Rocky chuckled.
“Lady Saintess, do you know what kind of people I like dealing with the most?”
Without waiting for her to speak, he beat her to the punch, answering his own question:
“The answer is… smart people! Because smart people usually know how to endure. They won’t easily throw caution to the wind out of desperation, they are flexible with their bottom lines, and they know how to compromise with an opponent at the right time.”
“Are you threatening me?”
Yuna’s elegant brows furrowed tightly as she stared straight at Rocky, her cherry-red lips opening and closing with a cold edge.
“Yes,” Rocky nodded simply, giving a blunt smile.
“Lady Saintess, the Hero is a kind man, but we are not. People like us will do anything to save our own lives.”
“For example?”
“We would lie to the Hero and tell him that you were the one who blew up all those dams. We would say the goal was to trick the Empire into allocating funds so you could pocket a massive fortune.”
Yuna sneered.
“Such a stupid rumor… do you really think the Hero would believe it?”
“Right now, of course not. But when he sees a land covered in floating corpses and desperately needs an object for his venting and hatred… he won’t be able to help but believe it.”
Rocky’s smile remained honest and blunt.
“Lady Saintess, I have a small question: if the Hero insists on killing you, will the Goddess protect you? Will the Holy See avenge you?”
Yuna arched an eyebrow, seizing the topic to feign a look of thunderous rage.
“How dare you! Who do you think you are? To dare recklessly discuss the Goddess! Are you not afraid of divine punishment descending to discipline your rebellious words?”
“Lady Saintess, don’t be in such a hurry. Calm down, calm down,” Rocky waved his hand at Yuna, gesturing for her to sit still while his tongue continued to wag efficiently.
“Look, you get this angry just because I alone am discussing the Goddess. This won’t do; you still need more practice, Lady Saintess.”
“What do you mean?”
Yuna’s heart tightened, a very bad premonition suddenly surging within her.
“The Thousand River Territory is so large; how could there be anything less than several million refugees? When the time comes and the Hero saves everyone, he only needs to raise his arm and call out for everyone to discuss the Goddess of Light together—discussing her vanity and hypocrisy, and how the Saintess she chose is just as wretched as she is…”
“Enough, enough! Stop! I give up! Just stop talking!”
Yuna propped her head up and covered her face, her fair little face filled with helplessness and resentment.
Just as Rocky had described a “smart person,” she took the initiative to compromise.
“It’s my fault. I agree. You people have such filthy hearts; you’ve completely corrupted Jon.”
“I knew the Lady Saintess was a smart person,” Rocky grinned.
“Helping the Lord Hero only pokes a few disgraceful holes in your path as a Saintess; but if you don’t help, we will find every possible way to make sure you can no longer be the Saintess at all.”
“But I am doing such a huge favor for Jon… I can’t do it for nothing, can I?”
Yuna quickly calmed her mind and began to smile, leaning her body forward slightly.
Her face, which had been cold and distant enough to keep people 1,000 miles away, now glowed with a soft, warm light under the lamplight.
The flush on her cheeks became increasingly charming and enticing.
Whether it was making a scene or getting angry, it was all meaningless.
Rather than becoming hysterical, it was better to take the opportunity to snatch some benefits for herself.
“Miss Yuna, you truly are a very smart businesswoman.”
Rocky unconsciously became dazed, even obsessed—this was the most beautiful and highest-status girl he had ever seen in his life.
Those bright, deep blue eyes were like the most mysterious lake in the world.
When his gaze met hers, Rocky’s heart pounded violently, and for a moment, a certain sense of courage, confidence, and even arrogance surged within him.
‘Maybe…’ he couldn’t help but think with delight, ‘maybe I really can be worthy of such a noble girl.’
But the coldness that flashed through Yuna’s eyes woke him up just in time.
“Don’t compare me to your kind,” Yuna said indifferently, her attitude neither distant nor close, neither cold nor hot.
Yet, Rocky felt his heart itch even more for some reason.
