Captain – Chapter 425 – The Absurd Pope

After Anderson was taken away by his father, Roy, having explained her intentions, led hundreds of pirates to follow the old butler into the city.

Her request to the old butler was for a place large enough to accommodate these people, preferably without outsiders, where quiet could be guaranteed.

According to the polite old man, the young woman’s first condition was easy to fulfill. In this immensely prosperous stronghold of a city, there were quite a few buildings that could hold thousands of people.

As for quiet…

Before the power of the Anderson family, even a theater located in the city center, bustling with people day and night, could become as desolate as if frozen in ice.

So after notifying a servant, the old butler led everyone eastward without any hesitation, quickly arriving at the end of the shoreline, before a magnificent, splendid chapel.

After making a “please” gesture, the old man gracefully took his leave.

Recalling what the old butler had said on the way to the chapel—that in this enormous city, any randomly chosen person could direct you to an Anderson family business point—Roy didn’t try to detain him.

“Alright, let’s all go in,” she said.

With a wave of her hand, the captain took the lead, stepping into the chapel.

The luxury they witnessed along the way made the pirates—who had seen Solomon’s treasure and whose horizons had already expanded—involuntarily open their mouths in shock. Exclamations of admiration and gasps of surprise were continuous.

Not to mention the walls and pillars that seemed entirely plated with gold, just the exquisitely beautiful bas-reliefs carved on them and the paintings by famous contemporary masters hanging there must have cost an astronomical sum.

And such golden paths were not unique; looking around, almost the entire interior of the interconnected chapel was colored in gold.

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It was as if it had been carved from a mountain of gold.

“Whew, this is truly extravagant,” Roy couldn’t help but exclaim when they reached the third intersection of corridors, discovering that the bas-reliefs carved on the corridor pillars still showed no repetition, and the paintings hanging on the walls were each more precious than the last.

“However…” Looking around at the scenery on all sides, Roy walked forward while pinching her chin, murmuring, “Can this really be considered a chapel?”

According to the Holy Church’s regulations, gold, silver, jewels, and such items generally couldn’t enter sacred places. Even in the largest cathedral under Auran regulations, the materials used and decorations had not a hint of worldliness.

Although there were many religions in the world besides the Holy Church that worshiped other deities, even if they didn’t advocate asceticism, they wouldn’t pursue external objects like gold and silver without any restraint.

“Of course, miss, this is the most genuine parish,” said a middle-aged man dressed as a bishop who approached them from the front at some point. However, the religious robe he wore was also the color of blazing gold.

Along the way, Roy hadn’t encountered anyone, presumably due to the arrangements of the old butler. Even deep inside, there were no believers in sight. She wondered what this middle-aged man’s situation was.

Upon meeting them, the middle-aged man stuck to the group like glue, though his corpulent physique left him slightly short of breath.

“And you are?” Although there was the face of the Anderson family to consider, this was still someone else’s place, so Roy wasn’t unreasonable enough to drive him away. She merely glanced sideways at the middle-aged man walking beside her and asked with slight confusion.

“Oh, I am the founder of this chapel, and also the current Pope of the Golden Religion. You may call me Congrieve.”

Upon first hearing the word “Pope,” Roy’s eye twitched involuntarily, and exclamations of surprise came from the pirates behind her.

Pope—this was truly a transcendent title. Throughout the world, it was on par with emperors of various countries, and even had an implicit superiority.

Just like the current Pope of the Holy Church, though he always treated people with kindness and benevolence, never interfering in political affairs, when it came to influence, not to mention imperial governors, even the young emperor might not match him.

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Because there were simply too many believers in the world, even beyond counting.

Even though soldiers of Auran and the Federation must be non-believers, who could guarantee that their family members and relatives didn’t believe in deities?

That was the logic.

“But, the Golden Religion? Your Holiness, as far as I know, there is no such religion in the world’s faith spectrum,” Caine, who was also following the young woman and walking on her left side, spoke up timely, bringing the overwhelmed crowd back to reality.

Indeed, what religion would be named after “gold”?

Having been exposed by the first mate, the self-proclaimed pope immediately showed embarrassment on his face, carefully smiling as he said, “Perhaps you haven’t seen clearly, the Golden Religion was added to the spectrum two years ago.”

