"Wait... wait a minute." Li Ziqi caught up with small steps: "Lan i is dead, I can’t escape responsibility. The Freelancer Alliance despises betrayal the most, I’m afraid I can’t go back... Can I follow you?"
"Why?" Su Ming’an responded swiftly, moving forward.
Li Ziqi’s mind spun quickly, imdiately following behind, showing her value: "mbers of the Freelancer Alliance share strategies for clearing stages, I know a lot of tricks for mini-gas. Like claw machines and Tetris. Taking along would definitely help you."
Su Ming’an gave her a look.
The girl’s whole body was drenched, shivering from the cold, her face pale yet biting her lip, steadfastly looking at him.
Glass had cut her arm, and blood dropped down, yet she seed oblivious to the pain, determinedly introducing herself to seize the opportunity.
Many players Su Ming’an encountered would either moralistically guilt-trip or kneel and cry, begging for his help. Such players indeed weren’t bad.
The general quality of players is improving.
"And you’ll just tell the Freelancer Alliance’s strategies like that?" Su Ming’an said.
"Our Alliance Leader says, for ordinary people, survival is the priority. Sharing our strategies is to help us live better, and if one day we have to sell these strategies to survive, it also fulfills his original intent, he wouldn’t bla us." Li Ziqi spoke clearly.
"...As expected of a great guild leader." Su Ming’an remarked lightly.
"I used to be a mber of the New World Guild, my sister is one of Noel’s adopted children..." Li Ziqi said, "So I’ve always admired him, but purely out of respect. Lan i misunderstood that, and she wanted to kill indiscriminately."
"Don’t mind those with gender biases."
"Sigh, but there are especially many people like that."
"Looks like Noel is quite popular?"
"Yes, he established order in the Disciple Ga like a Savior, leading a large team. It might not an much to us players, but to the Luowasha people, who have only one life, Noel might be their guiding Lighthouse." Li Ziqi sighed.
"Hmm... he indeed can be the Number One Player." Su Ming’an said.
With Xiao Su, the four of them walked out, bypassing the spreading poison gas.
The survival count at the top right kept decreasing, as if funeral bells were tolling. Su Ming’an’s surroundings grew increasingly silent.
He rubbed his forehead, feeling his vision blur again, as if the world was spinning.
At this mont, he seed to hear a man and woman’s voice.
"Is hiding here okay?" asked the female voice.
"Yes." answered the male voice.
"Okay, finally we can rest for a bit, but only thirty-seven people are left... why hasn’t the ga ended!?" the female voice said.
"I think it’s because there’s only one champion."
"Does only one among us survive? Liujin, if that’s true, I hope you..."
"Let’s smash this ga apart."
"Smash... smash apart?"
"Yes, why must we, just because it says only one can live, fight to the last person? Instead of living with such sin, why not unite our strengths... smash this ga! It has its Story Domain, and so do we, then let’s see whose story is more fascinating."
Su Ming’an jolted awake, rubbing his temples.
...Only one champion?
This should be a conversation between Su Liujin and a woman. Could it be that only the champion survives? The initial rules are too cruel.
"Wu Yi, what kind of goodness do you want to see?" Su Ming’an asked amid their heavy steps. He wanted to resolve Wu Yi’s issue quickly.
"Hmm..." Wu Yi paused for a mont, then slowly said:
"Like my sister."
"Of course, I know it’s basically impossible, soone as kindly foolish as my sister almost doesn’t exist anymore."
Su Ming’an’s fingers trembled slightly, and he finally made his decision.
He slowly raised his hand, aiming at Wu Yi.
Wu Yi looked at him calmly, as if knowing what he was about to do.
...
[About to activate the Ruler’s Skill.]
...
Su Ming’an had never used the Ruler’s Skill because he feared an unsolvable situation.
But now, he realized he might never persuade Wu Yi and would waste a lot of ti, if he used this skill...
He saw the calmness in Wu Yi’s eyes.
That gaze seed to say: I knew it, in this world, there is no goodness, only pure interest.
A second later, Su Ming’an’s hand rested on Wu Yi’s shoulder.
"Hmm?" Wu Yi tilted his head.
"There’s a piece of broken glass on your shoulder, probably picked up earlier." Su Ming’an waved: "Not anymore."
He ultimately didn’t use the Ruler’s Skill. The Ninth Thrones Laplace wouldn’t be unaware of Su Ming’an’s Ruler’s Skill and likely wouldn’t help Su Ming’an for this skill alone.
