Chapter 414
But that was unlikely.
The closer one got to death, the more frantic and radical the actions of the strong sound would become. Xia'er was not yet prepared to face a crazed Level 4.
No one could predict what a madman might do.
Fortunately, this simulation was not entirely fruitless.
She had uncovered the true mastermind behind the leak of Adele's thesis information—Mond. At least Adele could remain safe in reality.
Considering the indirect connections between Mond, Lafayette, and the strong sound, it was very likely that the leak, which allowed the strong sound to learn about the antidote 100 days after her first simulation, was also orchestrated by Mond.
Why would Mond leak this information? Was it simply to sabotage the research, ensuring that the resurrection ritual of Beiansu would not be disrupted?
If she wanted to protect the resurrection ritual, she could have easily reported this information anonymously to the strong sound or the Order of the God of Order. Xia'er and her companions would have been dealt with swiftly.
The only problem might lie in Mond's own resurrection ritual.
During this interrogation, Mond had revealed her intentions—she wanted to perfect her own resurrection ritual, using cholera to kill twenty to thirty thousand people in the Eastern District.
But during her first simulation, the simulated version of herself had been very attentive to the news, and there had been no mention of cholera at all.
She had failed, and the reason remained unclear.
It was possible that the strong sound or the Order of the God of Order had discovered and thwarted Mond's cholera plan in order to maintain stability.
Or perhaps cholera had just begun to spread when it was suppressed by the Redeemers...
“Xia'er, my lady.” Eleanor, noticing that Xia'er had been silent for a while, spoke up, seemingly eager to ask her something urgent.
“What is it?” Xia'er turned her gaze to Eleanor.
“Thank you so much for your help with the Goddess of Salvation Church... Without you, we wouldn’t have even known that the strong sound intended to wipe us out...” Eleanor paused briefly, glancing at Aivina beside her.
Sensing Eleanor's hesitation, Xia'er reassured her, “Don’t worry, just speak your mind. Aivina is one of my people...”
This title seemed to slightly irk Aivina, but her expression remained unchanged; she didn’t want to embarrass Xia'er in front of others.
“You know, this continent hasn’t seen a new ‘uniqueness’ manifest for a long time. The strong sound carries ‘uniqueness,’ just like your own ‘uniqueness’ seems to have a common origin...”
Eleanor looked at Xia'er and continued, “Is the ‘uniqueness’ you possess the one that manifested earlier...?”
“****.” Xia'er did not respond.
“You misunderstand; we have no intentions regarding ‘uniqueness,’” Eleanor noticed Xia'er’s wariness and said, “We seek your cooperation.”
“We have a common enemy—the strong sound.”
“If you and your organization help us fight against the strong sound and other groups that wish to destroy the Goddess of Salvation Church, we will do our utmost to assist you... If we manage to obtain that ‘uniqueness’ afterward, we will gladly hand it over.”
Listening to Eleanor's words, Xia'er shook her head with a smile.
“The Pleasure Society, the Order of the God of Order, the Royal Symphony... So many people are eyeing you,” Xia'er looked at Eleanor's faceless mask, “What gives you the confidence to seek my cooperation?”
“I won’t cooperate with you; the only enemy to confront is the strong sound.”
“Collaborating with you would only offend the other organizations as well.”
“What... conditions do you have to discuss cooperation with me?”
Xia'er watched Eleanor, waiting for her response.
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PS:
216 (overdue) - 1 (extra) = 215 (overdue)
I’ve given it my all; this time, I really have!
I’m exhausted!
Good night!!!!!!
Chapter 221: The Softest Form That Topples with a Push (4290 words)
This was a secret meeting, with heavy curtains drawn, illuminated solely by oil lamps and gas lights. Though the light was soft, it felt somewhat oppressive in this atmosphere.
“We will extend our utmost sincerity in cooperation. This is something we confirmed after jointly interrogating the consciousness of the strong sound. My conversation with you today represents not only the judgment hall but also the voices of most of the higher-ups within the Goddess of Salvation Church.”
