The Apex of Infiltration

Thinking to himself, Du Chen, holding Beibei, smiled amiably at Bairu.

Bairu naturally knew what Du Chen was waiting for, but he kept up an awkward, forced laugh. "Heh heh, Brother Francis, I, Bairu, am presumptuous enough to call myself your elder brother. Brother, alas, why did you bring your niece this time? Well, bring her if you must, but how could she be seen by those..."

He lowered his voice, chuckling strangely, "And even seen by those twisted old hags!"

Old hags? And twisted ones at that?

Du Chen knew Bairu was secretly disparaging the white-robed women to draw closer to him, but he still found it strange. Bairu wasn't the loose-tongued type like Mas; for him to utter the words "old hags," it meant those four white-robed women were, in all likelihood, truly old hags! And certainly not of an ordinary sort!

Du Chen chuckled, "My little Beibei is so adorable; I simply couldn't bear to part with her!" The truth in his heart, however, was—*Bullshit!* What army goes into a fight without its 'radar'? And this was a perfect symbol: *I have no ill intentions; I've brought a completely harmless child!* He lowered his voice, "Old hags? They don't look *too* ancient, but that 'monstrous' aura... that's quite striking!"

"What 'striking'? They *are*!"

A booming voice suddenly pierced the quiet room. Boss Mars, who had earlier slipped away unable to contain himself, had returned. He plonked himself between Du Chen and Bairu, his face as red as his beard. He gave a slight shrug of his neck towards Du Chen, a silent apology for his irresponsible outburst earlier.

Then he declared, "Just think about it: a woman raised like a dog from childhood, growing up with nothing but her master's words as absolute truth, never marrying her entire life. By the time she's seventy or eighty, what else could she be but an old hag?! Calling them 'old hags' is actually being kind to them!"

With that, Mas burst into hearty laughter.

Bairu, beside him, nodded and suppressed a smile, clearly agreeing with Mas's assessment!

Du Chen and Beibei exchanged astonished glances.

Bairu chuckled as he explained, though his choice of words was far more refined than Mas's. "Brother Francis, your elder brother knows you're eager to uncover the identities and origins of these old women, but... the Papal Curia has its regulations. Their precise identities are Crystal-tier secrets, known only to those of Godfather rank or above... Heh heh, so your elder brother can only tell you a portion for now. The rest requires authorization from His Holiness the Pontiff!"

"I understand, please continue!" Du Chen's ears listened to Bairu, but his eyes were fixed on Mas, making the red-bearded boss squirm with discomfort.

Little Beibei was also pouting at him!

Bairu slowly began, "Let's start with their claim of being Divine Servants! They are worthy of that title, for their master is indeed... a God! A God even more powerful than His Holiness the Pontiff!"

Du Chen's pupils contracted sharply. Squinting his eyes in thought, he mused, "No wonder they're so arrogant! Then the power they represent must be one that even the Dragon God or His Holiness the Pontiff wouldn't dare offend lightly, correct!?"

Bairu nodded in confirmation. "Rumor has it, merely rumor, that this God's temperament is extremely eccentric, and many of her Divine Servants share a similar disposition! Furthermore, there's a peculiar aspect to their faction: it's entirely composed of women, and these women are forbidden to marry for their entire lives. Otherwise, any Divine Servant who marries, along with her husband, and even their children, will meet their end through extremely cruel means!"

"No one in this world can live forever, so they snatch girls to ensure their continuation..."

Bairu nodded. "Indeed. While that God is incomparably powerful and boasts a prodigious lifespan, her subordinates do not live as long! To guarantee the faction's continuation, they visit the Three Continents once every decade, gathering exceptionally talented young girls to take back and cultivate—as for their cultivation methods, while the Papal Curia isn't entirely clear on the specifics, they do have a general understanding. What Mas just said is part of it!"

Du Chen suddenly noticed something peculiar. "They don't develop their influence anywhere on the Three Continents? Nor are there any clues about their stronghold?!"

"Indeed, the location of their faction is extremely mysterious. Your elder brother will tell you the truth: successive Pontiffs have investigated their stronghold, but no one has ever succeeded, and not a single person sent to probe, including Nine-Star Battle Gods, has ever returned alive!"

Du Chen then asked, "Then... they seem quite familiar with the Papal Curia!?"

"Heh heh, naturally so. His Holiness the Pontiff is himself a God, and moreover, the living representative of all Gods... Successive Pontiffs have all maintained some contact with that faction!"

Mas interjected, "Exactly! And let me tell you, the Papal Curia even has a secret agreement to collect young girls for them. This ten-year period is up again, and Bairu's here to escort them, inviting them to the Eye of Heaven Forest to inspect the young girls the Papal Curia has gathered in recent years! And conveniently, to use their name to scare off the Dragon God... Bairu, why are you looking at me like that? Oh, damn it, that's a Crystal-tier secret, Francis isn't supposed to know yet—"

Ha! Haha!

Du Chen suddenly wanted to throw his head back and roar with laughter!

*This* is a God?! The Pontiff, a God himself, using his unmatched prestige to collect ignorant young girls and hand them over to another God in exchange for benefits...

