After neatly folding and pocketing the contract, Cheng Shi smiled broadly.
He adjusted his expression, looked at the group, and spoke slowly:
"You've probably all noticed that I'm not as generous as my Hu Wei. Quite the opposite— I'm very selfish.
"Honestly, I didn't save everyone out of kindness. I did it because... I couldn't find a second way to escape.
"I'm a pragmatic person. All I want is to survive. Saving you all might buy
a bit more ti alive. That's it."
He turned to Hu Wei with an awkward expression: "Sorry, Hu Wei, I—"
SLAP!
Hu Wei's palm ca down hard on Cheng Shi's shoulder, cutting him off. Then he laughed thunderously:
"Brother, you did nothing wrong.
"It's every man for himself. Wanting to live isn't a cri.
"But I, Hu Wei, don't care about the process— only the result. And today's result is that you pulled
out. So I'm alive right now.
"Cheng Shi. Good brother. I owe you one."
"That's too much, Hu Wei." Cheng Shi hastily waved it off.
Everyone knew that each person still had unused contingencies— at minimum, so ans of resurrection. So saying Cheng Shi saved everyone's lives was perhaps an overstatent. Strictly speaking, he'd saved each person one life.
But regardless, in a ga where death ca as easily as drinking water, every single life mattered. So everyone appreciated the gesture.
Moreover, because of Cheng Shi's display of "sincerity," the others' impression of him actually improved.
Even though sincerity often masked hidden falsehoods, in this ga there were simply too many people who wouldn't even bother with false sincerity. A drop of it was enough to "move" others.
Only Long Jing. His gaze at this "colleague" grew more enigmatic.
'This con artist— who is he, really?'
Hu Wei's laughter grew louder.
"Not at all. A life-saving debt can never be overstated. Though I don't have anything on hand that suits you, perhaps this one..."
He glanced at Hu Xuan, gave a slight nod, and produced from his storage space a large burlap sack.
Everyone blinked. And when Cheng Shi saw Hu Wei open the sack to reveal the densely packed Genesis Seeds inside, his mind went blank.
???
'Bro, please tell
you didn't kill every Genesis Hunter you encountered?'
'How many [Birth] hunters did you loot to amass this many seeds?'
Hu Xuan was equally astonished. She looked at Hu Wei with a aningful smile:
"Should I thank the Grand Marshal for his generosity, or mourn my fellow believers?"
Hu Wei waved dismissively, laughing:
"Dead is dead. Wasteful to let them rot. I'm no executioner— I just can't stand seeing things go to waste.
"I can roughly guess the path you're walking, so these [Birth] trinkets might speed up your progress.
"I once heard soone say that [Birth] isn't purely about proliferation. As for what He truly wants, I can't say. Take those words as a bit of inspiration."
What a generous Grand Marshal!
To Hu Xuan's ears, that single sentence was worth far more than the entire sack of seeds.
Peak players continuously sought their own path while drawing closer to the gods. Many had ford vague understandings of the road beneath their feet, but Hu Xuan's relatively brief tenure ant she was still exploring.
Where she held an advantage, though, was that she'd nearly identified the destination's coordinates. She simply needed to finesse the route that led there.
Any interpretation of Him could potentially smooth her way. So this ti, Hu Xuan gained an entirely new appreciation for the Grand Marshal's generosity.
Seeing the other two make their offerings, Mo Li couldn't exactly play the bystander. After a mont's consideration, he produced two palm-sized glass spheres from his storage.
One was crystalline-clear with miniature waves churning inside. The other glowed with holy light, faint arcane inscriptions flickering across its surface.
He rolled one to Cheng Shi and the other to Hu Xuan, then explained with a smile:
"A Learned Poet transcribes talents onto pages. A Backstage Director records scenes onto curtains.
"Unfortunately, singers lean toward support. Their pages can only record a single talent, unlike mages— whose very existence is ant to demonstrate the gods' spectacular might!
