Chapter 589: The Storm Approaches! (Big Chapter!)

Chapter 589 The Storm Approaches! (Big Chapter!)

"Are we not taking the hearse?"

Bart pointed at the hearse parked in the distance. He still remembered that when everyone went to participate in the final selection, they had taken the hearse to the academic affairs building. A reporter had not only interviewed Karen but also taken photos that were published in the Order Weekly, causing quite a stir.

Alfred shook his head and said, "In the past, we were young and needed to be arrogant; now, the young master needs to be steady."

"Young?"

How long had it been since then, and they were already not young?

Alfred glanced at Bart and said, "Youth and steadiness sometimes really have very little to do with age."

"Oh, is that so."

"Actually, we could have brought a dozen or so coffins along to warm things up for the upcoming major operation. Oh, no, that would not do either. It is a bit too radical. The people below might like it, but the ones above would find it too impulsive and lacking in gravitas. Moreover, the young master's current position is not yet suitable for making this kind of political statement. A district head or a department minister would be more appropriate."

Bart said with some confusion, "Mr. Alfred, what you just said sounds a bit too pragmatic. Um, I mean nothing else by it, and I agree with your view, but it feels a bit different from how I usually perceive you."

Alfred asked very calmly, "Is it because, in your eyes, I usually like to say rather strange things, like a preacher whose feet are off the ground and who is a bit mystical?"

"I..."

Alfred shrugged. "Merely talking about dreams is entirely meaningless. One must understand a truth: dreams must rely on realistic means to truly be realized."

"Yes, I have learned something."

"I will ride in the same car as the young master. You take the front car and maintain a proper distance according to the security protocols."

"Understood."

Alfred sat in the front passenger seat of the secondhand black Pons. Vick held the steering wheel, while Karen sat alone in the rear seat.

The modified secondhand black Pons not only incorporated a built-in formation array but also had its interior furnishings replaced. Sitting in the back, Karen felt extremely comfortable. Though he had already slept his fill, under the morning sunlight, he now felt a wave of laziness that made him want to squint his eyes and doze off for a bit longer.

"The weather in Wien is truly wretched," Vick complained as he started the car. "Encountering a good day makes me want to cry from emotion."

Karen smiled and said, "This shows you are becoming more and more like a Wien native, because only Wien natives like to complain about the weather the moment they meet."

Vick glanced at Karen in the rearview mirror and replied with a smile, "Director, it is fortunate these words came from your mouth. If it were anyone else, I would feel he was mocking me."

"Hmm, what gave you the illusion that I was not mocking you?"

"Haha, right, Director, what are the specific arrangements next?"

"The positions?" Karen was just about to personally explain his positional arrangements, but Vick interrupted him first.

"Alfred has already explained the positional changes to me. Director, I do not care about that. I really do not value positions and benefits. What I want is a place where I can get things done."

"It will be fine in the future, Vick, I promise you."

"Director, you really do not have to be like this. This makes me look very inconsiderate. Actually, what I wanted to ask is, what kind of arrangement should there be for the next operation against the York City District Administration Office?"

In handling mundane affairs—that is, administrative capabilities—Vick possessed professional skills not inferior to Alfred's. In the Vico case, it was precisely the cooperation between the two of them that had created an excellent environment for Karen, where he only needed to handle the courtroom debates.

"Do you think Alfred intentionally hid it from you?" Karen asked.

Vick turned his head to glance at Alfred sitting in the passenger seat and said:

"Director, I did not think that way, because I feel Alfred would wish nothing more than for me to take over these matters so he can go and busy himself with what he is truly interested in."

Alfred responded, "Yes, exactly."

Karen shifted his sitting posture and said, "In fact, I do not know either."

"You do not know either?" Vick was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, I do not know either. Perhaps the Vico case gave us an illusion, making us feel like we are the ones playing chess. In reality, we are still just chess pieces. The higher-ups should have already arranged everything."

"Then that is a bit uninteresting." Vick appeared somewhat disappointed. "Only challenging things are interesting."

