Chapter 677: The Whole Team Was Corrupted by Someone

"Why are you here?"

Seeing a large group of people outside, the two of them were also stunned.

"Because of some matters, we came to look for the Pope under the crown," Shen Zexi said first. He had just asked Yang Yixie what it meant; Yang Yixie thought that since a fight with Fang Zhiyan later would expose everything anyway, he didn't bother trying to hide his identity.

He thought that a little scare for acquaintances would at least let them know that Ying Duo now belonged to their side, just to put those acquaintances in a situation that seemed familiar but couldn't be confirmed.

They didn't understand the series of explanations Yang Yixie gave, but compared to the excuses he was looking for, they leaned more toward thinking this guy simply wanted to scare and tease people.

No one knew that Yu Cai had been plagued by Co-Absorption-related nightmares for a long time; they had only just made contact with Yue Chengzhang, who should at least be able to figure it out—Ying Duo is now on their side, right?

But no one expected that they would turn around and run into teachers from the Academy.

After all, Special Ability Practitioners are extremely few, and the outstanding ones are those people, but no one anticipated meeting them face‑to‑face here.

"Pope under the crown?" Li Ya immediately frowned upon hearing it; although the few in front of her were graduates of Mitra Academy and had good reputations at school, matters concerning the Pope required caution.

Although the Pope had abdicated, there was no doubt that as long as he appeared, he would command considerable influence among the common folk, which is why he chose to live in seclusion here.

Outside, many people were still probing the Pope's whereabouts, and it was unclear how Shen Zexi and his group learned this address.

"What business do you have in looking for him?"

"It's a classified mission from the Special Department, and the address was given to us by the Yue Bureau," Shen Zexi hurriedly explained.

If it were just the reputation of the Special Department, it might be useless, but using Yue Chengzhang as a pretext makes a difference.

"Yue Chengzhang?" Only a few know the Pope's hideout; if it's Yue Chengzhang, that sounds plausible.

With Yue Chengzhang as guarantor, there's no need to worry that the authorities intend something against the Pope.

Su Jingchuan and Li Ya exchanged a glance, and finally opened that tiny apartment door.

Although this apartment's location in Tianmian City is relatively good, it doesn't change the fact that it's an apartment building, and it's rather cramped—only enough for one or two people.

Compared with the vast, bright cathedral, this residence is rather shabby for the former Pope.

A few passed by the sides of the two teachers; although they weren't the instructors of their main subjects, because they hadn't honestly attended school for long, those two were relatively familiar to them.

Qi Hengyu stepped forward to greet them, and even the usually silent Chen Mo Zhi came over; Luo Jinyou, as always, looked much brighter when with friends.

"By the way, Luo Jinyou," Su Jingchuan suddenly recalled something and called out to Luo Jinyou.

"Yes?" Luo Jinyou turned instantly, silently using his body to block the sneaky Yang Yixie behind him.

"Since you can return to Tianmian City, take some time to see Professor Luo De'an; he's worried about your condition," Su Jingchuan said.

"Alright, alright," Luo Jinyou nodded in agreement.

Su Jingchuan watched Luo Jinyou's hurried demeanor; after greeting them, the group quickly slipped into Mu Lin Yuan's apartment. Though they moved fast, he vaguely saw a dark silhouette flash past behind Luo Jinyou.

Were there more people coming besides them?

Seeing these few tread carefully to cover each other, he believed they weren't Ying Duo and wouldn't do anything excessive, but why hide that person—someone they couldn't let others see?

However, now is not the time to dwell on that.

Su Jingchuan and Li Ya exchanged a look and headed toward another apartment door at the end of the corridor.

———————————————

Bang.

The apartment door was slammed shut heavily by Qi Hengyu, who entered last; his hurried closing produced a huge bang.

"...... Are you trying to tear my house down?"

Sitting in the small living room, Mu Lin Yuan, who hadn't yet returned to his room, had just seen off two people watching his health, and then ran into a walking living disaster.

After everything settled, Mu Lin Yuan truly didn't want to see Yang Yixie.

Just seeing this guy would awaken unpleasant memories, not to mention he's literally a living source of trouble.

"Sorry......" Chen Mo Zhi and Luo Jinyou, the two honest kids, hurriedly apologized.

"It's fine, I can still tell who the culprit is; tell me, what do you want from me?"

They pre-arranged rune arrays in some surviving cities, using them as a 'Noah's Ark' to carry their displaced refugees to another world.

This was Mu Lingxiao's final contingency plan; Yang Yixie only grasped the general idea, so when the Floating City first manifested, frantic messages immediately polluted his vision.

Later, Yang Yixie gradually stopped bothering him; Mu Lin Yuan also finished the Church affairs, and he originally thought the two of them would never meet again in this lifetime.

Previously, his kind words were solely because he needed something from him; he thought Yang Yixie should have understood that, yet he still managed to come directly to his doorstep.

"In short, Fang Zhiyan's reverse time‑travel from the game has possessed a modern person's body; if he's studying the interaction and fusion of the two worlds, I think he'll likely target you."

Isn't there a bit too much omitted here......

Mu Lin Yuan raised his hand to rub his temples, his whole body sinking into the soft sofa as he tried to sort out the situation.

Fang Zhiyan came into reality? Perhaps he slipped through the rift created when they forcibly pushed the city into this world.

After all, to transport everyone, the spacetime rift was torn wide enough that a single soul could easily slip in.

Given Fang Zhiyan's abilities, he likely knows that only the contemporary Pope and the Saint can transfer everyone to this world, and once that is clear—

The Church's dissolution and the Saint's disappearance can naturally be read as necessary sacrifices for this exodus; the Pope who chose seclusion inevitably paid a heavy price.

Fang Zhiyan had already studied players, and Mutation was a subject he was well‑versed in; possessing the great power to traverse time and space, and having experimental subjects that could slip through the void, naturally made them his targets.

"Then why can't the person being targeted be you?"

Mu Lin Yuan retorted.

"You're the one he's always valued as a test subject, aren't you? Compared to time‑travel, I think he's more interested in you, who once ascended to the Divine Realm."