Lord of Prayer

Chapter 121: Chapter 102: Outbreak

“If you’re referring to the curse, I know. Duke Elizabeth told me about it earlier.”

Jiang Che nodded calmly. “I’ve looked through the database. Erin is under a curse of fate. From the moment she was born, she was destined to die before her eighteenth birthday. It’s a predetermined future, an inescapable fate.

“Duke Elizabeth once sought out a Crowned King with the power of prophecy and pleaded with him to foresee Erin’s future. The Crowned King generously agreed, and his prophecy was that Erin would die from the curse. That particular Crowned King’s prophecies have always been accurate.

“Even if she were kept in a heavily fortified isolation zone, all sorts of accidents would still happen—earthquakes, hurricanes, falling meteorites… even a Gate of the Abyss inexplicably opening nearby, or her own life force depleting, or her soul collapsing…

“Because this curse touches upon the Authority over Death and has festered for decades, it has become completely one with Erin. Not even the Crowned Kings who wield Authority can stop it.

“The only chance was to break the curse at the very beginning, but Zone 052 had no Crowned King at the time. By the time the seal on the Restricted Area was lifted, Erin was already fourteen years old, and it was too late.

“Duke Elizabeth has already tried everything possible. If you truly sympathize with Erin, then just do your job and let her live out the rest of her life happily.”

“…”

Zhou Chen fell silent after hearing Jiang Che’s words. ’An inescapable death that even the Crowned Kings are helpless against…’

After a long silence, he let out a resigned sigh. “I understand. I’ll do my best to make every one of her coming days a good one.”

“For the next few days, it’s best you two stick to the area around the Star Association,” Jiang Che said.

“Why?”

“Jinzhu has entered a state of first-class combat readiness. They could make a major move at any time in the next few days. If something happens, you can get back to the Star Association immediately.”

“First-class combat readiness?” Zhou Chen froze. His first reaction was that something big was about to happen—something *huge*. His mind raced, and a possibility occurred to him. “Is it because of ’that thing’?”

’Jiang Che had mentioned the Star Association was playing the long game to catch a big fish, and now Jinzhu was on high alert. It was highly likely the fish was about to take the bait!’

Jiang Che didn’t answer or elaborate on the topic. “I will inform Duke Elizabeth about the Advanced Secret Ceremony Materials you need. If all goes well, it will only take three to five days to gather the materials.

“The compensation for your recent missions has also been distributed: a bonus of thirteen million, your choice of two Intermediate Alchemy Tools from the Artifact vault, and a promotion. Your clearance has been raised, and you’re being promoted from a standard Operator to my Secretary…”

’In short: a promotion and a raise, plus a bonus and a deluxe gift package!’

“As for my personal reward to you…” Jiang Che asked bluntly, “What do you want?”

’I’d love to just slack off every day, no work, just eat and wait to die…’ Zhou Chen thought for a moment, then scratched his head. “I’m basically a rich man now. I have three Forbidden Objects, tens of millions in savings, and I’m even getting an Advanced Secret Ceremony for free. Thinking about it, there’s nothing I really need… How about you tell me your story instead?”

“Zhou Chen, asking someone to reopen old wounds isn’t a pleasant thing.” Jiang Che watched him calmly. “But if this is the reward you want, I can tell you about it… Are you sure you want this to be your payment?”

“I’m sure,” Zhou Chen said, stroking Xiao Ju, who had just jumped into his lap. “We’re friends… well, at least I consider us friends. Since we’re friends, it shouldn’t be impolite to want to get to know you better, right? You know everything about me, but I barely know anything about you. Isn’t that a little unfair?”

Jiang Che looked into his sincere eyes and, after a moment, sighed softly. “I was born into a family in politics. My father was the deputy director of the Star Association’s Archives Administration, and my mother was a member of the Marine Ecology Association.”

“When I was a child, the Night of the Sun’s Fall threw the world order into chaos, and a brutal political struggle erupted within the Star Association. My father discovered that one of the men vying for a council seat had been involved in many sordid, underhanded dealings. He was preparing to report him to the committee, but that very night, a group broke into our home and murdered my parents… The man leading them was Fu Qing.

“By some stroke of luck, I managed to escape. I ran into a close friend of my mother’s who had rushed over after receiving her distress signal. She was highly skilled in Alchemy and created an Artificial Human on the spot to fake my death in a car accident, then took me to safety.”

Jiang Che’s tone was perfectly calm, as if she were recounting a story that wasn’t her own. “Afterward, I studied Alchemy under her for a time. Then I hid my identity, secretly joined the Star Association, and worked my way up, step by step, to my current position.”

Zhou Chen asked, confused, “Then what about Xiao Ju? I remember you’ve had her since you were very young, right? If someone were to check the records and make the connection, wouldn’t that expose you?”

Xiao Ju was with Jiang Che now—a fact that couldn’t be hidden. If the records stated that a ’rainbow orange cat’ had been adopted by Jiang Che’s family back then, a simple comparison would be enough to reveal her identity.

“After she broke out of jail back then, she destroyed the tracker in her body, so no one knew she was living with my family. A few years ago, I reregistered her, claiming I had just found her. I’ve falsified my entire past, so no one knows that I’m the little girl who supposedly died. As for the night of the attack, she had run off to play by the river, which is how she was spared.”