Free Web NovelAfter coaxing Tang Erda to the point where he no longer looked quite so weak—roughly from having only one breath left to having two—Liu Jiayi stopped just in time.
It had not been easy to bring this man into a state where he had no combat power. She did not dare restore this huge idiot directly.
“And then?” Liu Jiayi raised an eyebrow and looked at Bai Liu. “What are you going to do?”
Bai Liu sat casually cross-legged beside Tang Erda.
“It’s rare to be able to make him quiet down. I’m preparing to have a chat with him.”
“And then make a win-win deal.”
Bai Liu looked at Liu Jiayi with a smile.
As soon as Liu Jiayi saw that smile of Bai Liu’s, she silently backed away two steps and rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. She could not help looking at the still-unconscious Tang Erda with a little pity. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Poor idiot.
He was about to be cheated by Bai Liu.
Qi Yifang’s terrified voice came from a distance. He seemed to be running this way.
The “living person transformation” between Liu Jiayi and Bai Liu just now had terrified this outsider who was still recording numbers. Only now did he finally regain his senses and walk toward the corridor.
Liu Jiayi put away the antidote and stood up.
“I’ll go outside and stop Qi Yifang. I’ll give you fifteen minutes to handle this Tang-whatever. That’s enough time, right?”
Leaning against the corridor wall, Bai Liu lazily raised his hand and made an OK gesture.
Liu Jiayi turned to leave.
Before she left, she threw a bottle of antidote to Bai Liu without looking back.
“Before dealing with other people, handle yourself properly first.”
“Getting injured like this while holding my skill panel is embarrassing.”
Bai Liu raised his hand to wipe away the blood sliding down from the corner of his mouth. He steadily caught the antidote Liu Jiayi had thrown to him and said with a smile,
“Thanks.”
He did indeed have the Little Witch’s panel.
But Bai Liu himself had almost exhausted his mental power during the confrontation with Tang Erda just now. Without replenishing his mental power first, he had no way to use Liu Jiayi’s skills.
Furthermore, as a person with a heavy “player” mindset, Bai Liu was indeed not very sensitive to his own health points.
If Liu Jiayi had not sharply noticed that Bai Liu’s health points were too low and thrown him the antidote in time, Bai Liu most likely would have gone into negotiations with Tang Erda while carrying those pitiful three health points.
If Tang Erda turned the tables while on the verge of death, he really might have been in trouble.
The Little Witch waved her hand impatiently and left.
In the dark, dim corridor, only Bai Liu and Tang Erda remained.
Two opponents barely hanging on after a fierce struggle.
After Bai Liu finished drinking the antidote and the mental power recovery agent, restoring his panels to full value, he leaned in and patted Tang Erda’s blood-covered face.
Tang Erda had been blasted full of bloody holes by his own Russian Roulette bullet. A great deal of blood was flowing from his body. His breathing and heartbeat were almost inaudible.
If Liu Jiayi had not forcibly extended his life, he should have already breathed his last by now.
Being patted without the slightest restraint by Bai Liu, Tang Erda weakly opened his eyes a crack.
A faint blue light shone through his pupils, the only speck of brightness in this dark corridor.
The moment he saw Bai Liu, Tang Erda’s fingers, soaked in the pool of blood, moved reflexively, as if he wanted to summon a gun.
But in the end, they went limp powerlessly.
He no longer had the strength to keep fighting.
He could only stare fixedly at Bai Liu with bloodstained blue eyes. He seemed to want to turn over and grab Bai Liu’s ankle, saying with great effort, word by word,
“...Let... Su Yang go...”
“Actually, I’m quite curious.”
Bai Liu did not dodge. Instead, he leaned closer to Tang Erda, staring directly at the other man without flinching.
“I saw it in the mirror. The Su Yang who made you set out on the journey to hunt me down in the first place should be completely dead, right?” freewēbnoveℓ.com
“Even his soul has disappeared, hasn’t it?”
Tang Erda, who had been trying to grab Bai Liu, had his pupils shrink violently.
Bai Liu calmly continued asking,
“No matter what, even if your wish is fulfilled in the end, even if everyone is saved, even if the me in every timeline dies and no longer harms others...”
