In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

She and Xu Shi were naturally on the same wavelength, so the moment they saw the Holy Maiden unleash her ultimate move, they knew what to do next.

We must use this method to bring them together one-on-one, otherwise we're all going to be doomed.

Or perhaps, the previous battles were all preparations for this moment.

Pulling someone into a one-on-one spiritual battle is not an invincible tactic; at the very least, the strength of one's mental power is a crucial factor.

To give a simple example, if Xu Shi wanted to use "Threshold Space" on Xia Ke'an, a mental powerhouse, he would most likely fail—although his mental strength is at a formidable S-level, the old lady is an SS-level, and in a real contest, she would be one step ahead of him.

Unless she is willing, it may backfire, and even if it succeeds by chance, the effect will not be good.

The saintess before him was clearly no ordinary person, at least not a weakling like Dongfang Xiao. Xu Shi already had some doubts about her true strength, and after seeing her second ability of "human manipulation," he was even more certain that her mental strength was definitely not weak.

To be able to control so many people at the same time, one must be at least at the same S-level as oneself.

In the cautious Boss Xu's view, appropriate attrition was necessary—first, take down the puppet to cause a backlash against her, and then strike when she had to expend a lot of energy to activate the old pope, which would inevitably be her most vulnerable moment.

And so, the shot hit its mark.

While he could indeed carry people, Mr. Xu, experiencing teleportation for the first time, was still somewhat unaccustomed to it, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, which was a relief as he didn't actually vomit.

My dear Su Lin, did you have to endure all this when you fought? It breaks my heart. (Reading in a monotone tone)

However, he couldn't lose face, so before the Holy Maiden could react, he had already forcibly adjusted his state.

"of course."

Xu Shi stood beneath the statue, his cold gaze tinged with a hint of mockery. "The outside environment is too chaotic; it's not a good place to talk."

"..."

Miss Saintess snorted coldly, unconvinced.

It was truly beyond her expectations—Xu Shi had been here for so long, and she naturally had as much information about him as possible, including his abilities, personality, and so on.

Otherwise, she wouldn't actually want to turn everyone into puppets, as that would be a significant burden for her.

But she knew the power of Xu Shi's "entropy of evil thoughts." If she didn't do this, he might disrupt the minds of his enemies on a large scale, just like when he first went to the royal family to show off his muscles.

Only by doing this can we prevent him from doing this.

Unfortunately, she overlooked the concept of "threshold space" and never expected that her actions would play right into Xu Shi's hands.

But there was nothing she could do about it; she had no idea Xu Shi had this trump card. Just like her "human manipulation," you can never guess what you've never seen before.

No matter how deeply the Papacy and the royal family infiltrate, her influence cannot reach Dongfang Xiao's study.

"What do you want to talk about?"

She gritted her teeth, her expression one of resignation to death, and said, "If it concerns 'natural justice,' I advise you to die instead..."

But before she could finish speaking, she was shocked to find that her throat felt like it was being choked, and she could no longer make a sound.

Xu Shi chuckled and said calmly, "Kneel down."

Immediately, the saintess knelt down uncontrollably.

She looked at Xu Shi in disbelief, clearly finding it hard to accept.

She used to be the one controlling others, never the one being controlled by others.

Xu Shi almost laughed. He had previously thought this guy was cunning and shrewd, but now it seemed he was just as naive as he appeared. Had he not realized his predicament after being in the one-on-one arena for so long?

Now that her spirit is severely damaged, she is as insignificant as dust here, so of course she can do whatever she wants... cough, of course she can't resist the mental pressure coming from herself.

However, to be fair, this person still has some backbone, at least better than my own "inspector" He Yuxia. Back then, the speed at which Miss He confessed was so fast that I even had the illusion that I had planted a seed in her but forgot about it.

Unfortunately, backbone is useless; what Mr. Xu is best at is breaking other people's bones.

Thanks to his previous experience training Dongfang Xiao, he is now becoming more and more proficient in playing with the "threshold space". He knows that when there is a serious imbalance in mental strength, he can force the other party to do something they are unwilling to do.

Things like spitting out truth or making some strange movements are all things he can do with a single thought.

Otherwise, why do you think the training of the little empress went so smoothly? As the saying goes, it's best if you cooperate, but if you don't, I'll help you cooperate.

"Next, I ask and you answer."

He stopped worrying about how quickly he could confess; he figured he had to say it eventually anyway.

Unable to speak, the saintess could only express her opposition through her facial expressions.

His hair was disheveled, but his eyes were defiant.

Xu Shi raised an eyebrow. To be honest, she was actually quite good-looking.

Previously, the saintess's veil was as if it were always on her face and had never fallen off, and I had no interest in seeing her true face.

But now that we're in a mental space, the veil seems to have been automatically filtered out, revealing a flawless face like a beautiful jade.

