Long-term salvation

Bishop Raphael spoke out, looking into Rhodes' eyes and said seriously:

"In addition to the increase in demonic possession incidents, there are also increasing reports of sightings, injuries, and destruction of legendary ghosts. Just recently, the Covenant Knights destroyed a ghoul lair in the Levant region, and rumors of monsters like werewolves and vampires have also been uncovered."

"The world is changing—as if the end of the world is approaching—darkness is proliferating in the corners of human civilization, reinforced and spread by people's fears, and you, we must prepare in advance."

These words were not only known to Rhodes, but also fell into the ears of the cardinals, causing them to show some shock and talk to each other.

Amidst the gentle commotion, Rhodes rubbed his temples, his gaze fixed on Father Anderson, who had a solemn expression... Then, he smiled and said,

"Then we should integrate and establish an organization dedicated to handling religious intelligence and other related matters such as demonic possession, vampires, and werewolves. Meanwhile, we should also track down ancient secrets such as the ancient city of Al Khali. This will form a high-level coordination with the Knights of the Covenant, who are purely combatants. At the same time, we should coordinate with the Global Occult Coalition (GOC) to avoid wasting and diverting the Knights' energy."

Let the Knights of the Covenant, the religious version of the Mobile Task Force, play the high-end games, and let the Vatican handle the mundane matters and supervisory work. Their influence among hundreds of millions of Christians should not be underestimated.

Sadly, sometimes, in this world, a religious cover can actually help one do their work better. The independence, exclusivity, and religious nature of the Church also prevented them from being easily combined with the Army Without Borders. So, let "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's"! After all, the sole leader of both was Rhode himself.

"Bishop Raphael, you will lead the organization, and Father Anderson, you will be responsible for training and implementation," Rhodes said seriously, glancing meaningfully at the two men whose faces showed surprise and ecstasy. "Don't let me down again, and don't cause any trouble."

"Follow the Holy Order!" x2

Bishop Raphael and Father Anderson exchanged a glance and responded to Rhodes's command in unison. Their eyes swept over the human-shaped salt pillar that still stood there, and unprecedented awe and enthusiasm rose in their hearts.

"In that case, let me think of a name... Since it's affiliated with the Vatican, let's call it the Inquisition, wait, that name doesn't fit... Vatican Secret Service Section 13 'Iscariot Agency (betrayer, from 'Hellsing')'? Hey, hey, don't kneel down, I won't call it that anymore."

Eventually, the name of this agency under the Vatican, which specializes in dealing with religious incidents caused by activities in the other world, hunting down and expelling supernatural creatures such as "demons" in religious texts, and hunting down cult members and curbing the spread of these heretical doctrines, was finalized:

Ordo Malleus

Chapter 419: The Long Journey Home

After finishing the meeting in St. Peter's Basilica, Rhodes prepared to return. Before leaving, he planned to visit the injured Covenant Knights, but had to give up after hearing that they had been dispersed and were about to be incorporated into various Covenant Knights teams.

At this moment, Rhode had already boarded a special plane with Mika and Makoto from Rome-Fiumicino Airport, preparing to fly through an airport in Portugal before crossing the Atlantic and heading to North America—home! Back at Hill Villa, lying on the sofa and being fed, hugging the girls and listening to their shy pleas for mercy in hushed voices... instead of like this:

"Look, my lord! We are trampling over the heads of those ships on the Mediterranean Sea. I have decided that one day I will build a Gibraltar Dam! And then impose a 1000% tax on every ship that passes through!"

“…You work hard.”

Rhodes opened his dead eyes, reached out to pick up the book introducing Rome tourism projects next to him and put it on his face, pretending that he didn't see the little idiot lying by the porthole and shaking his butt.

Like Rod, Mika no longer had the energy to continue fighting with Makoto. She took off her shoes, curled up on the sofa, and tickled Rod next to her with the ends of her long pink hair.

After making a few incoherent complaints, the man reached out and pulled the pink-haired girl into his arms, quietly enjoying Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" Violin Concerto echoing in the cabin.

After expressing his vision for the future, Makoto turned his head, only to see the two people who were drowsy and completely oblivious to his words.

