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There were many reasons the Saint's Association had never filled all its Saint positions.
But whether intentionally or not, the Saints of every generation had maintained an unspoken understanding with one another: unless the Association faced a crisis threatening its very survival, the thirteen Saint positions were never filled lightly.
Having more people meant greater strength, but having fewer had its advantages too. Power could be more concentrated, avoiding endless disputes and competing chains of command, and allowing decisions to be made efficiently and decisively.
Unless an exceptionally powerful leader emerged, the number of Saints generally stayed in single digits.
The Saint's Association's seven "Calabash Brothers" quickly settled on a proposal to expand the Saint team, along with a corresponding list of candidates.
Despite their differences, each person's sense of the bigger picture outweighed their conflicts. No matter how much they disliked one another, none of the proposed candidates faced strong opposition.
Besides, becoming a Saint had never been easy. The Saint Trial alone could leave someone severely injured or disabled if they failed to pass—or even cost them their life.
A few days ago, Li Bai had received an email from his girlfriend Diana, asking for help with an investigation. He'd only just delegated the task when his old pal Hercules sent him another email. It was much the same sort of request: he wanted to use Li Bai's intelligence network to investigate something.
The attachment also included a video of an internal meeting, just in case Li Bai wasn't aware of what was going on at the highest levels of the Saint's Association.
Now that was a true old pal!
Li Bai could swear he hadn't asked for the attachment.
All right, all right! For the sake of the eager Hercules Enzo Camillo, he casually forwarded