Chapter 170-2: Smooth Unfolding (2) |
Two hours later.
Deep in the forests of the Colorful Mist Coast.
Tong Xin walked alone on the road toward the Evil Moon domain, waiting for Anshui to make contact on his own.
If no contact was made, he would make another circuit.
As he moved forward at a slow pace, a blood shadow surfaced ahead, gushing upward like a fountain and finally condensing into Anshui’s figure.
Tong Xin stopped, his expression calm as he looked at Anshui, though inwardly he was overjoyed.
The script had not deviated. Anshui indeed already intended to take refuge.
What he had not expected was that before he could express his idea, Anshui took the initiative to speak.
“Divine Envoy, I want to become a subordinate force of the player race.”
But he still said coldly.
“Do you deserve it?”
This question laced with insult did not arouse any dissatisfaction in Anshui. With a grave face he said.
“I have not yet recovered my peak. I am not as weak as your player race imagines. I can prove my value to you.”
Just then, a voice came through the voice channel.
After a brief silence, Tong Xin raised his right hand toward Anshui. Seeing this, Anshui instinctively took a step back, but in the end returned to his original spot, wondering what this Divine Envoy of the player race intended to do.
At this moment Blood Rebound activated, and Tong Xin’s body surface was covered by a layer of blood.
“What are you doing?” Anshui could not help but ask curiously.
But Tong Xin smiled and shook his head.
“The Darkborn Legion, the reincarnation system, can complete life remolding by injecting consciousness. And you are a branch legion commander of the Darkborn Legion. Is this the value you want to tell me?”
Hearing Tong Xin calmly speak the secrets of the Darkborn Legion and of himself, Anshui was dumbfounded.
“Y-you… how do you know?”
“There are no secrets before me. Although I am only a projection of my true self right now, I can read the information of all things through the power bestowed by the God of the Emperor’s Sign.”
As he spoke, Tong Xin stretched out his hand and grasped forward, as if catching something.
“This is a timeline connected to you. From your birth to now, all information is recorded on it. Before me you have no secrets.”
As he spoke, the Divine Envoy outfit on Tong Xin shimmered with a faint light, setting him off as especially sacred.
At this moment, the players in the livestream and those providing off-site support were already laughing.
“Next, judges in the livestream, please reveal your scores.”
“I’m giving a full score. Really willing to spend money. This set of armaments with high level module plating must have cost tens of thousands.”
“Hahaha, full score from me too. This isn’t just putting on airs, this is putting on divinity. He even patched over his own weakness. This is a divine projection, not the true body.”
“Full score. You can tell this was prepared in advance. He definitely consulted Guide for a lot of information about Anshui. This isn’t showing off. This is an artistic feast. Looks great, love it, perfect mealtime viewing.”
“I’m on the beach eating Spiritual Food and I burst out laughing. Judging from Anshui’s expression, he’s clearly stunned. He probably wants to kneel inside.”
The reality was exactly as the livestream viewers predicted.
With relaxed composure, Tong Xin spoke of the Darkborn Legion and the secrets about Anshui, plunging Anshui into a shock he could not believe.
The secret of death and reincarnation was absolutely impossible for outsiders to know besides the Darkborn warriors themselves.
Every Darkborn warrior’s first-choice talent was an ability that could seal memories, able to scramble memories when subjected to external interference not applied by themselves.
Second, every Darkborn warrior needed ten years to reincarnate and revive. The outside world had long since changed, and even the enemy might already be different.
Under multiple constraints, the secrets of the Darkborn Legion had never been exposed.
But this secret was easily grasped by the Divine Envoy of the player race.
Infinite revival, information reading. What a formidable set of abilities.
At this moment, the image of the Divine Envoy soared in Anshui’s eyes, and a powerful desire arose in his heart.
If he could become a subordinate force of the player race and establish a subordinate relationship with this Divine Envoy, then the development of the Darkborn Legion would be guaranteed.
He had to seize this opportunity.
“So, what other value do you have that I do not know?” Tong Xin asked with a smile. There was no disdain in his eyes, yet his words conveyed a slight contempt for Anshui.
Anshui opened his mouth, his face reddening, but he did not know what to say.
