The male supporting character was actually myself.

“Then I know even less. A while ago, a guy who claimed to be an agent contacted me and said he was ordered to investigate the origins of a bandit group and hoped I could provide more clues. I checked his token and it was indeed for internal church use, so I let him take a picture of the roster.”

His ability to fabricate stories on the spot was clearly superb, and neither Mi Wu nor Li Moran suspected him.

"Could they be someone sent by the Pope?"

"It could also be righteous people who couldn't stand the archbishop's many evil deeds and spontaneously investigated to find the truth."

“That makes sense.” Miwu nodded, deciding it wasn’t a bad thing and stopped thinking about it, then said gloatingly, “The Pope is back, hehe, the archbishop is really going to be in trouble this time!”

Taking the opportunity, Jiang Chen pressed further, "What kind of person is the Pope, exactly?"

"Her?" Miwu tapped her chin thoughtfully with her finger and said, "I think she's a very good person..."

The Pope's office.

"Bang!" A stack of reports was slammed onto the desk. The Pope, who had concealed his true appearance and transformed into an old but dignified man, snorted coldly, his voice deep and serious, "I've only been gone for a few days, and you've already made a huge mess! Go and bring the Archbishop here!"

The subordinates obeyed the order, held their breath, and quickly went down to pay their respects to the Archbishop.

The Pope turned to look at the angry crowd below, frowned slightly, and clicked on the latest video that popped up on his computer screen—the real archbishop was dead, and the current archbishop was just a puppet of an evil god!

In the video, the archbishop trembled all over, and in an instant, long black claws untied his red uniform robe. Under the moonlight, his chest was already rotting, vaguely revealing a stark white skeleton, and his flesh was as pale as paper... Soon he took out a small black skull with horns on its forehead and muttered incantations!

"You shouldn't have summoned me at this time."

"I can't wait... I need the medicine! I need a lot of medicine!"

…………

The video continued, but the Pope's face suddenly darkened as he muttered to himself, "Life-extending magic pill! No wonder the energy imbalances everywhere have been so difficult to resolve lately; it turns out that this terrible forbidden drug has already invaded the human world!"

A hint of murderous intent had crept into her bright eyes, which seemed somewhat out of place with her appearance.

"What should we do? What should we do now?" At the same time, the archbishop paced anxiously back and forth in his room.

The online propaganda had an immediate effect, and the public had surrounded the church headquarters again! They couldn't figure out where things went wrong, or why their trusted confidants' work in a top-secret environment had been recorded and exposed.

The chain of evidence has solidified the relationship between the executor and the gang. The only old man who can keep him in check—the Pope—will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly. Now, there are only two paths before them: either escape with the scroll, or proactively confess and accept punishment.

If we insist on using the magical plants obtained through this method to supply the army of executors, instead of giving them to the army of monsters, I wonder if we can get away with it.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Escape

Will he believe me? What if I can't fool him? Should I run away now?

The archbishop felt extremely agitated; his heart was pounding uncontrollably, and his mind seemed to be a complete mess, devoid of even the most basic judgment!

He trembled all over, his eyes gradually turned bloodshot, and a low, beast-like roar began to emanate from his throat.

"It's flared up again, damn it! Why, in just two days... Did that guy Slor lower the potency of the medicine? Damn it! Is he trying to play dirty tricks on me?" The archbishop didn't have time to think and hurriedly took out a small black bottle from his pocket, poured out the last pill and swallowed it in one gulp.

Before he could even catch his breath, there was a knock on the office door. "Your Excellency Archbishop, the Pope requests your presence."

"Gulp!" Upon hearing the sound outside the door, the archbishop swallowed nervously.

Fortunately, the medicine took effect quickly, and he gradually calmed down, regained his rationality, and quickly figured out his current situation. He already had a solution in mind.

However, just as he was about to respond, the calling magic stone on the table suddenly beeped twice. The archbishop picked it up and immediately turned pale!

The news that was automatically pushed to me online turned out to be the whole process of me contacting Sloan and taking the pill!

"We're doomed! We've been completely exposed this time!" The archbishop felt a chill run down his spine.

If it weren't for that old Pope, I could have easily insisted that it was a fake video, a slanderous attack by an enemy spy, and then turned the tables on him.

