Chapter 182-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

Wen Jian committed suicide, Riley was killed. Only two people remained standing on the scene. Ye Zheng controlled the [Stream] to climb up the pulsating, expanding flesh. She tilted her head and looked at Percy, her tone light but forceful: "Percy, die, or leave here immediately."

Unfortunately, Percy had the plot armor protecting him; she couldn't kill him immediately right now.

Percy covered his throat, heart palpitating with lingering fear. He glanced at Riley, who died with eyes wide open, and Wen Jian, who had died in a grotesque manner. He deeply understood that the scales of victory had already tipped toward Ye Zheng.

The fact that Ye Zheng didn't go in for the kill was a mercy, Percy thought.

He stared at Ye Zheng and stepped back.

He had only fought her head-on once. The gap in their strength wasn't huge, and his strength had increased after training during this period. Logically speaking, Ye Zheng couldn't kill him easily. If he wanted to fight for the [Mother of All Things], it wasn't necessarily a hopeless cause.

But a strong premonition in Percy's heart told him that since Ye Zheng had only given him two choices, she wouldn't allow a third to exist.

"I'm leaving right now. Don't worry, I won't say a word about this."

He jumped off the altar. The flesh on the altar suddenly expanded dramatically, almost occupying most of the platform. Percy looked up and suddenly felt a sense of awe akin to facing a primitive unknown. He saw the pulsating veins under the blood mass, extending and spreading as if alive, grotesque yet compellingly mesmerizing.

The sounds of fighting came from above. Percy quickly snapped back to reality. Just as he was about to briskly leave this altar, a faint, crisp sound attracted his attention.

Percy turned his head and looked toward a certain corner below the high platform, his eyes widening in surprise—

Perhaps squeezed off the altar by the expanding blood mass, the transparent vessel containing the [Blood of the God] was quietly sitting in a corner below the platform.

On the altar.

Ye Zheng pressed her hands on the blood mass, which had become taller than her. Water currents circled the restless blood mass along her fingertips, trying to calm it down.

Wen Jian had said that the [Mother of All Things] would respond to the true successor, devour her, and then give birth to her.

If she guessed correctly, Wen Jian committed suicide to become the consciousness of the [Mother of All Things]. Even if she was the only candidate left, he would absolutely not let the [Mother of All Things] choose her.

Now the blood mass representing the [Mother of All Things] was growing continuously, showing no sign of "devouring."

Ye Zheng kept an eye on the movement outside the altar and quickly glanced at her watch. It was four o'clock. Only one hour remained until the time to announce the new Pope. She had to obtain the [Mother of All Things] within this hour.

Her eyes darkened. The water flowed back to her palms and fingertips, covering her hands with a film of water. Suddenly, her fingers pressing on the blood mass dug inward fiercely, and the blood mass actually tore open!

"Sorry."

There was no other way. For now, she could only use such a crude method to let the [Mother of All Things] devour herself.

Ye Zheng's arms trembled slightly. Huge pressure came from both sides of the small opening she tore. The flesh struggled in the gaps between her fingers, wanting to heal. Through the torn wound, Ye Zheng saw only pitch blackness.

She was a bit disappointed, but the strength in her arms continued to increase. Under her white long sleeves, the curve of bulging muscles could be vaguely seen, and the crack in the blood mass deepened little by little.

Seeing that her strength was gradually draining and the crack was only the size of a head, Ye Zheng glanced at the sword at her side. Just as she was about to draw the gold sword, her body, with strength concentrated in her arms, suddenly lost balance and fell forward.

Her black eyes widened abruptly. Ye Zheng fell into the pitch-black space.

The moment she entered the interior of the blood mass, she heard Wen Jian's shrill sneer.

Wen Jian hadn't imagined he would enter such a peculiar state after death.

His soul was in a void white wilderness. Looking down, he saw the world where he lived before death.

As long as he thought of it, he could see anything happening anywhere in that world. For example, right now, Ye Zheng was trying to enter the interior of the [Mother of All Things].

