A man among dragons, building a mysterious ancient church.

Chapter 281 You want to change your gender? I was attacked by the Word Power Dream Eater?

Rewind slightly, to the time when the various hybrid factions first arrived on the island.

The Snake-Headed Eight Families, who had been living peacefully along the way, began to confront the Old Church after dealing with the blood trails spreading from the surrounding area.

Genji stood in front of Nuwa, his right hand gripping the handle of the Spider Cutter, his face solemn. Yabuki Sakura provided support from behind, while Crow and Yasha had their hands in their pockets, ready to draw their guns and fire at any moment.

Coincidentally, Genjiro, along with Erii and a group of elite members of the Sheki-Hachi family's executive bureau, set off by ship, forcibly demanding that the other family heads remain in Tokyo under the pretext of the patriarch's orders.

When Genjiro's ocean-going ship entered the Pacific Ocean, it happened to encounter two fleets of ships from the old church.

The first fleet was a joint fleet of the Zhou and Bai families. Even though the Bai family could now build temples and serve as temple keeper, the Zhou family still took the lead, and they did not travel on a separate ocean-going vessel.

The next fleet was all too familiar to Genjiro, because it was originally one of the ocean-going freighters of the Snake Clan. It was being packaged up and given to the Tokyo Diocese of the former church as an apology. Genjiro knew at a glance that it must be the Tokyo Diocese led by Aso Makoto.

At the time, Genjiro was thinking that the Old Church had also mobilized all its forces to deal with the Black King's world-ending crisis, which was much better than the Demon Clan of the third party in Tokyo.

The hatching of the Black King is clearly a catastrophic crisis for the entire world and all hybrids, yet the Demon Clan shows absolutely no reaction.

Yuan Zhisheng also needs to arrange for people to guard against him, lest his retreat be cut off by the Fierce Demons while he is dealing with the Black King crisis.

In comparison, Genjiro's goodwill towards the Old Church naturally increased dramatically, while his displeasure with the Oni Clan grew even stronger.

With the Black King's incubation facility imminent, Genji could only keep these thoughts to himself and silently adjust his mindset.

The three fleets sailed on the high seas, keeping their distance from each other, and at full speed for eight days and eight nights before finally arriving at Bello Island.

Before long, they saw Nicholas leading the way in breaking the alchemical array, so they followed him to the island.

The two major forces, who had no prior interaction at sea, made contact as soon as they disembarked.

Nuwa, from the old church, slithered over excitedly, saying that she smelled a kindred spirit on Erii and wanted to talk to her.

This alerted Yuan Zhisheng, who stopped Nuwa, fearing that if Nuwa wasn't careful, she might provoke Erii, causing Erii to lose control and go crazy, which would be terrible.

Nuwa did not draw her sword in anger. Instead, she waved her hand behind her back, signaling the people of the Old Church not to show hostility: "Don't worry, sir, I have no ill intentions."

"I'll repeat myself, I just smelled a kindred spirit in the little girl, and I wanted to see her and talk to her."

Nuwa made no attempt to hide her gaze as she looked at Erii, who was not far behind Yuan Zhisheng, and waved to her in a particularly cheerful manner, as if she were seeing a relative's child.

Yuan Zhisheng still did not move aside, becoming even more wary of Nuwa. He had initially thought the Old Church was quite good while sailing at sea, but he never expected it to be full of lies.

The same kind? Are you kidding me!
Yuan Zhisheng knew very well that he and his younger sister Erii were both super hybrids with royal blood, and could not possibly be the same kind of person as the ordinary hybrid Nuwa...

Wait a minute! Yuan Zhisheng couldn't help but glance down and noticed Nuwa's flexible lower snake body, which was anything but ordinary.

Yuan Zhisheng couldn't help but recall the definition of royal blood: ordinary hybrids could not have more than 50% dragon blood, otherwise they would fall into madness. However, royal blood was different; even if the proportion exceeded 50%, royal blood could still maintain its human rationality.

And what about Nuwa?

With such a large snake body, what would be the ratio of human blood to dragon blood in her body?
It's definitely over 50% by any measure, right? Otherwise, it wouldn't have mutated into a snake tail!

If we only use the fact that people with a dragon blood ratio exceeding fifty can still retain human rationality as a basis for judgment, then it seems... plausible that Nuwa said she and Erii are of the same kind?
Did Nuwa really only smell a scent of her own kind and come specifically to find Erii? Then why didn't she look for him?

Yuan Zhisheng, who was beginning to have doubts, was actually starting to waver. Just to be on the safe side, he still tentatively asked, "Eri is my sister. According to Nuwa, am I also considered one of your kind?"

When Nuwa heard Yuan Zhisheng ask this question, her eyes immediately turned strange as she looked him over: "Although you have a rather feminine appearance, you are essentially a boy."

