"Sequence Force! It affects reality!"

The Pope stared at Bai Qingshuang before him and the giant of light and shadow behind her, unable to speak for a long time. He once again sensed this woman's strength and ambition. A person without ambition could never have their Sequence Force influence reality to this degree.

"Your ambition has grown to such an extent? It will drive you mad," he said.

"Teacher, ambition depends on the individual," she replied.

Bai Qingshuang was right; ambition sometimes isn't a bad thing. Ordinary ambitions might be for a certain position, performance targets, or reaching a certain Transcendent level. But at her and Fan Zhen's level, ambition is endowed with much more significance. Some people are driven by power and desire, while others aim to change an era. Although many have denied Bai Qingshuang's abilities, she always wanted to bring change to the nearly collapsing Wasteland Alliance. This was especially true when compared to others, particularly certain high-ranking members of the Church who clung to power like a persistent disease. For most ordinary people, Bai Qingshuang's ambitions were beneficial. She wanted to create a world that was slightly more equal, not like the current Wasteland Alliance where rank, struggle, and discrimination were rampant. Having experienced all of this, Bai Qingshuang desperately wanted to change these things she had endured but deeply loathed. That was why she fought.

Fan Zhen looked at Bai Qingshuang and said deeply, "The Holy Radiance emanating from you is as dazzling as the sun itself. Perhaps you are the dawn these people yearn to see. However, some people do not wish to see you like this."

Bai Qingshuang retracted her Holy Radiance and aura, once again bowing her head before the Pope.

"Teacher Fan Zhen, things have come to this point. Do you still refuse to give up what you hold onto? If this can be peacefully resolved, I am willing to plead with you."

"I have held onto these things for 200 years. Maybe you are right, but I don't think I am wrong," said the Pope, raising his finger. From Bai Qingshuang's perspective, he had raised only one finger, but from Qi Gefei's, it was two. "It's like the finger I raised: everyone sees it from a different angle and comes to a different conclusion. Your goal might be the future of the Church, but my purpose is not solely for myself."

Their ideologies remained irreconcilable, and their gazes began to clash. The pressure emanating from the two top experts of the Wasteland Alliance pressing against each other was unbearable for Qi Gefei, who stood nearby. I want to flee this place, he thought, but running away like this would be too spineless. He could only grit his teeth and stick it out.

Bai Qingshuang looked approvingly at Qi Gefei, who stood his ground and continued to endure. It seems Qi Gefei's persistence here is something to be pleased about, she thought.

"Time moves forward, Teacher. We must all move forward, and each generation must progress. Otherwise, we will inevitably be abandoned by the world. Even the Exotic Species continually learn and progress in pursuit of higher forms of life."

"We have killed no small number of Exotic Species Monarchs," Fan Zhen interjected, clearly uninterested.

But Bai Qingshuang continued, "Teacher, your current arrogance is just like Noah's once was. It, too, was once unbearably arrogant, but now it has cast away those things it prided itself on, returning to the basics to chase the true meaning of life. If even the Exotic Species are progressing and learning, why shouldn't we?"

"You have already reached such heights. Can't you see that if we do not continue to progress, as the Dark Energy Level increases and the wisdom of the Exotic Species Monarchs develops, they will one day form their own unique culture and society? Once the Exotic Species have formed their own culture and society, the war between humans and Exotic Species will no longer be a simple struggle between man and beast. Instead, it will be a conflict between two nations, two races. At that time, it will truly be a fight to the death. The Exotic Species will never retreat, for the continuation of their species is at stake. And if humans still harbor their past malicious intentions, they too will inevitably perish."

Bai Qingshuang had said a great deal; in fact, Pope Fan Zhen understood all the problems she mentioned. Even in the long history of the Alliance, many scholars, some from parliament and some from the Church, had raised similar issues. However, after these individuals raised such questions, their fates were undoubtedly not favorable because they had touched upon the most fundamental interests of the Wasteland Alliance's rulers—interests related to class. Without absolute, overpowering strength, those who thought on this level and touched upon such interests could only be suppressed. This was also why many said Bai Qingshuang was like someone sent from Heaven. Her appearance and rise were simply too quick, so swift that the Pope's faction had no time to react before she became an utter behemoth. Moreover, the only two people in the entire Church who could restrain her—the Judgment Chief and the Pope himself—had both failed.

