Torture the hero, why has the Demon King's castle collapsed again?

Page 138

A rich herbal aroma filled the air, and inside the boxes, rows of blood-red herbs gleamed with a crystalline luster, clearly extremely precious and rare medicinal materials. Now, there were several large boxes of them.

Dane smiled and said, "The Grand Duke knows that your body has suffered severe battle wounds, and these will help you recover your strength..."

"Get out of here!!!"

Pope Brad interrupted angrily, his face hardening.

Chapter 189 On the Importance of Banks

Dane's smile froze on his face.

As if taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, the Pope suddenly changed his expression, looking extremely displeased as if he had seen something filthy.

“Uh, Your Holiness.”

Dane shrank back, thinking Brad hadn't heard him clearly, and carefully emphasized, "Your Holiness, what I meant was, these are all top-quality blood-replenishing herbs..."

Brad stood up and went to the boxes next to Dane. After confirming that the boxes contained nothing but herbs, Brad's tone immediately turned disappointed:

"You nobles, all you ever think about is corrupting the kingdom through unjust means, and now you're even bribing me, the Pope?!"

"How naive!"

Brad grabbed a handful of herbs, his disappointment deepening. He turned and angrily rebuked them:

"Is this how you test the Pope?! Which Pope couldn't withstand such a test?!"

Dane looked up, a deep confusion in his eyes... Was he dreaming? Pope Brad hadn't said that at all!

Standing to the side, Hope was astonished by the change in the scene. His body jolted, and he realized what was happening!

So that's how it is... His Holiness the Pope was establishing his authority!

No wonder he seemed to have suddenly changed his tune, immediately letting people in upon hearing there was a gift. It turns out he wanted to use this opportunity to make the nobles of the capital see clearly: the legendary Iron-Blooded Pope is not someone whose principles can be changed by some rare treasure!

Pope Brad's gift wasn't intended for Dane and Thanaus, but rather for those nobles with impure motives. Now, Dane can only blame himself for walking into the line of fire.

Seeing Dane looking disheveled and not daring to talk back, Hope couldn't help but feel sorry for Tonk next.

Although Tonk's character and personality seem decent, he is the son of Duke Moss, and he will likely face an even harsher reprimand than Dane.

Beside the door of the church.

Dane, who was full of anger, looked depressed, but gave Tom a smile as he walked towards him.

Seeing that smiling face, Dane got a little annoyed and couldn't help but taunt, "Tonker, I advise you to give up sooner rather than later. Pope Brad is not someone who can be easily tested."

Dane glanced at the black cloth bag in Tom's hand, listened to the sounds inside, and scoffed. He could tell just by listening that it contained nothing more than a bag of gold coins, such a vulgar item.

Thinking you can bribe the Pope with this? You're dreaming!

"Don't worry, my good brother!" Tang Ke winked at Dane. "I will carry your will and try my best to persuade the Pope!"

They're completely unresponsive!

Dane wanted to retort, but quickly held back, thinking that he shouldn't be the only one being scolded.

As Dane watched Tom walk into the depths of the corridor, he couldn't help but stop and listen to what was happening inside.

"You are... Duke Moss's son?" Brad looked at Tonks with displeasure, having given up all hope, and asked directly:

What did you bring with you?

Tang Ke nodded honestly, opened the black cloth bag, and introduced, "These are golden crosses that I specially commissioned craftsmen to make using gold coins, a testament to both wealth and sincerity..."

Listening to Tonk's utterly tactless words, Hope couldn't help but facepalm. He hadn't expected the other man to be so, so direct... Did he really think that Pope Brad, the ruler of the Holy Church, would be moved by such vulgar things?!

"Gudong!"

A sound like swallowing saliva rang out in the room.

Hope turned her head around, but couldn't find the source of the sound, thinking she must have misheard.

"Your name is Tonk, right..." Brad's eyes were fixed on the large bag of gold crosses in Tonk's hand, his throat bobbing incessantly, and his expression immediately became incredibly amiable: "Sit down! Please sit down!"

Turning his head, he sternly reprimanded Hope: "What are you still doing? Go make some tea for Tonk! How can you be so clueless?!"

Hope: ? ? ?

Dane: ? ? ?

Dane, who was spying down the corridor, stared wide-eyed. What was going on?! This felt completely opposite to what he was seeing... Could it be that Duke Moss had even bribed Pope Brad?!

Seeing the fine black tea laid out before him and sitting at the table for guests, Tang Ke felt invigorated.

He knew that Pope Brad, who possessed the Holy Body of the Vessel, would never look at him with the same strange eyes as others!

Somewhat at a loss for words, Tonk tried to figure out how to persuade Pope Brad to speak on behalf of his father and deliver the gift to him. His body moved instinctively, placing a heavy bag of gold crosses on the table and pushing it forward. Tonk declared righteously:

"Pope Brad, if you speak up for Duke Moss during the noble election, all these golden crosses are yours!!!"

Hope gaped in shock, listening to the sounds echoing down the empty corridor.

To utter such blatant words of bribery in a sacred church blessed by the goddess, right in front of His Holiness the Pope… are they suicidal?!

