It was because of Cecilia?

Say it‍‌⁠‍‌​‍⁠​‍​​‌⁠​⁠​‌‌⁠‌⁠‍⁠ two times more?

Jiang Ci was completely helpless against Huo Xianfeng’s strange sense of humor, but it seemed like spending so much time with him had thickened Jiang Ci’s own skin. So, without any hesitation or mental burden, he called out:

“Xiao Huo-gege, Xiao Huo-gege? Can you delete it now?”

Huo Xianfeng coughed lightly, suppressing the smile tugging at his lips.

“One last question.”

He waved the controller in front of Jiang Ci and leaned down close with an almost oppressive presence.
“Do you prefer fast or slow, light or heavy?”

Jiang Ci: “…”

He had clearly underestimated Huo Xianfeng’s shamelessness.

And this… this kind of question—how the hell was he supposed to answer it???

But Huo Xianfeng insisted on getting an answer.
“You’re asking to delete the teaching material, so shouldn’t you at least provide some feedback?”

“…”

The Major General stiffened for a long moment before finally leaning toward Huo Xianfeng and whispering a few quick words into his ear.

“Oh~”

Snap!

Satisfied with the answer, Huo Xianfeng kept his promise and tossed the controller to Jiang Ci. Without wasting a second, Jiang Ci quickly opened it, found the file, and proceeded to thoroughly destroy all traces of it.

Deleting a video file only takes a few seconds, but to be safe, Jiang Ci checked it over and over again. He confirmed that Huo Xianfeng hadn’t saved a backup, no data had been transferred, and there were only two playback records: once in the morning and once just now.

“Hah…”
Jiang Ci finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Huo Xianfeng, despite his wicked sense of humor, was reliable in these matters. Although his personality was a bit unpleasant, he knew where to draw the line.

“Feel better now?”

“…”

Jiang Ci looked up and saw that Huo Xianfeng had unknowingly moved to the window. He was lazily seated in a chair, flipping through the investigation report on He Zhun.

But it seemed this question didn’t require Jiang Ci’s response, as Huo Xianfeng immediately brought up another topic.
“Pull up the videos your mother left last night. I noticed that in He Zhun’s profile, He Qichu’s fake-death escape during the coup happened in the same year as your mother’s recordings.”

“…Is there something wrong with that?”

The abrupt shift in topic caught Jiang Ci off guard, and he didn’t immediately grasp its significance. Besides—
“Didn’t my uncle say that back then, he sought He Qichu’s help, which exposed him and led to…?”

“—But that coup was twenty-eight years ago.”

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This meant Jiang Ci’s age didn’t match the timeline of the videos.

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Jiang Ci froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something. He quickly nodded.
“I’ll have Xiao X transfer the data packet—it’ll take about two minutes!”

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While they waited, Huo Xianfeng gazed at the ruins outside and suddenly spoke.

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Jiang Ci walked over and sat beside him.

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Jiang Ci understood this well.
“The teachers and I have managed to repair most of the central temple’s mainframe, so it can block satellite surveillance. We’ve also roughly pinpointed the location of the Holy Relic White Tower. However, we tested Bright City’s energy barrier, and our current ammunition and weapons can’t break through it.”

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“—It’s too passive.”

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Information was critical. In war, it could sometimes be even more valuable than raw power.

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“For now, I need to figure out two things. First, how exactly Huo Chao managed to give me new life. And second, what kind of trump card the Illusory God Church has been preparing all this time.”

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Beep—

Bai Ze suddenly spoke up: “A-Ci, the data packet has been sent over.”

“Play it.”

The next moment, Cecilia’s face appeared on the projection, followed by Bai Min’s.

Watching it for the second time, Jiang Ci’s attention wasn’t solely on his mother this time but extended to the background, clothing, and every little detail. A few minutes later, he noticed the timestamp in the top right corner of the video.

“Pause—”

Jiang Ci blinked slowly and focused on the timestamp in the top right corner. It was exactly as Huo Xianfeng had said—

“The timing doesn’t add up.”

“Indeed. The pregnancy duration, the dates, and your age don’t match.”

Huo Xianfeng and Jiang Ci exchanged glances, and ten minutes later, they were back in the Legion Commander’s office. Huo Xianfeng wanted to know why Zhou Jiuya hadn’t mentioned this discrepancy earlier, but he quickly got his answer—

“Because your father instructed me not to reveal the details of Bai Min’s death to you. That’s why, when I brought up He Qichu and the rescue plan earlier, I only mentioned it briefly.”

Zhou Jiuya hadn’t expected Bai Min to leave behind so many videos. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke:
“…The timestamps on the videos aren’t wrong. The one-year discrepancy exists because… your mother couldn’t deliver you normally.”

“She couldn’t deliver me normally…”

Jiang Ci froze.
“What does that mean?”

After a moment of hesitation, Zhou Jiuya explained:
“Your father’s plan was extremely thorough—he had spent over a decade preparing for it, and my role was to handle the reception. Everything was going smoothly, but your mother’s apostle—an omega named Cecilia—sold us to the Church. I was ambushed by Leinster and couldn’t make it to the rendezvous point in time. Bai Min was captured and taken back.”

“…When we arrived to rescue her, it was too late. We saw her… saw Cecilia slice her abdomen open and forcibly remove you, who hadn’t yet reached full term.”

The scene had been too horrific for even Zhou Jiuya to fully process.

Cecilia had hugged the bloodied, crying infant in her left arm while gripping a knife in her right. She was covered in blood, showing no sadness—only a hysterical, maniacal laugh.

It was like a deranged demon.

“…”

Jiang Ci was stunned.

“You were premature, infected by the Holy Stigmata from the maternal body, and barely survived. Your father had no choice but to seek He Qichu’s help. After over a year of treatment, you finally recovered. To make things appear normal, your official age was adjusted to be a year younger.”

Jiang Ci grasped the implication.

A premature infant infected by the Holy Stigmata shouldn’t have survived. But because Jiang Ci, who wasn’t supposed to live, had survived, the Church noticed He Qichu’s involvement.

“So my mother’s death…”

After a moment of silence, his voice was hoarse.
“…was because of Cecilia?”