"History has its patterns, Bai Qingshuang. Many times, things are not as simple as you imagine. A stable structure is key to a society's continuation. We might not be strong enough, but we must be sufficiently stable; there is nothing wrong with that. Our stability has allowed humanity to endure for 400 years, and this is already a great achievement. If we shatter such stability, it's uncertain whether humanity can continue into the future at all. How can you say that I am wrong?"

The dispute between the two left Qi Gefei, standing to the side, daring not even to breathe too heavily.

Their issues are simply too high-level, Qi Gefei thought, and a nobody like me really can't get involved. However, he was also a little puzzled. Why did the Judgment Chief bring a burden like me to a conversation with the Pope? Qi Gefei was very aware of his own limitations. Although he had undergone the baptism and been rewarded by the Judgment Chief, reaching the Fifth Tier, and even possessed the special form of the Trinity, he was now a complete burden in the Judgment Chief's presence. Standing in this room, he couldn't even count as a mascot.

So, during a temporary pause in their argument, the restless Qi Gefei raised his hand.

"Ah, Judgment Chief, Your Holiness the Pope, perhaps I should step out for a bit?"

The Judgment Chief looked at Qi Gefei with a smile and shook her head slightly. "No need to leave. I brought you here today specifically to let His Holiness the Pope see you. Don't be in a hurry. Wait, let Teacher Fan Zhen take a good look at you soon."

After speaking with Qi Gefei, Bai Qingshuang turned her head to look at the Pope again.

"Teacher Fan Zhen, you said you've maintained the stability of the human Alliance for 400 years. I find that statement quite laughable. In the first two hundred years or so, humans were always striving to grow stronger. Driven by the will and legacy of our forebears, we advanced to the Fourth High Wall, also known as the Explorer's Wall. At that time, you probably weren't the Pope yet, were you?

"Naming the Fourth High Wall the Explorer's Wall was the testament of our predecessors. They wanted us to continue exploring this world because, although dangerous, it is also vast. Only through unceasing exploration can we garner sufficient harvest and vigilance. With adequate threat comes adequate progress. Humans should not behave like frogs in a well, observing only the sky above; the world of the Fifth Ring is vast enough. It is vast enough for the Wasteland Alliance to become a true nation, like those recorded in history—prosperous, powerful, and possessing the strength to resist all foreign enemies, not cowering here.

"But you haven't done so for over a hundred years. Teacher Fan Zhen, after you came to power, the entire Wasteland Alliance changed. You turned it into an outmoded machine, no longer spirited, no longer possessing vitality. Human life ceased to have yearning and ambition. Day after day of brainwashing in the Fourth Ring and entrenching high-class distinctions are all you have accomplished for over a hundred years.

"Teacher Fan Zhen, what exactly have you aligned with? What have you agreed to? Was the price you paid to ascend to the position of Pope truly so immense? So immense as to make the future of all humanity a stepping stone for you?"

Bai Qingshuang's words were still sharp, but the Pope did not answer her three questions. Perhaps he has an answer, she thought, but at such a moment, even if he had an answer in his heart, he wouldn't admit it here.

The Pope fell silent for a while before turning to look at Qi Gefei beside him. At first, he merely glanced at Qi Gefei, thinking he was just a common member of the Knights Group, perhaps even the weakest member of the Knight of Justice. But he soon noticed something was off about Qi Gefei.

"Why does he possess such perfect union? Holy Radiance, Exotic Species, Sequence—three powers fused into one! This naturally perfect sensation!"

"Perfect Judgment? The ultimate form? Bai Qingshuang, are you actually squandering the Successor's Will? Do you not realize what you're doing?"

"Squandering?" Bai Qingshuang retorted. "Teacher Fan Zhen, you still haven't grasped what actions truly constitute squandering. Wasting resources on those decayed family scions is squandering. Continuously extending the lives of those old fogies in the Church is also squandering. Failing to utilize the vast population resources of the Fourth Ring is an even greater waste.

"It is because of rulers like you that the Wasteland Alliance has frivolously squandered over a hundred years. Now tell me, does handing over the Successor's power to Qi Gefei count as wasteful? Teacher, what do you think?"