Alfred countered, "The reason we make thorough advance preparations is precisely to make those variable possibilities become singular and boring."

The small motorcade soon drove into the main gate of the headquarters building and entered the parking lot. To Karen's slight surprise, there were exceptionally many cars here today, and he even saw several special carriages.

"It is so lively today?" Vick also felt quite curious. "It seems like something is about to happen."

He was not foolish enough to ask: Could it be for your commendation assembly, Director?

Because it obviously could not be. Ventura could ask that way, but if Vick asked that way, it would inevitably give a mocking impression.

Just as Karen was preparing to walk into the building, he saw three trucks drive in. A group of Gods' Officials of Order walked out of the building and began to unload the items from the trucks, which turned out to be coffins, one after another.

Alfred went forward to inquire, and upon getting the result, he immediately returned to report:

"Young master, those are the coffins ordered by Minister Bernie. They should be for his use."

To this, Karen did not feel any surprise or shock.

After all, it was not just Karen alone who wanted to obtain an opportunity for promotion; others were also working hard.

Minister Bernie setting his sights on the position of district head was no longer a secret in the department, and the current district head, Harry, also seemed to have prepared for the handover long ago.

Standing from Karen's perspective, he was happy to see Bernie continue to rise, because both he and Neo were considered to be on Bernie's ship. No matter how he viewed it himself, outsiders thought so anyway; and if Bernie was promoted, the empty sauce jar he left behind would naturally be for him and Neo to step up and fill, avoiding the awkward situation of himself pushing Neo to the side.

Upon entering the building, a crowd of officials from the security section, led by Old Koya, saluted Karen collectively:

"Lord Director!"

"Lord Director!"

Although the commendation assembly had not yet been held, the captain's doorplate on Karen's office had already been replaced with "Director." Anyone paying a little attention knew what had happened.

Karen smiled at Old Koya and then walked upstairs on his own.

Old Koya looked at Karen's receding figure and let out a long sigh, his mind recalling the scene of the day Karen came here to report for duty;

Tsk tsk, how long had it been since he entered, and he had already become a director, even pushing his former old superior to the side. These methods, this scheming, were truly admirable.

Why did he not have such a good fortune himself?

Old Koya was not jealous of Karen; rather, he was lamenting that he had failed to catch up with the era of the revival of the Whip of Order.

"Good day, Director."

"Good day, Director."

While walking in the corridor, officials from other departments all saluted and greeted Karen. Karen nodded in response to each one, and then he walked into his office. As for his subordinates, they had their own workspaces. Before the commendation assembly began, everyone still had to busily tend to their own affairs. Even if they had no work on hand, they had to pretend to look fulfilled and busy.

Therefore, the benefits of being a leader manifested at this moment. Once the office door was closed, Karen walked into the inner room, washed his hands first, and then walked to the side of the bed and lay down on it.

When he first obtained this office, Karen would sit behind the desk extremely busily, drinking tea and reading newspapers;

Later, he lost interest in deceiving himself, and very decisively treated the lounge in the inner room as his office, while the outer office felt more like an accompaniment.

It was really not that he intentionally slacked off, but rather that Alfred and Vick's capabilities were too strong, making it harder for him, as the leader, to find things to do than to actually do things.

In addition, on this floor, or rather in this building, those with a higher status than him who wanted to see him would have their secretaries notify him to go over, while those with a lower status could not enter without notification. Thus, the privacy of this office had always been relatively high. Only Neo used to enter directly without knocking to breathe in this post-renovation air and indulge his cravings.

However, now Neo was no longer his leader but his colleague.

Fortunately, Philomena was not sitting alone by the door; Richard was accompanying her, together acting as the "door gods" who "permanently" sat on the bench outside the office door.

Otherwise, given Philomena's personality, if Neo wanted to enter right now, she really would reach out to stop him and say:

"Please wait, I will report to our director first."

...

"Please wait, I will report to our director first."

Neo: "..."

"Ah, hahaha, director, director, she's joking, she's joking." Richard immediately reached out and pressed down Philomena's raised arm.

