"Bang!"

After jumping into the secret passage, Lu Xiao half-squatted down to cushion the impact of falling from a height.

Under the effect of Leap of Faith's passive skill, the drop of up to 3 meters only caused a small burst of soreness in his legs, and he quickly returned to normal.

"This passive skill is really useful, but it's a pity that it's only E-level, and the damage reduction is still relatively small, so I don't know when I'll be completely immune to fall damage from heights like the demigod with a mouth full of Malaka." ’

Unlike the dome-overhanging catacombs of the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Assassin Crypt of the Basilica Nouvelle del Fiore is truly in line with the concept of "catacombs".

Sen Sen's white bones can be seen in the upper and lower tombs on both sides of Lu Xiao's landing site, and it seems that this place was indeed used as a tomb in the past.

The area of the entire catacombs was very large, and Lu Xiao opened many mechanisms along the way and moved forward cautiously, and it took more than 1 hour to reach the final tomb gate.

On the token stone plate taken from the sarcophagus in front of the statue, a hand with a Hidden Blade is carved.

It represents the first person in history to wield the Hidden Blade, the owner of this well-dressed mound, the ancient Persian Assassin Darius.

According to the old rules, Lu Xiao casually fished a few pieces of precious metal jewelry from the pile of belongings accompanying the funeral, and handed over the rest to the thieves under La Volpe to sweep the tail up.

While harvesting the second assassin token, Lu Xiao did not forget the true purpose of this infiltration operation.

In the passage leading to the main tomb when he came, Lu Xiao found a small window that could peek into the basement of the church.

With the help of the rations that had been prepared long ago, Lu Xiao worked all night in the tomb with poor air quality, and finally waited for the cabal's meeting on Sunday the next day.

In order to avoid being discovered, Lu Xiao hid in the side of the small window and quietly observed the few people attending the meeting with the corner of his eye.

The meeting was chaired by one of Lorenzo Medici's advisors, Jacob, the oldest member of the Pache family.

The patriarchal temperament of the Pache family is completely different from that of the gloomy and vicious Francesco and Vieri, and he looks very elegant.

At the beginning of the meeting, he repeatedly stated that the assassination of Lorenzo was an irrational decision, hoping to meet with the "master" in person and persuade him to change his plans.

"Enough!"

A bloated fat man snapped Jacob's complaints: "The plan to liberate Florence was drawn up by the master himself, Jacob, do you want to disobey the master's orders?" ”

"No, no, no, of course not."

Jacob's personality is relatively soft, and when he was yelled at, he immediately bowed his head and confessed: "I just hope that Lorenzo's rule can be overthrown in a more secure way, in case the assassination fails, it will be almost impossible to get another chance." ”

"Stupid! Shortsighted! With the influence of the Medici family in Florence, if we can't kill them with a thunderous blow, how long will we have to wait to overthrow them?! ”

Lu Xiao looked at the fat man who was competing with Jacob and narrowed his eyes, "Uberto Alberti, the betrayal is really complete, I didn't expect you to be the most radical person in the cabal." ’

Francesco returned to San Gimignano ahead of schedule, and the grumpy Vieri did not confront Jacob's face because of his seniority, and Uberto, eager to take revenge on Medici, mercilessly refuted Jacob's idea of gentleness.

Gentle by nature and disinclined to argue, Jacob did not intend to spit on Uberto again, and he looked at Vieri to change the subject.

"Vieri, has the Master arrived in San Gimignano?"

Vieri saluted Jacob with a full courtesy: "Yes, uncle, the master has temporarily lived in seclusion in the city of San Gimignano under the hospitality of his father. ”

'Oh? ’

The corners of Lu Xiao's mouth hooked, this encounter with laying on the floor in the tomb was not in vain, and the exact whereabouts of the "Spaniard" were successfully obtained.

"Okay, I'll ask Lorenzo for leave in the near future and try to find time to return to the territory."

"Tsk!"

Uberto was too lazy to continue arguing with his mother-in-law's mother-in-law, Jacob, and with the character of Master Rodrigo, it was absolutely impossible for him to agree to Jacob's proposal.

Without Uberto's interruption, Jacob began to demonstrate his administrative skills as Lorenzo's advisor.

"Bernardo, how's the preparation of the weapon?"

A festive-looking fat man replied with a smile: "It's basically in place, just wait for the master's order to launch the plan." ”

Jacob nodded, turning his gaze to the two monks dressed as men: "I will use my connections to place you closest to Lorenzo, and once I do it, I must ensure the death of Lorenzo and Giuliano." ”

"Archbishop Salviati, the army that invaded Florence will be under your command."

Lu Xiao looked at the person who was called the archbishop, and his expression was a little solemn, 'Francesco Salviati, the current Archbishop of Pisa, is ambitious, and he holds a grudge because the Medici family refused to give him the Archbishop of Florence to accept his fate, and he is suspected of having a nepotistic relationship with the current Pope Sixtus IV. ’

With this guy's connections in Pisa, I have to guard against it. ’

The three monks nodded in agreement, and the routine was almost over.

"It's still the old rule, leave the church at a staggered time, and don't arouse the suspicion of others."

Jacob placed his right hand on his chest and reverently chanted, "May the Father of Insight guide us." ”

The others present also bowed their heads and prayed, "May the Father of Insight guide us." ”

……

"Spaniards?"

Returning to the Auditore Mansion, Lu Xiao told Giovanni what he had overheard in the tomb.

Giovanni asked in surprise, "He plans to personally enter Florence to preside over this conspiracy?" ”

Giovanni had dealt with Rodrigo Borgia during the assassination of the Duke of Milan, and it was after that encounter that the Assassin Brotherhood confirmed the identity of the leader of the old rival's generation.

Lu Xiao shook his head and said, "It's not clear whether Rodrigo plans to enter the city for the time being, at least it's certain that he is in San Gimignano now." ”

Giovanni held his chin in his hand and muttered for a long time: "I must stay in Florence to preside over affairs, and I cannot leave the city to go and confirm the situation in person." ”

"I will write to Mario and ask him to send mercenaries and thieves to infiltrate San Gimignano and keep a close eye on the Pache family's estate."

Luciano, the leader of the Florentine mercenaries, said worriedly: "I'm worried about a question now, whether the Spaniards will take advantage of the contradiction between Siena and Florence to provoke Siena to launch a new round of attacks on Florence, and then he will hide behind the scenes and fish in troubled waters." ”

San Gimignano, like Monteriggioni, was sandwiched between the two great powers of Tuscany, Siena and Florence.

With Rodrigo Borgia as cardinal, Luciano's fears were not entirely out of the question if he really had the intention of completely destabilizing the situation.

"I don't have to worry about that for now."

Giovanni explained: "Siena's nine-member ruling party, under the concatenation of Pandolfo Petrochci, is now in such a state of infighting that even if the Spaniards wanted to, they would not be able to get a response. ”

"Pandolfo was inclined to be friendly with Florence, and with the covert support of the Medici family, he had a good chance of defeating the current Sienese government and taking power."

Luciano breathed a sigh of relief: "In other words, what we need to deal with is only the cabal raised by the Spaniards, mainly to deal with the surprise attack of the Patch family?" ”

"That's right."

Giovanni solemnly ordered: "Lorenzo's men can only ensure the defense of the core area of the city, Luciano, and the safety of the outer slums will be handed over to your mercenaries." ”

Luciano smacked his chest hard: "No problem. ”

Giovanni solemnly glanced at everyone present: "Ladies and gentlemen, Florence is about to usher in a period of great upheaval, and we must not allow the Templars' plot to overthrow the Medici family, allies of the Brotherhood!" ”