No health bar? You call this stunningly beautiful NPC sickly?

Mu Zhixi leaned against the door frame of the cafeteria director's office and poured herself some warm water.

As the water went down my throat, the dull pain that had been pressing on my chest for years finally subsided a little.

Current integration level: 38%

This rate of increase is impressive; for a four-star dungeon, the quality is truly impeccable.

If she had this business acumen in her past life, she could have turned her fellow patients into devoted fans, even while lying in a hospital bed.

Unfortunately, human civilization has missed out on a marketing genius.

Now her talent can only shine in bizarre dungeons.

Setting down her cup, Mu Zhixi moved slowly and deliberately. Outside the cafeteria, about a hundred players were wolfing down their purified rice while sneaking peeks at them.

Those sticky eyes looked exactly like a group of newly weaned puppies staring longingly at their owner who was giving them canned meat.

It would be strange if she couldn't hear what they were whispering about. Mu Zhixi's perception range increased with her integration level, and now she could clearly hear the sound of someone dropping their chopsticks even from halfway across the cafeteria.

"Sister Ran didn't even touch the food, she just stood there drinking plain water. She's a master, she's a master!" Cheng Xiaocheng shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of rice, her eyes wide open.

"Shut up and eat." Gu Wenzhou poked the back of her hand, but he wasn't idle either, his pen flying across the notebook.

Cheng Xiaocheng choked for a moment, then quickly took a sip of water and muttered, "To be honest, Miss Ran's action just now saved at least dozens of lives."

As soon as he said this, everyone agreed.

The players who have survived to this point are not stupid. They know very well that the original mechanism of the cafeteria was to force them to eat contaminated food.

Ingesting it won't necessarily kill you immediately, but it will cause mental pollution, physical abnormalities, and a decline in exam performance, leading to a chain reaction.

This big shot from the Holy Land simply raised his hand and directly removed the biggest minefield in the cafeteria.

Even if she doesn't explain anything, the favor she owes is still incredibly heavy.

Gu Wenzhou picked up some greens and looked into the distance.

Mu Zhixi was standing in front of Ma Houde, the canteen director.

Her frail figure made one worry that she might fall over in the wind, yet both the A-level principal and the B+-level cafeteria director were bent over, not daring to even breathe loudly.

The scene is so jarringly disjointed.

Beautiful, mysterious, sickly, yet so powerful that the entire instance bows down to her.

The old ghost clicked his tongue inside Gu Wenzhou's body: "Years ago, I saw some bizarre scenes of top players among you living people enslaving us, but none of them were nearly as outrageous as this."

"Perhaps all truly powerful people are like this; they don't need to lift a finger. With just a word, their shady underlings have to get things done."

Gu Wenzhou was still in shock when he asked, "You really haven't heard of the Sanctuary Church?"

"It's scary if you've never heard of it." The old ghost lowered his voice. "There are many forces in the supernatural world, but the one that can make an A-level supernatural being call you 'Your Majesty' is definitely not some nobody."

"Think about it, someone like the Faceless Principal, who could be a local tyrant outside, is just a pathetic elementary school student making a mistake in front of her."

Gu Wenzhou looked at Mu Zhixi.

She said the sanctuary shelters the lost.

The old ghost was silent for two seconds: "Just take that with a grain of salt. The older the power, the more beautiful its slogans. Some claim to be fighting for order, some for redemption, but in the end, aren't they all paving the way with human lives?"

Gu Wenzhou fell silent for a moment.

On the other side, Mu Zhixi was rehearsing a scene with the principal.

It was supposed to be a rehearsal, but in reality, she was unilaterally putting pressure on the principal.

Ma Houde held the canteen rectification form in front of her, his chubby hands trembling violently.

"Your Majesty, this is the new menu. Breakfast is white porridge and steamed buns; lunch is rice and vegetables; dinner is noodles and soup. All disciplinary ingredients have been removed; obedience to inspection is required."

Mu Zhixi glanced at it and nodded.

"Can."

Principal Zhou Decai immediately responded: "Your Majesty is merciful. This will not violate the rules of the school and will reduce unnecessary losses for students. Our school will certainly implement the spirit of the Holy Land and vigorously promote the reform of the cafeteria."

Mu Zhixi's temples throbbed upon hearing this.

You old codger, you're a natural-born conversation starter, you're so good at getting things done.

She wanted to tell him to shut up, but then she thought about it again and stopped.

The cafeteria can seat over a hundred players, making it a perfect opportunity to implement the feeding system.

Mu Zhixi lowered her eyes and said in a very soft voice, "Principal Zhou."

The principal bent even lower: "Your subordinate is here."

"Has the 'Faceless No. 1 Middle School' operated for so many years, relying on rules or oppression?"

The principal paused for a moment.

The players at the tables near the window in the cafeteria all pricked up their ears.

Unfortunately, this was exactly the effect Mu Zhixi wanted.

She looked away and turned her back. Pretending to be tall is physically demanding, especially in this congenitally vitreous body.

To make this play a complete success, miracles alone are not enough; we need to give these people some depth.

The principal's throat tightened: "Your Majesty, these are the rules. Our school cannot completely disregard the will of the rules."

The will of rules?

Mu Zhixi pondered the words for a moment before speaking: "Before the old empire collapsed, many people also made this argument."

The principal's head was almost touching the floor.

The players instantly perked up.

Holy crap! The old empire?

Another new force has emerged?

Gu Wenzhou almost pulled out his notebook on the spot.

The old ghost gasped as he entered the body: "The Old Empire? I've never heard of it. Damn, this is even more complicated."

Mu Zhixi continues her performance.

"They say the empire needs order."

"They say that the Lord requires obedience."

"They say that humans and evil coexist in harmony, and that as long as one bows one's head, one can gain equality and peace."

She raised her hand, white feathers obscuring her eyes, her whole being exuding the chilling aura of the statue in the old shrine.

"But the parasites of the old empire only care about ignoring the joys and sorrows of ants, and use the rhetoric of order to exploit the masses."

"But the Lord doesn't care about these cowardly people fighting for power, nor does He care who sits on the throne. A mere corner of the empire is not even worth a glance from Him."

After those words were spoken, the sound of chopsticks clattering against plates in the cafeteria became much quieter.

The players all felt a chill run down their spines.

The empire doesn't care, and neither does the lord.

In short, the amount of information is so vast that it could overwhelm the forum's fact-checking section.

The Old Empire, Lord, Sanctuary Church, Miss Ran.

What is the relationship between these words?

Is the Church of Sanctuary a force resisting the old empire?

Or is it the only surviving remnant of theocracy after the collapse of the old empire?

Who is that Lord?

Gu Wenzhou lowered his head and wrote on the back of a napkin.

[New intelligence: In this bizarre world, there once existed a power called the Old Empire.]

[The empire and the "lord" once jointly built order, which appears to have collapsed.]

[Miss Ran's indifferent attitude towards both suggests that the Sanctuary Church might not be an ordinary appendage of the Lord, but rather a high-ranking organization that once came close to the "truth."]

The old man became increasingly alarmed: "Kid, your guess is a bit frightening."

Gu Wenzhou said in a low voice, "It's not a guess, it's that the big boss is deliberately revealing some confidential information that can't be said openly."

The old ghost was taken aback; it had no idea about these intricate details.

Gu Wenzhou continued writing: "Perhaps she didn't want these truths to be buried in the world, which is why she let us hear them."

After a long pause, the old man finally uttered a curse: "You smart people have really dirty brains."