Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

"The previous Pope was not from the Roman family, but was born a commoner player," the saintess said. "During his reign, he did many good things, but he also affected the interests of many people and offended many powerful figures. His cause of death is a mystery. Many people suspect that he was assassinated by players from the noble faction, and I think so too."

"...Is this something that can be said directly?"

"It's okay, you're not an outsider."

The saintess smiled at Fan Xiao.

Then, her gaze fell again on the growing number of children, and she said, "After the last pope died, many of his decisions were overturned, and a great deal of resources and money that were actually used were forcibly taken back. It was truly an ugly display of greed..."

"Now that things have come to this, the welfare home is one of the few 'relics' that he still has that can be of use."

“I really like this ‘relic’; it gives displaced children a place to rely on.”

"If someone causes trouble here..."

A cold glint flashed in the saintess's eyes, but she quickly concealed it and smiled again, saying, "Let's go, Xiao."

Chapter 253 This saintess is so lame.

On the lawn, Fan Xiao used the "Dustless Shield" to create a step that was higher than the ground.

Tiny specks of dust were trapped inside the steps, creating a cloud-like effect.

"Thank you."

After thanking Fan Xiao, the saintess lifted her skirt and walked up the steps.

At this moment, all the children and staff at the Ceylon Welfare Home have gathered together.

All eyes fell on the saintess, drawn to her perfect face and curves, their gazes filled with an even stronger intensity than usual.

"I have a question to ask everyone."

The saintess first looked at the gathered children, and gently opened her mouth, her voice as melodious as a moon lute playing like musical notes: "Do any of you have any friends who have recently left the orphanage?"

"Yes, many people have been adopted."

"Xiao Yuan is gone, and Xia Chun is gone too."

"And Hel, and..."

The cacophony of voices blended together.

The saint listened patiently to each child, compiled the names they mentioned, and then compared them with the adoption forms she had seen in the office area.

The numbers on both sides can be matched.

At least on the surface, there seems to be no problem.

The saint then asked, "Were those who were adopted good-looking?"

"Two of them are very good-looking, the others are not so good-looking."

"Xia Chun is so fat."

"Hel is ugly."

"The Holy Maiden is the most beautiful."

Hmm... it shouldn't be the situation she's thinking of.

The saint ruled out one possibility.

Most of the welfare facilities in Zone 001 were not directly established or managed by the game government.

Many of them are private in nature.

Therefore, if a welfare institution that takes in children is not managed properly, it may become a terrible place.

When pretty girls and boys enter, it's like entering a den of demons.

The saint then turned her gaze to the director of the Ceylon Welfare Home and asked, "Do you call back to check on those who were adopted every now and then?"

"Yes, that's the rule." The female dean nodded.

"Now, I'll contact their adoptive parents separately and have the children talk to me. I want to hear them tell me about their current situation firsthand."

"The saint gave the order."

"Huh? This..." The female dean stood there stunned.

She thought the saint mentioned adopting a child so that she could have a heart-to-heart talk with the children still in the orphanage and comfort them, telling them that their friend's temporary departure was not a farewell and that there would be opportunities to meet again in the future.

However, the saintess suddenly changed the subject, and the heartwarming scene instantly turned into a detective story.

She instinctively looked away, unsure how to respond.

"Is there a problem?" the saintess asked.

"No, no, I'll have someone call right away, but..."

The female dean cautioned, "Not everyone can be contacted; some people may change the numbers they left behind."

Upon hearing this, the saintess smiled and said, "There's no need to fight."

"……what?"

"No need to fight anymore, I already understand the situation."

With a slightly bewitching smile, the saintess asked, "Not all of those children who left were adopted, right?"

"Um……"

The female dean hesitated for a moment, but ultimately could not suppress her love and respect for the saintess. She nodded and answered truthfully, "Of the 15 adopted children, 3 were taken away by people sent by the church. The relevant personnel in charge of this matter were asked to keep it confidential, and the adoption process was normal."

"What was the purpose of the three... churches taking them away?"

"They went through a series of tests and were deemed suitable to become players. The purpose of taking them away was to train them—that's the reason we were told."

Do you know the people you've been in contact with?

"do not know."

"You dare to trust the identities of strangers as church members?"

“Someone called and vouched for these people. I know the person who called; he is a genuine member of the church administration and one of the regional bishops.”

"guarantee……"

The saintess narrowed her bright eyes: "Who is it?"

"Rhodes".

The female dean gave a name.

