The Void Gate District was situated at the northernmost edge of Nabistin, a vast expanse of open land temporarily allocated by the Yisu Imperial Family for the permanent Void Gate. Back then, having no clear concept of the gate's performance or its ripple effects—and with the Star Decree merely noting to "set the permanent Void Gate at the nation's logistics hub"—Annan had chosen to build it within Nabistin's administrative boundaries. As it turned out, that decision had been somewhat wasteful. The permanent Void Gate brought colossal foot traffic and regional advantages; in Nabistin, this was merely icing on the cake, but in any lesser-developed region, it would have been enough to revitalize every surrounding city.
When Yaxiu and the others arrived by car, they were greeted by a new metropolis even more bustling than Nabistin's city center, vibrant and bursting with life. Sky trains laden with imported and domestic goods linked every corner of the country to this hub, like the nation's blood vessels.
"This place will become the new heart of Gospel," Annan remarked. "It will recast Gospel into a new nation."
"Must feel like quite an achievement for you, doesn't it?" Yaxiu smiled. "A new nobility, a new bourgeoisie... Painting over an already crowded canvas is a hassle, but if a fresh blank space opens up within the painting, changing the old piece with new colors becomes vastly simpler. You only need to grasp the throat that is the permanent Void Gate, and it's enough to rewrite Gospel's entire landscape."
"You understand so well. Care to join me in changing the world?"
"Hey, hey!" Diya squeezed between them, her face lined with irritation. "Have you two forgotten there's an actual empress with real power standing right here?"
"If you know you're the Empress, stop running around!" Annan pulled Diya into a suffocating embrace, gnashing her teeth. "Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to manage government affairs while also delving into sorcery? Just yesterday, I found a hair had fallen out—and it's all your fault!"
"Then don't delve into sorcery! You're already a legendary sorcerer, isn't that enough?!"
"I intend to become an angel one day, you know. Managing a kingdom that has existed for thousands of years comes with far too many constraints. I want to try creating my dream Kingdom of Heaven from scratch."
"Oh?!" Diya's eyes sparkled. "Annan, do you want to be my angel?"
Annan blinked and averted her gaze. "...Maybe."
"You want to be Yaxiu's angel?" Sonia asked calmly.
"If one could follow the supreme sorcerer..." Annan arched an eyebrow. "I doubt any girl in this world could turn down that temptation."
"Sounds like more than just being an angel."
"Because I'd like to be a thoughtful angel who handles every single trouble for my lord."
Weise remarked leisurely, "Not just any demigod can earn the favor to become an angel, though. If you do ascend to demigod one day, we'll need to review whether you possess the qualities, competence, and character to govern a Kingdom of Heaven. And if you pass all of that..."
She linked arms with Sonia and Vichy, tilting her head with a smile. "In the end, you'll just have to defeat either a college girl or a maid to qualify to follow Yaxiu!"
A college girl—who had recently driven two Law Angels back to heaven. A maid—a brutal terror whose evil deeds had piled high for thousands of years.
Annan said, "...It seems Supreme Fanxing is the only one in this world qualified to be Yaxiu's angel, then."
Yaxiu added, "...Either way, I wouldn't qualify myself."
"Annan, you really don't want to be my angel?" Diya looked utterly shocked. "I thought you'd want to follow a wise empress like me forever."
"Yaxiu," Annan pressed a hand to her forehead, "it's definitely your fault she's gotten this silly! She was quite clever back in Gospel!"
"I'm sorry..." Yaxiu lowered his head in contrite surrender. "It's all my fault for not teaching her well..."
"Yaxiu, don't apologize so solemnly!" Diya pulled herself free from Annan's embrace in a huff, clung to Yaxiu's arm, and stuck her tongue out at the Chief Witch.
Annan remembered something. "Right, communications are now open across the five nations. Let me transfer part of the administrative affairs to you remotely. You have the Gospel God anyway, so there won't be any information gap. Otherwise, Gospel will soon forget all about you—nowadays everyone only knows the Witch, not the Empress."