"You don't think I consider any royal bloodline to be one of my kind, do you? Of course, if you really want to be one of my kind..."

“Our old church does indeed possess a non-alchemical tool for painless gender conversion, which can perfectly transform a man into a woman without any pain or side effects.”

"If you have a related need, I can lend it to you temporarily."

"Not a sister?! Are you serious?" Genjiro and Sakura Yabuki behind him twitched their cheeks simultaneously and in perfect unison. Sakura Yabuki opened her mouth, wanting Genjiro to refuse without hesitation, while Crow and Yasha subconsciously exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of curiosity and expectation in each other's eyes.

Genjiro, being blind behind his back, couldn't see the strange looks in his two retainers' eyes. He didn't understand what the Old Church was researching. Painless gender reassignment? Was that right?

Legitimate hybrid factions all spend money researching how to improve their bloodline and physique, or even researching alchemy, right?

How incredibly boring must the old church be for investing money and resources in researching painless sex reassignment?

Sakura Yabuki was much more focused than when they were confronting each other, staring intently at Genjiro, seemingly genuinely afraid of this patriarch who was demanding this outrageous artifact from the Old Church.

Wait a minute, Yuan Zhisheng suddenly realized that Nuwa's words "any royal blood" made him forget about the strange research and inventions of the old church.

Yuan Zhisheng's heart skipped a beat, as if a long-hidden secret had been forcibly dug out: "You, Nuwa, you! You know, Emperor?"

The Emperor's secret is arguably the second most important secret within the entire Serpent Clan, known to no one except a few clan heads.

How exactly did Nuwa know about the emperor?

Or rather, how many people actually know the secrets that the Snake Clan has kept for so many years?
Nuwa lightly slapped the snake's tail in annoyance, clearly expressing her displeasure: "You don't really think the Snake Clan can keep this secret well, do you?"

"Leaving aside our old church, even Principal Angers of your alma mater, Kassel, must know the secret of the royal bloodline."

"Alright, I'm too lazy to waste my breath on you. Your sister's name is Erii, right?" Nuwa ignored the childishness of the source and waved directly to Erii: "Erii, come and play."

He bypassed Genjiro and started greeting Erii.

Yuan Zhisheng was filled with mixed feelings, wondering where the secret had come from. Did Nuwa say that Principal Angers also knew about the Emperor? That was impossible. If Angers knew, why hadn't Kassel taken any action against the Snake Clan?

As for the fact that Nuwa directly summoned Erii, he was not worried. Not to mention that before this trip, he had repeatedly told Erii to stay close to him and not wander off after arriving on the island.

Even if Genji didn't give any prior instructions, Erii is a shy girl who isn't good at interacting with people. How could she possibly be summoned away just by Nuwa's call... *swish*

What 'whoosh'ed past?
Genji turned his head and saw that Erii, still dressed as a shrine maiden, had already passed him and moved closer to Nuwa, her bright rose-colored eyes clasping Nuwa's hands.

They looked like longtime best friends who had been reunited.

"???" Genji blinked, feeling a slight itch in his nose, as if he were wearing a red sponge ball.

No, I was attacked by the Word Power Dream Eater?

How could Erii be summoned away by a single word from Nuwa?

Little did Erii know that although this was the first time she had seen the real Nuwa in reality, she had seen Nuwa with a human body and a snake tail more than once during the gatherings of the Gray Mist in the past.

When Erii saw Lady Twilight coming to play with her, she completely ignored Genji's instructions and happily ran over to shake hands with Nuwa.

Just as she was about to say something, she realized her brother was standing behind her. She had to remain hidden, so she took out her notebook and pen and quickly wrote: 'Sister Huanghun, you're so beautiful.'

"Pfft~ Erii has such a sweet tongue." Nuwa smiled happily at Erii's praise and affectionately ruffled Erii's hair.

Aso Makoto also maintained his acting skills, pretending that he was meeting Erii for the first time: "Erii, what a beautiful name. Nice to meet you. I am Aso Makoto. Please take care of me."

Erii tilted her head in confusion. "Nice to meet you? What is your older sister talking about?"
She quickly realized that Asou-neechan was also helping her deceive her brother. She smiled faintly and replied in her notebook: 'Nice to meet you!'

Behind him, looking at the three women who seemed to be getting along well and appearing very friendly, Genji was lost in confusion.

Wait, do friendships between girls really develop this quickly? They've only just met, and they're already calling each other by our first names?
It's one thing to talk about Nuwa (the goddess of the sea), which could be attributed to cultural differences, but why is Bishop Aso calling her by her first name? Doesn't he know that in Japan, only very close friends and family members address each other by their first names?
Erii showed no resistance whatsoever; in fact, she seemed quite happy.

My own younger sister, Erii, turns out to be a social outcast?
Is this still the same sister who, when she ran away from home, only dared to stay at the crossroads and dared not cross?

(End of this chapter)