Chapter 118: If Only the Last Chip Remains |
"And precisely because of this," Gao Fan said, "some Deceivers of the World... well, I should say a lot of them, choose to 'escape'."
"Escape?" Ai Shiping repeated. "Escape how?"
"By giving up their identity as a Deceiver of the World, of course."
Ming Po drawled lazily, "Just like... Chang Ning did."
And just like Lin Ya.
When Ming Po had previously asked Ink about Lin Ya, Ink had said something similar.
[Because she has already lost two games in a row. Although they were relatively safe Adventures, her initial chips are almost completely gone. There is absolutely no need for you to look for her... She might soon be permanently imprisoned within her own Anchor Point.]
This was the direct reason Ming Po believed that running out of chips would result in becoming a Paradox.
But in reality, this was not inevitable... Ink had said "might".
Truthfully, Ming Po also did not know exactly how many chips Lin Ya had left when she participated in Passing the Flower Drum. But he guessed that she should have at least one left. Based on Lin Ya's personality, it only made sense for her not to gamble... unless she was completely lost to the thrill.
"This is a question of 'how to use the final chip'."
Gao Fan answered softly, "Some people choose to gamble it for one last chance to turn things around, while others choose to give up their identity as a Deceiver of the World. And those who choose the former cannot necessarily be considered wrong... because it really is possible to make a comeback. Moreover, even if they go bankrupt, there is always a chance they could redeem themselves.
"As long as they successfully clear a game, they can survive—provided their chips are not snatched away by someone else."
"What about you?"
Ming Po turned to look at Gao Fan. "If you only had your last chip remaining, what would you choose?"
"I would probably... escape."
Gao Fan looked at the grayish-white silhouettes.
They came and went, yet not a single one could see him.
"Even if that meant your permanent death?"
Ming Po raised an eyebrow and asked, "You do not even know who wants to kill you—and what about your parents? Are you just not going to save them?"
Gao Fan sighed deeply. "Not everyone can be as strong as you, Captain."
"As for me, I would probably choose to continue. As long as you do not give up, even if you live in hell, there will always be hope in the future." Ai Shiping looked at Ming Po and smiled. "You would probably do the same, right?"
Ming Po crossed his arms and nodded, as if it were only natural.
"Also, you sure know a lot, Little Fan... You even know about places like the talent market."
Ai Shiping marveled, feeling a bit of lingering fear. "Speaking of which, I really did not know the importance of Time Chips at first. My Host never mentioned it to me, and I almost actually used them all up..."
"That is because Gao Fan's former teammates," Ming Po said, "would rent him out to make money, and they would take half of the money Little Fan earned. That way, even if they hardly participated in games, they still had enough chips to use."
"...Such a thing actually happens."
Hearing this, Ai Shiping frowned deeply.
His tone was filled with displeasure. "Where are they? When I run into them, I will have to teach them a lesson."
For the incredibly good-tempered Ai Shiping, this level of reaction meant he was genuinely angry.
"They are all dead."
Ming Po said lazily, sprawling back in his chair.
As if soaking in a hot spring, he crossed his hands behind his head and leaned against the chair. "No need for you to lift a finger... Guess how I know?"
"I knew it."
Ai Shiping beamed with joy. "Ah Po is reliable as always!"
"Hmph."
Ming Po grunted softly. "The fact that you got angry means you still do not trust me enough."
This displeased him somewhat.
What did Ai Shiping mean by that?
Did he actually think Ming Po would let those people off the hook?
"However," Gao Fan suddenly interjected, "the people at the talent market are not necessarily all trash. Occasionally, you can still dig up a treasure.
"Take, for example, the Tea Party that the Red Queen is in... They have an important member who was scouted right out of the talent market. I do not know his specific abilities... but he has already become the third-ranking big shot in the Tea Party. Although it is also possible that he gained the Red Queen's favor because of his Title..."
"What is his Title?"
Ming Po asked.
"Alice," Gao Fan said.
"Oh... that makes sense. How old is the girl?"
"No, he is a middle-aged man."
"..."
"And he looks incredibly fierce, like that kindergarten principal from Crayon Shin-chan... or rather, he looks like a Marine Admiral."
"...A Marine Admiral?"
Even Ming Po was taken aback for a moment. "Are you saying... Kizaru?"
Kizaru Alice?
...Why would a middle-aged man get a Title like Alice? What on earth did he do?
Ai Shiping complained, "That is even more ridiculous than Big Sister getting the Title of Virgil!"
