Chapter 165-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

The gate of the Forbidden Area closed, shutting the brat-like crying and noise into the deepest depths. The passengers speeding past in trains above would never know what happened underneath; today was just another ordinary day.

The two followed the route they came from and returned the keys to the office. Only after the two walked out of the Empire Central Station did the man dozing in the office suddenly wake up with a start. Checking the time, it was already noon; he had slept through the whole morning?

But the man didn't think much of it. This job was leisurely and the perks were generous. Since taking office, he had often napped in the office.

After all, what problems could arise at the Empire Central Station that required him to handle personally? Everything operated according to established rules. At most, passengers had small conflicts. If something major really happened, it probably wasn't something a small character like him could come forward to solve.

"Ye Zheng, I heard your conversation with Wen Xiaoxing about [Mother of All Things]."

Bai Muqing pondered for a good while on the road. The glasses she wore for disguise slid slightly down her nose bridge. She decided to be honest.

A trace of worry lingered between her pale brows and eyes as she turned her head toward Ye Zheng.

The action of turning her head was meaningless to Bai Muqing; she could see all activities around her with her ability. She just wanted to express an attitude of seriousness, hoping Ye Zheng could listen to her words earnestly.

"That ability sounds very dangerous. Its existence will only induce infinite greed. Once others know this secret, you will have a lot of trouble."

The existence of this ability was like a kind of original sin. Who wouldn't want to obtain creativity that could be passed down for generations and was comparable to gods? If the holder of this off-the-charts ability weren't the Pope, perhaps it would have been plundered by other great families long ago.

What worried Bai Muqing even more was that humans had limits. No matter how powerful an ability was, it would perish with the human body. But the appearance of [Mother of All Things] broke this default rule. It wasn't an ability controlled by humans at all; it was simply some kind of monster parasitic on humans.

"I understand your worry." Ye Zheng chose her words carefully. She also turned her head to gaze at Bai Muqing's face seriously. "But I can't give it up."

Ye Zheng knew Bai Muqing's worry. The existence of [Mother of All Things] was like an unknown Pandora's box. If such an ability didn't exist in the world, those children in the orphanage might not have died from research, the Hope Project might not have been born, and thousands of women wouldn't have died in such a cruel plan.

However, under the bloody maw of greed, even the whitest paper would be stained with foul saliva.

Before Wen Jian held [Mother of All Things], when he was just an ordinary priest in the lower district, for his own future, he sent hundreds of commoners to their deaths, killing more people than any powerful ability user known as a murderer in the history of the Empire!

Admittedly, Bai Muqing's worry was not unreasonable, but destroying Wen Jian and the ability Wen Jian held had never been Ye Zheng's ultimate goal.

"Ye Zheng, you are already very strong. If you need my help in the future, we can be together like today."

"Muqing, I want to obtain it not just to pursue stronger ability power. [Mother of All Things] has great significance in the Curia, to me, and to some people you don't know... this ability is very important to them."

Bai Muqing looked puzzled.

Ye Zheng smiled helplessly and said frankly, "I want to sit in that position."

She wanted to use this ability to force the Curia to make room for her.

"You are already the most admired Saintess in the Empire. Even Pope Wen Jian pales in comparison to your virtue and glory."

"But virtue and praise are just my means, means to reach a higher place. When necessary, I will abandon them."

Ye Zheng's tone was indifferent, but Bai Muqing sensed a cold ruthlessness from her.

This ruthlessness wasn't directed at others, but at Ye Zheng herself. The noon sun was clearly very intense, yet Bai Muqing felt a fleeting chill deep in her body at this moment.

Ye Zheng had analyzed her situation countless times. She was now the Saintess recognized by the gods and the people, transforming from a vase at the mercy of others to a treasure enshrined on a golden seat.

But to the Curia and the Royal Family, she was still just an object, a restless object that had become more aggressive.

