Supporters of the Apocalypse

*Smack!* The white-haired little girl took a hard fall flat onto the floor, the jump rope wrapped around her legs, hurting enough that tears welled in her eyes. Yaxiu fought back a laugh as he went over and pulled Lisi aside to treat her scrapes. "This is the first time I've ever seen a little goofball wipe out jumping rope... Does it really hurt that much?" Lisi buried herself in his arms without a word, her body trembling slightly. Yaxiu glanced at the sea witches, thinking that while these sirens weren't ugly, they were certainly a far cry from the classic image of mermaids. At the very least, mermaids shouldn't have serrated teeth or bloodshot pupils. It was only natural for a child to be frightened... Conveniently, Yaxiu didn't enjoy exercising either, so he slacked off under the pretext of looking after the child. The sea witches glanced at them. Though they knew the Demon Lord, Purple Moth, Rust Crow, and Ghost King would be coming, they had no idea who was who. After all, the Funeral members were all cloaked and masked, leading the sea witches to assume this adult and child pair were merely mascots brought along to make up the numbers in the doomsday party. Annan also drew her gaze back from Yaxiu and Lisi, turning toward Helaifeisi and slowly shaking her head. "Impossible." "The Isu princess has always been the greatest secret of the Isu royal family—even more critical than the Empress herself. This is the very foundation that has allowed the Isu Dynasty to govern the Gospel for over five centuries, and the greatest indulgence granted by the Omniscient Weaver." "Before a succession of the Empress takes place, no one on the outside can obtain any information about the Isu princess. Her appearance, age, measurements, hobbies, even her residence... If anyone could get their hands on intelligence regarding the princess, someone would inevitably try every means possible to 'replicate' a princess in order to seize the First Gospel and the divine wish!" "Indeed." Helaifeisi nodded. "Across the 1,668 years of Gospel history, every single dynastic change has stemmed from the First Gospel changing hands. The Elf Dynasty that flourished for centuries, the Dragonborn Dynasty that fell after five generations, the Kindling Dynasty with its countless ruins... Whenever a ruler diverged from the First Gospel, the dynasty was doomed to fall. Conversely, only by winning over the First Gospel was there any hope of a dynasty enduring." "Although historical records are largely missing, the sirens' heritage still reveals that earlier dynasties could not directly 'produce' the First Gospel. Back then, the First Gospel might have been a merchant's daughter, a noble's daughter, the descendant of a sorcerer, or even a crippled beggar or a born slave... But regardless of her identity, the moment she became the First Gospel, her will was the destiny of the Gospel." "When the First Gospel descends, all rebellious subjects shall perish. Those dynasties that attempted to oppose, betray, or diverge from the First Gospel often disintegrated in rapid succession, swallowed up by the river of history, incapable of lasting until the next Weaving Ceremony arrived." "The Elven Saintess, the contemporary Dragonborn, the Kindling successor... Every powerful dynasty reserved the supreme seat for the First Gospel, or even directly revered the First Gospel as ruler, willingly submitting in service to her." "Yet even with concessions on that scale, no dynasty was ever eternal," the sea witch said. "More than one First Gospel held dual roles, serving not only as the supreme ruler of the former dynasty, but going on to become the empress of the new... They would coordinate with rebel armies from within and without, igniting the tottering wooden cabin of the old regime to serve as the spring thaw of a new dynasty." "Now, however, an eternal dynasty has been born. The Isu Dynasty, stretching on for nearly eight centuries, has seen every single generation of its empresses serve as the First Gospel. The dynasty's lifespan is already twice that of the Elf Dynasty. Were it not for this abrupt apocalypse, I would have no doubt that the Isu Dynasty would endure all the way until..." Helaifeisi paused. "So Purple Moth, you are right. There is absolutely no way the Isu royal family would let slip the slightest whisper about the princess. The moment everyone learns her traits, the First Gospel will change hands, triggering a dynastic shift." "That is, provided the Isu royal family doesn't want us to know the princess's information." Purple Moth caught on immediately. "The imperial palace leaked it deliberately?" "As early as the night the Art Board was announced, countless people came to us sirens