Rebirth of the Interstellar Pope <Mecha>

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Anno reflected, "Great power, unrepentant devotion, lifelong love, and never betrayal. I believe I have achieved the first three, but before I died, I never understood what lifelong love truly meant." Embracing Cadila's advice, Anno decided not to shy away from his feelings. He liked religion and would respect his own desires.

His roommate, Kane, was the only son of a wealthy family, and he made that clear from the outset.

"I am the son of a mining tycoon," Kane declared proudly. "My name is Kane."

Kane was quite the gossip, and within their first three hours of acquaintance, he had already shared tidbits about all thirty students in the religion department. As their conversation progressed, he turned his attention to Cadilla.

"It took him eighty years to rise to the position of Anjiao. Apparently, he's the youngest to hold that title, and definitely the most handsome in the Anjiao of the Jerusalem Church. With his blond hair, rare Western European ancestry, lavender Anjiao robe, and bright yellow double-breasted jacket-damn, if I liked men, I would definitely chase him!" Kane exclaimed.

Anno focused on the key phrase: "The Jerusalem Church? Wasn't it destroyed?" He recalled the particle blast he had unleashed, which had nearly obliterated the entire city of Jerusalem.

"Don't you know?" Kane replied, raising an eyebrow. "Your grasp of interstellar history is a bit lacking. In the year 4463, the original Jerusalem Church, then the heart of the entire United Nations Interstellar Papal Politics, suffered a catastrophic particle explosion, completely leveling the city. Logically, if it was a particle explosion, Pope Anno would have sensed it, but the reality was that spies had infiltrated the Jerusalem Church-spies from a minor star in the Interstellar United Nations. There were more than just one or two; even high-ranking Tianjiao were involved, attempting to steal all of Pope Anno's achievements. To protect those invaluable records, Pope Anno activated the particle explosion. The current Jerusalem Church was rebuilt by Rufet, based on the fragments of information recovered after the blast."

Anno was already aware of Kane's account. The spies from Kama star had perished in the explosion, and all his achievements as Pope-whether they were purely religious texts, research findings on willpower, or political treatises-had been shattered in the particle explosion he had initiated with his mental power.

"Rufet rebuilt the church?" Anno inquired.

Kane slapped his forehead dramatically. "You're hopeless! You don't even know Rufet? He's the only person qualified to ascend to the papacy after the StarCraft year of 4463. His father was the commander-in-chief of the Galaxy Fleet-now retired-and his mother is the eldest daughter of the Bollai family, one of the top ten developers in the StarCraft. Rufet graduated from the Galaxy Mecha Academy at just twenty-two, majoring in mecha control, but he was drawn to religion. It's said he idolized Pope Anno from a young age. From ages twenty-three to twenty-eight, he served loyally in the Galaxy Fleet, studying independently and passing the exam to become a bishop of the University of Jerusalem. After passing the exam, he worked in the Galaxy before retiring from the River Fleet and starting in the newly established Jerusalem Church, beginning as a grassroots clerk. He spent ten years mastering pure mental control and used his abilities to traverse time and space, seeking out the fragments of the Jerusalem Church post-explosion. You can't imagine that he found more fragments single-handedly than all the celestial religions combined! After collecting them, he used his mental power to explore all the information contained within, restoring Jerusalem's original appearance and retrieving the religious documents and research achievements of Pope Anno!" Kane's enthusiasm was palpable, his eyes sparkling as he spoke.

"That's quite remarkable," Anno replied nonchalantly, though the statement wasn't exactly a compliment. If Rufet had managed to master mental control in just ten years and was diligently searching for the fragments scattered throughout the universe post-explosion, Anno had to admit that Rufet might be stronger than he once was.