Game of Wits (4,000-Word Combined Chapter)

Wang Changle put away the scroll, took out five standard riot-control suits, then produced a bottle of 1-star Evolution Potion and placed them on the ground.

Ye Zhongming had even deeper doubts about Wang Changle. He could tell that everything Wang Changle said was true.

Yet he had no memory whatsoever of this person, neither in his previous life nor this one. He didn't know him at all!

"Why should I trade with you? It's only a One-star Evolution Potion."

Xia Lei and Xiao Hu were left staring in disbelief.

What was going on today? Not only had precious Evolution Potions become equal-value trade goods, but Ye Zhongming had even said "only."

They had seen it just last night: two groups had engaged in a fierce gunfight over a single Evolution Potion.

Dozens had died or been injured, yet now it had become something that was merely "only" in someone else's eyes!

"If anyone else said that, I definitely wouldn't believe them. But if Boss Ye says it, I do! A One-star Evolution Potion is only part of the payment. For the other part, I'll tell you where I came from."

Wang Changle laughed heartily, but his expression remained calm.

The reason he had brought out the One-star Evolution Potion was, first, because it was only effective the first time it was used, and second, because it couldn't be taken out of this world!

An Evolution Potion that was already useless to him and couldn't be brought out of the world naturally had its value greatly reduced, so he chose to use it as a bargaining chip!

After all, Evolution Potions were still extremely valuable in the early stages. They were a decent equivalent for trade, especially for someone looking to form a team.

And to Ye Zhongming, he was an utterly unstable factor!

Now that there was an opportunity to understand him, Wang Changle guessed that someone like Ye Zhongming, whose desire for control was off the charts, certainly wouldn't refuse.

After Wang Changle finished speaking, Ye Zhongming fell silent, and the air suddenly became quiet.

Ten seconds later.

"Fine. I can trade with you. What do you want this time?"

Ye Zhongming nodded at Liang Chuyin, telling her to take Xia Lei, Xiao Hu, and the others outside. Only Dihuang Wan and Mo Ye remained.

"I need Boss Ye to forge a piece of equipment for me with your homogenization enhancement ability. Use these five riot-control suits as the base, and these are the other materials."

Seeing Ye Zhongming dismiss everyone else, Wang Changle immediately took item after item from his Mark Space: a Terror Sheep's horn, a large piece of Terror Sheep hide, and ten Magic Crystals.

As Ye Zhongming watched Wang Changle continuously bring out materials, his heart sank again. So many materials had appeared in an instant—this was spatial equipment!

His heart sank. This man seemed able to acquire the corresponding items before him every time. Ye Zhongming had only just obtained a spatial item, and this man had already displayed his own spatial equipment!

Not only did he know him, he knew what items he possessed, and now he even knew his abilities. Openly and subtly, he was saying: I know everything you have!

This man was too dangerous, too threatening. If he got the chance, he absolutely had to get rid of him!

[Notice: Ye Zhongming is dissatisfied with your actions. Favorability has fallen to Indifferent 30/100.]

[Notice: World Child Ye Zhongming's favorability toward you -10. Current status: Cold 20/100.]

[Warning: Below Indifferent is Hostile! Please handle your relationship with the World Child carefully.]

Three consecutive Paradise notices flashed before Wang Changle's eyes, but he had expected this already. It was still within his tolerance.

"If the Terror Sheep hide isn't all used up, the rest is yours as well. And these are yours too."

Looking at Ye Zhongming's face, so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water, Wang Changle knew that what he needed to do now was stabilize the other man's emotions.

As he changed the subject, he took out two more barrels of bottled water, several cases of instant noodles, and one or two bottles of alcohol disinfectant from his space.

These things had no value whatsoever to Wang Changle anymore.

But to Ye Zhongming, who still had to struggle to survive in the apocalypse, clean water, filling dry rations, and disinfecting alcohol were all indispensable supplies.

Hearing Wang Changle's words, Ye Zhongming's expression eased somewhat. He nodded and had Mo Ye put away the supplies, then took one-third of the Terror Sheep hide.

With a flick of his hand, light flashed. The five riot-control suits merged one after another, and the dark-black riot-control suit visibly became denser and tougher, giving off a faint gray glow.

Immediately afterward, Ye Zhongming crushed ten Level-1 Magic Crystals in succession to replenish some Mental Power. The Terror Sheep's horn turned into a streak of white light and entered the riot-control suit.

As the white light flowed, bone-like patterns began to emerge along the suit's joints and seams. The faint gray glow transformed into white lines of light.

