From God of Lies to Lord of All Worlds

Chapter 316: Reactions from All Sides

The moment Angus uttered those words, the reporters present were in an uproar!

After all, in a certain sense, Angus was the true mouthpiece of the Holy See in the Americas, the very embodiment of the Church's faith and ideals in the region.

His words represented the will of the Holy See. By stating this so openly, didn't it mean the Church was truly going head-to-head with the White House?

"Cardinal Angus, does saying this mean you disagree with the Great Leader's opinion?" a reporter asked, eager to fan the flames.

Angus nodded frankly. Since he had already made up his mind, there was no reason to be coy. "Yes, this kind of matter should never have been escalated nationwide, especially not under the current circumstances!"

"The Lord's messenger has already given us a warning. A terrifying power from the Darkness is piercing through this world. Why can't we focus our limited energy on preparing for the future, instead of targeting the faithful believers of the Lord?"

"The Lord will not abandon a single believer, and the Holy See will not stand by and watch them suffer unjust treatment!"

"His Holiness the Pope has approved my request. The Religious Tribunal will come forward to act as legal support and accompany our believers to court!"

"If necessary, the Holy See will also provide further follow-up support!"

Once those words were spoken, it was truly earth-shattering!The reporters went absolutely crazy, pulling out their cell phones and immediately calling their superiors!

They understood exactly who Angus was!

Over the past six months, the number one thing the media had been doing was digging into Angus's life history.

After all, the media—the uncrowned kings—loved nothing more than dragging a god down from the altar, right next to putting someone up on a pedestal.

In their hearts, they would rather believe that Angus was a hypocritical façade propped up by the Holy See than believe such a genuinely virtuous person existed.

After all, Angus fit the traditional image of an old white male in the eyes of the American public a little too perfectly. He was calm, restrained, disciplined, gentle, kind, and devout...

All these wonderful qualities were even validated by an Angel. In a media landscape dominated by liberalism, elitism, and identity politics, it was simply unbelievable.

Thus, they investigated Angus through every possible angle, hoping to uncover some malicious trait, or even the slightest hint of wrongdoing.

Yet even so, over the past six months, aside from some specious information, they had been unable to dig up a single piece of negative news about this man.

For years, he had worked diligently in his small town day in and day out, fulfilling his duties while mediating disputes among the locals. He was universally acknowledged as a good man.

In other words, even by the standards of this Puritan nation, he could be called a saint!

And now, this saint, this Transcendent Being who enjoyed immense fame in America and throughout the world, had made his stance clear. What this represented couldn't be any more obvious.

The Holy See was going to fight the government for the right to control public opinion!

...

In modern society, especially in the internet age, information traveled fast. Therefore, shortly after Angus spoke those words, the majority of the world knew about it.

Of course, other countries were just watching the show. They had long been annoyed with Golden Hair, who constantly flaunted the Church's support. Now that the two sides were clashing, they were naturally happy to see its success.

And the one most happy to see its success, of course, was Nuland!

"They've probably guessed that we were the ones fanning the flames!" Nuland muttered inside the Governor's Office.

"It's easy to figure out, Your Excellency the Governor. Someone else's incident happened on our turf!" Joris, the Los Angeles Police Chief, whispered. "But that's not the main point, is it?"

"Exactly, it's beside the point! Whether it's the White House or the Holy See, both sides needed an excuse to intervene, and we gave them exactly what they were looking for!"

Indeed, as Golden Hair's rival, the Governor of California, and the biggest figurehead of the Opposition Party, this governor was the true mastermind behind this special confrontation and the catalyst for the unrest.

It couldn't be helped. Golden Hair had recently solidified his position and started stirring up trouble on the international stage. The most absurd part was that just when Nuland thought there were still some people in the world with a backbone, every nation across the globe had capitulated under the Emperor of Ten Thousand Taxes' sweeping tax policies!

This pushed Golden Hair even further into the limelight, leaving Nuland's faction swallowing their grievances in silence.

He was the Great Leader, holding the moral high ground, resources, and the entire state apparatus in his hands. Meanwhile, her faction was left struggling in the mess left by the previous administration while also having to deal with the issue of Transcendent Beings. They were already dancing in shackles; if Golden Hair actually managed to turn both the international and domestic situations entirely in his favor, wouldn't they be completely forced out of the game?

