My XX deal with Sister Nero

After a quick meal, Tony came to the prison with his personal guards. According to his request, the warden of the prison took the suspects out of the cell early and took them to the interrogation room.

"You... are the arson suspects?" Tony frowned and looked at the suspects carefully, then touched his chin and asked.

They had wounds on their bodies, but the wounds had already scabbed over. Judging from the color of the scabs... these wounds should not have been left in the past two days.

It seems that what my sister said was right. After receiving my letter, my sister did not persecute these Christians. The wounds on their bodies were probably caused when they were arrested.

But... hundreds of Christians were executed during the arrest process. I'm afraid the Christians have already blamed my sister for this, right?

"Are you the legendary Prince Odney?" A young Christian looked at the kid sitting in front of him with some curiosity and asked.

"Yes, I am Prince Odney. Tell me, why did you set the fire?" Tony sighed. He had been interrogated several times before by various officials including the Roman alcalde and the magistrate. These Christians almost all insisted that they were the ones who did it... Their straightforwardness was beyond the expectations of almost all the officials.

You guys...shouldn't you just grit your teeth and refuse to admit it?

This is refreshing... isn't it poisonous?

"Oh, stupid pagans, this is certainly the punishment bestowed upon you by God!" One of the Christians raised his head high, looking at Tony with disdain, like a people's fighter, and said.

"Is this the punishment bestowed upon us by the Lord?" Tony raised his eyebrows: "You... forget it, I'm too lazy to argue with you fanatics. Since you admit that you did it, I'm too lazy to care about you. Just stay in jail. You... won't live for many days." As he spoke, Tony stood up and shook his head at them, then turned around and left the prison.

Tony's purpose of coming here was not to interrogate anyone. He had only one purpose in coming here as a prison, and that was to send a message to the entire city of Rome. This arson case was now being investigated by this prince, and these Christians would be executed by this prince!

If you have any dissatisfaction, come to me!

After returning to the palace, Tony sighed. The most urgent task was to solve the arson case in Rome, but if we think about the long term...how to solve the problem of Christianity?

As mentioned before, the easiest way is to make Christianity the state religion. A universal empire plus a universal religion is a perfect match, but the problem is... this is impossible under the current context.

Therefore, the only option is to suppress it.

So how should we suppress Christianity?

It is impossible to eradicate Christianity. Even though Christianity has a weak foundation now, it is still an established religion and cannot be eradicated with just a few words.

Well...is there any other way?

"Universal religion, universal religion..." In his study, Tony walked back and forth with a frown on his face. Or... can we create a universal religion to counter Christianity?

You know, there has been a saying of three major religions for two thousand years, referring to the three most widely spread religions, namely Christianity, Christianity and Buddhism. Forget about Christianity, which is a bit dangerous and might bring disaster upon yourself. So...what about Buddhism?

As a universal religion, Buddhism can indeed compete with Christianity, but the problem is that Buddhism is far away in India at the moment. Could it be that when Buddhism's fleet is ready to go to India to import saltpeter, it can also import two monks back at the same time?

Don't do it anyway.

Besides, Buddhism does not engage in production. What if the Roman Empire becomes a Buddhist country in a few years? What is the difference between that and Tibet? Didn’t Tibet lose its national strength due to Buddhism?

So Buddhism in the traditional sense is not acceptable either.

What about Roman polytheism?

It seems... that doesn’t work either?

Although he didn't know the specific reasons why it didn't work, at least Tony understood one thing. After two thousand years, almost all the widely spread religions were not polytheistic religions based on myths and legends. Even Taoism had certain differences from the most primitive Chinese mythology. So although he couldn't point out the specific problems, the fact that none of the popular religions after two thousand years were primitive myths showed one thing: pure mythology would not work at all.

How about trying some educational reform?

Tsk, forget it.

Tony is not a professional religious person, so he cannot handle things like religious reform.

Buddhism cannot be used, Green cannot be used, and I don’t know how to reform religion, so what can I do?

Or maybe just start your own religion? Like the Flying Spaghetti God?

Forget it, this thing is worse than Christianity!

After all, Christianity still believes that the God it believes in is the true God and the others are false gods, while the Flying Pastafarianism directly denies all gods and believes that this world was not created by God.

The world was not created by God. This is basically a common sense concept two thousand years later, but two thousand years ago, this... this was a crazy concept!

Oh, forget it. Religion is not something that can be created in a short period of time. I might as well ask Seneca later. As a famous writer and philosopher in the Roman Empire, Seneca... should be able to give me some ideas, right?

If Nero's previous hunt for Christians was just a minor incident, then Tony's taking over of the hunt for Christians this time was a serious fuss.

The next morning, Tony sent people to post a notice that the dozens of Christians who had been arrested would be hanged on the spot in the central square of the city three days later!

At the same time, Tony also ordered all the governors of Rome to search for as many Christians as possible within their jurisdictions!

Although it is impossible to completely eradicate Christianity, since we are now against Christianity, then... we might as well destroy their organization as much as possible.

However, on the afternoon of the day Tony gave the order, Mary suddenly reported that someone wanted to see Tony.

