[Fragmented memories within the Shell gradually awaken…]

[…]

[The Erudite Council, the high-level institution that maintains the normal operation of the association, is composed entirely of Great Sage-level scholars.]

[Becoming a Great Sage does not guarantee entry into the Erudite Council, nor does it make one a true association higher-up. Even if one’s academic rank has reached Great Sage level, one must still pass layer upon layer of selection…]

[Whether by founding an entirely new field of knowledge, or by making outstanding contributions to the school, only when one’s seniority is sufficient can one be absorbed into the Erudite Council and become a true school higher-up.]

[You are merely a Sage. Although the rank of Great Sage seems only one step away, even if you exhaust your entire life, you may not necessarily succeed in advancing to Great Sage. Not to mention that becoming a Great Sage is only one of the most basic conditions for becoming a school higher-up.]

[Yet you are able to participate in every single discussion meeting of the Erudite Council…]

[Because you are the meeting recorder of the Erudite Council, responsible for recording the speeches, proposals, votes, and all kinds of meeting content of the various higher-ups.]

[Since Rona’s return, the school has already held three discussion meetings in just two short days.] 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

[This afternoon, there will be a fourth discussion meeting…]

[In your view, there is actually no need to hold discussion meetings so many times, because the purpose of the meeting is only one thing: whether or not to allow Rona to return to the school and absorb this newly advanced Multivision Prophet.]

[Rona has already handed over a sufficiently conclusive series of evidence. Even the wax seal the Executor carried with him was seized by her. The school higher-ups repeatedly analyzed it with Knowledge, and each time the result was identical. Killing the Executor and destroying the Polar Star Society were indeed directly related to Rona.]

[Moreover, Rona also demonstrated her own path of advancement. She is indeed a Knowledge Scholar, without question, so she cannot possibly be a traitor.]

[You do not know what the significance of repeatedly holding these discussion meetings is. Rona is certainly exactly as she claimed, a secret undercover agent. If the school does not absorb this Prophet-level scholar, are they waiting for the Direct Vision School to extend an olive branch to Rona?]

[If by the fourth and final discussion meeting no conclusion can still be reached, then once Rona defects to the Direct Vision School, these higher-ups who occupy their positions while accomplishing nothing will have nowhere to regret it.]

[If you had to say it, if these higher-ups truly still had doubts, if they truly still had questions about Rona’s identity, then why not directly ask the Great Prophet and be done with it?]

[In any case, the school higher-ups have not refrained from seeking answers from the Prophet Council in ordinary times…]

[As a meeting recorder, you also have quite a few years under your belt, so you understand some secret insider matters.]

[You think it over again and again. Based on the current situation and repeated deductions, you arrive at a fairly reasonable guess.]

[For many years now, no new Prophet has appeared within the school. According to the school’s early regulations, a newly advanced Prophet must be absorbed into the Prophet Council.]

[However, before joining the Prophet Council, there is still a necessary step: one must first serve for a period as Chairman of the Erudite Council, overseeing the overall operation of the school, until the next newly advanced Prophet takes over the position. Only after stepping down from the position of Chairman can one enter the Prophet Council.]

[The previous Prophet Chairman, for some unknown reason, stepped down from the Chairman position and retired behind the scenes to enter the Prophet Council before any newly advanced Prophet had even appeared, no longer appearing within the sight of the Scholars…]

[Now the school council’s Chairman is an elderly Great Sage. He is highly knowledgeable and thoughtful, and is widely recognized as excellent in the operation and management of the school.]

[Over these years, the school has grown ever more prosperous under his leadership, and the Chairman has also gained the support of the vast majority of the higher-ups.]

[But the problem lies exactly here. The reason the school has delayed letting Rona join lies exactly here!]

[According to the school’s rules, if Rona returns to the school, she will inevitably push aside the current Chairman and become the highest leader of the council, responsible for all the council’s daily affairs.]

[Unless a major matter arises that requires consulting the Prophet Council, Prophet Rona would have veto power over all proposals concerning daily affairs.]

[A traitor who until two days ago still bore the curses of countless Scholars would, the instant she returned to the school, become the highest leader in charge of the association’s daily operation. No wonder the expressions of those higher-ups have been so colorful, and no wonder they have repeatedly held discussion meetings while dragging their feet on allowing Rona to return.]

