Chapter 127
His voice wasn't loud, but Rick and Moon Bow both stiffened when they heard it.
If accepting baptism makes one a true believer, then the intelligence they possess becomes credible. Wouldn't a fully mobilized church then crush itself into dust?
The identities of Li Dan and the Phantom Thief are still uncertain, but Rick and the Moon Bow have already been exposed.
"I... I'll go check it out." Rick gritted his teeth. Since there was no way out now, he might as well risk his life to disrupt the baptism ceremony.
"Don't panic, let me think about it carefully." Yuki refused instead, and after thinking seriously for a while, he said, "Those two will not participate in the baptism. Pan Zi's physical body has been destroyed by me, and Black Sword is very strong, so he will not take the risk."
He knows veteran players too well; the stronger they are, the more they fear taking risks. Besides, he had faced Black Sword head-on before, and even a novice like him struggled to fight back.
Yuki sensed a conspiracy. Normally, he should have jumped out and caused trouble by stopping the baptism ceremony in front of the town's residents in the square.
If he were with his senior and Hayasaka Ai, he would have no choice but to do this, but now that he's alone, the margin for error is much higher.
Even if he guessed wrong, Black Sword really did accept the baptism and perish together with him, he didn't know what would happen to the two of them, but having a trump card left over would not be a problem for another ten hours or so.
"If we don't intervene, we'll pretend we didn't see anything," Yuki decided.
"You just watched them get baptized and then sent the information to the church?" The girl stood up, her voice tinged with agitation.
Faced with life and death, she couldn't remain an ice sculpture.
"I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush. Come with me to a place to hide first, and we'll wait and see what happens." Yuki stepped onto the windowsill. The residents had all left, so he wasn't afraid to walk in the darkness. "Don't forget, there's still one player who can participate in the baptism—"
"He's even more anxious than we are."
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Person Who Got Shot While Lying Down (5K)
In the center of the town, a river formed by torches flowed beneath their feet, and a man and a dog stood by the window, observing this spectacular sight with great interest.
The thunderous footsteps, accompanied by the echoing bells, gave one the feeling of having a vast army under one's control.
"As expected, players have a lot of influence; even participating in the baptism can cause a gathering." The sheepdog watched with great interest, feeling that it was much more spectacular than during the day.
"The game has already flagged an 'abnormal' situation. Isn't the player's participation in the baptism abnormal enough?" Black Sword replied without turning his head, a slight smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Of course it's unusual. Even newcomers can sense the eeriness of the town. Only a fool would participate in the ritual. For veteran players, it's even more familiar.
Brainwashing, possession, erosion, control—no matter the method, once trapped in the game's world with no way out, what's the difference between that and suicide?
Therefore, while believers appear to have the upper hand, aside from a few lunatics, no one would think this is a good thing.
"Speaking of which, can you really control yourself?"
"I'm a dog trainer, I can barely control a human body." Pan Zi grinned, somewhat heartbroken, "This time the loss is really heavy, another dog's soul has to be sacrificed."
You've already suffered heavy losses, so this one won't matter.
Black Sword, not wanting to listen to his companion's rambling, turned his head and looked at the increasingly crowded square, where a figure stood in the center:
Standing at 1.8 meters tall, with a sunny and handsome face and short chestnut hair, he was none other than Pinto, who had been reported dead by the game.
His expression was blank; he opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and squatted in the square—he looked strange no matter how you looked at him.
"Making use of waste materials. Anyway, the characters in the instance won't hear the game notifications; they only know that an outsider is going to participate in the baptism. But with such a big fuss, it seems I guessed right—the gathering itself is a ritual."
Black Sword's smile widened; this was his idea, and the plan was simple.
By exploiting Pan Zi's characteristics, they first killed Pinto, then implanted the dog's soul into his body, and made a request to the church to participate in baptism. Before it even began, a mystery had already been solved.
"You're really out of your mind, coming up with such a despicable idea," Pan Zi complained from the side. He had originally planned to feed Pinto to the dogs, but his companion stopped him.
"Thank you for your compliment; that's why the organization assigned us together."
"Hey, do you mean I'm stupid?"
"I never said that." Black Sword regained his stern expression and shook his head. "Remember, when the ritual begins, banish that dog's soul."
"Why not try providing the information directly?"
"That's the gaze of an evil god. How could you possibly hide it with your meager abilities? Just don't get burned." Black Sword appeared very cautious; he wanted to outmaneuver the player, not provoke the evil god's wrath.
