Emergency Pacification Mission, Binder 002 About to Awaken

The underground secret chamber of the Pope Palace.

The purple-black radiance enveloping Bibi Dong ceased its roiling; those pure, god-level energies transformed into wisps, flowing along her meridians to integrate completely into her muscles and bones.

The preliminary deep fusion for the eighth trial of the Rakshasa God Trial had officially concluded.

She snapped her eyes open.

The heavy refined steel door was pushed open with a single hand, and the air from the corridor surged into the chamber.

Bibi Dong paused, her gaze turning abruptly icy.

She caught, with extreme sensitivity, a trace of a peculiar fluctuation that had yet to dissipate in the air—the lingering presence of sacred soul power unique to a Six-Winged Angel.

On the stone tiles outside the passage, Angela was on her knees, her red inner lining soaked through with cold sweat, her spine pulled taut.

"Your Eminence." Angela pressed her head hard against the floor, her voice trembling with an obvious chill, "Half an hour ago, Pei Yuan used the Grand Elder's decree to force his way into the Library Pavilion."

Killing intent surged to its peak within a tenth of a second.

A pillar of purple-black soul power erupted, tearing through the space of the underground passage.

In the next second, Bibi Dong's figure materialized out of thin air on the third floor of the Library Pavilion.

What met her eyes was utter devastation.

The reinforced wooden door was shattered and blown away, its hinges snapped; heavy, thousand-pound solid wood bookshelves had all collapsed, and thick ancient books and splintered planks littered the floor.

Bibi Dong's gaze cut through the wreckage, locking onto the deepest, shadowed corner.

Su Chen was huddled there.

His face was devoid of all color, his hands clutching his knees tightly, his back pressed against the mottled wall. His shoulders were trembling at a high frequency, his entire being locked in a state of absolute defense and terror.

The Worship Hall had reached into her forbidden territory, smashed her domain, and laid hands on the person she was determined to protect.

Violent, purple-black soul power surged from beneath Bibi Dong's feet—the extinction death energy belonging to a peak ninety-ninth-rank Titled Douluo.

She turned abruptly, her eyes fixed on the direction of the Worship Hall, her heels digging in as she prepared to slaughter her way to the Elder Hall.

At that exact moment, a piercing mechanical sound exploded in her mind.

[Ding! Emergency soothing mission released!]

[Instruction: Soothe the Lord of Creation's frightened emotions through physical contact for ten minutes.]

[Reward: Minor increase in soul power.]

[Failure Penalty: Soul-Devouring Pain doubled.]

A blood-red countdown forcibly filled her Sea of Divine Consciousness, flashing wildly.

Bibi Dong's military boot, which had already taken a half-step forward, stopped dead. She pressed her lips together, her chest heaving once as she forcibly suppressed that overflowing, violent killing intent back into her bones and blood.

Outside the door.

Angela had just finished lining up a squad of Temple Knights. Everyone clearly sensed that pressure capable of destroying heaven and earth suddenly rise, only to be abruptly retracted and dissipated.

They caught a glimpse through the shattered door frame.

The Pope did not go to the Worship Hall to settle accounts. She had even completely screened off all surrounding killing intent, focusing her entire attention, without reservation, on the servant sitting in the ruins.

The sixteen guards were struck by a profound cognitive shock. They intuitively understood the weight this "century-long plan" held in the Pope's heart. This weight was greater than the direct provocation from the Worship Hall.

Bibi Dong softened her footsteps.

As her military boots stepped on the wood shavings, she avoided all obstacles that might make a loud noise, walking step by step toward Su Chen.

Su Chen cooperated perfectly, entering a state of post-traumatic stress. His shoulders shriveled violently, and suppressed, terrified, fragmented gasps spilled from the depths of his throat.

Seeing this state of extreme fragility, Bibi Dong's heart tightened without warning. This time, there was no pressure from the system countdown, nor any fear of mission failure. It was a genuine, bone-deep impulse to protect the person before her.

She stopped in front of Su Chen.

