Chapter 80 Chapter 79

Victoria Witterer took a sip of water, absently biting into a scone.These are all just sent by a Swiss guard.She knew she had to eat something, but she just couldn't get her appetite up. The pope's office was buzzing, echoing with heated conversations.Captain Rocher, Commander Olivetti and six guards are assessing the loss and discussing the next step. Robert Langdon stood aside, looking out the window at St. Peter's Square.He looked dejected.Victoria walked over and asked, "Have you figured out anything?" He shook his head. "Would you like some scones?" He looked happy to see the food. "Oh, sure. Thanks." Langdon wolfed down his meal.

The discussion behind them stopped suddenly, and it turned out that Pope Ventersk's chamberlain walked in accompanied by two Swiss guards.Victoria looked at him.A dazed look appeared on the originally expressionless face of the Pope's servant. "What happened?" the pope's chamberlain asked Olivetti.Judging from the expression on his face, it seemed that he had already known the worst news. Olivetti reported the recent homicides to the Pope's chamberlain as if reporting the casualties on the battlefield. "At around eight o'clock, we found the body of Cardinal Ebner in the Church of Our Lady of Popolo. He died of suffocation, and the symmetrical word 'earth' was branded on his chest. Cardinal Lamas also Killed ten minutes ago in St. Peter's Square. He died from a stab wound to the chest, and he was also branded with a symmetrical word, 'qi'. Both murders escaped."

The Pope's servant took a few steps forward, sat down on the chair behind the desk, and lowered his head sadly. "However, the two cardinals, Gidole and Bagel, are still alive." The pope's servant raised his head abruptly, with a pained look on his face. "Is this still something we should be grateful for? Commander, two cardinals have been murdered. The other two, if you can't find them, obviously won't live long." "We'll find them," Olivetti promised. "I have confidence." "Confidence? But we are nothing but failure."

"It's not like that, sir. We did lose the two fights, but the final victory must belong to us. The plan of the Illuminati to use the media to create panic tonight has been successfully foiled by us. The bodies of the two cardinals were found Nothing happened. And," Olivetti went on, "Captain Rocher told me that the search for antimatter was going well." Captain Rocher, wearing a red beret, stepped forward.Victoria found him to be more human than the other guards—strict but not rigid.He speaks with clarity and emotion, like the sound of a violin. "We'll find that cache within an hour, and I'm hopeful, sir."

"Captain," said the Pope's chamberlain, "forgive me for my low hopes. I don't think we have enough time at all to search the whole of Vatican City." "If it was a city-wide search, it would not be enough. But after assessing the situation, I am sure that the antimatter storage is placed in a public place-those areas of the Vatican that are open to tourists-such as museums and sanctuaries. Peter's Basilica. We have cut power to those areas and are doing scans." "You intend to search only a small portion of the Vatican?" "Yes, sir. I don't think it's very likely that a trespasser was lurking in the heart of the Vatican. The missing security camera was also stolen from a place the public could access - in a museum stairwell - which speaks volumes for an intrusion The range of activities of the attacker is still limited. Therefore, it is likely that he placed the camera and antimatter in another area that is accessible to the public. Our current search is mainly focused on these areas."

"But the intruders kidnapped four cardinals, which fully shows that they are lurking deeper than we thought." "Not necessarily. Let's not forget that the cardinals spent most of the day in the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica, which are not very crowded. It is possible that the missing cardinal was in one of these places was robbed." "Then how were they sent out of the city?" "We are still discussing this issue." "I see".The pope's chamberlain let out a breath and stood up.He walked up to Olivetti and said, "Commander, I want to hear from you about the emergency evacuation plan."

"Sir, the plan is still being perfected. At the same time, I am sure that Captain Rochelle will find the storage device." Feeling the commander's trust, Rochel stood at attention to express his determination. "My people have searched two-thirds of the public places. We are very confident." Apparently the Pope's chamberlain was not impressed by his optimism. Just then the guard with the scar under his eye came through the door, holding a clipboard and a map.He strode toward Langdon. "Mr. Langdon? Let me report to you on the Zephyr investigation." Langdon swallowed the remaining scones in one gulp. "Okay, let's take a look together."

