CHAPTER 94: AN OPPORTUNITY HAS ARRIVED

"Our Hall of Protectionists can deploy two hundred men," Chen Ruhai declared.

"Are they all trustworthy? This is an extremely important matter, and those demonic church members are able to communicate in real time thanks to their Five Spirit Parasites, so we can't afford to have any untrustworthy individuals on the case," Gao Qingyu said.

"These are all trustworthy people for sure. If the One Heart Church is tipped off by one of my men, then I may as well resign from my post as deputy hall master."

"Where's the hall master?" Gao Qingyu asked.

"He's gone to the southeastern headquarters and still isn't back yet."

"I see."

With all of the arrangements made, everyone dispersed.

All of the decision-makers gathered around a map of White Cloud Lake and simulated potential scenarios over and over again, only stopping once they were satisfied that all bases had been covered.

"If the lead that we've received from Fang Che turns out to be true, then we have to ensure that we stop them at all costs!"

Gao Qingyu had always wanted to remove the White Cloud Prefecture branch helm of the One Heart Church, to the point that it was nearing an obsession.

He knew that there were One Heart Church undercover agents in the academy, and with the support of the branch helm, those undercover agents were proving very difficult to deal with.

Gao Qingyu wasn't expecting to be able to eliminate both at once, but if he could eradicate the branch helm, then the undercover agents would lose their source of support, and hopefully, they would eventually commit missteps that would get them exposed.

However, over the years, this branch helm had been extremely cunning. They never made any big moves, and each time, they only sent out several people at a time to wreak havoc or cause destruction.

Furthermore, regardless of success or failure, the people deployed would immediately retreat as soon as the authorities were alerted, ensuring that no one was ever caught.

However, an opportunity had finally arisen.

"Fang Che has really made a massive contribution this time," Gao Qingyu remarked. "If the White Cloud Lake dam had been broken, over three million citizens of the prefecture would've been caught in the resulting flood, not to mention he's also presented us with an opportunity to take out an entire One Heart Church branch helm!"

Huang Yifan nodded in agreement, but internally, he was feeling very suspicious.

Why is Fang Che betraying the One Heart Church?

Li Changkong smiled as he said, "Fang Che is a great kid. I never thought he'd be able to make such a huge contribution by chance."

"Fang Che may be a good kid, but your students have been worsening in quality year after year!" Gao Qingyu admonished in a cold voice. "After this is over, write me a report, then begin working overtime!"

Li Changkong was stunned to hear this.

"But Dean Gao, my students were the ones who took part in last year's World Academy Tournament, and you even praised me for bringing glory to the academy at the time!"

"Well, did they win?" Gao Qingyu countered.

"???"

"Fine," Li Changkong acquiesced in a dejected manner. "I understand my shortcomings. I'll submit the report tomorrow, but can I skip the overtime work?"

"No, you cannot! I am assigning you overtime work as a gesture of trust! If all of our instructors tried to shirk their assigned duties like you do, how are we supposed to take on the Church of the Self-Righteous?" Gao Qingyu raged, throwing another one of his signature tantrums.

Li Changkong could only heave a forlorn internal sigh.

He took a glance at Huang Yifan out of the corner of his eye, only to discover the latter staring off into space, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

Huang Yifan, you old bastard! You've screwed me over big time!

***

Dongfang Sansan had just received a report of the lead provided by Fang Che.

What is Yin Shengong planning, throwing out an entire branch helm all of a sudden? There's no way Fang Che would be worth enough for him to make such a big sacrifice, so the only feasible possibility is that Yin Shengong is unhappy with this branch helm for some reason. What reason could that be?

The only reason I can think of is that this branch helm falls under the umbrella of Ren Zhongyuan's forces. This is going to be a huge crisis for Ren Zhongyuan. If he doesn't make a move, then his forces will be slowly eroded by Yin Shengong until he's completely undermined. Hence, Ren Zhongyuan will definitely make a move soon, but that'll only play right into Yin Shengong's hands.

There's no way Yin Shengong would be targeting an entire branch helm if he hadn't made preparations in advance. Does this mean an internal conflict is about to arise in the One Heart Church?

Dongfang Sansan took a deep breath, then closed his eyes as he carefully ran through that train of thought again, following which he immediately issued an order.

"Pay close attention to the One Heart Church's every move, and immediately report to me if there's any abnormal activity! Also, check on the progress of the people investigating Ren Zhongyuan's whereabouts. If I don't have a report from them before this afternoon, tell them to demote themselves!