“Won’t the Su Yang you want to save the most still be unable to come back?”
“Then what is the meaning of your pursuit of me?”
Tang Erda lay on the ground like a dead statue, motionless.
Only his fingers curled together, as if trying to form a fist.
But he was already too tired.
Even an action like clenching his fist was something Tang Erda could no longer do.
He could only stare vacantly at the pitch-black ceiling of the corridor while countless chaotic voices crossed through his mind.
[...A terrifying opponent, the terrifying Wandering Circus! Because of the existence of the Joker, many people simply don’t have the courage to fight them!]
A voice explained with passionate fervor.
[But the other team on the finals stage today clearly aren’t such cowards. They have bravely engaged the Wandering Circus!]
[You must know that the Joker sniper’s skill is the Soul Shattering Gun! This is no secret among all of us players. This information was leaked with the tacit permission of their captain, Bai Six.]
[This is a truly terrifying skill that has already made many teams choose to surrender before the confrontation even begins—because once they are hit by the Joker sniper, even their soul will shatter into ten million pieces in an instant!]
[Those who have personally experienced that kind of pain can no longer tell us about it, because they have all left this world. But that is not the most terrifying part of the Soul Shattering Gun. The most terrifying part of this gun is—]
[It will completely kill a person, with no possibility of resurrection. They will vanish from this world completely and utterly.]
[Even if time resets, even if mountains and seas reverse, resurrection is absolutely impossible.]
[Because their soul has already disappeared completely.]
[Today! Through our previous interviews, we learned that the main target of the Wandering Circus’ Joker sniper is the captain of the opposing team, the Hunter, who is also a gunman! It seems we will be able to enjoy a fierce confrontation and collision between top players with the same type of skill!]
The noisy background sound of the arena.
The dazzling spotlights spilling down from some unknown height above.
The audience cheering and whistling.
And the other team walking toward them from afar.
The person wearing the giggling Joker mask stood behind the refined, smiling Bai Six.
Liu Jiayi, Mu Shicheng, and Mu Ke maintained various lazy postures as they stood on either side of Bai Six.
Bai Six sized him up with interest.
Before the start of the match, he reached out to shake hands as a matter of routine and said something Tang Erda had been unable to dig out of his head even now.
Bai Six said with a smile,
“You have something on you that I don’t have, Mr. Hunter. I’m very curious about you.”
“I want to know under what circumstances you would throw that thing away.”
But Tang Erda warily withdrew his hand.
“No matter what thing you’re talking about, I won’t throw it away easily.”
“Oh, really?”
Bai Six’s face still held that completely unchanging polite smile.
He cast an indistinct glance at Su Yang, who was standing behind Tang Erda, and the smile on his face deepened slightly.
“Mr. Hunter, it’s best to forbid in-team romance. It isn’t good for the team.”
Tang Erda was stunned.
The expression of Su Yang behind him changed slightly.
As if he had not said anything at all, Bai Six flicked his fingers and turned to leave with a smile.
“In-team romance?”
Tang Erda frowned, turning to look at Su Yang in confusion.
“Aren’t we all men in this team? How could someone have an in-team romance?”
Su Yang’s face went pale in an instant.
He looked at Tang Erda for a long, long time.
In the end, he gave a helpless smile, like a compromise, like admitting defeat.
He raised his light-colored eyes and looked at Tang Erda tenderly. Then he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, saying softly, as though prepared to bear the consequences of a mistake,
“He was talking about me, Captain.”
“I like you.”
“I didn’t plan to tell you at all. I was prepared to keep this secret hidden until I died.”
Su Yang lowered his eyes and chuckled softly.
“Unfortunately, Bai Six saw through it at a glance.”
“The Su Yang of the first timeline had a crush on you, right?”
Bai Liu looked down at Tang Erda and said,
“I saw it in the mirror. You’re really dense enough. With that kind of gaze, you still couldn’t see that Su Yang liked you?”
What people fear, besides the things they are afraid of, are the hidden pieces of happiness they once missed and took for granted beneath those fears.
Su Yang’s light-colored eyes had always been watching Tang Erda.
He had always been the fastest and most optimal support following Tang Erda’s attacks on the field.
