Chapter 141: Farce
Choosing who would enter Cloud City had almost turned into a political game. Everyone knew this would be a highly significant operation—but also incredibly dangerous. If Xu Zhi truly could resolve the Archbishop issue, the Federation would finally be freed from its current dire situation.
After that, access to Cloud City would become crucial, and information regarding it would be key. A single misstep now could mean falling behind completely.
Besides that, the followers of the Church, still hidden within the Federation, had been actively sowing discord—instigating conflict between cities. In their eyes, Xu Zhi was a dead man walking. Once he died, the Federation would eventually fall and become a base for the believers. Even among Archbishops, there was competition. Whoever commanded more followers and resources would gain the upper hand.
The internal division of the Federation only made it easier for them to expand their influence.
By the time Zhen brought news that they would be entering Cloud City the following evening, the Federation had already assembled a team.
In the final decision, four people from the Capital were chosen, while the Capital was allowed to send only one—Lin Zizhen. To be honest, considering the Capital’s overall strength in transcendental individuals, if Xu Zhi hadn’t shown up there from the beginning, this mission would have had nothing to do with them.
Once the list was finalized, the selected participants were gathered at a staging camp on the outskirts of Cloud City to meet one another, get acquainted, and confirm who would act as team leader.
In truth, no matter how fierce the political competition had been, all the chosen participants were among the top transcendental individuals from their respective cities. Naturally, each had their own pride.
Moreover, with the ongoing war between the Federation and the believers, and the constant emergence of new transcendental individuals, many formerly well-known figures had already fallen. And new, even more powerful talents were always rising. So not everyone in the group had heard of each other or knew one another’s abilities.
Only after the team list was confirmed did they receive information about their “teammates.”
The four from the Capital were naturally most familiar with one another. As for Lin Zizhen from the Capital, he was considered a bit of a “celebrity” in the group—after all, everyone knew he was the only one who had actually met Xu Zhi in person. Despite being the weakest among them, he’d made it into the team through this “backdoor.”
After a brief round of introductions, where everyone stated their names, attributes, and abilities, the group fell into an awkward silence. It was time to choose a leader. But since they were all elites, no one wanted to directly appoint someone—it would be both offensive and thankless. Better to let them decide among themselves.
Even though one of them, from the Capital, possessed the rare and powerful [Lamp] attribute—seemingly the most suitable candidate to lead—not a single person brought it up. Even the other three Capital participants said nothing. Despite being from the same city, their relationships didn’t seem particularly close.
Finally, it was a boy named Ye Yan who broke the stalemate. He looked only thirteen or fourteen, thin and frail, more like a kid from a slum than a powerful transcendental individual.
“Since there’s a [Lamp] attribute user, why not let them lead?” he suggested casually.
For him, it didn’t matter who led. He was just tired of all this noisy human drama.
“Who knows what we’ll encounter inside? Wouldn’t it be better to pick someone with more combat experience?”
Seeing someone finally speak up, others joined in.
“Yeah, the Light-type from the Capital—aren’t they usually just protected by others anyway?”
The implication was obvious.
But someone else objected: “That’s not necessarily true. The place we’re heading into is full of fog. Do any of you have Light powers? Can you lead us through it?”
“Light doesn’t mean they’re a guide!”
“Why not?”
Ye Yan’s brow twitched in annoyance. Why was this argument still dragging on? Why was it so hard for humans to just pick a leader?
He glanced discreetly at one of his companions—only to find the person nearly asleep amidst the arguing.
Even more annoyed, he turned to another teammate, a newly promoted Archbishop who would be joining them in Cloud City—only to see him flirting with a female transcendental.
Idiots!
He was nearly at his limit. Being around this bunch of swine made the very air feel suffocating.
So he spoke decisively: “Let’s fight for it.”
The room went quiet instantly. Everyone looked at the strange young boy.
His face was calm, but those cold, unsettling eyes—set just a little too low in his face—made people feel vaguely uncomfortable. Despite his small stature, he exuded a pressure that made him seem taller than everyone else.
An unpleasant gaze.
But the words he spoke were even more provocative.
“What? None of you have the confidence to win by strength, so you’re wasting time with all this bickering?”
His tone carried undisguised contempt and disdain, making tempers flare instantly. Someone snapped back without thinking:
“Fine! Let’s fight!”
If that person had thought it through, they’d have realized this was a bad time to waste energy or powers on infighting—they were about to enter Cloud City.
But the boy’s few words had stirred arrogance within them. Suddenly, everyone was brimming with confidence, looking down on the others and feeling a fight was no big deal.
It was irrational, unjustified pride.
As the would-be leaders began to actually brawl, the boy’s expression eased. He calmly retreated to the side, back to his companions.
He had no interest in fighting these humans—let alone leading them.
One of the women, who had been half-asleep until now, opened her eyes as he approached. Though drowsy, she clearly understood what had just happened.
“You really had to use your powers on them?”
Ye Yan chuckled. “I didn’t. I just said a few words. They couldn’t handle it.”
He wasn’t lying. If he had used his powers in earnest, the group would already be deluded enough to believe they could become rulers of the entire Federation.
All it took was a bit of coaxing, and these fragile human minds fell apart on their own.
The only one with any resistance was the Light-type user.
That made Ye Yan hate them even more. Light—such a disgusting attribute.
If it weren’t for the fact that they were being monitored constantly by cameras and sensors, and couldn’t yet reveal themselves, he would’ve handled things much more… directly.
“Enough,” he muttered. “Let’s end this farce already.”
Whoever led the humans didn’t matter.
Once they entered Cloud City, they would all die anyway.
what a useless chapter