“You’ve set it as the target, but you don’t need to do anything else. Just let it be hit by my skill. Can you do that?”
Xu Chuyao asked Shen Ning, who slowly nodded.
“Can you do it?”
“I’ve already done it.”
“…How did you do it?”
“I don’t know.”
‘That’s true. How could a butterfly know which flap of its wings causes a storm? But this time — ‘
Xu Chuyao sized her up from top to bottom and even reached out to poke her, leaving Shen Ning confused. “What is it?”
“Didn’t you successfully activate it? I’m checking to see if you have any backlash, like last time… Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
Shen Ning shook her head.
“It seems last time really wasn’t backlash, but one of the conditions.” Xu Chuyao confirmed her conclusion.
“Mm, but I’m suddenly a bit hungry.”
Shen Ning left Chuyao’s room and went to the restaurant alone to look around. Although it wasn’t mealtime, the Spire Council was such a unique place that the chefs usually didn’t leave the kitchen; they would start the stoves whenever there was a need.
Xu Chuyao wasn’t hungry yet, so she stayed in the room and continued her call with the Old Speaker.
“Hey, I just thought of a problem. Once you remove that barrier, there will be people everywhere in the Council City. The people coming for the concert today need to be evacuated in advance!”
The Old Speaker was silent for a long moment. “A small matter like that, arrange for someone to do it yourself!”
“I want to, but I don’t know who to call.” Xu Chuyao scratched her head. “I’m new here and don’t have any subordinates under my Hand.”
“Don’t we still have half of the Councilors?”
“We do, but they are Chu Cang’s subordinates.”
The Old Speaker felt somewhat helpless. “Chu Cang has already turned into that. Could they still be loyal to him?”
Chuyao’s meaning was that these people had sworn an Oath to Chu Cang, and an Oath could not be broken. The Old Speaker felt that Chuyao simply didn’t want to use these people, which he had noticed last time.
He wasn’t exactly wrong.
After thinking for a while, he came up with another candidate. “There is one Councilor among them who didn’t follow him. He was originally with you. Let him do it.”
There was indeed one, though it couldn’t be said he was “with” Chuyao. It was more the other way around — because he was Chuyao’s old Leader, Long Jun.
“Fine.”
Hanging up the current call and dialing another, Xu Chuyao explained the situation.
She also subtly suggested that he was now the only person in the Council left who actually did any work.
Long Jun never imagined that the first time he would do any proper work since joining the Council so many days ago would be to evacuate the masses.
Over the phone, he said, “It’s true that you’re the only one working in the Council, but that’s a good thing. You know, power doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The more you do now, the greater your power will be later!”
Chuyao felt something was a bit strange.
“To put it another way, you’re the Council City Defense Supervisor.”
The words weren’t coarse, and the logic was sound, but it still felt odd.
Long Jun thought for a moment, his expression complex. “Wait, haven’t I said something similar to you before?”
“Of course, you said it one year ago.”
—
Outside the room, Shen Ning walked toward the restaurant.
At least, she thought she was walking toward the restaurant until she turned a corner and saw Zhou Tian and the others sitting in a small pavilion at the end of the corridor.
The arrival of the Shaonian caused everyone to freeze. They had been discussing confidential topics, and the sudden appearance of an outsider — a dangerous one at that — left them unsure of how to react for a moment.
“Wh — what are you doing here?”
Shen Ning didn’t reply immediately. She looked around first and realized there was indeed no path left at the end of the corridor.
“I took the wrong path. I’m going to the restaurant.”
Leaving only those words, Shen Ning turned and left. Chuyao had led her there once before, so it was normal to not remember clearly.
But after she left, the expressions of Zhou Tian and the others became extremely ugly.
“What does she mean, huh? What does she mean?” a Councilor said passionately. “What does she mean by ‘taking the wrong path’? Is she saying we stood on the wrong side?”
“And did she say we should be served at a restaurant for her to eat?”
Obviously, they had interpreted it as two separate statements and proceeded to overanalyze them.
However, this was not without reason. This was Council City, the world’s largest center of politics and power. Usually, anyone who came here spoke in riddles and double meanings.
Zhou Tian sighed. “That may be so, but you’ve all seen the current situation. General Chu, he…”
The appearance of that Giant Venomous Snake was captured in photos and videos. Those who still didn’t believe it could go to the scene themselves. Everyone knew what Chu Cang had become — he no longer looked human.
As the first person to defect from Wen Shengqing’s camp back then, Zhou Tian’s heart began to waver again.
But this time, someone was even more proactive. A bald man suddenly stood up and slapped the table.
“Even though we serve our masters, we are humans first! Chu Cang has thrown himself in with monsters and become an enemy of the entire Human World. We should sever our ties with him for the sake of justice and ex… ex…”
Before he could finish, he suddenly choked.
Zhou Tian was wondering ‘Ex- what?’ only to find that the man had stopped speaking, and the expressions of the others had turned to terror.
Black liquid flowed from the bald man’s seven orifices, and the ink-like Black Tide instantly submerged his head. A gurgling sound came from his throat, and before long, he had completely stopped breathing.
A dead silence filled the small pavilion; a chill ran through the hearts of the four remaining Councilors.
They thought of a rumor — that short but terrifying-looking General never worried about his subordinates betraying him.
“Is it… impossible for us to resist him?” someone whispered.
No one answered, but everyone had an answer in their hearts.
Just then, a buzzing sound rang out among them. Zhou Tian silently took out his Mobile Phone and held it to his ear.
“Hello, it’s me… All right.”
Setting down the Mobile Phone, he looked at the other three, his expression shifting between light and shadow.
“Elder Ye’s Command. Tomorrow, we will launch a total attack against… We all must be present.”
Zhou Tian cleverly avoided that name.
But the facts could not be changed.
—
“The Tactical Plan is like this. I’ll find a place to channel my ultimate. You try your best to drive it into my skill range using your ability. Once it’s hit three times, it’s over.”
In her last call of the day, Xu Chuyao explained her Tactical Plan to the Old Speaker.
“Only three times?”
“Three times will be enough.”
“Your move can only be used three times? Then isn’t the margin for error zero!”
“Yes, but you just focus on driving it. Shen Ning will complete the Mission of making it accurately struck by lightning,” Xu Chuyao said with absolute confidence.
This was the Power of Fate of the Crown Princess. Just trust in it. Look at how Wen Shengqing died.
The Old Speaker was silent for a moment before asking, “How does she plan to do it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“She doesn’t know either,” Xu Chuyao said, perfectly justified.