And this other, even more powerful God, raising these naive young girls like dogs, brainwashing them from childhood to be blindly loyal to an old hag their entire lives, eventually turning them into the very image of those four white-robed women?!

Did they ever consider the parents who lost their children?!

What merciful luck that Deboning was secretly protecting Beibei today, otherwise...

Bairu stopped Mas with a look, signaling him not to interrupt again, and then chuckled, "Brother Francis, your elder brother used His Holiness the Pontiff's name to persuade those old hags to retreat for now, but they certainly won't let it rest and will still covet my adorable little niece! However, rest assured, while they aren't to be trifled with, this is territory ruled by His Holiness the Pontiff, and His Holiness would absolutely not permit such a thing to occur!"

After a brief pause, he uttered a cryptic remark, "Between His Holiness the Pontiff and that immensely powerful God, there exists a cooperative relationship..."

Those three words, "cooperative relationship," had already revealed far too much useful information to Du Chen!

Despite seeing Bairu's warning glance, Mas still couldn't help but blurt out, "Exactly, don't you worry! His Holiness won't ignore you! Those four women may be Divine Envoys, but you also represent a Master capable of obliterating Philip in a single move!"

*Hmph! Because I have a 'mysterious Master' backing me, His Holiness the Pontiff will set aside his dignity, consult with his 'cooperator,' and handle this matter for me! Isn't that right? If I didn't have this mysterious Master behind me, would His Holiness the Pontiff simply eliminate me, and then send Beibei off to become a Divine Servant!? This is what they call a God!!!*

Du Chen sneered inwardly, yet he was still calculating the intelligence he had just received—it turned out that not only were there six or seven young girls under the Cloud Banner pre-selected to be Divine Servants by those four white-robed women, but they would also be going to the Eye of Heaven Forest to receive even more "Divine Servants"...

His promise to his daughter seemed to echo in his ears: *Whoever dares to take you away, Daddy will steal everything from their entire family! Leaving them butt-naked... Haha!*

*Alas, it's been so long since I've made a move; I've almost forgotten... I was once a peerless genius from the Thousand-Year Lineage of Thievery, a talent rarely seen in a generation!*

Du Chen made a decision in his heart!

After chatting idly for a while longer, Bairu and Mas stood up to take their leave. Du Chen, out of caution, placed Beibei inside the Precious Lotus Scripture, keeping her close—if Divine Envoys were truly deserving of being called "old hags," then what unspeakable deeds were they not capable of?! It was wise to be cautious at a time like this!

With Beibei safely inside the Precious Lotus Scripture, Andy, nose twitching, and Deboning stood guard outside. As for Du Chen...

With shifty eyes, he glanced left and right. Under the dim lamplight, he reached into his trousers and began to rub vigorously...

After a long moment, the unwilling and reluctant Dus was pulled off him by Du Chen and thrown onto the table with a *smack*, flattening upon impact! "Dus, stop playing dead, transform into my likeness! I have something to tell you!"

Dus grumbled twice, his soft, squishy body rippled, then he stopped moving.

Du Chen rolled his eyes, wishing he could draw the Vanishing Snow Sword and chop him into dumpling filling. But Du Chen knew that Old Five's body wasn't particularly powerful; apart from being able to complete the sacred artifact combination, it had one singular advantage: it was indestructible! Or rather, you could abuse him however you pleased; as long as Du Chen himself didn't die, even if you truly chopped Old Five into dumpling filling, he could just spit some saliva and stick himself back together, guaranteed to be exactly the same as before!

As Master Grape would put it, this was an external incarnation, where the Primordial Spirit is imperishable, and thus, the clone is immortal!

"Dus, ah, I mean Fifth Brother, will you help me out?" Du Chen helplessly surrendered.

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy? I'm just about to figure out what the third hexagram means..." As he spoke, his body gradually grew larger, and in a short while, he transformed into another Du Chen!

Of course, he was naked—Dus was merely an incarnation, capable of transforming only into an image identical to Du Chen's physical form, not a versatile magical treasure that could conjure clothing.

Du Chen casually pulled out a piece of clothing and draped it over him, then scrutinized Dus from head to toe, ceaselessly praising. "Excellent, truly excellent! Praise Master Grape, Dus is simply an essential magical treasure for picking locks, prying doors, stealing gold, and pilfering silver... As long as I keep my hands clean and don't get caught in the act, this is the perfect alibi!"

"I knew you wouldn't be looking for me for anything good!" Dus rolled his eyes, his movements stiff and unyielding.

Pacing around Dus, Du Chen rubbed his nose and chuckled, "Dus, remember, now that you've taken my form, your movements are very stiff. So, when you appear before outsiders in this guise, you must..."

He then whispered a long list of instructions into Dus's ear.

"Alright, that's all. You absolutely must remember!" Du Chen finished, then proudly sized up Dus once more. A perfect alibi—this was practically a magical treasure a thief could only dream of!

Yet Du Chen still muttered to himself, unsatisfied, "What a pity, you're merely an incarnation, not a treasure capable of Seventy-Two Transformations like my Senior Brother's, otherwise..."

Before he finished speaking, Old Five was heard muttering, "Hmm? Something just occurred to me... I should be able to transform into one *more* person..."