When people evaluated him as Tang Erda’s “competent assistant,” his face would turn slightly red, and then he would quickly look at Tang Erda’s flustered expression as Tang Erda explained in confusion.
They were the best duo of that year’s competition, sweeping through everything.
Their rapport had even defeated another pair of veteran first-place dual players who were husband and wife.
And when Tang Erda stood on the victory podium with his arm around Su Yang’s shoulder, laughing, he turned his head and asked Su Yang what reward he wanted.
Tang Erda knew that in order to win, in order to keep up with him and coordinate with him, Su Yang had truly put in a great deal of effort and trained himself for a long time.
Tang Erda had once accidentally seen Su Yang’s sleeves slide down while he was eating, revealing arms covered in old training scars.
Tang Erda took it for granted that he should give his excellent Vice-Captain a reward.
Su Yang simply tilted his head up and looked at him for a very long time, as if victory were not as attractive to him as Tang Erda’s profile.
Then Su Yang’s eyes curved, revealing an extremely happy, brilliant smile.
He said—
Being able to stand with Captain right now is the greatest reward for me.
I hope that next time Captain encounters something, you won’t carry it alone. It’s enough if you can think of me.
[I want to be Captain’s reliable Vice-Captain forever.]
Su Yang always said that.
He was always quietly following behind Tang Erda.
Tang Erda could not hide from him or shake him off. The moment Tang Erda turned around, he would always see Su Yang standing behind him, his eyes asking what he needed.
Su Yang was always his best Vice-Captain.
And Tang Erda had never stopped to think about why.
By the time Tang Erda finally understood, it was already too late.
After Su Yang’s confession, his mind had gone blank. Although his face remained serious as he said he would consider it carefully, his heart had already fallen into panic.
Su Yang only waved his hand and smiled nonchalantly, saying that Captain didn’t need to mind it and could just pretend he had never said those words.
If Bai Six had not intentionally brought it up, he would not have spoken now either.
Wait until you have time in the future to consider my words.
I just feel...
Su Yang turned his head back against the light amid the cheers of the arena.
He still had that very gentle smile on his face, but for some reason, that smile was tinged with an indelible sadness.
It’s just that in that moment just now, when Captain asked me, I suddenly felt that if I didn’t tell you now, there might really be no chance.
On the field, the Wandering Circus was pressing them hard.
Coupled with the presence of the Joker sniper, Tang Erda’s side was wary of accidental injury and did not dare act rashly.
Tang Erda had originally intended to use himself as bait to lure the Joker sniper into firing.
As long as the Joker fired once, they would have at least fifteen minutes of the opponent’s skill cooldown time during which they could act freely.
But the Joker seemed to have received some kind of command from Bai Six.
This guy was usually impulsive and crazy, but this time, no matter how Tang Erda provoked him, he only hovered on the outskirts, creating no small amount of pressure for Tang Erda and his team.
Soon, Tang Erda understood Bai Six’s intention.
This guy was planning a war of attrition!
The panel values of the members on Bai Six’s side were all higher than those of Tang Erda’s new generation.
After their mental power bars were exhausted in a war of attrition, Tang Erda’s side would have no advantage at all.
Tang Erda gritted his teeth against the wall.
Two members on his side had already had their health points ground down by the opponent.
If this continued—
But the bait was not enough.
The Joker would not bite!
“Captain.”
The usually silent Su Yang suddenly raised his head.
He said,
“Let me be the bait too.”
“No.”
Tang Erda refused flatly.
“You can’t be the bait. The Joker is primarily targeting me. Even if you go out, he won’t fire.”
“Their target is indeed you, Captain.”
Su Yang began to smile.
He held up an Ace of Hearts skill card.
“But it’s not as if I have no way to completely turn into you, Captain.”
“This is a prop I won from a player named Hearts. It can completely turn me into the person in my heart...”
“You.”
“No one will be able to see any flaws.”
The conditions for using such high-level disguise props were usually very harsh.
Tang Erda frowned.
“What are the conditions for using this prop?”
“A mirror.”
Su Yang lowered his eyelashes. They trembled slightly.
“I only need a mirror that lets me see myself.”
“Then I can turn into you.”
