Forge a path to success.

Chapter 391 The Game of Self-Righteousness

"The encirclement and suppression operation has finally entered its final stage. Now we bring you the latest news!"

In the 24-hour live broadcast room of City State, the female anchor Landa maintained a perfect professional smile: "The third wanted criminal, Ji Huaisu, has just defeated the assassin hired by Speaker Parryman. The encirclement and suppression operation of the First Line has failed completely."

The male anchor, Kozaburo, smiled and continued: "Three minutes ago, a major fire broke out in the Upper House of Sir John Thornham, and Speaker Parryman was trapped inside and his fate was unknown."

"We cut the camera to the second sequence, where we can see the wanted criminal Chu Hengkong rapidly approaching Mansa Star Castle."

"So far, none of the wanted criminals have suffered any fundamental harm, so I think it's basically safe to conclude... safe to conclude..."

Landa's smile grew increasingly stiff; she struggled to control her expression, seemingly wanting to stop. But Kozaburo couldn't hold back: "It's basically safe to say this encirclement operation has been a complete failure!"

"A complete failure!" "A failure!" "A failure!"

The voices of the top news anchors echoed throughout the city, while citizens stared blankly at the water screens in their homes.

What exactly are they talking about? Just a few minutes ago the Divine Guard had a huge advantage, and now they've suffered a complete defeat?

How much of what City Media says is true?
The streamers' smiles gradually turned into something more like cries, and anyone could see the unnaturalness of the live broadcast. But they couldn't control themselves, because out of the camera's view, some kind of demonic gaze was watching them.

"Get to the point and tell the truth!" Vande grinned sinisterly. "Tell us something you don't know, tell us what the wanted criminal really is, and why the whole city is under manhunt."

They were powerless to resist; after all, if they truly possessed the mental strength to counter hypnosis, they wouldn't have become the Speaker's mouthpiece. Thus, a series of bombshell announcements were released, leaving the city-state's citizens utterly bewildered.

"Regarding the warrants for the arrest of the above three individuals... no concrete evidence has actually been obtained..."

"According to intelligence gathered by the Divine Guard, some of the 'helpful citizens' involved in the manhunt were actually the terrorists who caused the riots during the Vitex Festival..."

Landa's lips turned blue: "These three are very likely... allied soldiers who protected the citizens during the Vitex Festival, acting on orders from higher-ups..."

She suddenly collapsed onto the table, nearly breaking down: "Please, please let me go! This is something that can't be said! It can't be explained to the public!!"

Like a spark falling into a pot of boiling oil, the city of Jingsha erupted into chaos. Even the most foolish person could see the problem behind this wanted notice; the phones of every Divine Guard were ringing off the hook, with questions and doubts flying in like snowflakes.

Ji Huaisu stood behind Fan De with a cold smile. All the bystanders in the media building were bound by light cables, unable to make a sound. Hill, standing nearby, quickly said, "The boss's firewall is about to be breached! The enemy hackers are very skilled; it can only hold for less than 3 seconds!"

"It's alright, our mission is complete at this point. Let's leave the rest to A-Kong and the others."

She sheathed her weapon and waited at the door with an air of quiet obedience. A few seconds later, the live broadcast room door opened, and Banningtik walked in with several guards who looked miserable.

Banningtik adjusted his glasses: "Your actions have violated 32 laws, including Article 35 of the Public Security Law of the Jingsha City-State and Article 13 of the Media Security Law of the City-State. The Prosecutor's Office is now required to detain and investigate you. Do you have any questions?"

“No problem at all,” Vande said, rubbing his tentacles. “Your Honor, it’s clear that we were framed by a villain. We’re all law-abiding citizens!”

·
Mansa Starburg's border, in a windowless room.

With the troublesome Banningtik finally gone, Guo Yutu casually pressed enter, regaining control of the media network. His mouse hovered over a video file.

"I prepared a three-hour composite program as a contingency plan. For now, we can claim that the previous footage was fabricated by the enemy to get by, or that the two anchors were coerced," Guo Yutu said. "Should we use it?"

"No need, let the Speaker handle it himself," Wang Quan said.

Guo Yutu tossed the video into the recycle bin: "Received."

"Your task is to hold the last line of defense and keep both of them out of Mansa Star Castle as much as possible."

"receive."

The side screen displayed the divine power monitoring; the old rival was still full of energy and would probably reach the foot of the giant lily in less than three minutes. Guo Yutu took a sip of cola, then suddenly turned off the monitor; his glasses reflected a pure white light.

"I have done my job diligently and conscientiously so far. Can we talk about something other than work in this last bit of time?"

"Please."

"To put it bluntly, you really want to see this situation," Guo Yutu said. "Pariman and Velus will both be severely injured, and after both sides have forced each other to reveal their cards, you, Wang Quan, can leisurely step in and reap the benefits."

“That’s what I thought at first.” “But the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. If it was just to sit back and watch the outcome, why send us assassins out prematurely? Although we’re not exactly loyal, Lylena and I will always follow your orders. We could be deployed after the battle is over, at least we could take out a few captains or something. So, I’ve been thinking about this since today…”

"—You just want to compete with Chu Hengkong, don't you, Wang Quan?"

Wang Quan kept laughing: "Do you see me as a cowboy from the West?"

“How could that be? Cowboys in the West at least have a noble fighting spirit, but that has nothing to do with you,” Guo Yutu said. “A more appropriate analogy would be ‘ritual,’ that’s right, just like a game.”

