Star Sand Accord

Katharine leaned back elegantly on the leather sofa, her fingers interlaced on her knees, and began to speak, "I think we should set up an ambush in the Dome Mountains— with so many second-generation gods having met with misfortune here, we won't have to worry about them not coming. We can wait in ambush and deliver another heavy blow to the Divine Covenant Faction!"

"It's really tempting. If we do this a few times, we can settle the accounts quickly!" A glint of excitement flashed in Zijin's eyes. She turned to look at Su Ming, her long, light brown hair tossing aside. "You don't agree with this?"

"Yes," Su Ming replied, "Retreating from here to develop the base should be the priority."

"Defeating the enemy removes obstacles and hidden dangers for development," Katharine stated, "And controlling the Temple of Light will be a huge boost to your future plans!"

"Control?" Su Ming shook his head. "An organization as large as the Temple of Light is not so easy to control."

"Yes, we can!" Katharine explained her plan. "As long as we can get rid of the Pope, we can win over neutral factions within the Church, such as the Ashen Repentance Friar, as well as some local factions and relatively marginal members of the Divine Covenant Faction. Then, with Star Sand as the leader, we can unite all parties to reorganize the Church." She calculated, "If all goes well, this process can be completed within six months!"

"That's not thorough enough!" Su Ming objected. "At best, it's a coup, followed by a coalition government—a new church established this way is just a change in name only, and it's prone to falling apart. It can't be a real asset to us!"

A compromise-oriented approach will only allow the old forces to remain entrenched and control all aspects of society. An incomplete revolution never yields a good outcome.

Any attempt to take shortcuts will ultimately come at a price far heavier than the war itself. Countless such cases are clearly recorded in history books.

Katharine frowned and said, "You mean...?"

"Crush the enemy with strength, shatter and rebuild, rise from the ashes," Su Ming said, enunciating each word clearly. "Otherwise, it's better not to do it at all!"

After a long silence, Katharine finally nodded slowly, "If that's possible, then that would be best!"

****

"Wait a moment," Zijin interrupted, her brow furrowed. "I don't understand, why can't we severely damage the church first? Is there some contradiction?"

Su Ming and Katharine exchanged a glance.

"Ailisha," Katharine gently set down her teacup, the porcelain clinking softly, "Imagine there's a pack of wolves in the room right now, one of which we've painstakingly wounded." She traced an arc in the air with her finger, "What would happen if we cut off its leg—"

"The wolves will swarm in and devour us!" Zijin finally understood. "We'll have worked for nothing, ending up with nothing but a mouthful of fluff." She grasped the core of their discussion. "Katharine's opinion is to quickly seize the gains through internal church reorganization."

"Yes." Katharine nodded, "But President Su doesn't approve of this approach. He chose to strengthen his own abilities, suppress the entire arena, and take a hard line!"

Zijin finished the remaining tea in her cup in one gulp, clapped her hands, and stood up. "I thought you were discussing how to deal with the Church—" she looked around at the two of them, "But it turns out you were discussing how to swallow the spoils of war?"

"Not entirely," Su Ming said. "From a decision-making perspective, sacrificing strategic development for the tactical benefit of an ambush would be a losing proposition."

"Stop!" Zijin raised her hand in a gesture of cessation. "So these issues are for you two old foxes to discuss yourselves. I don't have the ability to be your referee." She turned and walked towards the door, clearly displeased. "The purification array set up in the teaching building is very advanced; I need to hurry and dismantle one of them—"

"Wait!" Su Ming grabbed her hand and pulled her back. The girl's palm was slightly cool. "I've come to you to resolve a crucial issue: Who exactly owns Star Sand?"

Zijin looked at Katharine suspiciously, but the latter simply shrugged gracefully. After a moment's thought, she realized that this issue did indeed need clarification, so she had no choice but to sit down again, following Su Ming's lead.

Noticing Katharine's gaze, Zijin withdrew her hand.

"I am the true Pale New Words," she said to Su Ming.

"But so does Katharine," Su Ming pointed out. "For the past twenty-seven years, you've served as the tower spirit of the White Bone Fortress; this information will inevitably spread sooner or later. Then everyone will know that the active force behind the Pale New Words is someone else entirely."

This was indeed a problem. Zijin unconsciously twirled the stray hairs on her forehead with her fingers, the strands of hair entwining between her slender fingers.

"Moreover, the actual control of Star Sand is in Katharine's hands," Su Ming continued to analyze. "Once she uses us to deal with the Divine Covenant Faction, she only needs to reveal this trump card and declare to the world that she is the true Saintess, thus rightfully and completely taking control of Star Sand and the Temple of Light."

"That's right." Zijin nodded in agreement.

