Chapter 427
Since she learned the true nature of Windsor from Xia Er, she no longer trusted this childhood companion, just as she had said earlier—people do change.
“There’s still a chance to make amends,” Windsor said after a moment’s thought. “Tomorrow, I can host another luncheon at the palace. I’d love for Aivina to come and show her support.”
At this, Aivina instinctively glanced in Xia Er’s direction. Seeing that he had no reaction, she turned back to Windsor and replied, “Sure, I’ll come by.”
Xia Er’s silence meant that there would be no trouble.
“It’s getting late; I should be on my way. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow,” Windsor said, her gaze lingering on Xia Er for a moment before she continued, “You’re always welcome to join us, lovely ladies.”
With that, Windsor smiled, turned, and left with her attendants.
The banquet was winding down, with even the musicians having departed.
Especially after Princess Windsor left, others began to take their leave as well. Within twenty minutes, the once lively banquet hall was left with only familiar faces.
The members of the Holy Order were arranged by Xia Er to enter Aivina’s residence, where they met Cardinal Percy in the reception room on the first floor.
Meanwhile, Aivina led Xia Er, Lucy, and the remaining guests to the study on the second floor.
Once the study door was closed, Aivina sank into the sofa, leaning back and abandoning her usual ladylike posture, as if utterly exhausted.
“Tomorrow’s going to be a shake-up...” Lucy sighed from her seat beside her. “I wonder what Qiangyin is up to.”
“What are you still doing here?” Xia Er looked at Lucy, exasperated.
“Cough, cough...” Lucy straightened up immediately, saying, “I was just thinking about how this might affect us... If there’s a plan, I’d like to help out.”
Lucy wasn’t lying; she knew that significant changes were coming and was just considering how her new identity could contribute.
As the executive director of the Dedun Group, her position was not to be underestimated, even within Ansu City.
“There are indeed things you need to do,” Xia Er said, looking at Lucy. “Do you remember the corpse of the key bearer?”
“Of course,” Lucy nodded.
That corpse was the crucial “tool” that had helped her ascend to the board; she could never forget it.
Currently, that body was still lying in the Dedun Group’s designated morgue.
What Lucy didn’t know was that her position was now precarious, and its stability depended on when the higher-ups at the Dedun Group realized that the corpse was “fake.”
After all, the “real” key bearer was right beside Qiangyin.
“If you get the chance, you’d better have an ‘examiner’ use a third-tier ‘Subverter’ potion to help you stitch together a similar corpse to replace the original, then destroy the original,” Xia Er advised. “That would be better for your future.”
Lucy froze at this.
She seemed to realize something and cautiously asked, “So the corpse... is fake?”
“Fake,” Xia Er confirmed with a smile. “The real one is with Qiangyin.”
Gulp—
Lucy swallowed hard, starting to feel restless.
“If you have urgent matters, you can head back,” Xia Er said. “If anything comes up, I’ll call for you.”
“Excuse... excuse me,” Lucy quickly stood up, bid farewell to Xia Er and the others, and hurried out of the study.
Once Lucy left, Aivina turned to Xia Er and asked, “Is it really okay to deceive her like that?”
“Better than anything else,” Xia Er nodded. “She’ll put her heart into things that are closely related to her position. If you explain everything to her, she’ll just feel constrained.”
“Xia Er, do you have any plans for what comes next?” Aivina looked at him, a hint of worry in her expression. “Is this all within your expectations?”
Aivina was referring to Qiangyin’s sudden visit and explosive declaration.
“It’s within reason, but it hasn’t slipped out of control.”
Listening to Aivina, Xia Er fell into deep thought.
This plan was undoubtedly successful.
She could truly deceive Qiangyin, and with just a bit more optimization, she could make it impossible for Qiangyin to discover the truth.
However, Qiangyin’s subsequent actions had indeed exceeded Xia Er’s expectations.
She hadn’t anticipated that Qiangyin would be the one trying to seize control of the Savior Goddess Church.
Of course, Qiangyin’s control was merely nominal; in reality, Xia Er, who could summon the Anworms, could reclaim control of the church at any time, though that would expose her.
Could she exploit Qiangyin’s own ambition to set a trap for her?
To outsmart Qiangyin through sheer strength was beyond Xia Er’s current capabilities.
The only thing she could rely on was the Otherworld.
The place that could prompt Qiangyin to actively engage with the Otherworld was the node controlled by the Order of the God of Order...
She needed to get her hands on that node.
Right now, Xia Er only knew how to use different blood arrays to summon various Otherworld creatures, but her understanding of the Otherworld itself was still lacking.
According to Lafayette’s description, the Otherworld node was a constant, a fixed space connecting the Otherworld and reality. Traveling through that node would always lead to the same place in the Otherworld.
This was akin to having a coordinate, allowing exploration of different areas in the Otherworld from that point.
The Order of the God of Order had utilized the node to obtain and decipher research and raw materials from the Otherworld.
If she secured the node, Xia Er could set a trap using the “Uniqueness” pocket watch, luring Qiangyin into the Otherworld node.
The Serpent Chain could rewind Qiangyin’s body, but it couldn’t rewind her mind... not even Xia Er’s pocket watch could do that.
As long as she could completely shatter Qiangyin’s spirit in the Otherworld, even if time were rewound, Qiangyin would still end up a madwoman.
How could she kill Qiangyin in the Otherworld?
There were plenty of methods for that.
Xia Er knew quite a few “natives” of the Otherworld.
She needed to prepare more blood offerings.
Soon, Xia Er had determined the focus of this simulation.
She would do everything possible to secure that Otherworld node and figure out what it truly was.
Even if it meant resorting to extreme measures, she had to act...
She needed to gather all the manpower she could call upon...
Xia Er slowly turned her head to look at Tara, who was standing behind her.
“Lord Xia Er?” Noticing Xia Er’s gaze, Tara slightly bowed her head and respectfully asked, “Is there something you need?”
There was a fourth-tier cardinal down there, wasn’t there?
The Savior Goddess Church’s Elinor could also be personally brought over...
She certainly wouldn’t lack manpower.
The only problem now was.
Cunning strategy?
Or a full-on assault...
Directly flattening the entire Order of the God of Order seemed unrealistic; they had high-tier combat power, just as the Order did.
But most of them were Iron Men “Crown Guards.”
What was the weakness of the “Crown Guards”?
Their minds, the Otherworld.
Xia Er could incapacitate almost all of the Order’s third-tier combatants.
But how to deal with the fourth-tier ones?
Who in the Order knew about the node?
These questions could probably only be answered by Lafayette.
Although Mond, who had been brainwashed multiple times, was now completely obedient to Qiangyin, Lafayette was still under Xia Er’s control.
She was the one most closely connected to the Order and Qiangyin.
“Aivina.”
Xia Er looked up at Aivina and said:
“I’ll be attending tomorrow’s banquet with you.”
---
PS:
210.5 (overdue) - 0.5 (extra) = 210 (overdue)
Although I’ve been resting these past two days, I’ll still maintain a minimum level of updates; I feel like I’m almost back to normal!
I’ll continue to update early tomorrow, aiming to post before midnight!
Good night!
Chapter 227: The Peeping Qiangyin (4142 words)
The next morning, in Aivina’s residence, in her room.
“Are you sure... you want to wear that to Princess Windsor’s luncheon?”
Aivina looked at Xia Er, who was dressed in the Dedun Group uniform, and asked.
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