Chapter 196

A few months ago, she had been put on trial because of what happened in the Western District. In order to make Wen Jian stand up for her, she had sent people to locate his secret laboratory on the outskirts of the upper district.

That place had held five dragon-humans, along with other strange monsters whose original forms could no longer be recognized — humans, animals, plants, and creatures from Aberrant Realms. They had all been his test subjects.

After Wen Jian’s death, her people had taken over the laboratory. Many of the monsters inside had died without warning the moment Wen Jian died. Now, only a few scattered monsters remained, along with the five dragon-humans.

Ye Zheng changed into plain clothes, put on a hat, and set out discreetly with only Wende accompanying her.

Wende had now been promoted to the leader of the Church’s knight order. As the most senior knight by the current Papess’s side, she rightfully held that position and commanded the forces on behalf of the Papess.

Of course, some people in the Church had raised objections. Granting a woman the honor of knighthood was already an immense honor. Moreover, at thirty years old, she was too young for the position of leader, lacked enough experience to shoulder such heavy responsibilities, and so on.

But when Ye Zheng, seated at the head of the meeting, swept her gaze over, the man immediately fell silent.

Woman… too young… insufficient experience… The expressions of those listening to his speech turned subtle. Even that senior member of the knight order realized something from Ye Zheng’s look and quickly sat back down, cold sweat dripping down his back.

The Church was never lacking in vigilant people. On the day when the previous pope, Wen Jian, died and Saintess Ye Zheng officially became his successor, a minor disturbance took place within the Papal Palace. Ye Zheng had left the reception room, and the knight order leader brought people to search for a suspicious individual inside the palace. After that, Pope Wen Jian died, and a commoner boy who had inexplicably shown up was wanted for the assassination of the pope.

That knight order leader had already voluntarily stepped down from his position. All these small anomalies pointed toward one thing: Ye Zheng had most likely become Papess through unconventional methods.

But no one had any evidence. Perhaps that fleeing commoner boy knew something, but even the fourteen archbishops led by old Colonna had raised no objections on the surface. Public sentiment had long since shifted in Ye Zheng’s favor. Who would dare to voice any dissent?

When the only person who had raised an objection in the meeting also fell silent and sat back down sullenly, Wende naturally and rightfully became the leader of the Church’s knight order.

“Leader Wende, how have the past two days felt since you took office?”

The two of them walked through an empty alleyway. Ye Zheng lightly teased her.

Wende let out a laugh and shook her head. Her broad shoulders straightened even further. “It felt pretty good on the day I took office. The leader’s medal and sash look very imposing. I like accessories like these.”

“Since I’ve just taken office, I’m not very familiar with anyone except the people from the Order of Sacred Conduct. It’ll probably take some time… quite a long time.”

“No need to rush. Take it slow. Everything we should have, we will have in due time.”

Ye Zheng raised her head and looked up at the narrow strip of sky above the alleyway. The low eaves seemed to cut the sky into a small piece, yet the boundless blue sky remained above the eaves all the same.

Including the knights stationed in various regions, the Church’s knight order numbered nearly fifteen thousand people. Wende had parachuted into the position of supreme commander. Although the upper echelons of the knight order currently appeared cooperative on the surface, they were undoubtedly unconvinced in private. It would be very easy for them to trip her up in official matters.

It was difficult to take a seat, but even harder to sit firmly in it.

Unconsciously, Ye Zheng’s brows furrowed slightly. Only when they walked out of the alleyway and saw the bright sky did the faint ripple between her brows get smoothed away by the sunlight.

It was fine. They were already walking down a path that was becoming brighter and brighter.

Before long, the two of them reached the edge of the upper district.

This area was mostly where people from other districts who served the upper district lived, along with some fallen locals from the upper district itself.

Although it was an outer zone, the residential buildings were somewhat crowded but not dirty or messy. Ye Zheng looked up at the house in front of her. This entire area had once belonged to Wen Jian. In order to hide his secrets, the surrounding houses were sparsely inhabited.

Wende pushed the door open. The furnishings inside were ordinary, looking just like a typical residence. She led Ye Zheng deeper into the house, then descended via a long spiral staircase until they entered the basement.

The basement was an extremely spacious circular space. A semi-transparent light barrier isolated five dragon-humans. On top of their massive black dragon bodies sat small human torsos. Ye Zheng couldn’t clearly make out their distant faces, but she could still feel the listless, dispirited aura they were emitting.

