This time, I won't be the devil.

Like a hero.

……

At the same time as Jacob died, Frey suddenly felt something being injected into his body.

Tip: Talent [Witness] has been activated.

Witnessing the end of the Phantom Thief, new content is recorded in the Book of Fools.

The familiar prompt sound resurfaced in his mind.

[Soul Strength +0.1]

【Sensitivity+8.6】

Obtained Skills: [Return]

Chapter 32 The sun also rises

On the evening of October 10, in the small dark room where Jacob was imprisoned, Qi Si was being interrogated alone by Leonard.

After learning the truth from Leonard, Qi Si expressed his views on his arrest:

"There is no such thing as justice triumphing over evil; it's just the east wind prevailing over the west wind."

Taking advantage of the old Pope's serious illness, Cardinal Aesop, who was in charge of the judiciary, fostered a group of confidants including Chis within the Vatican to form the Law Gang.

The new Pope Oscar is the successor chosen by the old Pope. When he just came to power five years ago, Cardinal Aesop tried to sideline him and continue to hold on to power.

When the old Pope died three years ago, Cardinal Aesop's power reached its peak.

Specifically, Qis from the Law Gang was awarded merit and promoted to the director of the Labyrinth City, while Leonard, who was trained by the old Pope, was exposed for his dirty laundry and demoted.

But later, no one knew what means Oscar used, but he actually gradually took back power. Especially half a year ago, after the brave man defeated the Demon King and humans won the holy war, Oscar completely consolidated his position and became the new sun of the Kingdom of Light.

As the saying goes, there is no two suns in the sky. After Oscar came to power, he began to plan to suppress Cardinal Aesop and his group of legal gangs.

But Aesop still holds a certain amount of real power, so this kind of thing cannot be made public. So half a year ago, Oscar issued a secret order to Leonard, who was far away from the central government and loyal to the old Pope, to investigate the truth of the 86th Company.

Investigating the 86th Company would naturally lead to the Phantom Thief Robin Hood. In the past six months, Leonard had also obtained some intelligence, but had not made any breakthrough progress until a week ago, when Qis received a warning letter from Jacob.

In other words, this incident was ostensibly about capturing a thief, but in reality it was a power struggle within the Vatican, an attack by Oscar, the successor of the old Pope, against Cardinal Aesop.

Seeing Qi Si say this, Leonard retorted:

"But your long-term collusion with the factory director, your acceptance of bribes, your abuse of power, and your alteration of verdicts are indisputable facts."

"You're right, but if we really investigate the nine provinces and hundreds of cities of the Theocracy, how many of the people in power are clean?"

"Are you not going to plead guilty?"

"Of course I can confess my guilt, but behind me is Cardinal Aesop."

Hearing what Qis said, Leonard took out a document.

"This is the indictment written by Cardinal Aesop himself, and the Pope has stamped it."

Qi Si took the document, which listed all his crimes.

The Vatican characterized Chis as a corrupt and heinous individual.

He is morally corrupt, out of touch with the masses, and ignorant of the sufferings of the people.

He was corrupt, colluded with the factory and accepted bribes.

He favors his own people and is so nepotistic that he wants to send his own dogs to the Vatican to be sacred animals...

But as Qi Si expected, his fake military merits and the truth about the 86th Company were not made public.

After all, when a corrupt official is arrested, the people's resentment will only be focused on him.

But if the affairs of the 86th Company were to be exposed, people's trust in the Holy See would be shaken.

Similarly, in order to maintain the trust of the people, Oscar could not completely overthrow Cardinal Aesop, who once stood at the top of the theocracy and was loved by the people. He could only slowly deprive him of his power.

Therefore, the Pope did not help Jacob overturn the verdict, nor would he vindicate the 86th Company.

The truth about the 86th Company was just a bargaining chip for Oscar to negotiate with Aesop.

The result of their final compromise was that all the blame was borne by Qi Si alone.

At this time, Cardinal Aesop had completely cut ties with the corrupt official Qi Si, so he personally convicted Qi Si.

After reading the list of his crimes, Qi Si slumped in his chair and laughed. He already knew his fate.

In this case, he and Jacob will be the only two victims.

After so many years of struggling and doing so many bad things against his conscience, in the end, he was just a chess piece that could be discarded at will.

After Qi Si finished laughing, Leonard continued:

"The meaning is to give you dignity."

"clear."

"Do you want to be respectable yourself, or do you want me to be respectable for you?"

"I've been ordering you around for three years. Let me do this last thing myself."