“Go back and tell Jon…”
Yuna stood up and picked up the *Goddess’s Prayer* from the cabinet, clutching it to her chest—this was the posture a nun took when seeing off a guest after a confession.
“I am willing to suffer for him, to sacrifice for him.”
She sighed softly as if pitying her own shadow, her tone sorrowful.
“But I also hope he can consider me a little more. I hope he won’t be so selfish and will show me more tenderness.”
“After returning to the Imperial Capital, my Uncle Robert, who raised me since I was a child, will likely arrange a private family dinner and invite him to grace us with his presence. I hope he won’t decline when the time comes… That is my condition.”
“Fine.”
Rocky pondered it.
With the Hero’s skills, he could barge into a dragon’s lair or a tiger’s den, let alone a mere family dinner.
So, he agreed on Jon’s behalf.
Seeing him agree, Yuna also breathed a sigh of relief.
At this point, she knew that if she didn’t use some extraordinary means, her plan to “marry the Hero” would likely fail 100%.
She wanted to make one last effort.
Even if it meant using those private, “dirty” methods that she had always looked down upon or even found disgusting…
—
The sound of rain pattered through the long night.
After Rocky finished the task his father had entrusted to him, he went outside the city gates to regroup with the other two.
Things at the City Guard Camp had also gone smoothly.
Several lieutenants from competing factions had scrambled to show their loyalty to the **Special Envoy**, all wanting to board a brand-new ship at this terrifying juncture.
The three returned to Hope Town.
Although the town was dark, people were constantly coming and going.
Everyone’s spirits were high as they buried their heads in diligent work.
The originally empty drill ground had unknowingly been filled with Pupus—pink, yellow, black, and occasionally miscellaneous colors.
The continuous sound of *guji-guji* echoed in her ears, enough to make one’s teeth ache, but to Leah, it was exceptionally beautiful music.
She moved through the Pupu crowd, looking for smaller pink Pupus to perform a **[Link]**, then conveniently transformed them into the form of the *Pink Demon* from *Kirby of the Stars*.
The “Queens” that had been transformed were all sent out to use Pupu fragrance to gather more companions nearby.
Soon, Hope Town was filled with Pupus.
With a legitimate reason, Leah didn’t hold back.
She directly asked “Grandpa Mayor” to have people move two boxes of magic crystals from the City Guard Camp’s logistics office to be used for constructing the command chain and compensating for the shipbuilding consumption.
At the same time, she used her “skilful hands” to pocket all the higher-grade magic crystals for herself.
Her main philosophy was “I cannot lose out.”
Transforming Pupus was truly a tedious and boring job, especially since the overall level of the “Queen Pupus” wasn’t high yet.
Only Leah and a few veteran Queens possessed this skill.
Leah could only fantasize while she worked: ‘How is that silly boy the Hero doing now?’
‘Is he about to cry because he found out he’s too small and powerless to save everyone on his own?’
‘It really is hard on him…’
To actually think he could save the entire world by his own strength alone.
Although extraordinary power made the gap between individuals massive, a person’s energy was ultimately limited, and the road of walking alone was especially lonely.
When she first crossed over, Leah had also thought that since she was in a world where one could cultivate, she would naturally become the strongest, the fiercest, and the most insane number one, and fight the entire damn world by herself.
But later… she found that the path of a lone king was truly lonely.
And the scope of one’s ability was also truly limited.
If you wanted to eat something, you had to buy it yourself; if you wanted to teach someone a lesson, you had to make a special trip to fight them yourself.
One turn of the head, and the person you wanted to protect was dead.
After a few years, all the beauty you were familiar with had changed beyond recognition.
So, she actually felt a faint pity for Jon, like someone who had “been there” before.
‘When I was lonely back then, no one was with me.’
‘Now, I shall show great mercy and kindly accompany you!’
‘Consider it a way to fulfill my own past regrets.’
‘Through your dream of cicadas chirping in the clear night.’
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