Bai Qingshuang narrowed her clear eyes, while Fan Zhen slightly clenched his fists, his aged and stooped body trembling faintly.

"Every group in the world needs stable governance, and stable governance requires legitimate continuity, just like many families practice primogeniture instead of favoring younger offspring. If too many resources are spent on 'those people,' once their strength increases, they will start to harbor other intentions. Human minds are fickle; if not restrained, they are bound to rebel, especially the people of the Fourth Ring. The moment the strength of the Fourth Ring's people grows too quickly, they, being deprived of resources, will surely become restless. This is something no one wants to see."

Bai Qingshuang suddenly laughed. "Heh. This isn't something *nobody* wants to see, is it? It's what *you* don't want to see, right? You treat the Wasteland Alliance as your personal property, and naturally, you want to keep your property safe. Even if it rots and stinks, you won't let others touch it.

"So you created the Hunters, an utterly superficial entity—a grotesque organization that feeds on the blood of Transcendents from the Fourth Ring. You control the directors of the Fourth Ring's Security Bureaus; all of them are dispatched from the Inner Ring. They lord it over the Fourth Ring, living like local emperors. Yet those truly capable Transcendents are forced to be subjugated by such scum, exploited and driven relentlessly. To reach higher realms, they have no choice but to climb over mountains of corpses and through seas of blood, climbing endlessly. After struggling to reach the very top, they find their path forward blocked. At this point, the Inner Ring still plays the benevolent benefactor, offering these Fourth Ring Hunter captains two choices: first, become an ordinary civil servant within the Inner Ring; second, continue waging war beyond the Wall until death. What an excellent policy! Under such high pressure, the Fourth Ring has seemingly useful channels for promotion yet is completely stripped of any ability to threaten the Inner Ring.

"They grow, generation after generation, exploited by you repeatedly—what's it called again? Harvesting leeks? The resources and wealth they create are all taken by you. But you do not treat them as human beings, as your brethren. In your hearts, there is only your own power and dominion!"

Qi Gefei, standing aside, finally understood the crux of the conflict between the Judgment Chief and the Pope. It seems the Judgment Chief is now standing up for the Fourth Ring? As someone from the Inner Ring himself, Qi Gefei felt an odd sense of discomfort hearing the Judgment Chief take a stand for the Fourth Ring.

Pope Fan Zhen could understand Bai Qingshuang's ideology but could not agree with it.

"I've said this is the result of pursuing stability. It is precisely because of such policies that the Alliance has enjoyed hundreds of years of stability."

"Teacher, you're starting to take all the credit again," Bai Qingshuang countered. "Before the Fourth Ring existed, the Wasteland Alliance never had any distinction between Inner and Outer Rings. Humanity was enthusiastic, progressive, and bravely moved forward. But during your rule of over a hundred years, humanity has been left with nothing but greed and infighting. We have made no progress, but the Exotic Species will not wait for us. Today's Exotic Species Monarchs have already realized this. After the Dark Energy changes in the Fourth Ring, they have devised their own strategies in response. They, too, want to integrate and advance. Yet you are still operating on outdated, inertial thinking. It's truly laughable."

Bai Qingshuang had, by now, contained her anger, but her imposing presence had not diminished in the slightest.

At this moment, Pope Fan Zhen also stood up. He straightened his spine and began to directly confront Bai Qingshuang's aura.

"Making some sacrifices for the stability of humankind is only natural! Bai Qingshuang, we simply cannot persuade each other. So, even if you have taken control of the entire Church, even if you command the Four Knights Groups, you still cannot kill me. The Pope must not die as a result of humanity's internal strife. The outcome of our discussions is merely a continuation of this stalemate."

Qi Gefei, standing by, had an ominous feeling, as though he had learned something momentous. The Pope must not die due to humanity's self-destructive infighting? His statement must mean more than just a simple rule of the Church, right? Perhaps...

Bai Qingshuang, as if sensing Qi Gefei's unease, looked over at him.

"Don't be nervous. In my presence, you won't be silenced for knowing too much. I am different from them. You are of the new generation. Although you have also experienced decay, you at least aren't as rotten to the core as they are. Understand?"

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