Chapter 634: Time to Make a Move

Chapter 634: Time to Strike

Seeing Karen standing at the door, Kevin silently opened his canine mouth and "spat" out the little girl's arm, then rested his chin on the bedsheet with a distinct air of grievance, his tail giving a slight wag.

Purr immediately helped explain: "This is just a little game between us, Little Bone asked for it herself."

"She asked for it?"

"Yes, meow."

Purr climbed down from Karen, leapt onto the bed, and bounded straight onto the little girl, perching atop her head.

A black cat sitting upon white hair made for a striking contrast of color.

Little Bone looked at Karen blankly, seemingly completely unaffected.

Purr pointed downward with a paw: "She only has a human form, but don't actually mistake her for a little girl of this age. In truth, she is a young dragon."

Karen gained a measure of understanding.

Purr continued: "She is just a little pet... a little animal. She needs play, she needs frolicking, she needs interaction. This is the universal way for animal cubs to socialize. The stupid dog was really just playing with her at her request."

With that, Purr patted the little girl's head with a paw:

"Hey, give us a response, otherwise Karen will think we're bullying you."

The little girl nodded,

and let out a single:

"Woof."

Karen: "..."

Kevin: "..."

"Hehe meow, that was an accident. Actually, she dislikes human language and prefers our shorter phonetic message exchanges. You see, a single woof can convey a great deal of meaning, which is much more convenient than speaking."

Karen walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down.

The little girl, who had been sitting cross-legged on the bed, also shifted her body to the edge and sat down.

She was actually very sensitive; most of the time, she would deliberately demand formal equality between herself and Karen.

Yet she truly saved a penny and lost a pound, for she had already signed a master-servant contract with Karen.

If Karen were a malicious bad uncle, she would have already been tricked away by a mere piece of candy wrapper.

Karen spoke: "We still need to teach her to speak..."

Before Karen could finish, Purr slapped Kevin on his canine head;

"Yes meow, we must teach her to speak. Otherwise, when you take her out in the future, she will only say 'woof woof woof' or 'meow meow meow.' It would be truly embarrassing, not majestic at all, and the entire aesthetic would be ruined."

Kevin nodded his canine head vigorously.

Purr, who was a cat yet never felt like one, and Kevin, who was a dog yet never felt like one, truly did not mind engaging in racial discrimination against cats and dogs.

The little girl began to frown; she could actually understand the meaning of the conversation, but she had been playing so happily here, and the moment Karen entered, the wonderful atmosphere was ruined;

She did not hate anyone, she simply disliked this sort of change.

Furthermore, she truly enjoyed playing with Purr and Kevin, and she was willing to take the initiative to interact with them because, in her eyes, there was no distinction between "cat" and "dog." She did not feel that being with "pets" was a form of inequality, and she could also sense the extraordinary nature of these two.

Especially... this dog.

During their first contact, she had subconsciously resisted the cat's approach and let out a low growl at her.

The dog had immediately blocked the cat, facing her with a deep gaze, and let out a: "Woof!"

She had perceived the profound meaning in the dog's eyes, that threat... warning.

In the end, it was the cat who stepped in to smooth things over and continued speaking with her, which dissolved the caution and unfamiliarity she felt during that initial encounter.

Now, she felt that she thoroughly enjoyed this atmosphere, but the moment Karen walked in, she subconsciously had to "maintain equality," which felt so exhausting.

If Karen could just remain unconscious and never come over, it seemed that would be quite nice too.

A child's way of thinking was indeed like this; their purity arose from the fact that they did not ponder over deeper implications. For instance, the little bone dragon would not consider whether the cat and dog here could continue to live such a carefree life without Karen.

Moreover, the moment he walked in, he demanded that she learn human language... it really made her quite uncomfortable.

Last time, that man with a touch of redness at the bottom of his eyes had even said he would teach her another, more beautiful language.

She did not know what a more beautiful language meant, but she could roughly sense that it would certainly be harder to learn.

