Chapter 251 The Shadow of Valedo (Part 2)
Although it has undergone many transformations, the original appearance of the flying Tallan can still be vaguely discerned. She has changed a lot over the centuries. , statues such as those on the ship's hull multiplied - many carved from marble during the journey through the warp, in order to better judge direction.
The ship's journey is timeless and spans generations, and her mission is to spread the faith wherever she goes, by any means necessary.
Sometimes, she sends wandering penitents to where they belong.
More often, her warehouse is filled with cultural relics and religious artworks. In order to ignite the flame of faith, she trades sacred objects carefully, piously, and respectfully.
Some treasures are only temporarily displayed, and the flying Tallarn will bring the sacred relics of this world for the faithful to witness.
Billions of pilgrims will come from all over the world to see the relics of the saints and the shields of the martyrs.
Each exhibition can only last a few weeks at most, making the pilgrimage a race against time before the Flying Tallarn departs.
The next return may be in a year or a hundred years.
Bilak then brought Pamphili from the lower deck to the center cabin of the ship.
When the Archbishop stepped into the hall, he immediately gasped with joy.
"Great God Emperor..."
This place is very spacious. It no longer looks like the cargo hold of a cargo ship a long time ago. Now it is more like the nave of a cathedral. A huge relic box.
The light here is rich, warm, soft, but not dim. The golden throne covering the huge ceiling mural seems to be spreading the glory of the throne to the galaxy.
A choir of one hundred people stood on the front level of the stand, and the singers' solemn hymns reverberated in the air.
The Archbishop moved between gilded display cases displaying jeweled fingers, jaws resting on purple silk cushions, bronze-cast hymns, the Archbishop's scepter and ornaments fashioned from the sacred femur.
The captain smiled when he saw the archbishop's expression.
"I am glad that you are satisfied with this, my lord."
"Happy?"
Pamphilly looked at these holy objects and whispered:
< br>
"Mere pleasure is not appropriate, Captain, you have done your job so well that no words can ever match it."
"It is my pleasure to be of service to you."< br>
“Me too.”
“Do you have any specific requirements?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
The Archbishop paused for a moment.
"There is no need to worry about security and rebellion at the moment. There is no sign of heresy in Valedo."
He looked very confident when he said this. He believed that if there was such a Sin was rampant in his world, and he would know it.
Pamphilly has always been vigilant, and the control of the state church over the citizens must be unbreakable.
Of course, this is not enough.
"People should integrate faith into their lives, they need to feel the light of the state religion again, they need zeal."
"I understand, I hope you won't be angry, Lord Bishop... In fact, You are not the first person to make such a request, and we are good at solving this kind of problem."
"How could I be angry? On the contrary, I am very happy."
"Okay. My usual advice in this case is – I’m sure you’ve guessed it – exhibiting artifacts in the capital. ”
"So, would you like to personally select the cultural relics for exhibition?"
After that, the archbishop began to select the cultural relics.
But as he walked past hundreds of boxes in the aisles, his initial sense of wonder faded.
He began to become frustrated and disappointed.
There is nothing wrong with these artifacts, but they are not special and there are too many mediocrities.
Perhaps he was expecting something so sublime but so vague that no actual existing object could live up to his expectations.
Pamphili longed for a turn, he longed to tremble with awe, he wanted to experience the fervor when the fire of faith was ignited in the hearts of his followers.
He needs a celebration worthy of being praised for hundreds of years, which will make his subsequent ascent journey smoother.
But nothing he saw reached such a state.
He felt solemn and awed, but he was not impressed, and none of the relics here were anything special to him. The captain felt the change in his mood.
"I'm sorry that our collection has disappointed you."
"It's not that."
The Archbishop waved his hand tiredly.
“It’s hard for me to define what I want, it has to be unique, it has to be...”
He groped for his thoughts and said slowly:
"It must be beyond the scope of our imagination. Only then can we feel the sacred touch of the Emperor's will."
The Archbishop sighed. , frustrated by the inability of words alone to express what was beyond his boundaries.
“Do you understand what I want to say?”
The captain seemed a little uneasy when he heard these words.
"I think so."
He said, his eyes flashing to the left involuntarily.
Pangfili caught this small movement and looked in that direction.
There was an empty box a few yards back in the aisle, so he approached it.
“What’s inside?”
"A funerary mask."
The captain returned with a somewhat uneasy tone.
“Where is it? Is it a commodity?”
“No, it is a valuable item that will never be sold.”
“Where is it? ”
the archbishop insisted, feeling as if he had grasped something.
"We have moved it to storage for the time being."
"What do you mean temporarily?"
"Until we can determine its origin, we won't It will be displayed... It is an unidentified item, so it has no place among the artifacts here, and we initially believe that it was recovered from the tomb at Plantium."
"It was not found there. Destroyed? ”
"It is true that the Tyranid invasion destroyed the planet, but we believe that the remains of some tombs are still valuable for excavation. We found an unknown holy book."
"Who is its owner?"
“It may be a certain bishop of Plantium.”
“I still remember that there was a miracle said to have occurred in Plantium before its destruction?”
"I also remember that the bishop at that time wrote a holy book that praised the Emperor and encouraged the believers. Encouraged by the holy book, the believers fought against the aliens for several months, and were eventually outnumbered."
"But that holy book has never been found."
"Indeed, so we can't guarantee that this thing is the legendary holy book that helped the people of the empire fight against the Tyranids."
This ambiguity is frustrating, but it's also fascinating.
Pangfili believed that this coincidence must mean something, so he made up his mind.
“I want to see that relic.”
The captain shrugged.
“I cannot guarantee that what you saw is real.”
To the archbishop, this statement sounded perfunctory, and he was confused by the captain’s answer, but then he He concluded that what he saw was a clever businessman deliberately hiding something he had always wanted to show him.
"I understand, but I still want to see."
It didn't matter whether Be'lak tried to test him, he was convinced that the wheel of fate was turning.
"Okay."
(End of this chapter)