The corners of her eyes twitched slightly, and Makoto took off her military cap and coat without hesitation, and rolled into Rhodes' arms like Mika, even twisting a few times to make herself more comfortable. Finally, she grabbed Rhodes' hand and placed it in front of her, yawned and prepared to fall asleep - only at this time would she be a little quieter.

The soft light in the cabin cast a shadow on the three of them, causing a faint atmosphere of ambiguity and warmth to rise, passing through the girls' hair, and finally melting into Rhodes's gaze that fell on them.

Thirty minutes passed, and Rhode heard the stewardess whispering in his ear:

"Boss, the meal is ready, and there's wine."

"...Okay, please get me two more blankets," Rhode said, but then he noticed Makoto's twitching pointed ears and Mika's suddenly rapid breathing. He had no choice but to say to the stewardess who was covering her mouth and laughing softly, "Forget it, no need. Prepare the food."

"Okay, BOSS."

When Makoto and Mika put on their shoes, they saw the flight attendant pushing a food cart over - the main course was veal Milanese stew and a seafood platter dedicated by an Italian fishing industry. The portions of these things were not large, but the taste was exquisite enough.

Rhode watched the Barbaresco swirling in the transparent goblet, casting a swaying, dark red light and shadow on the table. But just as he was about to savor it, he saw Makoto staring intently at the glass, her eyes flickering with a certain arousal.

Although this girl often pretends to sway a wine glass, it actually contains grape juice, not wine.

But then again, Makoto is indeed one of the few 18-year-old girls in Kiwotos… Thinking of this, Rhode asked tentatively:

"You want to try it?"

"Of course! I've always wanted to taste the holy blood of Christ... Hey, hey, hey, Sensei, don't grab me by the horns!!"

"You can try it first, and leave it for me if you can't finish it."

After suppressing Makoto's resistance, Rhodes still poured half a cup for the eager girl, and also poured a little bit for the curious Mika.

The pink-haired girl didn't react much, her cheeks were still slightly red, and she didn't look like someone who was good at drinking. As for Makoto... she showed a silly expression, grabbed Rhode's wrist and begged:

"Sensei, pat my head."

She had already drunk the wine in the glass in one gulp - although this girl was the Monkey King, she was now more like Zhu Bajie who ate the ginseng fruit in one gulp - the wine with an alcohol content of at least 12.5% ​​was now throwing the girl's brain into a blender, allowing her to see the melting halo, the blurry figure in front of her, and the clear blue eyes.

"Sen~sei~"

Rhodes: “…”

So weak. Is this Satan being punished by the Holy Blood of Christ?

Under that rare soft tone of pleading, Rhode reluctantly reached out his hand and touched Makoto's head. He turned his head and saw the righteous Mika, so he had to quickly reach out his other hand to calm the restless pink hair.

"Sure enough, I shouldn't let you two drink. At least not now."

Rod said this with a frown on his face. He just wanted to punch himself two minutes ago... Fortunately, Makoto soon fell asleep, hugging the sofa cushion and giggling foolishly - she was much cuter now, even her usually arrogant and domineering expression became soft, making people want to kiss her until she woke up.

After covering Makoto with the blanket that the stewardess brought again, Rhodes turned his attention to the braised veal knee in front of him, cut off a piece with a dinner knife and put it into his mouth.

After chewing carefully for a few times, Rhodes felt the sauce-covered beef begin to roll and jump between his teeth and tongue, and a sigh of satisfaction began to emerge from his stomach, passing through his esophagus and throat, and finally coming out of his nasal cavity - this was the best meal he had eaten in the past few days, especially after he rejected the Pope's proposal for a banquet.

After finishing his meal slowly, Rhode took a sip of wine and said to Weihua, who was struggling with an octopus leg, with a smile:

"Do you need me to cut everything for you again?"

"No... I'd better eat it all in one go!" Mika said angrily, stuffing the octopus leg directly into her mouth, causing her cheeks to puff up comically. "Mmm... I'm very experienced in eating big things like this... I can even eat a whole Swiss roll in one go!"

Having said that, Rhodes still stood up and poured Weihua a glass of water to prevent her from choking.