After saying that, Qi Si took out a magic gun from the cabinet in the interrogation room.

"Magic guns. A few years ago, when the Terra Federation ruled, these things were everywhere. I didn't expect them to become rare items now."

Chase put the gun on the table and said to Leonard:

"Before I set off, I want to have a meal first, so I don't starve to death."

"Lao Lei, we've all been through famine, and you understand what it's like to be hungry."

Forty years ago, after the Great Crusade began, the burden on the people increased several times in order to raise military supplies, and famine broke out in various parts of the Theocracy.

Reynard was forty-five, and Keith was in his early fifties; they had been children when the Great Crusade began.

When he was a child, Leonard, like Jacob, worked as a thief for a while to fill his stomach.

Leonard brought Cheese a light meal, which he devoured quickly.

"My only good habit is never wasting food." Qi Si licked the bottom of the bowl. His rude action did not seem like something a director would do at all.

"I can't help it. I'm so hungry..."

After dinner, Qi Si left his last words.

"During the famine, my parents starved to death, leaving only my sister and me. When we couldn't survive any longer, my sister sold herself to the village landlord in exchange for a place for me to be a church page."

"At that time, clergymen in the Church of England were not allowed to marry. If the priests in the church had such needs, you know..."

"At the time, I was thinking that I had to quickly make a name for myself and redeem my sister, so when the other boys were still reluctant, I already started to cooperate."

"Later, at the end of the Great Crusade, the old priest introduced me to the logistics unit. After the war, I entered the Priest Academy."

"Several years later, when I finally became a monk and was able to return home, I learned that my sister was pregnant with the landlord's child and was kicked out of the house. She gave birth to the child, Philip."

"There's not much to say after that. I spent 20 years climbing the Vatican's ladder. Five years ago, I was spotted by Cardinal Aesop. Three years ago, I became the director of the department. Now I'm a corrupt official."

"At this point, why are you saying all this? Do you want to confess to the goddess?"

"I no longer have the qualifications to confess to the goddess."

At this point, Qi Si's tone became low.

"In the bookshelf in my office, after clearing out the books, there's a mechanism. Press it and a compartment will appear. Inside is the bribes I've received over the years."

"Part of this money went to the higher-ups, part was used to maintain the courtroom's staff expenses, and the remaining amount, over a million yuan, is all in there. Take this money out and return it to those workers."

After throwing his chips, Qi Si made his request.

"Lao Lei, for the sake of our friendship, I want you to help me with something."

"There's a holy book at the deepest end of the bookshelf. Pull it out, and you'll find dozens of gold yuan notes inside. That's my salary over the years, all legal income."

"Give this money to Philip and tell him not to recognize me as his second uncle in the future."

"Let him go back to his hometown and take good care of his mother and my sister."

"My sister is the only relative I have..."

At this point, Qis suddenly choked up, his crying became louder and louder, gradually turning into a beast-like roar, his cries intertwined with despair and confusion.

To Leonard, it seemed as if he was about to vomit out his soul...

After crying for nearly half an hour, Qi Si calmed down, loaded his gun and prepared to face death.

"Lao Lei, congratulations! After completing this mission for the Pope, you should be promoted. Do you plan to stay in the Labyrinth City and take my position, or do you plan to return to the center?"

"I'm not going anywhere. I'll continue to be the security captain."

"Why, Xiao Wang doesn't plan to promote you?"

The current Pope's full name is Oscar Wilde. He is less than 40 years old this year and is the youngest person in the Vatican's senior leadership.

Therefore, veterans like Qi Si would jokingly call him Xiao Wang in private.

"I am the old pope's man. There is no place for me in the new pope's team."

After listening to Leonard's explanation, Qi Si was stunned for a while and asked one last question:

"Old Lei, we all lived through the time of the old Pope. Now that the old Pope is gone, will the dawn of our Church ever come again?"

Under normal circumstances, Leonard would have immediately answered in the affirmative, just as he had said to Jacob.

But after hearing Qi Si's experience, he hesitated.

Leonard walked to the window. It was already late at night. He looked at the night sky, lit a cigarette, and began to think.

However, before he could figure out the answer to this question, with a gunshot, Qi Si ended his life after swallowing all the secrets.

……

After dealing with Qis, Leonard and Frey and his team took Jacob's body back to the orphanage for burial.

There were only seven children left in the welfare home at that time. Looking at Jacob's body, the children burst into tears.

After a while, Sanmao came over. He held back his tears and stopped crying, then said to Frey:

"Big brother, I promised grandpa that I would take good care of my younger brothers and sisters."