When Su Xing said this, she frowned in confusion.
“Did I guess wrong? Did he try that stone brush by the door?”
“No, he didn’t.”
As soon as Nu Zabi entered, Evangel, who had been watching him, replied, “He ignored the stone brush.”
Hearing this, Su Xing showed a relieved smile.
“Then I can relax.”
At seven o’clock, after searching through all the paintings, Nu Zabi finally shifted his attention to the stone brush by the entrance.
As he walked in that direction, Su Xing and the other three immediately focused all their attention on him.
Sure enough, Nu Zabi looked delighted, then pulled out a giant conch.
Wait, who is he trying to contact? It couldn’t be Xixi, could it?
Suddenly, Su Xing sensed that something was wrong.
She decisively instructed Evangel, “Go wait by the painting Kaka loosened, be ready at any moment. I just have a bad feeling.”
Evangel didn’t ask any questions and simply walked over to stand by that painting.
Su Xing’s worries were justified.
In less than a moment, the lights in the hall suddenly went out completely.
The people in the exhibition hall immediately fell into panic.
Su Xing whispered, “Let’s hide by the stone brush and stand by. Evangel has excellent night vision—she’ll find us.”
She still remembered the first time they met, when Evangel could fight in complete darkness, totally unafraid of it.
As the people in the exhibition gradually became more and more chaotic, the mayor immediately stepped forward to calm the crowd.
“Everyone, don’t worry. I’ll send someone to check right away. There’s no way this exhibition—”
He hadn’t finished speaking when a mocking male voice sounded in the darkness.
“Mr. Mayor, do you still remember me?”
The mayor’s voice paused for a moment, then he asked in confusion, “Apollo?”
Apollo?
Who is that?
Isn’t that Nu Zabi?
Su Xing was puzzled, feeling like things were spiraling beyond her expectations.
The hall became even noisier because of this person’s appearance.
Most people had no idea who this “Apollo” was.
But Su Xing vaguely heard a word—”Adjudicator.”
The mayor and Apollo continued their conversation, the mayor panicked and asked, “Didn’t I already refuse you? Why are you here?”
Apollo chuckled softly.
“Precisely because you refused me, I had to come. Otherwise, what’s the point of all this?”
The mayor replied sternly, “I will never hand it over to you. What you’re doing is going against the entire Federation!”
“Federation? Heh.”
Apollo snorted coldly.
“The Federation is too indecisive—that’s why we exist. Since the Federation can’t bear to make the tough choices, let us help you.”
Su Xing sucked in a cold breath.
She had long suspected this matter was related to the Federation, but hearing them speak so brazenly still made her afraid.
She was just a first-year student—why did she have to get involved in all this?
Beside her, Quinn also tensed up. Su Xing could feel his body stiffen.
After a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed Quinn’s hand.
This hand-holding had no romantic meaning, only the comfort of one companion to another.
After a brief moment of stiffness, Quinn quickly relaxed and nodded at Su Xing in gratitude.
Kaka, on the other hand, didn’t think that much.
He directly asked, “Nu Zabi! How did you become Apollo?”
Su Xing hurriedly tried to cover Kaka’s mouth.
Why was this guy so blunt?
Apollo was clearly not the gentle Nu Zabi they knew—what if he got angry?
But Apollo didn’t seem angry at all.
His voice was full of amusement.
“Oh, you mean Nu Zabi? That guy’s long dead. Did you really think a down-and-out artist like him could hide in the City of Art?”
Su Xing suddenly understood.
As expected.
She’d always felt something was off—since Nick said the mayor could easily find Xixi if he wanted, how could he not find Nu Zabi?
Now it seemed Apollo had replaced Nu Zabi’s identity, using his own means to hide.
That’s why the mayor couldn’t find him, no matter how hard he tried.
But now a new question arose—why did Apollo want the Inspiration Brush?
By rights, the Inspiration Brush was used to absorb and release artists’ talents.
The mayor chose to absorb most people’s talents and release them to a select few.
If Apollo opposed the mayor, it meant his method must be different.
But if Apollo wanted to return everyone’s talents, Su Xing didn’t really believe it.
The villainous aura around him was too strong; he didn’t look like he was up to anything good.
Sure enough, the next second, Apollo spoke coldly, “For the Inspiration Brush to have such useless owners for two generations is a waste of its power. But rest assured, in my hands, it will reach its full potential.”
The mayor understood his intent, trying to persuade him earnestly.
“You can’t just absorb humans’ talents without limit! That’s not right!”
“Why not?”
Apollo laughed.
“Didn’t you already realize this society can only be pushed forward by elites? Otherwise, why extract most artists’ talents to supply a few?”
So that’s it! Su Xing suddenly understood.
