In your belly

Thank you‍‌⁠⁠​⁠⁠‌⁠​‍⁠‍​‍‍‍​⁠‌‍‌⁠‌ Darius for the ko-fi doantion!

Leinster’s expression changed drastically, but before he could react, He Zhun’s calm voice came from behind—

“My previous judgment was wrong, because the two are too similar… However, this time, I have made a new discovery—and I have sufficient evidence.”

He Zhun skipped over the previous matter entirely and started a new topic.

“I can prove that the clone who suddenly developed consciousness last time was Huo Xianfeng. Based on that, we can deduce that Huo Xianfeng’s consciousness has, in some form, always existed inside His Highness Huo Chao.”

The hall erupted into chaos at those words. Everyone’s expression changed.

Back then, very few had known about the existence of the Zerg King Cub.

And while many now suspected Huo Xianfeng had once been associated with the Illusory God Church, no one knew the exact relationship between him and Huo Chao—much less their buried secrets.

After a long silence, the Pope finally asked:
“—How can you prove it?”

“Spiritual threshold data.”

He Zhun took out a professional analysis report.

“You can have someone verify this document, but to save Your Holiness some time, I’ll summarize it briefly. One month ago, the clone’s mental threshold hovered around 500. Based on projections, upon reaching adulthood, it would have maxed out at 1600—never truly exceeding His Highness Huo Chao’s own record.”

“But just before the clone developed independent consciousness, the lab’s mental threshold monitor suddenly spiked to the maximum—3000—before overloading and breaking down. Currently, the highest recorded spiritual threshold for a human is 1635, held by His Highness Huo Chao. The only other person known to operate an SSS-class mecha like the Forbidden Abyss—and potentially break that record—is Huo Xianfeng…”

The full report was far more detailed and technical, but knowing his audience, He Zhun had simplified it for their understanding.

He spoke for nearly ten minutes, listing multiple data points, and finally offered a method to verify his theory:

“If you wish to confirm my hypothesis, it’s very simple.”

He Zhun straightened up and adjusted his glasses.

“All you need to do is find timestamps on His Highness Huo Chao’s Starblog that seem dominated by Huo Xianfeng’s consciousness. Then have the Sage retrieve the Forbidden Abyss’ pilot spiritual threshold logs from those same timeframes. If they match—your proof is there.”

That’s the power of a top student.

Even though the evidence hadn’t yet been formally verified, most people already believed him by the time he finished speaking.

The Pope stared steadily at He Zhun for a few seconds, then shifted his gaze to the Sage.
“Zexius.”

“…Yes.”

With a complicated expression, the Sage glanced at He Zhun, then began retrieving the relevant data from the Forbidden Abyss. Back when they were trying to control Huo Chao, the Forbidden Abyss’ data had been synced to the Illusory God Church’s central core at regular intervals. It wasn’t until Huo Chao entered the military that the Church gradually lost its grip on him.

Instances of Huo Xianfeng’s consciousness seemingly taking over while piloting Forbidden Abyss were rare, but thankfully, they managed to find one or two.

A few minutes later, the verification results turned out just as the young man had predicted.

At that moment, He Zhun no longer bowed with his head low. Instead, he knelt upright, knowing that he had finally caught the Pope’s attention—and proven his capabilities.

—Because even Bernard hadn’t discovered this.

From now on, he would begin to carve out his own authority within the Church, perhaps even gaining influence comparable to that of a bishop.

Sure enough, the Pope asked the next second.
“What is your name?”

“He Zhun.”

“What do you seek, coming here?”

He Zhun had already organized his words.

“Your Holiness, I want access to the top-level laboratories of the Illusory God Church. I want to conduct cutting-edge research on stigmata and human genetics, to explore the limits of human potential. This has always been my life’s dream.”

“Hah…”

A soft, airy chuckle echoed from the Pope.

He Zhun knew that a dream alone wouldn’t be enough to convince the other person.

“Besides dreams, there’s also hatred. Your Holiness, I want to kill my enemy with my own hands.”

In the next instant, an overwhelming pressure crashed down like a mountain. The Pope looked down at him coldly from above.
“Who is your enemy?”

Sweat instantly soaked He Zhun’s back.

But he knew that in this moment, he couldn’t afford even the slightest mistake—just like long ago, when he had lain beside the corpses of his parents and younger brother, pretending to be dead.

If you show the slightest sign of abnormality, you will die.

He Zhun raised his head, without dodging or evading, and stared straight into those strange white pupils. He spoke word by word:

“The Emperor of the Empire—Pei Changyun.”

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After all, He Zhun’s intelligence far exceeded the norm, and he had grown up in the Jiang family—essentially under the watchful eyes of both Pei Changyun and Zhou Jiuyà.

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Every failed mission of the Illusory God Church had his shadow behind it. That alone made the Pope extremely suspicious.