It was his oversight. He hadn't expected Ye Zheng to make a prompt decision to kill Riley the moment he went to his death. If Ye Zheng had been a step slower, he could have controlled the [Mother of All Things] to save Riley and let Riley become the true successor!

Wen Jian sneered, staring fixedly at Ye Zheng from above.

...It didn't matter. He had a new idea now.

The biggest purpose of choosing Riley was for revenge. He was young and trusted him; he could easily manipulate Riley through the [Mother of All Things], and then join forces with the Colonna family to drive Ye Zheng completely into the mud, never to recover.

However, if his object of manipulation became Ye Zheng, and he manipulated Ye Zheng to send herself to a dead end step by step, watching helplessly as she lost everything—wouldn't that be even more interesting?

Thinking of this, Wen Jian laughed loudly. The maniacal laughter echoed in the white wilderness and reverberated in the pitch-black space.

Ye Zheng stayed in the pitch-black space where she couldn't see her fingers. She supported herself against the warm wall of flesh with one hand and covered her ear with the other.

"Wen Jian, are all dead people as noisy as you?"

The voice, carrying a hint of malicious confusion, successfully paused Wen Jian's laughter. The pitch-black space was silent for a moment, then the inner walls of flesh squeezed inward crazily!

Pressure from all directions surged like a tide. The slimy, wriggling flesh stuck to Ye Zheng's cheek. She turned her head subconsciously, only to find it unavoidable. She had the illusion that she was about to merge into one with this flesh immediately.

"I will devour and give birth to you! Ye Zheng, as you wish, you will become the Pope, and your life will welcome a subversive rebirth!"

Wen Jian's laughing voice echoed in her ears like maggots in bones.

The devouring by the [Mother of All Things] was a necessary condition for inheritance, but the [Mother of All Things] dominated by Wen Jian was not what she wanted!

Ye Zheng struggled to touch her sword amidst the squeezing and wriggling flesh. The scabbard moved, and golden light suddenly appeared in the darkness.

If she broke open this mass of crazy flesh, Ye Zheng wasn't sure what would happen. Perhaps she would lose the [Mother of All Things] forever, lose this chip leading to the Pope's crown. But regret was a matter for later; she couldn't tolerate Wen Jian's noise right now.

"Too noisy."

Suddenly, a distant voice cut off Wen Jian's laughter.

Hearing this voice, Ye Zheng's hand gripping the sword hilt paused abruptly, a look of astonishment flashing across her face.

"Too noisy. Who are you? Why are you here?"

In the pitch-black space where a pin drop could be heard, Ye Zheng listened with concentration to the movement that seemed to come from the other end of the world.

Wen Jian's urgent voice soon rang out, "Who, who are you? Which Pope are you? The eighteenth? The nineteenth?"

"...Which one are you?" that voice asked.

"I am the twenty-first Pope of the Empire, Wen Jian. Who exactly are you?"

Wen Jian strained his voice, carrying an imperceptible fear.

"Pope, Marcy."

The voice, as empty as antiquity, fell, accompanied by a drifting sigh.

After a burst of deadly silence, Ye Zheng heard Wen Jian's gasp of disbelief.

"No, impossible. How could a consciousness from five hundred years ago—" Wen Jian had lost his voice.

Incredulity flashed in the depths of Ye Zheng's eyes. She had also guessed the owner of this voice. Only one person was worthy of the title of Pope without a prefix—

The first Pope of the Empire, the founder of the Curia, the true master of the [Mother of All Things]!

In the long history, she had lost her name and her clear biography. The successors who received the inheritance didn't even know her true gender.

Today, Ye Zheng finally knew the name of the first Pope: Marcy. It was a name symbolizing benevolence and kindness.

"Marcy." Ye Zheng couldn't help whispering.

Seemingly hearing someone call this name after a long time, that voice let out another soft sigh, distant as an echo from antiquity, yet close as a breath blowing by her ear. Ye Zheng's ear tip trembled.

