The next day, at Pope Palace, in the Administrative Hall.
Though the sleeping quarters still hadn't been renovated, the Administrative Hall didn't need nearly as much work.
The war against the Four Great Clans was no child's play. Soul Masters had to be gathered from Spirit Hall branches across the land and assigned. Strategic plans had to be made, and logistics had to be handled.
A war couldn't be launched with a few words. The preparations alone were a major challenge.
Besides, even though those Titled Douluo had talked about fighting in the Elder Hall meeting, Bibi Dong knew full well that they would most likely put in the hours without doing the work.
When a country wanted to start a war, the biggest problem was never whether it could win. It was getting people willing to fight and risk their lives.
The same was true of Spirit Hall.
The Soul Masters below were easy enough to motivate. Offer them high-ranking positions and generous rewards, and plenty would be willing to fight. But to the people in the Elder Hall, those things meant nothing.
They were already Titled Douluo, with high status, great authority, and flourishing families.
For them, their current position was already the pinnacle. Risking their lives for anything more offered little reward and enormous danger.
If the Clear Sky Sect launched a desperate counterattack, they would protect themselves first. Even if they watched every Soul Master under their command die, they wouldn't so much as furrow their brows.
As long as they survived, their families would endure.
If they were gravely wounded or killed, the Elder Hall wouldn't keep useless people around. Without a Titled Douluo to protect them, their families would inevitably decline.
So those elders would never fight to the death.
Even their current halfhearted effort was only because Nan Feng had taken control of her body and chewed them out from head to toe. They couldn't bear to lose face.
Otherwise, those people in the Elder Hall wouldn't have gotten involved in this matter at all.
Bibi Dong ran through the progress of the war in her mind. But no matter how she looked at it, as long as those Titled Douluo in the Elder Hall didn't take things seriously, the so-called lightning campaign and the plan to lay siege and wait for reinforcements were nothing but a joke!
"Nan Feng, I'm asking you again: how exactly are we going to solve the Elder Hall's halfhearted effort?" Bibi Dong asked inwardly.
"My original plan was to take things slowly. Besides keeping the outside world off guard, the more important goal was to use benefits to gradually win over the true core of Spirit Hall. I wanted them to see that there was something in it for them if they followed me, and then slowly erode Golden Crocodile and Qian Daoliu's influence."
"But look what you did!"
"Instead of winning them over or showing them goodwill, you pointed at them in the Elder Hall and called them cowards and useless!"
"Now, even if Golden Crocodile stays quiet for the sake of the bigger picture, those elders must hate me! They won't give me the time of day, let alone support me sincerely!"
"If they do nothing on the battlefield, or even deliberately let the Clear Sky Sect's elders escape to preserve their strength, then this so-called lightning campaign will turn into a miserable, drawn-out war of attrition!"
"If this war doesn't achieve the results we expect, or if we suffer heavy losses, my already limited prestige as the new Pope will sink to rock bottom."
"If this keeps up, I won't just fail to control the Elder Hall. I might not even be able to hold on to the power of Pope Palace!"
Faced with Bibi Dong's anxiety, Nan Feng simply yawned lazily in the Sea of Consciousness.
"What are you getting worked up about? I told you, the Elder Hall problem will be solved soon."
"As for chewing them out... Heh, that's a small thing. It was even necessary."
"Little Dongdong, when all's said and done, you spent too many years treading carefully around Qian Xunji. You let the identity of a disciple put your thinking in chains."
"You want to win those elders over and show them goodwill? That mindset itself puts you on the back foot, even in the position of a subordinate."
"You're the Pope! The ruler! Does a ruler need to curry favor with her ministers?"
"I don't like being passive, and I don't like having to read other people's faces."
"What I want isn't to win them over. I want them to have no choice but to come to me!"
"That's easy for you to say." Bibi Dong knitted her brows.
"The elders of Spirit Hall are only inferior to the Pope in administrative power. In status, they're the Pope's equals! That's been Spirit Hall's ancestral rule from the beginning!"
"If the Pope angers everyone and goes against Spirit Hall's fundamental interests, the Elder Hall has the right to impeach her, or even strip her of power!"
"But the Pope has no right to strip an elder of his title or status! Why would they come to pledge themselves to a green girl like me, with no foundation and every one of them already offended?"
"They obey Golden Crocodile and watch Qian Daoliu's face! As long as Qian Daoliu doesn't give the nod, they can drag this out with me indefinitely!"
"Exactly."