Ye Zheng didn't like the precious metal crown inlaid with red and green gems; it was vulgar and blinding. But she needed the power it brought. With power, an object could become a real person—

Only then could she appoint and remove bishops and clergy at all levels, control the organization and operation of the church, hold the right to interpret doctrines in her left hand, and master the power of sanction brought by faith in her right. Even if Sykes was to inherit this country in the future, he would have to lower his arrogant head in front of her and be endowed with sacred legitimacy by her!

Only when she reached the high place would her subordinates, her knights, have higher room for advancement!

Her heart burned again. Ye Zheng calmed her slightly chaotic breathing rhythm. Soon, she resumed her gentle expression, showing no abnormality.

Unknowingly, the two, each with their own thoughts, strolled to an unmanned plaza. There were few people coming and going at noon on a workday; only birds were hopping on the ground in the wide plaza.

Bai Muqing, who had been silent for a long time, gazed at the void ahead. She spoke again:

"Must it be through that method?"

"I heard from your conversation that inheriting it affects lifespan. The price is a bit high."

"I am already standing in the eye of the storm. I must use the fastest way to reach the goal."

Ye Zheng thought she could use her identity as a Godsent to accumulate political resources for herself. Now the Ye family was also in a high position and had certain influence on the Empire's politics and economy. She could use this good hand to manage and plan slowly, using political means to sit in a high position.

But now she and this world were standing in the center of the storm together. There was no time to plan slowly.

"Thank you for today, Muqing. I promise I will make Wen Jian get the punishment he deserves."

"I won't let the things at that orphanage happen again."

Ye Zheng walked in front of her and turned to face her, saying words of farewell. Her footsteps startled a foraging white dove, which flapped its wings and flew over their heads.

Bai Muqing wore unfamiliar glasses. She was suddenly curious if her white pupils, which differed from ordinary people, would also betray her inner emotions. Fortunately, she was wearing glasses, so she actually didn't need to worry about this.

"Mn, I believe you will get what you wish for."

In any case, this was the first time she had gone out with a friend for an activity similar to a date. It was a day worth remembering.

Bai Muqing suppressed the complex emotions in her heart and felt joy from the bottom of her heart.

After the two bid farewell, they returned to their respective life rhythms. Bai Muqing wandered through the tasks of the Knight Order. She found that this knight identity could not only do some useful tasks but also allowed her to access a lot of news if she paid attention.

After a mission in the lower district, Bai Muqing ran into people demonstrating on the street. They accused Ye Fanjing, the Presiding Judge of the Ability Court, of taking bribes and allowing the managers of Amber Lake to deduct workers' severance pay, causing a tragedy of dozens of deaths.

There were also people with fierce words who mentioned the Saintess. Although they were quickly driven away by magistrates, the impact caused was indelible.

Wu Shu was clearly the champion of the competition, but now the Empire's attention was mostly focused on the accident of the competition. In fact, factories built in Demonic Domains were very prone to accidents, but no previous incident had been louder than this one, perhaps because it involved the most watched person in the Empire—Saintess Ye Zheng.

Because of this tragedy, the Emperor ordered the award ceremony of the Ability Competition to be postponed. At the same time, he publicly praised Percy, who stepped forward during the accident, in public. Both Percy and the Royal Family's prestige had improved.

Bai Muqing paid attention to the attitude of the people in the lower district toward Ye Zheng and breathed a sigh of relief. At least everyone hadn't burned their anger onto the Saintess yet.

Someone was obviously fueling the flames behind this incident, wanting to use this to damage Ye Zheng's reputation. It was estimated that they would increase the intensity of fanning the flames later. This kind of insidious trick made Bai Muqing frown.

She suddenly understood why Ye Zheng pursued that position. Some things couldn't be solved by punching the opponent.

Once, Bai Muqing disliked violence and was afraid of hurting people, carefully holding [Divine Domain] to help old nuns find cats. Now she still used [Divine Domain] to find cats, but she had also learned to hit people; the day before yesterday, she had just taught a colleague with unclean hands and feet a lesson.

