I changed the world.

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Due to the time difference, 13:35 in Dazhao time is 7:55 in Bergopperi time. At this very moment, on the second-floor terrace of an open-air café next to Piazza Santa Signi in Bergopperi, Father Pierre Simon and Monsieur Jean Plantard are sitting opposite each other under a large parasol.

Father Simon still looked somewhat uneasy, glancing around and downstairs from time to time, as if worried that some danger might appear around him at any moment.

“Mr. Plantard, why...why did those people want to kill me? And who are they?” Father Simon asked in a low voice to the old man in front of him who was leisurely sipping a cup of coffee.

"This matter... is... a long story." Mr. Plantard took a sip of his coffee and said slowly, "The reason for everything lies in the Saint Andrew's Crown in your hand. Or rather, ever since you were chosen as the Crown Holder of this generation..."

“Selected?! Well… I bought it at a small auction…” Father Simon said, somewhat bewildered.

“Young man, fate is sometimes like that; it is the will of God himself,” Mr. Plantard said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Father Simon immediately thought of some protagonists he had seen in novels and plays, and suddenly felt as if he were in the script of history, a thoughtful and excited expression appearing on his face.

Mr. Plantard put down his coffee cup and continued, “The crown of the apostles is not just the one you have, but a total of thirteen. Legend has it that they were left behind by the thirteen apostles who followed the Holy Son Micah. Each of them is an important sacred object of the Holy Revelation Church, and they contain powerful energy from the first apostle.”

"Throughout history, these crowns have appeared and disappeared, and most of the time they have not all appeared. However, many great figures and saints in church history have actually been crown holders."

“For example, the popes of all ages have actually held the crown of St. John,” Mr. Jean Plantard smiled slightly.

“You mean… His Holiness the Apostolic?! He also has…” Father Simon’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected that the seemingly ordinary old man was also a crown holder.

“I thought…I thought…” He suddenly realized that since the Patriarch himself was also a crown holder, why should he pretend to know nothing?

Was he fishing? And who was he fishing for?

He clearly remembered that his former superior, Bishop Wells, had discussed similar topics with him. Now it seemed that the Apostolic Nuncio was still hiding many secrets from him, his so-called confidant.

But why would he do that?

The image of Clement III in my memory suddenly became blurry and eerie, as if it were shrouded in mystery and shadow.

"The crown of St. John has been passed down through generations of popes of the Church of Revelation," Mr. Plantard emphasized again. "Of course, besides that..."

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History: Chapter 923 Are You Also a Crown Holder?

As he spoke, he reached into his chest and felt around. Father Simon immediately realized what was happening and looked in the direction of his hand. He saw Mr. Plantard pull out a silver necklace from the front of his suit jacket, with a pendant hanging from the chain that resembled the one on his crown!

“You…you are also a crown holder?” Father Simon asked in surprise.

Father Simon merely showed it briefly before putting his necklace back, picking up the coffee cup on the table, and gesturing slightly to Father Simon: "Just as you can see."

“But…but why…just because of this…” Father Simon still couldn’t figure out the problem.

"Do you know who the previous holder of the crown of St. Andrew was?" Mr. Plantard asked Father Simon.

Father Simon honestly shook his head; he naturally couldn't possibly know the secrets of this place.

"Owen Lane, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar who was burned at the stake," Mr. Plantard said slowly, his expression solemn.

Father Simon paused for a moment, his mind racing as he began to search for information about the Knights Templar.

As a clergyman who had systematically studied the history of Western religions, he naturally couldn't be unaware of the Knights Templar. However, he hadn't previously focused his attention on this religious and military order that was active between the 12th and 14th centuries.

Therefore, he was equally unclear about what this meant.

“To be precise, the Crown of St. Andrew is a legacy passed down through generations of Grand Masters of the Knights Templar, and that’s why those who want to kill you do so. They don’t want a crown holder who might be inclined towards Protestantism.” Plantard’s tone was low and somber.

“Protestant?!” Father Simon was slightly taken aback. Although he could tell that the priest Jean Plantard in front of him was obviously a Protestant priest, what did that have to do with the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar?