asking whether something had happened to the princess," Helaifeisi said with a smile. "Throughout the seven-plus centuries the Isu Dynasty has ruled the Gospel, there was no lack of natural and man-made disasters along the way—Void Realm incursions, Abyss riots, meteor showers—yet every single time, the Isu Empress perfectly neutralized every catastrophe by relying on the Gospel." "Therefore, in their eyes, the greatest prerequisite for the arrival of the apocalypse is that in the future, there is no longer an Isu Empress." The sea witch bobbed in the water. "Taking that thought one step further, it means an accident has already befallen the next Empress—the current princess—which is why the Gospel wove such a future. In fact, I found it quite strange that you, Purple Moth, only came to ask us this crucial question now." "Wait." Igola, who had been listening silently the entire time, suddenly spoke up. "There's an issue here. Regardless of whether something happened to the princess, the First Gospel will ultimately be chosen. The princess doesn't actually matter. As long as the Isu Empress transfers the throne to the First Gospel and lets her rule the realm, wouldn't that overturn the apocalypse?" Harvey asked, "Could it be that the Isu Empress is unwilling?" "Impossible," Igola said. "According to what you've described, this so-called 'First Gospel' is not a human being at all, but a deified entity. These dynastic changes you speak of are likely just the First Gospel discovering that the entrenched interests of the ruling class have become an insurmountable burden, actively impeding societal progress, and so she tears everything down to start over, turning a new page in history through regime change..." "The most direct proof is that if the Isu Empress possessed any sort of 'selfish bias,' she wouldn't even be willing to abdicate to the princess, let alone an outsider. Yet according to the historical records, the imperial succession every fifty years has never encountered a hitch, nor has there ever been a single unfavorable rumor about an Empress. If not for how solemnly you all swear to it, I would have thought the Isu Empress was nothing more than a religious figure you invented." "Rust Crow, is it? Truly worthy of the Foremost Schemer." Helaifeisi looked at Igola with great admiration. "You are right. Although the board doesn't list it, it is universally acknowledged that the reward for the First Gospel is granting supreme authority over the Gospel system—she can even listen to the Gospel free of charge. But the cost is that she must forever maintain kindness, innocence, universal love, and other virtuous qualities. As such, the First Gospel has never craved power, only ever considering matters from the perspective of society as a whole." "The fallen Elf and Dragonborn Dynasties both had rumors of the First Gospel meeting setbacks while pushing reforms, prompting the First Gospel to directly rebel." "Then that settles it," Igola said. "If it were someone else's dynasty, deep-rooted vested interests might indeed exist. But from beginning to end, the Isu Dynasty has remained under the First Gospel's control. Even if the throne were passed to an outsider, there shouldn't be any obstacles." "In other words, even if the princess dies, the Gospel will still welcome its new Empress. The apocalypse woven by the Future Board is already the best outcome the next Empress could achieve within her power." The sea witch stared blankly at Igola, and Annan fixed her eyes on the swindler as well. The lively, cheerful atmosphere of casual conversation in the meeting room suddenly froze solid. Though Yaxiu didn't know what had just happened, he keenly sensed the young miss's displeasure. He took Lisi over to the space between them to do push-ups—he handled the push-ups, while Lisi sat on his back acting cute to ease the tension. Igola and Annan glanced at Yaxiu, and the tension eased slightly. The young miss said, "Rust Crow, do you want to handle this negotiation?" "I merely wish to remind you, Young Miss, that your original negotiation plan can no longer keep up with the changes," Igola said. "From the moment the sirens knew we were coming, keeping your true objective hidden became impossible. Rather than beating around the bush, being upfront is far better. Honesty is the most practical skill in a negotiation." "To think I would actually hear such words from Rust Crow's mouth. At this rate, I wouldn't even be surprised if the Demon Lord announced he wanted to save the world next," Helaifeisi chuckled. "So, do you truly want to kill the future First Gospel so that Purple Moth can obtain the divine wish?" The sirens really had deduced it! Or rather, knowing that Annan had come to Nabistin