Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu had already grasped the general situation and had planned to head straight to Li Wei's office after entering The Great Tower.

Unexpectedly, he ran into Yun Que and the Bliss Bird first.

The former had now become the Holy Maiden of Holy Temple City, although for both the Church and the city's residents, the Holy Maiden was a novelty.

The ecclesiastical hierarchy was still uncertain about what powers and responsibilities to assign to Yun Que, and the position of the Bliss Bird as the head librarian was still being processed without approval.

On the contrary, the Ouroboros Serpent had been swiftly appointed as the deputy head of the Sacred Order of Knights— not because Li Wei was particularly trustworthy, but because it was deemed necessary to show enough sincerity to win over the Fallen Witch to join the battle, making the position of deputy head a necessary sacrifice.

Therefore, Li Wei had been very forthcoming.

Not long ago, the Ouroboros Serpent had left the city with the Hellhound to clear the remaining Energized Plants in the vicinity.

Learning that the four of them were all safe and sound, Ma Lu breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to ruffle the head of the former bar hostess who was the current Holy Maiden.

Yun Que also took out the blue mini electric hammer and the remaining items that he had previously deposited, returning them to Ma Lu's hands with some embarrassment.

"With the situation being so critical before, I... I used up 4 Energy Storage Gems," she said.

"It's okay," Ma Lu reassured her as he took the blue mini electric hammer and the remaining Energy Storage Gems, "As long as the person is still here, that's what matters. Equipment can be replaced."

"Sir Knight, you're really kind," Yun Que said sincerely.

"Ah, you're already a Holy Maiden, and I am not your Sir Knight anymore."

"No, no matter what, you will always be my Sir Knight," the girl affirmed.

Bliss Bird also earnestly thanked Ma Lu.

"Thanks to you, we were able to survive this time and even gained our freedom."

"Hey, we're all in this together; there's no need for such formality," Ma Lu replied, then followed up with another question, "What do the other people from the Church and the residents in the city think of you now?"

"Most people still view us with hostility and fear," the red-haired girl said, "mainly due to the Church's historical propaganda and the series of attacks that occurred in the city on the night of the incident.

"But at least on the surface, everyone maintains peace, and the Church is also making an effort to restrain the public."

Bliss Bird paused, "However, this is because there is still a threat from Energized Plants outside the city. What will happen after this disaster is completely over is hard to predict."

Ma Lu had no good solution for this; wanting different races to live together in peace was never going to be easy. Moreover, there was a messy history between humans and witches in this Plane.

Thankfully, once the Energized Plants disappeared after being infected with the virus, the witches likely wouldn't be needed anymore. The race of witches was, after all, created by Prophet Yong Yi solely for a social experiment.

Speaking of Yong Yi, Ma Lu pointed to the summit of The Great Tower and asked Yun Que and the others, "Have you guys ascended again after I left?"

Bliss Bird shook her head, "No, Holy Temple City only became somewhat safer in the last couple of days, and we were all busy fighting until now."

"Has the Church received any divine messages recently?" Ma Lu asked again.

Although Yong Yi had said all privileges had been transferred to him, Ma Lu wasn't sure if Yong Yi had left a backdoor for himself. After all, Yong Yi had single-handedly established this city.

It was only normal for him to have a contingency plan.

However, the red-haired girl still shook her head, "No, the Church has not received any divine messages since you left until now."

Still a little uneasy, Ma Lu decided he would go to the summit to check as soon as he had seen Li Wei.

Li Wei's office had moved from the 32nd to the 33rd floor, which was originally Martin's place, but Martin was now dead.

And Li Wei, having handled the crisis with outstanding performance, had seamlessly taken over Martin's position and became the new leader of the Sacred Order of Knights. Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire

His office was now twice the size as before, where Ma Lu even spotted a small bar.

Looking where his gaze rested, Li Wei explained, "That was Martin's; I haven't had the chance to take it down yet."

"I'm not here to judge your private life," Ma Lu shrugged.

Afterwards, Li Wei gave Ma Lu a deep look. "You really aren't Xi Mu." But before Ma Lu could respond, he continued, "However, that doesn't matter now.

"What I'm more curious about is how you got the highest authority in The Great Tower?"

"Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

"The truth."

"Prophet Yongyi gave it to me."

Li Wei snorted coldly, "Can't your lies get any worse, dragging out someone from over three hundred years ago to fob me off."

Ma Lu sighed, "Alright, I am indeed the new Prophet sent by the Master of Order to save Holy Temple City."

As preposterous as this answer sounded, it felt more credible because Li Wei had seen Ma Lu summon a boulder with his own eyes and also witnessed him disappearing on the spot.

Moreover, although they had just recently defeated those Energized Plants, Li Wei still did not understand why the thermal weapons suddenly became effective against them.

Other than the Master of Order sending someone to rescue Holy Temple City, no other explanation seemed to fit.

Thinking this, Li Wei's tone toward Ma Lu became somewhat more courteous. "Do you have any advice for Holy Temple City's future direction?"

Ma Lu shook his head. "That's a matter for you to decide; the Master of Order doesn't care."

But then he added, "The disasters will eventually pass and the witches battling them will gradually vanish; from now on, no new witches will arise in Holy Temple City.

"So you don't have to worry about humanity being enslaved, and I hope you'll treat the remaining witches kindly."

A flicker of joy flashed in Li Wei's eyes. "Is that true?"

"Of course, and though I won't always be here, I'll come back from time to time to ensure you can coexist peacefully."

Having seen Li Wei, Ma Lu also took the opportunity to visit the Pope, repeating similar words to him, and then without pausing, immediately took the elevator to the top floor.

Out of politeness, Ma Lu knocked twice on the door, but there was no response from inside.

He tentatively called out, "Prophet Yongyi?"

Still, there was no answer.

Ma Lu used his own authority to open the door, and immediately smelled something quite unsettling.

Looking around, he saw no sign of Yongyi until he followed the scent to the workbench, where he found an old man lying on the floor.

The man had completely ceased breathing and seemed to have been dead for several days already, probably even before the Energized Plants had breached Holy Temple City.

It was unclear whether he died of old age or chose to end his life himself.

However, to Ma Lu, it hardly made a difference; Ma Lu's expression was complex. Although Yongyi wasn't a good person, a bit unhinged, and almost destroyed a planet, he was undeniably quite a pure individual.

Ma Lu couldn't say he liked him, but he didn't particularly dislike him either.