Chapter 575: Departure
"Boom!" Just as the two were having their final conversation, a tremendous sound suddenly erupted from the ceiling of the Luminous Holy Church.
The beautiful, fresco-covered dome, meticulously restored, was violently smashed open by an uninvited guest, leaving a gaping hole.
Large chunks of brick and stone plummeted to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
A lithe figure emerged, leaping forth from within the thick smoke.
"What is the meaning of this!" As the dust slowly settled, a voice, magnetic as if imbued with magic, assailed Gondor.
Wherever the sound waves reached, the falling dust and gravel parted ways.
"This is my decision," Gondor said, his body's edges already beginning to dissipate into points of light, as he looked at the woman shrouded in a priestess's robe, whose true age was difficult to discern.
It was the Saintess, descended from the heavens.
She drew her longsword, seemingly intending to interrupt the ritual.
"I've acted for eighty years; I'm tired."
The woman who had deceived his affections back then had passed away over ten years ago, her lifespan exhausted.
From that moment on, Gondor had, in essence, lost the final motivation that sustained his performance.
The days that followed were merely a selection of a way to make his final bow.
......
Even as he spoke, the old Pope's feet dissolved into light, leaving him to float like a ghost.
"Wei Ni Si, come here," Gondor beckoned towards the Saintess, a rare hint of age showing in his movements.
The Saintess, eerily blindfolded, walked in a perfectly straight line towards him.
"Wear this." The old Pope removed the Papal Tiara, inlaid with red, yellow, blue, and green gemstones, and placed it upon Wei Ni Si's golden hair as if entrusting her with a legacy.
Originally, his intended successor had been Chris Ding, and he had focused his efforts on nurturing her. However, a conflict of ideals had led her to abandon the Luminous Holy Church.
The amiable Gondor, left with no choice, had to resume nurturing a successor, and thus Wei Ni Si had entered his sight.
......
Facing the crown forcefully placed upon her head, she offered no resistance, merely bowing her head, striving to conceal the expression on her face.
......
"Please excuse my foolishness," the old Pope said after completing the handover, turning to face Bai Mo, who stood behind him.
"Fifteen minutes left."
"In fifteen minutes, the Moon Fortress will officially depart from the Earth-Moon orbit."
"Fifteen minutes left, you say? Well, by my reckoning, I too have about fifteen minutes left," the old man slowly stated, showing not the slightest concern for his own life or death.
......
Gondor raised his head, his gaze piercing through countless obstructions to fix upon the azure planet.
Since the Land of White had awakened from its transformation over half a year ago, the darkness that once shrouded Earth's surface had long since vanished. From the Moon's perspective, it was still as beautiful as it had been ten years prior.
Alas, times had changed; the Human Federation, who had "fled" to the Moon, could only gaze at the planet and sigh with regret at this moment.
More than half of the old Pope's body beneath his robes had vanished, yet as a powerhouse standing at the apex of the sixth stage, even with more than half his body gone, he could still easily sustain his life.
He sat serenely in his divine kingdom, surveying the Holy See to which he had dedicated his entire life, whether with true devotion or feigned pretense.
Watching the busy guards meticulously manage the situation under Wei Ni Si's command, observing the city's populace nervously making their final preparations for orbital departure under the arrangements of the Imperial Guard, he felt he could finally let go.
......
Bai Mo remained silent from beginning to end.
Over the course of thirty years, old acquaintances from yesteryear had departed one after another, and he himself was trapped in the deathly cycle of Daoization.
However, he had almost entirely lost the capacity for melancholy or sorrow, making it difficult for him to feel any sentimentality towards such scenes.
......
"Thank you." Before completely dissolving into points of light, Gondor left his final words.
If not for Bai Mo's willingness to express support, perhaps he would have continued living as a sham, wearing his disguise like a mere puppet.
He knew that Bai Mo hadn't truly turned evil, nor had he necessarily improved; he was simply continuously losing his ability to express emotions.
......
"Five!"
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Zero! Launch!"
Precisely as the last few points of light faded into the array, as if to bid farewell to the departing old Pope, the countdown on the super launch complex on the far side of the Moon also reached its end.
The super engine array, a culmination of ten years of effort and the entire Federation's power, officially activated at this moment.
To generate enough thrust to smoothly propel this impossibly cumbersome Moon Fortress, a full one-third of the Moon's surface was covered by a network of spirit energy fusion engines.
Thanks to the Solar Star Spirits who had rashly traversed here, the Human Federation was able to utilize the Moon's astonishingly abundant Helium-3 fuel in a more efficient manner, supporting the entire interstellar expedition plan.
......
At the same moment that the Moon "awakened," Earth's powers also "stirred," and a spirit energy storm, imperceptible to the naked eye, gradually formed in Earth's outer atmosphere.
According to the plan, Bai Mo on Earth would temporarily reduce the gravitational pull between Earth and the Moon, thereby decreasing the difficulty of the Moon escaping Earth's gravitational sphere of influence and alleviating the burden on the engines.
"The space on Earth's surface has begun to distort amidst the spirit energy storm; Earth's gravitational pull on us has decreased by ten percent." Inside the Moon Fortress's command center, all council members had dispatched avatars, closely monitoring reports from various departments.
"Latest report: gravity has decreased by fifteen percent!"
"...Twenty percent."
"Thirty percent!"
"......"
The rate at which the numbers dropped was truly shocking; one had to remember, this was the gravitational pull between celestial bodies!
"Earth's influence output will ultimately be roughly equivalent to the engine network's contribution."
"What exactly has happened in these past years..."
They had all, to varying degrees, understood and deduced the seventh-stage level, yet they had never perceived such an immense disparity in power.
Even in the "data" provided by Bai Mo, the so-called "True Immortal" had never been described with power comparable to this.
......
"Finally, we're leaving." Those who sought freedom and no longer wished to live in the shadow of another breathed a sigh of relief.
"As long as I live, I will definitely return!" declared those who, unwillingly uprooted from their homes and embarking on the vast star ocean, felt their hearts brimming with unvented indignation.
"Perhaps until I die, I'll never see her again." There were also couples whose choices differed, now separated by the vast expanse of the heavens.
On the Moon, those not preoccupied with the fortress's departure were, at this moment, lost in a multitude of thoughts.
The "I" remained, the "not-I" departed.
The Land of White's absolute "us or them" approach had brutally severed human society, which had once been so closely intertwined.
Regardless of which side one chose, one faced the painful parting from a significant portion of their acquaintances.
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