World Inside the Shell, Kingdom of Saint Ysha.
"I finally saw the Pope today, just as impressive as the rumors say."
"Tomorrow is the Holy Selection Conference, but I didn’t expect the Pope to appear early. It’s so exciting."
"It’s just a pity that the Pope wore a white mask, making it impossible to see what’s beneath it. Sigh..."
"Even though we can’t see the face, there’s still an air of grandeur and might. Perhaps, as the legend suggests, he’s as handsome as a deity."
A group of girls wearing Luthean Holy Church uniforms walked hand in hand, laughing and conversing in the dormitory hallway. The subject of their conversation was none other than the Pope they glimpsed today during the Holy Descent Conference.
Among them, a blonde girl walking slightly behind murmured softly to herself, "Imposing, my foot..."
The latter part of the sentence wasn’t audible, but a "candidate Saintess" close to her seemed to have heard her mumbling and turned around to ask, "Feng, what were you saying?"
The blonde girl called "Feng" quietly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said earnestly, "I was saying you all were right; the Pope is really imposing indeed."
"Really? You think so too? Oh, if only we could see what the Pope looks like."
Her voice immediately drew agreement from other girls, though one gossip-loving girl sighed, "I heard that ten years ago, while spreading the gospel in the Heart Kingdom, the Pope suffered a facial injury, which is why he wears the mask. Although it wasn’t big news at the time, the Pope never took the mask off in all these years, so the injury must have been severe. The Pope’s face might even be..."
"Quiet." Suddenly, a plump middle-aged nun in a loose uniform emerged from the side corridor, "How dare you speak frivolously about the Pope; that’s blasphemy!"
The harsh rebuke caused the group of previously cheerful girls’ faces to turn pale.
"We were wrong."
"Nun Maria, please forgive our loose tongues."
"We are willing to go to the confessional and pray for our mistakes."
Nun Maria gave them a fierce look, jealousy flickering in her eyes. She truly wanted to punish them, make these young, beautiful, slender girls pay some price. But with the Holy Selection Conference starting tomorrow and them being candidate Saintesses, no issues could arise now.
Suppressing her resentment and jealousy, Maria snorted coldly, "I’ll let you off this time, but if there’s a next time, I’ll send you directly to the tribunal for the minister to judge your sins."
The group of girls knelt on the ground, shivering and nodding.
"Get lost."
In the following corridor, the girls dared not speak further until they reached their own dormitories, where they finally broke the silence and bid each other farewell.
"Feng, we’re leaving now."
Once the girls left, Feng, standing at the dormitory doorway, turned back, her eyes cold as she looked towards the direction Nun Maria had been.
"Just a little longer, still not completely clear," Feng silently muttered, then retracted her gaze and pushed open the door to her room.
After entering the room, Feng immediately opened the bathroom door and began filling the large bathtub with water. Once the water was ready, Feng didn’t step into it to bathe but gently leaped, landing atop the water’s surface.
"Surrounded by water, good, the feeling of being watched has disappeared," Feng thought quietly as she stood on the water.
Feng stood on the water, pondering for a moment, recalling the scene from today’s Holy Descent Conference, then thought of the conversation of the candidate Saintesses, "Imposing and mighty... Hehe, that slender and petite figure described as imposing and mighty, it seems that when girls are infatuated, their eyes do go half-blind."
"Perhaps they don’t know that the object of their infatuation is female... A female Pope, interesting."
As Feng spoke, she suddenly felt a slight warmth from her earring.
She reached up to touch the earring.
"Rekton?" Feng murmured.
A familiar teasing voice came from the earring, "The more I see you in women’s clothes, the more I feel it suits you. How about dressing like this always?"
With her friend’s teasing, Feng angrily retorted, "Do you want to live a shorter life?"
Rekton’s laughter came through the earring.
After a while, Feng took advantage of the pause in Rekton’s laughter to ask, "So tell me, what’s the matter you suddenly contact me for?"
Rekton, "I happened to be passing near the World Inside the Shell and thought I’d test the contact channel, see how things are on your end... Do you need my support?"
Feng shook her head, "No need, things are relatively calm here. I just met the Pope today; she possesses a very strong mysterious aura. The Mysterious Object is in her hands."
"She? Another female? I recall your last mission was also a female, right?"
Feng nodded, "The last mission was also in the World Inside the Shell, involving the Heart Kingdom’s Ocalleg royal third princess."
"The World Inside the Shell is quite interesting, such a marginal plane, yet there are two Mysterious Objects with enough influence for you to sense them, and both are controlled by females," Rekton clicked his tongue.
"Mysterious Objects have nothing to do with gender, don’t make random conclusions," Feng knew Rekton’s ways well; due to long-term inability to connect with mysterious realms, he constantly pondered strange patterns hoping to find breakthroughs.
Rekton, "Who knows? After you finish this mission, I might explore the World Inside the Shell, perhaps even find some hidden Mysterious Objects."
The two Mysterious Objects Feng discovered in the World Inside the Shell were because their fluctuations were extremely strong, almost or already reaching the edge of disorder, thus detectable by Feng. Subtle ones were usually held by orderly and low-profile individuals, and unless major chaos emerged, Feng wouldn’t bother investigating.
"You can explore, but no need to come to the Kingdom of Saint Ysha; there’s only one Mysterious Object here."
"You’re that sure?"
Feng nodded, "The Mysterious Object in the Kingdom of Saint Ysha is the single one held by the female Pope. Based on my observations during my time here, I’ve summarized some patterns of this Mysterious Object."
"It’s primarily a detection-type Mysterious Object."
"Its detection range is currently unknown, but very extensive; even in distant wilderness, I feel its detection presence. I suspect its terrestrial detection has no limits."
"Its only weakness is that detection can’t surpass water surfaces."
"I haven’t been directly detected yet; hence its detection limit is unknown. However, from articles and news related to the Pope, she seems to know everything. Likely, this detection-type Mysterious Object can penetrate minds forcefully without the subjects’ awareness."