Chapter 464: The Selection
Chapter 464: The Selection
"Are you... Mad Bu Jue?" Penitent asked, her voice emanating from her abdomen.
"It seems I'm actually quite famous", Feng Bu Jue muttered casually before addressing the terrifying death spirit before him with a relaxed tone. "Hey there, beauty! Might I ask who you are?"
"Penitent", she rasped, her weak voice barely audible. "I am one of the Nine Death Spirits under the Lord of the Nether Abyss."
"Oh?" Feng Bu Jue's ears perked up at the mention of "Lord of the Nether Abyss", and he exclaimed with renewed energy, "What an honor to meet you!" He made an exaggerated bow toward the stitched-eyed creature, his face plastered with feigned flattery. "You and your peers have always been my idols. What a blessing it is to meet you today!"
Meanwhile, Xiao Tan and Matcha Su, still perched on the fire truck, shot disdainful glances at Feng Bu Jue through narrowed eyes.
"Does he really call all women 'beauty'?" Matcha Su sneered softly, her lips twitching.
Feng Bu Jue had indeed addressed Matcha Su as "beauty" on multiple occasions, but now it seemed those words carried no sincerity at all.
"Not necessarily", Xiao Tan replied. "He claims to have a forward-thinking aesthetic that transcends race and societal norms..."
"You mean he has questionable taste?" Matcha Su interrupted.
"Not exactly..." Xiao Tan explained, adjusting his glasses. "Think of it like this—Westerners often look alike to us, and vice versa. Feng Bu Jue, though, is the type who can distinguish each Minion from the Despicable Me series by appearance and name. Even if you put two hedgehogs of the same species in front of him, he'd tell you which one is cuter."
Matcha Su blinked in bewildered admiration for a few seconds before shrugging. "I'll stick with thinking his compliments are ten points cheap."
"Actually, his groveling is cheaper", Xiao Tan countered. "But hey, you can think what you like."
As the two mocked Feng Bu Jue's tastes, the man himself had already finished his conversation with Penitent and opened the passenger door of the fire truck.
"I have two things to say", he declared.
Xiao Tan and Matcha Su exchanged confused glances, their faces paling with growing dread.
"First", Feng Bu Jue started, turning to Xiao Tan, "your body seems to have an issue. Penitent mistook you for a time lord's official and nearly killed us all by jumping into the road. Fortunately, she realized you're just another world traveler right before attacking."
"Wait, wait—" Xiao Tan's face turned paler as sweat dripped down his neck. He glanced at Penitent standing beside the truck. "What kind of problem are you talking about? I don't feel anything wrong!"
"Oh, it's nothing major", Feng Bu Jue shrugged. "Just the time dust that seeped into your left hand over a month ago has now spread through your bloodstream. Remember when He Hua Si Tuo Si at the Death Q&A told you, 'The time in your left hand has been overdrawn. If you don't handle it, it'll turn to dust soon'?"
"But I'm fine!" Xiao Tan's voice trembled with rising terror.
"You're a doctor—you know better than me. Many diseases show no symptoms until their late stages", Feng Bu Jue spread his hands. "Besides, He Hua Si Tuo Si was a Greek mythological god. Their concept of 'soon' might differ from ours. Also, the system's effects on you are unpredictable. When you returned to Login Space, the wound might have been sealed and the time dust suppressed temporarily, but never truly removed."
"So what do I do now?"
Before Xiao Tan finished, Feng Bu Jue tossed him a *-500 capsule. "Every cloud has a silver lining. Since we can't confirm what the time dust might do, just keep an eye on things. Take this medicine if needed." He carefully avoided mentioning the item's name to prevent Matcha Su from getting greedy.
Of course, Feng Bu Jue was being overly cautious. Matcha Su had no idea what *-500 even was.
"Now for the second thing", Feng Bu Jue continued. "I'm leaving."
"Leaving? Where?" Matcha Su's delicate brows furrowed.
"I convinced Penitent to take me to meet the Nine Death Spirits' leader. If all goes well, I'll officially join the Realm of the Dead", Feng Bu Jue said dreamily, like a graduate landing a government job.
"Is that right?" Matcha Su scoffed. "You went through so much trouble convincing me to ally with you, and now you're abandoning us before we even meet an enemy?"
