Chapter 36: "Why Are You Wearing a Councilor's Robe?"
Even after sitting atop the throne of "Earth's Strongest," this was the first time Hong had encountered such a bizarre situation.
To put it in terms of that mobile game Jiang Zhe loved in his past life—Honor of Kings—it was like using Mozi's or Zhong Kui's ultimate skill to trap someone, only to find they moved around freely inside, completely unaffected, as if swimming in a pool.
Hong stood silently, carrying Li Nansheng's corpse, staring at Jiang Zhe.
Jiang Zhe, meanwhile, held the 40 cm-long spearhead in one hand, stroking his chin thoughtfully with the other. He still seemed lost in the revelations he'd just glimpsed.
"Mr. Hong, your Domain is quite something. I truly can't grasp how it works."
He was the first to break the silence, but Hong didn't respond. Instead, he demanded,
"Didn't you hear me tell you to stop?"
"I did," Jiang Zhe replied with a shrug. "That man was Li Nansheng. He came to Australia to steal something precious from my family. I know everything."
"What, so they can kill me, but I'm not allowed to kill them? How does that make any sense?"
"If I didn't have planetary-level power, if you hadn't uncovered Li Nansheng's plan in time, things would've ended very differently today."
"And this wasn't the first time—it's the second."
"If there's a first and a second, are we supposed to just wait around for a third and a fourth?"
"Is Earth's legal order just a joke? Do the councilors get to ignore your own laws? Get to act like they're above the rules, doing whatever they please?"
"This world needs a sword—a blade hanging above the heads of councilors—to tame the wild arrogance their strength has bred!"
At this point in time, Hong still put the fate of humanity first and had always been lenient toward the councilors. But Jiang Zhe's words finally pushed him to a firm decision.
What starts as a skin rash can fester into a fatal infection.
In fact, Hong had already considered executing Li Nansheng to set an example when he first followed him.
It wasn't indecision.
After all, Li Nansheng was a planetary-level being. A single one of them could safeguard an entire base city and carve out more territory for humanity. It wasn't someone you could just kill without consequence.
But after more than twenty years of peace, people had grown complacent. Hong understood that it was time to wield an iron fist again—to ensure that Earth's fate didn't stray down the wrong path.
He nodded. "I understand your point. Come with me back to the Martial Hall Headquarters. I'll convene a meeting of the War God Palace. I'll give you the recognition you deserve—and set stricter rules for the councilors."
If anyone else in the universe had invited him like that, Jiang Zhe would have hesitated.
Go to your lair? What is this—invite the enemy into a trap? What if the moment he arrived, someone gave the signal, and five hundred executioners jumped out?
But this was Hong.
Despite having been an assassin in his youth, his actions over the last few decades had been honest and above board.
The two of them boarded a blood-red triangular fighter jet one after the other.
The hatch closed, and the ship streaked northward like a flash of light.
Hong casually tossed Li Nansheng's corpse into the cargo hold. Then he turned and ordered the ship's AI to send a message to every councilor, War God, and national leader around the world—assemble at the War God Palace.
When he turned back around, he saw Jiang Zhe crouching next to Li Nansheng's body, fiddling with the corpse. Jiang Zhe ripped open the battle suit and removed a black stone bracelet from his right wrist.
Slipping the bracelet into his pocket, Jiang Zhe said with a perfectly straight face,
"My spoils of war. I'm taking it."
"I still owe my family a set of Black God armor. We missed the activation window for Relic No. 9 this year, so now I won't have to wait until next year. Consider the debt paid."
"Li Nansheng, Randolph—real MVPs!"
He gave a cheerful smile and raised his thumb to his chest like some wholesome neighbor kid.
But Hong had seen him command fifteen flying knives like a ruthless executioner—he could feel it in his bones: this guy had probably already dethroned Isst as Earth's number one spiritual force user.
And the scary part?
This glitch of a person hadn't even broken through to planetary level yet!
Hong ignored the act and remarked subtly, "You seem to know a lot."
"What? About Domains? Or… the universe?" Jiang Zhe didn't play dumb. He smiled, a glimmer of mischief on his lips.
"You can tell me what you know," Hong said with interest. Seeing that Jiang Zhe was willing to talk, he felt hopeful. Maybe he'd hear something truly enlightening.
People who hoard information are always the hardest to deal with.
