Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 13: Dialogue

Saint Sophia's face did not show any obvious change after hearing this.

Zhang Qiming then continued:

"In order to fulfill your ambitions, you secretly established thirteen armed forces to accumulate strength, intending to use them to overthrow the rule of the Holy Cardinals at a crucial juncture in the future."

"This kind of thing is inherently a business that can cost you your life. You know you have to be careful, so you deliberately put each unit in different directions, isolating them from each other and making them unaware of each other's existence. Over the years, they've always believed that they are the only unit in your hands that can't be brought into the light."

In her previous life, Saint Sophia only brought all thirteen units into the open on the day the revolution truly began, letting these people, who had previously been operating independently and in hiding, realize for the first time that they were never the only secret armed force.

And it was at that moment that the person who had already been turned truly saw all the cards she held in her hand.

This is why the church waited until 2199 to take action against Hagia Sophia; they had no idea that Hagia Sophia had so many trump cards up her sleeve!

If they had known earlier that the other side had more than one secret armed force, they wouldn't have delayed their actions until so late, no matter how much they cared about Ares.

In the Church's mind, Hagia Sophia was always under their control, and they believed from beginning to end that they held the most important trump card in Hagia Sophia's hands.

The cardinals of the church knew that this saint was not actually content and that she had great ambitions.

But for these arrogant old Dengs, they've eaten more salt than the other side has eaten rice.

No matter how clever, how good at pretending, or how good at hiding her abilities, she is nothing more than a canary kept in a cage by them, having come out of the mine and climbed to a high position through miracles and Ares.

That secret armed force that had already been infiltrated is proof of that.

The church leadership therefore believed they had Saint Sophia's lifeline in their grasp, thinking that no matter how much this village girl tried to cause trouble, she could never escape their control.

But it was precisely this point that caused the church to completely lose its composure later on.

Because they never dreamed that, under such circumstances, Hagia Sophia could still secretly accumulate so many trump cards.

If it weren't for that traitor, the cardinals of the church would have almost been caught off guard and lost their lives.

Therefore, what Zhang Qiming needs to do now is to eliminate the traitors for Saint Sophia, so that when she really takes action in the future, she can kick away the most fatal stumbling block first.

On the other side of the screen, after hearing Zhang Qiming's words, Saint Sophia simply stopped pretending. Now, pretending to be sweet was genuine.

She asked bluntly, "Where's the evidence?"

"I personally selected those thirteen units. I went through their backgrounds, resumes, personal experiences... I personally reviewed them all. Moreover, Ares was keeping an eye on their movements for me at all times. As long as they showed any abnormality on Mars, whether it was on the public network or the secret network, I could know who they were in contact with, and even what they ate for dinner."

After hearing this, Zhang Qiming smiled.

"Your Excellency, have you forgotten that Terra and Mars have always been one family? What they have, we also have."

Saint Sophia: "What?"

Zhang Qiming: "After all, you are a native Martian, and because of Ares, you have been practicing the Way of the Myriad Machines since childhood. Also, because of Ares' existence, they cannot hinder your education in the Way of the Myriad Machines."

"However, besides the Path of the Myriad Machines, they have other means to deal with you. For example, in Terra, there is a type of people who are known to the world as—Psionicists."

Saint Sophia did not speak, but listened quietly.

Zhang Qiming continued to explain:

"Psionicists are people who can establish connections with the virtual realm and draw energy from it."

"The so-called 'virtual realm' is not a normal space in the material universe. It deviates from the rules of conventional physics and is more like a plane where spirit and energy are intertwined. Psionicists use it to exert their abilities, and their methods are incredibly diverse. It is precisely because of this that the Terran United Government is very wary of psionicists, and psionicists are currently finding it extremely difficult to move forward in Terra."

"On Mars, psionicists are even rarer. The Church's attitude towards psionicists is even more extreme than that of the Terran United Government, because the Way of the Machines cannot tolerate such people. Therefore, in Ares's public database, there is very little information about psionicists. Occasionally, they are mentioned, but only in a few words of risk warning, without giving you complete information."

"In other words, on Mars, when it comes to the psychic realm, even Ares can't see much more."

Saint Sophia's eyes finally flickered slightly, and Zhang Qiming looked at her, breaking through the last layer of pretense.

"In order to target you and Ares, the Church made an exception and found these untouchables. Under the Church's command, there is a psionicist whose ability is dream manipulation, and the traitor was turned by the Church in a dream."

Saint Sophia sat there quietly for a few seconds, as if going over every word Zhang Qiming had just said. After a moment, she spoke again.

"I can't just listen to your side of the story. You say someone will betray me, then give me more concrete evidence. Tell me that person's name, and I will investigate personally."

On the surface, this statement was a rejection, but it also carried a clear element of probing. She wanted to see if this Skydrive visitor, who claimed to be there to discuss cooperation, would actually reveal the name of the so-called traitor.

Zhang Qiming didn't even pause, directly stating the traitor's name:

"Captain of the Covenant ship Isgario - Grigory Makarov."

"Grigory Makarov originally studied medicine, but later withdrew from the medical system and switched to the military because he couldn't stand the purification and screening system implemented by the church at the grassroots level. He believed that studying medicine could not save those people."

"He knew that if he wanted to change the status quo, he had to enter politics and the military. So he climbed up from a junior crew member to captain. He never forgot his original intention. In the process of climbing up, he also fought for the labor rights of the mining area and demanded back wages for the workers. He was the kind of person that everyone would think was reliable."

"But this very person was corrupted by the enemy in the dialogues in his dreams. He did not fall to the enemy's hail of bullets, but instead fell to the enemy's sugar-coated bullets."

Zhang Qiming looked at Hagia Sophia and presented the most direct evidence:

"If you want more direct evidence, you can first look at his lifestyle habits—did Grigory suddenly develop the habit of burning incense before bed at some point?"