In barely ten minutes, the five riot-control suits had become a piece of White Equipment. The World Child's ability truly was powerful!

With a mere gesture, he turned ordinary items into equipment. It was truly the miraculous transformation of the mundane into the extraordinary.

"Boss Ye, I came from the same place you did. It's just that we arrived at different times. I came here later than you, after you did. Because you came, I came."

Wang Changle looked at the somewhat exhausted Ye Zhongming before lowering his head in thought for a moment and speaking those words.

After hearing Wang Changle, Mo Ye became thoroughly confused.

Were these two speaking in riddles? What did "because you came, I came" even mean? Why couldn't she understand a single word?

But Ye Zhongming understood, and it confirmed his suspicions.

Wang Changle had indeed been reborn as well. He had simply arrived later than Ye Zhongming, and on the timeline after Ye Zhongming's rebirth!

That was it. It explained why this man was so familiar with him, why they always happened to encounter each other, and why he could obtain equipment, Evolution Potions, and professions in advance.

This man truly came from the same world as him.

This man couldn't be allowed to remain. If he existed, Ye Zhongming couldn't; if Ye Zhongming existed, he couldn't!

"I've answered your question. Now I need to begin our second trade. These are Power Boots, White Equipment. This is Terror Sheep meat, and this paper contains the coordinates of a Level-1 Roulette. I need Boss Ye to use Ghost Metal to homogenize and enchant the equipment for me!"

Watching Ye Zhongming's ever-changing expression, Wang Changle briskly took out item after item.

Since the Power Boots couldn't be taken out of this world, they naturally had to be traded. The Terror Sheep meat could be stored in space, but as a white three-point material, it was difficult for it to have much value.

The Level-1 Roulette coordinates naturally referred to the one in the Pearl Lake Hotel warehouse. As for whether Ye Zhongming went there, that was none of Wang Changle's concern. Still, it was indeed a bargaining chip.

[Notice: World Child Ye Zhongming's favorability toward you -20. Current status: Cold 0/100.]

[Warning: Below Cold is Hostile! You will be targeted by the World Child.]

"You've gone too far. Do you really think I wouldn't dare kill you?"

Ye Zhongming's face turned cold. Edge Moon flashed in his hand as his body became a streak of light that charged toward Wang Changle. Dihuang Wan also lunged at Wang Changle from the side.

Outside the hall, Liang Chuyin immediately rushed in with the others at the sound. They raised their firearms toward Wang Changle, blocking his only escape route.

Wang Changle leaped backward, then rolled across the ground, barely evading Ye Zhongming's longsword.

"Root Entanglement!"

[Your Intelligence is twice that of the opponent. The target is immobilized for 4.8 seconds. Nature Mark applied.]

At the same time, green light flashed, and Dihuang Wan was immediately bound by vines, frozen in midair and unable to move.

Wang Changle scrambled backward on hands and feet. A cold gleam flashed, splitting the riot-control suit on his chest and piercing through his bulletproof vest as blood sprayed out.

[You have been attacked. Health -15%.]

With Zhan Yue's sharp edge fully unleashed, even the riot-control suit's double-layered defense couldn't prevent such severe damage. It was stronger than the damage from ordinary firearms!

Wang Changle retreated again and again, but ultimately failed to avoid Ye Zhongming's attacks. He was forced into a corner just as Ye Zhongming came at him once more.

With a raise of his hand, something appeared in Wang Changle's grip, held across before his mouth.

"To be honest, I really don't want to use this thing! But if Boss Ye takes one more step forward, I'll blow it. I might not survive, but neither will any of you!"

Wang Changle looked at the Three-foot Green Edge in Ye Zhongming's hand, Dihuang Wan, who had broken free of the control, and the crowd surrounding him. His eyes were filled with madness!

Ye Zhongming was about to add another strike when he saw the item in Wang Changle's hand. He immediately halted, stopping with a grave expression.

"The Summoning Horn? How could you possibly have that?"

"Boss Ye, do you think I would have come here alone if I wasn't confident I could leave safely?"

Wang Changle held the horn, keeping it always one centimeter from his mouth.

If the most meaningful thing he had done in this Doomsday Roulette World was finding a friend, then his greatest gain was the horn in his hand.

He had obtained this horn from a Golden Pocket.

Summoning Horn

Blue 70

Origin: Doomsday Roulette World

Type: Necklace

Durability: None (necklaces are rare equipment and have no durability)

Charm: +1

War Summoning: Consumes 20 Mana to call all creatures within ten li and conduct a Charm check. Creatures with lower Charm than yours will be controlled by you. Immune against humans.