So it wasn't an ugly monster after all... Boss Xu muttered to himself. But that was easy to figure out. If the original plot of this land was followed, this guy would most likely be one of Luo Yu's harem members. How could he be anything less than that?

According to basic rules, even if a woman is truly ugly, she is most likely pretending, or she will encounter a fortuitous event and suddenly become an unparalleled beauty.

However, some men now have many wives, each one a beauty, so they don't find them too stunning, nor do they have any improper thoughts about doing anything to them. This is the way of the wise.

A small compliment was already the greatest respect he could give to the saintess.

After showing respect, it's time to torture them.

Given his brief part-time experience at the inspection bureau, Mr. Xu demonstrated a very professional level of interrogation skills.

"Name."

"I don't have a name."

...Really not?!

Xu Shi rolled his eyes and changed his question, "Do you have a number in 'Heavenly Principles'?"

"No, our purpose in being created is to monitor the corresponding area and ensure that it does not deviate too much from the predetermined plot."

Damn, this organization doesn't sound legitimate at all; it's like some kind of small workshop.

"Are there any patterns to be found in these so-called scripts?"

After a brief, sarcastic remark, Xu Shi managed to glean the hidden meaning in her words.

Just as He Yuxia had said, each experimental field was artificially constructed by "Tianli," and everything within it was pre-arranged, much like The Truman Show.

We may not nitpick every single detail, but the overall direction will never change.

"We need the 'protagonist' to rise step by step and attempt to explore ways to eliminate the effects of 'divine breath' on the entire world."

The saintess said expressionlessly, "As for how the 'protagonist' grows and rises, and what the background structure of the region is, it will be randomly selected from the database and constructed."

Xu Shi nodded slightly. This was similar to the information he had previously learned, but with some additional details.

It's no wonder that the City of Night Sin and the Hualan Empire have such different styles; they're both randomly generated, so of course they won't be the same.

It's obvious that the so-called database of "Heavenly Principle" is quite large, and setting up different backgrounds is to try more paths. For example, Night City is a technology-based city, while this one is clearly more magic-based.

Maybe there will be fantasy, martial arts, and Cthulhu elements too, who knows?

"Can't you find a solution directly using your database?"

He frowned and continued, "What if the plot deviates significantly from its intended direction?"

I cannot answer your first question.

The saintess replied, "The second question... according to the rules, will first be addressed by the 'Overseers.' If the 'Overseers' are unable to resolve it, it will proceed to the second-level judgment process, forcibly bringing it back on track."

"..."

Xu seemed to be deep in thought.

Her arrival disrupted the original plot of the Hualan Empire, forcing her, the "observer," to intervene.

That's not a problem.

However, there is a problem with the following sentence.

Because not only here, but the entire course of Night City has long been turned upside down by its own actions.

He Yuxia, as the "monitor," obviously failed to solve her own problem. Logically speaking, "natural justice" should have intervened long ago, right?

Why hasn't it happened yet? It's been almost a year since I killed Shen He, my little darling.

Although he had already considered that "Heavenly Principle" must have some control over all of this and there must be a so-called bottom line, everything he was doing now was to test where that bottom line was.

But this is not the same as what Miss Saint said. The plot of Night City has already gone too far. According to her, "Heavenly Justice" should have already given Night City a secondary assessment and smashed its iron fist, right?

unless……

"Of the people you brought, who are the 'observers' for your area?"

In a moment of distraction, the saintess temporarily escaped his oppression and eagerly asked what was on her mind.

There's no need to worry about anything else; you can tell from Xu Shi's questions that he has a considerable understanding of "the principles of Heaven."

This is also what puzzled her: people from another region came here to cause trouble, so what were their "observers" doing?

Not to mention that Xu Shi also knows so many secrets. Shouldn't this "inspector" who has betrayed the party so much have been dealt with long ago?

"I don't have any 'watchdogs' among my men."

Xu Shi glanced at her, not bothering to hide it from her, "I saw through her and locked her up, otherwise how would I know about your affair?"

"what?!"

Miss Saintess was greatly shocked, clearly not expecting this to be the case.

She herself is an "observer," so she knows that in addition to ensuring regional stability, her responsibilities also include guiding, protecting, and even dedicating herself to the protagonist.

However, all of this must be done without revealing one's identity. In order to balance these two points, the identity of the "observer" is usually that of someone very important to the protagonist.

But according to what Xu Shi said, the "monitors" there were not close to him, and the way he extracted information seemed to have a strong coercive tendency.

This is a bit strange.

Is he just too heartless? Or perhaps...

Are you the 'main character' in your area?

She considered this possibility.

"Who told you I was?"

Xu Shi sneered, "I killed the main character from our place a long time ago. If we follow your logic and there's a script, I should just be a minor villain."