"Your Highness, today we need to go to..."

Sigaochin walked into the study and saw Yelanka sitting at the desk, holding her phone and staring blankly into space.

"Your Highness?"

"Hmm?" Yelanka snapped back to reality. "Oh, Sigaochin, you're here."

"I am here to escort you to the pre-inauguration council meeting. You seem distracted. Is there something else on your mind?"

Faced with Sigaochin's inquiry, Yelanka glanced at her phone and spoke frankly.

"I was just thinking about whether or not I should call my teacher."

"...I think after your father's announcement yesterday, if he pays attention to the news, he will definitely know about this."

"You misunderstand, Sigaochin." Yelanka shook her head. "It's not that I want to tell him about taking over as Administrator. I just want to express my gratitude. Without his training at the academy, perhaps Lijeka's conspiracy would have succeeded."

Hearing this, Sigaochin's expression turned serious. "Your Highness, what I am about to say you may not like to hear, but I must say it."

Yelanka had a vague idea of what she was going to say and frowned slightly.

"Your status is different now. Before, when you hid your identity as a student and addressed that Guan Tong as teacher and student, it was not inappropriate. But on January 1st next year, you will become the new Administrator of Xisiya. I think—"

"Are you trying to say that after becoming Administrator, I should act like an arrogant bastard?" Yelanka interrupted loudly.

Sigaochin was taken aback, not expecting Yelanka's reaction to be so intense.

"I don't want to say more. Let's go."

After speaking, Yelanka stood up and walked out of the room. Sigaochin turned in silence, but the corner of her eye caught sight of something on the desk.

It was a photo frame placed face down.

Sigaochin remembered that the photo inside was a family portrait of the Konia Family.

Only then did she begin to understand.

In the car.

After ten minutes of driving, Yelanka spoke up first. "I'm sorry, I was in a bad mood earlier."

Sigaochin shook her head. "It was my fault, Your Highness."

She had overlooked how much the betrayal by family had hurt Yelanka.

One's own grandmother and elder brother conspiring together, intending to put that person to death... Such a thing happening to anyone would undoubtedly cause immense psychological damage.

Even though Yelanka hadn't shown much breakdown or pain afterwards, it didn't mean her heart was at peace.

Sigaochin thought that perhaps it was precisely because of the betrayal by her family that Her Highness had developed some psychological dependence on that teacher Guan Tong, whom she had only known for a few months.

No wonder she had gotten so angry just now.

"I don't want to become a different person after becoming Administrator," Yelanka said now, her purple pupils fixed on her reflection in the car window. "That would make me hate myself."

"You are right. Those who can be changed by status and power are incapable of managing a country well," Sigaochin said. "I was too narrow-minded."

"No. I know you meant well for me, not wanting others to criticize me. But I don't want to go against my true self for the sake of other people's opinions."

Having said that, Yelanka did not continue. She changed the subject.

"This pre-inauguration council meeting will discuss the disposition of Lijeka. Father will likely seek my opinion. Sigaochin, what do you think I should do?"

"What are your own thoughts, Your Highness?"

"My thought is to exile him to Sennantata."

"Those who originally fail in the competition go there." Sigaochin looked at Yelanka through the rearview mirror. The latter's icy expression clearly indicated things weren't that simple.

"Yes." Yelanka said calmly. "His murder attempts against me and you, including his secret collusion with military generals, are all sufficient to sentence him to death. But if I propose executing him, it might make those who sided with him desperate and fight me to the death."

"So, I plan to exile him first. Slowly replace and deal with those people. After uprooting his remaining influence, then permanently eliminate the threat."

Sigaochin was somewhat surprised by Yelanka's rational judgment.

She had originally thought Yelanka, out of anger, would be eager to dispose of Lijeka and had even prepared to advise against haste. It seemed she had underestimated her maturity.

"I agree with Your Highness's plan. This is indeed the most secure approach. Only, you yourself may suffer some grievances in the short term," Sigaochin said.

"What are a few grievances compared to this?"

What Yelanka did not tell Sigaochin was that she hadn't forgotten what Guan Tong had said to her before leaving Beixing, about settling scores and such.

Keeping Lijeka alive might just...

...

Guan Tong had a total of four debts to collect.

Two of them were already settled, with two remaining.

One was Lucifer, the other was Lijeka.

He would absolutely not let these two off. Just as he had told Uenoshi, he would retaliate against anyone who tried to kill him and took action.

And these two both met that condition.

As for which one to deal with first, Guan Tong hadn't decided yet.

At this moment, he had not yet left the territory of Sakura Prayer Country.

After parting ways with Uenoshi, he had actually returned to the forest where he had previously lived for a while, summoned the book page shelter, and moved back in.

There were two reasons he hadn't left.

First, Uenoshi's doubts about the Divine Child's death, combined with his own strange feeling when facing that invisible ninja, made him suspect whether the Divine Child was really dead or not.

So he planned to lurk in Sakura Prayer Country a while longer to observe secretly. After the spore rule ended, if no abnormalities were found, he would leave.

Second, he needed to rest and recuperate.

