Chapter 98: 098 The Woman Carrying the Heaven’s Mandate System_1
She couldn’t be disturbed while making cards.
With Zero Egg’s hasty urging, Wen Jiang’s train of thought was disrupted. The card she was halfway through making was affected and quickly disintegrated.
She frowned slightly but didn’t question Zero Egg. Zero Egg, however, was too preoccupied to care, his tone trembling slightly as he said, "I’ve sensed it, the presence of the Heaven’s Mandate System! It’s here!"
Wen Jiang was silent for a moment, then asked, "Where?"
"In Imperial City." Zero Egg could only confirm that the other party was in Imperial City but couldn’t pinpoint its exact location. "It has higher authority than me, so it’s impossible for me to know its whereabouts."
Zero Egg’s tone carried a hint of panic. "What do we do, Host? What if it tries to connect to my signal?"
"It can’t."
Wen Jiang spoke very decisively, "You don’t need to be so worried."
Zero Egg was astonished. "Why?"
Even though he knew they needed to investigate the Heaven’s Mandate System’s movements, its sudden and unexpected appearance still took Zero Egg by surprise. He feared that the fact he hadn’t reported it might get out.
Wen Jiang pursed her lips. "I said it can’t, so it can’t."
Because she could control her aura to conceal Zero Egg’s existence.
She knew exactly where Zero Egg was in her mind and could easily obstruct the Heaven’s Mandate System’s prying.
"If you can sense its presence, it can naturally sense yours. Has it tried to contact you yet?"
Zero Egg answered, "No, it hasn’t."
"Then there’s no need to panic," Wen Jiang said. "Don’t disturb me again. We only have one month left and three cards to make. I’m in a hurry."
Zero Egg: "..."
Seriously, aren’t you worried at all? What is the Heaven’s Mandate System doing in Imperial City?
Of course, Wen Jiang wasn’t worried. The sudden arrival of the Heaven’s Mandate System in Imperial City was most likely related to the new cards, or perhaps due to some other reason. As long as the other party didn’t discover Zero Egg, they naturally couldn’t discover her either.
Wen Jiang wasn’t in a hurry to know the System’s objectives. If the other party didn’t take the initiative, it was best for Zero Egg to connect with them when the time felt right.
The streets in early September were lined with trees whose leaves had already begun to yellow.
A woman in a red coat walked along the roadside, looking at the row of trees with browning leaves before her, a touch of sentiment in her eyes.
"It’s been a long time since I’ve been back."
A mysterious smile lingered on her lips. Her beautiful countenance was indescribable, exuding an elegant and mysterious charm that made one unable to resist probing into her secrets.
She didn’t speak, yet it seemed as if she was conveying something.
A cold, mechanized voice sounded, "Aren’t you afraid of bumping into Song Ji?"
"With you here, I’m not worried."
The woman gently lifted her hand, and a falling leaf landed right in her palm. A man walking by couldn’t help but glance her way. With just her soft smile, he seemed to lose his wits and, BANG, bumped his head on a tree by the road.
PFFT.
She couldn’t help but laugh.
"I still advise against your return," the mechanized voice couldn’t help but say. "You know how tricky Song Ji is. He once escaped the effect of an item, and I’ve said before that this man is too dangerous to be left unchecked."
The mechanical voice seemed to hold a grudge about something.
"That’s not important," the woman said. "These cards appeared too strangely. I remember you mentioned that, besides you, another System came to this world."
"I have said it’s just a small System," the mechanical voice replied, sounding slightly dissatisfied. "The host it chooses will also be an ordinary subject. I have already explained to you that these cards are not in our database; they have nothing to do with that System."
"You have been here for twenty years. If your database had been updated, you wouldn’t know, right?" The woman still smiled. "Besides, you have never returned to that side."
The mechanical voice fell silent.
After two seconds, it continued, "It’s not in Imperial City. I didn’t catch any signal."
"This host is quite arrogant, eh? Releasing several cards at once to establish their position?" The woman’s eyes twinkled with amusement. "How interesting."
"I already said that these are not cards from the database." The Heaven’s Mandate System sounded a bit annoyed. "Why don’t you believe that someone else could create such cards? That System is just newly created. Its basic functions aren’t even complete. It’s simply not possible for it to enable Combat Cards for its host. At most, it could alter some body genes."
The woman chuckled. "You expect me to believe Yunxia can produce such a Card Maker?"
The Heaven’s Mandate System retorted sarcastically, "You’re not a genius yourself, yet you won’t allow others to be?"
At this, the woman’s expression finally changed.
The hint of ferocity deep in her eyes couldn’t scare the Heaven’s Mandate System. If it weren’t irreversibly tethered to this woman, it would have returned to its original world after the mission failure back then.
For the first time, it regretted its actions.
The woman quickly composed herself. After all, she had been with this System day and night for many years, the two sharing a strangely warped bond. "I want you to investigate who the host of that other System is. And by the way, go see Hua Zhuo. It’s been many years; I miss her."
The Heaven’s Mandate System said, "You’re truly malicious."
The woman smiled and continued, "Isn’t it precisely my malice that you valued?"
After that, no one spoke.
Soon, the woman arrived at the Mount Flower Association.
Through the Heaven’s Mandate System, she easily learned Hua Zhuo’s whereabouts for the day.
The moment the woman appeared at the Mount Flower Association, she happened to run into Hua Zhuo, who was inspecting Mount Flower that day.
Hua Zhuo didn’t come every day. She would sometimes visit the A-Level Training Room.
She was somewhat curious about Wen Jiang.
It was unfortunate that Wen Jiang had not been at the Association during this time. Despite being a core member of a team, oddly enough, none of her team members nor her coach objected to Wen Jiang not attending training.
With her unique identity, Hua Zhuo couldn’t inquire personally, fearing it would draw the attention of the Mount Flower Association.
They simply thought some high-ranking official had taken an interest in supervising the Association, perhaps to lend prestige to Mount Flower.
When Hua Zhuo visited, Du Zhaiyue would occasionally push her wheelchair around so she could look. Her relationship with the Du Family was actually quite good. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have recommended Du Zhaiyue to the Mount Flower Association. Du Zhaiyue didn’t necessarily have to come here; she partly did so to help Hua Zhuo.
So, when Hua Zhuo saw that woman, her pupils constricted for an instant.
Hua Zhuo was at a window of the Mount Flower Association building. The woman stood outside, seemingly noticing Hua Zhuo’s gaze. She looked up, meeting her eyes across the distance, and smiled sweetly. Yet, that smile made Hua Zhuo’s heart pound, leaving her breathless.
Distant, terrifying memories surfaced, and Hua Zhuo’s reaction to the woman’s appearance was stronger than she had anticipated.
"Godmother?" Du Zhaiyue looked down, noticing something was wrong with Hua Zhuo. She followed her gaze and also saw the woman downstairs. The woman smiled at them, nodded slightly, then left.
It seemed like she had come just to rattle a certain someone.
Du Zhaiyue immediately comforted Hua Zhuo, "Godmother? Are you okay? Who was that person?"