Chapter 302

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Chapter 302: “Silver Sword”

After returning from the abattoir, Bai Yan felt a subtle difference.

Although it wasn’t a particularly significant breakthrough, he realized that he had indeed become stronger. The increase in power was evident, and the change was tangible.

At his level, he could clearly sense the changes in his soul, as a bit more of its essence was uncovered.

“It’s strange,” he thought. “It doesn’t conform to the ‘norm’ like before.”

In the past, every time Bai Yan made a major breakthrough, he would directly reach the pinnacle of that level, rarely experiencing significant strength improvement before breaking through again. For example, after reaching the awakening stage, he could directly harness all the power of that level. Similarly, upon reaching the Crown stage, he could tap into all the power of that level.

“Why did I suddenly become stronger?” he wondered.

He shook his head lightly, choosing not to dwell on it further. The reason was actually quite simple. There were simply too many peculiarities about himself! A slight increase in strength was normal, considering the many extraordinary experiences he had undergone. So, it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“Did people from the Divine Blade really come to investigate?” he pondered.

Sitting in a chair in the room, Bai Yan showed a faint smile, as he had already prepared for this visit. A team of knights had just entered outside the door, but Bai Yan had already activated his super sensing ability to discern their specific situation. Among the team, only the first two were knights of the Divine Blade.

After all, there were only a handful of Knights of the Divine Blade, and it was rare for them to act together as a large troop. Each knight was a Crown-level power, equivalent to the high-ranking priests of the Church. When dispatched to the local area, they were formidable figures. The remaining knights following these two were subordinates, lower-ranked members of the Divine Blade.

In simpler terms, they were cannon fodder—foot soldiers. Even so, knights were still considered high-ranking among foot soldiers, enjoying better wages, benefits, and living standards than even the Night Watchers.

By the way, the minimum requirement for knights was to “reach Transcendence.”

The Knights of the Divine Blade system formed the core of the Kingdom of Dark Light’s armed forces, designed to recruit and utilize the Transcendent class through various honors and disciplines. This system mirrored the knight class in some European countries in Bai Yan’s homeland, though, there it had been replaced by professional standing armies due to the rise of steel and gunpowder.

However, this path was inaccessible in Noah. The reason was simple: How could steel and gunpowder compare to well-trained Transcendent bodies?

A Crown-level Transcendent was already a being that ordinary people could not contend with, not to mention the varied and mysterious powers of the Transcendents. In theory, as long as the military literacy of Transcendent forces was sufficient, they could employ various transcendent powers to their advantage, playing tactics to the fullest.

In Bai Yan’s homeland, records of “one against ten thousand” existed only in fiction. But in this world, it was a historical fact.

In Noah, the path of becoming strong through one’s own abilities was the true way of the elites.

The sound of rain continued as Bai Yan slowly rose from the bedroom and walked into the spacious, dark-toned main living room. The silver-haired tall female knight was already sitting on the light yellow sofa. Her assistant, a narrow-eyed man, stood beside her. They had been waiting for a while.

The lower-ranking knights remained outside, as their rank was insufficient to enter the main living room.

Servants quickly brought in warm food and tea, handing over clean towels.

The tall female knight took the towel and untied her silver hair, which had been tied into a ponytail. She wiped her hair, face, and fair shoulders before speaking in a calm but displeased tone. “This is unreasonable. The highest-level armor doesn’t have any rain protection feature.”

“I know that ordinary people don’t have the qualifications to modify ‘God’s gift,’ but adding a low-level spell to this armor should be simple for the great Savior, right?”

Her next words were truly astonishing, leaving the nearby servants and Bai Yan dumbfounded.

“Couldn’t His Highness use his brain a little?”

Bai Yan was stunned. This person had such audacity. Her assistant, Thon, immediately stood up and helplessly reminded her, “Ah, ah, please, Chief, let’s not say anymore. We’re still in the middle of work, and the owner of the estate has already arrived.”