In Karen's view, the wounds on the little girl's body had already healed. During this period, there was certainly no shortage of food and drink, as Alfred and Neo would inevitably demand the Earth Vault Sect to provide the best resources for hospitality;

Though she remained slender with a pointed chin, that seemingly innate melancholic temperament paired with her appearance actually gave people a sense of perfect propriety.

If one disregarded the possibility of her eating you, she was indeed quite adorable and dense.

Muri, however, would never think her cute.

A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Karen's mouth. He raised his hand and gently pinched her cheek.

The corner of the little girl's mouth twitched as she seemed to attempt to alter its curve, finally managing a smile; then she leaned closer, raised her hand, grabbed Karen's profile, and gave it a pinch as well.

After finishing this, she sat back in her original spot and let out a sigh, feeling so exhausted.

Karen said to Purr: "I leave her to you."

The affairs of his backyard had always been left to Purr to manage.

The maid and the evil god were all under Purr's training.

Purr patted its chest with a cat paw: "No problem, rest assured, leave her to me. I want to raise her well. When she grows a bit bigger, she can take me flying in the sky, haha meow!"

Purr used the word "take" rather than "carry."

This meant it had long since figured out the temperament of this little bone dragon.

"She can fly now," Karen reminded.

"It's not the same. She is still too small now, not majestic enough." Purr swept the little girl with its tail, "When she grows a bit bigger, whoever dares to cross me, I will take her to settle the score!"

Karen looked toward Kevin, who responded with a very innocent gaze, though his heart was actually nervous, worried that Karen would continue to settle the score for using the girl's arm as a teething chew when opening the door.

In truth, even if a hundred large golden retrievers bit the little girl with all their might, they probably wouldn't break her skin.

Just as Karen had taken the Sword of Diamans and stabbed Lord Auggie several times in succession, she still wouldn't die and could currently leap around in high spirits.

Karen spoke: "You guide her."

Kevin blinked. His current feeling was just like when Karen had previously asked Philomena about official business, somewhat flattered by the sudden attention.

Karen stood up. When he reached the doorway, he paused, turned back to look at the little girl still sitting by the bed, and asked:

"Have you given her a name?"

"Well, no, isn't that your right?" Purr said as a matter of course.

"Then you can help think of one, give her..."

Purr immediately said: "Gonna Inmoles!"

"This name..."

Purr interrupted Karen's words and shouted to the little girl: "Gonna!"

The little girl turned her head and looked toward Purr: "Meow."

Purr, in turn, looked at Karen: "You see, she likes the name, and please believe me, she will speak normally in the future."

"The surname..."

"If she doesn’t take yours, whose would she take? Mine, 'Allen'? Oh, though I do think having a dragon raised in the Allen estate would make for quite a picturesque scene, and maybe we could even rename it the Allen Dragon Manor in the future, I feel giving her the 'Allen' name carries a certain sense that our family isn't worthy of it.

Better to use Immoles; you can accept a little granddaughter on behalf of Dis.

Mm, of course, if you plan to accept a little great-granddaughter on his behalf, that would be fine as well."

As Purr spoke, she tapped the little girl again with her cat paw:

"Look, you and he share the same surname, which makes things very equal, right, meow?"

The little girl nodded.

"Then let's call her Conna." Karen thought the name sounded quite nice, but a more important reason was that within the Maclai language family, although many people's names carried an underlying meaning, the ways they were arranged and combined were a bit too monotonous. There was no need to nitpick over the wording, though, of course, it also meant losing the fun of doing so.

Looking at little Conna, Karen could not help but recall the words from the God of Order he had heard in his own dream.

I do not know if I like this world, but for now, I do not dislike it very much;

Yet what I can clearly perceive is that if one day the deities return, it will likely not be the version of the world that I like.

If one day this world no longer possesses order and falls back into being a paradise for gods;

When I decide to reshape this world,

I hope you can stand by my side.

Conna raised her head and looked at Karen, their eyes meeting.

Karen smiled faintly and walked out of the secondary bedroom.

Looking at it this way, it was indeed the God of Order who had awakened the rebellious Dragon God, though for some reason, this record had been concealed.