"Huh? Who wants to see me?" Tony was stunned after hearing Ma Li's report.

Logically speaking, Tony, as a prince, is not someone that anyone can meet. And the only people who can ask someone to tell Tony they want to meet him are... those who are very familiar with him.

"Your Highness, it's... Martha." Mary said with her head lowered.

Hmm? Martha?

Tony sighed. Yes, it was time to deal with the relationship with Martha.

PS: Thanks to "墨白_毒" for the two blades, thank you~

Chapter 421 Martha and Tony

To Tony, Martha...is indeed a very good big sister.

When they first came out of Creekwood Town and headed for Thessaonica, Tony was taken care of by Martha the entire time. In her words, seeing Tony reminded her of her own brother. It was also because of this that, when everyone else was sleeping in the open and could only eat dry food, our sister Ma insisted on taking Tarasque hunting everywhere. They didn't eat rabbits every meal, but at least it was certain that Tony had meat to eat every day along the way.

Later, they arrived in Thessaonica. For the sake of everyone, Martha chose to leave, and the residents of Creekwood Town were rescued. In addition, she had slayed a dragon in Gaul before, so in Tony's opinion, Martha was a well-deserved saint.

But now, Tony had to think carefully about his relationship with this saint.

"...Sister Mary, go tell her that...I will meet her at a villa in the suburbs, and you can take her there and wait." Tony sighed. What is meant to come will eventually come. At least...let him put an end to his relationship with Martha with his own hands!

"Someone, prepare the car. I need to go to a villa in the suburbs."

Although they had already stood on the opposite side of Christianity, it was not known whether it was because St. Peter had been suppressing his subordinates or they did have some concerns. In short, everything was so calm on the road from the palace to the villa in the suburbs.

"younger brother……"

At the gate of the villa in the suburbs, Tony had just stepped off the carriage and his feet hadn't even touched the ground when he heard Martha's somewhat tangled voice coming from the gate.

"Ah... Sister Martha." Tony shook his head as he looked at Martha's conflicted expression. He certainly understood what Martha was struggling with. On the one hand, it was her adopted brother, and on the other hand, it was her own beliefs.

Among the current ruling class of Christianity, Martha is not considered a high-ranking figure. Although in terms of fighting power, no one in the entire Christianity can beat her, but... she does not like to be in charge, so in Christianity, she is considered a relatively detached existence.

But not caring about things is one thing, and whether or not you are a Christian is another.

For the sake of her faith and her companions, Martha had to muster up the courage to find Tony to see if she could persuade him to stop and no longer be an enemy of Christianity.

"Sit down, sister." Tony poured a glass of grape juice for Martha and sat at the table. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "So, what's the matter with Martha looking for me this time?"

"Brother..." Although she knew Tony was asking this question knowing the answer, Martha still asked, "Brother, what do you think of Christianity?"

Oh! Straight ball?

Hearing this question, Tony subconsciously sat up straight, put down the goblet in his hand, looked at Martha and said, "Christianity... To be honest, I don't know much about this religion, so... I can't make a judgment."

How could I not understand...

After hearing what Tony said, a look of pain appeared on Martha's face.

When Tony and Martha first met in Riverwood, Tony talked to Martha about some topics related to Christianity. Yes, Tony did not understand religion, but there were some small stories in the Bible, such as Genesis, Adam and Eve, and the Great Flood.

So in Martha's opinion, Tony knew a lot about Christianity. So much so that when Tony said that he didn't understand Christianity, Martha's first reaction was that this little guy was just trying to fool me.

But... aren't we supposed to be brother and sister? Brother, why are you being so perfunctory to your sister?

After thinking about it, there is only one possibility, that is, Tony no longer intends to recognize me as his sister.

My brother...

Speaking of which, Saralu, Martha's younger brother, is also a poor guy.

When Saralus died of illness, Jesus resurrected him through a miracle. Regardless of whether the resurrection was true or not, the most basic point is that everyone around him believed it, because they saw with their own eyes Saralus die of illness, saw with their own eyes Saralus was buried, and saw with their own eyes Jesus resurrected him, and then... Saralus was hated by the Jews, and was killed by the Jews.

Martha's biological brother has gone to heaven to serve the Lord. On earth, Martha treats Tony as a substitute for Sarah and as her own brother.

But now, this younger brother no longer intends to recognize himself as his sister.

"Brother...you..." Martha opened her mouth and stretched out her hand with some trembling, wanting to touch Tony's head, but...

"Sister..." Although Tony didn't know why a look of pain suddenly appeared on Martha's face, he could probably guess it.

"Sister Martha, I know what you want to say, but I can't help it. This time, you Christians have gone too far."

Tony sighed. As he said before, if you are just preaching, in this empire with open religions, no matter how messed up your Christian doctrine is, as long as you don't violate the imperial laws, the Roman Empire can't do anything to you.

But... the Christians are now setting fire to Rome, which is a violation of the imperial law. All Tony can do is to arrest as many Christians as possible and try to arrest more people than Nero. At the same time... he must also suppress the Christians as much as possible.