It just so happened that the spread of the Catholic Church's faith and Golden Hair's culture of the Sun had begun to compete with each other.

Therefore, Nuland chose to detonate this conflict directly, forcing the two sides into absolute opposition!

Both sides needed this confrontation to prove their strength—that was an open secret.

"Regardless of who wins, we can always ally with the weaker side and continue our cooperation... If both sides suffer heavy losses..." Nuland's expression grew cryptic. "Then we might just have to fight for the position of the ruler of America ourselves!"

...

"No one understands the Holy See better than I do! No one!" Golden Hair declared angrily inside the White House.

In truth, seizing control of the narrative from the Holy See had been his idea all along.

After all, he now possessed his own Supernatural Teams, not to mention an Archbishop like Jose who could contact a Demon God. With the qualifications to access Transcendent Power, he naturally wanted to clash with the Church!

Recently, because the Archbishop of Washington D.C. had been dealt with, Golden Hair had lost his primary source of firsthand intelligence regarding the Holy See.

Angus's rectification of the entire Catholic Church in America had cleaned up Church operations in many regions. Counterintuitively, it had greatly improved their financial situation—now that the bishops were no longer embezzling funds, the actual money was being properly submitted.

However, this also caused various factions' infiltration into the Holy See to come to a screeching halt. They had no way to infiltrate those new, steadfast bishops, much less gain any advantage against the wielders of a Precept.

This so-called Precept was simply too game-breaking. It allowed the head of a Church to become a Transcendent Being—even if they were the most basic Transcendent Being without any real Transcendent Abilities!

Because it gave these Devout Believers a clear path forward!

The motivation brought by this path forward was, of course, unimaginable and incredibly exaggerated. Relying on Transcendent Power that could perhaps only light a single candle, these Priests and Bishops had forcibly managed to expand and blanket the entire Catholic system with their faith in just a few months!

This expansion turned many casual followers into Devout Believers. Even many members of Protestantism and other denominations had chosen to convert their faith under the overwhelming coverage of this Transcendent Power.

This gave the Catholic Church the momentum to become the undisputed dominant force in the country, which only intensified the unease in Golden Hair's heart!

As the Great Leader, the unrivaled wielder of Power in this nation, Golden Hair certainly could not accept a situation where someone else stepped in to share his Rights.

Thus, after venting his fury, he turned to the people gathered before him—the members of the American Special Affairs Bureau: Qian Si, Baron, Austin, Chris, and Jose.

"I need the Holy See to clearly understand that this is America, not Rome, and certainly not the Vatican!"

Golden Hair declared loudly, "We are the most powerful sovereign nation in the world! We are the Kings of this planet, not some Realm surviving under the Rule of God! If everyone goes and believes in the Holy See, what are we supposed to do?"

This was his true thought, or rather, the thought of the true ruling class of this country!

If His Holiness the Pope wants to start Shepherding People, does that mean we don't get to? If everyone listens to you, who is going to listen to our government decrees?

Moreover, these rulers were thinking on an even deeper level. There was another aspect to this special "power struggle," and that was the followers!

Today, Angus could clash with American Officials for the sake of his followers. If a believer, or even a Bishop, were to die tomorrow, wouldn't the Church demand an explanation from them?

This trend could not be allowed to grow! Everyone recognized this fact. The Holy See's so-called "non-interference in politics and state governance" might be their genuine intention, but the moment it involved their followers or the Church's core interests—for instance, if someone tried to drag the Holy See into the mud—could they possibly just sit back and ignore it?

It was a false premise. The state and the Holy See inevitably had to draw a clear line in the sand and establish a hierarchy!

Power was a zero-sum game; if someone else took more, you were left with less! And right now, no one was willing to take a step back!

Thus, Golden Hair became ruthless. He looked at the group and said, "I will have someone keep Bishop Angus distracted. This time, your opponents will most likely be the people sent from the Vatican! We can't afford to completely tear up our relationship, but we must let these people know the power of America!"

"Yes, Your Excellency the Great Leader!"

The collision between the two sides was intensely escalating, right before their very eyes!