Chapter 74 Chapter 73

Gunther Glick put the accelerator on the interview car and weaved through the traffic, trailing four speeding Alfa Romeos across the Margherita Bridge over the Tiber.Normally Glick would try to keep a close distance between cars, but today he could barely keep up with them.These guys literally fly. McLee made a phone call to London from her workspace in the back of the interview van.She hung up the phone and shouted to Glick over the sound of the cars. "Do you want the good news, or the bad news?" Glick frowned, dealing with the headquarters has never been an easy task. "bad news."

"We left our posts, which made the editor very angry." "It was unexpected." "They also thought the tipper was a liar." "That's natural." "The boss reminded me just now that apart from your improper methods, you are also a bit stupid." Glick scowled and said, "That's not bad. What about the good news?" "They agreed to look at what we were filming." Feeling his anger fade, Glick grinned.I think we'll see who's the fool. "Then pass it on." "We can only transfer if we stop and install the mobile reading disk."

Glick stepped up the accelerator and drove the car onto Rizocola Road, "I can't stop now." He followed the Alfa Romeo team and turned sharply to the left at Fuxing Square. Everything in the car slid to one side, and McCree clung to the computer unit in the back of the car. "If you break the transmitter," she warned, "we'll have to send the tape to London." "Sit down, honey. I feel like we're almost there." McCree raised her head and asked, "Where are you going?" Glick looked at the familiar dome, which was approaching now.He laughed, "Just back to where we started."

Four Alfa Romeos slipped lightly into the traffic around St. Peter's Square.The cars spread out and distributed around the square, quietly dropping off those people at the selected locations.The guards got out of the car and poured into the traffic of tourists and media interviews on the side of the square, and they were immediately difficult to identify.Some of the guards went under the colonnade, which also seemed to blend into the surrounding environment. Looking through the windshield, Langdon felt that St. Peter's Square seemed to be trapped by a rope. In addition to making detailed arrangements, Olivetti also notified the Holy See in advance by radio that he would send spies to the center of the square, where Bernini's "West Wind" was located.Langdon looked out at the open St. Peter's Square, and a familiar question troubled him.Guangxi sent killers!How does Qianhua escape from this net of heaven and earth?How did he bring the bishop into the crowd and kill him in full view?Langdon checked his Mickey Mouse watch: 8:54.There are still six minutes.

Olivetti, in the front seat, turned to Langdon and Victoria and said, "I want you two to go to Bernini's brick work or stone work, whatever it is, right on top of it. Go. Use the same method, you pretend to be tourists. If you find out, call." Before Langdon could react, Victoria grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the car. The spring sun was setting behind St. Peter's Basilica, and a huge shadow spread across the square.Langdon felt an ominous chill as he and Victoria stepped into the shadows.As they walked through the crowd, Langdon subconsciously scanned every face they passed, wondering if the killer was one of them.Victoria's hands felt warm.

When they passed through the open St. Peter's Square, Langdon felt that the effect of Bernini's design of this vast square coincided with the original intention of the artist himself... "to make people who enter feel ashamed." At this time Langdon Den did feel ashamed of himself.Not only was he ashamed of himself, but he also had a sense of hunger.He realized it, and was amazed at the cheesy thought that was popping into his head at this moment. "Are you going to the obelisk?" Victoria asked. Langdon nodded, and walked slowly across the plaza to the left. "What time is it?" Victoria asked.Her steps are light and deliberate.

"Five minutes." Victoria said nothing, but Langdon felt her hand tighten.He still carries the gun.He hoped Victoria wouldn't try to use it.He couldn't imagine what it would be like for Victoria to draw a pistol and smash the killer's kneecap in St. Peter's Square under the gaze of the global media. However, this is nothing compared to the killer branding the cardinal and killing him. Air, Langdon thought, the second element of science.He tried to imagine the shape of the brand, wondering what method the killer might use.He glanced again at the granite square stretching beneath him—St. Peter's Square—an empty, desolate place surrounded by Swiss guards.If Black Fiend really wanted to kill people here, Langdon couldn't imagine how he would escape.

In the center of the square stands the 350-ton Egyptian obelisk dedicated to Emperor Caligula.The obelisk soared into the sky, eighty-one feet high, with a hollow iron cross anchored at its pyramid-shaped apex.Its height is high enough to meet the last rays of the setting sun, and the crucifix glistens as if enchanted... It is said to contain the relics of the crucifixion of Jesus. Two fountains appear in perfect symmetry on either side of the obelisk.Art historians know that the two fountains mark exactly the geometric focus of Bernini's piazza ellipse, but its architectural oddity never occurred to Langdon until today.It was as if Rome was suddenly filled with ellipses, pyramids, and amazing geometric arrangements.

Victoria slowed down as they approached the obelisk.She took a deep breath, as if to ask Langdon to relax with her too.Langdon made some effort. He lowered his shoulders and parted his tight lips. Somewhere near the obelisk, in a prominent position outside the largest cathedral in the world, is a second altarpiece to science - Bernini's Zephyr - an oval stone in St. Peter's Square. Gunther Glick watched from the shadow of the colonnades surrounding St. Peter's Square.On any other day, the man in the tweed jacket and the woman in the khaki shorts would not have interested him in the slightest.They seemed to be just tourists admiring the beauty of the square.But today was unusual, with tip-offs, dead bodies, unmarked cars roaring through Rome.The man in the tweed jacket climbed the scaffolding today, God only knows what he was looking for.Glick should continue to pay attention to their actions.

Looking across the plaza, he saw McCree happened to be where he had told her to be, wandering off to the side of the couple, casually with her video camera.Although she was pretending to be a boring member of the press, Glick didn't like it, she was still too conspicuous.There were no other journalists in such a remote corner of the square, and the abbreviation BBC: printed on McCree's video camera caught the attention of some tourists. McCree's earlier tape of the naked body being dragged into the trunk is now being sent through the VCR transmitter from the back of the interview car.Glick knew the images were drifting over his head back to London headquarters.He wondered what the editor would say.

He hoped that he and McCree had reached the body before the plainclothes soldiers intervened.He knew that the group of soldiers was fanning out around the square.Something big is about to happen. As the killer said, the media is the ally of anarchism.Glick wondered if he had missed his chance to get the scoop.He watched the other news vans in the distance, then watched McCree follow the mysterious couple across the plaza.Glick feels like he's still in the game...