Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 197 - 117: Like a Bad Person

Chapter 197: Chapter 117: Like a Bad Person

Duan Mingyuan didn’t know whether to consider the girl before him persistent. After being rejected, she stepped aside to let him pass but then followed him like a shadow.

His plan for the morning was to visit the library on the flagship.

Just as the kitchen is invariably graced with a Jiuyue at meal times, you could always find Duan Mingyuan ensconced in the library.

He was interested in the collection of books on the Consortium’s flagship, most of which were not open to the public. Before leaving, he searched in his room’s data archives and found a biography chronicling the legendary life of Archbishop Zha’erman.

I, Archbishop.

The seventh Archbishop Zha’erman was mentioned more than any other in the Ashen Church. During his tenure, he witnessed the empire’s transition from prosperity to ruin. He built an Ark for the planet’s survivors, continuing the spark of civilization. For this reason, some historians consider Archbishop Zha’erman to be one of the founders of Universe Company.

Regrettably, Archbishop Zha’erman did not live to see Universe Company reach its zenith. After witnessing his planet’s destruction, he became profoundly despondent and passed away not long afterward.

As Duan Mingyuan decided to explore the life of this legendary Archbishop, the girl entered the library, plucked a music book titled Sacred Rhythms from the shelf, and sat opposite him, quietly beginning to read.

An entire morning passed this way.

Reading the text, Duan Mingyuan felt as if he were truly in that epoch of momentous change, learning more about Archbishop Zha’erman.

The Archbishop was a figure full of controversy.

Even in his own time, opinions about him were sharply divided.

All the vitriol originated from his abolition of the Ashen Church’s election and hereditary systems. He ruthlessly crushed the church’s nepotistic practices with an iron fist, alienating many high-ranking members of the empire. There are records of at least 16 assassination attempts on him. Zha’erman was seriously injured three times, and the church was once prepared to appoint an interim Archbishop after his presumed death.

Viewed with hindsight, many of Zha’erman’s ideals were groundbreaking and laid a firm foundation for the Ashen Church’s later spread across the universe.

This stemmed from his early recognition of the corruption within the empire. An extended period of prosperity inevitably breeds danger. From his first day as Archbishop, he was committed to rooting out corruption, even to the point of severing ties with his own family. Relatives who tried to misuse his name for their own ends received their due punishment.

Yet, it was precisely for this reason that Duan Mingyuan felt fate was mocking him.

Archbishop Zha’erman made the right decision in 99% of important matters, yet that one erroenous decision literally blew up their planet.

Duan Mingyuan had seen through Scorching Sun Energy how Zha’erman lay down in the cooling chamber, "peeling" worries out of his brain. At the time, Zha’erman seemed to believe that with the advancement of technology and continuous research into Scorching Sun Energy, they would eventually eliminate the unstable elements within the energy source.

Sadly, three years after he made that decision, an unprecedented solar storm swept through his planet. Overnight, the surface was scorched, and the glittering empire collapsed in flames.

More than ninety percent of the empire’s inhabitants perished in the solar storm.

This was the first "mutation" recorded in the history of space civilization, with the Ashen Empire becoming the first "Cocooned" planet.

From that moment on, the spark of imperial civilization that continued dedicated itself to investigating the cause of the "mutation". But even after a millennium, they had not found the answer.

"The current Archbishop is a descendant of Zha’erman."

When Duan Mingyuan closed the book, the blond girl also kept pace with him. Considering the quiet atmosphere of the library, she did not make her eyeball robot speak, but instead displayed a message on its screen.

After ensuring Duan Mingyuan had seen it, the text on the eyeball robot’s screen changed.

"The legendary Archbishop’s descendant invites you to assume office at the Holy City. What is your opinion?"

"No."

Another rejection.

Just like before, the girl nodded, hid the eyeball robot away, and bowed her head without speaking.

Duan Mingyuan tentatively stood up, and sure enough, the girl stood as well. When he sat down, she took her seat once again.

Clearly, she hadn’t given up.

"What’s your name?"

"Baptism."

The eyeball robot popped its head out.

Duan Mingyuan had finally understood that this eyeball robot was the girl’s loudspeaker.

"Why don’t you speak? Is your throat sick?"

"No, I just don’t want to."

Duan Mingyuan sensed the sharpness of a blade and immediately pulled back, not wanting to touch on Baptism’s sorrowful past. He changed the subject and asked, "Why are you following me?"

"Because I want to become friends with you."

"Why do you want to become friends with me?"

"Because after we become friends, I can persuade you to take the job in Holy City as a friend."

Refreshing!

Her motives were laid bare with startling honesty, but Duan Mingyuan felt that the girl’s definition of ’friend’ might be somewhat skewed.

After dealing with Bai Kou and Qing Hua, this flagship’s inspector was undoubtedly a breath of fresh air. She didn’t resort to coercion or leverage the entire Blue Star as a threat; her means of fulfilling the Archbishop’s orders was simply to become friends with him.

Considering her consistent silence, Duan Mingyuan couldn’t help but entertain a startling hunch.

There were simply too many monsters and demons on this flagship.

He had originally thought that this was just the style of the Ashen Consortium, but after observing the internal network, he realized that both the Black Mass and the head chef of the restaurant were also quite explosive figures within the entire Church.

Yet because of the power behind them, they became hot potatoes that no one wanted to deal with.

And all these hot potatoes were eventually sent to Baptism’s ship.

This inspector...

Could it be that she doesn’t know how to argue, or even how to refuse others at all?

To confirm his speculation, Duan Mingyuan asked, "You have the authority to recommend us for the Sixteen Star Summit, right?"

Baptism nodded.

"It’s very important to us, can you write a recommendation letter for us?"

She nodded again.

"Can you do it now?"

She nodded yet again.

Even after being rejected time and again and running the risk of failing the Archbishop’s orders, the girl still silently gave him an affirmative response.

As if to prove that she was not lying, Baptism stood up first.

Duan Mingyuan never expected to achieve his goal so smoothly on this trip, but at this moment, he couldn’t feel happy at all.

Because just then,

he had become a bad person just like Das-Vida.