Su Yuening’s slightly opened eyes flashed with a sharp light.
“Now that we have the meteorite fragment as leverage, that old bastard the Archbishop is done for. It doesn’t matter whether he’s exposed or not anymore.”
“It’s thanks to you that we discovered the Archbishop was hiding meteorite fragments. Delta was really disappointed, you know. She actually had high hopes that the Apocalyptic Church had some real core technology—turns out it’s just that shoddy meteorite fragment method.”
Hearing the Astrologer say that, Xiaoxi suddenly realized something.
She quickly lifted her clothes—her lower abdomen was flat and soft, and it even looked a tiny bit plumper, probably because Ye Xinglan had been feeding her too much lately.
Huh? According to Mom, shouldn’t she have been infected with Star Eclipse from being in close contact with the meteorite fragment? And it even triggered a Mana Overrun. So why did she look perfectly fine now?
“It might be that the contact time was short, so the Star Eclipse has already faded,” Su Yuening explained vaguely.
“But you’re the first to get infected with such a short contact time. Maybe Xiao Xi, you have a special constitution?”
Xiaoxi shook her head. She had no memory of passing out from the infection. How would she know?
“But if you’re feeling unwell, you can stay here and rest for a few more days. Don’t worry about the money.”
“Mom, being a Six-Seat… does it pay well?”
Su Yuening blinked. “That’s not important. The key is that the Association’s Eternal Star merchandise royalties are all in my account. Let me think… the balance is pretty long anyway. I can’t let my daughter’s image be used for free, right?”
Xiaoxi: “?”
Xiaoxi had always been strong-willed, and she’d always thought her family was ordinary.
Even when she was broke, she never asked for a cent from home. But now… she suddenly felt a bit like a fool.
She didn’t know exactly how much the Eternal Star copyright was worth, but seeing all the merchandise the Association had put out and Mom’s comment just now, the royalties must be a lot, right?
“Alright, you rest well. Xinglan seems to be done over there, so I’ll go get her. Mom still has some important business to handle, so I can’t stay with you.”
Before getting up, Su Yuening patted Xiaoxi’s head one last time. Xiaoxi instinctively asked, “What business?”
“Going to the Six-Seat Council meeting and helping Xinglan resolve her problem on the side.” Su Yuening’s voice instantly turned cold.
“Dare to mess with my daughter and daughter-in-law? That Archbishop old bastard is dead meat!”
Su Yuening stormed out of the hospital room, leaving Xiaoxi staring blankly at the door.
In her memory, Mom had always been a very calm person. She’d never seen Mom speak like that, not even when she was angry… Well, it seemed Mom was really, really angry now.
Inside a vast, silent magical barrier with an unknown light source, spotlights shone down from above onto a single chair at a cold round table.
The entire barrier seemed to contain only this large round table and six chairs.
A silent figure stood beside the table. As the spotlights hit, one by one, projection after projection appeared on the chairs, seated around the table.
Some projections were clear and lifelike—like the Archbishop, who was frowning and deep in thought, and the Astrologer, who still wore a proper smile.
Others were blurry, like the one sitting directly opposite the Archbishop, reduced to only a few large blocks of mosaic.
“Are the others all here? Looks like this old woman’s late again, sorry, sorry.”
“Everyone’s here, so let’s begin… A lot has happened recently, heh heh.”
With a snap, a strong beam illuminated the table. A small counting board on the surface flipped, the number changing from “37” to “38.”
The meeting began, and the Astrologer remained silent. But soon enough, the Archbishop couldn’t hold back. The bell on the table in front of his seat shook, letting out a crisp sound. The other Six Seats quieted down, waiting for the Archbishop to speak.
“I protest, Astrologer! I have reasonable grounds to suspect that the Association has kidnapped and controlled our Church’s Magic Girl, Judgment Scales! And she hasn’t contacted the Church at all since she appeared yesterday! What have you done to her?”
The Astrologer smiled silently. The Archbishop sure was throwing a huge bucket of dirty water.
Sometimes she even felt that his baseless accusations and mudslinging were completely thoughtless.
“Regarding this matter, everyone must have heard about the big news from the Apocalyptic Church these past two days. I won’t repeat it—”
The Astrologer clapped her hands lightly. Above the conference table appeared a huge projection filled with various evidence.
The largest photo clearly showed the meteorite fragment lying quietly in its box.
All the Six Seats were drawn to these materials. Only the Archbishop was first stunned, then his face flushed an angry, embarrassed purple.
“Everyone, do I need to say more? According to our established rules, anything involving meteorite fragments must be shared with everyone. All meteorite fragments are stored uniformly in the Hidden Bone Hall.”
“But the Archbishop not only hid meteorite fragments, but also secretly used them to benefit his Church, and even caused the Magic Girl under his command to be infected with Star Eclipse. I have evidence provided by Judgment Scales.”
“Concealing meteorite fragments is a serious violation of the Covenant. Everyone knows this—so I propose, in light of the Archbishop’s severe breach of the Covenant, that his status as a Six-Seat be revoked. What do you think?”
The Astrologer raised her right hand first, casting a vote in favor. The indicator above her head turned green. Delta, who had also been silent until now, followed suit.
But then a red light came from across the table. The Archbishop cast his opposition vote while slamming the table. “Astrologer! How dare you! This is slander, defamation! These things… these…”
The Astrologer silently curled her lips.
Even among the Six Seats, she had always thought the Archbishop was mediocre—a person who only knew how to make trouble and play dirty tricks.
