Chapter 174

After Wu Shu refused the dragon bone, the emperor announced that the display of the dragon bone would be canceled. Then, surrounded by knights, he departed from the venue, leaving behind guests with all kinds of expressions as they looked at one another amid the cheerful music.

Wu Shu didn’t stay any longer either, even though she should’ve been the central figure of this ceremony.

She had already gained considerable fame. Many people present, each with their own motives, wanted to speak with her, but Wu Shu didn’t give them the opportunity. After stepping down from the stage, she quickly greeted Ye Zheng and left the ceremony, passing by everyone else.

Thus, the grand ceremony came to an abrupt end within a somewhat strange atmosphere.

Ye Zheng, however, remained for a while to chat with her junior schoolmates. This relaxed activity gave her a faint sense of what it felt like to truly be a student.

“Saintess, do you know Miss Wu Shu? I was originally happy that the Ability Competition finally had its first female captain who won the championship… I don’t understand why she would refuse the dragon bone?”

“I know that an official position and residency status in the upper district are very tempting for people from the middle district, but to abandon the dragon bone, which holds great significance for her hometown, for the sake of her own future… is that really a moral thing to do? Her actions will only make everyone disappointed in women.”

The short-haired girl had held it in for a long time. Seeing that Ye Zheng was about to leave, she couldn’t help but ask.

Because of the unreasonable cost of childbirth, even though women with abilities made up half of all ability users, women had almost no opportunity to fully display their talents in the fields of abilities and Aberrant Realms.

The girls at the Royal Academy came from privileged backgrounds, and many of them were ambitious. To them, the greatest significance of Wu Shu winning the championship was that she was a woman, the first female captain in the history of the Ability Competition to claim the title.

Today, this woman who carried countless expectations had made a choice that left everyone stunned.

Ye Zheng halted mid-step just as she was about to leave. She turned around and looked at the indignant girl. Walking closer, she gently lifted a strand of the girl’s short hair. The other party’s expression immediately became flustered, and she didn’t even know where to place her hands.

“This is newly cut hair, right?”

Ye Zheng asked with a smile.

The girl nodded vigorously, her eyes brimming with admiration. “I’ve wanted to cut it for a long time. Thanks to you, I finally have a proper and honorable reason.”

“You see, cutting one’s hair was once considered an immoral act in some people’s eyes. Before me, there were women who were cast out of their families for cutting their hair. After me, cutting hair has become a trend that symbolizes resolve.”

“There always has to be a first person who stands up and does what others consider immoral. Only then can those who come later have the chance to become righteous figures. Time will prove everything.”

The short-haired girl revealed a thoughtful expression. Ye Zheng patted her shoulder, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

After stepping out through the gates of the Royal Academy, Ye Zheng looked back at the vast campus bathed in the crimson glow of the setting sun and let out a soft laugh.

The significance of Wu Shu winning the championship had been seriously underestimated by people today. After today, people might curse Wu Shu for being selfish and cold-hearted, for selling out her hometown just to climb higher. But give it another ten years, perhaps even less, and people would come to realize with shock that she was the first champion team captain in the empire’s history to come from the middle district, the first woman to win the championship, and perhaps even the empire’s first female captain within an upper district Public Security Bureau.

Of course, all of this depended on one prerequisite: that the empire could still survive for another ten years.

The crisis of world destruction loomed over the empire’s head. Chronic and deep-rooted diseases were eating away at the nation from within. Wu Shu might end up as nothing more than a fleeting wisp of smoke in the long river of history, and she herself might be no different.

✧✧✧✧✧

Night settled in.

Ye Zheng made her way back to the Order of Sacred Conduct base in the lower district. Inside the rest room, two young women were already there, waiting for her.

“Did you find anything unusual?”

Cheng Cheng and Cheng Che, the two sisters, exchanged a quick glance before shaking their heads. The elder sister, Cheng Cheng, answered, “The two sons of the Colonna family stayed at school the entire time and didn’t come into contact with anyone suspicious. The Si family’s only son is serving as a priest in the South Wutong District, and he hasn’t been summoned by the Pope or any of the bishops…”

Ye Zheng stood with her arms folded across her chest, listening carefully to the sisters’ report. The two of them possessed light and shadow abilities that were perfectly suited for infiltration and intelligence gathering. Because of that, Ye Zheng had organized a special operations team centered around them.

