NOVPUBThe atmosphere in the room, bathed in the warm glow of the lamp, slowly changed. The beam of light from the chandelier seemed to be a gentle embrace, melting away the winter chill in the room.
At this moment, the ticking of the clock seemed to slow, no longer a curse of time but a leisurely melody. The eyes of the girls gradually lost their cold indifference and anger, becoming understanding and gentle instead.
Under this atmosphere, both Sigrid and Hyperion unclasped their hands, breaking this deadlock.
Before their hands were fully released.
"Saint Heir, I didn’t consider your feelings."
Sigrid addressed Lanci first, her voice softened by half.
"!"
Hyperion didn’t have time to react. How could this woman change her face so quickly?
Hyperion immediately put her hands back on Lanci’s wrist, seemingly wanting to check if she had injured him just now.
She didn’t speak, instead, she looked up at Lanci with a hint of remorse in her eyes – a look that seemed to convey her deep empathy for him.
"This..."
Gloria’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
This sudden change made her realize, Lanci’s most exceptional ability did not lie in his terrifying capability to tackle troubles but a unique talent to manage a complicated situation.
From beginning to end, there wasn’t much fluctuation in his emotion. He seemed genuinely to believe he was doing this for Sigrid and Hyperion’s good, but they just didn’t understand him, which left him a bit disheartened, and that was it.
It was so pure it was incomprehensible!
Gloria couldn’t figure out if this man was genuinely innocent or just playing them.
She always had this feeling that she was being manipulated, but she had no evidence.
Perhaps Sigrid was clear-headed and saw through Lanci’s true intentions, but it was a clear strategy. If she were to continue arguing, it would seem that she was the one making a fuss, and Hyperion might take this opportunity to replace her.
"Meow..."
The Cat boss poked out half of its body from under the sofa, and glanced at Gloria.
It knew that Sikder’s daughter was perplexed.
The Cat boss was in a better condition. It had heard some rumors about Lanci’s talent for mediating civil disputes and resolving emotional conflicts back in Ichrite.
But seeing Lanci himself caught up in drama for the first time today.
Made the Cat boss feel that, when it saw a man walking on a high wire or strolling through the clouds, his calm expression should also be like this, without the slightest sense of life-threatening danger.
The Cat boss couldn’t even imagine him suddenly falling and dying.
On the other hand.
"Phew——"
Seeing the dispute in the living room finally resolved, Lanci also breathed a sigh of relief with a smile, as if feeling gratified at their reconciliation.
"Let’s sit down and chat."
Lanci gestured elegantly, inviting both of them to take a seat.
Originally, Sigrid and Hyperion, whose eyes met and nearly began to argue over who should sit with Lanci, suddenly held their tongues and each sat down at an end of the sofa.
At this stage, whoever started the problem would be at a disadvantage.
Gloria quickly made way, standing by like an attendant.
So Lanci didn’t intend to sit on the sofa. He turned and walked to the magic screen embedded in the wall, placed his backup recording crystal stone into the magic projector on the cabinet, and then turned off the light in the room.
The dim wall directly facing the sofa then began to project images.
Although Hyperion was confused, she watched attentively nonetheless.
In the image, it appeared to be Lanci’s perspective. He was in a heavily guarded city-state, presumably in the north of the Empire, surrounded by a frozen landscape and snowy mountains.
The clear symphony of martial music, coupled with the deserted city-state, created a hair-raising eerie feeling.
In the image, the photographer walked through the city’s upper level through a gallery at the city gate, occasionally conversing with Sikder, their voices interlacing in the video.
Not until the two stood on the uneven columns of the city, the perspective turned sideways revealing a wide bridge where snowflakes fell from the sky with the wind. It took quite a while for them to reach the dozens of meters deep lower level, clearly exploring the sparsely populated reason of this city-state.
However.
At this moment, the image suddenly became blurry, as if everything in the photographer’s sight accelerated in an instant, and he was propelled into the sky.
