Fifty-Fifty

Bang, bang, bang!

"Bishop Luo Qi, are you there?"

Bang, bang, bang!

"Bishop Luo Qi, have you woken up?"

Bang, bang, bang!

"It's time to wake up, Bishop Luo Qi."

Bang!

The door was flung open. Eyes bloodshot, Luo Qi glared viciously at Fenris standing outside and roared, "What the hell are you knocking for?! Are you going to let me rest or not?!"

Fenris calmly wiped the spit from his face without the slightest concern. "Bishop Luo Qi, I know your injuries have not fully healed, but please understand that this is not the time to rest. If Ai De Wen truly manages to discover something, it will be a disaster for the entire world."

"That's why you came barging in first thing in the morning to wake me up?!" Luo Qi roared. "To make me get up and save the world?!"

"Strictly speaking, we are asking you to save the world with us." Fenris shifted slightly aside, allowing Luo Qi to see Mina standing behind him. "While you were resting, Miss Mina and I spent the entire night discussing countermeasures. We have already come up with several preliminary plans, which is why we came to consult you. After all, you are our strongest fighting force. Whether we are dealing with that Seven Sound Player or Ai De Wen, we truly cannot do it without you."

Only after seeing Mina respectfully bow to him did Luo Qi's anger subside a little.

He knew this was no time to play dead. That damned tongue was still hiding right under his nose. How could he possibly relax?

"Then come in." Luo Qi snorted and returned to his room. "But let me make this clear: whatever your plan is, if you expect me to hold the line alone like the night before last, then don't bother opening your mouths!"

"Rest assured, Bishop Luo Qi. Miss Mina and I have devised this plan very carefully. We absolutely will not let you suffer another loss."

Fenris followed Luo Qi into the room, while Mina came in behind him and carefully looked around, a trace of surprise in her eyes.

Luo Qi keenly caught that emotion and immediately frowned. "What are you looking at?"

"Ah, my apologies, Bishop Luo Qi." Mina answered politely. "I mean no offense. I am merely a little surprised."

"Surprised by what?"

"Your room," Mina said. "It is clean, tidy, free of odors, and even has a... faint fragrance."

"So what?"

"I simply find the contrast a little striking." Mina first glanced at Luo Qi's bedside table, where an aromatherapy candle was burning, then turned to Fenris, who was dressed little differently from a beggar. "After all, I stayed in Chief Fenris's room all night yesterday. Compared with yours, Chief Fenris's room was somewhat... well, excessively plain."

Luo Qi understood what Mina meant. He had seen the hygiene habits of these Eternal Nightmare Cultists before—or rather, their complete lack of hygiene habits. As long as they were alive, nothing else mattered, even if their bodies had started to stink.

"Of course I'm different from this guy." Luo Qi mercilessly mocked Fenris. "I represent Rhine. Being filthy and unkempt would only disgrace Rhine!"

Faced with such blatant mockery, Fenris did not get angry. He merely said leisurely, "To Eternal Nightmare, dreams are reality, and reality is a dream. We only need to keep the dream world in order. Nothing else matters."

"Heh. Then go dream for the rest of your life."

Fenris looked surprised. "How did you know the most sincere blessing of our church?"

Luo Qi: "..."

Mina gave a soft laugh. "Every church has different customs. We only need to understand one another. Of course, compared with Chief Fenris's unconventional ways, I am more accustomed to Bishop Luo Qi's refinement. It gives me a sense of relaxation, as though we come from the same roots. But when one thinks about it carefully, the Four Great Orthodox Churches are one family to begin with."

That was Mina's true purpose.

She had not suddenly started flattering Luo Qi for no reason. She wanted to use this chance to draw closer to him.

Mina had already guessed that Luo Qi was someone from the Peach Blossom Paradise mentioned by Isaiah, and that he was very likely "Thumb."

After all, only that thumb remained on his right hand. The trait was far too obvious.

So Mina had immediately sent this information back to Nameless Town and received Isaiah's confirmation that this man was indeed Thumb.

Isaiah had therefore told her to find a way to get closer to Luo Qi in preparation for the series of actions to come.

