Grabbing the ankle

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“Lady Cecilia.”

Bishop Ace stood humbly outside the layers of pearl curtains, lowering his gaze.

“The boy surnamed He has arrived.”

“Mm…?”

Cecilia lay back in a massage bath, her bare shoulders glistening, pink curls drifting like lotus petals on the water’s surface. She opened her eyes lazily in the steamy warmth and her soft pink irises were dazed with a touch of drowsiness. Glancing at the time, she curled her red lips slightly.

“Quite on time. Let him in.”

“Yes.”

Ace complied without question, as though he found nothing odd about Cecilia inviting a male beta into her bath.

He Zhun entered, dressed as always in simple researcher attire: a white coat, rimless glasses, and a mask, his thin frame standing straight.

Seeing the scene in front of him, the handsome beta young man was slightly startled, taken aback to find Cecilia waiting for him like this.

Among the ranks of the Illusory God Church, only two Omegas had enough status not to be seen as playthings.

One was Lady Bai Min, the Saintess, aloof and icy like a snow lotus atop a mountain, seemingly untouchable. The other was her apostle, Cecilia, the other extreme, embodying beauty and desire, the ideal woman in any Alpha’s eyes.

In the bath, every strand of Cecilia’s hair seemed to embody the phrase “living enchantment.” Even without releasing pheromones, any alpha would likely have difficulty containing themselves before such a sight.

But after his eyes briefly touched her bare shoulder, He Zhun quickly lowered his gaze and respectfully greeted her.

“Lady Cecilia.”

Cecilia lifted her wet hand from the water, curling a finger at He Zhun in a gesture and tone one might use to call over a loyal pet.

“Come to Lia, Xiao Zhun.”

“…Understood.”

He Zhun pressed his lips together and walked closer. Only now, as he drew near, did he notice that the bath was filled with a milky liquid rather than water. His nose twitched slightly, discerning some of its ingredients.

—It seemed Cecilia had sustained serious injuries this time.

The liquid barely covered her chest, only occasionally revealing a tantalizing glimpse of her curves.

“Give me a massage.”

Cecilia looked up at him, her neck stretched to its limits, resembling a bird on the verge of death. She didn’t seem to mind her exposed skin being seen.

Her tone was lazy, exceedingly familiar, and intimate.

“This last mission to Bright City really wore me out.”

“Alright.”

He Zhun took out a pair of specialized lab gloves from his pocket, meticulously putting them on. The unique material fit his hands perfectly, not restricting his movement.

Once he was ready, he gently gathered up Cecilia’s hair, expertly securing it without a hair tie or pin.

“Huh?”

Cecilia looked surprised.

“You’re good at this, Xiao Zhun. Where’d you learn it?”

The young man’s expression was calm.

“Jiang Ci has long hair, too.”

“…Oh”

As a brotherly figure to Jiang Ci, He Zhun had acquired many practical skills.

Now, wearing gloves, his fingers moved through Cecilia’s hair, massaging her scalp in slow, measured strokes. Cecilia let out a contented sigh.

“I can see why Leinster likes you so much. You didn’t see it, but he almost killed me when he thought I’d given you the Holy Stigmata.”

Her tone sounded as though she were recounting a funny anecdote.

He Zhun remained silent and didn’t answer.

He lowered his eyes quietly and stared at the woman’s beautiful face. According to his understanding, Cecilia’s time as Archbishop was very short. Compared with Leinster’s nearly a century, Cecilia only became the archbishop in the past twenty or thirty years.

Moreover, she is an omega who has had her glands removed, so she is inherently disadvantaged in all aspects. Therefore, in comparison, Leinster has more seniority and greater power. Of course, the main reason was that the only powerful insiders of the Illusory God Church that He Zhun had access to through Jiang Ci’s kidnapping case were Leinster and Badwa.

The latter had neither brains nor strength, so He Zhun finally chose Leinster.

He changed the topic.

“Lady Cecilia, this mission seems to have been exhausting.”

“Mm, yes… The Forbidden Abyss was reactivated, only to be seized by someone else. And we lost Bright City as well. Elder Mandala was furious, but luckily, His Holiness the Pope is merciful and didn’t blame me.”

The pink-haired archbishop closed her eyes, her expression a mix of comfort and relaxation.

“…By the way,” she suddenly opened her eyes, fixing a piercing gaze on He Zhun and abruptly shifting the topic,

“The central program of the Forbidden Abyss is inside Jiang Ci’s childcare system. Did you know that?”

“…You overestimate me,”

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“Is that so?”

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He Zhun was silent for a few seconds, showing a faint smile.

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Cecilia gave a light “hmm,”

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“I hadn’t noticed before, but now that I look, you do resemble your father a little.”

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At that moment, He Zhun had started plotting to distance himself from Leinster and approach Cecilia.  But the only thing he didn’t expect was that the latter seemed to be deliberately extending an olive branch to him.

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“Did you know my father?”

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“Two hundred years…”

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The young man knelt by her side, following her motion, his hand tracing from her slender neck to her collarbone, and finally dipping into the warm, white liquid.

