Chapter 592: Arrangement!

Chapter 592: Arrangements!

Marlene stood up, pressing a single finger against the center of her brow.

Dense swarms of tiny black insects spilled from the depths of her wound, rapidly spinning silk to stitch the gash together.

It was an excruciating process, akin to countless fine needles repeatedly piercing her flesh, yet Marlene stood there motionless, seemingly devoid of feeling.

Soon, the horrific wound upon her body was completely repaired, but she did not choose to stop; instead, she commanded the insects to "age" the newly mended flesh.

At last, the wound became entirely invisible.

She was like a perfectionist among sculptors, treating herself as a damaged statue undergoing the most meticulous restoration.

As for her ruined divine robes... the array embedded within them activated, and the threads began to interlace anew, promptly restoring them to their original state, the sole cost being that they were perhaps a fraction thinner than before.

Having finished this, she took a deep breath. By now, the frost on the door of the Whipper's office before her had completely melted away.

Marlene stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Creak..."

The door swung open.

Inside lay an office, yet it was not confined to a mere room; more precisely, it was an icy lake spanning the size of an entire football field, and at its center sat a fully open office and a door.

Of course, whether or not to display all of this depended entirely on the whims of the Whipper himself.

Marlene stepped through the threshold, her peripheral vision immediately catching the fractured icebergs surrounding the perimeter of the lake.

Fortunately, though the Whipper was in a foul mood, he had just vented his rage; yet apprehensively, who could say for certain that his venting was truly over?

Marlene’s heart began to tremble slightly.

It might have been the shattering blow she received while preparing to enter, or perhaps the oppressive atmosphere of the surroundings after stepping inside, acting like two buckets of ice water drenching her flesh and soul respectively.

Furthermore, the two indentations from knees imprinted upon the carpet dealt Marlene a heavy, striking blow!

This abruptly jolted Marlene out of the narrow confines of her usual "office politics," making her suddenly realize just how unmanageable a situation things had escalated into!

She and Steven had merely been playing with fire face-to-face, and though the flames would burn furiously far away from them, they could have afforded to ignore it; now, however, the sweeping wildfire threatened to backfire and consume them entirely.

"Whipper, today at a commendation ceremony at the York City District Headquarters of the Whip of Order, there occurred..."

"I know."

"Yes, Whipper."

According to past custom... no, according to her mindset when she left her own office, this was the moment she ought to have subtly slandered Steven.

But now, she did not dare.

She even wished to protect Steven, to shield him as much as possible.

For if it were the old mode of conflict, her only goal would be to increase the Whipper's "dislike" of Steven—not a deep-seated hatred, but rather making him seem annoying, incompetent, and not worth the bother.

That would have been enough; the struggles within a small circle were played in precisely that key, and the thrill of felling someone with a single axe-blow rarely appeared here; rather, it required time to slowly ferment until a certain moment arrived to wave him goodbye.

Yet at present, Marlene felt that if this matter were serious enough to warrant a thorough investigation, her own role within it could certainly not be concealed.

This place, after all, was the very core of the Whip of Order;

The Whipper’s gaze might not usually linger here—even the wisest of men habitually overlooked the area closest to them—and moreover, people like them were the Whipper’s "eyes" and "ears," so minor tricks and squabbles were permissible.

But once the Whipper lowered his head, preparing to invest even a fraction of his energy to look closely, nothing could be hidden from him, absolutely nothing!

Marlene knew profoundly just how terrifying this Whipper, who enjoyed collecting ants, truly was.

The Whipper picked up a fountain pen from his desk and tapped it against the surface, a method used to summon the relevant subordinates into his office, though this time it evidently failed to receive a prompt reply.

Marlene immediately spoke up: "Whipper, Steven is currently presiding over a meeting. Your subordinate shall go and call him here at once."

The personnel movements within the York City District's Whip of Order were originally controlled and arranged by Steven; when trouble arose there, it was easy to guess who would be sought immediately, so Marlene's initiative was merely a display of a secretary-general's basic professional competence.