"But going around in circles is really troublesome."
"We don't need to take any risks; we can still relay intelligence from the sidelines." Black Sword gestured towards the residents passing by downstairs. "These people aren't puppets. Many people saw Rick, Pinto, and Moon Bow together. If they intervened to stop the ritual, what do you think they would look like?"
This wasn't a mutual destruction, but rather a ploy to alert the enemy. The group could only assume that the two were planning to die together and that the ceremony was meant to deliver intelligence to the church.
Both morally and logically, they should intervene to stop it; otherwise, if the players and the church unite, even a three-headed, six-armed being will die.
That's brilliant; they don't even know how to make use of waste.
Pan Zi's eyes lit up, and he quickly replied, "If they step in to rescue us, things will get interesting."
This is a strategy employed from an outsider's perspective to scheme against the church and other players, and incidentally, they also obtained an important piece of information. If all goes well, they can consider this dungeon cleared.
"Hmm, making a move in front of everyone will inevitably cause a stir, which is tantamount to declaring war on the entire town." Black Sword took a deep breath, observing the town with anticipation.
"Rick and Moon Bow have nowhere to escape, and the person behind them will also surface. Now I want to see who that person is."
Anyone who dares to make a move at this point, whether it's Li Dan or the Phantom Thief, will be a 100% Judge, and the Yadu Town will devote all its resources to killing them.
One of these two is acting, but no matter how they act, they wouldn't risk their life for it.
The plan was already drawn up, and more and more people were gathering in the square. The two of them waited patiently, since the group of people didn't have much of a choice anyway; they were gambling with their lives either way, so they might as well take control of the situation.
Time passed by, and gradually they sensed something was wrong. The footsteps were becoming fainter, and the square was almost full of people.
Wait a minute, the ceremony is about to begin, why haven't they made a move yet?
"Wait a little longer, there's no reason for them not to stop us." Black Sword raised his hand, his eyes growing increasingly puzzled.
I've analyzed that person's style of doing things many times. He's definitely the kind of player who's not afraid of death and wants to take the initiative. At least his fighting style is very fierce.
"Hey, there seems to be some noise over there in the square."
The two turned their heads together and saw that the townspeople had not yet all arrived, but the church doors had already opened, and the white-robed saint and his entourage had all come out.
Something's not right, how can the ceremony begin if everyone hasn't arrived yet?
Black Sword was somewhat puzzled. He snapped his fingers, and the sheepdog lay down on the spot, squinting its eyes and becoming focused.
Using Pinto's perception, he heard the church members discussing something.
"He left quietly, turning his back on God; tonight, there is only one outsider attending the baptism."
He?
Upon hearing the relayed message, Black Sword's face darkened completely. After a brief analysis, he understood the meaning behind it:
One player had been staying at the church. Tonight's ceremony was supposed to be for two players, but the other player didn't dare to participate in the baptism and chose to flee instead.
Wait a minute, doesn't that mean--
The man and the dog stared at each other blankly, and received an answer they couldn't understand:
The attacker was the same person last night and this morning.
You wouldn't believe it, but I'm a cunning person.
The cemetery was shrouded in thick fog, obscuring all vision except for the distant flickering lights of the town. Yuki leaned against someone's tombstone, his face filled with anticipation.
This time he was gambling, gambling that the two wouldn't have the courage to participate in the baptism, and even more so, gambling on the rationality of human nature.
But Yuki very confident about this gamble; he had already participated in three dungeons and met all sorts of players.
Some have principles, some are brave and fearless, some are insidious and ruthless, some are crazy and irritable, but they all have one thing in common:
The stronger you are, the more afraid you are of death; you must prioritize your own survival before engaging in combat.
Who would willingly perish together with someone else until the very last step?
The cemetery was a spot Yuki day; there was no trace of the evil god there, so even if he guessed wrong, it would buy him a considerable amount of time.
But as night approached, being in the misty cemetery felt like filming a horror movie.
People are tense because of the environment. Moon Bow also stands on the tombstone, holding his breath and monitoring his surroundings.
She couldn't see anything, but it was precisely because she couldn't see that she was tense; it felt as if enemies could rush out of the thick fog at any moment.
One, two, and then the entire the Roar Yadu Town, reduced the three of them to ashes.
"Isn't Mr. Li afraid?" Rick quietly approached, still clutching his Glock pistol, and was somewhat impressed by Yuki's composure.
He even had a look of anticipation on his face; the legendary masochist couldn't be more genuine.