“Sorry, I forgot. Apparently, we’re not here to drink, but to work.”

Christine, the tall, silver-haired female knight, stood up and looked at Bai Yan with an icy gaze. There was no trace of a smile in her eyes—only a cold and profound stare.

“Ah, you must be the owner of the Tulip Manor, Mr. Viscount Edmond. Hello.”

Christine sighed, then introduced herself. “I am Christine. As you can see, I am a busy Knight of the Divine Blade who, despite my age, has yet to marry.”

Bai Yan could clearly sense the resentment emanating from her, reminding him of some laborers from his past life.

“Hello.” He responded politely. “I am Edmond, the owner of the Tulip Manor. Welcome to the arrival of the Knight of the Divine Blade.”

Bai Yan had heard a bit about Christine.

“Silver Sword.” She was twenty-five years old this year, and at just seven years old, she had already reached the Crown level. Her innate power was “Sword Edge.”

Christine was very strong, on the verge of reaching Apocalypse. She was always regarded as the genius among geniuses, possibly the earliest person to have reached Crown in the past century.

This woman didn’t have the help of “Babel Tower” and yet managed to become so strong purely on her own. Everyone believed it was only a matter of time before she reached Apocalypse.

Christine’s teacher was the captain of the Knights of the Divine Blade, the “Divinely Created Monster,” Chris. Their relationship was very good. There were even rumors that Christine was the illegitimate daughter of Captain Chris.

That’s all Bai Yan knew about her.

While Christine’s talent was outstanding, and she had already touched the threshold of Apocalypse, Bai Yan was well aware that she was not a Core Operator of Babel Tower—at least, not in the first playthrough.

He recalled that after the Doomsday Crisis, he drew from the “Fate” pool and obtained two names, “Gray Child” and “White Night Devil,” which were completely absent in the first playthrough. These seemed to be new Core Operators exclusive to the second playthrough.

Speaking of which, “Mysterious Magic” Alan could also be considered a Core Operator exclusive to the second playthrough.

Now, even Bai Yan himself wasn’t sure about the Core Operators in the second playthrough of “Babel Tower.” After dissecting the underlying data of Babel Tower through the Real Digital World, he couldn’t analyze this part of the content due to his insufficient abilities.

“Viscount, I have a sense that you are quite interested in me,” Christine suddenly spoke.

In fact, Bai Yan’s mental activity lasted only about half a second, but it was still noticed.

Bai Yan smiled slightly and calmly replied, “Because you are so beautiful, like a gift from the Savior to the mortal world. It’s only natural for someone like me to take a second glance.”

Christine smiled. “Just polite words,” said her assistant, Thon, scratching his head.

The female knight turned her head back and ignored him. They all sat back down. Christine then asked, “So, Lord Viscount, have you seen any sinners today?”

Christine took out something resembling a black music box and gently placed it on the table. It was a magical tool that could detect lies.

“Yes, I have.” Bai Yan nodded lightly, not lying.

“Oh?” Christine’s eyes lit up. “Where was it?”

“In a dream,” Bai Yan responded with a nonchalant smile.

Christine paused, realizing the lie-detecting tool had no reaction. He wasn’t lying. She never expected that Bai Yan had just “taken a nap” ten minutes ago, using his mental power to create a “customized dream” for himself. In that dream, he did indeed see many sinners.

“Hmm, then let me ask again,” Christine said. “Were you involved in the ‘abattoir sinner escape’?”

“Are you doubting me?” Bai Yan asked.

“I apologize,” Christine replied with a smile, “I am not doubting you. I doubt everyone.”

Bai Yan furrowed his brow and shook his head. “I’ve been in the Tulip Manor all day today. Countless guests saw me here, hosting the banquet. There are hundreds of people who can testify.”

Christine looked at the lie-detecting tool again. It still didn’t react.

But she persisted, her gaze cold and indifferent. “Please answer my question directly.”

