Great! I'm surrounded by villains!-Chapter 425 - 344: The Father’s Worries

Jiuyue’s words had left Duan Mingyuan feeling somewhat uneasy.

Although plot points in movies could not serve as valid evidence, Jiuyue’s astonishing intuition rarely went wrong.

Whenever she felt that something bad was going to happen, misfortune would inevitably come.

Even the real Monster in the "Monster’s Mouth" domain was far from Jiuyue’s equal in practice.

But!

Duan Mingyuan believed that one must always look on the bright and optimistic side of things.

Even if, as Jiuyue said, assassins had already slipped past the perimeter patrol and infiltrated the Holy City Cathedral, those gathered here now were the most powerful people in the entire universe.

The leaders of the Church, the tycoons who controlled the lifelines of corporate economics, and their most prized Long Branch Guard.

In such tightly secured circumstances, even if there really were assassins, they shouldn’t be able to cause much trouble... right?

The recent events had drained Duan Mingyuan, and he truly didn’t understand why, while he went out for a meal, these legendary figures lost their lives, as if their lives were more fragile than the pets he’d had as a child.

This evening, Duan Mingyuan only wanted to listen to the choir’s performance with peace of mind.

Because the band conductor had invited them and assured him that the choir’s hymns would reveal the true face of the Void Demon.

This filled him with high expectations.

He silently prayed in his heart.

Long Branch Guard, and the Staff-wielding Squad of the Holy City, I believe in your strength.

As Duan Mingyuan was lost in thought, Baptism spoke to Jiuyue about the identities of those people just now.

"They are the Candidate personnel for the Judge, and the position of Judge is similar to that of the Long Branch Guard. One can only fill the position after the current Judge steps down."

As she spoke, her eyes carried a hint of desolation.

"Before long, someone will probably take over Sister Yelena’s position."

On the matter of Yelena, she had disgracefully chosen to flee.

She had heard from Duan Mingyuan about the reason for Yelena’s illness. Yelena was dutifully investigating the secrets about Jean Saintfield when she was ambushed by the Dark Night Witch. What should have been seen as a fearless sacrifice had now made her, within the Church, almost as much of a prime suspect as the Dark Night Witch herself.

What’s worse, she knew she couldn’t help Yelena, and the only thing she could do was to push these vexing thoughts to the back of her mind with racing games. As long as she didn’t think about it, she wouldn’t be troubled anymore.

For the first time, Baptism opened up to the two of them about her relationship with Yelena.

Yelena was one of the few Judges who maintained a good relationship with her. She was the youngest among them and, due to her usual quiet and unsociable nature, was bullied by the other Judges from the day she became one, with all the menial and exhausting tasks thrown her way.

One day, Yelena could no longer stand it; she took a stand and rebuked them.

"Why would that guy with the whistling front tooth target you?"

Jiuyue asked.

He didn’t want to know the young man’s name; "the guy with the whistling front tooth" was a fitting nickname.

"He was in the same batch of Candidates as me, and after I became a Judge, he held a grudge."

"But you are the Judge,"

Jiuyue frowned, "In this world, since when does a subordinate bully their superior?"

While the people Baptism talked about were certainly despicable, Jiuyue felt that Baptism’s attitude towards bullying, to some extent, enabled their behaviour.

To put it nicely, Baptism had always appeared as a well-behaved darling in the eyes of others. But to be blunt, her character was just too weak.

Even as a Judge, she continued to be bullied by her subordinates, and even resorted to relying on others to punish her ship’s crew.

Jiuyue felt that if it were her, she would definitely try every means to make the person with the whistling front tooth sweep the toilets.

"And there’s the matter of Yelena, who is in need of help right now."

After hearing about the relationship between Baptism and Yelena, Jiuyue was somewhat angry.

At that time, Yelena had stood up for Baptism when other Judges were bullying her, but this time, Baptism drew back upon believing that the Pope wouldn’t heed her advice.

Like a sulking bottle gourd, she stayed at home as if by fleeing to the virtual game world the pain of reality could not catch up to her.

Seeing Baptism hanging her head, neither resisting nor agreeing, Jiuyue turned to Duan Mingyuan, "Mr. Mingyuan, you should also talk to her, if Yelena were your friend, you would definitely try everything to help her!"

A reliable friend, a predecessor worthy of trust.

This is how the people familiar with Duan Mingyuan judged him.

Hearing this, Baptism looked at him as if grasping at her last lifeline, with a pitiable expression.

"Yes, I would find a way."

But he also had to admit that the matter was fraught with difficulty; after a brief interaction, he knew the Pope was someone set in his ways, and worse, Baptism happened to be the Judge least regarded.

After the incident with Yelena, other Judges habitually regarded her as a suspect too.

Suspecting she might also be bewitched by Yelena, or even infected.

The person with the whistling front tooth dared to spout at Baptism in public precisely because of her current circumstances.

Earlier, a Judge had suggested to the Pope that, for safety’s sake, Baptism should be temporarily removed from her post and isolated along with everyone from the mansion.

This was what the person with the whistling front tooth had told him.

Memory does not lie.

At that time, Duan Mingyuan did not speak; he simply pried open the other person’s brain.

"But such accusations will only make her feel worse,"

Duan Mingyuan said to Jiuyue.

Merely criticizing without making suggestions would bring no help to Baptism, he further asked, "If you were in her position, facing a group of people who doubted you, how would you defend Yelena?"

Even if Yelena had really broken free from the control of the parasites, even if her space-time domain had been created to fulfil her duties and carry out the Pope’s orders.

Jiuyue was momentarily at a loss for words; she hemmed and hawed for a long while, unable to come up with any concrete advice.

But she had always believed that every cloud has a silver lining.

When faced with a problem she couldn’t solve, she would copy Mr. Mingyuan’s answers—this was the pattern she discovered throughout her long exploration.

"Mr. Mingyuan, then what would you do?"

"I would not try to persuade someone who cannot be persuaded,"

He leaned towards some simpler and quicker methods.

Thinking this, he pulled out a glass vessel from his chest and placed the white worm in Baptism’s hand.

"This is a parasite I extracted from Yelena’s body; they are the culprits controlling the Believers."

"You mean to hand the parasites over to the Pope, to convince them with the facts?"

Jiuyue’s eyes brightened as she asked.

"Even so, they might find it hard to trust you."

Duan Mingyuan gazed at the worm coiled inside the vessel, "However, the existence of parasites provides a new line of thought; we don’t need their approval or belief at all."

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