"Oh, your mentor came up with that? I never expected the future duke to be a bugman too."
"That's going too far. You can discriminate against me, but you absolutely cannot insult my great mentor. The future duke is a sage as holy as a god, so naturally he must be human."
"...Your words have stirred me up a little, I'll admit, but don't you think you're the one being the most racist here?"
"But the future duke really is human. That's an unquestionable fact!"
"Then what's his name? How old is he? Is he a man or a woman? Where in the universe is he cultivating himself right now?"
"Ahahaha, I don't know any of that. Your Excellency, there's no need to try to trick this humble man into talking. I really know nothing."
The two of them sounded as if they were just chatting casually, but the information they were discussing was so explosive that everyone around them wished they could dig out their own ears.
Yaxiu hadn't even had a second to process the shock before he noticed Taina beside him looking as if her entire worldview had been overturned. She could barely stay on her feet, so he hurriedly reached out to steady her.
"I thought it was just a rumor. I really thought it was just a rumor." The reporter's face was pale as she murmured like a puppet stuck on repeat.
"Th-this... maybe even the intelligence department doesn't know. Maybe the people below them acted on their own." Yaxiu tried to comfort her.
Taina didn't even acknowledge him. She continued murmuring, "Have you even stopped accepting the bare minimum of conscience? You're actually going to use the power of such an utterly evil fiend? Can't you hear the children crying...?"
Gongsun Qiang didn't say