Wende handed her a document containing the specific identities of these dragon-humans that they had uncovered.

Under the guise of preaching and charity, Wen Jian had come into contact with many women. He was a cautious man and mostly selected test subjects with simple social connections, women whose disappearance wouldn’t cause much of a stir.

For example, young women like Zhuo Ya who worked in remote factories, middle-aged women who had been driven out by their husbands, and even teenagers studying at ability academies in other regions.

Ye Zheng looked up and observed them. They all wore rings around their necks, the same kind she had seen at the Hope Base in the Western District, specially designed to restrain their power.

“Can you open the outer barrier?”

“I can, but I don’t recommend you doing so. Their aggression is very strong, even with the restraints in place.”

Ye Zheng thought for a moment, then seemed to recall something. She told Wende to withdraw to the staircase first and support her from a distance.

From what she had observed in the Western District, the dragon-humans had a very strong sense of companionship. They preferred to move in groups, were drawn to the scent of dragon bones, and showed noticeably lower aggression toward their own kind.

Ye Zheng wasn’t entirely sure how they identified “their own kind,” but it was clear that their hostility toward women was far weaker than toward men. Women who also carried the scent of dragon bones should likely fall under their definition of “same kind.”

Ye Zheng turned slightly and made a gesture. Wende, who was standing at the staircase exit, saw the signal and immediately turned away, heading to another location to operate the control switch.

A moment later, the transparent light barrier quietly dissipated.

The five listless dragon-humans immediately began flapping their wings where they stood. Their enormous black bodies lifted into the air for a brief instant before dropping back down helplessly. Their claws, each larger than a human body, scraped against the ground with sharp, unwilling friction.

The smallest among them stood at about three meters tall, roughly the height of a single-story building, while the largest was at least twenty meters high. Their black scales reflected the cold light of the lamps, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure and oppression.

They wandered blindly in place until the smallest dragon-human noticed the tiny figure standing at the edge of the area. It tilted its massive body and slowly walked toward her.

The moment it moved, the other four simultaneously turned their heads and followed, walking toward Ye Zheng together. Their approaching shadows nearly swallowed the small human whole.

The ground trembled under their steps. Ye Zheng could clearly feel the vibration beneath her feet. It was the first time she had observed them at such close range, and she couldn’t help but be struck by their sheer size and overwhelming power.

Thick, smooth scales, razor-sharp claws and fangs, and pitch-black wings capable of blotting out the sky. Every part of their bodies was essentially a weapon of mass destruction.

This was probably also the reason why both the Hope Base and Wen Jian had gone to such lengths to keep these “Fallen Ones.” They both feared and coveted this power. Unable to obtain it directly, they could only attempt to possess it indirectly through other means.

The massive shadow that blocked out the sky had completely enveloped Ye Zheng’s field of vision. She tilted her head upward and saw several expressionless human faces staring down at her. Their cheeks were covered in black scales, and their eyes were completely dark, showing no trace of emotion at all.

The smallest dragon-human had already come very close. With just a single flap of its wings, it could easily send her flying. Yet Ye Zheng still stood perfectly still, her gaze locked in sharp focus as she carefully observed them.

Suddenly, the dragon-human directly in front of her shifted. It let out a sharp, piercing screech toward her, and a violent gust of air slammed forward, rushing straight into her face.

Ye Zheng still didn’t step back. Instead, she gently closed her eyes, almost casually, and subconsciously raised a hand to touch her smooth forehead.

Not bad. Her bangs had all been blown straight upward, leaving her with a neatly swept-back hairstyle.

Hearing the slightly urgent movement echoing from the staircase in the distance, Ye Zheng quickly lifted her right hand, signaling Wende not to move an inch.

Five enormous black shadows bent forward. Their bodies lowered more and more until they were almost enclosing her entirely. A chilling aura seeped out from them, penetrating her skin and sinking into her bones, as though she had been thrown into a pitch-black, frozen night with no end in sight.

Ye Zheng lowered her gaze and adjusted her scarf. When she looked up again, she suddenly met a pair of pitch-black eyes that had absolutely no whites in them.

One of the dragon-humans had brought its human torso right up to her face, so close that there was barely any space left between them.

It seemed to be carefully examining her.