Nan Feng snapped her fingers. "Now you're getting to the point. The Elder Hall watches Qian Daoliu's face."
"So tell me..."
Nan Feng's voice turned playful.
"Whose face does Qian Daoliu watch?"
"Or, put another way, who in this world can sway Qian Daoliu's moods? Who could make a Peerless Douluo, a demigod, swallow his grievance even when he's been wronged?"
Bibi Dong froze.
A golden figure flashed through her mind—the little girl who always ran after her, calling her "Mom," and who had run off in tears the night before.
"You mean... Qian Renxue?"
Bibi Dong jolted. A chill crept up her spine, and she asked in alarm:
"So... you old spider, from the very beginning you were nice to Qian Renxue, putting on that loving mother-and-daughter act, even going so far as to blow up your avatar to deepen her hatred for Qian Daoliu..."
"You... were planning for this all along?!"
Seeing that Bibi Dong had finally caught on, Nan Feng didn't deny it.
"Thinking things through before acting is one of your strengths. But thinking too much about every possible consequence—that's your fatal weakness."
"And, Little Dongdong, your heart still isn't ruthless enough."
"Qian Renxue is clearly the most useful, most unbeatable trump card in your hand. If you play it right, never mind those elders—even Qian Daoliu will have to dance to your tune."
"But what about you?"
"You just refuse to use her. You're holding the winning hand, yet you insist on pushing her far away!"
"You keep saying you hate the Qian Family and Qian Xunji, that you want revenge. Yet toward Qian Xunji's daughter, you have this inexplicable... urge to protect her?"
"Don't rush to deny it."
Nan Feng cut off Bibi Dong, who was about to argue. "If you truly hated her, you'd ignore her. But you're avoiding her precisely because you're afraid of dragging her into this, afraid of using her."
"But that's ridiculous."
"Back then, just to survive, you could play along with Qian Xunji—the man who assaulted you—and pretend to be an obedient disciple."
"Now, for power and revenge, why can't you put on an act for Qian Renxue? Why can't you keep her happy?"
"As long as you make her happy and get her to stand on your side..."
"Even if Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile know you're putting on an act, know it's all fake, would they really refuse Qian Renxue's request? Would they really want to see Qian Renxue unhappy?"
Bibi Dong fell silent, her face pale.
She hadn't expected Nan Feng to see so clearly into the most secret corner of her heart—the little bit of complicated guilt and tenderness she still felt for that child—and to regard it... as weakness.
"To that end, you gave up your greatest advantage and chose the hardest road."
Nan Feng sighed, her voice full of disappointment. "That was foolish."
"Since you're unwilling to use this trump card..."
"Then I'll use it."
"Why do you think I went on strike last night? Why do you think I made Qian Daoliu face Qian Renxue's tears?"
"It was to make that old man feel guilty! To make his heart ache! To make him realize that he was the one who'd robbed his granddaughter of a mother's love!"
"Now, things have come to a head."
"Qian Daoliu must be pacing like an ant on a hot pan. All we have to do is add one more log to the fire..."
"To make his granddaughter happy and make up for what she's been denied, he'll have no choice but to hand the Elder Hall's command... obediently over to you."
"..."
Bibi Dong was silent for a long while before she slowly spoke. "What if... I oppose this plan?"
"Oppose it?"
In the Sea of Consciousness, Nan Feng's voice brimmed with baffled disbelief. "Bibi Dong, have you lost your mind? Why would you oppose it?"
"What's our situation right now? We're climbing upward, walking a tightrope! One wrong step and we'll fall to our deaths!"
"Using every resource we can to climb higher, doing whatever it takes to survive—that's the only thing you need to think about right now! It's the only truth!"
"I know what you're worried about."
Nan Feng softened her tone a little, trying to reason with her. "You think using a child is despicable and cruel, right?"
"Fine. I can solve that problem."
"That little girl is crying her eyes out right now, thinking the whole world has abandoned her. If I go and play the good mother, comfort her, tell her stories, and give her the motherly love and warmth she's never had—even if it's an act, even if it's fake, won't the joy and comfort she feels in that moment be real?"
"Isn't that a win-win?"
"It's an equivalent exchange!"
"I give her what she wants most, filling the void in her childhood; in return, she puts her value as the Angel Young Master to use and helps you secure your position and take control of power."
"What's wrong with that? What's cruel about it?"
"Being with her grandfather, who does nothing but cultivate and keep a straight face all day, would be a hundred times less happy!"