From how everything appeared now, he and Conna seemed rather like a reincarnation of the God of Order and the rebellious Dragon God from the previous era.

However, Karen had already debated this issue a long time ago with Alfred and Kevin:

There was no such thing as being the reincarnation of the God of Order, no such thing as the return of the God of Order, and even less of a possibility that his memory had been wiped, making him forget he was the God of Order.

The reason why so many coincidences appeared was, in fact, quite easy to understand.

This small path filled with the scent of flowers had seen almost no one walk along it for countless ages; the last one to pass through here was the God of Order;

This time, it was himself.

All the resemblances and coincidences were because both he and the God of Order bore the remnants of the same floral fragrance upon them, except that to outsiders, this fragrance was everything.

Philomena brought over the food, a pile of raw, marinated dishes.

There was also something that looked like a rattlesnake, topped with a slice of lemon on its head, served up right here as a dish.

Karen’s Adam's apple moved slightly; for the first time, he felt that Viennese flavor was truly a rare delicacy, and he even began to miss the taste of soybean paste.

"I won't be eating. Take it inside and feed it to them. I need to make a trip to the special task force office; you stay here to ensure their safety."

"Yes, Minister."

Karen walked into his bedroom, took a brief shower, and changed into a clean divine robe that had been prepared there. When he stepped out of the room, Auggie was leaning against the wall in the corridor, looking like a monster that roamed the night with a penchant for eating children.

"Are you going out?" Auggie asked.

Karen ignored her, waving his hand to signal for her to move aside.

"I can take you, it will be faster," Auggie offered on her own initiative.

Karen did not reply and stepped into the elevator.

Such a vehicle was something he could not afford to use.

As the elevator made of a giant python descended, Karen could not help but sigh in his heart. In the past, he had thought it was a display of high-end extravagance for the Whip-Wielder to take a fully grown Ice Frost Giant Dragon just to catch ants...

He had misunderstood the Whip-Wielder. How could the boss of his own system be someone who hadn't risen above such low tastes? The primary reason was that this dragon seemed fit only for catching ants.

Walking out of the hotel, Karen reached out and hailed a "Ladybug."

When Karen uttered the name of the hospital where the special task force was located, a look of agony instantly crossed the face of the driver operating the Ladybug.

Yet he immediately and with extreme deference invited Karen to sit properly, promising to deliver the lord to his destination with the utmost speed.

Upon arriving at the hospital entrance, when Karen stepped down and prepared to pay the fare, he found that the driver had simply driven off in the Ladybug, looking terrified that someone else might come out from inside wanting to use the vehicle.

It seemed that lately, the frequency with which the "lords" of the Church of Order requisitioned public vehicles was indeed very high.

Walking into the hospital, the flowerbed area, which originally could be considered quite spacious, was packed full of cages large and small. The cages were stuffed with various races, including quite a few clergymen wearing the divine robes of the Earth Vault.

Many still bore wounds, having clearly just undergone torture.

A number of clergymen clad in the divine robes of Order paced back and forth holding whips to maintain order, so the place was very quiet and not chaotic at all, with not even a sound of crying out in pain.

This was the most profound interpretation of the relationship between a suzerain church and a subordinate church; it wasn't a simple matter of extra-jurisdictional treatment for the faithful, but rather that when the former came to the place of the latter, they were the true "kings."

A special task force formed by a subordinate district of the Church of Order, armed with an official letter, could come to the main city of the Church of Earth Vault and use the excuse of investigating a case to stir up a massive trial here.

"Lord."

"Lord."

The clergymen of Order bowed to Karen one after another. Karen nodded to them and walked into the hospital.

He ended up making an empty trip, because neither Alfred nor Neo was here.

The two of them were very busy right now; to use Philomena’s words, they were busy arresting people and releasing people, but between this arresting and releasing, a layer of skin had to be flayed off.

Vick carried a glass of ice water and brought it before Karen: "Minister, has your body recovered?"

"Yes." Karen nodded.