Then why would those who wanted to kill him think he was inclined towards Protestantism? He was clearly a priest of the Church of Revelation!

Besides, haven't the religious wars in history ended long ago?

Why is all this happening?!

“But…” Father Simon murmured, his thoughts somewhat confused.

"Because it was the latent influence of the Knights Templar that single-handedly propelled the religious reforms nearly two hundred years later..."

Father Simon’s breathing quickened. He realized that he might have overheard some incredible secrets, secrets buried in history.

To be fair, Father Simon was not a conspiracy theorist. A highly educated man, he had always believed that what he saw was the true nature of the world. However, a series of experiences constantly reminded him that behind this world lies another set of logic, and this logic is the true reality of the world!

“But…but the religious war, wasn’t it over?” Father Simon said with some difficulty.

"The open war is indeed over, but the covert struggle has never stopped..." Mr. Plantard, holding his coffee, continued, "Especially now that the 'Great Silence' has ended, some people, some forces, have clearly become restless..."

"And what is this 'Great Silence' you're talking about?" Father Simon licked his dry lips and continued to ask.

“You mean the ‘Great Silence’…” Mr. Jean Plantard paused for a moment, then sighed: “That was in the eleventh century, a time when the authority of the Church reached its zenith. When the glory of the Lord enveloped the entire western continent, cultists chose to lie low, gathering strength in the darkness, and the remnants of the Old Gods were banished to the cold wastelands far from the civilized world… Pope Sicinius at the time misjudged the situation. His thirst for glory made him lose even the most basic rationality, leading him and the high-ranking members of the Church to overestimate the situation and attempt to expand eastward, spreading the glory of the Lord to the eastern lands…”

"You mean the Eastern Expedition?!" Father Simon couldn't help but ask. He subconsciously thought of the scene he had seen on Ochre Peak: the enormous demon, the hideous face, the clanging of metal, and the heavy, savage, terrifying warhammer. It was a scene he could still see in his midnight dreams countless times.

No wonder… that's how the spirit reacted when it saw them! It turns out there really was a war in history…

"It was the Eastern Expedition, but in fact, it was part of a conspiracy... and the trigger for it was Vita Winnia's betrayal..." Jean Plantard sighed, "Vita Winnia... was one of the guardians the church sent to the Demon-Sealing Tower... Under the influence of the evil god, she betrayed her faith and plotted to destroy the Demon-Sealing Tower... directly leading to the loss of control of chaotic power, causing huge losses to the Xuanmen at the time, and becoming the most crucial factor in breaking the trust between the East and the West..."

“Wait… Vita Winya…” A series of memories flashed through Father Simon’s mind. He took a deep breath: “I’ve heard that name before, in the East…” Then, he briefly described the events Zeng Tang had experienced at Zhebi Peak.

“That is the forbidden area guarded by the evil god. It's fortunate you didn't resist, otherwise you might not have been able to get out.” Jean Plantard nodded, then emphasized again, “Child, don't go near there. Easterners are extremely sensitive to that place…”

“No one has ever told me these things before…” Father Simon was extremely frightened upon hearing this, but indeed, no one had ever told him these things before…

He shook his head, setting aside those past experiences, and respectfully turned to Monsieur Jean Plantard: "Sir, please continue. And then? Did the war begin?"

“An extremely brutal war…” Jean Plantard patted the armrest of his chair, sighed, and then began to recount the history to Father Simon…

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“It seems… the Church underestimated the power of the Easterners…” Father Simon listened with lingering fear as Mr. Plantard recounted this previously unheard-of secret history. Many mysteries from his memories began to unravel. As someone who had personally experienced the journey to the East, he had a more vivid understanding of the mysterious East, and a deeper sense of dread and even fear. After all, that enormous demon had given him such a powerful mental shock that whenever he thought of Eastern cultivators, a ferocious and terrifying image of a powerful demon would subconsciously appear in his mind…

Volume Two: The Truth Hidden Behind History: Chapter 924 The Descendants of the Knights Templar

“Yes, this war, in fact, became a turning point in the Church’s decline from its peak,” Jean Plantard nodded. He then paused for a moment before saying in a somber tone, “And an even greater catastrophe was yet to come…”

"The disasters and deaths brought by war have become the perfect breeding ground for the resurgence of evil gods, and the parties whose greatest energy has been tied up by the war are also unable to devote enough power to suppress it in the first instance..."

