novelSusiti Chapter 154 Weapons of Faith
Chapter 154 Weapons of Faith
Alexandros bowed, awaiting the command that would unleash a massive wave.
He was ready to lead the royal guard to surround that evil island completely, and to crucify all the devils in human skin with bullets and bayonets.
However, Constantine simply stood there, without giving any orders for a long time.
The air in the study was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
"Your Highness?" Alexandros couldn't help but ask.
Constantine turned around, the anger on his face gone, replaced by a deep weariness.
"I can't use the army," he said, his voice hoarse. "I can't even use the police."
Alexandros's face was full of astonishment.
"Why? They defile the faith, sell drugs, and deserve to die!"
"It's because they're wearing those holy robes." Constantine walked to the window and looked at the sleeping city of Athens outside the palace.
"Alexandros, you're going to take your troops and arrest them now. What will the newspapers all over Greece write tomorrow?"
Constantine answered his own question in a cold voice.
"They would write: 'The ruthless crown prince dispatched troops to massacre the holy monastery and arrest the devout servants of God!' As for drugs, that would become 'a shameless slander against the clergy.'"
"This is exactly the result that the rumored mastermind wants. The old aristocrats and oligarchs in the country who are hoping for my downfall will immediately seize this opportunity to incite the uninformed and devout masses to oppose me and all my reforms."
"At that time, I will be a blasphemous tyrant. My hands will not be stained with the blood of drug dealers, but with the blood of 'saints'."
Alexandros understood.
This is an extremely malicious and open conspiracy.
A trap woven with faith.
You know perfectly well that it's a den of poison, yet you mustn't touch it. One touch, and that sacred cloak will drag you into an abyss of no return.
He felt a wave of weakness wash over him.
He can face the most ruthless enemies and infiltrate the most dangerous dens, but he doesn't know how to fight an invisible enemy called "faith".
"So... we can only watch helplessly?" Alexandros's voice was filled with unprecedented frustration.
Constantine did not answer.
He waved his hand, signaling Alexandros to step back.
The intelligence chief disappeared through the doorway, and the study returned to silence.
Late at night, Sophia carried a cup of hot tea into the study.
She saw Constantine standing alone in front of the huge map, motionless, like a petrified statue.
She didn't say anything, but simply placed the hot tea on the table and quietly kept him company.
After a long while, Constantine finally spoke and told her the whole story of this thorny predicament.
Sophia listened quietly, her sapphire-like eyes sparkling with wisdom.
She walked over to Constantine, extended her finger, and gently tapped the island of sin on the map.
"Connie, you're right. The devil is hiding in the robes; you can't cut him with swords."
Her voice was soft, yet it was like a ray of light, illuminating the darkest corner of Constantine's heart.
"If that's the case, why don't you find a servant of God who is more 'holy,' more devout, and more furious than it, and let him tear off that holy robe with his own hands?"
Constantine's body jolted violently.
He suddenly understood.
Correct!
Use faith to fight faith! Use holiness to purify holiness!
What he needs is not an army, but a religious warrior! A law enforcer with unparalleled prestige within the church, capable of judging evil!
"Sophia..." He grasped his wife's hand, his grip almost uncontrollable, "You are truly my Athena."
Sofia smiled, her smile like the sunshine of the Aegean Sea, dispelling all the gloom.
"I just don't want to see my hero get bogged down by a bunch of despicable worms."
Constantine did not hesitate any longer and immediately rang the bell on the table.
Alexandros reappeared.
"Your Highness!"
"Immediately, send all the files on the high-ranking members of the Greek Church, as well as the renowned monks who have great prestige among the people, here!" Constantine's eyes rekindled with fighting spirit.
"Remember, I don't want bishops who chat and laugh in the salons of politicians and ladies, nor do I want those nice old men who only know how to recite scriptures!"
"What I'm looking for is a true, fanatical 'madman' who utterly despises the corruption and decadence of the church!"
Alexandros accepted the order and left.
Half an hour later, dozens of thick files filled Constantine's desk.
He flipped through them one by one.
Archbishop Gregory was fluent in seven languages and had close personal relationships with the cardinals of France and Germany, but the records note that he owned so many properties that he himself could not count them all.
Bishop Yermanos of Patras, a highly respected leader of the conservatives, implied in every public speech that the royal reforms were "heretical."
……
As Constantine flipped through these names, he saw not servants of God, but a group of shrewd politicians and a bunch of bloated businessmen.
Expecting them to purify the church is like asking a fox to guard a henhouse.
His fingers flipped through the pages quickly until a file wrapped in the thinnest kraft paper appeared before his eyes.
This file seems so out of place.
It does not record any property, nor does it list any interactions with high-ranking officials or nobles.
There is only one name on it:
Father Callinicus.
As Constantine's fingertip hovered over Callinicus's file, Alexandros, who had remained silent, added in a low voice, "Your Highness, there's an informal rumor about this priest. Three years ago, a large landowner in Thessaly seized farmland that the church had allocated to help widows. This priest, alone with only a Bible and an olive wood cross, stood at the landowner's gate for three days and three nights without eating or drinking. In the end, the landowner himself crawled out on his knees and returned the land deeds. Because all the tenants on his estate spontaneously knelt behind Father Callinicus and prayed with him."
The file content is unusually brief:
"The ascetic monk of Mount Athos was very learned."
"Because of his strict doctrines and his repeated public criticisms of the greedy and extravagant lifestyle of church leaders, he was regarded as a heretic by mainstream denominations and was ostracized."
"But he has a very high reputation among the lower-class believers in Thessaly and Macedonia, and is revered by believers as the 'Lion of the Holy Mountain'."
At the end of the file, there was a somewhat blurry black and white photograph.
It was a man, so thin he was just skin and bones, wearing the simplest coarse cloth monk's robe, standing barefoot on the mountain rock.
Behind him was a sheer cliff, and in front of him was a churning sea of clouds.
He didn't look at the camera; he just gazed up at the sky, his eyes as clear as a cold pool, yet burning with a fervent flame capable of incinerating all the evil in the world.
it's him!
Constantine's heart began to pound violently.
He found it.
He found the perfect weapon that could unleash a purifying storm within the church, a weapon that no one could criticize from a moral or religious standpoint!
A sharp, fanatical hammer of faith, devoted solely to God!
Constantine separated Callinikos's file and made a decision that surprised even Alexandros.
He issued new orders to the chief of intelligence.
"Prepare the ship for Piraeus port."
"Your Highness, you want to..."
"I'm going to Mount Athos." Constantine's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable power.
"In my capacity as Crown Prince, I will undertake a private pilgrimage to pray for the long-suffering Greece."
This is the perfect disguise.
This was the only way he could personally persuade and "activate" this peerless weapon.
Constantine's gaze fell upon the incredibly detailed file of evidence concerning St. George's Monastery.
"Tell the captain that I am only bringing one 'offering' on this pilgrimage."
"That's it."