Unknowingly, the flesh wrapping around her no longer expanded or wriggled. It silently clustered around her like a bay of calm and warm water.

It was hard for Ye Zheng to describe the feeling at this moment. It was like nestling in a cotton quilt in winter, or like being held in her mother's arms when she was young. It made her body relax in such a tense and critical moment, and even her mind returned to tranquility.

But this warmth and tranquility were soon broken. Wen Jian's almost voiceless howling resounded through the entire space. Ye Zheng looked up vigilantly, seeing nothing but pitch blackness.

Wen Jian's heart-wrenching screams continued, shocking to hear. It was hard to imagine what terrible things were happening to him.

"Pope Marcy?"

In the darkness, Ye Zheng called out uncertainly.

Suddenly, the flesh Ye Zheng touched became softer. The place where her head rested, where her body lay, where her fingers touched—everywhere became warm and soft, so comfortable that it simply made one's body and mind produce an irresistible drowsiness.

Ye Zheng could hardly imagine that amidst Wen Jian's continuous howling, in a dangerous and unknown space, she had the impulse to close her eyes and have a good sleep.

"Sleep. When you wake up, the [Mother of All Things] will be yours."

"No, please forgive my rudeness, but I want to know what exactly happened?"

Ye Zheng forced her eyelids open, resisting the surging sleepiness.

Why was Pope Marcy deliberately blurred in the history books? Why did her consciousness suddenly awaken in the [Mother of All Things]? What was her true purpose in passing down the [Mother of All Things]?

Her fingernails dug ruthlessly into her palms. Ye Zheng forced herself to stay awake with pain, but the flesh of the [Mother of All Things] seemed to have a consciousness, squeezing into her palms and prying open her fists.

"Inheriting the [Mother of All Things] is only one link of the inheritance, not the purpose of the inheritance ritual."

"The moment you are crowned Pope under the gaze of thousands, the inheritance ritual will be consummated."

"You will inherit my abilities, my memories, my pain, my duties... So, sleep first, Ye Zheng."

As Marcy's words fell, Ye Zheng could support herself no longer. She closed her eyes and fell into a dreamscape amidst the cluster of warm flesh, all noise fading away from her ears.

When Ye Zheng propped her eyes open, she didn't know how much time had passed. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the blue sky and white clouds. The late afternoon sunlight sprinkled on her body with little warmth left.

She immediately raised her right wrist and glanced at her watch. It was nearly five o'clock!

Ye Zheng stood up abruptly, recalling what happened before she fell asleep. She looked around and found that the huge mass of flesh had disappeared, leaving only a mess on the altar.

The utensils on the stone table had almost all been squeezed off. Red wine and bread were scattered on the ground, and the corpses of Riley and Wen Jian lay on the dirty floor.

Ye Zheng glanced at Wen Jian's corpse. That benevolent yet majestic voice still seemed to ring in her ears. She guessed that Wen Jian's consciousness had probably been utterly obliterated by now.

She walked to Wen Jian's corpse and fished out a key from it.

The Holy Key of the Curia. It symbolized the Pope's administrative power and the power of absolution over the Curia. It could open certain top-secret spaces within the Curia and was the symbol of the Pope's authority.

Remembering something, Ye Zheng suddenly flipped her hand, staring at her palm. With a thought, the [Stream] swam in her palm like an obedient little snake, but aside from that, she didn't feel any other power.

"The ceremony can only be complete after being crowned Pope..."

Ye Zheng slowly clenched her fist. Time was almost up; she had to go out and announce the candidate for the true new Pope.

She walked down the steps and was about to leave when her body suddenly paused. She turned and returned to the altar.

The [Blood of the God]—she hadn't seen the [Blood of the God] just now!

Ye Zheng searched the altar carefully and walked around it a few times, but she didn't find the vessel containing the [Blood of the God].