Now she finally understood why the Federation government would collude with the mayor of the City of Art.
Just as Apollo said, this was an elite system.
Cultivate a small group of elites at the top to drive social development.
Take musicians as an example—ten outstanding musicians can create ten excellent pieces.
But use the talent of ten to nurture one top-tier musician, and they can create a single masterpiece.
And one masterpiece is worth far more than ten excellent pieces.
If that’s the case, then naturally it’s more valuable to nurture a single top-tier musician.
That’s what the government was aiming for, so they turned a blind eye to the mayor’s misdeeds.
Kaka didn’t understand all these twists and turns.
He asked the most direct question: “Then why do you want to steal the Inspiration Brush?”
Apollo was unexpectedly patient, actually answering him again.
“You think the Inspiration Brush can only absorb artistic talent? That’s not true—it can absorb any talent.”
“Hiss!”
As soon as these words came out, the whole hall was filled with the sound of people sucking in cold air.
Everyone was shocked. If such an ability fell into the hands of someone with ill intent, it would be a disaster for all of Mercury.
Apollo was clearly very satisfied with everyone’s reaction and cheerfully said, “The Federation government is just too indecisive. The elite system works best in the arts, but the same goes for every other field. Keeping the Inspiration Brush confined to the City of Art is a waste.”
He raised his voice as if reciting poetry.
“Since you won’t use it, you’ll just have to hand it over to me. Sacrifice the interests of the few to cultivate the very best—under our leadership, Mercury will flourish forever!”
At that moment, someone bumped Su Xing’s arm.
In the darkness, she sensed it was Evangel who had returned.
The four of them weren’t too far from Apollo, but Su Xing still patted Kaka and whispered in his ear, “Stall for time.”
Kaka immediately understood and loudly challenged, “No one’s abilities should be sacrificed! Why don’t you sacrifice yourself?”
Apollo seemed amused.
“Me? You should know, only the mediocre are ever sacrificed. Elites like me will never be chosen as sacrifices. The strong never worry about being abandoned—because it’s always them who abandon others!”
“Who exactly are you people?”
Kaka shouted angrily.
Apollo’s voice was full of pride.
“We are the Adjudicators. Everything we do is for Mercury and the greatest benefit of all humanity!”
As they spoke, Evangel grabbed Quinn, Quinn grabbed Su Xing, and Su Xing grabbed Kaka.
The four quietly moved toward the stone brush’s position.
They’d meant to approach the stone brush without drawing attention, but Apollo was even more perceptive than they expected.
They’d barely taken a few steps when Apollo sneered, “Oh? Looks like a few little mice don’t know their place.”
He didn’t seem to care much.
“Forget it, enough talk. Time to get down to business.”
The next second, white light burst forth from the stone brush’s location, illuminating Apollo as he pressed a painting against the stone brush.
Evangel’s face changed. Without hesitation, she rushed forward with the painting in her hand.
The other three, still holding hands, were dragged along with her.
As they flew through the air, Su Xing still had the leisure to think—
—Doesn’t this scene look a bit familiar?
The white light vanished.
The five of them disappeared together from the exhibition hall.
Meanwhile, chaos had erupted among the rest of the people in the venue.
No matter what the mayor said, no one listened. Not long after, the exhibition lights blazed back on.
Where the stone brush had been, the stone was shattered, and a seemingly ordinary brush had fallen to the ground.
“Mayor! What on earth is going on? You have to give us an explanation!”
The artists surrounded the mayor, demanding the truth.
The mayor wearily rubbed his brow and ordered the guards, “Guard this place. No one is allowed to leave.”
“What do you mean by this? Illegal detention? Move aside! We want to get out!”
As soon as he gave the order, everyone panicked and rushed toward the exit.
But the guards the mayor had called in were clearly no pushovers.
Many of them were even Phantasmancers.
They might not be the strongest, but they were more than enough to handle these defenseless artists.
With the guards escorting him, the mayor made a hasty escape from the exhibition hall, then quickly pulled out a giant conch to contact the Federation’s Department of Arts and Culture.
“Minister! There’s been a huge problem!”
After speaking, he revealed a strange smile, then suddenly fainted amid the guards’ cries of alarm.
Let’s leave aside what happened outside for now.
The five people sucked in by the Inspiration Brush had all regained consciousness.
Su Xing was the first of their small team to wake up.
She quickly realized someone was nearby and, alert, summoned Wind Lord.
As soon as Wind Lord appeared, it sensed the extremely dangerous aura from the person nearby.
All the fur on its body bristled, and it jumped between Su Xing and Apollo, growling a low, threatening rumble from its throat.
That person laughed.
“If I wanted to kill you, do you think your phantasm would stop me?”