Eleanor seemed eager to secure Xia'er’s assistance and continued, “If possible, I would like to invite you to the next council meeting.”
Xia'er remained silent, merely stifling a yawn and giving a slight nod.
However, her nod did not imply agreement; it rather seemed like she was on the verge of falling asleep.
Eleanor did not directly address Xia'er’s earlier question, and Xia'er chose the most effortless approach—silence.
Silence is a powerful negotiation tactic.
A well-timed silence can create pressure on the other party, compelling them to provide more information or make more favorable concessions.
Xia'er knew that even if the Goddess of Salvation Church did not bring it up, she herself had to deal with the Order of the God of Order, the Pharos Medical Society, and the Pleasure Society.
These organizations were not only targeting the Goddess of Salvation Church; their actions posed a threat to Xia'er as well.
But these matters were unknown to the Goddess of Salvation Church. Xia'er intended to leverage this information gap to create more advantageous conditions for herself in the negotiation.
The atmosphere fell into silence, and Aivina adapted well to this conversational setting, ringing a bell to summon a maid to bring in snacks and tea.
The arrival of an ordinary maid served as a brief intermission, preventing the entire negotiation atmosphere from cooling down completely and preserving goodwill.
The time spent serving tea and snacks also allowed the pressured party enough time to consider how to present new conditions.
After all, this was merely a cooperative negotiation, not a high-pressure adversarial one; there was no need to apply such intense pressure.
Additionally, Aivina genuinely felt that Xia'er was getting sleepy, and a warm cup of tea would help her perk up.
Once the maid had served the snacks and tea and left the parlor, Eleanor, who had been hesitating, finally looked up at Xia'er.
“My lady, there’s something I’d like to confirm,” Eleanor began.
But Xia'er did not respond, and Eleanor did not wait for her reply, directly stating:
“The strong sound’s ability can rewind time... Back at the abandoned factory, you mentioned that you knew how he would rewind time. The ‘uniqueness’ component of the strong sound cannot retain memories, but your ‘uniqueness’ can retain memories...”
Xia'er slightly raised her eyes to meet Eleanor’s gaze and said, “So what?”
At this moment, Xia'er could roughly understand what Eleanor was getting at.
Eleanor was from the Goddess of Salvation Church, situated within the judgment hall.
Compared to the Pope and other cardinals of the Goddess of Salvation Church, the judgment hall still held certain fundamentalist beliefs—after all, their path began with “the Avenger,” which was quite extreme.
This was specifically manifested in their continued primitive worship of the Saintly Dark Worm, believing that the judgment hall held a position in the Goddess of Salvation Church akin to that of the Dark Worm beside the goddess.
Currently, they were extremely devoted to the doctrines of the Goddess of Salvation Church, but the more extreme they were, the more likely they were to embrace classical doctrines, classic texts, and traditional beliefs.
That was why, in the previous simulation, Eleanor did not show much aversion to the Saintly Church, which emphasized a return to the Mother Goddess’s faith, and even sought to promote the fusion of the sects—because, like the Saintly Church, they had a strong sense of identity with their belief system.
This was a belief that their faith was the only correct one—Tala was a prime example of this; once she determined that Xia'er was the Mother Goddess, no matter what Xia'er did, she could interpret and rationalize Xia'er’s actions through different doctrines.
Eleanor, the judgment hall, or rather, most of those who still retained the belief in the goddess, would, upon learning that divine servants, saints, and even the goddess could still appear, directly align themselves with Xia'er’s camp, just as in the simulation.
This was the difference between them and the Order of the God of Order; the god of the Order was merely an abstract concept of order, while the god of the Goddess of Salvation Church was a “tangible existence.”
This distinction would manifest in their attitudes toward certain clergy—such as the Saintess.
It was based on this that Xia'er guessed what Eleanor wanted to ask her.
She wanted to save the Saintess.
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