NOVPUBIn a world as dark as ink, only two faint lights shone, as Masks Number 11 and Number 17 stood facing each other atop a cylindrical platform.
"Plan? The plan is simple,"
Mask Number 17 chuckled sinisterly, "According to the information I’ve gathered, the supernatural criminal ’Wen Zaiye’ is trapped in the ’Mi Jia Calamity Realm’ and can’t escape. Mu Qingtong’s Squad Seven will enter the realm tonight to round him up. We just need to wait for this little beauty to be alone and knock her out."
"Heh, Owl, if you weren’t in Zone 51, I could go alone too,"
As Mask Number 17’s tone grew increasingly lecherous, Xia Feng rolled his eyes. You go alone? I’m afraid Mu Shen would chop you up and feed you to the dogs, wasting all your Life Points for nothing.
"By the way, how many Life Points do you still have?" Xia Feng asked.
"Why do you ask?" Mask Number 17 suddenly became cautious.
"I currently have 26 Life Points," Xia Feng smiled slightly, "Heart for heart, I want to make some transactions with you."
26 points?! Mask Number 17 was taken aback, his eyes narrowing slightly, "It seems you really did kill Number 10."
"Obviously."
"Tsk tsk, true as always, catching them in reality gets you more points."
He clicked his tongue in admiration, "I have 19 Life Points now. Just so you know, I haven’t bought any skill cards in the first three rounds, but in the fourth round, the evolution stage, I must buy a skill. If you’re thinking of borrowing Life Points from me, let’s not even discuss it."
Xia Feng tapped the table, pondering, "Which skill card are you planning to buy?"
"Do I even need to ask?" Mask Number 17 chuckled, "Right now, all players are eyeing that B-grade Spiritual Clothes, anyone with a bit of resources would want to grab it."
"But you have only 19 points, is that enough? My estimate is that the B-grade Spiritual Clothes would go for at least 40 points."
"Of course it’s not enough, that’s why I’m trying to figure something out," Mask Number 17 shrugged.
"I can lend you 20 points," Xia Feng said straightforwardly.
Mask Number 17: "Huh?"
Xia Feng looked at his own 26 Life Points, knowing that if Mask Number 17 killed him, he could inherit his cards but not his Life Points, so the only way was to directly transfer them to him...
"I’ll give you 20 points, after you win the B-grade Spiritual Clothes at the auction, you just need to share it with me."
Mask Number 17 instantly understood Xia Feng’s intention—it was a joint bid for the B-grade. Indeed, a clever strategy.
Yet he found it somewhat unbelievable, squinting, "You’re not afraid I’ll go back on my word?"
"Go back on your word?" Xia Feng sounded puzzled, his tone becoming very serious, "I trust you!" 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Mask Number 17: "..."
"I’ve transferred it to you." Xia Feng spoke sincerely, without hesitation, like a wealthy man naively facing a scam, ready to transfer a million if asked.
[Ding~ Player Number 11 has transferred 20 Life Points to you, automatically deposited into your account]
Mask Number 17’s eyes widened as he saw the pop-up message on the panel.
[Life Points: (19+20) 39]
"Gulp—" He swallowed subconsciously, feeling a bit dizzy, 39 points! He’d scrimped and saved for three rounds, and now it had doubled in a flash!
Xia Feng: "Oh, by the way, I’m left with 6 Life Points, you can use the Predation Card on me during the Basic Predation Phase to score another 5 Life Points, and I’ll conveniently enter the Nature Reserve."
The Nature Reserve meant: Players who were preyed upon during the ’Basic Predation Phase’ would enter a protected area—unable to be preyed upon again. The aim was probably to prevent a player from being attacked by multiple players.
Hearing Xia Feng’s sincere invitation, Mask Number 17 was stunned, another 5 points making it 44 Life Points!
The feeling of sudden wealth was making his head spin, and he looked up more suspiciously at Xia Feng: "Say, are you joining the mission to capture Mu Qingtong?"
"Of course, just to bump into you," Xia Feng smiled.
"My role counters yours, aren’t you afraid I’ll capture you in reality?"
"Capture?" Xia Feng puzzled, blinking, his tone once again earnest and genuine, "I trust you!"
"..."
Mask Number 17 no longer had any idea what Xia Feng was thinking—how could he trust a stranger so much?
"Could it be some kind of scheme?" He puzzled internally, but the Life Points were already in his account, the power completely in his hands. Even if Number 11 killed him, he couldn’t take the points from his account.
So, the only possibility left was that Number 11... really damn trusted him not to bail?!
Though he always felt Number 11 was baiting him, he really couldn’t fathom a reason why, with all the Life Points already transferred. What’s there to bait then?
Could there be some risk that I am not aware of? Mask Number 17 considered, but the gain clearly outweighed the risk!!
The two then chatted about the details of their plan and where to meet. Before ending the transaction, Mask Number 17 asked again, "Do you really trust me?"
"Of course, I trust you!" Xia Feng gave a thumbs up and grinned, disappearing the next moment, along with the platform.
Mask Number 17 looked at the empty darkness ahead, silent for a long time, then finally couldn’t hold back and bent over, laughing uproariously.
The dark space echoed with his wild, mocking laughter.
"He really is... downright foolish!" He laughed for a good while, slowly standing up, a mocking cold glint flashing in his eyes as he looked down at the tablet.
[Life Points: 39]
"This is the fourth round, basic predation success earns 5 points, Hunting Phase points are doubled, that’s 10 points, killing Number 11 brings an additional reward of 6 points."
His gaze shimmering, he grinned, "Which means, I can gain another 5+16, 21 Life Points from Number 11! 39+21, that’ll be a full 60 points!"
"60 Life Points..." Mask Number 17 muttered excitedly, now just thinking of becoming wealthy that night made his scalp tingle, adrenaline surging.
"Tsk, if only I could run into such fools every day."
He scoffed, shaking his head, "But before that, we still need to complete the task assigned by our superiors. Mu Qingtong, huh..."
"Heh heh~~" His lips curved wickedly, a sly light flickering in his eyes.
"Ding—"
The deafening chime of a bell reverberated.
"The free trade phase has ended. Please all players calm your emotions, we are now initiating the Basic Predation Phase."
The masked figure wearing a black high-top hat tossed a 37-sided dice into the air, the black and white shadows swirling.
Subsequently, as agreed, Mask Number 17 used Number 11’s Predation Card on Xia Feng. Xia Feng glanced at his panel, 6 Life Points subtracted by 5, putting him right on the brink of death, entering the Nature Reserve.
[Life Points: 1]
He smiled, now he just needed to find Player Number 17, get himself killed by him!
And then, replace Number 17!
