The guards, who had heard from their captain about what was happening in the lower city before arriving, were on edge, eager to avoid any physical contact. Their evasive actions filled the eyes of the poor with anger and hatred. The hands that stretched out from the gaps in the fences and barbed wire like waving black flags, exuding an ominous aura.

    “Go back! Everyone, go back! Stay at home!”

    A man dressed in a captain uniform held up a crude loudspeaker made of rolled tin sheets, pressed it tightly against his mouth, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

    The silent crowd turned their eyes to him, and gradually, low whispers appeared in the crowd.

    “They’ve locked us up. Do they want us to die here?”

    “They don’t care about us... It’s an order from the Papal Palace. The Holy Father has abandoned us.”

    “Go home? I don’t have anything to eat at home. The York family at the bakery are all dead. There are too many corpses in the church that there are no places to put them. I’ll die if I go home too. Has the Holy Father really abandoned us?”

    The whispers and confused sounds gradually grew louder, and the captain noticed that more and more people were coming from the street behind. They were pushing forward in confusion and anger, like a dark tide hitting a weak dam.

    “The nobles in the upper city just don’t want to be infected by us. They’re afraid of death and they might run away from Florence soon. Then we will be the only ones who die here.”

    Someone said this in the crowd, and the captain’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked around, but the crowd was so dense that he couldn’t tell who said what.

    “The Holy Father won’t abandon you!” the captain shouted at the top of his lungs. “Doctors from the Papal Palace are already preparing medicines. They will be here soon!”

    But his words didn’t seem to calm the agitated crowd. A fiery light appeared in the eyes of the numb people, and they glared at the people on the other side of the fence. Some had already started trying to pull at the barbed wire on the fence.

    “Oh my God, this won’t do,” the captain realized something keenly. He was numb all over and subconsciously wanted to step back, but in front of the angry crowd staring at him, he felt that as soon as he stepped back, he would be swallowed up by the oncoming wave. “Go and report to the Papal Palace. They’re going to rebel!”

    The Holy Father in the Papal Palace did not, as people imagined, wait comfortably for the evacuation of Florence. The cardinals and nobles in the council chamber were already arguing. Each of them had a look of fear on their faces, and they were divided into two distinct factions, arguing fiercely about whether or not to withdraw the Holy See from Florence.

    As Rafael and Julius had anticipated, the news of the plague in the lower city quickly reached the desks of the cardinals and the great nobles of Florence. The Papal Palace’s bailiff, wielding a staff decorated with the Holy Thorn, knocked on their doors and, in the name of the Holy Father, invited them to a meeting in the council chamber. Everyone knew full well that the topic of discussion was whether the Holy See should leave.

    Since Saint Leah had established his throne in Florence over a thousand years ago, the Holy See had never left. Under the threat of the plague, the Pope fleeing his own territory would be a huge blow to the Church’s prestige. Wouldn’t it prove that the Holy Church had been abandoned by God, and that divine punishment had even fallen on the papal throne? And the Pope, as God’s representative on Earth, fleeing in disgrace, would forever nail the Church to the pillar of shame.

    The kings would be ecstatic about the decline of the Church’s authority. They had long been eager to free the crown from the scepter of God, completely stripping the Pope of his influence over the people. Wasn’t this a golden opportunity?

    Those who insisted that the Holy See should hold its ground in Florence argued forcefully, almost pointing their noses at the opposition and calling them demons who had abandoned the glory of God. Those who demanded that the Holy See withdraw were even more righteous, arguing that the disease could completely destroy the Holy See, and that it was acceptable to suffer a loss of prestige rather than face an empty Holy See.

    They asked again, was it their piety to watch cardinals, bishops, priests, and even those noble people die one after another? As they said this, they glanced at the Pope in the main seat. Everyone knew that the ‘noble person’ he most wanted to say but omitted was the Pope himself, but he had not said it out of courtesy.

    The two sides argued fiercely in the council chamber. An archbishop of the pro-migration faction was waving the report in his hand and shouting at the opposite side while standing on a stool. On the other side, an archbishop of the conservative faction immediately jumped onto the table and hit him right in the nose – his movements were so fast that Rafael didn’t even have time to ask the deacon to stop him. The two gray-haired clergymen soon started to reenact a Florentine version of gladiatorial combat on the long table, panting like bulls. r?

    The people around them stood up to pull them apart, and of course, there were inevitable physical conflicts. Rafael watched the scene of chaos that was gradually turning into a full-scale brawl and calmly turned to his secretary, “How is the lockdown of the lower city going? – No, let the gentlemen vent their anger. They will know when to be quiet.”

    His last words were addressed to the nervous-looking deacon.

