Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-Five

For safety reasons, but also to control noise, the helicopter was parked on the northwest corner of Vatican City, as far away from St. Peter's Basilica as possible. "Landing," said the pilot as the plane touched down.He got out of the plane and opened the sliding doors for Langdon and Victoria. Langdon disembarked from the plane and turned to help Victoria, but she jumped off without difficulty.Every nerve in her body is tugged at by a goal - to find it before the antimatter explosion leaves a ghastly pile of ruins. The pilot spread a reflective shade over the cabin windows and ushered them to an oversized Golf buggy waiting beside the plane.The motor vehicle drove them silently along the western border of the Vatican - a 50-meter-high concrete barrier, thick enough to withstand tank attacks.Every fifty meters inside the wall, there is a Swiss guard standing at attention, watching the surrounding situation vigilantly.The car turned sharply to the right onto Via Oservatorio.Street signs point in every direction:

Municipal Palace black community St. Peter's Basilica sistine chapel They picked up speed up the paved road, past a low building that said "Vatican Radio."Langdon was amazed to realize that this was the production center of the world's most listened to radio program - Vatican Radio - which brought the Gospel to millions of listeners around the world. "Sit tight," the pilot said, making a sharp turn and driving onto the roundabout. Langdon could hardly believe what he was seeing as the car drove around the turntable.The Vatican Gardens, he thought.That is the center of the Vatican City State.Straight ahead was the back of St. Peter's Basilica, Langdon realized, a sight most people had never seen before.On the right, the Palais des Courts looms, a papal residence rivaled only by the rich Baroque style of Versailles.Now behind them was the stately Palazzo Municipal, home to the Vatican's government offices.Straight ahead on the left is the huge rectangular Vatican Museum.Langdon knew there was no time to visit the museum this time around.

"Where's everyone?" Victoria asked, looking at the empty lawn and sidewalk. The guard checked his black military stopwatch—it looked quaint and dated under his bloated sleeve. "The cardinals are all summoned in the Sistine Chapel. The conclave begins in an hour." Langdon nodded, vaguely recalling that before the secret meeting started, the cardinal had to stay in the Sistine Chapel for two hours, meditating and talking with his companions from all over the world.During this time, they can rekindle their friendship and keep the atmosphere of the election from being so tense. "What about the other residents and officials?"

"In order to ensure the confidentiality and security of the meeting, they are all banned from entering the city until the results of the meeting are known." "Then when will the results come out?" The guard shrugged. "Only God knows." Oddly enough, that doesn't sound like an exaggeration at all. The guards parked the car on the spacious lawn directly behind St. Peter's Basilica, then escorted Langdon and Victoria up a steep stone slope to a marble plaza behind the cathedral.They crossed the square, came to the back wall of the cathedral, walked along the wall through a triangular courtyard, walked through Belvedere Street, and found themselves in a series of compact buildings.Langdon, who had learned a bit of Italian as an art history student, was more than adequate to decipher signs such as the Vatican Printing House, the Tapestry Repair Room, the Post Office, and the Church of Santa Ana.They walked through another small square and arrived at their destination.

The Swiss Guard Battalion is adjacent to the Guard Office, northeast of St. Peter's Basilica.The guard barracks is a low stone building, and there are guards standing on both sides of each entrance, they are as motionless as stone statues. Langdon had to admit that the guards didn't look all that funny.Although they also wore blue and gold uniforms and held the traditional "Vatican halberd" - an eight-foot spear with a large, sharp scythe hanging from the tip - according to legend, in the fifteenth century, the Catholic cross The army used these sharp halberds to kill countless Muslims in the defense battle.

Langdon and Victoria stepped up, and two guards stood up immediately, blocking the entrance with crossed halberds.A guard looked at the pilot in bewilderment. "Why don't you wear long pants." He pointed to Victoria's shorts and said. The pilot waved them off. "The commander told them to come at once." The two guards frowned and stepped aside reluctantly. The air in the guard camp was cool.The Guards Battalion looked nothing like Langdon's imagining of the Administrative Security Service.It was richly decorated and impeccably furnished, and Langdon could tell that giving any museum in the world the murals in the corridors would be treasured for the main gallery.

The pilot pointed to a steep flight of stairs and said, "Please go down." Langdon and Victoria descended steps of pristine white marble, flanked by statues of naked men.Each statue wears a fig leaf, which is slightly lighter in color than the rest of the body. Great castration.Langdon thought. It was one of the most appalling tragedies in the history of Renaissance art.In 1857, Pope Pius IX thought that an accurate representation of the male body would be sexually arousing in the Holy See, so he used a chisel and mallet to chop off the genitals of every male statue in the Vatican City.Among the works of art he destroyed were Michelangelo's, Bramante's, and Bernini's, and the damage was covered with lime fig leaves.Hundreds of statues were castrated.Langdon wondered if there was another big basket full of stone phalluses somewhere?

"Here it is," said the guard. They reached the bottom of the steps and were stopped by a heavy steel door.The guard pressed the code to open the door, and the door opened automatically.Langdon and Victoria walked in. It was complete chaos inside.