"Brother, promise me that I have nothing to say about those arsonists, but, brother, can you promise me that you won't take your anger out on other people, okay?"

"This..." Tony hesitated. The Rome arson case was not just an individual act, but an organized group act. In addition to the several suspects who directly participated in the arson, the Christian group must also be punished!

"Sister, Sister Martha, tell me, how many innocent people are there in this arson case in Christianity? If I'm not mistaken, Simon O'Kefa should know about this arson case, right? According to the intelligence, there are at least hundreds of Christians involved in the arson. How could Simon O'Kefa not know about the mobilization of hundreds of people? And this is out in the open! Sister, tell me, how many of these Christians who are eager for the end of the world to come to Rome are innocent?!"

"This..." Martha opened her mouth but didn't respond.

She couldn't respond to that!

Yes, God has mercy on the world. This is what Christianity preached two thousand years later. However, early Christianity was actually a bit extreme. In the eyes of those fanatics, Rome was the most depraved place in the world and should be burned down. In this context, even if there were innocent Christians at the moment, who could guarantee that these innocent people would not become new fanatics? If they dared to burn Rome today, they would dare to burn other cities tomorrow!

Christianity used this fire to push itself against the Empire, and given Tony's identity, he couldn't be lenient!

Even in front of Martha, Tony could only raise the butcher knife in his hand and chop the Christians' necks fiercely.

Chapter 422 Great...Great Wisdom? !

"Brother..." Martha looked at Tony in pain, "Brother, I...I captured Windykes for you. Is this considered a meritorious service? Brother, can you spare the lives of those innocent people for my meritorious service to the Roman Empire?"

...Tony pursed his lips and said nothing.

Yes, Martha did make contributions to the Roman Empire. She single-handedly put down the Gallic rebellion and forced Galba not to move. To a certain extent, she did make great contributions to the rule of the Roman Empire. To a certain extent, she was indeed qualified to use this merit to offset any sins, but... she could not offset the sins committed by Christianity this time.

but……

"If there are truly innocent people, I will let them go, but I will not show mercy to those who participated in it either." Tony stood up and sighed, "Sister Martha, this is all I can do."

"...Thank you." Hearing Tony's promise, Martha felt relieved. Although she wanted to save everyone, she also knew that it was impossible, so...try to save all those innocent people.

"We've never said thank you before, brother and sister." Tony said with a very forced smile.

"Yeah." Having gotten rid of a worry, Martha felt relieved. After chatting with Tony for a few words, she left the villa.

"Your Highness..." After Martha left the villa, Mary came up to Tony and said, "Your Highness, are you really planning to..."

"If there are really innocent people, we should let them go for both emotional and logical reasons." Tony sighed, as if trying to convince himself: "As for Christianity, we can either destroy all their book transactions and eliminate all their believers, or we can only eliminate their fanatics and support a force loyal to us to divide them from within... These innocent people are suitable for dividing them."

But having said that, water is innocent? Who can guarantee that these innocent people will remain innocent in the future?

Tony was conflicted.

But no matter how much you worry about it, you still have to do what you have to do.

After settling all the victims and starting to help them rebuild their homes in other areas, under Tony's orders, the Guards once again raised their butcher knives and searched the entire city for Christians headed by Simon o Cephas!

This time is different from Nero’s previous pursuit. This time, Tony goes with the intention of destroying Christianity!

In just two days, hundreds of Christians were taken to the suburbs under Tony's orders and hanged in a grove.

"Boss...that Tony...is a bit violent." In a small hotel, Xiao Changtian was sitting on the bed, looking out the window bored, and suddenly spoke.

Hundreds of people were killed in just two days. Even Xiao Changtian was a little scared at this speed.

"I'm afraid Tony is planning to take the blame for Nero." Hearing Xiao Changtian's words, Rosa said while trimming his fingernails leisurely: "According to history, because Christians set fire to Rome, Nero had to order the massacre of Christians. It was also because of this action that after Christianity ruled Europe and gained the right to speak, they began to persecute Nero frantically."

At this point, Rosa paused before continuing, "According to the original historical process, the Great Fire of Rome occurred in 55 AD, so Tony always thought he had enough time to argue with Christianity. However, he didn't expect that in the summer of AD, the Christians set the fire ahead of time and caught Tony off guard. Now, he can only take the blame for Nero, and he may even want to take the opportunity to suppress Christianity."

"Interesting..." Xiao Changtian touched his chin and murmured, "However, as one of the three major religions in the world, Christianity is not so easy to solve, right?"

"That's right." Rosa blew on his fingers gently: "So next, it depends on how this little kid performs."

Just as Xiao Changtian said, Christianity is not that easy to solve.

"You want to create a new religion to fight against Christianity?" In the study room of Seneca's house, after listening to Tony's narration, Seneca subconsciously frowned.

"Yes, Mr. Seneca." Tony nodded.

"Christianity..." Although I don't quite understand why His Highness would attack such a weak religion, but... since His Highness wants to establish a religion, why not...

"Your Highness should have heard of a school of philosophy, right? The Stoic school." After a long silence, Seneca suddenly spoke.