In the high altitude, the camera’s point of view gradually cleared through the cloud and fog, revealing a full view of this northern city-state.
Only the entrance they had passed through earlier still exuded a sense of peace, but the rest of the city was shrouded in a kind of solar eclipse-like darkness.
Under that miasma, severed limbs seemed to be devoured, regardless of children, women, or the elderly, their corpses were dumped into ditches...
At this point, Lanci turned off the projector magic device.
What followed was the appearance of Bishop Asksan of Nirvana, and Sigrid fighting him with the real strength of the Bishop of Hegemony.
Lanci knew that Sigrid didn’t want anyone to know her true identity right now.
The room was completely occupied by darkness, with the only source of light being the quietly operating projector magic device.
Hyperion sat on the sofa with wide eyes, as if she were watching a secret documentary in the middle of the night.
It was also the first time Gloria had seen such startling images, leaving her speechless in surprise. She could probably imagine the situation the bishop and saint heir encountered in the north.
Lanci remained silent, giving Hyperion plenty of time to think, before he turned on the light again.
"As for the matter of cooperation, I can’t pressure you two. I can only act as an intermediary to help you reach some mutually beneficial deals," he said.
Lanci looked at Hyperion and Sigrid on the sofa. He sidestepped the word "cooperation", treating it more as a "transaction".
"The current target of the Hegemony Branch is to handle the Nirvana Branch. For the Church of the Goddess of Destiny, there should be no one who wants the Bishop of Nirvana to be elected as the spokesperson for the Protoss Empire, right?"
Lanci turned his gaze to Hyperion again.
Hyperion nodded.
According to what she had heard, while the Hegemony Branch hadn’t done anything particularly bad in the Protoss Empire, the atrocities committed by the Nirvana Branch were intolerable. Regardless of the conspiracy behind it, if it were to be completed, it would inevitably bring about an irreversible disaster.
They couldn’t allow the Bishop of Nirvana to be the spokesperson for the Protoss Empire.
"Anything that targets the Nirvana Branch, the Church of the Goddess of Destiny will do spontaneously."
Hyperion clenched her fist and assured Lanci.
Being a priest, even if she had to deal with the Rebirth Church for a while for the greater good, her Lady Goddess would surely understand her.
Assured of Hyperion’s attitude, Lanci looked at Sigrid. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
About the matter of jailbreaking, both of them needed Hyperion to go to the prison personally. It was extremely dangerous, so there was a possibility they might let her suffer.
But it was clear that Sigrid didn’t want to owe a favor to the Church of the Goddess of Destiny.
She would certainly offer more compensation.
"Say what you want first."
Sigrid said to Hyperion.
She decided to first listen to what Hyperion wanted, to judge how the Hegemony Branch should adjust the price they should pay.
Hyperion pondered.
She believed that the Hegemony Branch intended to handle the Nirvana Branch, so they definitely needed a strong military force.
"You give me some information about the Herram Prison, and I can get a Great Demon Clan to help you in the fight. This way, when it’s time to deal with Asksan, the odds of success will be higher," Hyperion proposed the terms of the deal.
She believed her sincerity was already sufficient. With as much information as possible, she could exchange it for assistance from an eighth-order great demon race at a critical moment.
For the other party, this deal was definitely not a loss.
However.
Lanci and Sigrid exchanged a glance, their expressions strange.
Gradually, Sigrid became extremely embarrassed and lowered her head.
"Is it not possible?"
Hyperion asked.
"..."
Lanci was at a loss for words at this moment.
He remembered these two people, who had just sworn in the name of the Lady Goddess not to discuss personal interests, and said let them see who’s the master in this house.
After all the arguing, turned out everyone was planning to do the same thing.
"We also plan to break out of jail."
Gloria quickly added helpfully in her anxiety.
Immediately, it seemed that Hyperion understood Sigrid’s current expression, and her cheeks began to redden.
The living room was eerily quiet.
Both of them felt awkward to the core.
