Faced with Nan Feng's barrage of questions and tightly reasoned "crooked logic," Bibi Dong neither refuted him nor followed his lead into a debate about morality and right and wrong.
She simply stood there quietly, her gaze calm, and then repeated the question she had asked before:
"What if I refuse?"
Her tone was flat, without a ripple, yet it carried an unshakable resolve.
She knew full well she couldn't win an argument with this old spider.
He had no human emotions and no moral bottom line. In his eyes, anything could be traded, and everything came down to calculations of profit.
His logic was utterly rational, guided purely by self-interest. In his worldview, this really was a perfect exchange of equal value.
But this matter was not up for discussion.
"..."
The Sea of Consciousness sank into a deathly silence.
After a long while.
"Phew..."
Nan Feng let out a long breath. He sounded like a teacher who had spent half the day teaching a rotten student, only to watch him keep going around in circles—utterly exasperated and furious.
"Bibi Dong! Are you sick or something?! Huh?!"
"Last night, I spent ages talking your ear off and tore away your fig leaf, making you see how foolish you were and helping you understand what reality and power really meant!"
"I thought you'd woken up! I thought you'd finally gotten it!"
"And what happened?!"
"The moment I turn around, you pull this crap again?!"
Nan Feng paced back and forth through the Sea of Consciousness in a fury, pointing at Bibi Dong's nose as he cursed:
"Why?! Why are humans always so stupid?!"
"The right road is right under your feet, and the shortcut is right in front of you! Yet you insist on taking the long way around and walking into a dead end, all for that laughable stubbornness and that self-righteous bottom line!"
"Do you have any idea how much trouble we'll face if you refuse to play this card?"
"The old geezers in the Elder Hall will keep paying lip service while defying us! This war will be incredibly hard to win! Your prestige will take a huge hit!"
"We might even lose! We might suffer a complete defeat!"
"All because you don't want to make use of that Qian Xunji brat's child? Because you don't want to drag that little girl into this?"
"Is it worth it?!"
Nan Feng glared at Bibi Dong, the purple light in his eyes flickering violently. His fury had clearly reached its breaking point.
"People are always so stupid, always making the same mistakes over and over!"
"Back then, you couldn't see the situation clearly because of that so-called love, and you ruined yourself. Now you can't see the bigger picture because you supposedly don't want to implicate an innocent, and you're about to ruin our future!"
"Do you have to wait until you've wrecked everything and there's nowhere left to turn before you'll admit you made another stupid decision?!"
Bibi Dong remained silent.
She watched Nan Feng fly into a rage, a complicated emotion flickering in her eyes.
She knew Nan Feng was right.
From the perspective of profit, political maneuvering, and even revenge, his plan was perfect. It was flawless.
But she simply couldn't get past the hurdle in her heart.
That child... those eyes, swollen red from crying... that desperate cry of "Mom"...
That child was flesh of her flesh, the only blood connection she had in this world. She hated Qian Xunji, and she had wanted to strangle that child countless times.
But when it came down to using that child to secure an advantage, she found that she... couldn't do it.
"Say whatever you want."
Bibi Dong closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her voice was soft, yet exceptionally resolute:
"I'm the Pope, and this body is mine."
"If I say no, then it's no."
"No matter how hard this road is, no matter whether the cost is ten times or a hundred times greater... I'll accept it."
"This is my choice."
"You—!!"
Nan Feng was so angry he nearly passed out on the spot.
Looking at this stubborn woman, he felt a profound sense of helplessness well up inside him.
I can't carry her.
I really can't carry her.
It was like playing a game: the support had already spoon-fed the ADC, but the ADC insisted on smashing the bowl and saying, "I won't eat charity food."
"Fine, fine, fine! You're amazing! You're incredible! We'll do it your way! I'm seriously impressed!" Nan Feng turned around and lay back down, unwilling to say another word.
Bibi Dong froze. "You're giving in just like that? I thought you'd threaten to take over my body."
"Threats only count as threats when they work. When they don't, they're just a load of bullshit!" Nan Feng replied sourly.
"What if you really piss me off, and I quit being the Pope and take you straight to the Rakshasa Secret Realm for a honeymoon?"
"If you don't want to live, I still do!"
Three days later.
Outside Spirit City, the army set out.
Banners blotted out the sun, and a killing aura filled the land and sky.
Bibi Dong stood atop the tallest command chariot, clad in dazzling purple-and-gold battle armor and holding her scepter.
Behind her stood Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei. Their faces were pale, and although their auras were powerful, they were clearly unsteady.
The two had narrowly survived the last battle against Tang Hao, but their injuries were severe. The backlash from having their Martial Soul Fusion Skill forcibly broken had especially damaged their foundations.
There simply hadn't been enough time for them to recover. They were now forcing themselves to keep going, capable of only sixty or seventy percent of their peak strength at most.
They could still bully an ordinary Soul Douluo or two. But if they ran into Tang Xiao or the elders of the Clear Sky Sect, they'd be lucky just to maintain the Martial Soul Fusion Skill that had made them famous: the "Polar Static Domain."
