The residence was not far from St. Peter's Basilica, and soon Caesar and Faol arrived in front of St. Peter's Square.
By then, St. Peter's Square was already packed with people, and even outside the square, the crowds were layered, leaving only passages. The square was bustling with people, and from above, it looked like a colorful mosaic.
The Papal Election is a grand event in the heart of every Catholic. Although the election process is completely confidential to them, being able to know the results of the Papal Election in St. Peter's Square at the first possible moment is definitely a blessing of a lifetime.
Due to the complex system and strict conditions for reaching a consensus, it is normal for the Papal Election to have no results for many days, and historically, elections have lasted for several months or even years.
Therefore, distant followers usually choose to temporarily reside in surrounding cities; some may even live quite far away, but they still arrive at St. Peter's Square early every day.
Such a large square, there must be at least hundreds of thousands of people inside it alone. Is this the power of faith? Caesar couldn't help but sigh.
"Cardinal, I cannot go any further. I will pray for you here; the Lord will bless you," Faol made a querying gesture.
Caesar nodded.
"May God bless you," he replied courteously and continued walking into the square.
To be honest, Caesar was still quite flustered. Before, with Faol by his side, if he encountered something unexpected, at least there was someone to rely on. Now, he was truly going alone.
Not having Faol lead the way wasn't a big problem. Just walking straight in now would definitely be correct. Once inside, he would just find a Cardinal dressed like him and follow him. Caesar was never hesitant when it came to being shrewd.
Thinking this, he quickly walked inward, and before long, he reached the interior of the square. Looking at the huge square where he stood, Caesar's body trembled slightly.
St. Peter's Square is slightly oval-shaped, with its ground paved with small black cobblestones. On both sides, two sets of semicircular marble colonnades embrace it, forming three magnificent and grand corridors. These two sets of colonnades are decorative structures, composed of 284 round columns and 88 square columns arranged in four rows, forming three corridors. On top of the round columns are 140 statues of saints.
At the top of each stone column facing the square, there is a marble statue, each representing a male or female saint from the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Their expressions are varied and lifelike. In the center of the square stands an obelisk; between the bronze lions are eagles, poised as if about to take flight.
On both sides of the square are two exquisitely designed fountains, with water spraying upwards from the center, dividing into two layers below: the upper layer is mushroom-shaped, with water columns falling to form a water curtain from all sides; the lower layer is bowl-shaped, collecting the spring water into a fine overflow, making a gurgling sound.
The entire St. Peter's Square is both grand and meticulously detailed, truly worthy of being the crystallization of a master's years of painstaking effort, and certainly one of Europe's most worthwhile attractions to visit.
However, Caesar had no time to stop and admire it at the moment. After all, he wasn't really here for tourism, and it would be bad to mess up important matters. Although he didn't know what Paradox's stated conditions to achieve were, it was clearly not as simple as just waiting to die.
He continued to walk quickly forward for some distance. Then, a Cardinal appeared in front, and Caesar's eyes lit up. Great, follow him.
Although he knew he was going to St. Peter's Basilica for Mass, St. Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world, with several doors, and he didn't know which one to enter. It would be embarrassing to go through the wrong door.
And now that he was a Cardinal, asking others which door to enter St. Peter's Basilica would be like asking where his own front door was, utterly humiliating.
Undoubtedly, the appearance of this Cardinal saved Caesar a lot of trouble.
Thus, following him, he entered the Basilica, passed through one corridor after another, and arrived at a spacious hall. In the hall, all the Cardinals were dressed in red.
Some were conversing with each other, some stood there with their eyes closed, resting, and some were moving around. There were only dozens of Cardinals here at the moment, clearly not all of them had arrived yet.
It seemed he hadn't gone to the wrong place, Caesar breathed a sigh of relief.
Although St. Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world, it can still be said to be full of treasures. The construction of St. Peter's Basilica spanned intermittently for 338 years, with successive Popes investing almost without limit in its construction. Countless architects and artists were invited, including generational geniuses like Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bramante.
And these geniuses spared no effort, for to leave their mark in such a sacred edifice was a coveted dream for most artists.
However, Caesar still had no time to admire these masters' famous works.
He had to obtain as much useful information as possible from the conversations of all these Cardinals, especially those speaking Italian. Among so many Cardinals here, there must be acquaintances of Claude from before; if he knew nothing, he would be completely exposed with one question. Other Cardinals would surely be crazy to elect an "amnesiac" Cardinal as Pope.
But Caesar quickly broke down. These guys' names were all so long and awkward... More importantly, as a severe face-blindness sufferer, these Europeans all looked so similar, except for a few with very distinctive features; the others could basically only be categorized. If their clothes were different, he could distinguish them by their attire, but now everyone was wearing the same thing!
Paradox, that trickster, you've really screwed me over! You didn't tell me the goal to achieve, nor did you give me Claude's memories. This completely goes against the transmigration trope!
It's a good thing he gave me the ability to use all languages; otherwise, if I became mute here, it would truly be game over. With my terrible English, I'd probably get every question wrong on a listening test I made and read myself. Besides, speaking English from a few centuries later here probably wouldn't be much different from speaking Chinese.
With the abilities I have now, I'd at least be a master of foreign languages when I go back, right? Thinking this, Caesar felt much better.
"Good morning, Cardinal Claude," a voice sounded, pulling Caesar's thoughts back to reality.
Every time his mind opened up, it would wander far away; this habit, he feared, couldn't be changed, Caesar shook his head helplessly.
Wait, what's the situation now...? Someone is greeting me? Oh no... just as I feared.
He forced himself to calm down, squeezed out a benevolent smile, and managed to utter through gritted teeth: "Good morning."
Logically, he should have called out the other person's name, but he hadn't even noticed this person just now, so how could he know his name?
The person surprisingly didn't press further, nodded, and turned to leave. Not very close? That's good then, Caesar breathed a sigh of relief.
Caesar was just about to continue eavesdropping on the Cardinals' conversations. Another Cardinal walked towards him. Oh no, again?
The situation was similar to before; he just greeted him and left.
But after a short while, again...
Less than half an hour had passed, and Caesar had already dealt with no fewer than thirty Cardinals.
At this moment, Caesar's face was dark... Oh my, is this Claude cursed? Why do so many people know him? Not just Italians, but also Spaniards, French, Austrians... including some whose nationalities I don't even know.
It seems... he's made many deals, that was Caesar's first thought. But it was also strange that all these Cardinals just greeted him and left, without any lingering, watching them in groups of three or five, he felt a bit awkward standing alone like a greeter.
Thinking this, Caesar couldn't help but miss Faol. If I really get elected, I must find a way to make him a Cardinal.