"Mm."

Verdun nodded.

Marlene felt a sudden wave of relief in her heart and walked out of the Whipper's office, intending to use this brief opportunity to convey the crisis of the current situation to Steven.

Verdun, meanwhile, propped his forehead with his fingers as he sat behind his desk; the destroyed icebergs around the frozen lake began to freeze and tower upward again, but the Whipper had lost the inclination to cleave them down once more.

"Heh..."

After a moment, Verdun began to laugh, mocking himself.

Such a severe incident had occurred within his own subordinate system, yet he had actually learned of it from the High Priest; he did not blame the High Priest in the slightest for venting anger upon him, because he felt he had nearly become a laughingstock.

Verdun knew clearly that if this matter were handled poorly, it would very likely brew a new round of internal confrontation within the Church.

This was no longer a squabble between the York City District's Whip of Order and the Church's Administrative District; this was unmistakably an all-out war with the gloves entirely off!

It would immediately ripple outward; the ongoing process of restructuring and redistributing power between the various district Whips of Order and administrative offices, which was originally modeled after the York City District, would be instantly disrupted, giving way to more fierce confrontations, and subsequently evolving into a high-profile power grab by the Whip of Order system over other systems.

And because he stood firmly behind the High Priest, it would easily be perceived by other factions within the Church as a new round of internal struggle initiated by the High Priest himself; the factions that had barely been appeased and suppressed, along with those biding their time in silence, would all be forced to stand up and strike back—this was their instinct, a normal reaction compelled by the situation.

Because the High Priest's prior promises and arrangements would be deemed entirely insincere, the difficulty and cost of reconciling and suppressing internal contradictions and conflicts would become even greater...

If he were the Temple, he would likely choose to seize this opportunity to intervene in church affairs once more; should that happen, the Church of Order would welcome an internal strife in the truest sense of the word!

Verdun’s eyes began to gradually turn blood-red; this was an extremely sensitive period.

On the surface, during the last round of political maneuvering within the Church:

Looking upward, the High Priest had suppressed the Temple, even putting forward the slogan "Let the Temple return to being the Temple."

Looking horizontally, the High Priest had suppressed the degree of friction with various factions in the name of maximum consensus, represented by the "gentle" death of Thyssen; as a flagship figure of the former conservative faction, he chose not to tear off the mask even until his death, instead actively cooling the intensity of the struggle, making limited conflict a mutual consensus.

Looking downward, multiple systems, represented by the Whip of Order, were beginning to strengthen their management over local regions and tighten the Holy See's control over local affairs, suppressing the resistance of local forces with legal authority and righteousness.

Thus, it was all a balance maintained through suppression, requiring time to ferment, yet what happened in the York City District today was as if, just as everyone agreed to a ceasefire, someone suddenly set off a firework...

"Crack!"

Verdun’s fist clenched, loosened, clenched again, and loosened once more; if he could, he truly wished to personally go to York City right now, to enter that venue, and crush the heads of those directors and ministers one by one!

...

The meeting in the isolated environment was broken by Marlene's arrival; upon learning that the Whipper had summoned him, Steven immediately announced a recess and followed Marlene toward the Whipper's office.

"The matter has blown out of proportion."

"York City?"

"Yes, the matter has blown out of proportion," Marlene repeated. "You have ignited a powder keg, Steven."

"Everything is within controllable limits." Steven appeared very calm; evidently, he had read the proposal. "The work of the Whip of Order in York City will serve as another model demonstration for the Whip of Order in all districts, and someone will pay the price for this incident from start to finish."

"Is it that young man named Garen?"

"Mm."

According to the normal envisioned scenario, Garen, as a sharp blade, would fiercely cut open the York City District Administrative Office and conduct a high-profile grand purge, after which this blade would be discarded to heal the rift; this way, they would secure the practical benefits while offering an explanation to all factions.

