Just as Hilbert and Brook were discussing the situation in Adus, in another spacious office on the other side, Amanda, dressed in red, sat there, her eyes slightly closed, slowly sipping a cup of coffee. In front of her desk, a translucent Ghost hovered at this moment, a nun like a Ghost.
"So... the Cardinal Council now believes that Sister Vanya is still an innocent character in this incident, and the sudden appearance of the Judge of Heaven and the lightning strike was due to Shadi, the leader of the Revolutionary Army's secular faction?"
With a pensive expression, the translucent Ghost nun murmured to Amanda, and after hearing the Ghost nun's words, Amanda slowly opened her eyes, placed the cup in her hand on the desk, and spoke slowly.
"Yes, Sister Vanya is from Prit. She was adopted by the Church as an orphan and grew up in the Church. Her background is clean, with no negative records. Shadi was born in North Wu, Adus. He became involved with treasure hunting societies in his youth and has dealt with ancient ruins for many years. Intelligence from multiple sources also proves that he has been involved in ancient inheritances... It's clear at a glance who is closer to the First Dynasty. Originally, the Cardinal Council had no doubts about Sister Vanya's motives, but that fanatic Klama insisted on bringing it up, which led to a reluctant discussion. However, the outcome of the discussion was self-evident. I just briefly explained the reasoning from above, and the topic was concluded."
Amanda said so, her expression looking slightly relaxed. After hearing her words, the Ghost's expression showed understanding, and then she continued to speak.
"Then... what does the Cardinal Council as a whole think of Adus... especially Shadi's Regime in Adus? What is their attitude towards the Judge of Heaven that suddenly appeared?"
"According to the confirmed hidden history of North Wu, the Judge of Heaven is the god of 'Qi' (Awakening/Enlightenment). From the beginning of the Fourth Epoch until now, in the past thirteen hundred years, there has never been any news of a 'Qi' society or even a 'Qi' Extraordinary appearing. If the existence of the Judge of Heaven is real, then this is not a small matter."
The Ghost nun said to Amanda with a serious expression. Listening to the nun's words, Amanda nodded, then leaned back in her comfortable chair and said.
"Yes, the suspected reappearance of a 'Qi' society is a more important topic for the Cardinal Council than the situation in Adus. What we mainly discussed this morning was this aspect. Regarding Vanya, regarding the Savior Sect otherworld, and regarding the situation in Adus, these are all more minor aspects."
Listening to Amanda's words, the Ghost nun was startled, and then her expression became more solemn as she asked.
"Then... what is the Cardinal Council's view on this Judge of Heaven? How does the saint church plan to treat them?"
"View? Heh... we have too little information about them to form any specific view yet."
"Regarding the information about them, we can only confirm a few points. First, they can control lightning, and lightning might be the element representing the 'Qi' spirituality that we have long been unaware of. Second, there are Crimson Tier or higher high-level Extraordinary among them. This high-level Extraordinary can create a lightning storm covering a city and sustain it for several hours, and also possesses a method to kill the great otherworld of the Savior Sect, Mukhtar, using a method that bypasses the restraints of the Precepts Cult Lord's precepts. Third, they might have some connection with Shadi, most likely an ancient inheritance from the Second Epoch that Shadi encountered during his past treasure hunting career."
Amanda analyzed and explained to the Ghost nun. After listening to Amanda's analysis, the Ghost nun paused slightly, and then continued to ask.
"Since the saint church has limited knowledge of this cult, does the Cardinal Council plan to use divination to understand the detailed information about this cult?"
"It has already been used. A divination resolution was passed directly at the meeting this morning, specifically approving fifteen standard reserves of 'Qi' storage for divination use to confirm the reality of this Judge of Heaven. The divination was performed on the spot, with various angles of approach, and all attempts ended in failure. We were originally discussing whether to approve another fifteen 'Qi' storages for further probing, but shortly after the first attempt, we also suffered a divination counterattack and consumed a certain amount of 'Qi'."