"What I know is what I know," Jiang Zhe clarified, "but that doesn't mean the Jiang family knows."
Hong understood and nodded slightly.
Jiang Zhe was asking him not to hold the Jiang family responsible. Everything he was about to reveal came from another source.
"Domains," Jiang Zhe continued, "are a level beyond Intent. Even many cosmic-level warriors never grasp it."
"The universe is vast—martial cultivation is like a road to the heavens. Apprentice, Planetary, Stellar, Cosmic…"
Hong's breath gradually quickened.
This was where Earth's current knowledge ended—and he was both anxious and eager to hear more.
Jiang Zhe paused dramatically, deliberately building suspense.
"Next is Domain Lord… World Lord… and then the immortal gods—beings who can destroy entire planets with a single blow."
Hong's pupils contracted. His expression shifted in shock.
He was stunned by the divine power Jiang Zhe described!
Whenever he used his Domain, Earth's warriors treated him like a god.
But compared to real gods—what a joke he was.
No wonder Jiang Zhe recovered so quickly from being awed by his Domain. No wonder he performed those insane feats right afterward.
"I learned all this from her inherited memory," Jiang Zhe said, snapping his fingers.
A brass-colored core flew from his chest, projecting a faint image from the embedded gemstone, which gradually formed into the solid figure of a brass woman.
To Jiang Zhe, this was the perfect scapegoat. In the future, if anyone questioned how he knew so much about the universe, he could just point to Orianna.
A support-type metal lifeform wasn't an especially rare encounter.
As long as Orianna didn't expose her gene tier or the three secret techniques, everything would be fine.
Simple things like metal devouring or replicating technology were no big deal.
But creation from nothing and technological simulation? Yeah, no. Even the Chaos City Lord would ship her straight to a lab to work for the benefit of all mankind.
Orianna didn't hold back her planetary-level aura.
Hong shot to his feet, his usually tranquil eyes flashing with caution. He could sense danger from this metal woman.
Though Hong had progressed well into the fourth stage of the Planetary Tier—
With his power output multiplier (2 to the power of n-1) and a burst strength amplification of about 6x, he could unleash 48x the strength of a baseline planetary-level fighter.
But Orianna, with a 3x gene tier and Jiang Zhe's 12x burst strength, could hit 36x planetary-level force.
There was a gap—but not big enough to ensure victory, especially without his Domain.
"Alien?" Hong asked gravely.
"No, a metal lifeform. A support-type—basically the perfect partner for a warrior," Jiang Zhe explained. "By the way, you've heard of the Móyún Vine, right? That's a support-type plant lifeform. Same general category."
"You're sure she's under your control?" Hong asked, still uncertain.
"She's bound to my life. Trust me," Jiang Zhe assured him.
Hong finally relaxed, though his eyes still held a touch of envy. He sat down again, eager to continue their conversation—mostly listening now, as Jiang Zhe shared "Orianna's inherited knowledge," basic facts about the universe.
As for secret techniques?
Sorry—he didn't have any himself. What was he supposed to fake?
But now that he had Orianna as cover, any time he demonstrated advanced knowledge of the universe, it wouldn't seem strange—it all came from her.
Eventually, he'd even gift Hong a Móyún Vine of his own.
Look, now you have one too. We're equals. Nothing weird here. (Definitely not a bribe.)
---
War God Palace, Top Floor Conference Hall.
Golden-robed councilors, white-robed War Gods, and well-dressed world leaders gradually filled the room.
They whispered to each other, wondering what was going on. Normally, global summits like this happened once every year or two. Now they were happening back-to-back.
There was a sense of a storm looming on the horizon.
Jiang Zhe and Hong returned to the Extreme Martial Arts Headquarters and grabbed two neural interface helmets, logging into the War God Palace's virtual space.
In the past, Jiang Zhe had to worry about leaving his body vulnerable while wearing the helmet.
But with Orianna around, he no longer needed to perform any Luo Feng-style theatrical moves to protect himself.
Wearing the golden councilor's robe, Jiang Zhe followed behind Hong into the hall.
While Hong headed for the podium, Jiang Zhe wandered over to the area where Councilor Han Xia and the War Gods were gathered. Thor's bald head was particularly easy to spot.
Everyone stared in surprise when they saw Jiang Zhe.
Thor rubbed his gleaming scalp with a smug grin.
"Hey kid, why the hell are you wearing a councilor's robe?"