A young man with a boundless future, performing an act of insubordination merely to distinguish himself, would subsequently be dealt with by them as well, and the Whip of Order would lament the loss of a fine future prospect.

Steven was highly satisfied with this script that Bernie had presented to him through successive layers of reporting.

Marlene laughed out of sheer fury.

"What happened?"

"During the live broadcast, the people from the York City Whip of Order headquarters arrested every regional bishop in the auditorium on the spot."

Steven: "..."

"Things have gotten out of hand. The High Priest must have just met with the Whiplord. The Whiplord is absolutely furious right now."

"How... how could this happen?" Steven panicked, experiencing the exact same emotional upheaval Marlene had felt moments ago.

"It already has."

Steven slowed his pace. At this moment, he even felt a sense of dread toward the Whiplord’s office.

They were both exceptionally clever individuals, but their roles were ultimately those of assistants. Thus, much of the capability they demonstrated was built upon the delegation of tasks based on the Whiplord’s will. To put it another way, they were highly dependent on the platform.

It was just that this feeling was usually not obvious, and was even subconsciously ignored, because human nature made it hard to avoid a tendency toward self-complacency.

Therefore, once this platform experienced a problem and began to push back against them, these talents whose success was built upon it would instantly wither away, much like the Emperor's new clothes.

The situation had clearly been instigated by them, yet the regional directors, department heads, and chiefs over in the distant York City Whip of Order headquarters building probably weren't as frantic and terrified in their hearts as they were.

"Find a way to remedy it," Marlene reminded him.

"But we can't stop it," Steven said. "The wheels are already in motion. It's impossible to haphazardly wrap it up and forcefully suppress it."

This wasn't as simple as sending down an official dispatch demanding that the regional Whip of Order immediately end the matter, because that would mean castrating the grassroots system of the Whip of Order that had finally begun to revive!

The most direct consequence would be making the entire system of the Whip of Order a laughingstock, and making the Whiplord a laughingstock as well.

"Push forward quickly, resolve it, and wrap it up," Marlene said. "It must be fast, and the conclusion must be handled well, to ensure his negative impact is minimized as much as possible."

"This can be done, it can be done, because we have the active cooperation of the Chief Bishop of the York City region this time. We push forward rapidly, hold the trial, sentence him, and finally have him step forward to shoulder all the responsibility."

"Is he willing?"

"He's nearly dead. He's willing."

"What I want to ask is, does he know about this plan of yours?"

"Of course he knows. Without his cooperation, how could this plan have been executed in the first place?"

"Including the plot targeting that Karen?"

Steven froze.

Marlene was no longer in the mood to mock him, continuing immediately, "Karen is the very person who helped avenge his entire family, and he even sent his own grandson into Karen’s team."

"It's fine. He will cooperate with the purge. Not only will he provide evidence, but the regional administration office won't interfere either. Everything will proceed very quickly and smoothly. Before he dies, as a devout believer of Order, he wants to do something beneficial for Order. This much can be guaranteed."

"And the conclusion?" Marlene almost growled. "Are we talking about that damn purge right now? I'm asking about the conclusion. Is he willing to stand up and wrap it up?"

"Under normal circumstances, the price of one Karen would have been enough to conclude it."

"Now, it's far from enough. We can only rely on him, on Volfren."

"Yes," Steven nodded. "I will immediately arrange for someone to confirm it with him. As long as he is willing to stand up afterward and bear all the responsibility and pressure, his status, his plight, and his own confession will draw the perfect conclusion to this matter.

We still come out ahead. The York City region remains a model example. We bear no responsibility; instead, we have rendered meritorious service!"

"Steven, please wake up." Marlene wished nothing more than to slap him across the face. "Why on earth would he agree to you?"

"He..."

"What do you have left to threaten him with? He's a dying man."

"His grandson..."

"You said it yourself, he is now a true and pure believer of Order. Even if the High Priest went to see him right now, he could face the High Priest with composure!"

