The top floor of the Starry Sky Hotel, General Manager's exclusive rest area.
The room was furnished with traditional wooden furniture. Middle-aged and elderly people often favored dark red hues. There was a writing desk and a display shelf for antiques as well as a tea table and seats. A fish-tail-shaped incense burner emitted a thin wisp of light blue smoke. The entire room was filled with a faint jasmine scent. This was the essence of Great Xia's ancient style.
Li Xiaofei had seen this kind of decor in films and TV dramas from five hundred years ago, where artists would style their rooms . The quiet atmosphere carried an ancient charm and a refined style. It also made it easy for the resident to think quietly.
Since this was the tallest building in the city, the large floor-to-ceiling windows offered a clear view of Liuhe Base City at night. Every feature of the city was visible at a glance. Tonight's night scene was not particularly brilliant. About half of the malls, hotels, streetlights, and other lighting facilities across the city were turned off after 10 p.m.
"Curfew is being enforced," Li Zhoumin said, looking at the dark sky outside. "There's still a possibility of another outbreak of a beast tide, so we need to conserve energy to prepare for a potential war."
Li Xiaofei was shocked.
"Didn't the Goddess Ye Liuying repel the Fifth Grade star beast?" he asked in surprise. "I thought that the lockdown would be lifted after a few days of cleaning up the battlefield outside the city and eliminating the radiation hazard from the beast corpses."
Li Zhoumin walked over to the tea table, brewing tea while casually asking, "Did you wonder why Ye Liuying appeared at the evening event tonight to present you with an award?"
Li Xiaofei opened his mouth.
The words ‘Wasn't she there to give me an award?’ remained unsaid.
Since Li Zhoumin asked in such a manner, there had to be another reason.
He thought of another possibility.
Was it to advertise for the Xiesheng Boutique?
After all, Ye Liuying had a very unusual relationship with the female shop owner, so using the event as a pretext to promote her store seemed reasonable. Fortunately, he had been smart and played along seamlessly.
Li Zhoumin gestured for Li Xiaofei to sit opposite him. The inspector poured a cup of tea and continued, "A rumor spread today among the high-ranking members of the five major families that Goddess Ye Liuying was severely injured in last night's battle and that her mental strength had been infected by the secret arts of the Yinji Moon Fox."
Li Xiaofei's heart tightened slightly.
If he remembered correctly, there had indeed been a moment when the battle angel had staggered upon landing last night and nearly fallen.
Li Zhoumin continued, "You should know that Goddess Ye Liuying is one of the spiritual pillars of Liuhe Base City. Her influence, especially among the youth and the military, is unparalleled. If something happens to her at such a critical time, it could lead to many uncontrollable chaos."
Li Xiaofei suddenly realized the gravity of the situation. The reason Goddess Ye Liuying had appeared at the evening event was to publicly demonstrate that she was not injured. This way, it would reassure the public. Even if some ill-intentioned individuals wanted to stir up trouble, it would be futile. The unrest would be quelled.
Internal stability was crucial especially in the context of a potential beast tide outbreak. Both the municipal government and the military command hoped for stability within the base city. The reason the Goddess appeared at the Xiesheng Boutique was likely just a coincidental visit to a friend on her way to the event.
It reminded Li Xiaofei of the events earlier that day. The young officer Wu Junzhuang had repeatedly and mysteriously urged him to keep silent about everything he saw the previous night. It seemed that the Goddess’ state truly had significant implications for the entire base city.
At that moment, Li Zhoumin abruptly changed topics, casually asking, "How much do you know about the Star Council?"
Li Xiaofei knew that the main topic had arrived.
"The Star Council was created by the Saints of our nation, led by Taiyi, and was formed in the 2050s by Saints from various countries around the world. Its highest mission is to eradicate star beasts and revive humanity," Li Xiaofei recited what he had learned from his textbooks.
Li Zhoumin smiled and asked, "Do you know how the initial Saint Taiyi became a Saint?"
Li Xiaofei shook his head and replied, "I don't know."
Li Zhoumin then asked, "Do you know how many Saints there are in the Star Council?"
Li Xiaofei replied, "Three hundred and sixty-seven."
"And do you know how many of these three hundred and sixty-seven Saints are from Great Xia?"
"This... I don't know."
"Great Xia has thirty-six Saints?"
"That's right. Does that seem fewer than you imagined?"
"Then do you know how many Saints from Great Xia there were when the Star Council was first established?"
"Four hundred and sixty-nine."
Li Xiaofei was taken aback. "What? That many?"
So Great Xia was once glorious. This was not covered in school textbooks. Four hundred and sixty-nine Saints. That's more than the current global total combined. But now, only thirty-six remain. The disparity is immense.
"Our Saints of Great Xia fell during three great battles. If not for their efforts, humanity might have already been extinct," Li Zhoumin explained.
Li Xiaofei was profoundly shaken. In that moment, he was deeply moved, as countless heroic figures flashed through his mind. He envisioned the apocalyptic battlefield shrouded in smoke and demonic flames, where the Saints of Great Xia displayed their divine abilities and turned the tide.
Li Zhoumin then asked, "Do you know how many seats there are in the current Star Council?"
Li Xiaofei replied without hesitation, "Two hundred and eleven."
He had learned this from his textbooks.
Li Zhoumin continued, "And how many of those are held by Great Xia?"
Li Xiaofei was taken aback. That wasn't covered in the textbooks. The school textbooks had a lot to say about the Star Council, focusing on how great the council was, highlighting the deeds and words of the famous Saints, and emphasizing the irreplaceable role of the Star Council for humanity.
However, specific information about the Star Council was very sparse. It maintained an air of mystery. The kind of information Li Zhoumin had just shared was not something the average person would know.
"Great Xia holds twenty-eight seats," Inspector Li provided the answer.
Li Xiaofei's heart sank. This was even less than his most pessimistic estimate. Out of the entire two hundred and eleven council seats, Great Xia, with its vast and expansive territory, only held twenty-eight seats. It was far too few.