"How should I know... maybe it was inherited."
Gao Fan felt a bit helpless. "Generally speaking, unique Titles definitely have an origin. But the problem is, there are quite a few 'Alices'... I do not know which Alice he is. He has never used his Title in front of me, but he is a remarkably sharp guy. He is basically in charge of catching moles."
"Sounds like the Tea Party has quite a few moles."
Ming Po sighed.
Gao Fan turned to look at Ming Po and smiled. "After all, the Red Queen is a tyrant. She will behead people at the drop of a hat."
Ming Po shot him a glance and said bluntly, "But even if it is the Red Queen, I still think she is better than your previous captain.
"Because the Red Queen at least knows that her Title might cause her to lose her rationality. So she specifically bought a Treasure to suppress her own brutality, which precisely proves she wants to get better. Your captain, on the other hand, clearly had the ability to govern a team. As a 'Leader' with excellent command and support capabilities, he chose not to expand his team just to maintain his own status.
"That ability of his perfectly suits the Domain of Slaughter, which is prone to losing rationality—an ordinary Deceiver of the World from the Domain of Slaughter would bring danger to the team upon losing their mind. Yet he was able to perfectly control a teammate, which is equivalent to helping a teammate negate the negative effects of their Title. That is the true purpose of his Title."
Just like the Title of "Werewolf".
As a Title capable of single-handedly killing Frankenstein in a head-on clash... although there was also the boost from Ming Po's personal attributes, its powerful regenerative abilities, stamina recovery, and berserk state meant that, for an Hour's Red Copper level Title, its power was clearly off the charts. The only problem was how easy it was to lose control. But if a Leader teamed up with a Werewolf, they could completely negate the Werewolf's drawbacks through the Leader's Title effect. By the same logic, the combination of "Madman" and "Red Queen" worked the exact same way.
That was actually an incredibly high-tier, highly practical Title—one could even say it grew stronger against stronger foes.
"Crowd Control Immunity" was an incredibly prestigious attribute in any game, let alone one that also offered "Continuous Super Armor". Even taking away the immunity effect, just relying on the super armor effect of "exerting peak combat power even when unconscious" to pilot a "gundam" from the Domain of Strength would be absolutely powerful enough. Most survival-themed Adventures would simply be steamrolled by this kind of runaway truck composition. And the same went for PVP games requiring martial prowess... a Deceiver of the World from the Domain of Slaughter or the Domain of Strength with super armor, in their prime, and immune to crowd control, could basically take on two opponents at once in a 2v2 battle. After all, human instinct dictated a fear of getting hurt.
Just as people feared wolves or dogs—it was absolutely not that a human could not defeat a wolf or a dog, but rather that the human feared getting injured. Under this fear, it became difficult to unleash their peak strength. If they could fully exert their power, never tire, never feel fear, never have their movements slowed by injury, and always calmly adopt the optimal strategy, even a ferocious lion or tiger might not necessarily defeat them.
This was also the advantage of the Domain of Balance.
The powers of the other Domains all carried intense mental corruption. Only the Domain of Balance had the weakest mental pollution. This kind of Title, acting like an external brain, formed the absolute core of a team. Just as the word "Leader" in the Title described.
Ming Po was genuinely a bit envious.
If only Ai Shiping could obtain this Title.
Moreover...
He furrowed his brows slightly, falling into deep thought.
Among the things Virgil had just said to Ming Po, one sentence had caught his attention.
She said... they might join the Tea Party in the future, which was why Divine Comedy had preemptively reached out to them.
—But, why?
The force behind the Tea Party was the Witches' Coven... since Virgil had told them this on their very first meeting, it must not be a secret. Ming Po was absolutely not the kind of person who would run off to cooperate with the Witches' Coven just for some foolish notion like 'becoming the king of the world'. Not to mention, he would be bringing Ai Shiping and Gao Fan into this dangerous organization... especially when it was riddled with moles and the Red Queen loved beheading people as execution. But, Ming Po believed in himself.
He believed that he would absolutely never do something meaningless.
If he chose to join the Tea Party, it probably meant he already knew of the existence of Heavenly Query. But if he knew about Heavenly Query, then he should know that his actions might be captured by Heavenly Query and consequently intercepted in advance.
So what kind of thought process would drive his future self to join the Tea Party?
Could it be that his future self wanted to use this method to pass information back to his past self?
The Witches' Coven was constantly plotting to rewind time... what exactly was their ultimate goal?