Chapter 77

 Are you prepared?

Everyone present felt their hearts tremble. The Saintess’s face remained as gentle as a bright moon, yet when they looked at her, they felt as though they were being scorched, as if their bodies and souls were about to be ignited by those deep, lustrous black eyes.

Will we also have the chance to be rewarded with land for outstanding achievements?

Can we participate in courts and parliaments?

Can we be recommended for higher positions?

If they wanted these opportunities, what price would they have to pay?

“I am prepared!”

Alya raised her hand over the crowd. She shed her enthusiastic and frivolous smile and declared loudly, “We offer our courage and loyalty to the Saintess!”

The crowd fell silent for an instant. Then, wave after wave of voices echoed across the open grounds.

“We offer our courage and loyalty to the Saintess!”

Some followed out of faith; some obeyed for benefits. Yet every single person present, looking at that tall and upright figure, had only one intense thought in their hearts, she could give them what they wanted, whether faith, power, or anything they had never dared to dream of.

Cheng Cheng silently retreated back into the excited crowd. Her older sister Cheng Che stood beside her, gazing admiringly at the Saintess not far away.

Cheng Che nudged Cheng Cheng’s elbow and whispered, “When we first heard the Saintess was recruiting female knights, you looked way happier than I did. Sometimes I really do not understand what you are thinking.”

“I admit she is kind and noble, different from the others in the upper district. But just that is still not enough.”

Cheng Che teased, “Now do you think it is enough?”

“We are already here.”

Cheng Cheng turned her head away, folded her arms across her chest, and muttered.

✧✧✧✧✧

Ye Zheng named this fifty-person team the Order of Sacred Conduct.

Fifty people were only the starting point for the Order of Sacred Conduct. The first task Ye Zheng assigned to the knight order was to investigate the people who had come into contact with the Pope during his healing and blessing sessions in the lower district.

Ye Zheng had Wende select a few people for the operation. They were all surface-level unemployed ability users who mingled in the gray zone, such as the Cheng Cheng and Cheng Che sisters.

They had previously been engaged in illegal ability operations. Ye Zheng chose not to hold that against them. She needed people like this, and in many cases, they had no other options.

In the rest room.

“My lady, no suspicious individuals have been detected nearby.”

Wende leaned down and spoke softly into Ye Zheng’s ear. Ye Zheng nodded. She was not surprised by this result, yet her vigilance only increased.

The Pope and Sykes controlled far more high-level ability user resources than she could match. Those strange abilities were impossible to guard against completely. This place belonged to Sykes’s territory. If he wanted to tamper with it in advance, it would be very easy.

However, since he had already presented this place to her as repayment, it now belonged to the Saintess’s domain.

“Wende, I see visual-type and spatial-type ability users on the list. From now on, arrange for them to handle reconnaissance. Do not overwork yourself.”

The broad-shouldered knight let out a sigh. Wende’s heart was far more delicate than her exterior suggested. “They have only just joined. Although I have vetted all their backgrounds...”

“Since they have sworn to offer me their courage and loyalty, I should repay them with trust.”

Ye Zheng stood up from the high-backed chair and patted Wende’s shoulder. “Relax. Whether it is loyalty or betrayal, there will always be a way to resolve things.”

If Sykes truly was monitoring her movements right now, she might even be able to use that to bring more trouble to the Pope.

Currently, the ones who posed a truly fatal threat to her, aside from the manga author who could go berserk with his plot, was Wen Jian. Once Wen Jian uncovered anything about her, with his suspicious and ruthless nature, he would decisively eliminate her.

What Ye Zheng could do was to place herself in a position so unshakeable that even the Pope could not easily move against her, before Wen Jian finished investigating and acted against her.

Sykes, as a life created by the previous Pope, what attitude would he hold toward the church?

Ye Zheng’s intuition told her that when Sykes said to her, “I remembered a lot of things,” it might concern his own origins.

“Wende, no matter what is discovered, instruct them not to make any noise.”

She did not mind leaking some of her investigation results to Sykes.

✧✧✧✧✧

Taking advantage of this legitimate opportunity to come to the lower district, Ye Zheng disguised herself and quietly slipped out through a small side door of the training grounds.

She arrived once more at Wen Xin’s home.

“How has she been lately?”

Ye Zheng picked up the tea Wen Xin had poured for her. The two sat in the living room and began to chat.

The gentle-tempered woman shook her head, her expression helpless and guilty. “She will talk to me about her past life, things like her childhood, working in the factory, but the moment it comes to the Pope, she falls silent.”

“Have you taken Zhuo Ya outside at all?”

“No, she does not dare to go out either.”

Ye Zheng rubbed the teacup thoughtfully. Suddenly she asked again, “Have you told her about the recent events with the Pope?”

Wen Xin was taken aback. “She should know. I bring her newspapers every day to relieve her boredom.”

Ye Zheng nodded in understanding, set down the untouched teacup, and turned to enter Zhuo Ya’s room.

The young woman was sitting on the small sofa holding a newspaper. Her complexion looked slightly healthier than during their last meeting. When she looked up at the person entering, her expression still carried obvious apprehension and unease.

Ye Zheng pulled over a small stool and sat directly in front of Zhuo Ya. The low stool placed her at eye level with Zhuo Ya.

She first glanced around the somewhat dim room. Her gaze lingered briefly on the heavy curtains that blocked almost all natural light, there was still a thin slit allowing a trace of brightness, then she looked straight into Zhuo Ya’s eyes.

“Do you want to go outside?”

The girl asked directly.

