Forge a path to success.

Chapter 113 Post-Match Summary
Half an hour later, at the TTT Express Hotel.

Night was falling, and the sky grew dark. The chill lingered from the stagnant mist, adding to the gloom of the small port city's night. Tonight, no one ventured out of their homes; every house kept its doors tightly shut, allowing the roads to be traversed by knights emerging from the fog. They remained silent, neither uttering a word nor disturbing the inhabitants, simply patrolling in quiet contemplation, like soldiers on their own territory.

Ji Huaisu drew the curtains and sank into the soft sofa.

"It seems the knights won't disappear anytime soon; we'll have to try a covert operation."

“Stealth is useless; those things start attacking as soon as we leave the hotel.” Chu Hengkong placed a cup of hot chocolate on the table. “We don’t need to consider going out tonight. On the bright side, no one else can move, so the stone seed is safe for now.”

Vande, nestled in a small blanket made of folded towels, said, "It's a wonder you guys still remember poor Tree. I thought we came here for a wild sex party."

"Please, that frozen bald guy is really scary..." Ji Huaisu made a face, "And the situation is too chaotic. I'm a bit confused by all this happening as soon as I arrived on the island."

Chu Hengkong pulled off the small towel blanket: "Fande, tidy it up."

"Why don't you two use your brains?" Vande pulled the towel back. "The situation isn't complicated. Besides us, there are only five lone wolves who have entered the game so far: Remnant Heart, Light of Night, Egg, Turtled Tears, Black-faced Rune Master, and the guy who fired the shot."

“The sniper was hired by the talisman master,” Chu Hengkong said.

"What?"

"Eyes. Rune masters occasionally glance into the distance, but it's too infrequent to call it a defensive move; it's more like a subconscious check to confirm the movements of friendly forces."

Vande was taken aback, not expecting this person's observational skills to be so terrifying; despite not having participated in much combat, he had noticed even such a small detail. He categorized snipers and spellcasters together and began to make some plans.

“I think I understand their idea now: set up a defensive position for counter-attacks…” Vande scratched his head with his tentacles. “It makes sense, but it’s roundabout and a bit strange.”

Chu Hengkong nodded: "That group of people was very strange. The talisman master had the ability to kill everyone in the field, but he had been hiding his true strength."

Ji Huaisu was displeased: "Hehehe! You're looking down on me a bit, aren't you?"

“It wasn’t me, it was the Immortal Machine that said it.” Chu Hengkong relaxed, and the bloodlust that had been suppressed in his eyes emerged. “The Immortal Machine classified the Rune Master as ‘high threat.’ This rating means that he has a chance to beat me in a head-on battle. This is not a rating that an ordinary Point 3 can receive.”

"It's quite convenient." Vande clicked his tongue in amazement. "So, rune masters are currently the strongest."

"No, the strongest is the sniper." Chu Hengkong said decisively, "From now on, everyone should not split up. Once he targets me, I might not be able to protect myself."

"Don't worry, I'll never leave your pocket again." Vande waved his tentacles. "These people are probably all here for the stone seeds. Maybe we'll have a chance to cooperate in the future. But to me, the real troublemakers are those outside..."

He drew back a curtain a crack, peering at the chaos on the street. In Van der's eyes, those things were still walking mosaics, bearing no resemblance to human beings.

Are you sure they are of your kind?

“I’m 100% sure.” Ji Huaisu nodded vigorously. “I don’t know how you see it, but in my eyes they are standard ‘knights,’ with the same light shield and shadow blade as me, and even more advanced skills.”

Differences in perception are also rare. The unified standards of the imperial emperor have long been part of the dynamic world, and people should not have different views on the same species. If the reason for this phenomenon is unrelated to innate factors, then it means that Ji Huaisu possesses some information that they are not yet aware of.

Setting aside innate differences, only information asymmetry leads to differences in cognition. Vande felt he was starting to understand...

A sense of danger surged within it, like the ominous creaking sound underfoot as one walks on a frozen lake. It strictly controlled its thought process, preventing its thoughts from disturbing the sealed knowledge. All its lessons had taught it that exploration must be done sparingly, and to avoid a sudden, unexpected death, it was best to start by investigating the small things around it.

Van der slapped his forehead and said seriously, "It seems we need to add an extra task besides looking for the tree. Let's go find Jin Ye first thing tomorrow morning. As the first person to come into contact with this Dust Island, he should have some clues."

It and Ji Huaisu gazed at Chu Hengkong together. The assassin remained silent, intently staring at his palm.

"Ah Kong?" Ji Huaisu asked.

He then came to his senses: "It's settled then."

As an assassin, he had never shown this state before, appearing absent-minded like a student lost in thought. He walked towards the door, claiming he needed to wash his face, but Ji Huaisu called out to him as he opened the door.

"Akong, what is my threat level?"

Chu Hengkong was taken aback for a moment, then smiled.

"This thing only evaluates enemies; you're a teammate."

The door closed gently, and Ji Huaisu, clutching a cushion, collapsed onto the sofa, her eyes not as bright as usual.

Vande snuggled back into the blankets and said lazily, "Why are you taking this so seriously! Why do you have to compare a mere Reverse Shadow with experts of the 3rd Rank?"

“I’m not competitive, it’s just…” Ji Huaisu sighed, “For the past six months I’ve been his boss, but now I have to ask him to protect me when I go out.”

