Munching on peach pizza with cheese stretching from her mouth, C.C. glanced at Lacus behind the desk and asked indistinctly:
"So, what do you want to know from me?"
"Let me clarify first - I probably know less about Truth Astronomy than you do."
"After all, I'm just a witch used as a scapegoat."
Faced with C.C.'s words, Lacus merely smiled:
"But Aya Tokoyogi said you were handling all her official duties in the Desire Faction."
"She actually said that..." C.C. looked slightly surprised. "Seems she's genuinely willing to cooperate with you. How unusual."
That Aya Tokoyogi - a woman who might as well have "I trust no one" written on her face - not only got involved with the Hidden Management Department's operations but even disclosed her affairs with the Desire Faction.
Has Natsuki Minamiya's influence on her grown so strong?
After briefly marvelling at this, C.C. stopped pondering these troublesome matters. At her age, she'd reached the point of wanting to die and couldn't be bothered with these childish games anymore. Even if Aya Tokoyogi was stronger than her, in C.C.'s eyes, Aya was just a kid who never grew up.
She still had a long way to go on the path of a witch.
"So, what did you summon me here to ask about?" C.C. munched on her pizza, her expression resembling that of a senior who knows too much and is just waiting for the questions.
Faced with such a C.C., Lacus didn't hold back either, straightforwardly tossing a document over:
"The Desire Faction has used an Abyss world to seal off Luo Shu, temporarily preventing his return. I want information about that world."
Although she'd spoken with Luo Shu and knew he wasn't in any danger, Lacus still felt somewhat uneasy, which prompted her to seek more information from C.C.
At that moment, C.C. casually raised her hand, caught the document, skimmed through it, then let out an "Ah" with a peculiar tone:
"...No way, are those girls really this wasteful?"
Seeing C.C.'s reaction, Lacus smiled faintly:
"It seems I've come to the right person?"
"Sigh."
C.C. sighed at this point, taking a bite of pizza before saying:
"This world is internally numbered 017 by the Desire Faction, with the annotation being a medium-value medieval Abyss world. Its outputs are so-called faith techniques and some special races."
"For internal members of the Desire Faction, it's a rather low-yield, mediocre world."
Hearing this tone, Lacus immediately understood there was more to it:
"Then what's the truth?"
To this, C.C. merely replied calmly:
"This is confidential intelligence of the Desire Faction..."
Then she abruptly changed tack:
"I want bacon and chicken pizza this afternoon."
"I'll have it prepared." Lacus smiled helplessly.
Was the price of betrayal just a pizza? If the witches of the Desire Faction knew this, they'd probably be furious.
"I altered the internal notes."
C.C. casually revealed the hidden truth:
"Officially, the internal briefing states that the technique of that Abyss world requires faith as a cost to activate, belonging to a special technique that deceives oneself using mental power, which holds little value for witches. But in reality, gods do exist in that world."
"Gods?" Lacus's gaze sharpened as she asked seriously, "What level exactly? Angel Rank? Or higher?"
"Just Demigod-level beings, and quite weak ones at that."
C.C. tilted her head nonchalantly while eating pizza:
"Aya mentioned that capturing those gods wouldn't be troublesome. She abandoned the plan only due to certain concerns and not wanting the Desire Faction to learn about it."
Unable to resist, Lacus pressed further:
"What was Aya Tokoyogi's concern about?"
Hearing this, C.C. paused briefly before answering:
"According to Aya's historical investigations of that world, there are six righteous gods and six evil gods there. Moreover, behind both the righteous and evil gods, there should exist a creation god each."
"That world seems to be a chessboard—or perhaps a game—between two creation gods."
"And all the gods originate from these two creation gods."
"Considering they can create Demigod-level beings, Aya suspected both creation gods might be high-level Demigod Rank sorcerers, hence her decision to halt exploration of that world."
"So there might secretly be at least two Demigod-level powerhouses lurking?"
Frowning, Lacus relayed the information through the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System to Luo Shu while asking C.C.:
"Can we confirm their exact ranks?"
"No. Aya never located those two Demigods either. Plus, certain matters arose, leaving no time to control that world, so exploration was temporarily abandoned."
As she spoke, C.C. glanced at Lacus—her expression all but stating outright that Aya Tokoyogi's exploration was shelved due to the Hidden Management Department capturing a pureblood demon.
"Originally, Aya probably intended to explore it later. But now, it seems her subordinates have repurposed that world as a prison."
"Honestly... there were several other worlds truly deemed worthless."
C.C. sighed here, exasperated by the witches' wasteful mismanagement.
Out of seven or eight worthless worlds, they picked the most valuable one. What rotten luck...
"Wait—could Echidna have done this deliberately?"
"Echidna? The Witch of Greed from the Cardinal Sins?"
Lacus clearly knew some intelligence about the Desire Faction, hence her awareness of Echidna:
"Is she leading the Desire Faction now?"
C.C. shook her head at this:
"No, Echidna wouldn't position herself as an obvious target. It's likely the Gorgon-lineage witches. After all, Echidna was rather... keen on that world's resources."
Having said this much, C.C. had no intention of keeping Echidna's secrets and directly revealed:
"Echidna likely possesses a high-level divination tool. That item can retrieve the past that exists in this world."
"Although it's subject to many interferences, in reality, Echidna probably holds more intelligence than Aya."
"Also, due to her personal temperament, Echidna greatly enjoys using the information she knows to exchange for unknown intelligence, satisfying her thirst for knowledge."
"And to fulfil this thirst, Echidna values her life immensely. After all, as long as there are still secrets in the world she doesn't know, she wouldn't be willing to die in vain."
"Under these circumstances, Echidna has no desire to assume leadership of the Desire Faction or involve herself in Truth Astronomy's internal conflicts. Instead, she prefers to act as an information broker, engaging in various transactions with the internal factions of Truth Astronomy."
"The only reason she took up the position of a Great Sin witch was that Aya subdued her by force and compelled her to sign a contract."
"However, it seems now that after Aya's defeat, she's probably almost finished breaking that contract."
At this point, C.C. paused, thought for a moment, then said suspiciously:
"But if it's Echidna, she would probably incite the witches of the Gorgon faction to act against the Hidden Management Department, right?"
"After all, the SDS's anti-divination measures have allowed you to preserve a great many secrets. Given Echidna's personality, she'd undoubtedly want to investigate."
"And the easiest targets for her to manipulate would be those with resource channels, like the Gorgon faction... Lana? Or Partita?"
"Most likely Lana. Other witches wouldn't be willing to engage with someone who's always digging for secrets. Only the arrogant Lana would believe she could suppress Echidna and actively collaborate with her."
After quickly consolidating the available intelligence and her understanding of the internal witches, C.C. arrived at a highly probable answer and said to Lacus:
"If it's Lana, the methods she can prepare are probably limited to those."
"Do you need my help?"
Hearing C.C. actually offer assistance proactively, Lacus was somewhat surprised:
"It seems you have some conflict with that witch named Lana?"
C.C. narrowed her eyes calmly and replied:
"Well, a self-important brat like her is truly detestable."
Lacus smiled faintly, then said with a grin:
"Then, happy cooperation~"
"Happy cooperation!"