of the Golden Tree can be shared with Mostima and Fiameta.

Perhaps Lateran and Golden Tree could cooperate to some extent?

"The area at the foot of the Great Golden Tree can indeed be called a paradise on earth, but the situation is different now. There are many powerful people inside the Golden Tree, and each of them possesses extremely powerful strength. They can even rival a moving city with their individual strength."

"The leader of the Golden Tree wants to spread the Golden Law across the land and bring all nations under its control. Therefore, he launched a war, with Ursus and Columbia being the primary targets, and Lateran being the second."

"Spread the law across the land, war..."

The Pope's expression turned serious. He met Mostima's gaze and said in a deep voice, "So, you've come to me not to act as an advocate for the Golden Tree, but to prepare Lateran for war?"

"In fact, I was just a messenger responsible for delivering messages."

Mostima shook his head with a wry smile, quite frankly: "What I'm telling you, and what I'm about to say, is all at the behest of the leader of the Golden Tree."

"He will arrive in Lateran soon and bring Lateran under the rule of the Golden Tree."

"He said that he wanted to inform Lateran about this in advance so that Lateran would have time to prepare."

"Gold will surely bloom in the land of Lateran, and whether war will come depends on our choices."

"If Lateran needs more time to assemble his army, he is willing to wait and then attack us head-on once we are ready."

"The premise is that Lateran cannot ask other countries for help, otherwise he will take direct action and cut off all hope."

"I think I understand."

The Pope nodded slowly, showing no anger at Mostima's offensive words.

"A war? A fair and square challenge, arrogant and confident."

Chapter 8 Lateran's art style is unique.

"Arrogance? Perhaps."

Based on Mostima's understanding of Lin Lu, his actions might not necessarily be the arrogance the Pope perceived.

On the contrary, this should be a manifestation of respect.

Think about it, what methods did Golden Tree use against other countries?

In Ursus, they colluded with the high nobles from within and without, supported rebellious forces within the country, set up bait and traps to weaken the power of the high nobles, used the Originium Scourge to divide and annex their domestic armies, secretly contacted the border guards that were not under the control of the imperial authority, hired assassins to assassinate the powerful upper-class nobles, and ignited the situation, causing many nobles in Ursus to be granted fiefdoms and become kings. Now it can be said that the whole country is in chaos.

In Colombia, by targeting its large domestic companies, Rhine Labs, a company with a significant position in the scientific research field, was wiped out overnight. Taking advantage of the business chaos caused by Rhine Labs' collapse, agents were planted in other companies to incite Kazdel to declare war on Colombia, putting Colombia under international pressure. In the end, a surprise attack was launched without a declaration of war, helping Kazdel to complete the surprise attack.

Those methods have absolutely nothing to do with the word 'glory'.

What about Laterano?

Here, Lin Lu not only issued a notice to Lateran in advance, but also took the initiative to cooperate, giving Lateran ample time to prepare. After the preparations were completed, they launched a fair and square attack from the front. The whole process was aboveboard, without using any underhanded means or any conspiracies.

If this isn't respect, then what is?

Compared to Colombia and Ursus, Laterano is already quite prestigious.

However, Mostima only thought these things to himself and did not say them to the Pope.

Her current situation is rather awkward. She is both an operator of the Golden Tree and a citizen of Laterano. On one side is her homeland, and on the other is the country she is currently serving. If war breaks out between the two sides, it would be wrong for her to side with either side.

Besides remaining neutral, whatever she did would be wrong to the other side—in fact, even remaining neutral was, upon closer examination, a betrayal, but she had no other choice.

The Pope considered those remarks arrogant, and she couldn't explain them, otherwise she would be suspected of favoring the Golden Tree.

"So, what's your stance, child?"

After a moment's thought, the Pope picked up his juice, took a sip, and calmly asked the question.

Even after learning that war was imminent, he remained calm and composed as always, without any panic.

"I... I'm sorry, Your Holiness, the only thing I can do is remain neutral. I will not attack my own people for the sake of the Golden Tree, nor will I help Lateran participate in the war against the Golden Tree."

Mostima lowered her head slightly, looking somewhat ashamed. She didn't want to give this answer, but it was her only option.

“There’s no need to apologize, child. This is already good enough. At least, when war came, you didn’t choose to turn your weapons against your own people.”

The Pope was not surprised by Mostima's answer. He had been in the papacy for far too long, had seen countless people and events, and had led Lateran through many crises.

War is indeed uncommon in Lateran, but it has happened before.

Compared to those citizens who betrayed Lateran for various reasons, Mostima's ability to choose to remain neutral is far superior; we cannot ask for more.

The arrival of the war itself had nothing to do with Mostima, and he would not make things difficult for a young child by forcing her to make a choice.

"The holy city of Lateran is a pure land on earth, a paradise where we live in peace."

"We have never liked war, but we will never be afraid if an enemy tries to invade this pure land."

"Please convey my message to the leader: Lateran accepts this challenge."

"I will, Your Holiness the Pope."

Mostima nodded slightly, his lips trembling. After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help but whisper a reminder: "Your Majesty, if you intend to fight, you'd better take his...admonition to heart and not ask other countries for help. Otherwise, he might really attack Lateran directly, which would be a devastating disaster."

“I will remember your advice, my child.”

The Pope nodded slightly, but Mostima didn't know whether he had truly taken it to heart.

That's all she can say and do.

All that remains is to hope that the Pope and the cardinals will truly heed the advice and not make an irrational choice.

Lin Lu left Laterano with a choice, and she will also faithfully fulfill her promise.

If Lateran goes against his wishes and seeks aid from other continental nations, then the holy city will face an unprecedented crisis.

Without witnessing Lin Lu's power firsthand, it's impossible to imagine what it would look like.

That was a truly immense force capable of moving mountains and filling seas, comparable to, or even surpassing, the pure destruction of large-scale natural disasters. If it were to fall on a city, the entire urban area would evaporate in an instant. Even an ancient holy city would likely be unable to withstand it.

"Go, go take care of Remian. There may be a relocation of people in the city later. She hasn't recovered yet and needs your help."

"Yes."

Mostima bowed again and left the room.

She has said all she could say; that's all she has to say. The rest is up to time to provide the answer.

"War..."

There was only one person left in the room. He finished the rest of his juice in one gulp, took off his glasses, took out a cloth from his pocket and gently wiped his eyes, his gaze dark.

This word has not appeared in Lateran for a long time.

Perhaps this will be a tough test.