Chapter 89: “An Wujiu, I like you very much, don’t pretend you don’t know.”
Hearing Shen Ti’s words, Zhou Yijue suddenly realized something.
Time.
It was the time that had been tampered with…
“It was you,” Zhou Yijue glared coldly at Shen Ti, “You bribed the NPC.”
Shen Ti shrugged and smiled at him, “Yes, I had my teammate buy the countdown system and speed it up to finish early, but the actual time remains unchanged.”
As they were speaking, Wu You and Nan Shan went around to the exchange machine and packed up the exchanged points coins.
While An Wujiu was planning to use all the players on the field to counter the purple and yellow teams, Shen Ti had already foreseen the subsequent development.
Not to mention Maguire, at least Zhou Yijue would redeem his chips in advance. If they merely fought back, there wouldn’t be time to redeem their own team’s chips, and Zhou Yijue wouldn’t give them any chance to exploit.
The only way was to catch Zhou Yijue off guard when his vigilance was at its lowest.
There was no time more deceptive than when someone thought they had victory in their grasp.
“I learned this from you. Weren’t you the first to bribe the NPCs to cheat?”
After speaking, Shen Ti intentionally looked at Maguire and said, “By the way, you didn’t know, did you? He bribed the NPC to give you the Emperor card and then joined us in the revolution.”
“You son of a bitch!” Maguire, knowing he was about to lose, was even angrier upon hearing this. At that moment, he just wanted to snatch back the points from Zhou Yijue. But before he could move, Zhou Yijue pointed a gun at him from a distance.
“Stay put.”
Zhou Yijue fired a shot at him. Maguire dodged, and the bullet that should have hit his heart instead struck his rib. The intense pain caused him to stagger and fall, wanting to curse, but the anger was swallowed back by the pain, like a balloon with a hole, deflating instantly.
Zhou Yijue glanced at him, then turned to his team and gave a signal.
Since there were still a few minutes left, he still had a chance to win over them!
“Save it, squinty eyes.”
The smile on Shen Ti’s face faded as he took out the gun he used to kill Chen Yu and the two useless members of the purple team earlier, “Don’t make trouble for yourself.”
After speaking, Shen Ti glanced at the gun in his hand and suddenly felt something was wrong. He pulled the trigger, the action scaring the people around them and making them step back.
But no bullet was fired.
Shen Ti’s madness left everyone at a loss; even the few from the purple team who initially wanted to take advantage of the chaos to snatch coins could only watch silently.
“Oh,” Shen Ti smiled awkwardly, “no bullets.”
Then he opened his item storage slot and clicked a few times.
Just as the purple team thought he was defenseless and prepared to attack, Shen Ti suddenly pulled out another weapon.
“Let’s use this instead.” Shen Ti smiled innocently, holding a light machine gun, scaring everyone back a few more steps, leaving only Zhou Yijue standing in front.
Shen Ti aimed at Zhou Yijue, recalling the scene of An Wujiu’s severed arm.
An Wujiu sensed something and glanced at Shen Ti’s tightly gripped gun, his knuckles white.
He raised his arm and lightly placed it on Shen Ti’s hand.
For a moment, Shen Ti wanted to kill Zhou Yijue directly.
But since An Wujiu stopped him, he didn’t want to cause him any psychological burden.
00:02:34
So he shifted the target within his scope.
A loud bang, blood splattered, and Zhou Yijue’s half body jolted back violently.
Shen Ti hit his right shoulder with precision, disabling that arm in the last moments.
“He’s a saint; I’m not.” Shen Ti smiled and lowered his gun, using it as a cane.
“I’m a villain who exacts revenge to the last penny.”
His eyes swept over the crowd at the exchange area, stepping aside from the machine, “Two minutes left. Friends who still want to exchange, come and do it.”
This almost pardoned everyone. The other players immediately swarmed the exchange machine, scrambling to exchange their chips.
Zhou Yijue clutched his right shoulder, blood continuously oozing out. He knew if Shen Ti wanted to kill him just now, he would be dead.
They would surely take his point coins, eliminating him directly.
But An Wujiu didn’t do that.
The usually false smile in Zhou Yijue’s eyes was now replaced with cold hostility.
“You spared me this time… Next time we meet, we’ll still be enemies.”
The noisy crowd almost drowned out his voice.
People argued and fought, desperately trying to salvage their precarious lives, hoping to reverse their fate in the last minute and survive.
An Wujiu stood in front of those driven mad by the desire to survive, his pale face showing no trace of desire and his eyes determined, like a statue embodying extreme kindness and ideals.
“This is all uncertain. You’re a smart person, and at this point, it’s just because we’re on different sides.”
He spoke words that made Zhou Yijue want to laugh and mock himself.
“Opposition is meaningless; we should have a common enemy.”
An Wujiu looked at him calmly.
Zhou Yijue chuckled, “How could we have a common enemy…”
Even though he had never spoken a word about himself.
But being willing to give up eliminating him for the Easter egg card, An Wujiu knew, he must have something he had to do.