However, before Karen could even ask, Vick spoke up on his own initiative:

"Minister, our preliminary gains this time are estimated to be no less than this figure."

Vick gestured a palm to Karen.

Karen hesitated for a moment, yet still did not ask whether it meant fifty thousand Order Vouchers or five million Order Vouchers.

Fifty thousand Order Vouchers was not a small sum; in the past, taking on missions to earn extra money could almost never yield such a high return. But compared to such a grand display as this, if it were merely fifty thousand Order Vouchers, it would truly be looking down too much upon these clerical lords of the Earth Vault Church’s main city.

Five million Order Vouchers... that really was an immense sum. One had to know that the basic stipend for a divine servant of the Church of Order was only 100 Order Vouchers; graft and bribery truly brought in vouchers the fastest.

Yet there would be detailed subdivisions within it. The relevant subordinate departments and personnel participating in this special task force, and even the guide-clergymen from the Earth Vault Church’s side, would all receive a share, spreading the bounty evenly among everyone.

However, since it was only preliminary, it proved that subsequent income would follow, and Karen felt that given Vick’s status as an "outsider" among their inner circle, Neo and Alfred likely wouldn't tell him the true income and would definitely keep some reservations.

In short, no matter what, with this large sum of income entering the accounts, his plan to take over the Dark Moon Warriors could now be implemented.

The biggest problem with this group of people lay in the fact that while they belonged under the jurisdiction of the Church of Order in name, in reality, they did not enjoy the stipend benefits of the Church of Order. All living and operational expenses had to be borne by themselves, as did burial and pension costs.

This sounded somewhat incredible; as a dog of the Church of Order, it was bad enough that Order didn't hand out bones to Dark Moon Island, yet they still had to bring their own dog food.

But Order raised dogs in exactly this manner.

Yet when it came to Karen, if he truly wanted to incorporate this force into his own private power, then he had to make them eat your food, drink your drinks, and use your things.

One had to take Chief Bishop Byrne as a role model; even if he ordered the garrison under his command to charge beneath the headquarters building of the Whip of Order, those men would charge forward without hesitation.

After sitting in the task force office for a brief moment and making a quick, superficial round to show his face, Karen took his leave.

Instead of returning to the hotel, he made his way to the guesthouse where Commander Daan was staying.

The guesthouse had also been cleared out... lizardfolk guards stood in dense ranks at the entrance, though no lizard advanced to intercept him since Karen was clad in his Order robes.

As Karen stepped into the courtyard, he saw Commander Daan, bare-chested, locked in combat with three dark shadows.

However, Karen did not step forward to help, and Commander Daan seized the moment to recall his three sparring puppets.

"Are your injuries healed?"

"Merely minor wounds."

"Heh." Commander Daan chuckled, taking a damp towel to wipe down his bronzed, scar-ridden muscles. "You struck first this time to snatch the food."

Karen knew the Commander was referring to the little bone dragon; the report had already been submitted along with Oggie's opinion, and with the master-servant contract already signed, it could be declared impossible for Miss Diana to obtain it.

"I am fond of her."

"As long as you are fond of her, she is of far more use in your hands than in hers. You are quite adept at leading people; though you were comatose these past few days, I went to check on the task force's work, and it is progressing smoothly."

"It is well that the progress of our work was not delayed; your subordinate was constantly worried that due to his own affairs..."

"No need for modesty, it was only after joining the Knights that I came to understand the art of command; a single person's fighting prowess means little, it ultimately depends on who can better foster an outstanding group."

"You speak truly."

"Do you still need to rest?"

When a leader asks you this question, never assume he is genuinely concerned about your health.

"I am ready to work."

Daan did not toss the towel to Karen, but bent down himself to rinse and scrub it in the basin:

"In a little while, an army of Knights will arrive to cut down the lines of both the Dragons and the Sages, before they arrive..."

Wringing the scrubbed towel dry, Daan spread it over his own face;

After a long silence,

He pulled the towel away, let out a long breath, and said with complete nonchalance:

"Go kill her."