Glancing at Makoto, who was still sleeping and unconsciously laughing, and Mika, who had a satisfied expression after having eaten and drunk enough, Rhode leaned against the small bar in the cabin, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"When I go back this time, Hill Villa will become very lively..."

Then, the special plane with the Atlas company logo pierced through the twilight, its titanium alloy wings cutting through the last ray of rose-gold glow in the sky and rushing into the darkness of the night - from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, from the Eurasian continent to the American continent - it took more than ten hours for Rhodes to set foot on solid ground again.

Set out on the journey back to Arkham Town and back to Hill House.

Chapter 420: Daily Life: Hina Just Wants to Kiss

Summer has arrived in North America, bringing with it heat and stifling rainy days, but the sun, too bright to be glaring, still occupies most of the daytime—the swaying gauze curtains filter the sunlight into gold foil fragments, spreading fine diamond-shaped light spots on the oak floor.

The carved glass windows of the room were half open, allowing the fragrance of pine needles from Arkham Forest next to Hill House to fill the room. Accompanied by soft and soothing piano music, the lovely girl sitting on the small sofa narrowed her eyes slightly out of leisure.

Hina Sorasaki reached out and took a sip of the iced lemon juice next to her, then took a few blueberries and stuffed them into her mouth. She felt the sweetness and slight sourness exploding in her mouth, as well as the coolness going down her esophagus, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"The weather is getting hotter..."

Looking at the neatly arranged documents on the desk, Hinata nodded with satisfaction, feeling proud of her work efficiency - so now, what should she do?

The girl pondered for a few seconds, then stood up and decided to play games with Little Red Riding Hood, Nyaruko, and the others. The first generation of PlayStation had already been released, and its hardware level was also better than that of the other timeline.

"I should definitely finish King's Field and Ace Combat today," Hina muttered to herself, while putting the drinks and fruit platter on the small round table into a small bamboo basket, ready to take them all to the lounge.

Although it was a lounge, it actually covered an area almost as large as the large dining room in the old mansion. It was equipped with a retro old-fashioned fireplace, modern central air conditioning and other electrical appliances. Several cabinets were filled with game consoles and board game boxes, while the shelves next to it were filled with miscellaneous books that the girls liked to read. Rhodes rarely came here, and it was more like their private space.

Because of this, many "conferences" about Rhodes were held here.

Hinai left her room and walked along the corridor towards the lounge, but as soon as she reached the first floor, she saw Sand Wolf Baizi returning with a fishing rod through the window. The latter seemed to have caught a good catch.

In order to block the sun, the wolf girl also wore a wide and long hat - when she passed by the Army Without Borders training camp in Arkham Forest, General Hammer, who had just walked out of it, let out a sharp roar - fortunately, this embarrassing scene was not seen by the soldiers, and the poor old man had to agree to give Bai Zi some intelligence about the FBI's activities as hush money.

Shiroko still had that indifferent expression on his face, but after noticing Hina's gaze, he raised the fish basket to show her the freshwater fish inside:

"It's not fish sauce, it's sea bass!"

“…I can see that.”

Hinata nodded helplessly. She then noticed a few spots of water on the wolf girl's trouser legs. It was obvious that she had been fishing in frustration because she hadn't caught any fish, but this seemed to be a better solution than just throwing the fishing rod. With a slight smile on her lips, Hinata pulled an apple from the small bamboo basket and handed it to Shiroko, saying with a smile:

"Marianne said we have to wait a little longer for dinner, so Baizi can have an apple first."

"it is good."

The wolf girl nodded slightly. She reached out to take the apple, but simply stuffed it into her pocket, completely ignoring the poor thing's bulging bulge, almost bursting. After staring at Hinata for a few seconds, Shiroko blinked and calmly reminded her:

"Sensei will be back today."

"Eh? Ah, I know that..."

"We'll be at Hill Manor soon," Bai Zi said, shaking his fish basket again, causing the half-dead perch inside to struggle feebly. "He originally wanted to take a bus back, but changed his mind. I don't know why."

"..."