"The complete failure of the first round of probing, coupled with the subsequent counterattack, gave the Cardinal Council a general understanding of the cult's 'Qi' reserves. They are no weaker than those large evil cults, and perhaps even stronger. Although their counterattack was not too powerful, it reflected their abundant 'Qi' accumulation. It was less of a counterattack and more of a warning against our probing, warning us not to proceed further."
"Therefore, after discussion, the Cardinal Council terminated the proposal to approve another fifteen 'Qi' storages for probing to avoid unnecessary divination wars. After all, the possibility of them being a true 'Qi' cult is extremely high. If we were to engage in a large-scale divination war consuming hundreds of 'Qi', we might not necessarily win."
"For centuries, the saint church's vast 'Qi' resource library accumulated from around the world has been our capital for standing firm amidst powerful enemies. At this time... various otherworld and evil cults are stirring. We must ensure sufficient 'Qi' reserves to deter all evil individuals with malicious intentions and not use resources on unnecessary matters that are not core interests."
Looking at the Ghost nun in front of her, Amanda slowly said that although the Judge of Heaven could not be truly confirmed as a "enlightenment" cult, the possibility was there. If they were indeed "enlightenment", judging by the large-scale lightning storms they displayed, their scale would not be small. Engaging in a divination war with them in this era where "enlightenment" is far more precious than other spirits is a very dangerous act. Therefore, after receiving the warning and learning that the opponent was truly capable, the Cardinal Council promptly stopped the second round of probing to avoid escalating the conflict.
"Indeed... the price of 'Qi' on the market is always high. The current average market price has increased by five to seven times compared to last year. In this situation, engaging in a divination war... especially with a suspected 'enlightenment' society... is indeed not a good choice." The Ghost nun said this, then thought for a moment after saying it, and continued to speak.
"However... thinking about it now, is the sudden surge in the price of 'Qi' over the past year or so related to this cult? As far as I know, the reasons for the recent rise in 'Qi' prices are mainly due to the frequent unexplained divination attacks suffered by various national secret police and secret societies, as well as the inexplicable demise of the Hai Sha Society."
"In the past... no society would use precious 'Qi' for such broad and meaningless divination actions, and although the demise of the Hai Sha Society was caused by us, according to Antonio's report, there are many suspicious points, and it even involves the recently emerged 'Thief K'."
"Thinking about it now, the surge in 'Qi' prices, the rise of Thief K, and the appearance of the Judge of Heaven are all close in time, even within half a year. Is there any connection between them?"
The Ghost nun narrated this to Amanda. Listening to the Ghost nun's words, Amanda glanced at her, then replied with interest.
"You mean... the recent sudden rise and appearance of the Judge of Heaven was actually foreshadowed long ago? They started raising funds for themselves by manipulating the price of 'Qi' very early on, preparing for their reappearance after a thousand years of seclusion? And the so-called Thief K is very likely related to the Judge of Heaven?"
"Yes, I even believe that the demise of the Hai Sha Society was actually a conspiracy by this Judge of Heaven. They sent Thief K to use trickery to make Antonio deal with the Hai Sha Society and eliminate them, thereby cutting off a stable source of 'Qi' storage on the market, all to further force up the price of 'Qi' and profit from it."
The Ghost nun whispered, and listening to her words, Amanda thought for a while, then continued to speak.
"Well, your words make a lot of sense..."
"In this meeting, we have set our preliminary attitude towards this Judge of Heaven. As long as Shadi does not publicly announce that Adus believes in the Judge of Heaven and legalize the belief in the Judge of Heaven, we will not engage in direct hostile activities with this cult. Instead, we will send a secret investigation team to Adus for a secret investigation, primarily to first understand the opponent's information."
"And what you just said is undoubtedly another direction for investigation. I will notify the confidential department to pay attention to the current 'Qi' market. Under such high prices, if a stable supply of 'Qi' can still be released, it is very likely related to that cult."
Amanda finished speaking, and the Ghost nun also nodded affirmatively after listening, then continued to speak.