"Let someone else go, let the stakeholders go..." Steven quickly found an entry point to solve the problem, and then he spoke, "Let Karen go beg him!"

Marlene said, "With things having developed to this point, I don't believe that young man is still unaware that he's being used as a sacrificial lamb."

"Offer him benefits! He's still young, we can barter with him using benefits. He'll be willing, as long as the benefits are substantial enough!"

Marlene let out a long breath. At the very least, a line of thinking to resolve this incident had emerged. Though success was not guaranteed, at least they didn't have to keep jumping around uselessly like ants on a hot pan.

Steven continued, "It also happens that we need someone to take the blame. That person hid it from me and took it upon himself to conduct this operation privately. He was greedy for credit and acted rashly, which brewed this crisis. This will explain why I had no knowledge of the matter."

In truth, Steven naturally knew that today's commendation ceremony in the auditorium of the York City Whip of Order headquarters was the start of the plan, but he had still gone to attend his own meeting precisely to avoid suspicion.

Marlene nodded. "It can also vacate a position to be used for the exchange. If you want to ruin that Karen's future, then you must compensate him with a future."

Steven said, "Regional Director Harry bears the primary responsibility; everything was due to his concealment."

"On the surface, he's still credited with a meritorious deed."

"He originally wanted to rely on this achievement to be transferred to the Dinge regional headquarters. After raising his rank, transfer him to garrison the Dead Silent Space, and then find an opportunity to arrange for someone to..."

Steven made a chopping motion with his palm.

"Just a regional director?"

"Can't be any more. One is enough. Bernie cannot be implicated, otherwise I won't be able to explain myself. He's a man on my line, and I'm afraid the Whiplord will look over here."

"Mm."

"Additionally, Harry's trusted department heads are suspected of being involved in this matter. A few can be transferred out to vacate positions for Karen."

"But Karen was just promoted," Marlene reminded him. "He's still very young."

"I must offer him a price he cannot refuse so that he will go beg Volfren.

As for his last promotion, it was because he killed an assassin and preserved the honor of the Church.

This promotion is for rendering merit in the Great Purge. He should become the external representative figure pushed forward by my Whip of Order system. An exceptional promotion is exactly the treatment someone in this position deserves. It makes sense, it can be pushed through. My people and yours will work together to build momentum for him and submit an exceptional commendation request to the Whiplord. When the time comes to deliberate on this matter, you and I will cooperate to advise the Whiplord."

"It must be fast. I believe that before his promotion is formalized, he won't go beg Volfren. If Volfren is willing to come out and bear all the responsibility and pressure, it will certainly be after he sees Karen's promotion.

After all, your people have already deceived him once, and right now, we truly cannot afford to wait."

"Of course, I understand. Furthermore, after this matter blows over, you should suggest that the Whiplord initiate a major rectification within the system. You will take the lead in your capacity as Secretary-General to surrender a portion of our Secretariat's power to other departments for cross-supervision, and I will help you suppress the dissenting voices in the office."

"Good," Marlene nodded.

By this time, the two had finally reached the door of the Whiplord’s office and began to presentably tidy their appearance.

"Steven, shouldn't you thank me for helping you so much this time?"

"Thank you for what? Thank you for the pit you dug for me?

Or thank you for digging a pit and falling into it yourself?"

"Heh."

Steven asked, "Do you think the Whiplord will be satisfied with this arrangement?"

"What you really want to ask is how the Whiplord will treat you in a moment, right?"

"Yes, I'm very afraid, because the Whiplord knows that I have my people in the York City region, and the previous plan was also submitted to the Whiplord by me."

"Take a guess. When you go in later and the Whiplord asks you, and you say you didn't know, what reaction do you think the Whiplord will have?"

"Utterly furious. I will kneel down to beg for forgiveness, and then the Whiplord will curse at me for being a useless dog."

"Mm. When the High Priest came earlier, he probably asked the exact same question, and then the Whiplord's answer was likely also that he didn't know."

Steven: "..."

I owe you all a ten-thousand-word update.