Anyway, as long as you still have the power to speak about computer technology, you can slowly whitewash it.

The problem is that Slor broke his promise and failed to deal with the Pope, and that old guy doesn't believe any bullshit excuses!

The crime of secretly contacting and trading with the mysterious lord alone is enough for him to kill him ten times over!

Run! If not now, when?

The archbishop felt he had never been so clear-headed. He casually agreed and then turned to the adjacent treasury to select some precious jewels to fill his spatial bag, so he could run away and hide under an assumed name.

"Holy crap! What's going on?" But when he pushed open the door and saw the almost empty treasure vault, his jaw nearly dropped in shock!

The vast treasury, which had accumulated so much wealth over the past two centuries, now contained only some wooden frames and a marble statue given to it by believers on its centennial anniversary.

At this moment, the lifelike stone statue, the same height as himself, with a kind smile, seemed to be mocking him!

"Broken? How could that be?! Who the hell would dare to steal from the church headquarters?!"

With time running out, the archbishop didn't have time to curse. He hurriedly took out the magic teleportation scrolls he had accumulated from his spatial bag, muttered a few incantations, and then a burst of white light carried him away in the empty treasure vault.

At the same time, a hint of displeasure flashed in the Pope's eyes. "Heh, the old man ran pretty fast! Once you're tainted by the Life-Extending Demon Pill, your life is no longer in your own hands."

"The archbishop ran away?" Miwu opened a crack in the door and cautiously peeked out to prevent the other party from suddenly rushing in. "Shouldn't we tell the priest about this first? He has all sorts of strange and wonderful things, so it will be easier to track him down."

The Pope squinted, his face full of suspicion. "What shady business have you been up to now? You seem guilty!"

“There are wanted criminals hiding inside. If you don’t order the arrest warrant to be lifted, I can’t bear the blame.” As he spoke, he turned around and waved to them, “You two hide inside. The Pope is outside.”

pope:……

Li Moran: ∑(￣□￣;)

Jiang Chen: (；一_一)

What kind of holy son is he? He's just a complete idiot!

She yanked open the door and angrily said, "Stop making a scene! Quickly use your Holy Light Array to search. The Archbishop has ingested the forbidden life-extending elixir from the Abyss. He could go out of control and become a killing machine at any moment. I must find him and eliminate this threat as soon as possible."

Your abilities are the most deeply hidden within the church; the things that the priest, that idiot, researched are no secret at all.

The archbishop could easily evade the priests' search if he wanted to escape, but without knowing your specific abilities, escape won't be so easy.

"What should we do about the mess outside?" Miwu gestured for her to come inside.

Li Moran rose and bowed, "Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope."

"Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope." Jiang Chen nodded perfunctorily.

She glanced at the two of them and sighed, "I'm sorry to have troubled you both. I've already instructed the relevant departments to clean up the mess, and the arrest warrants for you will be withdrawn soon."

The most urgent task now is to track down the archbishop and bring him to justice as soon as possible so that the human world can be temporarily safe.

"Slor's influence doesn't extend to the human world yet, so we don't need to worry about him for now. But this commotion might jeopardize the church's foundation..."

Taking the opportunity, Jiang Chen reminded him, "Has Your Holiness ever considered changing your governing style? I'd like you to understand the core values ​​and basic structure of a socialist country's social system. I wonder if Your Holiness would be interested?"

"What is socialism?" The Pope, clearly unfamiliar with this new term, frowned slightly and waved his hand, saying, "Not yet. We must first resolve the threats to the human world."

First, we must find the archbishop who is on the verge of falling into a high-ranking demon and kill him.

Secondly, we need to find a way to control the chaotic energy; otherwise, even the Holy Light Array of Misty Clouds cannot protect the human world for too long.

Finally, the sinister forces within the abyss began to stir again. They wanted to devour the entire world before the abyss closed; without eliminating this greatest threat, neither the church nor socialism would matter.

Miwu scratched his head with a look of disgust, "Seriously, this is the first time I've used the Holy Light Array as a big data screening tool, and it turns out I'm looking for some old man who's about to die. What bad luck!"

