Partnership

"Don't worry, I understand! I completely understand!" Catching his drift, the Hierophant waved his hand without the slightest hesitation. Everything Ji Jue had previously checked off on the manifest was delivered straight before him, packed neatly into crates. Seeing that Ji Jue still wore that same placid smile without even batting an eyelash, the Hierophant gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly, though the smile on his face only grew more cordial. "Brother, you forgot to take these last time, didn't you? So I had them brought over especially for you. I couldn't very well take your goods for nothing, now could I?" "Ah, how could I possibly accept such generosity?" "Come now, it's just a small token of regard, a tiny courtesy!" "In that case, I'll shamelessly accept." Without an ounce of embarrassment, Ji Jue waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to load the crates onto the vehicle. Then, he produced yet another requisition list. "As for these supplies, I'll have to trouble you to expend a bit of effort." The Hierophant's expression twitched as he glanced at the quantities listed, his face nearly turning green. "This is a bit..." "It's hardly anything. Just a matter of changing hands, writing off an old, dilapidated batch as scrap due to lack of maintenance—why would it require any real trouble on your part?" Ji Jue leaned in, throwing an arm around his shoulder like an old friend. "Besides, some of the harder-to-get materials don't necessarily have to come from your stores." The Hierophant's eyes lit up. "You mean..." "Just point us in the right direction, and we'll go plunder them ourselves, won't we?" Ji Jue drew a circle on the map before them and murmured softly, "Look, if certain people have it rough, wouldn't you and I be able to live that much better?" For a moment, in the brief silence that followed, the smiles on both their faces radiated boundless warmth and harmony. They gazed at each other with mutual admiration and understanding, like long-lost brothers reunited after years apart. A hundred sacred seals had secured enough supplies to sustain everyone in the camp for years, alongside a generous stash of treasure maps detailing enemy garrison strengths and resource caches. On top of that, the Hierophant patted his chest, guaranteeing that the supplies on the requisition list would be delivered without fail before next month. Shedding all of his previous haughty detachment, he escorted Ji Jue all the way to the warehouse gates. Before parting, he gripped Ji Jue's hand, chatting amiably about anything and everything with tremendous zeal. Host and guest were delighted to the utmost. Only Yan Fei remained completely in the dark about what the two had been whispering and plotting. "Hmph, groveling like a dog," Yan Fei scoffed on the drive back. "Acting so high and mighty before, and now shamelessly kissing up and calling you brother. What an embarrassment." "No, he probably wants to eliminate us now," Ji Jue said slowly from the back seat, resting with his eyes lowered. Yan Fei blinked, stunned. "Huh?" "Next time at the latest—or rather, if he moves fast enough, an ambush is likely already waiting for us on the road home," Ji Jue stated decisively. "He can hardly hold back any longer." It couldn't be helped. The sacred seals worked, but they worked too well. So well that he was terrified. It was downright bloodcurdling. As the first customer to experience the horrifying efficiency the sacred seals offered, how could he fail to realize the immense profit and influence lurking behind them? After Ji Jue ignored his indirect prodding and recruitment attempts, the Hierophant had likely steeled his resolve to seize total control over this power, no matter the cost. Whether out of greed to monopolize it, or fear of the risks involved, he was forced to make a move. If Ji Jue were in his shoes, he would have made the exact same decision without hesitation. By the same token, he would be cautious to an extreme, treading with absolute care to prevent any leak or exposure of secrets to outsiders. In a world where death did not exist, keeping secrets was extraordinarily difficult. He could only entrust the job to confidants he truly trusted. *Wait, no—* *...Is that why he demanded so many sacred seals in one go?* Ji Jue's brow arched slightly, an epiphany striking him, and he couldn't help but marvel in silent praise—in such a short time, that man had actually invented a brand-new method for silencing witnesses and conducting interrogations! As long as the fully automatic prayer machines were affixed to a body, they operated twenty-four hours a day. The more attached, the faster the extraction. A hundred sacred seals were more than enough to completely shatter a person's self-nature in short order, draining them into an insensate, mindless husk! It could even serve to pad his quota of faith along the way... That way, once Ji Jue was captured, there would be no fear of failing to wring out the secrets behind the sacred seals. Human creativity was truly inexhaustible! "Tsk—" Yan Fei's face instantly contorted with rage. "I'll go kill him right now!" "Why kill him?" Ji Jue asked, bemused. The youth was dumbfounded once more. "B-but... he..." "Why are you angry?" Ji Jue asked again, leaving him at a total loss for words as he stammered, "Isn't it because of him? That bastard wants to..." "Wants to betray us?" Ji Jue laughed and looked at him. "Shouldn't 'trust' be a prerequisite for betrayal? If you feel anger over this, doesn't that prove you placed trust and expectations in that kind of scum? "Clearly, the fault lies with you, doesn't it?" Yan Fei choked, unsure of how to respond. His face flushed crimson as his grip on the steering wheel creaked in helpless fury. When he heard "ten more problem sets on mechanics of materials when we get back" float from the back seat, his rage burned even hotter. And right at the height of his indignation, out on the wilderness beyond the ridge ahead, rows of armored vehicles lined up with heavily armed Faith Guards, waiting in strict formation. An inescapable dragnet had been cast. The brakes were slammed down hard. "Mr. Ji..." "Mm." Ji Jue unscrewed his pen cap. "Now, you may get angry." In that instant, a smile finally appeared on the youth's face in the driver's seat. So genuine. Carefully pushing open the car door, he shut it with gentle precision. Then, as if every shackle binding him had been shattered, he marched step by step toward the waiting ranks of the Faith Guard. The grin on his