That was why Mina had put on this little performance. She wanted to start with trivial matters and subconsciously make Luo Qi see her as someone of his kind, rather than someone like Fenris.

But to Mina's disappointment, Luo Qi did not buy it. He merely gave her an indifferent glance.

No, it could not even be called indifferent. Mina could read a trace of... disgust in that look.

Why was that? Had she offended him somehow?

Mina was thoroughly confused.

As for Luo Qi, that gorgeous mage robe, that pretty face, and those towering breasts were simply... each more irritating than the last!

They even made Luo Qi involuntarily recall the tongue that had nearly taken his life the night before last.

Those people whose chests were bigger than their heads were truly damned!

Luo Qi thought viciously to himself.

"Enough." He sat in the seat of honor, tapped the table, and said impatiently, "Just say what you came to say!"

Fenris nodded. "Bishop Luo Qi, we would like to know whether you can still do it."

Luo Qi's eyelid twitched at once. "What do you mean, whether I can still do it? When have I ever not been able to do it?!"

"I did not phrase it accurately. What I mean is, if you were to face that Seven Sound Player again now, how confident would you be of taking him down?"

Luo Qi glanced sidelong at Fenris and, after thinking it over, suppressed the urge to curse.

What did he mean, how confident was he of taking him down?

If he really had been confident, would he have been beaten into this state?!

"Fifty-fifty." Luo Qi tried his best to remain calm. "If we truly fought, there would be an eighty percent chance of both sides ending up badly injured. But I don't want to fight someone like that to such an extent. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Fenris nodded slightly. "Rest assured, Bishop Luo Qi. We will not let you fight alone again."

They would not let him fight alone again, which meant he would still have to fight.

The sole remaining thumb on Luo Qi's right hand twitched involuntarily.

Honestly, if he could help it, he truly did not want to trouble Tongue-sensei again. Especially now that Tongue-sensei knew his identity, driving Tongue-sensei into a corner was definitely not a good idea. What if they ended up destroying each other?

But it was impossible to ignore Tongue-sensei entirely. As Fenris had said, if Tongue-sensei and that Forbidden Scholar truly researched something, the people who suffered then would not be just one or two individuals.

It left Luo Qi caught between a rock and a hard place, with the anxious feeling of having his most vulnerable spot gripped in someone else's hand—he did not dare move, yet could not afford not to move.

So he decided to first see what Fenris was planning.

"Although we have not detected any information about Ai De Wen these past two days, I believe they have not left this town yet," Fenris said. "The reason he has settled down is most likely because that Seven Sound Player was also seriously injured and cannot protect him for the time being. This also indirectly proves that Bishop Luo Qi truly inflicted considerable damage on the Seven Sound Player."

Hearing this, Mina could not help but look at Luo Qi again.

She knew that Tongue-sensei possessed three Corpse Pieces. Yet Luo Qi, who possessed only one Corpse Piece, had not only emerged safely from his fierce battle with Tongue-sensei—having merely lost four unimportant fingers—he had even inflicted considerable damage on his opponent. Mina was genuinely surprised.

Was Bishop Luo Qi far stronger than his appearance suggested, or was Tongue-sensei not actually that powerful?

Or perhaps Tongue-sensei's body was already on the verge of collapsing under the burden of three Corpse Pieces?

Everyone knew of the side effects of Corpse Pieces. Although the major churches all had methods to mitigate those side effects, at most they could only ease the burden of one piece.

And three Corpse Pieces... was there really any room left to mitigate them?

He was not Visas himself, after all.

Luo Qi had considered this as well. After all, he had personally seen the horrifying sight of He Wei Ni Ya's flesh nearly peeling away from her bones. He had no idea what poison in the world could cause something like that, so naturally he could only attribute it to the side effects of the Corpse Pieces.

If that was the case, then even if he did nothing, would that freak not have long to live anyway?

"Mr. Fenris." Mina's voice pulled Luo Qi out of his thoughts. "You still have not told us exactly what that Forbidden Scholar intends to do, or why that Seven Sound Player is helping him."