to purchase intelligence, they had already deduced her objective from the start. Annan was by no means the first to desire the divine wish; before her, countless factions had tried to seize the greatest reward of the Weaving Ceremony. Organizations like the sirens had long since dissected the rules of the Weaving Ceremony inside and out, making Annan nothing more than a modern thief crawling through the tunnels dug by her predecessors. Now that the Weaving Ceremony's bizarre anomalies had left Annan as the sole seeded contender, how could the sirens, as intelligence brokers, fail to connect the dots and realize Purple Moth intended to play dirty outside the rules? Looking back now, the fact that Helaifeisi had asked right off the bat whether they wanted information on the princess was an outright probe! Annan extended her hand toward Igola, signaling the transfer of lead negotiator status. Igola didn't stand on ceremony at all, addressing the sea witch, "Indeed. Furthermore, our assassination of the princess is precisely the future you desire." "Why would you say that? I hold no grudge against the Isu royal family." "No, but you hold a grudge against a stable society." The swindler fixed his eyes on the First Sea Witch. "Am I right, 'Chaos Witch' Helaifeisi?" "Just because I will cultivate the Chaos faction in the future, you conclude that I'm an anti-social deviant?" Helaifeisi suddenly submerged into the pool, twirled about, and surfaced soaking wet, her moist gaze turning sharp enough to drill straight into Igola's eye sockets. "Isn't that a bit too arbitrary?" Igola's expression didn't change as he kept pumping away on the elliptical. "You aren't anti-society. You are anti-terrestrial society. Or rather, the sirens are a race that despises the land-dwellers' society." The expressions of the Ten Sea Witches shifted drastically, as though Igola's words had leapt out and slapped them across the face. Just as the atmosphere grew tense once more, Helaifeisi raised a hand and stared somberly at the swindler. "Oh?" "Look at this place." Igola gestured around the room. "Sumptuous carpets, bright lights, exquisite carved pillars, utterly lavish decor... If no one pointed it out, who would ever guess this is a sewer?" "Look at yourselves. An intelligence syndicate spanning the entire Gospel, the undisputed monarchs of the underworld, the mermaids hailed as the Shadow Court... If no one pointed it out, who would ever guess you are merely a pack of sirens forced to live in a sewer?" "At every moment, you yearn to dress yourselves up as mermaids. Yet unfortunately, you are nothing but sirens living in a sewer, keeping company with rats, cockroaches, and bedbugs." "Even if you possess astounding wealth and can discern the secrets of the world, you will never obtain the status that should accompany it." "Therefore, you are the greatest supporters of the apocalypse," Igola said. "Only when the era of chaos descends will you have the opportunity to leave this filthy sewer and establish your ideal watery paradise upon the land." "Wait." Harvey asked curiously, "If they don't want to live in the sewers, why don't they go live in the ocean or in lakes?" "Because we are intelligence brokers," Helaifeisi said calmly. "To trade intelligence, we must remain in the heart of the cities; to conduct clandestine transactions, we must remain in the city's shadows. Perhaps it was born of circumstantial necessity at first, but later it turned into a convention we had no choice but to follow. The sewers became our only option." Yaxiu couldn't help asking, "Then couldn't you just stop being intelligence brokers and make a living by developing lake and ocean resources instead? Isn't that your racial advantage?" "Humanity's racial advantage is farming. Is farming your dream career?" The sea witch sneered. "Sirens can leverage their prophetic talent to exploit the Gospel system with peak efficiency, reaping immense profits by selling intelligence. We have no reason, nor any possibility, to reject this gift—just as none of you could ever abandon using the Gospel... No one can defy their environment, let alone an environment mapped out by a god." "Rust Crow, you are indeed correct." Helaifeisi turned to Igola. "From the day the Art Board was announced, we couldn't wait to welcome the arrival of the apocalypse." Although he had long suspected the sirens' malicious motives from various subtle clues, the sea witches' prompt cooperation actually made Igola suspicious. "You desire the arrival of chaos that desperately? Aren't you afraid that far from seizing the moment to rise up, you'll be completely swallowed up by the tides of the apocalypse?" Helaifeisi smiled. "Have you ever heard of the List of the Unconnected?"