If he wanted a resurrection card, then he must have someone he had to save.
00:00:01
An Wujiu spoke softly, like a false god, proclaiming everyone’s fate.
“Fate.”
The exchange machine vanished in an instant, as if consumed by fire and swept away by the wind.
Music played inside the airship, and the rabbit’s voice reappeared.
“The game is over, congratulations to those who made it to the end.”
“I didn’t expect so many survivors this time; quite impressive.” The rabbit’s voice remained sharp and electronically processed.
“Now, let’s tally the chips everyone has.”
The projection, paused at 00:00:00, turned into a screen, listing each player’s current points.
As expected, An Wujiu’s team led with the highest total points.
And Zhou Yijue, alone, held the second-highest points for his team.
“Now, announcing the results,” the rabbit seemed unsurprised, “Congratulations to player An Wujiu and the Red Team for having the highest total points. Every member of your team advances successfully, including the deceased player Chen Yu.”
Hearing this, Shen Ti felt a bit dissatisfied. Firstly, that traitor Chen Yu would still be resurrected thanks to An Wujiu. Secondly, An Wujiu would eventually find out that he had died.
With a little thought, An Wujiu would figure out that it was Shen Ti who killed Chen Yu.
Wu You was concerned about something else, “What about Wujiu-ge’s arm?”
The rabbit laughed heartily, “Don’t worry, if the dead can be resurrected, what’s the matter of a mere arm?”
The screen displayed the records of the other players. The winners were cheering joyfully for their survival, while the losers were like walking corpses, awaiting their inevitable fate.
“According to the rules, the player with the highest points in the remaining five teams will earn the precious survival qualification,” the rabbit remarked. “It’s really not easy. Fifty-four players arrived here, and only fourteen are leaving.”
These words made An Wujiu feel very uncomfortable.
Since he lost his memory and entered the holy altar, this has been the bloodiest and most brutal round of eliminations. Everyone standing here had fought with all their might for their lives, but it was still futile.
“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to!”
The first person to cry out in despair appeared, shouting. Knowing that no one would have pity on him, he mourned his fate.
An Wujiu lowered his eyes, his ears filled with the rabbit’s mocking laughter.
“This round of “Life-gambling Dinner” is officially over. Next, the winners will enter the settlement space.”
As soon as the words were spoken, everything in front of An Wujiu shattered into countless blue light particles. The magnificent gambling airship, the dazzling mountain of gold, and the various people gambling for their lives in the casino all disappeared completely.
An Wujiu looked down and saw those blue particles swirling like a tornado, gathering at his right shoulder and forming his arm, a complete arm, even without the previous injuries.
An Wujiu clenched his fist, looking up at the familiar blank field.
All his teammates, who he hoped could survive with him, stood beside him. Opposite were several survivors from the enemy side, including Zhou Yijue.
Shen Ti turned his head and saw a large cluster of data particles gathering in the front left, gradually forming a human shape. He didn’t bother to look further and turned away.
Sure enough, it was Chen Yu who was resurrected because of the team’s victory.
Upon realizing he was alive, Chen Yu was incredulous. He even raised his hand to touch his face. Everything was real.
“I really came back to life…”
Chen Yu looked up and saw An Wujiu. He rushed over and kneeled in front of him, continuously apologizing and even kowtowing, “Wujiu, it’s all my fault. I was manipulated; I’m sorry…”
At this moment, the one who manipulated him stood far away, coldly watching this fence-sitter with a disdainful smile on his face.
Chen Yu thought someone as kind as An Wujiu would surely forgive him.
He just wanted forgiveness. He wasn’t truly evil or really wanted to harm An Wujiu.
It was all beyond his control.
“You don’t need to do this.”
Hearing An Wujiu’s voice, Chen Yu was almost in tears.
Sure enough, he was willing to forgive him!
But An Wujiu’s next words were unexpected.
“I won’t forgive you. You are alive now because of every member of the Red Team. We fought with all our might just to let each other survive, not to give you a second chance.”
An Wujiu didn’t comply with his wishes.
Zhong Yirou also sneered at him, “You want us to forgive you just to comfort yourself for betraying your teammates?”
“Yeah,” Toudou Sakura laughed, “If you want to be a bad person, then be one to the end. Don’t hesitate, and think that what you did was just a small mistake. The nine members of the Red Team almost died because of you, old man.”
Nan Shan sighed, feeling compassion, “You should go back and take good care of your daughter. Risking your life in such a place is the most irresponsible thing you can do for her.”
Yang Erci, facing such a person, didn’t want to say anything and asked Shen Ti softly beside her.
“You killed him?”
Shen Ti smirked.
Yang Erci smiled. Just as expected.
As before, the system allocated reward points to each surviving player according to the game rules. In this team battle, the winning team’s players received a higher level of points.
An Wujiu and each member of the Red Team received 20,000 points.
Toudou Sakura was a bit excited, “Wow, it’s the first time I got so many points.”