This news made the silver-haired girl with purple eyes subconsciously take a deep breath. She no longer cared about the wolf girl who was looking at her in confusion, but walked quickly along the corridor with a small bamboo basket on her shoulder. The corridor seemed to become infinitely deep at this moment, turning into a complex and ever-changing maze, leading the girl from her leisure time to the gate of Hill Villa.

But halfway through, Hina remembered that she was carrying a bamboo basket filled with only her leftovers.

With a grumble of frustration, Hinata turned and walked towards the kitchen. She walked through the hallway and into the kitchen, which was already filled with the aroma of food.

The kitchen was even hotter due to the stove, prompting the girls inside to put on short-sleeved shirts early. If they were preparing a midnight snack for Rhode alone, they could wear cooler clothes, but they generally wouldn't focus on the food at that time.

Marianne stood inside as usual, humming a song while she cut vegetables, while Qianye and Asuka Iki were helping her, stirring the soup for Nierenragout (cut beef kidneys stewed with onions, pickles, sour cream, etc.), or carefully prying open the shells of fresh oysters and preparing to put them in the oven... Raw food is of course also a good choice, and these seafood, including oysters, are very fresh.

The black cat, Pickman, was squatting by the kitchen window. After glancing at the soup simmering in the pot and the chopped ingredients beside it, it licked its fur and calculated when Rhodes would lie on the lounge chair outside Hill Villa like a twisted, skinny dried fish.

One day? Two days? This is my revenge for eating my dried fish, meow, it seems.

No one knows what the magic cat is thinking.

Even its owner.

"If Hina wants to eat something, she can look in the refrigerator."

Marian noticed Hinai placing the small bamboo basket on the table and said without turning back that she still needed to prepare two more meals. Although many people were not at Hill Villa, there were quite a few people eating today. Even if it was just one person, it still required careful preparation.

"Wait about half an hour and then we can have dinner."

"So fast?" Hina asked subconsciously.

"Ah, ah, ah, actually, we need to go a little faster," Qianye chuckled softly, her eyes sweeping across the embarrassed girl's face. As the oldest person in the entire Hill Villa, it was easy for her to see through the girls' little thoughts. "If you're in a hurry, you can go directly to the door and wait until the helicopter lands before going out. After all...it's so hot."

"I'll go tell the others about this and ask them to prepare to come back for lunch."

With a slight blush on her cheeks, Hinata quickly fled the kitchen as if she had just arrived there.

Waiting, waiting is always long.

From her third-floor window, Hinata spotted a helicopter emerging from the distant clouds. She trudged downstairs and stood at the gate with the others. However, the first figure to emerge from the helicopter made the girl frown.

"Makoto Hanuma?"

Hinata would never mistake the figure that was arrogantly walking towards the gate of the mansion.

Of course, Makoto Hanuma would never mistake Hina Sorasaki for someone else.

"Hey, isn't this our Discipline Committee Chairman?"

A sneer appeared at the corner of Hanuma Makoto's mouth. She bent down, and her forehead collided with Hinata's large forehead, making a dull sound. Although the corner of her eye twitched slightly due to the dull pain, Makoto still did not show any sign of submission:

"Hehehe, you're just like those angels over there. You haven't taken the entire world for Sensei. You're too weak!"

"...Sensei has his own plan for how to proceed." Hinata lowered her eyes, a dangerous glint of anger in the corner of her eyes. "Do you want to usurp Sensei's authority?"

"That's a truly vicious accusation, Sorasaki Hina."

Makoto straightened her body and took a half step back, standing right next to Rhodes who was walking over. She took the latter's arm as he tried to stop the fight, raised her chin slightly, and said arrogantly:

"You know, I'm going to be Sensei's sidekick, and you'll just be a little bed-warming maid. After warming the bed, you can—"

"Maid? Warm the bed? Ha."

Ignoring Makoto's provocation, or rather responding to it, Hinata reached out and grabbed Rod's tie, pulled his upper body towards her, then stood on tiptoe and kissed the corner of his lips that she had been longing for.

Their lips touched for a long time, and the beautiful purple eyes flashing with shyness looked back proudly, reflected in the eyes of Makoto who was subconsciously stunned in place.

Makoto: "..."

They were still kissing, not stopping, still kissing.

Right in front of you.

Still kissing, didn't stop.