He said, seemingly oblivious to everyone else, "Some gamers like to use special units like the 'protagonist' or 'initial companions' to deliver the final blow to the demon king. This sense of ritual is part of their enjoyment of the game. As for other teammates, NPCs, and neutral units, they don't care at all. If they think they're good enough, they'll send them to the front to interact with the boss and trigger special dialogues. If they don't care, they'll just throw them away as cannon fodder."

Driven by this mindset, they wouldn't choose the most efficient strategy, but rather the most visually appealing one. Sending a massive army to kill the boss in one turn would certainly clear the level quickly, but what about the inevitable final battle? So, they'd let the minions slowly whittle down the boss's health, and then, after the map was cleared, let 'themselves' decide the victor, just like now.

Guo Yutu said with a sneer, "Did you enjoy this game, player Wang Quan?"

As he said, if the goal was simply to secure a victory, assassinating the reclusive Chu Hengkong during the Vitex Festival would have been no problem for the royal power. If he truly wanted Parriman to succeed, he could have simply mobilized all his forces at the start of the manhunt. If he was determined to wait until the very end to reap the benefits, why expose himself so early? Waiting until the bill was passed before stepping onto the stage would have been the best opportunity.

It's just a game.

Or rather, this person has long been accustomed to looking down on the world from a superior perspective. Therefore, everything is no different from a game to him. He has power on Earth, the support of the Abyss in the Underworld, he always has an endless supply of cards to play, and he has inexhaustible resources to support his actions.

Therefore, it can remain a god who plays with the world, manipulating all living beings and enjoying the pleasure.

“I’m a little troubled, which is rare,” Wang Quan said. “I don’t think I’ve spent much time on you, but I didn’t expect you to see through that.”

"After all, I also enjoy playing games, and there's always a connection between players," Guo Yutu said lazily. "It's just a pity that I don't have the power of Lord Wang Quan to maintain my childlike heart. I became a pathetic adult early on, spending all my time working, doing tasks, and going to work... But work is different from games; you can only give it your all when you're working."

He crushed the empty Coke can and tossed it aside, then turned on all the screens.

"Enjoy your game, the adults need to get to work."

The pitch-black room lit up, and the walls transformed into a pale white, like flower petals. Through the translucent walls, he could see the smoke and clouds approaching in the distance like an army.

Guo Yutu sat quietly within the white barrier, below him the ancient walls of Mansa Star Castle. This "secret chamber" was actually a tower built above the main gate; he sat on the boundary line of Mansa Star Castle, the pale white walls forming the city's defense system, the giant lily!
The defense system was connected, information exchange was completed, and defense forces were activated. Lines of characters flashed through Guo Yutu's eyes, and the countdown in the upper right corner of the virtual screen was progressing rapidly. He paid no attention to Chu Hengkong, who was moving forward, but focused on the system self-check that had just ended.

A backdoor had been implanted inside the giant lily, a remnant of that bewitching demon's hand. The technology was incredibly sophisticated; its methods were completely incomprehensible. Fixing the bug before the enemy arrived was hopeless, so contingency measures were taken.

The bug was isolated using a makeshift protective wall, which was then fixed and placed behind the command post. To defeat the Great Lily, they must pass through here… through the line of defense he himself was stationed on.

"I won't give you that chance."

As they drew closer, the outline of the motorcycle became visible. Violet was nowhere to be seen; only Chu Hengkong was on the screen. His opponent had undoubtedly noticed him, and a probing attack would likely follow in an instant.

But it won't be the "Staff of God." Leaving aside the fact that the hidden Velvet has ulterior motives, that move was already used in the previous battle, and using the same method again would be too risky for her. Considering that it was merely her mutated blade, using the Boundary-Splitting Wheel here is the safest solution.

But she wouldn't do that. She was used to saving her strongest cards for last, reserving her real killing blow for the royal power. So, to preserve her strength, Violet withdrew from the main battlefield early... and naturally, Chu Hengkong's Spirit Flying Knife arrived first.

Guo Yutu felt a sharp pain between his brows. Before he could even think, the enemy's attack had already arrived. The blood-red blade stopped an inch before being blocked by the defensive barrier of the giant lily. He used his mechanical arm to seize the throwing knife and completed a preliminary analysis before it dissipated. Targeted defensive information flowed into the giant lily's interior, and the special opposing weaponry, improved and updated with system support, then appeared above the city wall.

It was an antique-style cannon, entirely black. Its material was exactly the same as that of the Black Death Army, and its body was engraved with skull and demon face patterns. The bottom of the cannon was directly connected to a large lily flower, and the flow of information converged at the muzzle, turning into a dazzling light.

"Dead Man Cannon, fire."

The intensity of the light continued to rise, bringing an astonishing sense of oppression. Its overwhelming power distorted space; a deafening roar of shattering white light pierced the city, illuminating the heavens and earth. Chu Hengkong immediately abandoned his motorcycle, using Deathwing's maximum speed to evade it. This was a radiance that a mere point 5 could not withstand; its existence had broken through the limits of existence, reaching the realm of demigods!

The giant lily is a system that provides power through trends.

When fully deployed, it is strong enough to protect the 7th mass tree, and even when partially deployed, it has the position of the 6th mass tree.

After connecting to the system, Guo Yutu improved the original defense system. His masterpiece, the "Undead Cannon," was the final piece of the puzzle to complete the city's defense system. With power supplied by the tidal current, the protection of the divine tree, and a self-evolution mechanism, the weapon was thus completed. The cannons were regularly distributed around Mansa Star Fortress, like the marks on a clock.

After completing the second analysis and improving the attack method, Guo Yutu pressed the attack button.

"Fire the Twelve Corpse Cannons!"

(End of this chapter)