According to the intelligence from the Church, Wen Jian was clearly on his last legs. The red-robed cardinals were currently deciding when to announce the new Pope and hold the succession ceremony, yet they hadn’t revealed a single word about who the candidate for the new Pope would be.

Ye Zheng sifted through and filtered out several noble families that maintained deep-rooted ties with the church. These families had produced Popes, bishops, and a large number of clergy members over generations. They could be regarded as the true power factions operating behind the scenes of the church, and the next Pope’s candidate would very likely emerge from among them.

Although Wen Jian’s reputation had already been thoroughly ruined, he still held 【Mother of All Things】 firmly in his grasp. That meant he retained the authority to appoint the next Pope.

So how would he go about choosing the next Pope? Ye Zheng pondered this with a faint trace of amusement. The most crucial requirement for Wen Jian in selecting the next Pope would probably be… the ability to defeat Saintess Ye Zheng.

Judging by that standard, the new Pope candidate would have to possess formidable abilities, come from an elite background, have a powerful family backing them, and ideally enjoy a strong reputation — someone who could just barely stand their ground against her.

On average, a Pope ascended to the position at around fifty years of age. However, Ye Zheng suspected that this particular individual wouldn’t be old. Given Wen Jian’s dark and ruthless mindset, he’d never allow for the possibility that she could simply outlive the next Pope through age alone. Moreover, youth meant the person would be far easier to manipulate and control.

At this point, Wen Jian had completely abandoned any attempt to salvage his reputation or prolong his lifespan. Instead, he’d gathered every force he could mobilize within the Church, fortifying it against her potential assassination attempts, infiltration efforts, and espionage.

Until the new Pope successfully inherited 【Mother of All Things】, the Church would remain an unbreachable fortress.

After thinking it over for a moment, Ye Zheng picked up her pen, then drafted another list onto a blank sheet of paper before handing it over to Cheng Cheng.

Cheng Cheng leaned closer to examine it, her brows knitting together in a slight frown. “Saintess, do we really need to monitor these women as well?”

“Yes. Go ahead and proceed. Don’t overlook even the smallest suspicious detail.”

The two sisters exchanged a brief glance. Their bodies seemed to melt seamlessly into the shadows on the floor, and in the blink of an eye, even those shadows vanished without a trace.

She could anticipate Wen Jian’s thoughts, just as Wen Jian could anticipate hers. He would certainly attempt to mislead her, then conceal the true successor within her blind spots.

She wouldn’t give him that opportunity.

Ye Zheng lowered her gaze, a cold glint flickering deep within her eyes. There existed an information gap between her and Wen Jian. Wen Jian didn’t know how much she understood about 【Mother of All Things】. In fact, he might not even be aware that she had already uncovered the existence of 【Mother of All Things】 at all.

She would locate that successor, then quietly replace his existence and personally seize 【Mother of All Things】 from Wen Jian’s hands!

✧✧✧✧✧

After attending the award ceremony, Pei Xi received yet another letter from the emperor.

…To be more precise, he received it from Roy’s hands.

That day, he had happened to notice Roy slipping something into his mailbox. After Roy left, he went to check, only to find that it was unmistakably a letter from the royal family.

Roy would occasionally disappear for a stretch of time, claiming he was going back home. Pei Xi had once suspected that he might be a noble child from the upper district or something along those lines. However, during the competition, he had interacted with many students from the upper district, yet none of them recognized Roy. Had his assumption been wrong, or had Roy disguised himself just like Ye Zheng had done before?

Roy would leave for a period of time, and as soon as he returned, he would slip something into Pei Xi’s mailbox. Pei Xi didn’t want to doubt his friend, but Roy’s behavior was far too suspicious.

During this period, Kyle had been searching for Wen Xiaoxing’s whereabouts whenever he had spare time. This junior who had appeared out of nowhere and then vanished just as suddenly was equally suspicious. Pei Xi couldn’t help but wonder whether he truly deserved such careful attention from important figures.

When he thought about his own body, which had been born from the Hope Project and seemed to have some kind of connection to the God of Hope, Pei Xi’s heart sank. Was Roy approaching him because of this?