“Comrade Huaisu, you can’t be so stubborn. It’s perfectly normal for a team to have varying levels of skill.” Fan De began to reason with them. “Of course, the valiant wolf is important, but our retreating drum is also an indispensable part! We’re a small team now, so let’s all just do our jobs well…”

“But my specialty is fighting,” Ji Huaisu said sullenly. Vande was momentarily speechless. With its vast knowledge and unique hypnotic abilities, it had never worried about any nonsense about combat power. But Ji Huaisu was also someone who used her fists more than her brain; how could a warrior be effective if she didn't even have the fighting power to dominate the battlefield?
"Just... don't compare yourself to a pervert." It offered a fragile consolation, "The Shadow is pretty good too, it's better than me."

Ji Huaisu remained silent, nestled on the sofa. Fan De, feeling uneasy, slipped outside hoping the detective would come and offer some words of comfort to his comrade, only to find Chu Hengkong still staring blankly at his palm at the doorway.

He held a bullet in his palm. This bullet had killed Sethlen at the end of the battle; it was severely deformed due to its overly crude trajectory and was made of nothing special—just an ordinary, well-made bullet. Van der didn't understand what was so appealing about this little thing, but Chu Hengkong's mind was mostly focused on the bullet.

He looked at it so intently, as if he saw his own past reflected in it.

·
Saint-Laur Luxury Hotel, north of Jinye City.

Wu He hurriedly pushed open the door. His trousers were covered in mud, and his head was still covered in lingering frost, making him look quite disheveled. Few people could remain cheerful in such a state, and Wu He was no exception. He wanted to shout as soon as he entered, but the strange sounds coming from inside the room made him swallow his words.

Shakes leaned against the corner of the wall, standing on one leg, his chin resting on his hand, staring blankly out the empty window, like a sharp-tongued, hard-boiled detective.

Wu He was somewhat alarmed upon seeing this: "...Sax?"

Shakes remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, as if he were sleepwalking.

"Do you think it's possible that one day, while I'm on a mission, some bizarre creature—with a tentacle arm, an eel head, wearing a green coat, and devouring the Tear of the Ice Armor—suddenly runs into my sniping range and says, 'I'm your old nemesis.' Then I can fight him again..."

Wu He took two steps back: "Honestly, have a drink to calm yourself down, you're in a terrible state right now!"

Shakes rubbed his eyes hard and sat down on the bed. He looked extremely tired.

“I need a drink after this vote.” Shakes shook his head vigorously. “It’s ridiculous, too many nightmares… I really should buy a dream editing surgery…”

“I can introduce you to a good doctor afterward,” Wu He said seriously. “Now let’s get down to business. Tell me why you didn’t kill that Zhuo Lei?!”

His tone grew increasingly agitated, almost questioning. The final shot seemed to be a fatal blow, but he knew that the elementalized Tear of Evil wouldn't die so easily; the thing had only lost most of its body, its ghostly form having long since dissipated with the ice shards.

Shax became a legend by killing the Scourge, so there's no reason for him to make such a basic mistake, exposing himself without eliminating his enemies. It must have been intentional on his part.

When he looked up, Shax had returned to his original self, calm and indifferent as if he didn't care about anything.

Why would that Tearful One target you?

The shaman grew impatient: "He killed my rat—"

“Why would he target ‘you’?” Shakes repeated. “Your rats are some distance from the hotel, and you use talismans to control them. How could a delirious Tearful Soul possibly track you back to your hideout?”

Wu He was startled by this. The battle had come too suddenly and too quickly, and he was so enraged by the defeat and the unexpected that he had momentarily overlooked this most illogical problem. Just as Shaks had said, those who ascended to the Supreme Path were rough and unrestrained; meticulous tasks like reverse tracing shouldn't be their forte. That ice man didn't even have a single relic on him; how could he possibly have found the stronghold?
He forced himself to calm down: "Someone gave it some advice..."

“Or perhaps someone is guiding it from behind,” Shakes said. “I left a hook inside it to see if I could catch the fish on its back.”

Wu He hesitated, wanting to say that the sniper's actions were unnecessary, but then he realized that the mastermind behind it had no good intentions since they had targeted him from the start. Shax's decision to stop the fighting and spare lives, while holding back, was actually the best course of action at the moment. After thinking it over several times, he smiled bitterly and said, "...You've thought it through."

Even so, something still didn't feel right. Shakes thought. Even if someone was manipulating Tearful Souls behind the scenes, Wu He's predicament today was far too coincidental. His luck was strangely bad, but luck, such a mysterious thing, wasn't a topic for discussion.

“You care too much about gains and losses,” Shakes said calmly. “If you don’t have money, don’t pretend to be rich.”

Wu He laughed dismissively.

“You’ve got it all wrong. I’m loaded. What I lost today, I can get back in less than a day!” His smile grew even more sinister. “It’s precisely because I don’t need these things that I’m looking for that tree… I have to get that tree!”

He sat under the lamplight, his profile obscured by shadow, a strange fear lurking within the greedy gloom. It was as if he wanted to escape something, yet couldn't escape it.

Shakes waited for him to speak, but Wu He remained silent. His employer's concealment displeased him once again; to keep things so secret when the situation was already this bizarre was simply petty.

After a while, he couldn't help but ask, "What's the name of that eel?"

“I don’t know, but he’s very strong,” Wu He said. “I recognize that skill that’s called ‘Intent Armor’… He’s at least a 3-point mass, and he’s definitely on the path of cultivation.”

"Oh. It seems you're from the Zhengxuan Palace, just like me."

"You're overthinking it. If I had that ability, why would I need to hire you?" Wu He smiled.

Still hiding, still hiding, as if revealing something obvious to everyone would be a huge loss. Shakes was really unhappy this time. Wu He was quite decent when things were going well, but he started to worry and fret when faced with setbacks.

He began to maintain the guns, and soon the room was filled with the smell of gun oil. The two remained silent.

(End of this chapter)