"--Can't you be a little more tactful when you say these things to my face?" Katharine gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Ailisha, you don't have the energy to manage church affairs, do you?"

"But I won't allow us to work so hard against the church only to have it all go to your benefit in the end," Zijin said bluntly.

"We can divide the spoils clearly." Katharine sat up. "I have two goals I must achieve." She gazed at the two men, a resolute glint in her eyes. "First, revenge against the Pope; second, to protect Star Sand's followers." Her voice suddenly lowered. "But I can't do either. My talent is limited; at the earliest, I won't be able to break through to Saint Rank One for several decades, if I'm lucky enough."

"Even so, she's already surpassed 99.99% of the combatants in this world," Su Ming retorted, mocking her Versailles.

"But distant water can't quench an immediate fire. Without your help, I'll soon be crushed to pieces by the Divine Covenant Faction!"

Katharine looked up as sunlight streamed in through the window. Countless dust particles danced in the path of light.

"As for Star Sand, they are too inexperienced. If things continue as they are, this group will definitely be purged by the Divine Covenant Faction and suffer the same fate as the necromancers."

Although Katharine sowed the seeds of hope, she was powerless to stop the reshuffling of emerging forces in this power transition, paying a bloody price.

"So," Su Ming asked, "In what form should we establish deep mutual trust?"

As for the Cold Mountain Kingdom, represented by Dafulin, we should proceed with normal diplomatic logic. The moment they participated in the attack for the mining in the Dome Mountains and the North-South Tunnel, it was decided that the alliance between the two sides would be solid until the Temple of Light was dealt with.

But Star Sand is different; their group is already intertwined. In particular, in the future, they will not only need to fight against the powerful Temple of Light, but also navigate among the various surrounding forces.

Only by establishing close internal relationships can they ensure the achievement of their respective goals in this competition.

Unfortunately, both Su Ming and Katharine are calculating types; they're like hedgehogs, instinctively wary of each other.

****

Katharine's gaze inadvertently drifted to the window, and suddenly a sly smile appeared on her lips. She deliberately raised her voice, "Mr. Su, how about we arrange a marriage? My daughter Yise, is about the same age."

Before the words were finished, a loud "bang" rang out, and a large sword burst through the window, its blade whistling past the coffee table before embedding itself deeply into the wall with a "clang." Glass shards scattered like raindrops, and a biting mountain wind instantly rushed into the warm office.

The three of them had already swiftly caught the tea set on the coffee table, leaving the teacups and teapot unharmed. Katharine calmly turned her head and, sure enough, saw her daughter Yise hovering outside the window, her pretty face filled with exasperation.

When she met the mischievous smile in her mother's eyes, Yise immediately realized she had been tricked. She gave a heavy "humph" and glared angrily at Katharine.

The moment she saw Su Ming, the girl's cheeks flushed crimson. Without a word, she turned and flew away, her skirt tracing a graceful arc in the wind.

"Smack!"

The bone china teacup in Katharine's hand shattered with a crack, scalding tea dripping from her slender fingers onto the floor. Su Ming watched in bewilderment as she continued to grind the shards of the teacup—what deep-seated grudge did she hold against this tea set?

"So, what is your formal proposal?" Su Ming steered the conversation back on track, casually picking up a linen towel from the coffee table and handing it over.

Katharine tossed the crumpled porcelain shards into the trash can, wiped her hands with a cloth, took a deep breath to calm herself, and said, "Let's have a fight!"

"With me?" Zijin's eyebrows twitched, her tone clearly showing surprise. "You're being so proactive?"

"No, with Su Ming." Katharine stared at Su Ming, her eyes filled with hostility, "A one-on-one duel!"

"Wait a minute, this is bullying!" Su Ming immediately protested.

Katharine is a rank higher than her, and yesterday he witnessed Katharine's performance on the battlefield—that unpredictable tactical style made him prefer to fight two Fate Manipulator rather than fight her.

Katharine ignored his protests and turned to Zijin, "I can formally honor you as the Saintess of Star Sand, establish you as the organization's supreme leader, and lead all Star Sand members in swearing allegiance to you." She paused, then added, "Regardless of the outcome of the battle against Su Ming."

"No." Zijin sat up straight, her light brown hair swaying in the breeze streaming through the window. "The ones in front are fine, but Su Ming is not—he can only be beaten by me!"

"Hey, this won't work either!" Su Ming muttered, his face full of helplessness.

"Trying out different opponents won't hurt Su Ming," Katharine insisted.

"It just won't work!" Zijin's voice rose as well.

Zijin and Katharine locked eyes, and an invisible spark seemed to fly between them. Finally, Katharine sighed softly, "Alright, I'll change my request—"