We took the Engineering Ship to the edge of the galaxy again, but this time there were many more passengers aboard—several dozen elves, most of them frail old men and women. The two popes traveled with us as well.
In truth, the popes held little real authority within the Lost Divine Teachings. They were spiritual symbols, and their true value lay in serving as key vessels. No matter how resolute they were or how much history they knew, they were still too young and might not be capable of shouldering the immense responsibility of leading the sect. Moreover, popes could only live for a little over a hundred years. Their short lifespans meant there was no need for them to establish actual power. The true administrators of the Lost Divine Teachings had always been the College of Cardinal Archbishops—the super-elderly members from the three elven races. Since the younger generation within the College of Cardinal Archbishops was still nowhere near capable of taking on such responsibilities alone, it could be said that the order of this world rested entirely on the shoulders of the last surviving thirty-odd elders.
They had always worked to cultivate successors, hoping that someone could replace them before they died of old age, but this was immensely difficult. Some things could not be replaced through education and training alone: the elders who had witnessed everything firsthand and personally accepted their mission were an irreplaceable treasure. Only they could fully understand the meaning behind the Lost Divine Teachings' existence. Only they had lived through the transformations from the Republican Era to the imperial era, the federal era, and finally the Theocratic Era. The insight and mindset gained from personal experience were difficult to pass down to the next generation. Young elves—even those carefully selected as the best