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Just as the Pope’s killing intent settled, a burst of harsh static suddenly echoed through the hall—

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“Your Holiness!”

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“What?!”

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He Zhun closed his eyes. Only now did he realize his palms were slick with sweat—cold and sticky.

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Compared to the Dawn Legion, which had truly fought to defend Earth and humanity, most other military forces had never actually engaged the Zergs in a meaningful way.

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The monsters that had once been unbeatable even to the Dawn Legion.

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The Zergs swarmed in like a black flood, so dense that there was no end in sight—waves upon waves, flowing like a living sea.

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Huo Xianfeng controlled the Forbidden Abyss, hovering not far away, and did not join the battle.

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“Either their commander is completely clueless, or they’re just out of their mind.”

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This massive Church army seemed to be waiting specifically for them, waiting to engage, but after the engagement, they didn’t fight. Instead, they immediately fled. It was as if they just wanted to exchange fire for the sake of it.

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Huo Xianfeng chuckled lightly.

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Even if the enemy hadn’t come looking for trouble, Huo Xianfeng had planned to take the initiative and occupy the Illusory God Church’s next military base.

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After all, as the King, he had to support an entire Zerg army. The good resources in Bright City had been nearly half depleted in three months. To prepare for the future, he needed to find the next barn.

“Let’s go.”

Huo Xianfeng changed directions.

“—Let’s see who this idiot commander is.”

Meanwhile, Leinster had no idea he was being called an idiot commander. He was quickly dividing his troops, with one part covering the rear while the other swiftly retreated to the base.

The massive space carrier unfolded hundreds of gun barrels. Huo Xianfeng’s eyes narrowed slightly, and with a slight raise of his hand, the huge Zerg army scattered like fireworks. In the next second, the entire sky was enveloped in a web of light formed by artillery fire. After a delay of more than ten seconds, an area of several hundred meters was reduced to a sea of fire with temperatures reaching tens of thousands of degrees Celsius.

At this moment, the Church army, under Leinster’s leadership, retreated at full speed.

Huo Xianfeng wasn’t in a hurry to pursue. Instead, he leisurely made a call to Zhou Jiuya.

While they were holding off the large-scale army heading to Bright City, the Central Temple’s mainframe had tracked the enemy base’s signal via satellite.

Zhou Jiuya had already taken his team there, and by now, they should have arrived.

“Found the place yet?”

The other side responded quickly—

“Base coordinates will be sent in three minutes.”

The call ended.

Huo Xianfeng raised an eyebrow.

“Forbidden Abyss.”

“?”

He chuckled and said,

“Remember, this is what a real trap looks like.”

The Forbidden Abyss: “…”

While his boyfriend and uncle were passionately engaged in battle, Jiang Ci had just finished a full-body check-up under the watchful eyes of a crowd.

Just… can you imagine being stared by a bunch of old men who were both fond yet nervous?

His entire examination process was done under these stares. After the examination, Dr. Wen had been frowning at his scans for an hour, tugging at his hair as if he had encountered the most bizarre disease in the world.

The grave expression made Jiang Ci feel like he might not have long to live.

Nora squatted beside Jiang Ci, hugging his thigh. The posture wasn’t exactly graceful, but Jiang Ci was too nervous to care.

Nora found it strange. She had seen light emanating from Flowie that night, but it had only flashed briefly before disappearing, as if it had hidden itself, and she couldn’t find it no matter how hard she tried.

“Sigh…”

“Sigh…”

Nora and Dr. Wen sighed simultaneously.

This made Jiang Ci even more nervous, to the point where he was a little at a loss. A few minutes later, the Major General took a deep breath and dragged his leg pendant toward Dr. Wen.

“Uncle Wen, just tell me.”

Jiang Ci’s face was calm.

“—I can handle it.”

“Ah… well… A-Ci…”

Dr. Wen was almost pulling his hair out. In his over three hundred years of medical practice, this was the first time he had encountered such a strange case.

“Your physical data shows that you are very healthy, a little too healthy, and your brain data shows that you are a little tired. This should be related to your forced connection to the SSS mecha, the Forbidden Abyss…”

Of course, these weren’t the most important points.

“The key is this scan.”

Dr. Wen showed him the scan taken earlier. Nora, who was still clinging to Jiang Ci’s leg, also tilted her head up to sneak a peek.

“There seems to be something inside your abdomen that’s blocking the medical scan. Everything below your chest is completely shadowed. I used other methods to check, and… well, the results are a bit strange. It seems like… there’s a small ball growing in your stomach, and it even looks like it’s made of metal.”

Dr. Wen, with his messed-up hair sticking up, asked in a tone one might use with a child, full of concern,

“A-Ci, did you accidentally swallow something?”

Jiang Ci was stunned: “…Huh?”