face curled wider and wider, stretching until it nearly reached behind his neck. As his jaw unhinged, rows of razor-sharp, steel-like silver fangs emerged from the cavernous maw. So ravenous. With every stride forward, his pace quickened! "Fire! Fire!!" A sudden wave of bone-deep chill washed over the Hierophant's confidant among the Faith Guard. Casting aside the Hierophant's instructions and warnings entirely, he roared, "Kill that heretic!!!" The Faith Guards squeezed their triggers without hesitation. Amid the deafening gunfire, the youth's forehead snapped back under the impact, his neck bending at a grotesque angle. Yet he did not topple backward. Millimeter by millimeter, against the torrential onslaught of bullets, his head wrenched back into place. The sound of tearing metal rang out. Beneath the relentless barrage, the flimsy guise was finally torn away. From unfolding wings of steel, sharp iron feathers unfurled one after another. The moment the final constraint shattered, the youth vanished. In his place, a steel demon towering over three meters tall vaulted into the sky! Relying purely on its colossal mass, it soared into the air, only to plummet straight back down. Like a falling meteorite. The earth-shattering crash threw up violent shockwaves, unleashing a torrential squall of countless steel feathers into the churning air like a razor storm. A single, effortless flap of its wings stirred a savage tempest of steel. With the shrill screech of rending armor, heavy plating crumpled like tissue beneath iron talons. Tearing through the obstacles ahead as easily as ripping up scrap cardboard, it cleaved the barricade in two. Amid booming laughter, the steel demon reached out, scooping up a terror-stricken Faith Guard and hoisting him aloft. The screaming guard struggled frantically, aiming his weapon at the demon's face and holding down the trigger. Then he saw the demon grin once more, snapping its jaws shut to bite off more than half of the submachine gun. After crunching the metal to powder, it drew a deep breath. *—Ptooey!!!* A blistering deluge of white-hot molten iron spewed forth, instantly engulfing the Faith Guard and turning him into a raging human torch. Immediately after, the steel wings swept horizontally like colossal blades, shearing through the vehicles ahead and bisecting the men inside in a single stroke. Amid fountains of blood, the demon tirelessly lifted its foot, stomping everything in its path to smithereens, blow after blow! Methodically and unhurriedly, it ripped one enemy after another into shreds. Long before the halfway mark, the Faith Guards had broken completely, fleeing in frantic disarray. Yet he hunted them down one by one, cackling wildly as he ground them into paste. At last, an absolute silence settled over the wilderness. Only Yan Fei remained, stamping again and again upon the dismembered remains beneath his feet. Indefatigable in his delight. Only when he sensed the gaze directed from inside the vehicle did he freeze. Sheepishly retracting his monstrous form, he jogged back toward the car. Covered in blood and caked in gore, he looked for all the world like a brat who had waited until his parents weren't looking to jump headlong into a mud puddle, leaving Ji Jue utterly exasperated. "Done playing?" "...Mm." Yan Fei nodded guiltily. "The shovel's in the back. Clean up your own mess." Ji Jue reminded him expressionlessly, "Scattered here and there... If you miss a single scrap of salvageable material, add one more test on structural mechanics." "Oh..." Yan Fei slouched despondently, grabbing the shovel and trudging toward the carnage, only to hear a voice from behind him. "And—" Ji Jue was looking down, jotting notes on the performance test just concluded, and didn't even look up as he added, "—well done." "Ah? Oh, right!" Yan Fei kept his head down, desperately suppressing the urge for his lips to curl into a grin. "It was just so-so, honestly. I barely broke a sweat." Even as he said it, the bounce in his step as he set to work grew visibly exuberant... *Just a kid after all,* Ji Jue shook his head. Far too easy to appease. As for the Hierophant, news of the total annihilation of his forces reached him... an hour later. "...I... I understand." The hand holding the receiver trembled violently as he strained to keep his voice steady. "These overreaching heretics are becoming bolder by the day. Investigate thoroughly! Investigate at once! "We cannot spare a single traitor who dares disturb the peace of our parish!" Hanging up the phone, all strength seemed to drain from his body. He collapsed limp into his chair, drenched in cold sweat. In the lingering daze that followed, he tried several times to push himself up, only to collapse back onto the seat. Until his unfocused gaze finally caught sight of the small box that had mysteriously appeared on his office desk. In an instant, it was as if lightning had struck him. Scrambling and tumbling, he nearly fled the office in a panic. But just as he burst through the doorway to scream for help, realization suddenly hit him. His jaw fell open, yet not a sound escaped. He froze rigid on the spot. Numerous subordinates looked over in bewilderment, some curious, others deferential. As they moved to approach, they saw his face flush crimson before erupting in fury: "What are you staring at?! Faith contributions this month are already close to dipping below the average! Are you all so idle? Get out there and preach, every last one of you!" Only after venting his rage upon his subordinates did he retreat into his office and lock the door firmly behind him. Summoning whatever scrap of courage remained, he finally picked up the box and opened it. In that instant, the shriek rising in his throat was choked dead. The box slipped from his hands and hit the floor. A round object coated in crimson rolled out. The trusted confidant he had dispatched had returned—as nothing more than a severed head. Though consciousness lingered and life had not yet departed, there was no screaming, nor any wailing. Within those hollow eyes shone a bliss and ecstasy as though he had ascended to the heavenly kingdom, even while his face was already half-dissolved. His agape mouth was crammed full of densely packed sacred seals. His jaw continued to open and shut without pause. Relaying the final message from the other side. "We must be partners for a lifetime... don't you forget..." The confidant giggled foolishly, repeating it over and over: "Partners for a lifetime... partners forever... forever... partners..."