Chapter 892: Chapter 713: Hey, Are You There? Hey? Are you asleep? Wanna chat for a bit? Are you studying? So focused, huh, that’s amazing. You’ve gotta teach me before the next exam, okay? Have you had dinner? Want to grab a meal together next time? You there? If you see this can you reply? I’ve got something I want to tell you. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean it like that, I just want to have a proper talk with you, why aren’t you saying anything...
Huai Shi raised his hand, and a hundred thousand all-direction, no-blind-spot, simp-dog-style harassment messages started flooding the screen—this is why typing with your mind is so fast, this Astronomical Society function is awesome, he was already thinking of getting one installed on himself when he got back.
Aside from the fact the other side didn’t reply to him, this plug-in was basically flawless.
After harassing her for ages, Ai Qing still hadn’t replied.
A hundred thousand messages and not a peep back; to his surprise, Huai Shi felt a strange emptiness in his chest. A bit of hope mixed with disappointment, a bit of sourness in the waiting.
"No way, is she really just going to ignore me?"
"What exactly do you expect me to say?"
Ai Qing’s displeased voice finally sounded: "The mess you made, can you please clean it up yourself? I already went to all that trouble to mop up that pile of crap for you, and you still expect me to help you reach the peak of life on the Extreme Path?"
"No, that part I can handle."
Huai Shi scratched his head awkwardly. "I’m just worried I might go a little overboard."
Ai Qing’s brows knit, instantly on guard. "What are you planning to do?"
"Emmmmm... that depends how we’re going to handle it."
After pondering for a moment, Huai Shi said, a bit embarrassed, "If we’re just giving him a little slap on the wrist, then when he gathers his believers for a prayer meeting, I’ll rush in, nail the guy to a cross in front of everyone, and have him repent.
But if he’s really doing crimes so vile he deserves to die a thousand deaths, then we might as well let his believers take communion."
Huai Shi weighed the two plans in his head and felt like either one was going to blow up big. If he slipped up even a little, after this wave he’d probably end up on a nationwide most-wanted list.
He should really get approval first, at least have the Astronomical Society ready to take the fall.
Silence. A long silence.
After a long time, he finally heard Ai Qing sigh.
"Huai Shi..."
"Mm?"
"Have you noticed that your interest in doing crimes and shady shit is getting a little too high?" she asked sternly. "Ever since that black-on-black stunt in Xinhai, did you get a taste of the good life and now you just can’t stop down this road?"
"What black-on-black? I don’t know what you’re talking about." Huai Shi protested loudly. "I’m doing this all for peace in the Current Circumstances, okay? I’ve even infiltrated Green Day on behalf of the Astronomical Society. Can’t you guys make things a little easier for me?"
"What kind of ’easier’ do you want?"
Huai Shi thought for a moment, then probed, "A mis...sile?"
"...Huai Shi, you’ve already pissed off Deer’s Sing Hall beyond forgiveness, can you please not also get yourself on the Jurisdiction Bureau Yingzhou Branch’s blacklist?"
Hearing that, Huai Shi’s eyes went wide. "Wow, they’re all bombed cultists either way. You had such a blast back then, but now that it’s my turn suddenly it’s not allowed? What’s wrong with this world, we tools..."
He’d barely gotten the first combo of his rant out when Ai Qing coldly cut him off. "Huai Shi, if you want to have a serious discussion about this, I’m happy to oblige.
But can you please not make things harder for a woman whose temper hasn’t been so great lately?"
"Listen carefully: if you want me to help you keep the scope of this under control, then take him out as quietly as possible. It’s fine if you don’t kill him, but you’d better not nail him to a cross. And you definitely cannot conduct a terrorist attack on Yingzhou soil and use a missile to blow a locally famous religious figure to dust!"
"Got it."
Realization dawned on Huai Shi; he smacked a fist into his palm and reached a conclusion. "Then I’ll just livestream behea—...Okay, my bad, I respect the law, I’ll think of something else, okay?"
He’d barely gotten the words out when a sense of crisis surged up inside him, like someone already had a sniper rifle trained on him with their finger resting on the trigger.
Huai Shi instantly changed his tune and admitted fault, never mentioning it again.
Instantly chickened out.
Everyone, just let it slide like nothing happened.
"You’re undercover, not at war. The Astronomical Society can only give you limited support from the shadows—assuming you don’t want everyone to know you’re their mole."
Ai Qing suddenly asked, "And, do you still remember why you’re undercover in the first place?"
"Obviously it’s for subli... ahem, that one, what’s her name, God City...something?"
Huai Shi racked his brain for a long moment before finally remembering the name. "God City Future!"
"...Anyway, as long as you remember. We’re already behind the other teams’ progress."
Ai Qing rubbed her brow and sighed tiredly. "If we can get into the upper ranks of the Hybrid Alliance, maybe information will come easier. I’ll write my report to the higher-ups that way and hope we get more support and resources."
After a pause, she asked, "Name?"
"Huai Shi."
"I’m not asking about you! The one from Light Illumination’s Church, what’s he called?"
"Mm, let me see... Sanship Longma."
"Found him."
Through the Astronomical Society’s database, Ai Qing used her clearance to directly pull up the Yingzhou Branch’s intel.
"High Priest of Light Illumination’s Church in the Kyoto district, male, forty-seven."
She glanced at the file on the screen and said meaningfully, "That’s honestly impressive. In just five years, he managed to claw his way up from a bankrupt real-estate agent to this position, and he’s even being hailed as the earthly projection of the Holy Spirit from the Ninth Dimension.
Looks like once some people stop doing anything good, they can really take off on the road of breaking the law and committing crimes."