Rhodes… The saint remembered the name. He was indeed a member of the church, but he was on the opposite side of hers and was a member of the “Allen Roman” candidate faction.

"Sakura, contact someone to deal with the people involved in this."

The saintess gave an order to Sakura, who was not far away.

Sakura nodded, walked to a distance, and began making a phone call.

Fan Xiao seemed to be deep in thought after seeing this scene.

The saintess's ability... seems to be mental interference as well.

The problem is that it's unclear which aspect is being interfered with.

Seduction... it doesn't seem that simple.

Unable to come up with an answer immediately, he didn't dwell on the problem and focused his attention on the important matter at hand.

"This is not like the way that organization operates... If it were them, the memories of the people involved would be rewritten, and such an obvious loophole would not be left."

"Could it be that they're using a wide-net approach, because the area is too large for them to manage?"

"Or... they outsourced the selection of test subjects to other forces. Are they cooperating with the Church? Or... is the Church currying favor with them?"

"The Holy Maiden seems unaware of this matter. It's possible she's playing me, but that's unlikely. Could this... be the work of another faction within the Church?"

The Heavenly Righteous Church is not unified; there are several factions vying for the position of Pope.

The saintess's side is just one of them.

If the Holy Maiden was unaware of this, then it could only have been done by another force.

At this moment, the saintess descended the steps of the repulsive barrier and approached Fan Xiao.

“Your information is correct; there is indeed a problem here,” she said. “However… they handled this matter completely in accordance with proper procedures; everything seemed normal. I wonder where your ‘disappearance rumor’ came from?”

"How it came about is not important; what matters is the truth."

Fan Xiao put away the repulsive barrier of the "Dustless Shield".

He wasn't surprised that the rumors didn't match the facts.

The source of the rumors may not necessarily be the Ceylon Welfare Home.

It's also possible that there were genuine missing persons cases in other welfare institutions, and the news spread like wildfire, with a mistake in the process, causing the story to go astray.

Then, the distorted news reached his ears.

It was essentially the blame placed on the Ceylon Welfare Home during the spread of the story, and he happened to overhear it, so he went to the Ceylon Welfare Home.

Fate, amazing.

Fan Xiao sighed softly, "I didn't expect the problem to come from the church. Miss Qiu, do you know that man named Rhodes?"

"So we know each other."

The saintess nodded slightly: "A powerful force that has existed for a long time is bound to encounter all sorts of problems... I will investigate this matter further and inform you of the answer as soon as I have the results."

"Okay, I'll wait for your news."

Fan Xiao accepted the arrangement.

Yes, I'll accept it on the surface.

Even if he wanted to investigate, he couldn't say it in front of the saintess.

After all, on the surface, this is an internal church matter.

Fan Xiao changed the subject and asked, "Miss Qiu seems to really like children?"

"I wouldn't call it that, it's just that I have more empathy for children in similar situations to me."

The saintess's tone was more serious this time.

She didn't take the opportunity to play pranks on anyone, saying anything like, "I really like children, so I want to have one myself."

"Similar circumstances?" Fan Xiao grasped the key point.

“I also came from an orphanage,” the saintess said, “but not this one.”

"The orphanage..." Fan Xiao said, somewhat surprised, "I thought it was Miss Qiu..."

"Did you think I had a noble birth?"

The saintess shook her head slightly and said, "In Division 001, birth is indeed highly valued, and the social hierarchy above is basically fixed."

"However, it's not absolute. Evolution games broke the stagnant situation."

"It's not uncommon for people from humble backgrounds to attain high positions if they are highly capable; I'm just one of them."

"As for the orphanage... my mother passed away when I was very young, but my father is still alive and well, unfortunately..."

She laughed slightly, as if mocking herself, "We both hate each other, so I had no choice but to come to the orphanage."

"I'm sorry, I reminded you of something sad."

Fan Xiao offered a word of comfort.

“This way of apologizing is not sincere, Xiao.” The saintess regained her previous smile and said, “At this time, you should reach out and hug the girl, stroking her while speaking softly.”

"Yeah... you're right."

Fan Xiao nodded, opened his arms and said, "Come on, I'll be very gentle."

"...Hehe, I'm not in such a bad mood that I need comforting, Xiao." The saintess said, "Let's save the hug for the next date."

"Has I been rejected?"

Fan Xiao sighed, "As expected, Miss Qiu is all talk and no action. She doesn't really care about me. She won't even hug me. I guess I'm just a little fish in your pond."

"My fishpond will only ever keep you as the only fish, Xiao."