Two… two years ago?

Hearing this, Roy couldn’t help but roll her eyes, feeling that both the chapel, the religion, and the man before her were utterly absurd.

“Your, um, Holiness, I believe someone from the Anderson family should have informed you earlier that we need to borrow this place briefly, rather than to join your faith.”

Walking and talking, the captain finally led the pirates to the main hall at the deepest part of the chapel. The arrangement here wasn’t much different from before, except for a golden statue standing behind the podium.

That was presumably the deity worshipped by this so-called Golden Religion, but… that face and corpulent figure strongly resembled the pope beside her, with only subtle differences.

The main difference was in the expression—the deity had none of the submissiveness of the man before her, but smiled warmly, appearing quite generous.

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Additionally, the “divine statue” held a horn of plenty filled with gold and silver in its hands, though the style looked increasingly familiar to Roy the more she looked at it.

“Yes, yes, yes, I’ve already received Mr. Theodore’s instructions and had all the believers temporarily leave. It’s just, it’s just that…”

Hearing the young woman’s question, the man nodded hastily while rubbing his hands together. That obsequious manner had not the slightest air of a pope.

At Roy’s signal, the pirates all entered the main hall and took their seats, with only the first mate still standing beside her, frowning as he looked at this pope, his expression making no attempt to hide his impatience at the man’s persistence.

“You should go too. You’re the protagonist of this speech. If you don’t take the stage, how can this all-hands meeting proceed?” Roy patted the young man’s shoulder, nodding slightly toward the podium, urging him in a low voice while adopting an “I’ll handle this guy” posture.

Giving the man a cold glare, Caine followed the young woman’s wishes and walked inside.

Watching the young man’s back and the pirates who were waiting eagerly without understanding the situation, the captain sighed with some emotion, her eyes showing rare traces of melancholy, wondering how many would remain afterward.

“If the young lady doesn’t mind, you could actually learn about our religion. Although we haven’t been established for long…” Seeing that the “difficult to deal with” young man had left, and the young woman seemed willing to listen to him, the pope finally breathed a sigh of relief and began speaking, but Roy interrupted him before he could finish his sales pitch.

“Your Holiness,” she said.

Cut off mid-sentence, the man involuntarily choked, then smiled apologetically and said, “Yes, miss?”

“Could you tell me what that divine statue is holding in its hands?”

Pointing at the ram’s horn in the golden statue’s hands, the captain asked with interest. Though she felt very familiar with that object, she couldn’t figure out what it was even after thinking for a long time, so she had to ask the man.

“Oh, that is the sacred object of our faith, the legendary Horn of Plenty.”

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Seeing that the young woman seemed interested in the Golden Religion, the pope’s eyes, which were as thin as slits, suddenly lit up as he enthusiastically explained.

Oh, so it was the Horn of Plenty. I see…

Now knowing that the ram’s horn was the Horn of Plenty, after which the commercial street in Yadris was named, though compared to that street’s emblem, the contents had changed from food to gold and silver, Roy immediately lost interest.

“Thank you for your explanation, but we have important matters to discuss next and cannot have outsiders present. Your Holiness, if you would…”

Seeing that the young woman intended to dismiss him, the middle-aged man wiped his forehead, removing nonexistent sweat, and nodded repeatedly in agreement: “Of course, I’ll step aside until you’re finished…”

“Occupying your venue is already troublesome enough, so please don’t bother seeing us out.”

As if finally losing patience, Roy shrugged her shoulders and spoke flatly. Seeing from the corner of her eye that he still wasn’t leaving, she couldn’t help but tilt her head and glance at him.

That single glance made the middle-aged man swallow the words that had reached his lips. He didn’t even dare to respond verbally and hastily left the place.

Because that glance was truly cold and frightening.

Even though he had seen all sorts of people in Hipalia, even the Anderson family head, the man had never experienced the ferocity and coldness that the young woman displayed—eyes like those of a predatory beast.

It was better not to provoke such a person.

As he left the main hall, the middle-aged man thought to himself, his pace growing increasingly rapid.