The chapel of the central cathedral is still the glorious scene of the past.

The entire large hall, as the centerpiece of the church, not only far exceeds any other church hall in the empire in terms of length and width, but also has a huge vertical depth: this is to take advantage of the height of the dome to provide a sense of solemnity, but also to make it large enough to accommodate the sculpture of the Holy Priest at the very front of the hall.

This sculpture, which depicts the priests of the past, maintains the artistic style of ancient times, revealing an awe-inspiring divinity in its roughness, which is completely different from the extravagant style of imperial artists in recent years.

Since more than 500 years ago, the statue has silently watched the panorama of the Minarete, witnessing the prosperity and decline of the Holy Church.

In normal times, the long prayer hall is filled with benches of the kind that are common in churches for worshippers who come to chant and pray.

Today, however, the church has a new arrangement for the chapel: instead of the rows of benches, there are long tables covered with white tablecloths and chairs next to them.

Even though the central cathedral has a large population, the congregation hall is spacious enough for the dozens of long tables to accommodate all the church members for luncheon.

At the front of the minareta, at the foot of the statue of the Holy Priest, where the altar had been placed, there is now another long table: but unlike the tables below, this long table is covered with a red and gold tablecloth, which shows the prominent status of the diners here—

According to the plan, the table was reserved for the upper echelons of the church: they could raise their heads to see all the tables and diners below, and the privileged position was enough for their voices to be heard by all when they spoke.

In other words, this is the podium of this luncheon.

Lu Chen arrived at the minaret a little early: most of the church members were still stranded outside, lingering on various New Year's events, and only a few people sat down at their tables early.

Servants in black tuxedos hurried through the long tables with trays in hand, on which were all sorts of plates, knives and forks.

Theoretically, their plating should have been done before the luncheon began—the time was a little short, so the servants were already sweating profusely, and even their steps were a little flustered.

As for Lu Chen, he knew very well where his seat was.

There are twelve seats at the table on the rostrum, and two are in the middle: according to church practice, these two C-positions belong to the two supreme leaders of the church, that is, the pope, who represents the authority on earth, and the oracle, who represents the authority of heaven.

Lu Chen walked to the left of the two positions and sat down.

He bred his cheeks and looked boredly at the panorama of the minareta.

The empty hall was filled with long white tables, and a few clergymen dressed in black sat sparsely. Although he knew that this was due to the fact that it was not yet time and the scene when people had not arrived, Lu Chen couldn't help but feel a little sluggish.

In the past, at the New Year's luncheon, the church would erect a high ladder and send people to hang streamers on the ceiling dome, but the current church obviously does not have this kind of intention, but only put a dozen vases of flower arrangements under the flower windows on both sides, which slightly reflects the festive atmosphere.

"Elliot, you're here so early. Lu Chen was still distracted, and Cromwell's voice sounded behind him.

Lu Chen turned his head and saw the cardinal's face: although Cromwell's face was still gracefully smiling, Lu Chen quickly sensed the gloom in his eyes.

"You're not too late. Lu Chen smiled at Cromwell.

Cromwell took a deep look at him, and sat down on his left.

In addition to the two seats in the center, the seats on the left and right sides were second only to the Pope and the oracle, and obviously belonged to the cardinals, and with Cromwell, a good friend, sitting beside him, Lu Chen suddenly felt much more steady.

Cromwell snapped his fingers at the nearest servant.

So the servant hurriedly trotted all the way and brought two cups of tea, which were placed before the oracle and the cardinal.

"It's been so lively this morning, have you taken a look around?" Lu Chen picked up the cup and asked in the most relaxed tone.

"Take a brief look. Cromwell stared at the Divine Envoy and lowered his voice, "Elliot, about the speech—"

"I've had a great time shopping this morning!" Lu Chen interrupted Cromwell's words, "I've been there for a long time at the tournament, and my dear Captain Otto has given me a lot of common sense of fighting! Cromwell, do you know that when you use a two-handed sword, you have to ...... your fingers?"

Cromwell, of course, could see that the Divine Messenger was diverting the subject. He silently glanced at Lu Chen a few times, then lowered his head and drank tea.

Seeing Cromwell's appearance, Lu Chen suddenly softened a little.

"Don't worry, Cromwell," Lu Chen whispered, using tea as a cover, "I'm all set." ”

Cromwell was silent and bowed slightly, but the anxiety in his eyes still completely revealed his nervousness.

Can't say much about things. Lu Chen patted the cardinal's shoulder affectionately and turned to sit upright.

At this point, another moment had passed, and more people had already arrived.

The black-clad priests rushed in through the doorway, then found their place and took their seats, quickly staining the pure white of a tablecloth in their original vision, and the paladins and the guards were soon there, and the armed men sat in the rows furthest from the rostrum.

Captain Otto and the deputy head of the paladins, Alice, also arrived. The position of the two of them is also on the rostrum, but the most marginal place.

As for the few remaining seats on the rostrum, they were occupied by other high-ranking civilian officials who came one after another. Before these church leaders took their seats, they would follow the norms and salute Lu Chen, the divine envoy, and Lu Chen would return the salute while looking at these fellow members with interest.

Cardinal Benedict also came. The bald priest bowed slightly to Lu Chen, and then sat down in the second seat on his right, just vacating the seat under the Pope's crown.

There was also an old man who caught Lu Chen's attention: this shriveled old man was hunched up, and it looked like he had few days to live, and he had to be carried by a few young attendants, so he walked tremblingly to the rostrum. He patrolled around the rostrum with cloudy old eyes, and finally rushed to Lu Chen, his lips pursed, which was probably considered a salute.

Seeing the old man sitting next to Cromwell, Lu Chen realized the identity of the other party: this was Lord Horton, another cardinal mentioned by Cromwell, a church heresy addicted to alchemy.

It looks like this old man Horton has half his foot in the coffin......

Lu Daguan smiled bitterly and smacked his lips.

Eleven of the twelve seats on the rostrum have been seated, except for His Holiness the Pope.

If the de facto leader of the church is not present, no one should think of using a knife or fork.

Just when Lu Chen began to feel irritable, there was a sound of slow footsteps at the door.

The Supreme Pope of the Holy Church, His Majesty Gregory XV, supported by his attendants, entered the minaret from the door, ascended to the rostrum, and sat majestically on Lu Chen's right hand.

"I've kept you waiting because there's paperwork to be done, Lord Eliot. The Pope turned his head and smiled apologetically at Lu Chen.

"No, wait soon. Lu Chen also smiled politely back, "It's better to say that it's not long enough." ”