Sykes, who had been born alongside him, was the Crown Prince of the empire, while he himself had been left outside by accident. Perhaps the emperor had already confirmed his existence long ago and had merely sent people to observe him quietly from the shadows.

The brand-new letter was an invitation for him and his companions to join the Royal Knight Order.

Pei Xi hesitated. He’d been thinking it over for several days, and his thoughts were in complete disarray as he walked along the road.

He arrived at an empty equipment store. His knee pads and wrist guards had been worn down during the competition, so he wanted to buy new protective gear for the team. After selecting a few items, he walked up to the unattended counter. He turned his head to call for the owner and suddenly noticed a portrait of Ye Zheng hanging inside the store. His expression didn’t show even a hint of surprise; he simply raised his voice and called out louder for the owner.

Thanks to the lower district citizens’ fervent admiration for Saintess Ye Zheng, he had already grown completely numb and indifferent whenever he saw her. In any case, the competition was already over. He and Ye Zheng wouldn’t have any more intersections.

She had already become a Saintess admired by tens of thousands. All the doubts and criticisms had transformed into fervent support after Ye Zheng’s sermon. Recently, there had been an overwhelming call in the lower district for her to replace the immoral Wen Jian and take the position of the new Pope. It was entirely possible that Ye Zheng would become the empire’s first female Pope.

He might end up following his childhood dream and joining the lower district’s Public Security Team, or he might choose to enter the Royal Knight Order. Either way, it wouldn’t have anything to do with Ye Zheng anymore.

Seeing that the owner still hadn’t appeared, Pei Xi glanced around the store in confusion. He decided he’d call out one last time, then leave the money behind and go. At that moment, a tall young woman strode over.

“That’ll be 250 coins.”

She had a pair of striking amber eyes, her reddish-brown hair tied into a ponytail, and sharp, heroic features. Her voice carried a slight hoarseness. If not for her long hair and long skirt, she would’ve looked more like a man with delicate, refined features.

Pei Xi paid the money and was about to leave with the items when the hoarse voice called out to him again.

“Pei Xi, you forgot this.”

The young woman walked up beside him and tossed a small object into the bag he was carrying.

Under Pei Xi’s puzzled and cautious gaze, the woman smiled and explained, “It’s a small gift from the store once you reach a certain purchase amount. It has a special effect.”

Pei Xi kept walking until he had left the peculiar shop behind and was nearly home. He came to a stop, rummaged through his bag, and pulled out a small white pigeon figurine.

It had been exquisitely carved from fine material, and under the sunlight, it looked almost lifelike.

✧✧✧✧✧

“A white pigeon?”

Ye Zheng held her phone, her gaze fixed thoughtfully on the brand-new manga spoiler displayed on the screen.

A black-haired, blue-eyed young man was squatting by the roadside. At his feet lay a cloth bag filled with equipment. Between two fingers, he held a white pigeon figurine that gleamed in the sunlight.

Ye Zheng zoomed in on the image over and over again. Looking closer, she noticed that the pigeon’s tiny eyes carried a faint earthy-yellow tint.

A pigeon with earthy-yellow eyes… wasn’t that the symbol of the Colonna family?

The Colonna family fell within the scope of her investigation. This family maintained close ties with the church, and one of the current archbishops was from the Colonna lineage.

These powerful families often handed out meaningless family tokens to lower-ranking individuals they wished to win over, using them as gestures of favor. This white pigeon figurine looked exactly like one of their usual tricks for buying loyalty.

Pei Xi had performed exceptionally well in the Ability Competition, so it wasn’t unusual for an upper district family to extend an olive branch to him. However, given the timing, Ye Zheng couldn’t help but think more deeply about it.

There was no way the white pigeon figurine had simply been tossed to Pei Xi at random while he walked down the street. Ye Zheng’s eyes shifted to the cloth bag in the image. It was clear that Pei Xi had gone out to purchase equipment.

So where had Pei Xi come into contact with someone from the Colonna family? And who, exactly, had approached him?

“Hmm, looks like I’ll need to investigate this myself.”

Ye Zheng rested her chin on one hand as she stared at the screen. Manga spoilers only ever revealed the most crucial scene.