He wasn't a robot produced by the Suroma Empire, capable of working tirelessly without wear and tear.

Since arriving in Sakura Prayer Country, he hadn't had a proper rest. First dealing with the explosion maniac Wu Wang, followed immediately by the matters concerning Uenoshi and the Divine Child.

If he continued non-stop to go after Lijeka and Lucifer, exhausted both physically and mentally, his efficiency wouldn't be high, and there might even be a risk of failure.

After all, these two were not easy opponents—one a suspected major noble of Xisiya, the other an exceptionally powerful serial killer.

Also...

Guan Tong sat at the entrance, gazing at the forest where flowers and plants flourished even in the winter of this tropical region, and at Coal Ball playing in the woods.

He was thinking that Uenoshi's rejection of his proposal was actually within his expectations.

Asking someone with nihilistic tendencies to pursue a distant truth was indeed a bit too much.

Even knowing the other party would refuse, he still extended the invitation because he wanted to clarify his own thoughts by speaking them aloud.

Yes, he did intend to form a small team.

This team's goal wasn't to dominate or conquer, but to explore the truth.

The number of people who met his recruitment criteria wasn't high at the moment; in fact, to be precise, there were none at all.

Among the people he knew and trusted, Xu Xiaotian was currently working in the official material supply department. Wasn't it nice to have an iron rice bowl and eat at the cafeteria every day?

Although Guan Tong didn't require team members to act together with him, he still wasn't inclined to recruit Xu Xiaotian, as this matter did carry some danger.

The same went for the mother-daughter pair, Wang Yan and Chen Na.

These two were currently part of the official organization, with good living conditions and guaranteed safety. There was no need to put them at risk.

As for Shi Jingyi, whom Guan Tong trusted the most, she was now a Lecturer at the academy, with excellent status, identity, and treatment, deeply loved by the students.

She did know Guan Tong's goal, but hadn't expressed any desire to pursue the truth herself.

His habitual solitude meant Guan Tong didn't have many people he could trust. Fortunately, he wasn't in a hurry. If suitable candidates appeared, they could work together; if not, he would continue alone.

Having thought this through, he got up and returned to the computer. Opening it, he found that besides the news about his assassination attempt, the headlines also featured an acquaintance.

"Ye Lianka Konia will become the new Administrator of Xisiya... It seems she succeeded in the competition."

Although the news didn't include a photo, this Ye Lianka Konia was definitely his former student, Ye Lianka Stacia.

Dean Zhou Qinfeng had guessed back then that "Stacia" was a false surname. He had even guessed her real surname was "Konia."

A seventeen-year-old girl becoming the Administrator of a country was certainly eye-catching.

However, in the era of Doomsday Rules, young people taking the stage and becoming active was no longer news.

Who could blame it, when the very first rule had eliminated the vast majority of the elderly.

Even those who survived with Alertness Mints were gradually surpassed by the younger generation as subsequent rules unlocked potential.

This led to a trend of younger people taking power in all countries now. Compared to those old men before, these people were once called the young faction, but now...

"Should I contact her to say congratulations... Better not."

Yelanka had left contact information before departing, but that was only after a few months of interaction. Moreover, she had concealed her real surname precisely to avoid exposing her identity.

Even if people at the academy now knew that the new Administrator of Xisiya was that noble Xisiya female classmate, they would probably just treat it as gossip, with few actually trying to contact her.

Next, he checked the news related to himself.

The statements from various countries of the Human Consortium and people's attitudes towards the matter were mostly within his expectations.

Not to mention that there was currently no sign of a collective warrant for him from the Human Consortium; even if they really decided to do so, he wouldn't regret it.

What must be done must be done, regardless of the consequences.

Even if it truly came to a global warrant, he would have a clear conscience and fear nothing.

Opening Ascendant Home, he logged into the Shadow account, wanting to see if Uenoshi had sent any messages.

Uenoshi hadn't, but the official account that had previously communicated with him had sent a private message.

And the content of the private message made Guan Tong stare for a moment.

"Shadow, we already know your true identity. You are Guan Tong, who previously served as a substitute Lecturer at the academy."

...A bit faster than I expected.

Guan Tong looked at this private message. He knew that after teaching that final lesson at the academy—the conjectures about Mind Power and the Fire Thief—he would inevitably be suspected of being Shadow.

Because currently, the only known person who has achieved an upper position suppression of a rule was Shadow, who concentrated the Mind Power of many Ascendants during the earthquake rule.

From this point alone, one could connect it to his identity.

This was also why Shi Jingyi had asked him back then, "Aren't you worried?" She believed that after teaching that lesson, he would be suspected.

Guan Tong felt at the time that he was leaving anyway and wouldn't return in the short term. He preferred to leave behind something genuine, to give the students some inspiration. Even if he got suspected for it, it didn't matter.

Now, seeing the official private message, they must have obtained definitive evidence proving that Guan Tong and Shadow were the same person.

...But so what?

He did not reply to the private message and closed the webpage.

Even if the whole world knew who he was, it wouldn't stop him from doing what needed to be done.