Although a minor mishap had occurred during the process of boiling water, the overall result was satisfying.
Lu Li had truly never expected that red mercury could be made to self-circulate for energy exchange. If it could actually reach such a degree, it was hardly any different from the legendary endless energy.
He could not help but wonder—was Mekal's "Fortress of Heaven" truly feasible after all?
Before he could indulge in his fantasies for long, Julia brought up the matter of the stolen new weapon from the foundry once again.
Security at Logos Foundry was exceptionally tight. Every time Lu Li visited, he had to pass through layer upon layer of checkpoints, all guarded by heavy armored cavalry.
Yet even so, the culprit had still managed to steal an experimental prototype under testing right out of the foundry, making one suspect that it had to be an inside job.
Julia had investigated along this exact line of thought, only to accidentally uncover a truth that had been shrouded for nearly a thousand years.
Over fifteen hundred years ago, the last member of the Blood Clan was burned at the stake.
But in truth, she had not died; rather, she had lived until the present day.
“Over fifteen hundred years?” Lu Li wore an “are you kidding me” expression.
“That is indeed the case.” Julia also felt it was absurd.
After all, fifteen hundred years was not a hundred and fifty years, nor was it fifteen.
Fifteen hundred years was nearly as long as the history of the Holy City itself. It was hard to imagine that someone had quietly hidden among the populace for fifteen hundred years.
“It was quite a coincidence,” Julia paused before speaking. “If we had not discovered the thief's corpse, she probably would never have been exposed.”
Under the joint manhunt by the Knights and the Bureau of Heresy Inquisition, although they failed to catch the perpetrator alive, they found her corpse. She had died in her own home, reduced to a mummified corpse.
This caused the Bureau of Heresy Inquisition to quickly realize that there might still be living vampires in this world.
“She was hidden for over a thousand years, so why expose herself all of a sudden?” Lu Li was puzzled.
Anyone who had ever killed someone knew that destroying all traces of the corpse was an essential step. Leaving behind a flaw as obvious as a "mummified corpse" made no sense.
Unless... she felt it was no longer necessary to hide.
“I was not originally going to tell you about this,” Julia said in a calm tone. “She wants to see you.”
Indeed, when Julia first received the news, she had not intended to inform Lu Li. After all, aside from making him worry, it served no purpose.
Moreover, when Julia heard that the captured vampire wanted to meet Lu Li, she became even more resolute in keeping it from him.
She simply had not expected that person to bring news about Lu Li's biological father—and that she would only speak after seeing Lu Li. Unable to decide on his behalf, Julia could only tell the boy everything.
“My father?”
The word "father" was extremely foreign to Lu Li, whether in his past life or his present one.
In his previous life, he had never seen his biological father up until his death, while his father in this life was reduced to nothing more than a hazy side profile in his memories.
But Sylvester had once told him that it was his father who had sent him to the Holy State during the Havaron Empire's most tumultuous period.
“Very well. I'm actually quite curious about what a vampire looks like,” Lu Li agreed.
Julia worried that the vampire might make an unreasonable request, which His Holiness, with his merciful heart, might very well agree to. Thus, she decided to accompany him.
Soon, the two arrived at the Bureau of Heresy Inquisition.
The place where the vampire was held was not a dungeon cell like Lu Li had imagined. Instead, it resembled an inn room, equipped with all the basic amenities, where one could even enjoy a cup of hot coffee.
However, perhaps out of fear that she might harbor ill intentions toward the Holy See, the members of the Bureau had securely bound her to a chair with special chains prior to Lu Li's arrival.
Lu Li gazed at the woman in the chair. She had long golden hair with slightly curled ends.
Her appearance suited Lu Li's aesthetic quite well—fair skin, sharp facial features, slightly sunken eye sockets, and an aura forged by the passage of vast stretches of time that gave her gaze a profoundly deep and distant quality.
However, she looked utterly exhausted. Her lips were tightly pressed together, and sitting in the chair, she seemed like someone riding a swaying ship at sea, as if she might collapse at any moment.
Mira slowly raised her head, her gaze landing first on that pretty, exquisite little face.
Her expression was slightly dazed, a faint smile touching the corners of her lips.
“Your Holiness, we meet again.”
Her voice was somewhat raspy, and her tone sounded like that of an old friend who had not met for many years, which caught Lu Li slightly off guard.
Because in his mind, he had no memory of this person.
“You are...?” Lu Li asked in confusion.
Mira did not answer his question. Instead, she looked past him at the Cardinal standing behind the boy.
“Lady Julia, may I speak with His Holiness alone?”
Julia's expression darkened slightly. But after glancing at the chains binding her tightly, she leaned down, whispered something into Lu Li's ear, and turned to leave the room.
“What did she say to you?” Mira asked curiously.
“She said to call for her if I ran into danger.” Lu Li shrugged, not caring if she knew.
Mira chuckled softly. “That doesn't sound like something she would say. Are you two close?”
“Hmm...” Lu Li fell into thought for a moment, still somewhat unsure of how to answer the question. In the end, he could only say, “Our relationship... how should I put it? I trust her just as she trusts me.”
Hearing this, Mira could not help but be amused by the little fellow. Unexpectedly, the two of them actually began chatting like old friends who had not met in years.
Until Lu Li brought up that question once more: “Have we met before?”
A look of remembrance surfaced on Mira's weary face, as if opening a long-sealed box.
“Over ten years ago, on the banks of the River Lindholm, I received an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes from your father's hands.”
“Your father was radiant with loving kindness. Just a single glance was enough to know he was a gentle person, and that was indeed the case.”
Lu Li listened to her account expressionlessly. It was only when she stopped that he spoke up to ask:
“Then why did he abandon me?”
Yes, abandon.
Throughout a person's life, they might experience abandonment many times. But having lived two lives without ever feeling the warmth of parents was a truly rare experience.
Mira's gaze was filled with complexity. She wanted to explain, yet did not know how to begin, so she could only manage a dry response:
“He did not abandon you.”
“Perhaps I should thank him? If he had not abandoned me, I would not have become the Pope, nor would I be standing before you right now.”
The boy's face was calm, but only he knew the tumultuous waves surging beneath that tranquil exterior.
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