Cardinal Adam had considered that the Church's books might be true.
Cardinal Adam had also considered that there might be some ancient traces in the real world proving God's existence.
Cardinal Adam had even imagined that one day, during a Church Mass, divine light would manifest from God.
But he never dared to imagine that one day, God would appear before him.
Moreover, it was the dead God!
A bizarre humanoid figure was nailed to a cross made of white bone, with a pure white bone spike deeply embedded in its chest.
Threads of golden blood seeped out from around the white bone spike piercing the pale humanoid's chest, but the process was extremely slow—after all this time, not a single drop of golden blood had fallen onto the hollowed-out jade pedestal below.
Cardinal Adam seemed as if someone had pressed his pause button. His eyes were filled with shock, fear, confusion, and even obsession as he stared fixedly at the perfectly formed body of God hanging on the bone cross before him, completely unable to react.
At this moment, combined with the content of the murals earlier, how could he not realize that this corpse before him was the very God whom Kuba had slain mid-air and whom Divine Cause had hung on a cross to expose to the elements!
Who would have thought that the Church's records were true—even God's corpse was in the Church's possession!His Holiness the Pope appeared slightly better off than him, but only slightly.
The same mix of obsession and fear, even the shock in his eyes was no less than Cardinal Adam's.
He hadn't actually seen it many times either. In over a hundred years as Pope, he had only come here three times.
The first time was when the previous Pope brought him in, much like Cardinal Adam now. The second time was over fifty years ago when collecting divine blood.
And today marked the third time.
God is divine, and the divine cannot be directly gazed upon!
Even the dead God possesses tremendous power!
Cardinal Adam obsessively studied the body of God nailed to the cross in the distance, but the more he looked, the stronger his sense of dread grew. The more he looked, the more his scalp tingled with fear and apprehension.
This feeling was like a lower lifeform facing a higher one—even looking upon a higher lifeform with one's eyes felt like blasphemy.
The more carefully Cardinal Adam looked, the more bizarre this perfect body appeared.
God's skin was pale and delicate, without even visible pores on the surface.
His body was completely naked, yet no genitalia were visible—that area was smooth and featureless.
His face was exquisitely perfect, beautiful beyond gender distinction. However, his entire body was hairless, even his scalp covered in pristine, tender skin.
His chest seemed to be faintly rising and falling...
Cardinal Adam instantly snapped out of his obsession. Sweat pouring down his face, he looked again at God nailed to the cross.
This time, the corpse appeared completely still, without the slightest tremor.
Cardinal Adam felt his hands beginning to shake.
He was certain he hadn't been mistaken—he had truly seen God's corpse faintly moving.
"Adam!" The Pope's voice suddenly snapped Adam out of his self-induced terror, bringing him back to reality.
Cardinal Adam realized his back was completely drenched in sweat, his fingers gripping the wheelchair turning white and trembling.
"Your Holiness, I just saw... God seems to still be breathing!"
Cardinal Adam's voice trembled slightly.
For some reason, looking at God's corpse on the cross filled him with an uncontrollable fear—a sense of inferiority like a lowly creature facing a superior being. He could even feel an extremely dangerous aura emanating from God's body.
This genetically ingrained fear and vigilance made him afraid to look for more than a moment.
"That's not breathing, Adam. That's the manifestation of vitality! God isn't dead—he's merely sealed." The Pope had also withdrawn his gaze.
"Sealed? Not dead?"
"Yes, Adam. With the power to create all things, how could God possibly die so easily?" The Pope sighed deeply as he looked up at God's corpse suspended on the bone cross. "Do you remember Resurrection?"
"I remember, Your Holiness." Cardinal Adam didn't dare look at God's corpse anymore, shifting his gaze to the jade pedestal supporting the cross.
"Death separated from the divine body, gods never wither. The divine corpse hangs upon the stake, divine consciousness revives in Heaven. Messengers exterminate the earth, Jonah imprisoned in the sun. Divine Cause suspends the divine corpse, Eden isolates Heaven."
"Even death has been stripped away from His own body—how could He possibly die?"
Cardinal Adam was utterly stunned.
So this meant all the contents recorded in the Church's texts—God, Heaven, Hell, Divine Cause, Jonah—all truly existed!
Then this...
Cardinal Adam felt his spiritual foundation becoming unstable.
He had thought he was about to become the most revered person in the world, but now the Pope was telling him: "Don't joke—there are plenty in this world who could crush you like an insect."
This sense of disparity was like falling straight from Heaven to Hell, making him start to fear, much like Norton, that someday a deity might descend to either kill him or destroy the world.
For some reason, looking at God's corpse on the cross filled him with an uncontrollable fear—a sense of inferiority like a lowly creature facing a superior being. He could even feel an extremely dangerous aura emanating from God's body.