“I want five teams of Golden Guardians and above stationed at each of the eastern, southern, and southeastern directions. From this moment, all warriors at or above the King tier from the southeastern Protectionist headquarters are to return to their posts to await my orders until further notice..."

The orders were quickly issued one after another, and only after taking a moment to ensure that he hadn't missed anything did he return to his daily administrative tasks.

Right at this moment, a white-robed figure entered the room, then asked, "I hear you're planning to take out the One Heart Church."

"Yes, but also no," Dongfang Sansan replied with a smile as he gestured for the white-robed figure to take a seat.

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"Right now, Yin Shengong is in a rather difficult predicament as his right-hand man is trying to usurp his position. Hence, we should take this opportunity to strike at them, just enough to force them back. If we exert too much pressure upon them, we run the risk of unifying the two of them against us, and that would only be to our detriment.

“Additionally, I want to use this opportunity to see just how severe the internal conflict within the Church of the Self-Righteous has become."

"Oh?"

"Both Yin Shengong and Ren Zhongyuan have backers in the main church, and you and I both know exactly who they are. These people have been at each other's throats for years, but their conflicts have never gotten out of hand.

“The power struggle between Yin Shengong and Ren Zhongyuan must've arisen from an escalation in the conflict between their backers. Otherwise, neither of them would be making such rash moves. In other words, it seems like the opportunity that we've always been waiting for is about to arrive."

"What opportunity is that?"

"For such a long time, we were able to successfully prevent the Church of the Self-Righteous from founding a nation. Hence, even though there's always been internal unrest within the church, they've tried to suppress it because they know that if a fullblown internal conflict ensues, that'll give us the opportunity to weaken them.

“However, things are different now that they've successfully founded a nation. It's a monumental step, for sure, but it can also be a severe crisis for them."

"You make it sound like their founding of a nation is a good thing for us!" the white-robed figure exclaimed.

Dongfang Sansan raised a hand to his own forehead as he sighed, "Looks like I overestimated your intelligence."

The white-robed figure: "......"

"That was just a joke," Dongfang Sansan chuckled. "If you put more thought into it, you'd be able to figure it out yourself. Prior to founding a nation, the Church of the Self-Righteous did everything to suppress its internal conflicts because survival was their foremost priority. They were powerful, but they were divided, and divided forces have to band together for survival.

“Hence, it wasn't so easy for us to strike at them back then. However, things are different now. Now that a nation has been founded, rewards have to be issued, right? Everyone feels as if they've done more to contribute to the founding of the nation than everyone else, so there's no way to ensure that everyone is satisfied with the rewards that they're given.

“Furthermore, it's the warriors who did all the hard work, but advisors and think tanks are required to run a nation, right? The Church of the Self-Righteous is filled with a bunch of ruthless killers who have no respect for such intellectual figures! Hence, the age-old conflict between military and civil officials that's existed in all nations throughout history will be a particularly severe problem for the New Chu Nation.

“The civil officials will have to band together to resist the warriors, but that'll only exacerbate the conflict between the two factions. Hence, this is when the Church of the Self-Righteous is at its most vulnerable! This is why running a nation is always more difficult than founding a nation, and also why many founding rulers kill off the subordinates who made the most significant contributions.

“Those people refuse to obey authority, and all of them feel as if they had been hard done by, that they deserve more. In that type of mental state, they're prone to taking extreme measures, and they become more of a liability than an asset."

"I see," the white-robed figure mused with a nod. "We're all brothers who founded a nation together, so now that you're the emperor, I deserve at least a lofty official post. It's that kind of mindset, right?"

"That's only part of it. Looks like you haven't read even a single one of the books I gave you," Dongfang Sansan sighed.

"Alright, I get it, you're so much smarter than me!" the white-robed figure scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

Dongfang Sansan shot him an exasperated glare.

"The biggest problem for the New Chu Nation is that the emperor isn't the pope! Instead, the emperor is just a puppet, do you understand?"

"A little," the white-robed figure replied in an unconvincing manner.

"Then you're better off not understanding at all! At least that way, you'll be content to follow orders without asking any questions! The next few years will be when the Church of the Self-Righteous is at its most chaotic and vulnerable. They may have founded a nation, but all of their internal conflicts are brewing faster than ever before, and this is the opportunity I've always been waiting for!"