Others continued the discussion on the sidelines.Langdon and the officer walked to the pope's desk and spread the map on it, and Victoria joined them. The guard pointed to St. Peter's Square. "This is where we are. The central line of the breath in the "West Wind" sculpture points due east, just off the Vatican City." The guard's finger drew a line on the map, starting from St. Peter's Square, Cross the Tiber River to the center of ancient Rome. "As you can see, the line runs almost all over Rome. There are about twenty Catholic churches near it,"

Langdon bowed suddenly. "Twenty seats?" "Maybe more," "Is there any one that happens to be on this line?" "Those churches are getting closer to this line one by one," the guard replied, "but there will inevitably be errors between the area referred to by "West Wind" and the corresponding area on the map." Langdon stared out the window at St. Peter's Square for a moment.He frowned and stroked his chin. "What about fire? Is there any church here that has Bernini's artwork about fire?" No one answered. "What about the obelisk?" he continued. "Is there a church near the obelisk?"

The guard looked it up on the map. Victoria saw a glimmer of hope in Langdon's eyes.She understood what he was thinking.He was right, the first two signs appeared on the square with or near the obelisk!Maybe the obelisk is the key?Could it be that the towering pyramids mark the path of light?The more Victoria thought about it, the more she felt that the idea of ​​using the four towers of Rome as the symbol of the altar of science was really brilliant. "While this is wild guessing," Langdon said, "I recall that many of the obelisks in Rome were built or moved during Bernini's time. Bernini must have had a hand in placing them .”

"That said," added Vittoria, "it is probable that Bernini placed the sign near the obelisk." Langdon nodded. "right." "Unfortunately," said the guard, "there is no obelisk on this line." He pointed to the map and searched carefully. "Not even in the immediate area. Nothing." Langdon sighed. Victoria's shoulders slumped.She thought it was a solid lead.This matter is obviously not as simple as they hoped.She tried her best to think in the right direction. "Robert, use your brains. You're bound to find Bernini's sculpture of fire. Whichever it is." "Believe me, I've been thinking. Bernini made a lot of pieces, maybe a few hundred. I really hope that the Zephyr is pointing to a church, if so maybe we can solve the mystery .” "Fire," she asked eagerly, "fire. Don't Bernini's works have 'fire' in their titles?" Langdon shrugged. "I'm reminded of his famous sketches of fireworks, but they're not sculptures, and they're in Leipzig, Germany." Victoria frowned. "Are you sure that the direction the breath points to is the direction suggested?" "Victoria, you saw that relief too. It's a perfectly symmetrical design. The only thing that might suggest direction is the breath." Victoria knew he was right. "Not to mention," he adds, "'Zephyr' means air, so it's semiotic to follow the 'direction' of that 'breath'." Victoria nodded.Then we will follow the direction of the breath.But where exactly does it point?Olivetti came over. "Any progress?" "Too many churches," replied the guard, "about twenty-four. I think maybe we have four in each church..." "Forget it." Olivetti vetoed his suggestion. "Both times we knew exactly where he was going to be, but we let him get away. If there were a lot of police presence, the Vatican would be left defenseless and the search would not be able to continue." "We need a reference book," Victoria said. "That's the index of Bernini's works. If you can look up the titles, you may find some clues." "I don't know if that's going to work," Langdon said. "If this work was written by Bernini specifically for the Illuminati, then it should be kept somewhere hidden, or maybe it won't be in the index at all." .” Victoria disagrees with him. "Those two sculptures are quite famous. You've heard of them too." Langdon shrugged, "That's true." "If we can find the word 'fire' in the title, then maybe we can find a sculpture that is just in the right direction." Langdon was convinced it was worth a try.He turned to Olivetti. "I need a catalog of all Bernini's works. Do you have a coffee table series of Bernini's works?" "Coffee table books?" Apparently Olivetti wasn't familiar with the term. "Never mind. Any kind of bibliography will do. What about the Vatican Museums? They must have a Bernini catalogue." The guard with the scar frowned. "The museum has a power outage. And the reference room is very large, if there is no help from the librarian..." Olivetti interrupted him: "Is the work we're looking for made while he was employed by the Holy See?" "About that time," Langdon said, "he was here almost his entire creative period, even during the Galileo dispute." Olivetti nodded. "Then there is another book to look up." Victoria seemed to see a glimmer of light. "Where?" The commander didn't answer her question, instead he called the guard aside and gave some instructions in a low voice.Although the guard hesitated, he nodded obediently.As soon as Olivetti finished speaking, the guard turned to Langdon. "This way, Mr. Langdon, please. It's nine-fifteen. We need to hurry." Langdon and the guard walked towards the door. Victoria followed and said, "I'll help." Olivetti grabbed her arm. "No, Ms. Witterer, I want to talk to you." He held her arm firmly, and Victoria knew she couldn't disobey him. After Langdon and the guards left, he pulled Victoria aside expressionlessly, but he never got a chance to say what he was about to say.His walkie-talkie crackled loudly. "commander?" Everyone in the room turned around.The voice over the intercom sounded harsh. "I think you'd better turn on the TV and watch."