But Bibi Dong had no choice.
At present, the only Titled Douluos in the entire Elder Hall who were willing to fight for her and dared not disobey her orders were these two.
They had once been Qian Xunji's right-hand men. After Qian Xunji died, had they not risked their lives to bring his body back to the Elder Hall—and had everyone not seen the state they were in—they would probably have been sent by Qian Daoliu to join Qian Xunji in death, on the grounds that they had failed to protect him.
As for the Elder Hall, Yue Guan and Gui Mei had already been blacklisted by Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile. They couldn't count on that side. If they wanted to keep a foothold in Spirit Hall, their only option now was to warm Bibi Dong's cold hearth.
"March!"
With a wave of Bibi Dong's scepter, the army set out.
This time, in the name of a "lightning-fast attack," Spirit Hall divided its forces into four groups.
Demon Bear Douluo was assigned to attack the Strength Clan, Ghost Leopard Douluo the Defense Clan, while Snake Lance Douluo and Pufferfish Douluo were tasked with the Breaking Clan.
As for Bibi Dong, she would personally lead the main force to strike directly at the Speed Clan!
On top of the city wall.
Golden Crocodile Douluo stood with his hands behind his back, watching the army's dust cloud gradually recede into the distance, his gaze deep.
Beside Golden Crocodile stood the four elders who had yet to set out: Demon Bear, Ghost Leopard, Snake Lance, and Pufferfish.
They, too, had readied themselves to depart according to plan. But there was no trace of tension on their faces at the prospect of heading to the battlefield. They looked more like spectators.
"Second Worship, are we just going to watch?" Snake Lance Douluo asked.
"Just watch?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo turned around and swept his gaze across the four elders. His voice was low and imposing:
"How could we merely watch? His Holiness the Pope ordered us to surround the enemy and cut off their reinforcements, to sever their wings. Naturally, we'll carry out those orders."
"However..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo changed tack. "The Pope is young, after all, and doesn't know the heights of heaven or the depths of the earth. Does she really think she can manipulate us old bones with a few harsh words?"
"She's far too naive."
Over the past three days, Qian Renxue had cried and made a scene in the Worship Hall. She had even begun a hunger strike, making Qian Daoliu feel as though he had aged ten years from worry.
Qian Daoliu had sent him to see Bibi Dong several times, hoping she would go comfort the child, even if only for show.
But what about Bibi Dong?
Every time, she used "military affairs" and "preparing for battle in seclusion" as excuses. She wouldn't even show her face, sending the Hall Knights to keep him outside.
This wasn't just a lack of respect. It was an outright challenge to the authority of the Worship Hall!
Since she refused the toast and chose the forfeit, she could hardly blame him for being ruthless.
Demon Bear Douluo glanced at the Pope's army as it disappeared into the distance. "Second Worship, just tell us plainly. What does Grand Pontiff want?"
Being publicly humiliated by a woman, a junior no less, who had even pointed at his nose and cursed him—he couldn't swallow that insult.
"Listen carefully."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression turned solemn. Lowering his voice, he relayed his final orders to the four:
"On this expedition, the four of you are responsible for surrounding the Strength, Defense, and Breaking Clans."
"But remember, surround them without attacking."
"Make a big show of it, and make sure the cries of battle are loud, but avoid any real fighting. Don't actually drive those three clans into a corner."
"If the Clear Sky Sect really sends people to reinforce these three locations..."
"Then retreat immediately! Say you're preserving your strength and avoiding being picked off one by one."
"Then... what if the Clear Sky Sect goes to reinforce the Speed Clan?" Snake Lance Douluo asked.
"If Tang Xiao takes the elders to attack Bibi Dong..." Golden Crocodile Douluo narrowed his eyes slightly.
"You are to hold your positions."
"Do not send reinforcements. Do not return to defend."
"Stay where you are, or simply withdraw."
The four elders' hearts skipped a beat.
Was this... using someone else to kill her?!
"Second Worship, isn't that... a little too risky?" Pufferfish Douluo hesitated. "She is the Pope, after all. If anything really happened to her, it would damage the reputation of Spirit Hall..."
"Don't worry. She won't die," Golden Crocodile Douluo said indifferently. "The Clear Sky Sect wouldn't dare kill the Pope again. And with her Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and her rank-ninety-seven cultivation, plus the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of Chrysanthemum and Ghost, she can always run even if she can't win."
"We don't want her dead."
"We want her defeated!"
"Thoroughly defeated!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo turned and looked toward the towering Pope Palace:
"That woman's bones are too hard, and her ambitions too great."
"If we don't make her take a nasty fall out there, if we don't make her realize that without the Worship Hall's support, she's nothing, she'll never learn what it means to obey."
"This time, we'll crush her pride and her prestige underfoot!"
"When she's surrounded by the Clear Sky Sect, trapped with nowhere to turn, and forced to flee back to Spirit City in disgrace..."
"She'll naturally understand how to be the Pope!"