Chapter 108: Satan
A Solitary Building on the Outskirts of ZZ City
“Satan, what’s the situation? Can you find out who did it?”
A tall, slender figure dressed in black leather and wearing a grotesque blood-red mask listened to the solemn, weighty voice coming through the communicator.
Satan held the device in one hand. The mask concealed every trace of expression or emotion, and even his voice was utterly flat.
“I’ll tell you when I find out.”
With that, he ended the call.
“These people are no ordinary amateurs. They had the nerve to kill members of my Northern Heaven Kingdom, and every one of them died in a single strike. Just who did they provoke?”
Satan sat in the rocking chair and began to sway indifferently.
His voice was rich and resonant, yet carried a strangely feminine quality. From his voice alone, it was impossible to determine his gender.
Had Cao Fusheng and the others been there, they would have recognized the room at once. It was the place where they had stayed before—the room Dang Wei had lent them for temporary shelter.
Several objects lay on the table before Satan: strands of female hair, cigarette butts, adhesive tape bearing fingerprints, and the shell of a medicine package.
These were all things he had found in the solitary building that did not belong to anyone from the Kingdom of Heaven.
In the Ruined Era, no one would think such items were useful. Could they really be used, as they had been in the Old Era, to conduct DNA tests and track down criminals?
Yet within the Northern Heaven Kingdom, they were indeed useful. And not only there—even within the Celestial Pillar, such things had their uses.
No one knew the true level of technology inside the Celestial Pillar. Likewise, outsiders had no idea what secrets were hidden within the Northern Heaven Kingdom.
Satan rose and paced toward the bed. He gently brushed his fingers over the blankets, already cold. In an instant, countless memories surged into his mind.
“A short-haired woman... Hmm? This blurred face... How could it be... I’ll need the technical department to examine the evidence before I can be certain.”
“Beep, beep...”
Satan answered the communicator impatiently and said coldly, “I told you I’d notify you once I had a lead. Even if you are a divine envoy, that does not give you the right to be rude to me!”
The person on the other end remained silent. Only after a long pause did he speak.
“Come back, child. The plan has changed. Your brother has passed on to eternal life in ZM City.”
“Beep, beep...”
The communicator was abruptly disconnected, leaving Satan standing there in stunned disbelief. His body trembled faintly, as though he had done something unforgivable.
“No matter what, I will find you! I will uncover the truth! Those who kill the faithful of my Kingdom of Heaven cannot be forgiven...”
-------------------------------------
The Celestial Pillar
For the Celestial Pillar, this day brought an exceedingly rare event.
Every minister-level authority had gathered in the top-floor conference room.
In the past year and more, ministerial meetings had been held only a handful of times. The reason was simple: no one organized them. Everyone was usually too occupied with their own affairs to interact with the other ministers.
Floor 699—the highest known floor of the Celestial Pillar.
The conference room was not adorned with the imagined splendor of gold and jade, nor did it possess any overwhelming grandeur. Instead, it was filled with a distinctly natural atmosphere.
Potted plants and simulated sunlight illuminated the entire room.
Within the indoor ecological tank, fish swam merrily about, entirely untouched by the disasters of the outside world.
The only things that truly resembled the furnishings of a conference room were the large round table in the center and the virtual screen mounted on the wall.
“Ah, every time I come in here for a meeting, I have to take a few extra looks. An environment this good is impossible to find. Aside from this room, you really can’t see it anywhere else. The familiar scent of nature...”
Bian Qiu, head of the Operations Forces, snorted derisively. “Xun Xin, you’re the most insufferable one here every single day. What a womanizer.”
“Hey! If I’m a womanizer, it’s because I have the ability. Unlike certain people who call themselves the strongest man alive yet can’t even find a woman to share a life with.”
The young man being criticized wore his hair slicked straight back and was dressed in casual clothes, with a cigarette tucked behind one ear. He possessed none of the dignity expected of a minister; he looked more like a street hoodlum.
If anyone asked who the most legendary figure in the entire Celestial Pillar was, everyone’s first answer would undoubtedly be Bian Qiu—the miracle known as the strongest man, who had once torn a mutant apart with his bare hands.
The second would unquestionably be Xun Xin, Minister of the Supervision and Law Enforcement Department.
As for what made him legendary, it was entirely because of that mouth of his—a mouth whose words alone could bring countless female staff members to ecstasy.
Xun Xin stood one hundred and seventy-eight centimeters tall and was in his early thirties. His hobbies were playing video games and teasing young women, though he never crossed the line. He knew the laws of the Celestial Pillar all too well and was an expert at skirting the boundaries.
That was why Bian Qiu mocked him every time they met.
More importantly, the man barely handled any affairs at all. He could be called the most leisurely minister in the Celestial Pillar. Though he was in charge of a department vital to maintaining internal order, he behaved like a hands-off manager.
In his own words: “If I do everything myself, what are the people below me supposed to do?”
Still, Xun Xin was not truly just a good-for-nothing. Under his management, order within the Celestial Pillar remained exceptionally stable.
“All right, all right. Just look at the two of you. Every time you meet, you have to trade a few insults. At least try to act like ministers.”
A pleasant female voice rang out. Everyone present immediately fell silent, and even the womanizing Xun Xin cleared his throat and deliberately straightened his back.
The only person whose expression remained unchanged was Bian Qiu.
The woman who had spoken wore a black uniform with a plunging neckline. The deep valley between her full breasts was vivid and alluring, yet no one dared to look.
Of course, what drew the eye most was her gleaming golden waves of hair, matched with a pair of naturally bewitching, almond-shaped eyes that made people afraid to approach her.
At that moment, those eyes were fixed on Bian Qiu with a playful smile, their seductive allure seeming almost liquid.
“Ruan Luoluo, you’d better take your eyes off me. They’re making me feel scorched. Otherwise, I won’t mind pouring a basin of cold water over your head to wake you up.”
Bian Qiu took a sip of throat-soothing tea and cast her a languid glance.
Ruan Luoluo was the Minister of the Celestial Pillar’s Service Department. The womanizer Xun Xin had once called her the demoness who specialized in taking men’s lives during the Ruined Era.
She was also the only woman Xun Xin did not dare provoke.
Yet this very woman had repeatedly suffered setbacks at Bian Qiu’s hands. The man was practically made of steel, impervious to enticement or persuasion.
Ruan Luoluo’s expression instantly turned pitiful. Mist gradually gathered in her almond-shaped eyes. If the other ministers had not known her personality, they might truly have been taken in.
They would have thought Bian Qiu was a heartless man who had abandoned her.
But because they all knew her too well, the others simply looked away, choosing not to see or hear anything. Otherwise, it would be all too easy for sparks to fly.
Ruan Luoluo, however, understood limits. She did not continue speaking to Bian Qiu. Given that man’s temperament, he really might empty the ecological tank over her head.
If that happened, she would lose every shred of dignity and become the laughingstock of the ministers.