There was no condescending look down. Bibi Dong bent her knees slightly, crouching halfway down into the dust-covered floor.

She slowly extended her right hand.

That hand was still trembling slightly from the effort of suppressing her killing intent. After pausing in mid-air for a full three seconds, her fingers descended, clumsy and unpracticed. Without applying any unnecessary force, she rested them gently atop Su Chen's head.

Outside the door, Angela, peeking through the gap, felt her knees go weak.

She collapsed to the ground, her hands clamped tightly over her mouth. The Pope, who had climbed to the top of the Martial Soul Hall over a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, who was decisive and left no survivors, was actually performing such an incredibly gentle act of comfort.

Angela felt the strings in her brain snap.

Physical contact achieved.

[Countdown started: 09:59]

Under Bibi Dong's stiff palm, Su Chen slowly raised his head.

His pale face was filled with panic, and a clear, faint redness rimmed his eyes. He looked at Bibi Dong, his voice timid and carrying a trace of extreme, uncertain tremor: "Your Eminence... this subordinate had a dream last night."

Bibi Dong's fingers remained frozen in his hair, not pulling back. She subconsciously softened her tone, asking in a low voice, "What dream?"

Su Chen lowered his gaze, his long eyelashes casting shadows on his cheekbones.

"I dreamed that Your Eminence... was cooking porridge for me." His voice grew lower, carrying a humble, self-deprecating tone, "The porridge didn't burn. It was delicious. This subordinate has survived for sixteen years... and has never been treated like that by anyone."

Never before had she been treated this way.

These thirteen words held no aggression, yet they shattered the deepest psychological defenses Bibi Dong possessed.

The years of her past flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern.

In the secret chamber, the look in Qian Xunji's eyes had always been one of calculation, a cold, clinical planning for the inheritance of the Angel lineage. In the pouring rain, there was the cowardly evasion of Yu Xiaogang after he learned the truth, and his resolute back as he walked away.

No one had ever genuinely protected her; no one had ever cherished her with tenderness.

Two people, both struggling in the pitch-black mire and abandoned by the world, experienced a deafening resonance of reflection in this moment. The cold, stern mask Bibi Dong had worn for forty years shattered completely.

The fingers she had rested atop Su Chen's head followed their most primal instinct, tightening unconsciously. Her fingertips brushed against his hair, revealing a genuine softness she had never shown before.

In Su Chen's mind, the light screen of the Eye of Omniscience was instantly flooded with data.

[Bibi Dong's current emotion: Resonance 100% / Heartache off the charts]

[Favorability rising sharply: 23→28→31!]

[Dependency index has broken through the critical threshold for the first time: 52%!]

The ten-minute countdown hit zero in the deathly silence.

[Ding! Soothing mission complete, rewards have been issued.]

But Bibi Dong did not pull her hand away immediately. She paused for a few more seconds before slowly retracting her arm and standing up.

She looked down at Su Chen from her height.

"The porridge in the future will not be burnt."

Her voice was slightly hoarse, carrying an obvious sense of unnaturalness and awkward stiffness. Having dropped this promise, Bibi Dong turned and left. Purple-black soul power lifted her body, and she vanished beyond the damaged door frame.

Outside the door, Angela and the sixteen Temple Knights stood frozen in shock. This conversation, which sounded like the mundane chatter of an ordinary married couple, completely shattered their worldview. Everyone retreated rapidly, sealing their hearing, not daring to stay for even a second longer.

All the footsteps faded into the distance.

The Library Pavilion was left with only the sound of the wind. Su Chen released his arms from around his knees and leaned back against the ruined wall. The timidity, flush, and terror on his face vanished in an instant. His pupils held nothing but absolute depth and clarity.

Just as he was preparing to review the emotional tug-of-war from tonight, the Eye of Omniscience in his mind suddenly erupted with a blinding golden light.

[Ding—Highest-level destiny warning!]

[Binder 002 is about to awaken.]

[Location locked: Imperial City of the Heaven Dou Empire.]