As a Knight of the Divine Blade, Christine was much higher in rank than ordinary secular nobles, and she didn’t need to give excessive respect to “Edmond.”

Assistant Thon smiled and added, “You should just answer directly. Our boss has always been this straightforward… so she can never get married.”

Suddenly, Christine turned her head and stared at Thon for ten seconds, causing him to tremble and lower his head.

Bai Yan remained silent for a while before saying, “I had absolutely no involvement in this matter.”

“I’m sorry, I might have been a bit aggressive just now,” Christine nodded after hearing the direct answer, finally stopping her probing and offering a smile.

She quickly finished the snacks and tea, got up, and was about to leave.

“To be honest, I really wished you were the culprit,” she sighed. “It would have been easier to just take you back. It’s a pity though, now we have to work overtime… sigh.”

Bai Yan had no idea how to respond, but he finally understood why Christine couldn’t find a suitor.

In the Kingdom of Dark Light, most women married before twenty, especially those with extraordinary abilities. “Early marriage and having more children” was a necessary strategy for every family to maintain their heritage.

Christine wiped the crumbs from her mouth and smiled, “Thank you for your cooperation. We’ll continue searching elsewhere… The snacks were delicious. We’ll visit again if we have the chance.”

“Yes, you’re welcome anytime.” Bai Yan stood up and nodded gently.

“Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll continue working overtime on the investigation.”

Christine patted Thon’s shoulder as they left the living room, her pats heavy and loud enough to make him wince in pain.

Bai Yan saw them off, accompanying them all the way outside the Tulip Manor before considering it done.

The group of riders continued on their way in the rain, gradually moving further away.

While riding, Christine pondered and spoke up, “Although he wasn’t involved in this matter, I can sense that this Viscount Tulip is definitely not an ordinary person. Very interesting.”

Assistant Thon puzzledly asked, “Should we go back and ask again then?”

Christine smiled and shook her head, “Let’s forget about it for today. As for the future, he might suddenly be discovered to have committed some major crime… hehe.”

“Then, I’ll personally witness the moment he gets destroyed by divine laws.”

“Meow!”

Bai Yan sat calmly in the study, seeing the cat named “Cola” meowing at him from the bookshelf.

Within his black pupils, there was a deep and meaningful smile.

“This cat is indeed quite peculiar.”

Bai Yan didn’t know what had happened, but lately, the maid who took care of the cat seemed to have been trained by it, becoming obedient.

He always felt like he had seen it somewhere before.

“The knights of Divine Blade… It would be great if I could recruit their leader into Babel Tower if I get the chance,” Bai Yan muttered in his dream.

Just then, Bai Yan used a trick

to deceive Christine. First, the

incarnation, Power Possession

“Mysterious Magic,” created a

regular music box elsewhere,

identical to the lie-detecting

device. Then, Power

Possession “Nightsaber”

manipulated time, swapping

the two items during his

answer, and finally, switched

them back.

It was a simple yet highly

effective method. If the

investigation continued, Bai

Yan was confident he wouldn’t

reveal anything.

“You go out for a moment.”

Bai Yan snapped his fingers,

confusing “Kale” and making it

jump off the bookshelf before

leaving the study.

Then, he took out his phone

and opened the game “Babel

Tower.”

Bai Yan selected and sent out

“Sword of Demons” for his

first weekly mission. Its

location: Annottales.

Recently, there had been a

significant number of cultists

from Dead Silence in

Annottales. The target of

“Sword of Demons” was

precisely these cultists.

Bai Yan still had a deep

impression of Dead Silence. In

the Noah world, this illegal

organization, worshipping the

“Peaceful Songstress,” was

the largest cult, with over a

million followers. They yearned

for tranquility.

Dead Silence believed that

what people pursued was not

happiness. Happiness, to

them, was merely a

momentary enjoyment to

offset unease and anticipation.

What humans and all sentient

beings truly needed to pursue

was…

Eternal tranquility