“Your Holiness, this Tongk is going too far no matter how you look at it…” Hope turned his head, just about to ask Brad whether they should kick Tongk out directly, when his eyes widened again!

Pope Brad looks so tempted!

"His Holiness the Pope?!?"

With a jolt, Brad regained his senses, reluctantly turning his gaze away from the glittering golden crosses, and closed his eyes in pain.

"Town, I appreciate your kindness." Clutching his heart, Brad's voice trembled as he spoke with immense difficulty:

"However, it's impossible for me to agree to that."

“Although I haven’t been back to the capital for ten years, I still know how bad Duke Moss’s reputation is… As the Pope of the Holy Church, I can’t lie through my teeth.”

"I could never say that Duke Moss is a good person. I advise you to give up on that idea."

Brad felt his heart was bleeding: Why, why did it have to be Duke Moss... If it were any other nobleman who came today, he would have had a good excuse to accept, but only Duke Moss, that lazy, good-for-nothing duke who could stop a child from crying at night, he decided to pass.

He still wants face.

After hearing Pope Brad's words, Tonk put his hand on his chest, looking somewhat disappointed.

“I understand you, Your Holiness. In that case… these crosses cannot be wasted. Archbishop Hope, let them be donated to the Holy Church in the name of Duke Moss.”

Brad, sitting in his chair, suddenly perked up: There's another twist?

“Thank you, Tonk.” Hope smiled and nodded as she took the bag of golden crosses.

“However, recently a ‘cross thief’ has appeared in the Holy Church, and the golden cross does not conform to the doctrine…” After thinking for a moment, Hope produced a ball of extremely pure holy fire in his hand.

Under the precise control of the Archbishop of the Holy Church, a bag of crosses was instantly melted into a neat gold brick.

"During this period, I will send all the gold in the Holy Church to the Roth Merchant Guild to exchange for the purest and most valuable magic crystals..."

He handed the gold brick to a priest, who immediately accepted it and escorted Tang Ke out of the church, taking the gold to the merchant guild's office in the capital to exchange it for magic crystals.

"Now, there's nothing to worry about—"

As if admiring her own brilliant calculation, Hope smiled and turned her head away.

Two streams of tears were seen streaming down the face of their own Pope.

Chapter 190 The Power of the Later Stages

"Your Holiness, Your Holiness... what's wrong?"

Hope's heart skipped a beat, and she rushed to Brad's side, who was in tears, and said cautiously:

"Could it be... that you feel magic crystals aren't safe enough? How about I switch to figurines? Or perhaps precious herbs?"

Brad's face was ashen: "No need, it's fine as it is."

For the first time, Brad felt that entrusting the management of the Holy Church to Archbishop Hope when he traveled the continent was a mistake.

They even managed to keep out the thief from inside the house!

“But I really don’t understand.” With a slight sigh of relief, Hope turned to look at Tonk’s departing figure, somewhat puzzled: “Judging from Tonk’s actions, he seems to really believe that he can get Duke Moss selected as the greatest nobleman of the year… Do you think he can really succeed?”

“Hope, there’s one thing we need to clarify first.” Brad raised his head slightly, his mood gradually calming down, and commented with a hint of frustration:

"This is not some inspirational story written in a fairy tale, where an ordinary person works hard enough to get rich, or a lucky person wins a grand prize in the capital."

“That’s Duke Moss.” Brad didn’t use any extra adjectives, as if those four words were the most vile words.

"The selection process is organized by the kingdom. Even if Duke Moss has a chance to be selected, the kingdom will find a reason to reject him. You should understand the principle of not letting one bad apple spoil the whole bunch."

“Indeed.” Hope nodded, understanding the crux of the matter.

No matter how many loopholes Tom tries to exploit, Duke Moss has no chance of getting nominated, and besides... Tom can't get enough votes now.

"It's a bit of a pity..."

Hope sighed; to be honest, he really wanted to see the Duke of Moss's name appear in the nomination results.

After all… wouldn’t that be more interesting? Shaking his head, Hope quickly dismissed the thought. Even if the selection was actually irrelevant to the general public, if it succeeded, the nobles would become real clowns.

"If Duke Moss is indeed elected, the uproar it causes might be no less than the rebellion in the capital three years ago," Hope joked.

On the seat.

Brad paused slightly upon hearing these words.

……

"How did it go, Tang Ke? Did you succeed?"

Standing guard at the entrance of the church, watching Tom emerge empty-handed, Jenny asked with a slightly tense heartbeat.

“No, it failed.” Tonk shook his head and smiled. “Pope Brad is more impartial and just than I thought. He won’t say a good word for Duke Moss.”

"That's good, oh no... that's such a shame." Jenny touched her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, if Pope Brad were really willing to speak for Duke Moss, it would be a complete shock to her... But at this moment, she didn't want to dampen her friend's enthusiasm, so she could only gently comfort her.

"It seems even Mino the Warrior's marketing plan can't create a miracle, Tom. I think we should give up..."

"Who said that?" Unexpectedly, Tang Ke suddenly raised his head, the light in his eyes not diminishing in the slightest.

"Jenny, we've achieved our goal!"