But Philomena's strength was much greater than Richard's; after all, she had just eaten twelve bowls of wontons for breakfast to pad her stomach;

Therefore, just as Richard pressed her arm down, Philomena instinctively rose back up out of habit. Her arm returned to its original position, while Richard's feet left the ground as if he were playing on a horizontal bar, lifted right up.

"Hahaha, director, look, isn't her joking manner very cute?"

Neo's face had already darkened to the point where it could drip water.

He could tolerate Karen's teasing, but that did not mean he could accept "ridicule" from anyone else.

Richard reached out and opened the office door: "Director, our captain is inside."

Neo was in no hurry to enter; instead, he looked at Philomena and said, "How well have you absorbed your grandmother's things? If there's a chance, let's spar; I want to see the heritage of the Felscher family."

"Okay."

Neo nodded, but though he had gained the opportunity to give this girl a beating, his heart was not particularly cheerful.

Because he knew that this girl was afraid of Karen, but not because Karen had beaten him.

Damn it, he used to think his methods for governing subordinates were already excellent and superb, but who knew this kid Karen's methods of control were so dirty.

Neo walked into the office. Richard let out a long sigh of relief and said to Philomena, "Um, next time someone comes, I'll handle the reception, alright?"

Philomena nodded, sat back down on her bench, and said:

"I want to find someone to fight."

Richard froze for a moment and asked, "So, you did it on purpose?"

"Yes."

"Sigh, but I don't think you are a match for the director."

"Yes, I can't beat him."

Karen had once told Philomena that Neo's combat style had many similarities to hers, and that she could go ask Neo for guidance.

"Actually, if you want to find someone to spar with, you can choose a more suitable method. I think the director would agree to this request of yours."

Philomena shook her head and said:

"No, he will only agree to fight our director."

"Uh..."

"He has no patience for others."

...

This luxuriously decorated office had once held Neo's expectations and aspirations;

However, it had hurt him deeply once;

Then, it had hurt him a second time;

And they even said their family's faith system was about learning rather than plundering—this office was ironclad proof!

Neo walked into the inner room, saw Karen lying on the bed, and shouted directly:

"Hey, I have never seen anyone as derelict in their duty as you."

Karen placed the back of his hand against his lips, yawning as he sat up: "I originally wanted to take an early nap."

"Don't you feel like you're being degenerate? I didn't sleep all night last night!"

"Hearing you say that, I suddenly feel even sleepier."

"Heh." Neo gave a cold laugh and sat down by Karen's bedside.

Karen stood up and left the vicinity of the bed.

Neo lay down, spreading his arms, and looked at the ceiling, which was covered in green grass and flowers—all of which were the manifestation of his own interior design scheme.

"My subordinates are already asking me for the operational plan."

"Operational plan? I don't have one here either."

"Hmm?"

"I came back here last night and didn't see any 'informant materials' on your desk."

"Then what were you doing staying up all night?"

"I spent the whole night playing with puzzles in my own office."

Karen understood immediately and said, "There should be twelve sets of it."

"It seems the appraisal results show great value."

"Yes, if conditions permit, it would be best to get the complete set."

"I still have ten sets over at my place. Counting the one at your place, we're only short of one set. When the last set is found, I'll bring dog food and coffee to visit you at your home."

"The commendation assembly is held at twelve o'clock. You can sleep here for a while first."

"Will it cause you any inconvenience?"

"No, I will have someone change the sheets and duvet covers later."

"Heh." Neo pulled the blanket over to cover his stomach. "I was worried that in case you originally planned to find some female subordinate or call over a female clerk working at the headquarters to do some gymnastics activities or something, wouldn't I be interrupting your elegant mood?

Look at how convenient it is here; the mirror on the washbasin is so big, right facing this bed."

"You'll have to ask the person who decorated this place about that. Perhaps his mind is just as filthy as yours."

Leaving the inner room for Neo to rest, Karen walked out and sat down in his own office chair.

On the desk lay the latest issue of the *Order Weekly* and other newspapers within the church circle. Karen picked them up and began to skim through them.