"These are two S-grade Curtain Call Balls. One records the Grand Tribunal's Elental Judges flooding a city in a siege battle. The other records a blessing ceremony from the Nature Alliance's Southwest Rainforest tribe.
"Fate Weavers lack offensive options, so this 'Water Ball' is more suited to you. Mages never lack firepower, so perhaps take this 'dicine Ball.' But I must add: when the recorded drama replays, the power inside won't distinguish friend from foe.
"So use them wisely."
Curtain Call Balls!
Cheng Shi had encountered these in previous trials. They were standard tools for [Folly]'s Backstage Directors. But at lower ranks, they were considered among the most useless talents, since weaker players lacked the ability to capture a grand spectacle. Most ended up using them as alternative storage spaces.
For example, record a cooking scene, replay it later, and enjoy a hot al in the wilderness.
Don't ask why he'd reference this specific example. He'd eaten one. And it hadn't even tasted as good as Finger Bread.
Cheng Shi picked up the "Water Ball" by his leg. Outwardly composed with a asured smile, inwardly... ecstatic beyond words.
'Now this is what you call a total jackpot!'
'A three-person improv script had yielded this much "tip money"!'
'Thank you, top-ranking big brothers, for your patronage. I will absolutely double down, polish even better scripts, and strive to scam— I an, stage another blockbuster for everyone!'
But everyone else had made their contribution. Was his good big brother really offering only a verbal promise?
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, casually glanced at Hu Wei, then turned his attention to studying the "Water Ball" without a word.
The ssage was practically identical to pointing at Hu Wei's face and asking, 'So, how do you like Mo Li's gift?'
Hu Wei didn't react— hard to tell if he'd missed the hint or was lost in thought. Either way, silence settled.
Seeing the gratitude segnt conclude, the long-patient Da Yi licked his lips and spoke with unmistakable envy:
"Hot damn, brother, stop analyzing that lousy ball. Put it away. I've got green-eyed disease— can't stand watching other people get rich."
"..."
Cheng Shi laughed and quickly stowed everything, slipping in: "A poor man's windfall. Apologies for the unseemly display."
"Hot damn, if you're poor, I must be destitute!
"Enough, Lao Hu. Get to business. Much longer and the moon's going down."
Moon?
The word triggered sothing in Hu Xuan's mind. Her brow arched as she glanced at Cheng Shi.
Cheng Shi pre-emptively shifted his gaze, waiting for Hu Wei to lay out the plan.
Seeing the timing was right, Hu Wei addressed the group with grave solemnity:
"I won't beat around the bush. I have a trial, and I'm inviting all of you to join.
"Previously, I assud [Decay] had fallen, which made the risk manageable. But now, with news that it was [Prosperity] that fell, I'm worried about surprises along the way.
"After all, He's still alive. And what we're doing is going to scavenge what He dropped during the God War.
"To put it bluntly, this is a blasphemous operation.
"A sche to blasphe a recently defeated god. That kind of behavior could very well enrage [Descent]'s second deity. So I need to ask everyone first: does anyone...
"Want to back out?"
"Um..." Cheng Shi raised his hand wearily. "Hu Wei, I wasn't lying— I really do have rice cooking back at the Rest Area. How about I—"
Hu Wei's big hand swept through the air, cutting him off again.
"Brother, you can't leave. My compensation for you is part of this trial.
"Besides, you can see— you're our only priest. We genuinely need a priest this ti!"
"..."
'So the truth cos out. All that warmth earlier was an act!'
'You big jerk!'
Cheng Shi froze mid-sentence, let out a theatrical sigh, projecting the image of soone dragged onto the wagon against his will.
But where no one could see, he smiled quietly. His heart settled with certainty.
'Thread every plot point together. Keep the persona consistent. Dump every bla, claim every credit.'
'Then cap it off with a classic catch-and-release!'
'And just like that— he was in.'
'Tsk. Let's see what exactly this so-called "remnant of [Decay]" actually is!'
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