“This is the origin of the ‘Great Silence’.” Jean Plantard looked at Father Simon: “In order to deal with a more urgent crisis, the war was forced to stop, and Cardinal Honorius Antony, on behalf of the Church, made an oath.”

"After the ceasefire, the Easterners proposed a mutually destructive solution: to seal off all supernatural powers and sever the connection between the warp and the real world."

"The church adopted this plan."

"Therefore, the Zhou Tianyuan Lock was set up, and what followed was known as the 'Great Silence'."

"I see!" Father Simon felt a sense of sudden enlightenment. Mr. Plantard's words, combined with his previous experiences in the East, made him instantly understand many of the mysteries that had been troubling him. He also believed almost without thinking that what the old man said must be true, because it completely corresponded to the bits and pieces he had heard during his adventures in the East!

"Then... then what about the Knights Templar you just mentioned?" Father Simon asked in a low voice.

"The ebb of the extraordinary power brought about by the Great Silence... completely shattered the power balance established by the Church at that time, and the power of the ascetics and religious knights, who had previously served as the Church's right-hand men, was in fact greatly weakened..."

Through Jean Plantard's account, Father Simon quickly understood the situation at the time: after the balance of power was broken, the church was clearly in a state of turmoil.

“When mediocrity became the norm in the church, the knights who had given their blood and loyalty to the church were abandoned and betrayed.” Jean Plantard described the situation at the time in a calm tone, but Father Simon could still feel the contempt and disdain in his tone.

“Those priests who had been sitting back and enjoying the fruits of others’ labor began to expand their own power and try to gain more control of the church, and the Apostolic Nuncio at the time clearly acquiesced to all of this.”

"Especially after Pope Sicinius took office. He listened to the advice of his favorite courtier Gaius, who believed that... the old days were over and the Church needed reform..."

“This…” Father Simon opened his mouth wide. He didn’t really know much about this period of history, because there was no clear record of it in history. In fact, his only memory of Pope Sicinius, who was in power at the time, was just a name in the history books.

However, upon hearing Mr. Plantard's words, he almost immediately realized the turbulent undercurrents involved.

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Mr. Plantard briefly described the situation to him, and after his account, he looked at him and tapped the round table in front of him: "After Sicinius, his successor, Lust II, seemed to have stopped Sicinius's various actions; however, his behind-the-scenes actions led to a series of tragedies that followed..."

He then sighed, “In 1318, Owen Lane, then Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was invited by Pope Rostov II to Grande to discuss important matters. However, as soon as Owen Lane arrived in Grande, he was immediately arrested.”

"A dismissed knight accused the Knights Templar of multiple crimes, and King Bonova I of Grand immediately accepted these accusations and, without warning, launched a massive arrest of Knights Templar throughout Grand..."

"And this event, in essence, led to the beginning of a series of tragedies... directly contributing to the subsequent schism within the church..."

Father Simon hadn't known much about this period of history before. He vaguely knew it existed, but as a shameful chapter in the history of the Church, it was only briefly mentioned in historical records. In fact, events like the Black Death, the Reformation, and even the discovery of the New World seem to hold far greater historical significance than this.

To many, this was merely the fall of a religious knightly order… However, Father Simon suddenly realized that perhaps this event was what truly changed history…

While following the flow of the Holy Cage Knights (2), he (3) not long before, while researching information about the Black Death after being dismissed from his post as a member of the "Grey Leather Book" (2), also consulted some related materials.

Throughout history, the downfall of this knightly order has been shrouded in numerous mysteries and rumors: their prowess in battle, their piety, their wealth, their treasures, their betrayal… In particular, the last Grand Master's curse before his execution at the stake—that the Pope and King Grand would face eternal judgment within a year—is said to have indeed come true. Pope Lustow II died suddenly a month later, and Bonois I died suddenly while hunting six months later.

Looking at it now... it's truly terrifying to think about!