Having sent off the Former Papal Chamberlain, it was time to consider a candidate for the new Pope's Chamberlain.
Faol, this was the first name Augustus thought of, and in fact, it was the only name he could think of at the moment.
When he first woke up, Faol had come early to remind him to attend the Papal Election and had walked with him all the way to St. Peter's Square.
Faol and his relationship should be good, after all, no one was obligated to remind a Cardinal to attend the Papal Election.
If it weren't for his reminder, he wouldn't have known about the Papal Election at all, and might even have been severely punished by the Holy See for his absence, let alone ascend to the papacy in one fell swoop as he had now.
It could be said that without Faol, he wouldn't be where he was today.
Faol's respectful attitude towards him didn't seem to be entirely due to a superior-subordinate relationship; it seemed to contain a deeper, heartfelt reverence, which suggested that Faol should be relatively easy to control.
Based on Faol's conversation with him, Faol was not a mere sycophant who only fawned over his superiors; he possessed at least some independent thinking ability.
When he was isolated and helpless inside St. Peter's Basilica, he had considered promoting Faol to Cardinal.
Now, it seemed that appointing him as the new Pope's Chamberlain was far more legitimate than promoting him to Cardinal, and it would be of much greater help to him.
All indications showed that Faol was indeed an excellent candidate for the new Pope's Chamberlain.
However, the appointment of the Pope's Chamberlain was a matter of great importance, and before that, he needed to understand his past situation.
After moving into the Papal Palace, his original residence would certainly not be lived in for the time being, and his belongings inside should naturally be moved over.
Through those items, he would surely gain a lot of understanding about his past.
He had to go back personally.
Inside the Papal Palace, dozens of attendants were bustling about, busy with their respective tasks.
When they saw the Pope coming out, they all came forward to greet him and introduce themselves.
Augustus patiently responded to each of them, although he didn't remember many names.
Stepping out of the Papal Palace, the sun was bright outside, and Caesar took a deep breath of fresh air, immediately feeling refreshed.
The feeling of freedom was truly wonderful!
He called over an attendant standing at the door and asked, "I need to go back to my previous residence to move my belongings from there.
Can you help me prepare for that?"
"Your Holiness, such a small matter can be left to us.
There are still many great undertakings awaiting your completion." The attendant, facing his new superior, was very eager to take on the task.
But Augustus truly didn't dare to leave this task entirely to him; he didn't know if there were any unspeakable things hidden in his original residence.
If there truly were, and they rummaged through it, he might be directly finished.
"It's alright, I'll go with you.
Perhaps I won't be going back there again in the future, so I want to go back one last time to see what things need to be brought and what things don't."
The attendant said no more and immediately went to prepare.
Soon, he returned with over a dozen people and several carriages, including cargo carriages and a carriage for the Pope.
Having grown accustomed to the rare treasures within the Papal Palace over these days, Caesar was already somewhat aesthetically fatigued by this luxurious carriage.
Moreover, he hadn't originally wanted to be so ostentatious; it seemed as if going out meant the whole world had to know.
However, he had forgotten to mention it earlier, and now that the people had arrived, it was obviously not good to send them back.
After reminding the attendant to keep things as simple as possible in the future, he got into the carriage.
The Pope's attendants naturally wouldn't ask foolish questions like "Where is your home, new Pope?"
The group thus set off in a grand procession.
Looking at the scenery as they came, Caesar now felt a sense of "The spring breeze is swift on horseback, seeing all the flowers of Chang'an in a single day."
The Papal Election had just ended not long ago, and there were still many people on the streets of Rome, many of whom were discussing their views on the new Pope.
There were doubts, and there were expectations.
Augustus lay leisurely in the carriage, listening to their discussions with a sense of amusement.
Among them, a high-pitched voice caught Caesar's attention:
"This Pope was elected at such a young age, which shows he must have extraordinary qualities.
His speech after being elected was concise and powerful, full of confidence, and showed a great determination to achieve something, completely different from previous Popes.
I see his extraordinary talent; he must be a chosen one, and he will surely lead our Catholic Church to an unprecedented height!"
Upon hearing "extraordinary talent," Augustus almost burst out laughing.
No wonder his completely different appearance hadn't caused any trouble; "extraordinary talent" was indeed a perfect explanation.
But he had transmigrated, and logically, everything about this body belonged to the original owner.
Did the original owner actually look exactly like him?
Countless possibilities emerged in Caesar's mind.
Had everyone's memories of Claude been altered?
Or did Claude originally look like him?
Or...
Augustus himself was more inclined to accept the first possibility.
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
Recalling what Paradox had said about a fortunate coincidence, he couldn't help but think: This is too much of a coincidence!
Augustus was very satisfied with what that person had said; he probably couldn't praise himself any better.
Most Popes in history were elected when they were already old and frail.
By that age, most people's passion had burned out, and they no longer had the enterprising spirit of their youth.
Even if they had the will to do something, it was highly likely they would die before their ambitions could be realized.
More importantly, under such an imperfect and dark Papal Election system, almost all those who became Pope were not good people.
Some were ruthless, directly eliminating powerful competitors through various means; others had vast power, rich enough to rival a nation, with wagons of gold being transported to the homes of participating Cardinals.
For Popes elected in such a manner, it was already a blessing from Jesus if they didn't commit any shocking and immoral acts.
As for some of the more egregious and disgusting behaviors that would get my book banned if mentioned, they were no longer uncommon for a Pope.
To describe someone like Alexander VI, even the phrases "all the bamboos of the Southern Mountains cannot write down his crimes, and all the waves of the Eastern Sea cannot wash away his evil" would seem too weak.
Compared to these utterly reprehensible individuals, he was naturally as different as clouds and mud.
The words he spoke in front of hundreds of thousands of people after being elected Pope were not spoken casually but were genuinely intended.
Only when people live in a unified and powerful nation can they truly achieve happiness.
And only with unification will there be true peace.
He was still young, and the road ahead was long, with plenty of time to plan and implement his strategies.
Augustus himself had no fondness for the Catholic Church.
But now, holding the position of Pope, he virtually controlled the future direction of the Catholic Church's development, so he naturally could not be a figurehead.
Leading the Catholic Church to make changes that align with the trends of the times was also one of his missions.
If possible, after his great success, he might even ultimately transform it into a great atheistic state, with the Papal States secularized, which was not entirely impossible.
Of course, these were all matters for the future; there were still many pressing issues to be resolved at hand.