If it weren’t for the Apocalyptic Church’s deep roots in North Blossom City, she would have gotten rid of this thorn long ago.
No one responded to the Archbishop’s shouting.
After a moment of silence, the Six Seats made their decisions one by one.
The round table showed four green lights and two red.
“You’re all kicking me when I’m down! I am the supreme leader of the Apocalyptic Church! You can’t just arbitrarily kick me out of the Six Seats! From now on, the Church…”
The Archbishop’s voice sounded indignant, but unfortunately, after the attendant beside the table “escorted” him out of the magical barrier, everyone could no longer hear the clamor.
“Next agenda item,” the assistant’s voice was mechanical and cold. “The unresolved matter from the last Six-Seat Council: the handling plan for Blood Moon Witch, Ye Xinglan.”
The bell rang again before the table, and the Astrologer began to speak consecutively.
“I have some thoughts on this matter as well—”
The projection in the center of the round table changed to new content. Looking at the carefully prepared, irrefutable evidence, Delta nodded. It seemed the Astrologer had come fully prepared this time.
“Look, over the past two days, the public opinion on the Blood Moon Witch has completely reversed online, and the heat has been climbing. People are basically positive toward the Blood Moon Witch now. If we impose harsh measures on her at a time like this, we might have trouble handling the public reaction, don’t you think?”
“Also, judging from the Blood Moon Witch’s experiences since her escape and her current situation, I believe her state is very stable under the guardianship of Eternal Star. There is absolutely no risk to safety.”
“So my proposal is—maintain the status quo. Let Eternal Star continue as the Blood Moon Witch’s guardian. The Six Seats don’t need to interfere further in the matter of the Blood Moon Witch. This will also help incline Eternal Star toward us. What do you all think?”
The other Six Seats exchanged glances. No one raised objections, nor did they explicitly agree or oppose. The entire Six-Seat Council fell into silence once more.
The Astrologer cast her approval vote first, Delta followed closely behind, then the third, the fourth…
Five green lights. No opposition. The Astrologer’s proposal passed unanimously.
Whoosh.
After the Six-Seat Council ended, Su Yuening disconnected the connection with the magical barrier, stood up, and stretched lazily.
She sat in her own room. On the cabinet beside her were various divination tools and superstitious trinkets.
Amidst all that, Su Yuening still looked like an ordinary housewife.
Su Yuening looked down and sent a thank-you message to Delta.
As soon as she pressed Enter, a phone number with the contact name “Wife” called in.
“Are you done with all the business on this trip, A Lin? You didn’t go to the hospital to see the kid, did you? Are you back in North Blossom City?”
“Mm.”
A simple, cool reply. It was even hard to tell which question she was answering. Her attitude was so cold it formed a stark contrast to Su Yuening’s.
“I see. Then have you met our daughter-in-law?”
“I have. She’s good.”
“That’s great. Come home for dinner tonight. I’ll call both kids back, and you can have a good talk with Xinglan. A Lin, what dish do you want to eat?”
“Can’t make it back. Sorry. An emergency came up in Nanfeng City. I need to go deal with it.”
Su Yuening pouted, looking unusually disappointed.
“You finally get a break and come back once, honestly… Alright then, when you’re done, remember to find time to come back. Both kids and I miss you.”
“Since you can’t come back, at least give me a kiss before hanging up, right?”
For someone with such a cold attitude, Su Yuening’s request seemed bound to be rejected.
But after a few seconds of silence, the other end let out a short “mwah,” then hung up.
Su Yuening smiled and looked at the wedding photo of them both on the desk.
Inside the Hidden Bone Hall, Delta finished replying to the Astrologer’s message, rubbed her brow, and got up to leave her office.
As she walked through, the stray papers and reports in the room were lightly stirred by her white lab coat.
The room door slid open automatically to both sides, revealing a vast, magnificent building interior.
A circular corridor encircled the huge, cold white light in the center.
One glance showed countless floors. Various sounds echoed within the Hidden Bone Hall.
“Busy” seemed to be the keyword for this space.
“Lady Delta.”
“Good day, Lady Delta.”
Delta walked briskly. Every researcher she passed bowed to greet her. Delta’s pace wasn’t slowed.
Soon, she stood before a massive mechanical door labeled “Restricted Area – No Entry.”
After the password, fingerprint scan, and iris scan, the mechanical door slowly opened to both sides.
First, she changed into a lab coat in the changing room, then passed through a disinfection chamber, and finally walked down a corridor.
When the triple automatic door opened, the scene inside the lab finally appeared before Delta.
Various instruments, equipment, magical devices, and magical runes that seemed out of place in this environment were everywhere.
The lab personnel looked very busy. Delta walked straight to a researcher at a counter.
The sample bottle the researcher held clearly had a label reading “Meteorite Debris – 01.”
In the center of the lab was a huge cylindrical culture vessel. A massive, black mass—impossible to tell if it was mist or solid—floated inside.
“How is the experimental subject’s data lately?”
“Very successful, Lady Delta! This subject has indeed shown many new phenomena, but this is the most successful attempt we’ve had!”
The researcher’s tone was less excited and more… fanatical.
“Mm. I’ll leave it in your capable hands. Let me know immediately if anything seems off.”
“Yes, Lady Delta!”
Delta looked again at the massive culture vessel. The unidentified black mass inside was faintly “trembling.”
“Trembling” might not be the right word—rather, it was rhythmically “expanding” and “contracting,” like a beating heart.
And with that rhythmic motion, a continuous, slow, but steady thump echoed through the lab.
……