Chapter 154 – Displaying My Prowess
Lei Yu shook his head. “Mr… Mr. Lucas, you don’t understand. If I insist on cooperating with you guys against the Vatican’s words, then it would definitely be not good for my little self. I don’t want to encounter some unfortunate accident, therefore…”
“Those crafty gang of scum, they actually threatened Mr. Lei Yu! They are too much!” Lucas slammed the table as he said this. “Rest assured, we will ensure your safety so there won’t be any so called accidents! Our Prince is also a very powerful existence watching over us.”
Lei Yu continued to shake his head. “You should know the Vatican has the Pope. After hundreds of years of conflict between the Dark Council and the Vatican, neither of you have disappeared from the world. Are you sure you can definitely protect me if they attempt to hurt me? Besides, I doubt the entire Dark Council would be used to solely to protect my safety right? Otherwise, why would you guys seek me out to cooperate? Mr. Lucas, whether you gain or lose the help of myself, who is only one person, it shouldn’t make much of a difference right?”
“This…”
“I will trouble you to return to the Dark Council and the Prince to tell them that I, Lei Yu, will not help anyone; I won’t be helping the Vatican nor you guys. I don’t want to create any unwanted problems for either side.” Lei Yu stopped talking after putting it bluntly to Lucas.
Lucas was in deep thought after hearing this. He didn’t expect Lei Yu’s mouth would be so sharp, making him speechless and unable to come up with any rebuttal. Indeed, the Dark Council would never put all their effort into protecting a single person. When he mentioned Lei Yu would be under their protection, those were just words out of courtesy and they wouldn’t really be making an effort. So all he could do now was return and let his superiors know Lei Yu was reluctant to join them.
Lei Yu had considered this thoroughly. Knowing how the Dark Council did things, Lei Yu’s refusal would most likely make them furious. Creating trouble for him in the future was also a likely scenario. But Lei Yu wasn’t afraid of this since he had Black Panther and Gray Bear, both of them being Fifth Rank Mutants. He also had Liu Hao and Hu Jiong, who were Fourth Order Warriors, and within the past month, several new bounty hunters and mutants had joined up. So if they really did come looking for him, it’s still wasn’t clear who would come out the winner or loser.
In addition to this, Lei Yu didn’t want to make this matter worst to the point of breaking out into a fight. The Dark Council would eventually be dealt with, but now wasn’t the time. Their current group’s strength was enough to protect themselves, but not strong enough to fight them head on.
Both his opponents had more than his current dozen of underlings right? That’s why Lei Yu had to be careful; he wouldn’t fight if he didn’t have to. The most important thing was to preserve his strength for now.
Seeing Lucas’s facial expression, Lei Yu made a slightly playful grin. “There’s one point I need to make clear – the Vatican gave the same speech as you guys. If the Dark Council made a move against me, they would do everything they can to help me.”
After sending off Lucas, Mr. Hawes side quickly arranged a chance for Lei Yu to meet the Pope. Since the Vatican had a long, ancient history, Lei Yu promised to visit as soon as possible in order to show his respect for them.
Just as Lei Yu figured, the Vatican’s base was established in Athens, Greece. The roads to their base were quite complex, so Lei Yu never imagined that they would actually build such a large church-like structure near a mountain.
Lei Yu was shocked as he stared at this large building with the gold and white as its primary colors. How many resources and how much manpower was invested to complete this building? Thinking back, this was still a small construction job when comparing it to the overwater city that he was building in the Kou country.
Inside the main hall of the church, Lei Yu looked upon the Pope’s appearance. Just as he imagined, the Pope was wearing a long and simple white robe. The robe had golden lace embroidered at its edges and, although simple looking, it didn’t take away the elegance of it. On top of his short brown hair was a feminine looking crown. One could see Lei Yu’s eyes looked complicated since he felt the crown looked much better on Telephassa.
The Pope appeared to be in his fifties. Although his looks were ordinary, he had a pair of long slender eyes that were often tightly squinting, which made it difficult for people to know what he was thinking. It was surprising to see someone dressed like this in modern society, but the Pope probably changed into something different when he went out in public.
“Most holy father, this person is Lei Yu.” A middle-aged man to the side of Lei Yu introduced him. He was also dressed in clothes similar to the Pope, minus the golden embroidery. It looked like he might be a White Cardinal of the Church. Even though Mr. Hawes’s mother was seen as important to the Vatican because of being a servant of the Prophet, she was merely a minor Bishop and wasn’t qualified to see the Pope. If she had information to give, she could only pass it along through a messenger and wait for a reply.
This Pope in front of him, with hundreds of millions of believers, did not look like anything special. Lei Yu couldn’t figure out why so many people would treat him with their utmost devotion.
“Mr. Lei Yu, I have heard a lot about your big name!” The Pope was sitting atop a large throne, giving off a majestic aura. It looked like he had no intention of getting up upon seeing Lei Yu.
Lei Yu half-heartedly waved as he carefully scanned the hall with his eyes. It was built similar to the palace in ancient Greece, where several pillars were erected as support, and the two sides of the hall were filled with people.
The hierarchy of the Vatican was very strict, so from the lower to the high ranks, they were: Monk, Bishop, Archbishop, White Cardinal, Red Cardinal, and the god-like Pope.
Each and every one of them had their own responsibilities. Even though they possessed a force known as the Knight Corps, these gentle-looking priests usually relied on their so called high status to deal with things.
The Pope’s majestic aura of divinity couldn’t be violated by anyone. No one had ever dared to ignore the Pope’s words, yet Lei Yu today was looking down on him with insolent eyes. This made the Pope’s heart seethe in anger.
“Didn’t you hear his holiness greet you?” A middle-aged person with a red cloak said this in a cold voice.
“I did in fact hear it, but I am the guest, while you guys are the host. You were the ones that invited me here, but I don’t feel like I’m being treated like an honorable guest. So why should I try to curry favor from you guys?” Lei Yu faintly replied.
“Don’t think that just because you have a little ability, you can do whatever you want here!” A Red Bishop with thick eyebrows stood out like he was going to start a physical fight.
Lei Yu smiled in scorn. “The Vatican’s way of hospitality is really quite flattering. I’ve come to see the Pope and not the Emperor! Also, I hope you remember that I’m not a Westerner and I’m not a follower of the Church. I’m a Tenglong person from the East, so there’s no reason for me to bow or grovel to anyone. Unless you want to force me to follow your etiquette? Ridiculous!” Lei Yu enunciated every word to show off his own country’s greatness.
Everyone present thought the Pope was going to explode in rage, but surprisingly, he stood up and coldly said: “Maude, step down. Unless this is how you would normally treat our esteemed guests?”
The Pope was very clear that he met with Lei Yu to discuss their terms of cooperation. Since he realized that this person that came was indeed very strong, his original thought of wanting to show off the prowess of the Vatican was shattered. Since it turned out like this, he might as well be more polite to Lei Yu. If they both started fighting with each other this early, then there would be no longer need to discuss the latter things