CHAPTER 1066: 1064: VOTING

It was indeed William’s voice, but for those who hadn’t seen William for a long time, it felt somewhat unfamiliar, carrying a hint of irreverence, frivolity, mockery, or perhaps reminiscent of a character who had a severe impact on the sick focus - ’Art’.

Such words had no substantive meaning, but instead fueled more confusion among everyone.

This meaningless rhetoric even made some people hear ambiguity, as if William, drawn in clown attire, whispered mockingly by their ears:

"Believe it or not, it’s up to you. Whether you set up the stage or not, I’ll come to the sick focus and kill you all. The only difference is in the method of slaughter."

The plague fell into a brief silence, and Fish Origin suddenly opened his dragon eyes.

"Absolutely do not believe William’s nonsense! He abandoned the sick focus two years ago, using Art’s malice as a stepping stone to reach the other side.

Now having become the disaster, he is very likely one of them! He might even have found a way to survive the Great Annihilation.

My suggestion is to immediately report this to the gods and even turn the tables on William, letting the Supreme God entirely lurk on our side, and capturing both William and the First Disaster when they come."

"Fish Origin, you’re too impatient." The Duke interrupted Fish Origin’s remarks and continued: "William’s words indeed make it hard to trust him. Even though he is a premium client of mine, hearing such remarks makes me question his true intent.

It’s a pity that Circus didn’t come today. Otherwise, they might have provided a more accurate profile. .

However, based on my personal relationship and understanding of William, I still want to incorporate this proposal into future decisions.

William was the first among us to encounter malice, and it was him who first presented malice to the sick focus through performance, raising the alarm.

Everything he did before leaving seems beneficial for the sick focus’s development from today’s perspective.

He took the Last Evil Tumor cultivated among the sick focus as a stepping stone to the Evil Circle and became the highest level of disaster within two years. What exactly happened during this period is unknown to us, and we cannot evaluate it.

If everything he did was oriented around the sick focus, then I personally believe it is necessary to extend basic trust and support this plan.

If he truly succeeds, malice will be completely eradicated."

The Lord chimed in, "William is indeed impressive, but there is a fundamental issue with this matter~ Even if malice is truly eradicated, the god, which is the fundamental problem, still exists.

At that time, a stronger species is bound to emerge to replace malice and carry out the Great Annihilation.

Or, after eliminating malice, we could instead wipe out the gods to achieve an alternative balance, perhaps preventing another Great Annihilation."

The Lord deliberately faced Fish Origin’s direction while saying these words.

The Duke patted his belly, "Let’s not consider the future aftermath... What we need to focus on now is eradicating all the malice, and deal with the rest later.

Next, I will initiate a vote at the plague meeting, as this matter directly decides the sick focus’s fate. It requires over two-thirds of the personnel to support William’s proposal for passage."

Beside him, Fish Origin was somewhat surprised that the Duke didn’t adopt a half-vote system. This greatly increases the likelihood of William’s proposal being rejected and may further push him towards connections with the gods.

An excited Fish Origin made another subjective statement before the vote, "Everyone has no reason to trust an ’outsider’ who left two years ago. The gods we currently cooperate with are far more reliable.

Moreover, I have reached private agreements with some gods, willing to self-prune enough low-grade deities and abandon technologies related to Artificial Divinity as long as all malice can be purified." ᚱ𝘢ɴＯ𝐁ĘŚ

The Duke did not stop Fish Origin’s remarks, as everyone’s heart already had answers, not swayed by Fish Origin’s few words.

"This vote will determine the sick focus’s life or death, so we won’t adopt anonymity this time. Additionally, subsidiary personnel do not have voting rights.

There are a total of thirteen eligible voters. William’s proposal will be passed when there are nine or more votes.

Let’s begin. Raise your hand if you agree."

The Duke did not raise his hand himself.

The first to raise his hand was the white-haired boy beside the First Dead Man, or the boy substituted for the First Dead Man to express agreement.

Principal Daislin, representing humanity and the Stargazer group, raised her hand in favor.

Reagan, the first Ascender representing The Neisseria Ones, raised his hand in favor.

Following closely,

The Lord also slowly raised her hand wrapped in golden armor, giving her approval, not because of trust in William, but due to revulsion from cooperation with the gods.

President Burn of Black Ascaris Company and the sheep mother of Fertility Forest also raised their hands in favor.

Lastly,

The Tenth Abyss lurking in the Abyss pit slowly raised a large arm formed from countless small arms.

This amounted to seven votes in favor.

As Fish Origin concluded the vote was settled and thought the Duke would stand on his side, the Duke slowly raised his hand.

Just earlier, he did not raise it because of an itchy armpit, needing to finish scratching before raising his hand.

Even with the Duke raising his hand, it was still one vote short of passage.

Fish Origin was still delighted, "Although quite a few people believe in William’s madness, the votes are still insufficient. Alright! Let’s discuss cooperation with gods to conduct the final confrontation."

The Duke interrupted Fish Origin’s words again, "Don’t rush, there’s someone who hasn’t completed the vote yet."

"Who?"

Fish Origin’s dragon eyes quickly locked onto the Great Emperor, representing the United Plague Zones, who was sensing something with closed eyes, seemingly failed to do so.

"Balon!" The Great Emperor looked at the old friend beside the Prison Director, "Can you sense Mr. Yi’s Death Aura? Is he dead yet?"

"No... His death should have transcended mine;

once someone like him dies, even the memories stored in our minds will vanish.

As long as we still remember him, it means he still exists."

"Is that so? Since Mr. Yi is alive and well out there, it’s necessary to conduct this so-called stage performance."

The Great Emperor raised his hand,

Fish Origin was about to stand to persuade when Pierwina, who had been leaning by the Great Emperor all along, also raised her hand, her opinion always aligning with the Great Emperor’s.

The Duke, acting as the meeting’s sponsor, smiled contentedly;

he seemed to have anticipated the outcome of the vote.

Despite William’s proposal sounding unreliable and rather exaggerated,

everyone harbored a general attitude and view towards William from deep within, instinctively choosing to trust, trusting the talented young man they watched grow step by step into the Plague Master.

"Alright! Ten votes in favor, we’ll cooperate with William’s actions next and set up the stage for him in advance."

Fish Origin wasn’t entirely satisfied, "What kind of stage is it exactly? Perhaps it will turn out to be a cage trapping everyone... Show us the blueprint, Duke."

The Duke shook his face full of flesh, "My communication with William is only at the level of verbal exchanges, unable to convey any image information."

Not only Fish Origin, but this statement left all present Plague Masters slightly stunned.

Fish Origin seized the opportunity to say, "What is this so-called blueprint? Isn’t William obviously pulling our leg? What’s the point of such a vote?"

At this moment,

A sense of intrusion came,

All present Plague Masters and special representatives felt observed, an intrusion directly reaching the depths of the soul, a deadly intrusion.

The source of the intrusion was the ordinary gaps in the current conference room’s walls.

Within the gaps seemed to be an eye writhing,

The gaps seemed to be slowly expanded by something, and a skeletal arm reached out, delivering a scroll of parchment.

Snap! When the parchment fell to the ground,

The arm, eye, and intrusion sense all disappeared.

All present personnel felt as if facing a formidable enemy, while Fish Origin tightened his dragon scales, as if that sense of intrusion harbored a strong hostility towards him.