Chapter 75: Rejection Reaction
“Will it really work if I just stuff the eyeballs into her eye sockets like this?”
Xu Zhi asked, a little unsure.
[Good question. I have no idea.]
[Why don’t you try it and see?]
“What do you know, then?” Xu Zhi found that the narrator had been saying “I don’t know” more and more often lately. It wasn’t like before when it seemed to have an answer for everything.
[I didn’t expect you to actually go through with this. I can’t predict the future—how could I give you an answer?]
The narrator sounded a bit helpless.
[What I do know is that you’re trying to use this girl.]
[You’re trying to see whether your extraordinary power can influence her. With the eyes made of moths, as long as you maintain the output of your ability and keep the moths from dissipating, she’ll be able to see your moths whether her eyes are open or closed.]
Exactly.
That was one of Xu Zhi’s plans.
She wanted to test whether the faith of a [Cup] follower was really that unshakable.
The narrator understood her well—Xu Zhi wasn’t surprised. After all, ever since the incident, she had been bound to the console.
In fact, the narrator now probably knew her better than anyone else, understood her deepest thoughts more than anyone.
[If you manage to shake her belief, you’re probably planning to send her back to that group of fanatics, have her steal their achievements, and become the Archbishop.]
[As for that boy, you didn’t spare him because you made any promise. You didn’t promise him anything—you didn’t even say anything. You kept him alive to provide blood and flesh for the Saintess. After all, you’re running low on [Cup]-attribute cores.]
All true.
That was exactly Xu Zhi’s plan.
Although the narrator hadn’t anticipated her using moths to create a pair of eyes, the moment it knew her intent, it immediately grasped the reason behind it and her full plan.
[Very bold.]
That was its assessment.
Xu Zhi neither confirmed nor denied it, and instead asked, “You do know what an Archbishop is, right?”
[A follower of the Cup. Someone who can lead ordinary believers. Someone with immense extraordinary powers, and who can hear the voice of (.), receive orders, blessings, and grace.]
[So Archbishops are not only powerful in ability, but are also greatly favored. They’re extremely difficult to kill. Just looking at them too many times could cause ordinary people to fall into madness and become fanatical believers.]
“Sounds impressive.”
[Indeed. If a true Archbishop were to appear, you wouldn’t be able to stand against them—at least, not in your current state.]
“How do Archbishops usually appear? Are they promoted from among believers?”
[Not always. The origin of Archbishops is often irregular. Some believers are born with the potential to become one the moment they awaken, just waiting for it to be triggered. Others are chosen—hearing the voice of (.), and then ascending.]
[Rarely, someone becomes an Archbishop the very moment they awaken to the Cup attribute—but such cases are extremely uncommon.]
[Trying to build an Archbishop through blood offerings and sacrifices is a foolish and inefficient method. It’s unstable. If the chosen person lacks the potential, they’ll simply die from the backlash.]
[Not every believer has the chance to become a Bishop. Sometimes it’s the most unremarkable one who suddenly rises one day.]
[In the past, to prevent the emergence of Bishops—or something even higher—all believers were hunted down and killed. After all, no one could tell who might ascend one day.]
“So, I shouldn’t be keeping these two alive?” Xu Zhi asked.
[The present isn’t the same as the past. Even ‘order’ is being rebuilt. Why cling to old rules?]
[Just follow your own judgment.]
Xu Zhi nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”
Still, if the narrator had firmly told her not to keep the two alive, she might’ve reconsidered.
She wouldn’t listen to anyone else, but she gave some weight to the narrator’s words.
“So can multiple Bishops exist at once?”
[The number varies by era, but there’s usually a pattern. Once the first Bishop appears, the total number for that era becomes fixed.]
“Pretty complicated. What’s above the Bishop rank?”
[Explore it yourself.]
“Figures.”
Same old cryptic response.
Luckily, Xu Zhi was used to it by now.
With no more questions, she decided to proceed.
She placed the two beautiful eyeballs into the girl’s empty sockets. After thinking for a moment, she pried the girl’s mouth open and dropped in a [Cup]-attribute core.
“Let’s see if fate’s on our side.”
It was just an experiment anyway. If it failed, she’d just kill the two of them and destroy the heart.
She hadn’t forgotten the narrator’s warning: in her current state, she couldn’t fight a Bishop.
If the Bishop wasn’t someone she could influence or control, then better that it never appears at all.
After placing the red eyeballs in, nothing happened at first. Xu Zhi thought the experiment might have failed—until the core she had fed the girl seemed to take effect.
Red threads of blood started to stretch from the sockets to the eyeballs. Blood, bright as tears, welled from the girl’s eyes and slowly wrapped around the foreign eyes, binding them to her body.
Her eyelids slowly closed, but the blood-tears kept flowing down her unconscious face, strangely sorrowful and beautiful.
Xu Zhi quietly watched.
Then she noticed the girl’s body trembling. Blood began to leak from her nose and mouth—she looked to be in pain.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
[Rejection reaction.]
“That’s… surprisingly scientific?” Xu Zhi was stunned. The whole process of inserting the eyes had been completely brutal and unscientific, and yet now there was some kind of rejection reaction?
And not even a normal one—it didn’t resemble anything she’d read in medical texts.
[True. It’s not exactly scientific. Regular rejection reactions don’t look like this.]
“Fair.”
The girl’s convulsions continued, and blood was now pouring from all seven orifices. Things were clearly going downhill.
“What now? Is she done for?” Xu Zhi’s tone was still rather calm.
[You could try feeding her some of your blood.]
Xu Zhi winced. “What, is my blood some kind of miracle ginseng fruit now? That freak drinks it, now she gets some too?”
[…]
[She’s a Cup follower. Blood naturally helps her. Plus, since those eyeballs were made using your blood, introducing your blood into her system might reduce the rejection.]
“That’s… not very scientific.”
[This is mysticism.]
“Fine.” Xu Zhi gave in.
She skillfully slit her palm and, with her other hand, pried open the girl’s clenched mouth.
“Don’t waste it. You better make this worth it!”
She grumbled her threats at the unconscious girl, who couldn’t hear a thing.
What if she becomes an archbishop for real and breaks free of your control?