Trait Call: Conducts an additional Intelligence check against enemy summoned creatures. Summons with lower Intelligence than yours will fall into fear, confusion, sleep, stiffness, or slowness for 10 minutes.

Notice: Cooldown time is one Derivative World.

Notice: After use, all primary attributes permanently decrease by 5 points. For the remaining duration in the current world, all attributes decrease by 90%. Cannot be removed.

Description: When the horn sounds, war begins!

Price: 16,000 Paradise Coins (This is a rule item and can be taken out of a Derivative World.)

To improve his odds, Wang Changle had even applied the Characteristic Card to it, obtaining this piece of equipment.

Though this equipment's cooldown was too long and its cost immense—so immense that it could only be used as a trump card—it was still a terrifying weapon.

It was a strategic trump card capable of turning the tide. Especially in team battles or apocalyptic worlds, once used, it would create a fight to the death.

This was also why Wang Changle dared to come alone and extort the protagonist without concern for the consequences.

"As for how I got it, Boss Ye should know better than anyone. I even took three bullets for it and nearly died!"

Wang Changle spoke with a hint of resentment and shot Ye Zhongming across from him a sideways glance.

"You're just like that old bastard Wang—greedy, insatiable beasts!"

Seeing the nearly tangible killing intent in Ye Zhongming's eyes, Liang Chuyin immediately understood and stepped forward to curse at him.

"Ye Zhongming, tell your woman to be quiet. Otherwise, I don't mind if we all die together! First, this is a trade. It's not like I haven't given you anything."

"Second, I'm not Wang Zhen. He doesn't have that kind of madness or the capital for it, but I do!"

Faced with Liang Chuyin's repeated outbursts, Wang Changle's expression darkened as well. The horn in his hand was already pressed against his lips.

Ye Zhongming's expression turned cold. He could see that if pushed too far, this man truly would blow the horn!

"Since you arrived later than I did, you should understand that you're asking for too much. You should know better than anyone how rare Ghost Metal is."

Ye Zhongming shoved Liang Chuyin toward Mo Ye, glared at her, and returned to his cold expression.

"If Boss Ye feels the terms aren't equal, I can increase the price. This should be your gun. I'm returning it to you! Also, I guarantee that I'll leave Yingcheng within a day and won't reveal any information about you to anyone."

As Wang Changle spoke, he took out the strangely shaped gun from his space and tossed it at Ye Zhongming's feet.

As for the latter two terms, they were naturally true for him. After all, he would soon be leaving this Derivative World, and whether he could ever return was uncertain.

"I hope you mean what you say! This is the only time. If I see you again, I'll definitely kill you!"

Ye Zhongming patted Dihuang Wan, who was battling the weeds around him, put away Edge Moon, and nodded for Mo Ye to lead the others out.

After everyone else left, Ye Zhongming gave Wang Changle an unreadable look.

[Notice: World Child Ye Zhongming is disgusted by your actions. Your relationship has changed to Hostile 100/100.]

A finger-sized piece of black metal continuously melted in Ye Zhongming's hand, then dripped into the riot-control suit.

Wrapped in Ghost Metal's black liquid, the riot-control suit immediately changed from white to green.

Then, under the effect of a second piece of black metal, black runes flashed across it one after another, and the green eventually turned blue.

The black riot-control suit, wrapped in black liquid, became a suit of full-body black bone-patterned armor, like the armor of a medieval knight, except it lacked a helmet.

The three homogenization enhancements and the enchantment consumed a great deal of Ye Zhongming's Mental Power.

[Notice: You have obtained Armor of Toughness x1.]

Wang Changle put away the black knight armor. Amid Paradise's notification sounds, he held the horn and slowly backed out of the hall.

[Notice: Your reputation with Cloud Top Villa has changed to Hostile 0/1000.]

[Notice: Your favorability with plot character Mo Ye has changed to Hatred 1/100.]

[Notice: Your favorability with plot character Liang Chuyin has changed to Hatred 99/100.]

[Notice: You have become enemies with the World Child's faction. The next time you enter this world, you will be hunted by the World Child's faction.]

[Notice: You have influenced the plot by a very small amount. You have obtained 1% World Origin.]

The instant Wang Changle left the hall, six consecutive notifications sounded by his ears.

He glanced at the information before using Flesh Rose to stop the bleeding, then continued onward.

He still had one more thing to do!