"Let's not forget—I gave you the chance to join us. Without that, you'd be dead points by now", Feng Bu Jue countered. "Besides, you gained an extreme vehicle and a reliable fighter. If you trust me, keep heading toward the explosion source with Xiao Tan. I'll find you soon. If you want to part ways, Golden Maggot No. 1 is yours—but our alliance ends too."
Matcha Su fell silent as Feng Bu Jue studied her face.
Feng Bu Jue excelled at persuasion through a unique talent shared by all great strategists—calculating stakes. He considered his own position, the boss's, friends', enemies', and the world's. Different people valued the same situation differently. Only by understanding others' priorities could one predict their limits and find cooperation opportunities.
The deeper he understood someone's thoughts, the more room he had to maneuver. In negotiations, this was the path to invincibility.
"Hmph... Fine. We're already on the same ship. No point getting off now", Matcha Su finally replied after ten seconds, feigning reluctance.
Feng Bu Jue knew she wouldn't abandon the alliance. Her bottom line was Golden Maggot No. 1. She'd never give up her combat machine, and driving the vehicle alone was pointless without a gunner.
"Great. Be careful, you two", Feng Bu Jue stepped back. As he closed the door, he added in a mock-casual tone, "I'll be back."
...
Meanwhile, on the top floor of a building within the Blockade Zone, four seed contestants—Tian Tian Gui Xiao, Shiva, Fei Chai Shu, and Shidao Wei Wang—gathered secretly, watching a distant crossroads.
The scene resembled other city areas—streets dotted with corpses and skeletons, buildings covered in strange vines and bloodstains. The only difference was a black spherical space-time rift hovering above.
"What is that? Some controllable black hole?" Fei Chai Shu asked.
"You dragged us here instead of competing properly?" Shidao Wei Wang grumbled.
"No", Shiva pointed further.
Fei Chai Shu and Shidao Wei Wang followed his finger.
Below the rift, a half-human, half-beast giant approached, carrying a motionless player over his shoulder (a guild emblem on the player's uniform confirmed his identity). The player made no resistance, likely exhausted. Soon, he was brought under the Explosive Tunnel.
At the crossroads stood a woman in gray, indistinct as an Npc in a sandbox game.
"What's the monster doing with the player?" Shidao Wei Wang wondered. "Wait... This monster can actually defeat players in this scenario?" His expression shifted. "Such power must be from the Four Pillars Deity's direct subordinates."
"No", Gui Xiao corrected. "A derivative being."
"What? You mean those forum rumors?" Shidao Wei Wang turned.
"She's killing them", Fei Chai Shu remarked, still squinting through his telescope despite the sunglasses.
Shidao Wei Wang refocused on the street.
Lut had killed the player. Her method was simple—pointing her index finger at his head, which transformed into mercury and pierced his skull like a spike.
Effortless. Lethal.
"What's going on?" Shidao Wei Wang asked. "Why capture them if she just kills them?" He glanced at Gui Xiao and Shiva. "Is the beast-form derivative being letting the human-form one gain experience?"
"We've observed", Shiva replied grimly, "that the woman seems to be conducting a selection. Her subordinates capture players and bring them to her for the final decision."
"Selection for what?" Fei Chai Shu asked.
"We don't know", Gui Xiao answered. "But so far, none have met her standards."
"So all captured players get killed?" Fei Chai Shu mused.
"Why does this matter to us?" Shidao Wei Wang asked. "Even if there's a faction killing players in this scenario..."
"Not a faction—derivative beings", Gui Xiao corrected.
"Whatever", Shidao Wei Wang waved it off. "Npcs, derivative beings—virtual characters. Who cares?"
"You still don't get it", Gui Xiao's face darkened. "Look at the corpse."
Shidao Wei Wang and Fei Chai Shu looked again—the player's body hadn't vanished in white light but lay stiffly, blood and brains spilling onto the ground.
The beast-form derivative being said something to Lut before tossing the corpse away like trash.
Only then did Shidao Wei Wang and Fei Chai Shu realize—the flesh-covered corpses weren't scenery. They were all contestants from the Peak Conquest Tournament.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
