“So Ning, how do you know His Holiness? Are you a Paladin?” the Emperor asked.

“No, Your Majesty. I helped His Holiness and his people by catching a criminal while I was visiting Airan. I got to meet His Holiness at that time,” Ning said. He noticed that the Emperor did not go for his handshake, making him wonder why that was. He moved his hand around as he spoke instead, hoping to touch the Emperor somehow, but it didn’t look as though it was working.

“A criminal, huh? Must’ve been a rather terrible one to get an audience with his Holiness,” the Emperor said.

“Young Ning is underselling himself. The criminal was a bad one, yes. But he also gave us a Zurin treasure that he captured from the criminal.”

“You didn’t value the treasure?” the Emperor asked.

“I valued my meeting with His Holiness even more,” Ning said.

“And of course. The young man that Ning goes around with, a young man by the name of Tim has the potential to become the next pope after I abdicate the rank.”

The Emperor was quite surprised this time around, quite surprised at the fact that there was someone who could become the next pope in his party.

“I wish to meet this young man. Can you call him for me?” the Emperor asked.

Ning turned around and pointed to where Tim was. One of the men around the Emperor quickly rushed toward Tim and called him over. Tim rushed toward the Emperor, wide-eyed and confused. “Your Majesty, I am Timothy Orstar. It is my pleasure to have met you,” Tim said quickly.

“Timothy. I hear you have what it takes to be the next pope,” the Emperor said.

“Hmm? I mean, yes, Your Majesty,” Tim said quickly.

“No need to get flustered. I’m just a man,” the Emperor said. “Tell me, are you going to become the next pope then?”

“I… haven’t decided just yet. I’m taking my time with the decision.”

“Don’t wait too long,” the Emperor said. “Good things come for those who seek to get it. Not to mention, being that close to God Zurinus himself is an opportunity that no mortal man could ever hope to have in his life.”

“And you have that opportunity. Don’t squander it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Tim said quickly.

The Emperor nodded in response. “Look at His Holiness. He has managed to live as long as he has because he is a devout believer of Zurinus. I got a chance to reclaim my throne because I was a believer of Zurinus as well.”

“Naman over there was an orphan too, who is devoted to Zurinus, although he does show it. Do you think he made his fortune on his own? No, it was Zurinus. Same for Samsom, and many others.”

“You should…”

The Emperor gave a not-so-short speech about how Zurinus was important and how one could succeed in life after following Zurinus.

As he continued speaking, a thought came to Ning based on everything he was hearing at the moment.

He had read about Naman a long time ago and had known a lot about his life, but most of them seemed unimportant. However, there was one thing right now that stood out to him.

The same thing that was a common thread between the Pope and the Emperor. It wasn’t the fact that they all believed in Zurinus. No, that couldn’t have possibly been any source for their fame and fortune.

No, Zurinus had given them that, but that was to further influence the world through their mouth. A very deceptive move where Zurinus was spreading his cause while not being there himself.

And the common thread between them was that they were all once orphans, living in the orphanage. Saʀᴄh th 0velFre.nt website on Ggl to access chapters of nvels early and in the highest quality.

Ning reached out and touched the Emperor’s arm, causing the Emperor to stop and jerk his hands back. At the same time, many of the men around him immediately got ready to grab him, but Ning quickly let go.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I have something to do,” Ning said and turned around.

The men looked toward the Emperor to check if he was okay, before deciding to follow Ning to capture him. They could not let go of him after he had touched the Emperor.

Ning was already halfway across the garden and arrived in front of someone.

The Emperor wasn’t Zurnius. Ning had just confirmed that. It wasn’t Zarius, Lucius, or Naman.

Jasmine had told him this a long time ago. He should have remembered it. It was so obvious now in hindsight. There was a reason why she had run away from her orphanage. It was because they brainwashed people into becoming devout followers of Zurinus. Get them brainwashed into becoming a highly religious figure, and then make them famous, leading to them only talking about Zurnius again and again.

It was a very conniving plan, and it worked super well.

Ning stopped before the woman and reached out with his hands. “Miss Jenny, is it? I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time.”

The old woman in her 80s turned around. “Oh, how can I help you, son?” she asked as she reached for Ning’s hands.

Ning grabbed it and smiled.

The woman’s face immediately paled. “Would you kindly die?”

Ning was suddenly grappled by half a dozen men, pinning him to the ground. But the job was done now. He had found the person he had been meaning to find ever since he came here.

All this time, he expected Zurinus to be someone popular with a lot of fame. Instead, it turned out that he liked staying in the shadow, manipulating people into spreading his name even more.

Well, not anymore.

Ning had found him, and this would be the end of Zurinus.

“What…” the woman named Jenny faltered back. “What did you do to me?”

“Happy death day, Zurinus.”

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