Did she fall in love with violence? Bai Muqing thought about it seriously. She felt she just realized the broader uses of [Divine Domain].

She had no pursuit of power. Was it because she had few desires? It seemed it was just because she was born into a noble family, and privilege was as natural as breathing; she didn't need to chase more.

But now, she really wanted to go to a higher place. Maybe she could see the same scenery as Ye Zheng.

"I was wondering why this matter became so big. It turns out that old fox, the Pope, is calculating behind the scenes!"

In the study, Ye Fanjing slammed the table in exasperation. He wasn't the direct person in charge of the Amber Lake factory; at most, he didn't do a good job of supervision and an accident occurred. Yet the spearhead of the incident was aimed at him. It looked like a conspiracy no matter how you looked at it.

He investigated and found that from that monster to the fermentation of this matter, the Curia had a hand in it!

He glanced imperceptibly at his daughter, who had her head lowered. Resentment inevitably rose in his heart. The Pope had no reason to target him; Wen Jian's target was obviously Ye Zheng, this Saintess whose brilliance was too excessive.

Ye Zheng, standing opposite, captured Ye Fanjing's resentful emotion. She thought with some amusement: Ye Fanjing could reach this position entirely relying on her, his Saintess daughter. He only wanted to enjoy the benefits but didn't want to bear the risks. How could there be such a good thing in the world?

"I hinted to you that if you apologized early, accepted the punishment, and resigned to apologize for the offense, you wouldn't have given them an opportunity."

"Accept punishment? I worked so hard to get to where I am today; no one can pull me down!"

Ye Fanjing's tone was agitated. He had already realized his mistake, but he didn't want Ye Zheng to bring it up repeatedly. Since things had come to this, pursuing his mistakes was fundamentally useless work.

"If this matter continues to blow up, you will lose this position sooner or later."

Ye Fanjing opened his mouth to refute something, but Ye Zheng's calm words blocked him. "The Pope feels my existence threatens his position. Look at his neat actions, and then look at yours. This is the reason why he can be the Pope."

"He only needs to give a light push, and your hard-earned position will be tottering. Even if you survive this matter safely, who will look up to you, this Presiding Judge, in the future?"

Ye Zheng dropped this sentence and turned to leave, leaving the pale-faced Ye Fanjing space to think.

She unhurriedly opened her own study with a key, bent down, and took out a thick stack of documents from the bookcase. The top four were some gray records of Wen Jian, and the bottom five were illegal transactions of Ye Fanjing when he was a judge in the upper district.

Let the two dogs bite each other.

Two days later.

Inside the Curia, Wen Jian tore the documents handed up by his subordinates into shreds and threw them upward angrily. White scraps stuck to his hair, making him look even more haggard and old.

That accident in the competition wasn't his doing at all! After the accident happened, he didn't even send anyone to add fuel to the fire because his energy was all used on finding that idiot Wen Xiaoxing!

Now even his subordinates were hinting and asking him how to use this matter to deal with Ye Zheng. Wen Jian came back to his senses a bit; this matter wasn't right.

The last time with the Judgment Court and this time with Wen Xiaoxing made him wake up. He couldn't be anxious to act when dealing with Ye Zheng. She was too cunning; making a move would only give her a chance to climb up.

"Your Holiness, but Ye Fanjing is already colluding with Bishop Joseph, wanting to expose a bit of your past. This..."

Wen Jian almost sneered aloud. The veins on his hand gripping the table bulged. Aging had already made him physically and mentally exhausted, and now with so many things pressing on him, he had never been so manic.

He concentrated and pondered for a good while, then gritted his teeth and said, "Then pull Ye Fanjing, this guy who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, down completely."

Ye Zheng was too confident and impatient, actually pushing her own father out voluntarily to deal with him. Good, good, good. He couldn't do anything to her for the time being, but what was Ye Fanjing?

Let's use her father's crushing defeat as a return gift for Ye Zheng, Wen Jian thought with a sinister face.

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