Yet Wu Yi seed to misunderstand, thinking Su Ming’an didn’t want to do it, his eyes flickered slightly, looking at Su Ming’an.
"Actually it’s fine." Wu Yi still smiled.
"What?"
"Even if you use that skill on , I wouldn’t mind."
Wouldn’t mind?
Su Ming’an looked at his expression, vaguely understanding Wu Yi’s mindset—As long as soone is willing to pay a price for him, even if it’s fake, even if it’s to deceive his trust, deceive his favor, it shows he’s cared for.
How sad must one be to have such a thought?
"Even though I just want to prove your hypocrisy, to prove that true goodness doesn’t exist." Wu Yi played with his fingers, picking at the blood threads on his fingertips one by one, as if playing a joyful ga: "But I also know there might genuinely be so foolishly kind people in this world. They would cut their flesh for the eagle, bleed for the people, and I hope such a person appears before ... Maybe you are."
Su Ming’an pressed his lips together, not explaining, choosing to let the misunderstanding continue.
At this mont, his expression changed, hearing cheers from the other side of the corridor:
"Lord Strawberry! Lord Strawberry is here!"
"With Lord Strawberry maintaining order, we have nothing to fear!"
"Lord Strawberry, save , my survival ti is almost up!"
Wu Yi heard these voices and imdiately pulled Su Ming’an, Xiao Su, and Li Ziqi into a nearby room.
The Freelancer Alliance is extrely xenophobic, anyone without a strawberry insignia is prey in their eyes. Although Li Ziqi is innocent, she stands accused of endangering her brethren, making her unsuitable to et the Freelancer Alliance.
Through the gap in the door, Su Ming’an saw a youth with flowing golden hair, wearing a strawberry mask, being escorted by more than a dozen people.
—The Strawberry Alliance Leader.
In the adoration and praise, the youth resembled a young deity.
The youth held a thread in his hand, which trembled slightly.
Suddenly, the youth’s high-top shoes stopped, and his ocean-blue eyes gazed towards the crack in the door.
"Lord Strawberry, is sothing the matter?" A green-haired woman nearby said, "Is there sothing in this room? I’ll go check."
Li Ziqi instantly held her breath, trembling all over.
Xiao Su tightly gripped the Spatial Vibration, looking fully guarded.
Wu Yi frowned, surrounded by flas.
"Tap, tap tap."
Five seconds later, the sound of high-heeled shoes rang out again, and the boy’s smiling voice gradually drifted away: "It’s nothing. I was mistaken, let’s go."
A large group of people started leaving in a crowd.
Li Ziqi leaned against the wall, her face covered in sweat.
"Scared, are you?" Wu Yi raised an eyebrow.
"Better not to get close, I heard so not-so-good rumors about Noel. Though he hasn’t shown signs of defecting to the High Dinsions, but just in case..." Li Ziqi inadvertently beca a Prophet for a mont.
Indeed, on the [Dark Side], Strawberry has betrayed 800 tis. It’s just that on the [Light Side], everyone has yet to see any signs.
The four opened the door and moved in the opposite direction.
Li Ziqi suddenly halted her steps.
At the corner of the corridor, a pair of deep blue eyes quietly stared at her, like a ghost lurking in the shadows.
She was so frightened she jumped up, letting out a scream of terror.
"Oh. Looks like I wasn’t mistaken, there is indeed soone here." Strawberry leaned against the wall, smiled, and slowly erged, looking at the four: "Isn’t this the legendary Number One Player?"
Su Ming’an thought he was being referred to, but saw Xiao Su step forward and calmly respond: "You must be the Strawberry Alliance Leader? I’m honored, thank you for maintaining order as the guide of the Disciple Ga."
Su Ming’an remained silent.
That’s right, here, Xiao Su is the Number One Player.
"Is this Wang Xingkong from Mingxi campus? You’ve actually co here, hello." Strawberry looked at Su Ming’an.
"Hello." Su Ming’an replied calmly.
"We found two safe rooms ahead, but space is limited and won’t accommodate you all." Strawberry smiled, "Let’s part here."
Strawberry turned around, surrounded by the crowd.
But suddenly, at the end of the corridor, a team mber ran in, panicked.
Soon, from the end of the corridor ca a few screams and a maniacal laughter:
"Ahahaha—ahahahahahaha!!!"
It was the laughter of a Madman.