There were three major news items worthy of note.

The first was the peace treaty between the Moon God Church and the Samsara God Church, which would be signed in its final form in York City half a month from now.

In fact, under the mediation of the Church of Order, the Moon God Church and the Samsara God Church had long ended their large-scale war and conflict; of course, the main reason was that both sides were somewhat exhausted from fighting.

It was just that sporadic local conflicts still occurred from time to time. Even though both sides had already gone through several rounds of consultations and negotiations—organized several times by the Dingle region and the York City region—they had failed to reach a final proposal.

This time, the wording in the *Order Weekly* was very severe. This represented the attitude of the Church of Order, meaning that the Church of Order did not want to drag things out any longer and demanded that both sides give a final decision immediately.

Upon seeing this news, Karen's first reaction was security duty.

However, in his current position, he probably wouldn't need to take on that kind of close-protection security duty anymore. Still, it could not be ruled out that the Whip of Order, which had already been propped back up, intended to make its presence felt on such a major diplomatic occasion.

Nevertheless, the meeting would be held in half a month, which was still early. Furthermore, if it was the final meeting that must reach a definitive peace proposal, the two sides would likely engage in a long tug-of-war.

The second news item concerned the Church of the Desert, inside of which violent turmoil had erupted, pointing toward a substantive rift.

The primary driver was a fierce clash between the orthodox fundamentalist faction and the main body, a latent hazard that had always plagued the Church of the Desert, given its historical replacement of the former Cult of the Desert.

As things stood, the Church of the Desert was highly likely to splinter, giving birth to a reborn Cult of the Desert.

Such upheavals were a common sight within ecclesiastical circles; unlike secular nations that could mend ideological divides through pragmatic interests, churches invariably treated matters of religious legitimacy as the ultimate, irreconcilable contradiction.

This was also a classic hallmark of a faith in gradual decline—much like the original Church of the Sea God, once a dominant orthodoxy, now fractured into dozens of minor sects, with barely any mid-sized denominations left.

On account of the assassin, Karen paid close attention to this particular report; though the assassin's attempt to frame someone using sand was glaringly obvious, it confirmed at least one thing: there was a connection between the hand behind the assassin and the Church of the Desert, in all probability an adversarial one.

The third report was minor, yet in Karen's eyes, it carried immense weight, for it profiled two ordinary men, John Rotini and Koma Luther—and this was by no means the first time the Order Weekly had featured them.

Karen knew all too well that the Church of Order and the Church of Principles were covertly joining forces to conduct a certain "god-making" experiment, and these two men were the fulcrum.

Since clerical guards from Order were stationed around Mr. Luther, Mayor John would surely be no exception.

Mavallio had once hinted to him that the upper echelons of the Church were far more audacious and radical in certain respects than he could ever fathom.

In truth, Karen had always known this; the Church of Order preserved the conscious mind of Ragnedal, daring to launch research into time—a taboo that even the gods themselves feared to touch.

He used to jest that the Church of the Wall was a gathering of lunatics, but the truest madmen were always those who could make you believe they were perfectly sane.

Having finished the news, Karen turned his attention to other periodicals, bypassing the overly official church gazettes to focus primarily on those leaning toward entertainment.

It had to be said that even the faithful and clerics of the religious circles could not extinguish the gossiping nature of humanity; the scandalous tidbits of the ecclesiastical world were infinitely more riveting than the secular entertainment industry, and Karen found himself somewhat enthralled.

Time slipped by unnoticed until Richard knocked and brought in lunch.

Because the commendation ceremony was scheduled for noon, lunch had been automatically moved forward.

The cafeteria in the headquarters building had resumed operations, yet many still preferred to carry their meals up to their offices.

As Richard set down the food and prepared to leave, Karen spoke up to stop him: "Call Philomena in. We'll eat together here."

"Right away, Chief. Heheh."

Philomena walked in, cradling her six boxed lunches.

Richard brought over a chair and motioned for her to sit.