[Of course, the more important reason is that the current Chairman is unwilling to relinquish power.]

[However, this farce will have a conclusion this afternoon. At the final discussion meeting, you will still attend in your identity as meeting recorder, and Rona, as the central figure, will naturally need to attend as well…]

[After the morning discussion meeting ended, your son came to find you and said that a Sage from a branch association in the auxiliary capital had arrived, claiming to be Rona’s friend.]

[Upon hearing this, you were overjoyed, because you knew that after today, Rona would inevitably become an important figure within the association!]

[If you could get onto Rona’s faction, then perhaps you would truly be able to join the Erudite Council within your lifetime, and would no longer have to be a tool person with no right to speak, merely holding a pen and recording things…]

[You give your son a thumbs-up and immediately tell him to bring you to meet that foreign Sage…]

[…]

[The fragmented memories abruptly stop here…]

“Rona will attend the afternoon discussion meeting…”

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes.

After cleaning up the two Shells, he left the office in this meeting recorder Shell and continued exploring the Multivision Headquarter.

The Multivision Headquarter had three large buildings in total. There were already several thousand Scholars stationed at headquarters on duty. If all the official headquarters Scholars were gathered, the number could probably easily exceed ten thousand.

Using the meeting recorder’s Sage identity, Lin Xun explored all around. Along the way, there were plenty of Scribe-level Scholars, needless to say, but he also ran into quite a few Sage and Great Sage-level Scholars.

If he released the demon army from the teleportation painting, then even if the school did not deploy its Prophets, the demon army would still be completely annihilated without any surprise.

“This is the true foundation of the School of Knowledge. No wonder the Abyss demons do not dare return to the surface, and the Polar Star Society only dares develop in the shadows.”

After roughly mapping out the association’s structure through exploration, Lin Xun found neither Rona nor any place resembling a secret laboratory.

The meeting recorder Sage’s identity was not low-ranking. He visited several laboratories, and everything he saw, whether synthesis or transplant experiments, was all public. There was nothing that appeared to require concealment or secrecy, and naturally he found no trace of Bennett either.

“There must definitely still be some hidden areas within the school, including a secret laboratory, as well as the locations of those Prophets and Great Prophets. There is not the slightest information or trace of them in the meeting recorder’s memories.”

After carefully exploring for half the day, Lin Xun soon reached the afternoon.

According to the Shell’s memories, he headed to the Erudite Council at the top floor of the building, preparing to play the role of a qualified meeting recorder…

[…]

[You follow the Erudite Sages into the conference hall…]

[Within the enormous conference hall, seats rise layer upon layer, and quite a few school higher-ups are already seated.]

[You quickly head to the corner on the side near the door of the conference hall, nodding in greeting to the other two meeting recorders beside you.]

[After taking your seat, you efficiently arrange the recording case, quill pen, ink, refined copper clock, refined copper phonograph, blank Book Containing Illusion, and a whole series of preparatory tools needed before the discussion meeting.]

[After completing the preparation work almost instinctively, you look around and carefully examine the situation within the conference hall.]

[During the time you were making preparations, the conference hall has already filled with Erudite Sages.]

[The layers upon layers of seats encircle the central host dais, where the lights are focused, yet it remains empty…]

[Although the various Erudite Sages all possess the same academic rank and strength, there is clearly still a hierarchical division among them. The ring of seats closest to the host dais is occupied by the older scholars with the highest seniority.]

[The farther a seat is from the host dais, the shallower that Erudite Sage’s seniority is…]

[Just as you are observing carefully, the doors of the conference hall open once more. An elderly Sage with white hair brings a woman into the conference hall and walks together toward the host dais.]

[That beautiful woman with the icy expression is none other than Rona, whom you have not seen for several days.]

[Halfway there, she suddenly stops, frowns, and sweeps her gaze around the conference hall, scanning over the rows of Sage seats as if searching for something.]

[The elderly Sage leading her, namely the current Chairman of the Erudite Council, turns his head and says, What is it, Prophet Rona?]

[Rona withdraws her gaze and shakes her head, then walks with the Chairman toward the host dais…]