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At that moment, what He Zhun was feeling was not the softness of a woman’s chest, but rather the familiar, subtle pulsation near Cecilia’s heart.

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“This is what your father studied.”

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“It seems you learn quickly.”

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“This is merely the lowest-grade Holy Stigmata.”

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The superhuman speed, strength, and resilience of the clergy and bishops all came from the Holy Stigmatas, which were fed on Zerg brain fluid.

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“Forgive me, but the brain fluid ratio in this bath seems… a bit high.”

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Cecilia paused for a few seconds, then laughed.

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Her hand reached to caress He Zhun’s face.

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He Zhun paused for a moment, then suddenly softened his tone and took the initiative to tilt his head and get close to the woman’s palm, expressing some intimacy.

“Anything at all?”

Cecilia let out a soft laugh, fully aware that He Zhun was trying to charm her; she recognized his approach all too well.

After all, she and this brat were cut from the same cloth.

“—Of course,”

She replied languidly, then added with a sly smile,

“But if your question annoys me, no matter how clever and charming you may be, Lia might just kill you.”

—And she meant it.

He Zhun had a feeling Cecilia had seen through him once again. After a moment’s thought, he decided to change his original question about the Saintess, opting instead for the next most important one.

I want to know about the little box that Lady Cecilia was carrying this afternoon,”

He asked, lowering his voice and subtly shifting to a softer tone,

“What’s inside it?”

“…Such a cunning little fox, coming right out with a question that puts me in a difficult position.”

Cecilia tilted her head, then gave him a wicked smile.

“Since the little fox is so clever, take a guess. I can only tell you yes or no.”

He Zhun narrowed his eyes and immediately asked, “Huo Xianfeng, or Jiang Ci?”

<hr>

The next day, in Bright City.

In the middle of a messily unmade bed, a small round lump rose beneath the covers. Through the gaps, a few stray strands of silver hair glinted, catching the warm morning sunlight.

Xiao Huo-gege kept his promise and made sure his wife didn’t get out of bed the next morning.

Huo Xianfeng had fully let loose. Wearing only a pair of pants, he sat by the window, casually munching on an S-grade mecha core.

Hovering in the air, Bai Ze trembled but, under the Demon King’s imposing gaze, it dutifully projected the news from the Empire’s Capital.

As expected, His Majesty the Emperor swiftly erased all relevant content from the Empire’s network, and even assembled a panel of botanical experts for a public and transparent study of the Gardenia Rose.

To the Empire’s citizens, the Gardenia Rose was still a symbol of a demonic flower, a key to hell itself. This meant that, the more dangerous something was, the more it sparked curiosity.

This tactic instantly captured the public’s attention.

Then, evidence from the previous black-market dealings, uncovered with Ye Shu’s cooperation on Winter Day Planet, were brought to light. The investigations were nearly complete, and so His Majesty wasted no time, rounding up all the implicated nobles, high officials, and others connected to the trade. Those who deserved to be executed were executed; those who deserved sentencing were sentenced.

The two incidents combined immediately diverted the public’s attention.

As for the video footage showing the Zergs and the First Legion invading Bright City, it was only stated that an investigation was underway—neither confirming nor denying the incident.

—It was a trap deliberately left open.

Huo Xianfeng liked clever people, so it was hard not to feel a certain admiration for Pei Changyun. From the look of things, Pei Changyun responded in a way that did not completely beat the opponent to death, but was a test.

Both sides were testing the waters.

Because the Illusory God Church still had a final trump card to play, Pei Changyun would obviously hold back on using his full strength as well.

“Mm…”

The round lump on the bed stirred. Huo Xianfeng glanced over, checking the time, then rose and walked over, uncovering his wife’s head. He cradled the omega’s soft face, rubbing it a little to help him wake up.

“Are you awake? Hungry?”

Jiang Ci truly felt like he was going to die.

Even though he wasn’t the one doing all the physical work, somehow he was the one left utterly exhausted in bed. And as for Huo Xianfeng, his energy was boundless, going on about how he’d be “overwhelmingly happy.”

Damn it!

“…Get lost!”

Jiang Ci pulled his head back under the covers, turned around, and kicked Huo Xianfeng right off the bed.

Although he’d been kicked off, Huo Xianfeng still managed to catch omega’s slender ankle, giving it a casual squeeze before promptly dragging his wife out from under the blanket.

“Ah—!”

Jiang Ci, caught completely off guard, felt a sudden chill and was instantly wide awake.

Since the Major General wasn’t wearing a shirt, being dragged out like this was just…

“Huo Xianfeng—!!!” Jiang Ci grabbed the blanket in embarrassment and anger, covering himself.

“What the hell…!”

“Didn’t you say that you are going to the Central Temple today and you have to continue training?”

Huo Xianfeng adjusted the blanket, then bundled up his wife, scooping him up and carrying him toward the bathroom.

“Hurry up and wash up, clear your head. I’ll take you there.”

Jiang Ci: “……”