Zhuo Ya lowered her head, avoiding the girl’s gaze. “Of course. No one wants to lose their freedom.”

“It's the Pope who has imprisoned your freedom. Unless he is completely toppled, you cannot appear in the light.”

Zhuo Ya’s voice carried a hint of hesitation. “That will not happen. The Pope is so busy. How could he always keep me in mind? He has encountered so many troubles lately. He has even less mood to remember me.”

Ye Zheng laughed. “You make a good point. Right now he has no time to care about a missing test subject, no, more accurately, a missing piece of Dragon Bone. He has plenty of test subjects.”

Zhuo Ya jerked her head up. “Impossible! I am the most important test...”

The young woman suddenly fell silent. She stared at the girl’s smiling expression and realized she had let something slip.

“You are the most important test subject? Then why were the people chasing you all trying to kill you outright? You admire the Pope, yet he might not even remember your name.”

“For Wen Jian’s most pressing name right now is Sela, the girl who ruined the good reputation he had cultivated for years. A man like him does not remember kindness; he only remembers those who obstruct him. Perhaps you could find a different way to make him unable to forget you?”

Ye Zheng spoke quickly. Zhuo Ya could not bear it and covered her ears, retorting, “What admiration? What test subject? I do not know. I do not know anything! I swore an oath to him. If I violate the oath and reveal his secrets, I will be killed by the Binding Speaker’s ability!”

“Are you trying to get me killed!”

Ye Zheng watched her reaction and knew she had guessed correctly. On one hand, Zhuo Ya was constrained by the Binding Speaker. The moment she revealed anything she had sworn to the Pope to conceal, that strange ability would immediately kill her.

On the other hand, Zhuo Ya still harbored a special emotion toward the Pope, the man who had once helped her.

Ye Zheng raised an eyebrow and raised her tone. “The Binding Speaker? As far as I know, that is just something the Pope made up to create intimidation. How could such an ability possibly exist?”

“You clearly adore the Pope. You adore this man who treats you as nothing more than a test subject and even wants to kill you!”

Zhuo Ya could no longer endure it. She stood up from the sofa and grabbed the girl’s shoulders. “Are you trying to call me a woman dominated by love, with no self-respect? If I were that foolish, I would not have escaped on my own!”

“The Binding Speaker really exists! He is monitoring my mind! The moment I think of revealing anything, I can feel the Grim Reaper right above my head!”

Zhuo Ya clutched her head and sat back down, her face twisted in pain. “He is here... I cannot continue...”

Ye Zheng put away her provocative and questioning expression. She reached out and stroked Zhuo Ya’s head. 【Stream】 brought calm to the suffering woman.

“I believe in the existence of the Binding Speaker.”

“Since you were able to mention his existence, it seems your oath did not include him. Why not tell me about the situation when you encountered the Binding Speaker?”

Zhuo Ya felt a slight dampness in her hair, but it was not sticky, instead, it felt exceptionally refreshing and peaceful. The near-death fear dissipated. Subconsciously, she followed the girl’s words and began to speak.

“I did not see him in person. But after I finished swearing according to the Pope’s requirements, I felt the Binding Speaker’s presence. Whenever I think of anything related to the oath, the intimidation of death envelops me. I become overwhelmingly aware that if I violate the oath, I really will die...”

Ye Zheng listened patiently, maintaining the gesture of stroking the young woman’s head until Zhuo Ya finished. Only then did she withdraw her hand.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“I apologize for my earlier hasty judgment. You are a woman with a free personality and high dignity.”

Ye Zheng gave a slight nod and left the room.

Meanwhile, the young woman left alone in the room seemed scalded by the girl’s earlier words. Her body trembled slightly, and a trace of shame appeared on her face.

From this visit, Ye Zheng confirmed one thing: the Pope was indeed using Dragon Bone and 【Spring Hand】, no, it should be called 【Mother of All Things】, to conduct some unspeakable experiments, involving quite a few innocent people.

Additionally, she now had some guesses about the Binding Speaker’s ability.

If it truly killed anyone who violated an oath regardless of time or place, the ability would be far too dominant.

Moreover, for an ability user to impose such a terrifying causal effect on a target without even touching them, Wen Jian might even be able to control the emperor.

Therefore, Ye Zheng speculated that the so-called Binding Speaker merely attached a form of mental intimidation to the target. This would also explain why her own ability could so easily soothe Zhuo Ya’s fear of the “Grim Reaper.”

However, speculation was only speculation. She could not risk Zhuo Ya’s life to test it.

✧✧✧✧✧

One week later, the busy Saintess, who had been occupied both openly and covertly, received a notification.

Following the deaths of two upper-district academy teams in an aberrant realm one month ago, the Ability Competition would officially resume next week.

All participating teams would once again gather in the lower district to continue contending with aberrant realms, earning competition points. The team with the highest points would become champion and receive the most generous and substantial rewards in history.

『The spoilers have been updated! Hurry and check your phone!』

The system’s excited voice rang in her ear after a long absence.

“Every time the spoilers are irrelevant plot points. They are not very useful.”

Ye Zheng was wearing blue pajamas, leaning against the headboard while flipping through documents. Her tone was lazy.

『This time is different. You can now see not only your own related plot, but the most important scene from every chapter of the manga!』

Hearing the system’s words, Ye Zheng finally set down the documents. Interested, she picked up her phone. Very good. Occasionally pushing the system was quite effective.

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Authors Note

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Today I was stabbed silly by a certain game and struggled for a while before adjusting my mood to bring you this National Day update. Happy National Day, babies!