In truth, Philomena would have preferred to eat outside, where she could comfortably ignore everyone else; before Karen, however, she felt an oppressive weight, a tension that invariably dulled her appetite.

Karen stopped halfway through his meal, his appetite waning, having eaten breakfast rather late.

Meanwhile, Philomena, sitting opposite him in stiff constraint, had only just finished her fourth boxed lunch.

Karen gestured toward her and said to Richard, "When it's convenient in the future, bring Philomena to your house for a meal to taste your grandmother's cooking."

"Sure, no problem. You'll come along too, Karen?"

"Yes, I will," Karen replied with a nod.

He had no intention of playing matchmaker for Richard and Philomena; he was hardly bored enough to meddle in the romantic affairs of his subordinates.

It was purely that he had caught an inkling from Madame Tangli’s tone this morning; though his grandmother had poked fun at the Ferscher girl's staggering appetite eating a husband out of house and home, if she truly still detested the Ferscher family, she would not have bothered to mention her at all.

Karen sensed that his grandmother harbored thoughts of grooming Philomena as a successor, perhaps seeing a reflection of her own youth in the girl; he seemed to recall Old Man Delon letting slip once that Grandmother, too, possessed a formidable appetite in her younger days.

As for Philomena herself, because Karen had stated he would be going as well, she raised no objection to the proposal of freeloading a meal at Richard's house.

After lunch, noting that the hour was near, Karen prepared to rouse Neo.

Pushing open the inner door, he found Neo already standing before the washbasin, splashing water onto his face.

"Ah, sleeping here is truly wonderful," Neo said, looking up at his own reflection in the mirror.

"Naturally. My office, after all, does not suffer from drafts."

"Heh, you beast."

"If the opportunity arises in the future, I can trade this office to you."

"Trade it to me?" Neo turned to face Karen. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to change offices here? Heaven knows when the defensive arrays will next be altered, unless we disguise ourselves as remnants of Light and stage an assault on the defensive vulnerabilities."

"No need to go to such lengths."

"No need to go to such lengths?"

"Just wait for my next promotion."

"Hmm?"

"Once I am promoted, you can transfer back to being the Chief of the First Office, and this room will be yours."

"Damn it!"

Neo reached out to throw an arm around Karen's shoulder, hooking his neck to drag him down slightly, saying with mock savagery, "I say, you are at least a top-tier young master within our Church, second only to the Son of God. Can you not display a modicum of the refinement and class expected of a young master of your station?"

"Have I done something unseemly?"

"Heh, bullying a self-made man like me with no background whatsoever—don't you find yourself incredibly despicable and low?"

"Manifest the phantom of that mad Pope inside you first, then let's see if you still have the nerve to repeat what you just said."

"That was not a choice I willingly made."

"As if I had a choice myself. Besides, if it wasn't your choice, why did you open your mouth to devour his flesh back then? Did his corpse force your jaws open and shred itself into strips to feed you?"

"It seems highly necessary for us to have another good sparring session; it would aid your progress and help you familiarize yourself with your new realm, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, that won't be necessary."

"What, afraid?"

Karen shook his head and said, "Didn't I tell you? The former High Priest has just arranged the most fitting duel for me."

"Confounded young master!"

By the time the two walked out of the office, both had returned to a perfectly normal demeanor.

The commendation ceremony was held in the grand auditorium; not only was nearly every cleric in the building present, barring those on security duty, but many distinguished guests had arrived, and yes, numerous journalists as well, with broadcasting arrays even set up ahead of time.

This level of grandeur and spectacle was identical to the previous trial of Vicor.

Neo erected a simple isolation array, covering his mouth as if coughing, and muttered, "Look, this is the treatment you receive."

"I don't think it's for me. When I came in, I saw a dozen coffins ordered by Minister Bernie being delivered."

"Ho, so that's how it is."

Karen and Neo walked together to the third row and found their seats.

Seated in the first row were Regional Director Harry and Bishop Wolfrun, along with their respective attendants and secretaries.

The second row was occupied by the department heads of the headquarters and the bishops of the regional management office.

