Foolish Game of the Chapter 911: An Unforeseen Conflict

It had to be said — children raised in poverty and children raised in privilege turned out very differently.

Cheng Shi still wore his childhood's "innocent smile." But the person across from him — Little Seven... no, he should be called Du Qiyu now.

Du Qiyu's eyes held a flash of barely perceptible hostility and suspicion.

Perhaps he hadn't expected that kid from back then — Xiao Shi — to still be alive. To have actually survived this brutal Faith Ga all the way to the present.

He'd gone back to the orphanage to ask around after growing up. When he learned that his best childhood friend had been sold to a scrap collector for the princely sum of three thousand dollars, he'd been stunned for quite a while.

'Ha — three thousand dollars. Truly priceless. Couldn't even buy a single glass of wine from my dinner table.'

Every ti he recalled this, Du Qiyu was reminded that lies really could change soone's entire life.

He had never regretted it. Not in any sense of the word.

Seeing Xiao Shi again, Du Qiyu's keen gaze swept Cheng Shi from head to toe. The man still looked as good as he always had. Hmph — but what was the point of good looks?

His heart was full of disdain, yet the hand propping up his face pressed more tightly against the wound.

'Those damn things — they just had to slash my face right now, of all tis!'

Fury churned inside Little Seven, but his eyes remained crystal clear, even sporting a hint of pleasant surprise.

His gaze drifted to Cheng Shi's fingers. When he spotted three gaudy rings on Cheng Shi's hands, he nearly burst into a contemptuous laugh.

'Sure enough — a kid who begged for scraps in the shantytown just loved decorating himself with cheap, garish trinkets.'

'He thinks that's fashion?'

'Ridiculous. What era is this? In the ga, power is the trend!'

Little Seven's mind was a churning ss. For reasons he couldn't explain, he'd begun projecting all manner of fantasies and criticisms onto Cheng Shi's past, present, and future.

Cheng Shi, however, knew none of this. He simply wore a radiant smile, gazing at the other with warm, good-natured eyes tinged with confusion.

It was a confusion laced with surprise, resistance, and wariness. But if one looked closely, beneath that slightly uneasy exterior was unmistakably the delight of running into an old acquaintance.

And Du Qiyu was nothing if not observant. He read every nuance in Cheng Shi's eyes and concluded: the man didn't recognize him. Yet instead of feeling even a shred of relief at dodging old awkwardness, he first froze — then surged with rage.

'He doesn't rember ?'

'How dare he not recognize !'

'I had the guts to recognize him — and he can't even tell who I am?!'

'If those two pieces of trash hadn't wrecked my face, would I really be any less attractive?!'

'In the real world or the ga — money or strength — in what way am I worse?!'

Du Qiyu bit down on his anger. The hand behind his back moved faster. But outwardly, he showed no fury. Instead, a barely perceptible gleam flashed in his eyes. In an instant, he had a plan. He flipped through old mories and exclaid with delight:

"You're Xiao Shi?

Don't you rember ?

I'm A Gua! You know, I used to sit right behind—"

Cheng Shi hadn't forgotten. He rembered who A Gua was — the chubby little kid who'd sat behind him at the orphanage. The boy did bear a passing resemblance to young Little Seven. Their birthdays even fell on the sa day; the orphanage teachers used to joke that they might be brothers.

Of course, he rembered not only A Gua, but Little Seven even better.

'See? That's a con artist. From childhood to adulthood, never an honest word.'

The interesting part was that as a child, Little Seven's lies still had cracks. But now, grown up...

Cheng Shi smirked internally, because Master of Deception told him that Little Seven's words weren't lies.

Now that was interesting.

'Tsk — Benefactor, since when have You beco a dumpster? What kind of trash are You picking up now?'

But since you want to keep acting, then as your "best friend," I'll naturally play along.

And so Cheng Shi's performance entered its next phase. Midway through Little Seven's sentence, his eyes went wide. The surprise buried beneath cold indifference erupted, and even the standardly polite fake smile at the corner of his lips took on genuine warmth.

But it didn't stop there. Just as that joy fully colored his eyes, Cheng Shi seed to recall sothing. His entire expression dimd; a flash of regret and loathing crossed his face. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by the sheer delight of reuniting with an old friend.

Du Qiyu's sharp eyes caught every mont. He sneered internally, fury deepening.

'Just as I thought — this useless pretty face Xiao Shi still holds a grudge against . He obviously rembered

through A Gua's na, which made him think of

— that's why his face showed that flash of malice.'

'But... let the hate flow. The more he hates , the more openings I'll find.'

'A player who can't control his own eyes — how good could he possibly be?'

'Heh — one step behind, always behind. Xiao Shi, you've fallen too far behind.'

Little Seven continued talking. Cheng Shi blurted out in response: "You're A Gua? You actually slimd down—"

But just as the two were talking over each other in their shock at this unexpected reunion, a true surprise struck!

The entire stretch of forest on one side of the cart simply vanished!

No warning. No sound.

Oblivion's power!

Everyone startled. They turned and saw the sparse-haired, brain-exposed teammate just pulling his hand back from the direction of the scabby head across from him — clearly saying: I'm the one who erased that forest.

And the scabby head sitting opposite? Gone.

Before anyone could figure out if they'd just lost a player at the start, the remaining strip of forest on the scabby head's side began to shudder violently. The trees erupted in wild growth, branches surging forward. Even the wooden cart bed sprouted new buds — buds shaped unmistakably like thorn-covered spikes!

Crown of Thorns!

In that instant, Cheng Shi's pupils contracted. He spun and bolted. The other teammates' faces drained of color too, as each vanished from the cart, clearing out of these two combatants' battlefield without a second thought.

The vanished forest had caused such a commotion that the entire convoy ground to a halt in panic. Shouts of "Enemy attack!" erupted from front and rear. Iron Law Knights throughout the column donned armor and raised spears. Fear showed on their faces, but their discipline held.

Though this was a conscript force, their combat quality was surprisingly decent. Knights fanned out in groups of three to five, forming defensive clusters. Despite the thicket of raised lances and drawn blades, none could spot where the enemy attack had actually co from.

anwhile, the two combatants from the player cart had already used their talents to distance themselves from the convoy, plunging deep into the forest on one side to fight with abandon.

The knights watched the fracas unfolding in the woods. Trees in the near distance alternately flourished, withered, and disappeared in whole swaths. Finally, the Elental Judges overseeing the convoy stepped forward, their expressions grim as they began chanting — bringing the judgnt of Order down upon whatever enemy dared assault this reinforcent column.

Seeing this, Cheng Shi's face went dark. He rged into the crowd and, without looking back, ran in the convoy's projected direction of travel.

After the unseen enemy had caused this much chaos, the only Grand Tribunal counterasure Cheng Shi could envision was "teor Fire Rain."

He had no desire to relive the terrors of war in this forest. So Cheng Shi ran without hesitation.

He wasn't the only clever one. Du Qiyu and the horse-faced Folly follower had also vanished. Only one teammate trailed behind Cheng Shi — a female player whose face showed neither joy nor sorrow.

...