The Three Cities Meeting

At the front of the hall, several elderly men dressed in pristine white sacrificial robes stood solemnly.

Ren Yi glanced at them and guessed that these individuals must be at the Bishop level of the Holy City—the core power holders beneath the Pope.

In the center of the hall stood an old man wearing a magnificent holy robe embroidered with emblems of thorns and swords, crowned with a high mitre. This was clearly the Pope.

Notably, in front of him was a strange podium covered in various buttons. The Pope stood before it with a grave expression, speaking toward the console.

Ren Yi stepped forward and was startled to see an LCD screen embedded in the center of the podium.

He looked the podium up and down and finally confirmed it.

This thing was essentially a clunky desktop computer, much like the lecterns used by teachers in his previous life.

Next, he looked up at the screen and found it split into two sections, each displaying a room with a completely different decorative style.

Wait, why does this interface look so familiar?

Good grief, isn't this a knock-off version of "DingDong Meeting"? Has this kind of thing actually managed to plague an alternate world too?

Ren Yi almost couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud.

The feeling was utterly absurd, like traveling a thousand years into the future only to find Godzilla and Ultraman carved into museum murals and worshipped as national historical treasures.

While he was silently mocking the situation, the Pope suddenly turned around, his gaze landing on Ren Yi.

His voice boomed throughout the hall: "Lord Son of God, you have finally returned! Please, come forward!"

Ren Yi raised an eyebrow.

The Pope's tone didn't sound like he was talking to the "Son of God" so much as he was deliberately speaking for the benefit of a third party, with a clear sense of "putting him on display."

In terms of action, Ren Yi chose to cooperate with the Pope to see what he was planning.

Once he stood before the computer, he finally saw the full scene on the screen.

Clearly, the Three Cities World couldn't have an internet. This software that looked like "DingDong Meeting" was merely a superficial imitation.

After observing for a moment longer, Ren Yi confirmed that this "computer" was just a communication tool that couldn't connect to a network; in essence, it was a high-end walkie-talkie with a video feed.

The so-called "meeting interface" was nothing more than a visualized intercom channel.

The two "intercom windows" on the screen showed vastly different scenes.

The window on the left showed a magnificent lecture hall, with hundreds of seats filled with people.

On the high platform at the very front of the lecture hall sat a high-backed chair with intricate carvings, occupied by a child wearing a crown and a very bratty expression.

The other interface looked much cleaner. Only a young man with deep, soulful eyes sat before the screen.

He wore a dark red brocade robe and was idly playing with a jade pendant until he sensed the activity on the Holy City's side, at which point he slowly raised his eyes.

Ren Yi also noticed a small window in the top right corner that framed the figures of himself, the Pope, and the Bishops behind them.

Clearly, this was the view from the Holy City's "camera."

The figures in these three windows were likely the highest authorities in the Three Cities World.

At that moment, the Pope spoke in a somber and majestic voice, his gaze fixed on the screen rather than Ren Yi.

"Everyone, the Son of God of our Holy City has returned from the Divine Trial."

As he finished, he turned to the crowded window on the left side of the screen, his tone carrying a hint of subtle interrogation.

"Members of the Royal City, since our Son of God has appeared, shouldn't the participants from your side who successfully cleared the trial come out and meet us as well?"

Hmm? The Royal City had participants who successfully cleared it?

Ren Yi's expression turned serious.

Unlike a "well-connected" person like him, any participant who could truly survive and clear an Instance far beyond their own difficulty level must possess top-tier strength and mental fortitude. They were not to be underestimated.

In the window on the left of the screen, the child wearing the crown didn't move. Instead, a middle-aged man in a black suit with meticulously combed hair stood up beside him.

The man's face was calm, but his tone was somewhat distant. "The heroes of our Royal City have just returned from the trial. They are exhausted and currently resting. I'm afraid they cannot meet with you two for the time being."

He emphasized the word "heroes," and his gaze then swept through the screen, landing unceremoniously on Ren Yi as he looked him up and down.

"Rather than asking us, Your Holiness should first ask this 'survivor' beside you what kind of revelation he received during the trial."

"We wouldn't want some fake who just fished in troubled waters to delay the Three Cities' great plan for survival."

For some reason, the representative of the Royal City was being incredibly hostile toward the Holy City.

However, Ren Yi's heart skipped a beat.

The Royal City representative had actually hit the nail on the head by accident.

He really was a "fake." He knew absolutely nothing about any "divine revelation" or "trial insights."

If the Holy City side was actually swayed and began to doubt him, he would have no choice but to bite the bullet and talk nonsense.

Ren Yi quietly glanced at the Pope beside him while secretly sensing the illusion seeds he had planted in the welcoming party earlier, preparing to cause chaos and flee at any moment.

Before the Pope could respond, a frivolous laugh suddenly came from the window on the right side of the screen, which showed only the young man.

The young man didn't stop playing with his jade pendant, his tone teasing. "What a classic shell game, Mr. Prime Minister."

"Are you planning to trick him into revealing the so-called 'method of salvation' before this Son of God from the Holy City even figures out the situation?"

"His Majesty the Xin King must be joking," the middle-aged man addressed as "Prime Minister" replied calmly.

"It's just that in this trial, the elites sent by the Three Cities suffered heavy casualties. Only this unknown gentleman from the Holy City managed to return unscathed. I am merely expressing reasonable doubt."

"Speaking of being unknown..." The Pope finally spoke.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I wonder which participants from your city returned?"

"Our Holy City was also very concerned about this trial and specifically kept a full recording of the livestream. We were just thinking of seeing how your city's heroes managed to see through the hidden conditions of the trial and escape, so that we might learn from them."

He paused, the interrogation in his voice becoming more apparent. "However, we have reviewed the livestream records repeatedly, and we didn't seem to see any participant from your city showing signs of grasping the core of the trial?"

Ren Yi watched the clash between the two ends of the screen with great interest, quickly sorting through the information revealed in their conversation.

He was starting to understand that the power structures of these three cities were worlds apart.

The Holy City was a pure religious autocracy, with the Pope at the core of power, assisted by several Bishops in collective decision-making.

The Royal City, despite its name, was actually a constitutional monarchy. The child in the crown was more of a mascot, while the real power lay with the parliament and this Prime Minister.

As for the final Xin City, it was a true feudal imperial system.

Judging by the fact that only the young Xin King was in the frame, he was likely truly above all others, with the fate of the entire city decided by him alone.

It was clear that although the Three Cities World could see the livestream from inside the Instance, they couldn't see the participants' panels. Therefore, they couldn't directly know which participants had successfully cleared it.

Ren Yi recalled the scene at the end of the Instance.

The final judgment of the Instance was only completed after he sensed that the feeling of being watched had vanished.

In other words, the livestream was cut off before the settlement.

The Three Cities could only see who was still alive in the final moments of the Instance, but they couldn't be certain who had actually met the completion requirements.

And seeing that very few participants returned afterward, they had only vaguely realized that the completion requirement for the Instance was definitely not as simple as "surviving for a period of time."

Furthermore, the livestream inside the Instance was broadcast to the entire Pasture world; there was no such thing as each city only being able to see its own participants' perspectives.

So if there really were other clearers, the three cities should have known about it.

Therefore...

Ren Yi once again turned his gaze toward the Prime Minister in the suit on the left of the screen.

Looking at him now, beneath that serious and steady expression, there seemed to be a hidden trace of blustering.

Could it be that this Royal City really didn't have a single person come back?