Pope indeed, these days even little punks from gangs dare to crown themselves Pope. In Malin’s era, such pretenders, even those from the Evil God Cults, were considered the lowest of the low in the Theology World, and anyone who dared claim the title of Pope couldn’t escape the gallows, no matter what.
But watching the surprise on the child’s face, Malin’s curiosity was piqued, "Tell me, what is so different about this historical figure?"
Thus young Mars spared no detail, about how Engma Jane Haus, the orphan, awakened his strong Spiritual Energy at the age of ten, around this time of year. He hadn’t reported to the Spiritual Energy Management Committee of Carterburg but was self-taught (in other words, the kid’s talent was extraordinarily strong that even blind practice could lead to success). Two years later, he became the leader of a faction in Carterburg’s underground capital. At that time, just after the war ended, the Committee of War Veterans held considerable power in the Western Human World. This kid cleverly used his parents’ identities (his parents were intelligence operatives, before their sacrifice, the intelligence they sent back saved a Corps in Carterburg, an Army Group in Sydney, and nearly half a million scattered soldiers, changing the course of the battle) to ally with the Committee of War Veterans. To the veterans of Carterburg, Mrs. Jane Haus and Mr. Vasquez Haus were their adoptive parents. Without hesitation, they sent their ’child’ into the Ivy Gang. A year later, at the age of fifteen, Mr. Engma unified the underworld, personally slaughtering his rivals, and even took a seat on the city council.
There was no choice, all the old veterans of Carterburg voted for him. If one were to count the votes, this kid could make all so-called Carterburg politicians lose face.
"And then he met a woman who changed his life..." Mars continued with zest, but was interrupted by Malin, "A cliché story, isn’t it? Young lives drawn to each other by the beating of their hearts, so they fell in love?"
"Not at all, it was a very old lady with two young children. Disaster had struck her homeland, and she fled with her children. In Carterburg, when she was about to sell herself, she met Mr. Engma." Mars paused, "My ancestor, need I guess what happened next?"
"Certainly not love, anyway."
"Yes, Engma was surprised because never before had such an elderly client seemed so eager to sell herself in his black market. He asked his assistant, who gave him a typical answer for that era: the old lady was selling her disposal rights after death."
"... Needed by the hospital? Prisoners from that era seem to have it not bad." Malin sighed — both for the sacrifice the old lady was making for her family and feeling for the doctors of that time who found it so challenging to practice their skills.
In Malin’s time, every member of the Evil God Cult was a gentleman of high morals. Their existence served to provide target practice for the Rightful Gods Church, ready to sacrifice their bodies at a moment’s notice — although often, their cysts, deformities, and diseases kept people at bay, so they were rarely put on the dissection table but more often piled up to be purified with flames.
However, it was a different story with the prisoners, who consisted of a large number of unlucky folks who had strayed as robbers and bandits. They were clean, hygienic, and free of diseases, so they formed the largest ’volunteer’ group in the autopsy industry.
After all, in Malin’s era, it was the medieval times where even a petty thief could end up on the gallows.
"Yes, ancestor, the prisoners had it much better. Long ago, thieves were no longer getting their hands chopped off."
"Then what happened? The story seems quite interesting."
"Well, Mr. Engma gave the old woman some money and had her and the children enter the retirement home and orphanage of Carterburg, which he proposed to rebuild and expand. Then, as if he had seen the light, Mr. Engma began to engage in charity work and eventually, the Pope of Carterburg became a do-gooder."
"Odd as it may be, it’s a good thing to provide a place for the old and the children to eat... Those times must have been tough," Malin asked, while feeling... well, it’s good that his descendant could find his way back from straying.
"Yes, the whole South was reducing production, and there hadn’t been rain for months, but thanks to the network of rivers running throughout the entire southern region, a hydraulic project that began 1600 years ago, the drought in all grain-producing areas was alleviated. Hardly anyone starved to death. Back then, the Lady of Carterburg and a few kings from the South also stepped up. Pawning all royal belongings and antiques, they obtained a great deal of grain from the Thanan people and managed to reduce the war reparations from the North under extremely difficult circumstances. Whenever this history is mentioned, every Historian would say that if not for the cooperation between the southern royal families, the Western Human World would probably still be in a state of North-South division to this very day,"
"What about the North and South?" Hearing that the timeline was now complete, Malin was happy, but also curious.
"The Western Human World, in our era, had gloriously united through marriage alliances, with the Mowish Royal Family becoming the common ruler of the entire Western Human World," Mars provided this answer.