The Dog-Raising Captain
Mu Hongyuan calmly snatched the veil away, picked up the Fairy Tale book, and prepared to leave.
"Etc!"
Ansen instinctively tried to stop him, and with a sudden pull, Mu Hongyuan's body was drawn by that force, his center of gravity shifted slightly, his back hit the edge of the bed, and he fell onto the bed. His skirt spread out on the sheets.
The atmosphere in the room instantly became enchanting...
On the clock tower outside the hotel, Su Luo couldn't help but smile.
Ye Zizhen and the others who were also watching intently glanced at him, wondering what he was laughing at.
"Ahem, it's nothing." Su Luo's smile faded, but the corners of her mouth still turned up. "It seems there's no problem. Thank you all for your hard work these past two days; at least Ansen himself believes Mu Hongyuan's identity."
Su Luo stopped smiling, dragging her body, which was mostly destroyed and covered in tangled flesh and tendrils, downstairs.
Before Ansen arrived in this industrial town, Mu Hongyuan's identity information had been widely falsified, and even the memories of ordinary people had been implanted with related information.
The main construction was completed by Kundina, Ye Zizhen and Brutus were responsible for guarding and driving away other Survivors.
Su Luo was chased for over a thousand kilometers by the Awakened of the Tribunal, taking a long detour before finally feigning death to shake them off.
The problem is that Su Luo's recovery speed is so fast that, even disregarding the application of Talent in this scenario, Su Luo's stats are among the highest, yet he still can't beat Awakened at the [Bishop] level.
It's hard to say that the system didn't design it this way on purpose. The power gap among Awakened in this era is too large, and the Survivors are stuck in this awkward position, which is very frustrating.
"So, what are they up to?" Kundina asked from behind.
"As Mu Hongyuan himself said, once desire or love is initially aroused, even if nothing is done afterward, they are basically doomed. Since the other party took the initiative to come to us, we just went along with it."
Su Luo was somewhat skeptical of this plan that relied on seduction and sexual attraction, but Mu Hongyuan assured her it was fine, mentioning that she had raised a bunch of dogs during the previous Trial Instance.
No matter how insightful you are, how powerful you are, or Intimidation you are, the moment you become infatuated with her, you cease to be yourself.
For professional matters, the dog-raising team leader should handle them.
Moreover, during the second District War, even though they were separated by the Tinder Hall, they were still affected, which shows that her Essence is extremely terrifying, and we can only trust her.
About half a minute after the group left, Count Sam, who was waiting outside, sensed something was wrong. He scanned the area with his Divine Power and saw Ansen about to commit an act of misconduct. Enraged, he felt as if he had been cuckolded and roared, tearing the entire hotel down.
Amidst the collapsing building and billowing smoke, two men fought over another man.
This is the war of men, hypocritical and boring.
The Elfa Province, located in the southeast of the empire, covers an area of 3.6 million square kilometers and controls 16 municipal units. Further down, it encompasses 137 county-level units.
The empire's territory is vast, and this province is only one of the larger of the empire's twenty-eight provinces. Moreover, it is relatively close to the Imperial Capital. From the Imperial Capital, one can take Steam airship and fly southeast along the railway line for two days and two nights to reach the boundary marker of Alfa.
Su Luo's territory is within this province, and her current sphere of influence has expanded to fourteen counties. She has begun to frequently interact with the high-ranking officials of the Elfa Province. Furthermore, because one of the counties is the industrial center of the entire Alfa, two important figures at the level of [Bishop] have noticed something amiss and have turned their attention to her.
One of them was Duke Spencer, the governor of the Elfa Province, the most promising and powerful Awakened cultivated by the powerful hereditary noble family.
The other was the powerful figure from the [Church] stationed here, Bishop Whitman, an absolute believer in the Holy Light.
The Duke noticed something was wrong because the important industrial towns had experienced production problems in the past two days. The Bishop noticed something was wrong because there were problems with the [Church] in these areas.
In fact, all local Church have problems to some extent, but these few local Church are experiencing a crisis of faith, as the current Pope himself has stated.
At the same time, the Pope also urgently assigned Bishop Whitman an important task— to Saintess!
Saintess from the Church is about to appear in the Elfa Province!
Important figures naturally have their own social circles. The top two provincial officials are definitely connected. In addition, with the recent rampage of Extraterritorial Heavenly Demons, the two decided to travel together to Gray Furnace Fort, an industrial hub in the Elfa Province.
A luxurious Steam airship flew towards Gray Furnace Fort at a relatively high speed. The airship's hull was silver-grey, coated with a layer of anti-corrosion paint, and imprinted with the Holy Church's Holy Light Emblem and the Spencer Family's crest.
The gondola was large, accommodating more than twenty people. The interior was decorated in a classic style, with wooden walls, copper armrests, velvet sofas, and a wine cabinet containing more than a dozen bottles of expensive wines brought back from the Imperial Capital.
Governor Spencer and Bishop Whitman sat by the wine table, watching the mountains and rivers flow by, and the clouds and mist disperse.
"Ever since the giant Steam boilers were built at the hubs of various cities, the Steam airships have become increasingly uncomfortable to ride in," Governor Spencer sighed, taking a sip of his expensive wine. "Every time we fly over a city, we have to endure the high-temperature Steam and exhaust fumes containing chemicals. The airships used to be silver-white, but now the paint is all yellowed from the soot."
Governor Spencer took a sip of the expensive wine and remarked with admiration.
Whitman didn't drink; he just stared into the distance, lost in thought. The scenery outside the window was slowly receding, the hills appearing and disappearing in the mist like a traditional Chinese ink painting.
After a while, he spoke, his voice not loud. "Have you made contact with the Extraterritorial Heavenly Demons?"
"No."
"No need to rush to deny it." Whitman's tone was calm, as if he were talking about something insignificant. "Everything in the world operates under the protection and rules of the Holy Light. The appearance of the Extraterritorial Heavenly Demons is an objective fact, and all their actions are carried out with the permission of the Holy Light."
If these words were uttered, they would surely be utterly criticized by the old scholars of the Imperial Capital. This is treasonous talk, defending the Extraterritorial Heavenly Demons and questioning the very foundation of the Church's existence.
Spencer turned his head, pondered for a moment, and asked, "What if the [Church] were destroyed by those Extraterritorial Heavenly Demons? These guys came with immense malice, wanting to overthrow everything—the Empire, the Church, the Awakened... even the Holy Light."
"It doesn't matter." Whitman's voice was flat. "If the Church is destroyed because of them, it means the Holy Light no longer needs us. If the doctrines and spread of the Holy Light are blocked by them, it means the Holy Light no longer wants to manifest. The Holy Light is everything; the Empire is Him, calamity is Him, life is Him, death is Him, the world is Him, and other worlds are Him."