Like anyone waking from a dream, Lu Baiyan was still a little dazed when he saw Xu Shi in front of him.
"Xu Shi?"
His squinty eyes widened slightly, and he murmured something softly.
He then noticed the various tubes inserted into his body and instinctively struggled again. "What is this?"
"You're awake?"
Xu Shi smiled and said, "I'm sorry, we didn't survive the battle with the Holy See. This is paradise."
Although he didn't know if the Hualan Empire had a concept of heaven, he still chose to use that term as a joke.
"...Brother Xu, please stop teasing me."
Lu Baiyan was taken aback for a moment, then returned a smile, "You can't fool me with this kind of joke."
He hadn't forgotten what had happened before, and he had his own estimate of who would win and who would lose. He certainly didn't believe that Xu Shi would lose.
It's quite possible that I'll die, but as for Xu Shi... that's unlikely.
Since Xu Shi is still alive, I must also be alive.
The main focus is on clear logic.
"Tch, boring."
Seeing his nonchalant expression, Xu Shi shook his head in disdain.
Why is it so normal when it comes to you? He didn't even have a chance to say the classic "surgery was a success" opening line, and you're not like Xu Ying, who woke up and immediately called his buddy "Dad"...
Boring!
However, he was also wondering, if everyone else was acting strangely, was Lu Baiyan acting normally or not?
Lu Baiyan recovered quickly and got straight to the point.
"I'm still a little confused... What exactly happened that day?"
Xu Shi didn't hide anything from him and told him in detail what happened after he was turned into a puppet on the day of the final battle, including the various changes that have taken place in the Hualan Empire.
As he spoke slowly and deliberately, the expressions on his squinty-eyed face were quite rich.
He clearly hadn't expected that everything around him would change so drastically during his coma—he knew Xu Shi would definitely implement various reforms, but the scope was much broader than he had anticipated.
"Brother Xu's methods are indeed brilliant, managing to drive the Vatican to desperation."
However, he only made a few sarcastic remarks about the fate of the Vatican, saying, "Even someone like me has to be sent to the battlefield... hahaha."
Indeed, he wasn't a combatant; how long could he have held out under those circumstances?
But the saintess at the time didn't care about such things; she just piled people on top of each other, thinking that one more person was better than one less.
No one would laugh off being forcibly turned into a puppet; Xu Shi could clearly hear the anger in his tone.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. You're one of the Vatican's people."
His response was rather cold: "Offering your heart to the Vatican is your job, don't complain."
"...Yes, I guess I have only myself to blame."
Lu Baiyan could understand the underlying meaning in his words, and could only smile wryly.
He was quite different from the other Templar Knights. The others were either like Qin Yiyan, whose faith was deeply rooted, or like Luo Yu, who were from humble backgrounds and could not leave the order once they joined.
But Lu Baiyan is different. His family still has some influence in the Hualan Empire. Sending him to be this so-called Templar Knight is just to hedge their bets. His family also has many important members in the royal family.
In addition, he is not an indecisive person, so this job is probably more like a clock-in-the-clock job for him.
In short, his faith in the Papacy was not very strong, which is why he was repeatedly tempted by Xu Shi's attempts to win him over.
But it only stayed at the level of being attracted; in the end, he couldn't take that step.
As for why, that's a bit hard to say... It can be said that the long-term influence of his family has cultivated his personality of making decisions only after seeing the results; to put it bluntly, he's a fence-sitter.
So even though he was tempted and had a good talk with Pan Ling, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to take that step.
It always takes a lot of courage for a person to step out of their comfort zone, but unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have that courage.
Or perhaps, by the time he truly wanted to take that step, it was too late—under Han Jingchuan's surveillance, he was coerced into going to the Vatican, and when he met Xu Shi again, it was already a battle to the death.
"Feel sorry."
He suddenly felt a little guilty. He felt that Xu Shi was so honest with him and had even saved his life, while he was always ambiguous. In comparison, he really felt ashamed.
"What's there to apologize for? I understand."
Xu smiled, indicating that he didn't need to say such things.
It is indeed understandable. In fact, the person who is very similar to Lu Baiyan is probably Qi Maoyang, the one from "Imaginary Number", or rather, the Qi family father and son.
Those two were also indecisive. When they went to war with Shen He, they only made their move to take down the "Shark Tooth" He family at the very last minute. To put it bluntly, it was like locking the stable door after the horse had bolted.
Their approach seems completely different from Lu Baiyan's, but upon closer examination, their positions are also different—"Imaginary Number" is a neutral and independent entity, while Lu Baiyan is a member of the Holy See, and to put it bluntly, he could even be considered an enemy.
Therefore, it is understandable that he was unable to break free from the Papacy and join them.
Lu Baiyan was somewhat surprised by Mr. Xu's magnanimity.
Qin Yiyan, who was eavesdropping outside the door, was also surprised. It seemed that Xu Shi was really tolerant of them, the members of the Holy See. Being tolerant of himself could be said to be just for show, but being like that to everyone was not the case.
Is he really that easy to talk to? He doesn't seem like it...
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