"It is still because of that knowledge," Fenris said. "Ai De Wen has always sought to completely decipher that knowledge and bring it into reality. But because of the Divine Command Imprint, he has never been able to complete that step. However, the Divine Command Imprint is not omnipotent. There is only one way to evade its surveillance."

"Visas's power?"

"Yes." Fenris nodded. "Ai De Wen can use Visas's power to construct an array capable of bypassing the Divine Command Imprint, thereby accomplishing his objective within the array."

"So that is why he became involved with that Seven Sound Player. A Seven Sound Player who possesses Visas's Corpse Pieces naturally possesses Visas's power." Mina nodded slightly. "Then why have they not started yet?"

"I believe it is most likely because that array will consume a great deal of Visas's power, so the Seven Sound Player has not yet made sufficient preparations," Fenris replied. "That means we still have a chance to nip this greatest danger in the bud. Once he succeeds, then..."

"Then what?"

"Who knows?" Fenris shrugged. "Anything is possible. Perhaps he becomes Visas, or perhaps Visas's secret proves completely useless to him."

"So the worst-case scenario is the destruction of the world, while the best-case scenario is that nothing happens?" Luo Qi looked coldly at Fenris.

"The unknown is the greatest terror. Even if there is only a one percent chance, we cannot simply stand by and watch." Fenris smiled. "We have discussed this before, have we not, Bishop Luo Qi?"

Luo Qi snorted and said nothing further.

"Whether it is that Forbidden Scholar or that Seven Sound Player, we cannot leave them unchecked," Mina said. "Since they have gathered together, we should deal with them together."

"Deal with them together?" Luo Qi's tone turned even colder. "What, are you going to deal with them? Your teacher will not even make a move, yet you just want me to charge into battle?"

Luo Qi's tone, two degrees colder than before, confirmed Mina's suspicion. He truly was targeting her, leaving Mina rather helpless.

"Of course not." Mina shook her head. "I will act, and so will my teacher."

"Oh?" Luo Qi raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Isaiah is coming here as well?"

"No, my teacher will not leave Nameless Town."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?" The moment he heard that Isaiah did not even intend to move his ass, Luo Qi could not help but curse. "What can he do sitting in Nameless Town? Give us moral support?"

Mina pretended not to hear Luo Qi's insults and calmly said, "My teacher will make preparations in Nameless Town."

"What preparations?"

"Preparations to kill both the Forbidden Scholar and the Seven Sound Player at the same time."

Luo Qi immediately frowned.

"In two days, Nameless Town will welcome the 'Spotless Night,'" Mina said before Luo Qi could ask. "Spotless Night is when the power of the stars is at its most abundant and Star Relic Warlocks are at their strongest. If a receiving array is prepared in advance, then the power will be inexhaustible. At that time, neither the Seven Sound Player nor the Forbidden Scholar can possibly be a match for my teacher."

...Spotless Night.

As a bishop of Rhine, Luo Qi naturally knew what Spotless Night was. He also knew that Isaiah of the Star Relic Church was the most powerful Star Relic Warlock of the past century.

If Isaiah made his move during Spotless Night, then he really might be able to kill Tongue-sensei. At worst, Luo Qi could join in as well.

At that thought, Luo Qi's eyes gradually lit up.

What had troubled him most before was whether he should help Tongue-sensei kill Hand Eye, or help Hand Eye kill Tongue-sensei.

To him, that choice was no less agonizing than when he was young, and that wrinkled old Father had smiled and asked him whether he intended to be on top or underneath that night.

But now, a third path had appeared.

If Isaiah, a complete outsider, made the move, then would not all his previous concerns become unnecessary?

Could there really be such a good thing?

At that thought, Mina became much more pleasing to Luo Qi's eyes.

"So what we need to do is lure those two guys to Isaiah?" Luo Qi suppressed his inner excitement and spoke as calmly as possible. "Do you have a specific plan?"

But Mina still saw through his thoughts.

Just as expected, he had taken the bait.

Mina thought to herself.

This man probably never imagined that her teacher's true target was actually him.

Mina smiled faintly.

"Of course."