"Forgive my presumption, Captain, I would like to ask again, since this cult claims to serve the Judge of Heaven and has reappeared after thousands of years, does their appearance also mean the return of the Judge of Heaven? In the reverse side, have there been any major disturbances recently?"
"Disturbances? You mean... the fluctuations in the reverse side caused by the birth of powerful divine beings? There haven't been any yet, which means that although this Judge of Heaven has appeared, the Judge of Heaven itself has not yet fully revived... at least not completely. This is also an important reason why the Cardinal Council, although it values the appearance of this cult, has no immediate plans to intervene. As long as they don't have a true god, the impact they can have on the world is ultimately limited."
"If the Judge of Heaven had truly revived, I'm afraid the Holy See would return from the upper realm immediately."
Amanda said this. Listening to Amanda's words, the Ghost nun couldn't help but ponder. After pondering, she continued to say to Amanda.
"Anyway, Sister Vanya was truly blessed by fate this time, once again turning danger into safety. Regardless of the truth about Adus, as long as Shadi rejects otherworld and recognizes the saint church's position as the sole legal religion in Adus, then Sister Vanya's mission will be completed... Captain Hilbert's plan was not only in vain, but his early propaganda became a wedding dress that produced the opposite effect. Sister Vanya became the greatest contributor to the Adus incident in the eyes of the public, which is good news for us."
"Heh... yes, this little Sister is our lucky star. I didn't expect the Adus matter to develop into this."
"Captain Amanda, should we now start promoting Sister Vanya and the Adus matter, letting the public and believers know that Sister Vanya was the greatest diplomatic contributor to the Adus incident..." The Ghost nun continued to suggest to Amanda, but Amanda shook her head and spoke.
"There's no need to be so anxious for now. That Shadi is currently rectifying the otherworld forces within Adus. Before he completes the rectification and personally announces that Adus will break away from otherworld and respect the Three Saints, we should not disclose any information. At most, we can warm up in the newspapers, and wait until Shadi makes the announcement before following up."
Amanda said decisively. After hearing her words, the Ghost nun thought for a moment and spoke again.
"Then... what about the reward for Sister Vanya? Although she accidentally gained merit in both the Natsuki and Adus incidents, the reward still needs to be given, right? Otherwise, it will arouse suspicion. The merit from Natsuki is easy to deal with, as it only involved tens of thousands of people converting. But Adus is a country with a population of twenty million. Preventing otherworld from taking a country of twenty million people away from the grace of the Three Saints is a huge achievement..."
The Ghost nun said this to Amanda. Listening to the Ghost nun's words, Amanda couldn't help but fall into deep thought. After thinking for a while, she slowly spoke.
"These merits are indeed great. For a more experienced Archbishop or high-level deacon, this merit would be enough for him to be promoted to Archbishop or Prime Deacon. But Sister Vanya's qualifications are too shallow, so shallow that she has only been a high-level deacon for less than two months. It's a bit troublesome to promote her again..."
"In short, let's take it slowly for now. I plan to first give this Vanya a good special assignment, observe her while she works, help her accumulate Spirituality, and gain some popularity. After a while, I will propose to the Cardinal Council to prepare for her promotion ceremony, promoting her to Prime Deacon. After working for a few years and gaining experience, she can then be transferred to Archbishop and assigned to a diocese."
After thinking for a long time, Amanda said this. After hearing Amanda's words, the Ghost nun paused slightly, then continued to ask.
"Then, Captain, what kind of assignment are you planning to arrange for Sister Vanya to accumulate popularity?"
"The next time I am at the Cardinal Council, I plan to propose arranging a position as a Holy Relic Patrol Officer for her, assigning her a divinely blessed secondary holy relic to guard, and letting her preach and tour with the holy relic to continue accumulating prestige and qualifications. When the time is right, I will propose to the Cardinal Council to initiate the preparation for her promotion ceremony."
"This process may be somewhat long, and there may be disagreements with others in between. It is estimated that it will take a lot of time. I hope she can wait patiently..."