The girl glanced in that direction and gently shook her head. "Even if he's afraid, he won't show it."
"The composure of an important person?"
Judging solely from the perspective of the Reincarnation Game, Yuki is undoubtedly a big shot to them, but Moon Bow is unwilling to admit this, and snorts softly:
"He's just trying to scare us. He's probably scared to death right now. If we hadn't looked, our legs would probably be shaking."
Puff.
Rick wanted to laugh, but quickly held it back; Yuki had made a good impression on him.
This person was very powerful, bringing a ferocious, oppressive aura, but after spending two days with him, he discovered that the other party was not cold-hearted, nor did he possess the arrogance of a strong person, nor did he treat people like beasts of burden.
They were very proper in their speech and actions, and would always consult each other before asking them to risk their lives. Even in the later stages of the dungeon, they didn't discover any huge conspiracy or plan to betray the two of them.
He simply played the game seriously and professionally, pushing each character to their Limit.
The sense of wariness gradually disappeared, replaced by a tension that arose with the sound of the bell.
Clang, clang, clang.
The church bells pierced through the thick fog; this was the second chime, signifying that the residents had gathered to prepare for the ceremony.
If the opposing player is braver than expected and personally undergoes baptism to become a fanatic, then the church will believe their intelligence, and the entire Yadu Town will be swept away like a storm.
Yuki could find the cemetery, then the church would naturally guess it as well.
Despite his nervousness, he remained calm and had developed a comprehensive plan for the situation.
It's nighttime now, so the townspeople can't pinpoint the location precisely. They'll have to search with their naked eyes, which will waste a lot of time. Plus, the cemetery has a complex terrain, so the three of them can hide for a while longer.
"Don't panic. Even in the worst-case scenario, we can hold out until morning." Yuki back a few paces and came to their side. "You two each have one more disguise you can use. If you're lucky, you can hide until after midnight."
At eight o'clock in the morning, the enthusiastic residents of Yadu Town can accurately locate the players. Fortunately, the 'Undercover' have disguises available, allowing them to blend into the crowd.
The two felt somewhat relieved and didn't regret using a disguise beforehand.
Ultimately, Yuki isn't a nanny. If she wants to cooperate, she has to demonstrate her value. Without this man, they would have been sold off by Pinto long ago.
"But we can't make it through the last hour or so." The girl slowly shook her head. Enduring it all required strength. She asked expectantly, "You have a better way, right?"
"I'm not a god. It's already pretty good that I can deduce for more than ten hours. Besides, I'm not as lucky as you two." Yuki shrugged lightly. What could he possibly do? Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't last as long as the two of them.
If I were the real Li Dan, capable of manipulating others, then I might have a chance.
Why didn't I get the 'Undercover'?
Yuki sighed inwardly, feeling that the game had already been arranged by fate. If Rick drew 'The Judge', he might as well just shoot him.
"Alright, don't be so pessimistic. This is the worst-case scenario. Those two probably won't dare to participate in the baptism, so tonight will be a close call."
"What are the chances?" Moon Bow's eyes lit up as she pressed for an answer.
"About 30%, but we have to consider that they might have other trump cards up their sleeves."
What kind of high probability is 30%?
The girl was somewhat annoyed but had no mood to fight back. All her previous education was useless because this man was completely uncontrollable. It was ridiculous for the weak to use the strong.
"Fine, we'll see if he lives or dies in an hour. I'm pretty tired anyway, might as well get some rest." Rick was quite easygoing, and simply lay down on someone's tombstone, putting his hands behind his head.
"Eternal sleep? If they capture you, even your soul will be bound, and you will suffer endless torment."
"Brother Li, please let me go, don't scare me like this." Upon hearing this, Rick immediately became irritable, as if he was about to burst into tears.
"Why would I scare you? I'm just offering a friendly reminder: when it's time to commit suicide, don't hesitate, or you'll find it hard to die."
Rick covered his ears with his hands. Waiting was agonizing enough. Even if he were to die, wouldn't it be better to be happy for a few more hours? This guy really knows how to manipulate people's mentality.
Yuki grinned. He really didn't mean to scare anyone. Rick had a good personality and was quite brave; he was worth reminding.
Having witnessed the Head-Connector Overlord of the Demon Hospital, death is, for the player, a release.
"If it really comes to that, will you commit suicide?" Moon Bow couldn't help but ask, as if speaking could ease the tension.
"Someone is waiting for me to go back, so I will struggle until the very last moment." Yuki looked up at the dark sky, a happy expression on his face.