After confirming her point balance, Zhong Yirou quietly approached Shen Ti, only to be noticed before she could succeed.
“What are you doing?” Shen Ti took half a step back, hiding behind An Wujiu, showing only half his face.
Zhong Yirou simply rolled up her sleeves and said, “Spendthrift, let me see how many points you have left. You squander every time; you’ll run out eventually.”
Shen Ti shamelessly replied, “If they’re gone, they’re gone. As long as Wujiu has them, it’s fine.”
“You really are a kept man.”
Several meters away, Zhou Yijue looked at An Wujiu from afar. An Wujiu was quietly standing among his team, smiling as they bantered.
This scene should have included him.
But everything had long been lost.
Noah, the little girl from An Wujiu’s camp, didn’t speak. She looked silently at Zhou Yijue, meeting his gaze.
“Survivors, the gates of the sanctuary will soon open. This time, you have 48 hours of free time.”
Zhong Yirou paused.
“This time, the duration has increased?”
“After the free time ends, please return to the game pods on your own. Otherwise, the sanctuary will directly terminate you.”
The pure white space around them gradually disintegrated, and all the players fell into a descending darkness.
Constantly falling…
Until suddenly opening his eyes wide.
An Wujiu’s ears were still ringing with the sanctuary’s final words.
[Survival is temporary; only death is eternal.]
Why did the holy altar always give this message whenever they escaped and became survivors?
Was it hinting at something?
He pulled out the nutrient tubes from his body and removed the breathing mask. The glass door of the pod opened automatically, allowing An Wujiu to exit.
Returning to reality, the first person An Wujiu saw was Shen Ti.
He stood in front of An Wujiu’s gaming pod, smiling, as if he had been waiting there all along.
In the game, An Wujiu could remain calm and composed, handling everything with ease. But seeing Shen Ti’s face now, he suddenly panicked.
An Wujiu came out of the pod with his head slightly lowered, his mind fixated on one thought.
He will definitely ask why I kissed him. He will definitely ask why I kissed him…
Shen Ti tilted his head and said, “Your face is so red.”
An Wujiu was taken aback. He couldn’t see it, but he felt his face burning. Still, it was better not to admit it at this moment.
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.” Shen Ti grabbed his newly restored arm and said, “It’s clearly red.”
An Wujiu fell silent.
As soon as Shen Ti opened his mouth, An Wujiu felt he was about to ask him.
But he had no idea how to answer.
“By the way, you…”
“I don’t know, I really don’t know.”
An Wujiu’s hasty response was witnessed by the others approaching. Zhong Yirou teased intentionally, “Oh, what are you interrogating him about? Look how flustered Wujiu is.”
Shen Ti laughed, “He doesn’t know, and I don’t know either.”
Having escaped danger once again, everyone was in a much better mood compared to previous rounds, chatting and laughing together as they left the gaming factory.
An Wujiu and Shen Ti walked at the back, several meters behind the others.
Feeling tormented by his anxiety, An Wujiu struggled internally, thinking it would be better to face it directly than to stay in this uncomfortable limbo.
No problem is unsolvable, he reassured himself.
After mentally preparing himself, An Wujiu turned to Shen Ti and asked proactively, “What were you going to ask me just now?”
Shen Ti seemed nonchalant, shaking his head and saying, “Nothing.”
“You were clearly going to ask me something just now.” An Wujiu frowned, “Why say it’s nothing?”
Now it seemed like he was the one insisting on asking.
Shen Ti laughed, “Alright, alright, I’ll ask again.” He stopped walking and grabbed An Wujiu’s wrist, making him stop too.
On the desolate sandy ground, An Wujiu turned back to look at him, his eyes clear and his hair tousled by the wind, looking extremely beautiful.
So, on a whim, Shen Ti decided to change his question.
Having beaten around the bush for too long, he no longer wanted to play any cat-and-mouse games.
He just wanted to capture his prey directly.
“I’ve fulfilled my end of the deal. I’ve given you everything you wanted.”
Shen Ti gave him a confident smile.
“Have you fallen for me?”
An Wujiu froze, caught off guard by the sudden direct question, and for a moment, he couldn’t say a word.
Seeing him completely silent, Shen Ti laughed, tugging on his arm and pulling him closer.
“Hey, why aren’t you saying anything?”
An Wujiu looked directly into his eyes. Although he still didn’t say a word, his panicked eyes had already betrayed him.
“You don’t want to admit it, huh.” Shen Ti leaned in close, lowering his head, “An Wujiu, I like you very much. Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
So close that Shen Ti seemed about to kiss him, An Wujiu, appearing calm and collected, felt his heart pounding like a drum, ready to leap out of his chest. He pressed his lips tightly together, as if that would keep his feelings hidden.
Just as their noses brushed together and their lips were mere inches apart, Shen Ti abruptly stopped.
He took An Wujiu’s hand, not to intertwine their fingers, but to guide it, placing it against An Wujiu’s own chest.
“Feel your heart, An Wujiu.”
“What’s the use of being stubborn?”
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