The third row was where office chiefs like Karen and Neo sat.

Neo remarked with a sigh, "When will we be able to sit in the first row?"

Karen replied, "Go sit in the first row right now; I doubt anyone would dare come over to drive you away."

"You know exactly what I mean." Neo lightly twisted his neck, which was slightly stiff from sleep. "Should it not be that under Order, all are equal?"

"Indeed. The distribution of each row is itself Order. Are you and I not perfectly equal where we sit?"

"Can it really be interpreted that way?"

Everything is relative. Besides, I think your current faith in Order has suffered a very serious decline.

Bullshit, no one is more loyal to Order than I am. My dream is to...

Make light great again in your hands?

Yes, that is... shut up!

It had to be said that uttering such treasonous words in such a solemn and grand occasion provided quite a strong thrill.

Of course, no one would have thought that at this moment, two directors of the Headquarters of the Whip of Order dared to chat about such a treasonous topic under a thin isolating barrier; to outsiders, they just looked like they were covering their mouths and chatting.

In the auditorium, Karen saw Laure. He was chatting with Leon in the back. Because the conference had not yet been officially announced to start, it was still relatively free, and people could move around.

In the past, every time Karen met Laure, he was with Leon. Laure's grandfather was also a bishop, so he and Leon were close friends who grew up "in the same courtyard."

After Laure finished speaking with Leon, he walked down and came to Karen's side: "Director Karen."

"Mm, hello, long time no see."

During their past interactions, although Laure and Leon both carried a bit of a playboy habit, Karen had actually gotten along with them quite pleasantly.

"Um, there is something I would like to trouble you with."

"What is it?"

"It's just that my grandfather wants to invite you to a dinner after the commendation conference ends. Do you see if that's alright?" As he spoke, Laure reached out and pointed forward, "That one over there is my grandfather."

"Please convey to Lord Bishop Yeder that it is my honor."

"Alright, thank you, Karen."

Laure smiled very happily. Right now, the upper echelons of the region knew very well that the resurgence of the Whip of Order was an unstoppable, established fact. Therefore, being able to enter the frontline team here was equivalent to having a stamp placed on one's personal future.

Clearly, Bishop Yeder also hoped to emulate Chief Bishop Wofulun's method and have his grandson join in.

Laure walked backward and sat in the back.

Neo asked, "Why did you agree to this dinner?"

Karen shook his head indifferently and replied, "Because now, at the dinner table, I already have the courage and qualification to refuse."

"Heh, decent. I really like how that sounds."

"It's mainly relying on the light of the position of the Director of the First Office."

"Damn it!"

The commendation conference officially began. First, Regional Director Harry took the stage to deliver a speech, which basically consisted of nonsense about the sacred responsibility and mission of the Whip of Order. Well, it could also be considered setting a tone of nonsense for the speeches of others to follow.

When Regional Director Harry finished speaking, enthusiastic applause rang out in the venue.

Right after that, Chief Bishop Wofulun took the stage to deliver his address. His appearance caused a slight commotion among many foreign religious guests and journalists below. Clearly, everyone knew what had happened in this Chief Lord's family a while ago.

Only to the disappointment of many, Bishop Wofulun also merely spoke some nonsense, lacking any novelty, let alone any explosive talking points.

The journalists below were clearly somewhat deflated by this, and puzzled expressions appeared on many of their faces.

The next one to take the stage was Minister Bernie. He was in charge of the Law Enforcement Department, which was currently the most powerful and influential among the many departments.

Bernie's address was very passionate and full of tension, forming a sharp contrast with the speeches of the previous two leaders.

Sitting below, Karen could not help but sigh with emotion, "Our minister really has a high level."

Neo nodded and said, "Yeah, being able to speak nonsense beautifully is the true level."

Bernie's speech lasted for nearly half an hour. Finally, it reached its atmospheric peak as he ordered a dozen coffins to be carried onto the stage, swearing that he had prepared his own coffin and would never back down on the path of defending the dignity of the Whip of Order.

The entire audience erupted