He closed his eyes and focused intently on searching for any suspicious scent;

Other department heads have already begun to mediate and quell the anger of the public;

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jiang Chen pulled the Pope aside to discuss in depth the significance of establishing a science-based socialist state...

"We've found the old guy's hiding place!" It wasn't until mid-afternoon that Miwu opened her eyes, her face showing undisguised exhaustion. "He must have used a teleportation scroll to travel to several places, so the aura surrounding him is very chaotic."

Pointing to the exact location on the map, he earnestly reminded, "The archbishop has more than one spatial bag. Although the internal space of those things varies in size, judging from the archbishop's usual private stash, it is definitely quite substantial. So no matter who you send to arrest him, be extremely cautious!"

"A cornered dog will do the opposite of what's expected, especially since the Archbishop has lost his noble status and is now addicted to the Life-Extending Magic Pill. He's in a desperate situation." Jiang Chen confidently pulled out a teleportation scroll from his spatial storage. "Let's go, Monument Heroes! It's our turn to show our skills!"

Li Moran: ╮(︶﹏︶)╭

Sure enough, the child is weak, pitiful, and unaware of it. What should we do?

Pope:!!(o'?'o)?o????

With such a faint aura of superpowers, how could it be so elusive? Is it possible that they're just trying to promote themselves?

Misty: ...

Forget it, I won't say anything. It's not necessarily a bad thing for a kid to have hidden strength.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Final Chapter (Can Be Slaughtered)

“I’ll go, you stay here.” Li Moran stepped forward and explained, “I can’t attack my own kind, but the Archbishop has fallen to demonic ways and is no match for me. Save your scroll-smashing technique for more prudent situations.”

The Pope rolled his eyes, took out a scroll from his spatial pouch, pointed it at Li Moran, and said, "Let's go together. I'll be the main force and you can be the backup. If the Archbishop doesn't fall into demonhood, you won't be able to use your abilities. If I can't handle it in one go, I'll force him to fall into demonhood, and then you can kill him with one punch."

"Okay!" Li Moran agreed readily.

Jiang Chen glanced at Mi Wu and said, "I want to go take a look too."

"No!" The Pope glared at the Holy Son and said seriously, "This is not a joke. You know how serious it is that I need to take action personally."

Li Moran also firmly opposed it, but Mi Wu shrugged helplessly and said, "If the kid wants to see the world, let him go. At worst, I'll keep watch and make sure there won't be any problems."

The Pope found it strange that this guy had ever shown such favoritism towards anyone, so he didn't stop him.

The group of four, carrying two teleportation scrolls, vanished from the church headquarters in an instant and reappeared in a desolate, uninhabited mountain area.

Meanwhile, the archbishop was pacing anxiously in a cave.

Space bags are rare items, and even though he held a high position, he only managed to accumulate three space bags, each with an internal area of ​​ten square meters.

One of them was filled with all sorts of useful potions and magic scrolls;

One of them was filled with food, water, and daily necessities, just in case;

The other one contained many rare and precious treasures. He wouldn't have bothered to create a treasure vault to store large quantities of gold and silver jewelry if his spatial bag wasn't completely full.

The thought of those treasures that mysteriously disappeared made his heart bleed!

Fortunately, the intelligence he had gathered by cultivating a close relationship with the priests was quite advanced, and he knew that the bookworm couldn't possibly have tracked down his whereabouts in such a short time. Therefore, having successfully escaped from the Pope, he had plenty of time to plan his next move and where to go.

He knew he could never return to Xuan Kingdom; as long as that old, immortal Pope was still alive, he would do everything in his power to hunt him down.

There's no way to ally with Yaonan Kingdom. Although the cooperation was pleasant before, they made their fortune entirely by selling magical plants, and the military power is controlled by capitalists. They never care about martial ethics when it comes to profit, and they might secretly sell you out at any time.

The evil god kingdom is full of lunatics who worship Hapuwang; given my situation, there's no way I could convert to the evil god...

"What should I do? There's no safe place to hide, and I can't rashly summon Slor, but the duration of my attacks is getting shorter and shorter. I feel like I'm just a little bit away from breaking through..." The archbishop forced himself to calm down, feeling the powerful energy surging through his body, and suddenly a new idea popped into his head.