"No way! We're on vacation next, work strictly forbidden!" Diya shook her head vigorously. "Having to work while everyone else is playing... just the thought makes me feel so miserable. I'm leaving Gospel in your hands. Try not to break it, and even if you do break it, don't notify me!"
The Chief Witch retorted irritably, "Diya, you'll regret this."
The Witch giggled. "Annan, I am the Empress."
Beside them, Qinna suddenly spoke up. "Time's up."
Across the spacious plaza, the outline of the permanent Void Gate lit up with shifting hues of an aurora. The curtain of the gate rippled like the surface of a lake, revealing a view of Star Bridge Hall. Annan said, "One final check of your luggage. You haven't forgotten anything, right?"
Yaxiu touched his spatial ring. "Nothing."
"Really nothing?"
With her hands clasped behind her back, Annan leaned forward slightly, flashing a dazzling, sweet smile, a trace of baby fat lingering on her cheeks. "Such as a Purple Moth who once exchanged a first kiss with you?"
A sudden shudder ran through the sorcerers around the Void Gate. An overwhelming dread seized their hearts, their sorcery mana trembled, and their sorcery spirits cowered, as if several unimaginable monsters had descended upon the plaza—the mere leakage of their malice was enough to drown the onlookers' rational defenses. Yet the terror passed as quickly as it had arrived, leaving behind nothing more than a cold sweat.
Annan took a step back with a smile. "Have a wonderful vacation."
"Yeah," Yaxiu waved. "We're off!"
"Goodbye Annan, Qinna, Nona!" Diya waved energetically, taking Yaxiu's arm as they walked toward the Void Gate. The others said their polite farewells as well, though the smiles on Sword Princess and the other girls looked somewhat forced through gritted teeth.
Watching the mortal realm's peak combat force depart Gospel, Qinna crossed her arms, leaned close to her daughter, and asked, "Is this really fine? Letting him leave without anything happening?"
"My business is none of your concern."
"Next time, let Nona and me help you," the elven matriarch said, licking her lips with a soft chuckle. "It'll certainly be a lot of fun."
"Qinna!" Nona scolded her sister in annoyance, then paused. Seeing that Annan hadn't rebutted the idea, she couldn't help stammering, "Annan, y-y-you don't actually want to try, do you?!"
"Even if I were willing, I'd have to clear those four hurdles," Annan said, narrowing her eyes. "Except for Her Majesty the Empress, any one of the other three hurdles could easily stop us. The reason nothing happened these past few days was because I couldn't even make it past the door."
"That is a bit troublesome..." Qinna mused. "Still, the crux of the matter is Yaxiu himself. If the inside decides to surrender, what point is there in a fortress outside being impenetrable? And as for Yaxiu... I feel that if we just slip in while he's taking a bath, we can resolve all our problems. Our silver tongues would be more than enough to reduce him to utter defeat."
"There is no 'we'!" Nona snapped in vexation.
"Persuading surrender doesn't suit me," Annan said. "A politician like me, visibly full of schemes, would be gunned down outside the fortress as a spy before ever stepping foot in the inner city.
"Only a sincere lobbyist can dismantle internal resistance without lifting a finger."
It was only because parting was at hand that Annan hadn't been able to resist taking a few snide jabs at Sword Princess and the others. Throughout the past half month, however, Annan had remained exceedingly well-behaved, raising no complaints even when she had no chance to get close to Yaxiu, because she understood her standing very well—in Yaxiu's heart, she could not compare to the four of them.
Clashing with Sword Princess and the others offered her zero benefit, and Annan certainly didn't believe she could gain the upper hand anyway. As much as Sword Princess and the others appeared to bicker and jostle among themselves, the moment an outsider tried to squeeze in, they would instantly present a united front against the new player—just like passengers who, once on board, promptly locked the bus doors behind them.
Annan knew she couldn't compete with them, but she had no need to. All she had to do was follow behind the next person, and she could easily hop aboard this bus.
Still...
*I just hope Yaxiu doesn't get worn completely to pieces by the time he leaves Blood Moon,* Annan thought.
Chapter 1250