    Julius smiled. “The city guard has gone to the lower city. If they’re quick, they’ll report back soon.”

    He was right. Almost the next second after he finished speaking, a young man in a city guard uniform was led in hurriedly by the guard at the door. He stared dumbfounded at the scene of bishops and nobles in fine clothes fighting in the hall, his expression as if he had seen a god holding a roasted leg of lamb suddenly appear at his door and invite him to dance the samba.

    They walked through the flying papers and robes torn from someone, carefully tiptoeing to avoid stepping on broken glass ink bottles, like Saint Moriah coming to seek help from God after going through nine tribulations, and finally came before the Pope.

    Everyone had their mouths wide open, their expressions as comical as if they had swallowed a raw egg, and their faces were as colorful as a paint shop.

    Several people exchanged glances secretly, and their interactions, which they thought were hidden, fell into Julius’s eyes. The Secretary-General stroked the ring on his thumb and wrote the names of these people into the blacklist.

    “I don’t need any objections,” Rafael blocked their words before they could speak, “This is the result of my careful consideration. You can either stay with me or leave Florence – I forgive you for all your self-preservation behaviors, and I forgive you on behalf of God.”

    Many people immediately swallowed what they were about to say and began to consider their choices.

    “At your will, Your Holiness.”

    The most conservative group who reacted the fastest were already overjoyed and loudly agreed. As for the Pope’s statement that he would enter the lower city... there would always be a way to make him change his mind.

    What they didn’t expect was that after Pope Sistine I walked out of the council hall, the Knights Templar were already standing at the door in solemn and orderly formation. He boarded the carriage, and the knights surrounded the Pope, escorting the carriage straight west.

    The bishops who were left behind looked at the direction of the Pope’s carriage in confusion. After a while, their faces turned pale. “That’s... that’s the direction of the lower city! He was actually serious!”

    Of course he was serious.

    The decisive Sistine I, escorted by the Papal Guard and the Knights Templar, passed through the upper city and, under the watchful eyes of countless people, stopped in front of the layers of fences in the lower city.

    The people there were still in a standoff with the city guard. There were already remnants of a fence at their feet, and the city guard members, holding spears and flintlock guns, were nervously and anxiously confronting them at a distance.

    “His Holiness the pious and great Pope Sistine I, has arrived!”

    The Pope’s herald rode ahead on horseback and solemnly proclaimed the Pope’s arrival.

    The arrival of the Pope stunned everyone. Even the angriest people couldn’t overcome their long-standing respect and faith in the Pope. When they saw the silver light armor of the Knights Templar and the snow-white uniforms of the Papal Guard, they knelt down one after another, mumbling the Pope’s title and praying for his protection.

    The carriage stopped, and a tall and slender young man jumped out of the carriage. He looked around, and the Knights Templar quickly found their guard positions. The young man with black curly hair tilted his head, revealing a handsome and somewhat enchanting profile, and reached out a hand towards the carriage.

    The thin Pope in the carriage lowered his head slightly and walked out. He stood on the carriage step, overlooking the vast crowd of people. Sunlight shone from behind him, and the messy, dirty, and depressing low-rise slums lined up on both sides of him. Everything was so suffocating. Standing in the sunlight, the Pope was like a saint descending from heaven, bringing the grace of God to this long-forgotten land.

    “My people,” the golden-haired, purple-eyed Pope was tall and slender, and his snow-white robe and golden chasuble wrapped around his body. He looked like the messenger of God that people imagined in their impoverished imagination. God had sent him to the earth to face the suffering of the world, so he could reach out to lift up the helpless and sinking souls.

    “I, Sistine I, as your protector whom you call upon for help, your Holy Father, the incarnation of God have sworn to save you. My children, my brothers and sisters, you have entrusted me with your precious faith, and I will be with you until the devil retreats from this sacred land under the glory of God.”

    His words were very brief, and after he finished speaking, he slowly got off the carriage with the help of the young man, tidied his clothes, and walked steadily towards the fence.

    “Oh my God... Your Holiness!” The city guard didn’t know whether to be amazed or shocked. The statue-like Knights Templar immediately moved. They strode forward, quickly dismantled the fences entangled with barbed wire, and cleared away the wooden boards, stones, and debris, opening a path for people to pass through.

    Sistine I didn’t hesitate for a moment. Under the almost silent gaze of everyone, he raised his foot and stepped onto this rotten land that was flowing with pus and covered with scars.

    “Seal off the lower city.”

    He gave the order as he passed through the fence.

    This time, no one expressed anger at the city guard who moved. The fence closed again behind the Pope, and the creaking sound seemed like a meaningful declaration.