"—It’s ’Tian Ying’! That Madman, she shot open a poison gas tank, intensifying the poison gas!" The team mber running and stumbling shouted, his chest suddenly burst open with a tumor, his skin turning a purplish blue, vomiting copious amounts of blood, dying from the poison, just three ters away from people.
The green gas rapidly drifted with visible speed, faster than before by at least double!
Strawberry’s face shifted slightly, opening her hand, threads wove into a soft net - more than just a silk net, it was like a shield that blocked a large mass of poison gas.
Yet, even so, the gas still swiftly and ubiquitousl...
"Run!"
"Tian Ying, that slaughtering Madman! How did we just happen to match up with her, she’s a real troublemaker!"
"Run! Run! The gas is coming over!"
"When will this vicious Madman finally face justice!"
People imdiately turned and ran, but with gas also behind, left with no choice, they scattered in all directions, hoping to find a way out.
"This is critical, everyone, let’s part ways here." Strawberry nodded to Xiao Su, covering the retreat of her team.
"Tian Ying is a Madman with no regard for her life, let’s also leave, no need to clash with her." In urgency, Xiao Su didn’t know which way to go, just randomly picked a direction and went.
Su Ming’an glanced back.
At the end of the corridor, shooting open the gas tanks, was a woman with disheveled red hair. Her back exposed shoulder blades, covered in large blue-purple tattoos like wings about to take flight.
She laughed wildly, stepping dangerously on sharp high heels, dancing with the gas, like a tightrope dancer.
...A Madman who thrives in chaos.
This bloody extre ga really nurtures Madn...
Su Ming’an pulled his gaze back, following Xiao Su forward.
...
Dark Side.
Wilderness City, Ocher Plain.
"...Did you get this when you were a child?"
Granny Marthalia carefully peeled off Shi Ying’s single garnt, seeing the pair of blue-purple tattoos like wings about to take flight on her back, she said with heartache: "Such a sha, getting tattoos so young, Ying, didn’t it hurt?"
The high temperature of the Red Sun burned Shi Ying’s skin, and Marthalia used a traditional thod, crushing weeds to apply to the wounds.
Shi Ying took a light breathe, enduring the pain, and smiled: "It hurt, almost cried when I was a child, but I wanted to get my dad’s attention, it seed like the only way."
White Stone couldn’t help but argue: "A dad is just a dad, why need rebellion for attention? A dad wouldn’t be happy with that."
Shi Ying made a "tss" sound, and Marthalia quickly stopped: "Does it hurt? I’ll be gentler... Oh dear, you might as well hold this magical white stone, it feels cool to the touch, constantly emitting cold air, it’s wonderful."
Shi Ying shook her head: "You hold on to it, I’m young, my body can handle it. But if you don’t have the white stone, you wouldn’t make it a few steps."
Then, she glanced at White Stone and said lightly: "If your friend says they want to introduce you to an internship, but really takes you to a red-light district. If your brother says he wants to buy you jewelry, but really hands you over to a stranger. If your dad belongs to soone else’s family, needing your mom to be a mistress to flaunt herself just to get a little attention and living expenses, even the daughter needing vulgar performances to get affection. You might not be as innocent as you are today."
White Stone fell into a stunned silence.
It seed to glimpse a world never before seen, buried with dark filth and poverty.
The blond man in the black robe lifted his head, whispering: "It’s remarkable you turned out as well as you did, without growing crooked."
Shi Ying scoffed lightly: "Indeed, I didn’t grow crooked, though I’m not exactly a good person."
She touched the tattoo on her back, softly speaking: "If I hadn’t encountered a white-haired aristocratic prince as a...
kid, who gave an Isa Flower, telling even buds eventually bloom, I might have turned into a twisted villain long ago..."
...
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Tian Ying" shot and shattered gas canisters, laughing loudly amid the poison gas.
She stepped on sharp high heels, skimming over decaying corpses, thinking of doing more fun things, when suddenly at the end of the corridor, a contestant turned back.
That person with brown-black hair, black forehead band, bold features, piercing eyes.
He seed just to glance back casually, then quickly withdrew his gaze.
"Tian Ying’s" vision suddenly blurred.
She seed to see... that person sprout white hair, overlapping with a figure from her youthful mories. In the blink of an eye, it seed like an illusion.
"Interesting..." she curved her lips, spinning her gun, and dashed forward with a da da da. Her red hair fluttered, tracing a fiery arc.
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