Chapter 341
Unless it involves their fundamental interests...
"How about the Church of the Savior Goddess? Have they made any moves lately?"
Xia'er turned to Lucy, inquiring.
"They're quite active in trying to get to the bottom of this, but they’re completely off track," Lucy shook her head and replied. "The Church of the Savior Goddess has already declined in Ansu City after the split, and they can't stir up much trouble. The situation in North Ansu has them overwhelmed."
It was probably for this reason that Lucy chose not to engage with the Church of the Savior Goddess and instead shared information with the Redemption Society. Who would have thought that the Redemption Society would actually go into hiding?
After all, they were playing the victim in this situation; the public wouldn’t harbor any resentment towards the Ansu Medical Association because of it, and might even feel sympathy.
The Church of the Savior Goddess, however, was different. As long as the famine in North Ansu remained unresolved, their influence would wane day by day.
Suddenly, Xia'er thought of something and asked, "Is Adele still carrying the samples?"
"That 'Plague Doctor'?"
Lucy slumped onto the sofa, saying, "Yes, she took everything with her. I offered to keep them safe, but she said she had made some progress in her research, so I let her take them."
"Good thing I didn’t have the samples with me; otherwise, I wouldn’t have escaped the previous searches."
Hearing this, Xia'er’s eyes lit up, and she asked, "What progress?"
"I’m not really sure. I don’t understand any of this," Lucy shook her head, exasperated. "If the entire Redemption Society couldn’t figure it out, her progress is probably limited, and she doesn’t have much time to research it either."
Limited progress isn’t necessarily a bad thing...
As long as she can bring that progress back to reality, Adele could continue her research based on it... A few more simulations, a few more pieces of progress brought back, and who knows, Adele might actually come up with something...
Xia'er’s perspective on the situation was completely different from Lucy’s. While Lucy was thinking in a linear fashion, Xia'er had to consider much more.
Time jumps were her unique advantage.
"And you? Did the organization bring you out? What’s the next step?"
Lucy propped her elbows on her thighs, looking up at Xia'er as she asked.
Xia'er briefly recounted her experiences in Windsor’s palace and shared some information she had extracted from Windsor.
"Damn... There’s not a single decent person in that royal family."
After hearing Xia'er’s investigation and encounters, Lucy frowned, unable to hold back a curse.
But soon, Lucy realized something and said, "Wait, you brainwashed a maid to kill Princess Windsor?"
"Yes."
Xia'er nodded.
"Sigh..."
Lucy scratched her head, feeling a bit frustrated. "She’s an extraordinary being, and she has royal seals and extraordinary items on her. She’s definitely not going to die... But if you kill her on the spot, you won’t get away either..."
"But now you’ve already angered the royal family. Princess Windsor won’t be able to protect you; the Royal Symphony will soon send the Queen’s Blade to hunt you down..."
Lucy tugged at her hair in distress, seemingly unable to think of any way to resolve this deadlock.
But Xia'er didn’t share that worry; she only needed to consider what could happen within the next 22 hours.
These difficulties were just a series of knots for Xia'er. As long as she found out how to untie the first knot, she could gradually unravel all the challenges.
The most important thing was information and intelligence.
"Is there no way to contact Aivina?"
Xia'er asked.
Aside from Tara, Aivina was now the best source of intelligence. She decided to find Aivina first before looking for Tara.
After all, she would be leaving this world in 22 hours, so there was no need to consider the aftermath.
"Aivina Russell... Miss Xia'er!"
Lucy suddenly looked up, her eyes wide.
"You’ve escaped now, and when Windsor reacts, either Princess Windsor or someone from the Queen’s Blade will definitely go looking for Miss Russell first—Miss Russell is trying every way to gather information about the Royal Symphony, and everyone knows that."
"You’ve run away, and aside from me, she’ll be the biggest suspect... Plus, she, like me, has no idea you were with Princess Windsor..."
Xia'er nodded slightly.
So the primary goal now was to find Aivina and get her to a safe place before asking about the situation.
Even in the simulation, Xia'er didn’t want Aivina to encounter any accidents.
Settle Aivina first, then go look for Tara...
Xia'er even suspected that Tara was secretly gathering forces to prepare for a "prison break," which seemed like something she would do.
Finally, she would reveal the truth to the higher-ups of the Church of the Savior Goddess, testing their reactions to see if there was any room for manipulation...
Soon, Xia'er had arranged a priority list for what she needed to do next.
Xia'er: "Is she at the Russell residence now?"
Lucy: "Yes."
Xia'er: "Let’s go find her."
Lucy: "Alright, what’s our team configuration?"
Xia'er: "Just the two of us."
Lucy: "?"
Lucy’s face showed a look of confusion as she stared at Xia'er, her eyes filled with doubt.
Did she go crazy, or did I mishear?
So many extraordinary beings at the Russell residence, and she just wants to go with the two of us?
One "Destined One" and one "Lawgiver," charging headfirst into the defenses of those "Crown Guards"?
Lucy stood up, wanting to say something, but she stepped on a wine bottle at her feet and lost her balance, tumbling forward. The sharp shards of the bottle she had broken earlier were scattered across the carpet.
There was no time to defend herself; a shard of glass shot straight toward Lucy’s eye.
"Whoa—!"
A heavy gasp escaped her lips as Lucy scrambled to her feet, raising her hand to touch her eye, but she felt no wound.
She was no longer standing by the sofa but back in the center of the original room.
And Xia'er’s figure remained at the door, calmly watching Lucy, the pink glow in her pupils flickering.
"Let’s go, Miss Lucy."
Xia'er said calmly.
"You are..."
Lucy steadied her racing heart. That moment had completely sobered her up, and she realized.
The person standing before her was not Xia'er at all, but someone from the organization.
It was the mysterious "Subverter" who had collaborated with her before...
A "Lawgiver" plus a "Destined One" wouldn’t work, but if you replaced the "Lawgiver" with a "Subverter"...
Everything becomes possible.
"Let’s go, let’s do this!"
Seeing the possibility of winning, Lucy gritted her teeth and said, "Give me one minute to get ready."
...
Ansu City, St. Lawrence District, No. 14 St. Lawrence Square, Russell Manor.
This is the most central area of Ansu City, where the powerful gather, and it is also the location of the royal residence, the Vitalis Palace. Russell Manor is only 0.8 kilometers from the palace, a five-minute walk to reach Vitalis Palace.
Today, however, Russell Manor welcomed an unexpected guest, and this guest faced no obstacles in their path.
Knock, knock, knock—
On the fourth floor of the main building, in a quiet room farthest from the stairs, the door was knocked a few times before being pushed open.
Inside the room, the elegantly poised Aivina was sitting at a small round table by the fireplace, with several distinguished noble ladies seated around her, seemingly engaged in conversation.
The sound of the door opening quickly captured everyone’s attention. Aivina glanced at the person standing at the door with an expressionless face before turning to the noble ladies in front of her and saying, "I apologize for interrupting you. Please inform me immediately if you hear any news."
The noble ladies quickly stood up and hurried toward the door. As they passed by the girl at the door, they turned slightly and bowed their heads, speaking with a hint of fear.
"Princess Windsor."
"Good afternoon, Princess Windsor."
"Your Highness..."
Windsor seemed uninterested in engaging with them; she merely acknowledged them a couple of times before stepping aside to let them pass.
Once the noble ladies left, she slammed the door shut with a loud "bang."
"I’m very sorry, Your Highness, for not knowing in advance about your visit. It’s a failure on my part to welcome you."
Aivina slowly stood up and gave a slight nod to Windsor.
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