Shen Sui was somewhat concerned about what Yuan Youxin might have encountered.

To be honest, compared to Feng Lindu, he still appreciated Yuan Youxin more. Although Yuan Youxin sometimes acted a bit pretentious, he was at least a proper duelist. Shen Sui didn't want him to become someone like Feng Lindu.

Just as he was thinking about this and walking out of the training hall, he ran into Ye Qing.

"Yo! God of Age!" Ye Qing greeted familiarly.

"Aren't you on duty outside?" Shen Sui scrutinized Ye Qing.

"Shift change," said Ye Qing, "and I watched a few of your matches too. Truly worthy of the God of Age, you handle yourself so effortlessly even at the fifth stage. If I hadn't faced you in the ranking tournament, I would have thought you were some long-renowned expert."

"Not bad, after all, I have the advantage of the Soul Card World," Shen Sui said, referring to his Soul Card World being World No. 1, which naturally made him a bit stronger than others.

Ye Qing agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "Speaking of which, it's interesting that your soul card shares a name with the legendary witch."

No... not just the same name, it's the same person, okay.

Shen Sui subconsciously glanced around.

Otherwise, why would he be worried about those people killed by Alice seeking revenge?

Though Shen Sui didn't feel guilty about it.

"Is it possible, that they're the same person?" Shen Sui jokingly suggested.

He was probing Ye Qing to confirm the confidentiality of his report in the Exploration Bureau.

In the report, he explicitly stated that his soul card was the culprit behind two incidents.

The subsequent investigation by the Exploration Bureau confirmed that Witch Hozerville was indeed the source of the disaster.

But only those who had read the report would know that Alice's form Hozerville was the same Witch Hozerville. Even if Alice's forms all bore the title of witch, this title was fairly common for girls on the chaotic Dawn Continent.

Any woman whose ideas didn't align with mainstream religious beliefs would more or less have such a title. The mainstream opinion on Dawn Continent labeled Alice with the title of witch just like Vivian back in the day with titles such as Flame Witch, Rebellious Witch, and Enchanting Witch given by the Dueling Device itself.

"Impossible," Ye Qing was very certain, "You're really joking. That's the fearsome Witch Hozerville, blamed for killing the God of Sin and severely damaging the vitality of the Church of the Master of Thunder. How could such a witch be only at the fifth stage?"

"Ah..."

"You tell me, do you believe a fifth-stage can slay a god?"

"Of course not." Because it was me who slew the god.

"There you go!" Ye Qing laughed and patted Shen Sui on the shoulder. "I was wondering why you always seem uneasy when we meet. Turns out you were worried about this. Rest easy, the Exploration Bureau's staff are rational. I'll make sure they don't give you trouble. After all, your soul card just happens to have the same name. There are plenty of cases like that. For example, it took the Exploration Bureau investigation across over twenty Soul Card Worlds to confirm that Vivian's diary came from World No. 1's Twilight Saintess Vivian."

"Speaking of which," Shen Sui asked out of curiosity, "if a soul card dies for an explorer, what's the compensation like?"

"Well, for other Exploration Bureaus I'm not sure," Ye Qing pondered and then said, "In the Modu Exploration Bureau, there's a one-time compensation of ten million, then a transition of salary and benefits to a desk job or fieldwork alternative."

"If the Soul Card brought back important information before dying, there would be additional compensation."

However, Ye Qing didn't seem particularly envious since such compensation sometimes couldn't mend the emotions of some people, as they truly treated soul cards like family.

Moreover, listening to Ye Qing's later comment, it seemed that as long as one was an active employee, the compensation of ten million applied to any Soul Card death regardless of cause, whereas death caused by Exploration Bureau tasks had separate compensation.

In a sense, is this not profiting from the deceased?

Shen Sui wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

He had just discussed the relationship between Life Card Masters and Soul Cards with Yuan Youxin seriously.

Yet those who entered the Exploration Bureau were rigorously screened Life Card Masters and underwent detailed psychological evaluations, surely preventing the kind who would deliberately harm their Soul Cards for compensation.

This was apparent from the overall state of the Exploration Bureau.

The sadness Ye Qing showed for his colleagues losing their Soul Cards wasn't feigned, leading the initially stone-hearted Shen Sui to feel a bit overwhelmed.

He didn't linger long in the Duel Training Hall and was soon on his way back to the academy.

It seemed he wasn't cut out to be some novel's protagonist, incapable of truly disregarding others' feelings with a cold heart.

However, Shen Sui quickly shook off the sorrow.

Because he was certain that if he faced those situations again, he would still help Alice without hesitation.

If that's the case, then there's nothing to be sad about.

He decided he'd ask Wu Ziqin later to see if he could get a list of those deceased Soul Cards.

If they were indeed innocent, then they could be resurrected.

But if they truly deserved their fate, then Shen Sui would kill them without mercy, as it was right and proper.

Shen Sui adjusted his mindset quite quickly, just as he had swiftly accepted the reality of his own crossing.

He wondered how Qishala was doing now.

Shen Sui glanced at the Dueling Device.

Technically, he could switch Soul Cards to view from Qishala's perspective, given that he had left a mark in Qishala.

But... never mind, let's give Qishala a bit of space.

With such thoughts, Shen Sui opened the Dueling Device and switched to Alice's perspective.

Feeling down, he wanted to see what Alice was up to.

Upon opening the Dueling Device, a long string of text appeared.

[Alice encountered a group of prisoners being escorted to the border.]

[They were innocent villagers from a nearby village.]

[The Thunder Knights had destroyed their village and seized all their food.]

[Accused of blasphemy, they were branded as criminals and sent to the border to reinforce the front lines against the War God.]

What? Why is the Master of Thunder fighting the War God?

Shen Sui was confused.

I thought the War God Church was attacking a different deity.

Yet before Shen Sui could make sense of it, another line of text appeared:

[Alice, filled with righteous fury, charged with Aina towards the Thunder Knights responsible for the escort, killing them in a frenzy.]

[Alice handled the frenzy.]

[Aina handled the killing.]

[Ding! You have obtained the Spell Card: Blindly Following]

Damn! My Alice is at least fifth stage, how could she be blindly following? This Dueling Device, so biased!

[Aina thought it wasn't good, too violent.]

[Alice affirmed it: "That's how it should be! The most stable peace is always built on the most brutal violence! Kill to stop killing! Use violence to curb violence! This is human society, Aina!"]

Alice! Don't teach bad things to kids!

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