A Crude Ruse

He replied to Chao Tuke:

"I'll think about it."

However, things got even more interesting in the next two minutes. Father Tali Lang had just ended his brief video call with Him when the Scholar joined the call.

The Scholar's voice sounded calm and methodical, outlining a proposal similar to Chao Ketu's, only from a slightly different angle:

"... That's right, Your Excellency Yashan. The game is currently a three-way battle. If we cooperate, even if we can't Suppression the other side, we can at least develop our strength and lay the foundation for Continued Battles."

"The fourth system time point is approaching, District War will enter a fierce stage. We can now disclose some key card information to you. Please make your choice as soon as possible."

This time, Yashan didn't use "I'll think about it" as an excuse; instead, he stared intently at the Scholar.

Although He resided in a ghostly body and had no real facial features, everyone present seemed to feel a cold gaze slowly sweeping over every face around the round table.

"I don't know if I should be angry," Yashan said into the public microphone, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.

"You must understand that trying to deceive an existence that has lived for countless ages with such a clumsy trick that would even fool a child is itself a great blasphemy."

"There was no three-way standoff on the field; from beginning to end, there were only two forces: you and me. You were just putting on an act, colluding to weave a fragile lie, attempting to betray me at the last moment, while using this clumsy performance to appease me and prevent me from interfering with your true cooperation."

"You can rest assured, you... are not worthy of my special targeting, and I wouldn't be so bored as to interfere with your 'cooperation.' Not everyone who escapes the Trial Instance is purely malicious. If a foundation for win-win cooperation truly exists in the Future, our relationship might still have new possibilities."

"But your despicable Essence disgusts me, and your hypocritical faces make me laugh. You have no right to speak to me now."

Yashan stopped speaking, took out three cards, and used them on the spot.

Those were three cards that purely enhanced their own strengths; no cards with disruptive or offensive capabilities were chosen.

He will not easily waste resources on futile efforts that only serve a harassing purpose until he is absolutely certain of crushing all his opponents in one fell swoop.

Rather than doing so, it would be better to take this opportunity to leave a vague signal that "there may be a possibility of cooperation in the Future," thus reserving a tiny escape route for the unknowable future.

Having done all this, Yashan vanished from the hall, leaving behind a silence.

The silence lasted for several seconds before being broken by Shan Yixian. He clutched a card in his hand, muttering somewhat sullenly, "How did he see through it? Was my performance not convincing enough? My insults were all sincere."

Despite being "sincerely" greeted, Gai Li Darwin remained slumped in his chair, rolled his eyes, and almost wanted to curse.

"... You Central Lands are so rude! Is it so hard to see through our little tricks? Just use some special detection cards and you'll know!"

As he spoke, he pulled out a card.

[Tinder Probe Card (Special)]

[After use, you can perceive the current quality of all [Tinder] in all participating areas of this battlefield.]

"The drop rate for this card isn't low. Just upgrade it to 'Fine' quality or higher, and you'll be able to clearly see the quality of all the [Tinder] in all our areas. Or other cards with similar functions; use them once, and the anomaly will be exposed."

After all, in order to maintain balance, everyone chose to keep the quality of the [Tinder] at Fine.

If one can easily defend against waves within such a short buffer distance of Fine- quality [Tinder], then it means that the wave is completely under one's control.

"Anyone with a brain knows that if we really had a tense three-way standoff and mutual restraint as we fabricated... how could everyone be neglecting to upgrade the most crucial [Tinder] quality? All eight regions are uniformly maintained at 'Fine' quality—that's obviously suspicious!"

It's as eerie as walking into an abandoned toilet in the middle of the night and finding eight burly men holding a meeting with bowls and chopsticks.

"It's alright," Song Shige said calmly. "It was just a gamble anyway. If we succeed, it'll be a pleasant surprise; if we don't, it doesn't matter. At least we got a feel for His attitude."

Mu Hongyuan parted his lips slightly, his voice still as heavenly as a melody. "According to the meaning of His last words... it seems to be implying that even Forbidden Existences are not entirely incompatible with cooperation?"

"The possibility of cooperation has always existed," Su Luo raised her eyes, her gaze calm and undisturbed. "Don't simply regard these Forbidden Existence system-generated monsters. Most of them possess 'real' pasts, independent emotions, and complex motivations. The differences in their level of understanding and strength determine the vastly different attitudes they have towards the Survival System and us Survivors."

"Then... is it possible for us to unite those forces that can be united?" Jiang Mengrui asked thoughtfully.

Su Luo remained silent, only offering a slight smile.

Dream on! Even the Survivors in their own world are filled with scheming and estrangement. How can you expect to unite those Forbidden Existence as deep as the ocean?

Perhaps it's better to believe in the Forbidden Existence of the Red Stone.

"Fight if you can win, run if you can't, surrender if you can't run, negotiate if you can't surrender, and die if you can't negotiate." Su Luo uttered these timeless words.

"That's not something we should be thinking about right now," Gai Li, slapping the table.

"Keep going! Where was I? Oh right! The government collapsed again, and the prime minister fled again. Do you know what the president was doing then? Ha! He was submitting evidence to the court proving that his wife could not possibly be his biological father... Haha!"

Gai Li lay back in his chair, the Gallic man himself telling new-age Gallic jokes.

That's right, Su Luo and the others were waiting for the right moment to act. In the meantime, they would chat, gossip, and try to trick Yashan.

Although they didn't manage to fool Yashan, everyone had a good laugh.

"You remind me of someone shaking their head, narrowly escaping disaster, remaining calm and composed, adorned with a flower on their neck, engaging in eloquent discourse, and displaying a broad-mindedness..."

"Sigh, when I was young, the history I saw was full of heroes and villains taking turns on the stage, and the politics I saw were all sorts of conspiracies and underhanded schemes. Damn it, what have I seen in the last few years? The history I see is all about Zhu Chongba's schemes and Hong Taiji's corruption, and the politics are all about presidents smoking the names of former presidents and couples going to jail together, and the world becoming increasingly stagnant... Everyone says the adult world is dark, but I never imagined it would be this dark..." Shan Yixian covered her face.

"Unfortunately, that absurd past is gone forever, whether it was beautiful or laughable."

Father Tali Lang, a North American, was laughing heartily, then sighed.

Su Luo in the chair, watching this group of world-class professionals converse.

When people are uncertain about the Future, they often look back and reflect on the past.

"Actually, it's always been like this... Alright, the fourth time point has arrived. Everyone, please take care of yourselves and then come in to get down to business." Su Luo tapped the table.