Although she didn't know the specific function of the [Blood of the God], it was undoubtedly a very important existence, closely linked to the God of Hope, the [Mother of All Things], and Pope Marcy.

She clearly remembered that after Wen Jian finished the summoning ritual, he had put the [Blood of the God] back into the vessel and placed it on the table.

The [Blood of the God] had vanished. It was either swallowed by that lump of flesh or taken away.

Ye Zheng rubbed her forehead. Remembering the wondrous reaction between the [Blood of the God] and Percy, she had the answer in her heart.

She had leniently let him leave, yet he had created such unexpected trouble?

Perhaps it wasn't unexpected. Percy was the protagonist of the manga, after all; he wouldn't leave so smoothly without taking something. The [Blood of the God] was very likely an important item given to him by the plot, destined to fall into his hands.

She sighed. No matter what, she should go out first.

Ye Zheng walked down from the altar, crossed the colonnade, and tidied her appearance before pushing the door open. She smoothed the wrinkles on her clothes, and only then pushed open the main gate.

The heavy stone door made a muffled sound of being overburdened. A mass of people was waiting outside.

Fourteen Archbishops stood at the very front, led by Old Colonna. He leaned on a cane, his wrinkled eyes widening the moment the door opened. Seeing clearly the person standing behind the door, his eyes widened even more, his eyeballs almost falling out of their sockets.

Seeing Ye Zheng walking slowly out of the altar, many people gasped, already knowing the result of this battle for the Pope.

It was unexpected, but thinking carefully, it wasn't impossible.

But Old Colonna still refused to give up. He pressed, "Where is Wen Jian? Where is Riley? Saintess Ye Zheng, why are you here!"

Ye Zheng didn't answer him. She just laughed once, her gaze sweeping over everyone present: the Archbishops, high-ranking clergy, representatives of major families, Curia knights...

"Everyone gathered here today to witness the birth of the Empire's twenty-second Pope."

Ye Zheng extended her hand, revealing a unique key that glittered with dazzling golden light under the setting sun.

"As you can see, I, Ye Zheng, am the next Pope."

"No, Saintess Ye Zheng, please step aside and let us see what happened inside!"

As Old Colonna spoke, he tried to lead people to charge into the altar. Ye Zheng pressed down on the little old man's shoulder, her voice so light that only the two of them could hear.

"I have already inherited the [Mother of All Things]."

These words shattered Old Colonna's last shred of hope.

After speaking, Ye Zheng patted the old man's shoulder, which was stiff as a skeleton, walked past him, and stepped in front of the crowd.

"When Pope Wen Jian entrusted the position of Pope to me under the witness of the God of Hope, someone broke into the altar and murdered Pope Wen Jian and his assistant Riley."

The crowd exclaimed, their expressions changing as many exchanged glances with those around them, harboring different thoughts.

"I failed to capture him on the spot. It is truly very regrettable and apologetic."

Ye Zheng sighed, then her voice turned stern, "Where is the Holy Journey Knights Order?"

Soon, a knight wearing a crisp uniform and medals knelt in fear and trepidation before the future Pope.

"I am the Vice Commander. Please give your orders, my Lord."

Ye Zheng idly played with the Holy Key symbolizing the Pope's power, silent for a moment. Percy had taken the [Blood of the God], but she didn't want to reveal a single detail about the inheritance ritual. She could only find some other crime for him to retrieve him and the [Blood of the God].

The inheritance ritual was not yet over. Even if the [Blood of the God] was an important item given to Percy by the plot, she had to get it.

Ye Zheng raised her hand, her eyes cold and sunken.

"Issue a warrant for Percy."

After speaking, she walked forward. The crowd automatically parted a way for her. Many of these people were dignitaries who attracted much attention even in the celebrity-filled Upper District, but at this moment, they watched her leave in silence.

Looking at the burning sunset in the sky, everyone present had a strong premonition that the Empire would soon welcome a colossal change.

Author's Note: Tomorrow is the coronation!

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