What he had originally thought was that the player race’s disdain for him stemmed from his current weakness.
But he was merely in a weakened state and had not yet recovered his peak strength. As long as he explained his growth potential, the player race’s view of him would change.
If even that could not win the player race’s recognition, he had even planned to reveal his secret of reincarnation.
Anstar had already made it very clear. In Monster World, powerful races were everywhere. The reincarnation ability the Darkborn race had once been proud of was vastly inferior to the rules mastered by super-factions like the Black Tide.
Many super-factions even played with open cards, relying on overwhelming strength.
So he planned to use this secret as a bargaining chip to raise his value in the eyes of the player race.
But now that Tong Xin had spoken his secret first, he suddenly found he did not know what to say.
“I… I want to lead my people to obtain the protection of the player race.” Anshui said, face flushed. At this time, aside from sincerity, he realized he had no chips to raise the price.
Tong Xin nodded calmly.
“My racial members informed me that you have recently been helping them hunt. I can see you very much wish to gain our protection.”
“Yes. After coming to this world, I encountered a series of predicaments. I am now at the end of my rope, so I want to take refuge with a powerful race with profound foundations and obtain protection.”
This time Anshui hid nothing and spoke his inner thoughts very directly.
He knew he had no secrets before this Divine Envoy of the player race. Hiding his thoughts would only make him seem especially foolish.
“You are too weak.”
“I can become strong.” Though called weak again, Anshui’s mindset had changed.
He felt that with the Divine Envoy’s ability, calling him weak was simply stating the facts.
“My faith is in the God of the Emperor’s Sign, origin of all things. You are not worthy to become a believer of the God of the Emperor’s Sign, not even at your peak.”
Rejected again and again, Anshui still did not intend to give up.
“So long as there is any place you can use me, I will give my all, as long as I can obtain the protection of the player race.”
Tong Xin did not agree directly, but instead asked with curiosity.
“How much do you know about our player race?”
“Not much. But I know the player race has profound foundations and possesses strength sufficient to oppose the terrifying Black Tide.”
“You do not even understand our player race. You merely think we are strong enough and want to become our subordinate force. That decision is far too hasty, and moreover, to my player race, you have no value.”
Rejected once more, Anshui felt dejected.
But then Tong Xin changed his tone.
“If you want to become a believer of the God of the Emperor’s Sign like our player race, neither you nor your Darkborn Legion is qualified. But I can perhaps give you a chance to prove yourself. If you can pass my assessment, I can make your Darkborn race a subordinate of my race, become my believers, and obtain our protection.”
Thinking his chance was completely gone, Anshui heard this and light flashed in his eyes. He then nodded decisively.
“Divine Envoy, please command us. We are willing to become your believers.”
Realizing the entry point for telling the story had arrived, Tong Xin planned to postpone the unfolding this time.
He would simply establish faith first, then use the story to strengthen the faith relationship.
With that, Tong Xin raised his hand and released the Divinity trait toward Anshui.
Anshui immediately felt a mass of energy surge into his body. Instinctively wanting to expel this external force, he suppressed the thought, allowing the energy to enter his sea of consciousness and automatically outline itself.
Before long, a golden brand appeared in his sea of consciousness.
At the same time, related information surfaced in Tong Xin’s mind.
[Anshui (Darkborn race)]
Hunt level: 74
Faith level: 0 (Awe)
Faith power per hour: 0
—
From the information provided by Divinity, it could be seen that Anshui at this time only harbored awe toward him, but had not yet reached the point of becoming a believer.
This needed to be deepened through follow-up stories and assessments.
The difficult assessments were to make Anshui develop a sense of awe. The more difficult it was, the more he would cherish it.
Facing Anshui’s inquiry, Tong Xin spoke the first assessment item he had long conceived.
“The first assessment is very simple. I need you and your people to provide me with a satisfactory spiritual resource.”
Hearing this, Anshui was first taken aback, then decisively asked.
“Divine Envoy, how much spiritual resource would satisfy you?”
“Depends on your sincerity. I will come here in three days. How much you can provide will depend on your performance.”
This first assessment of directly asking for resources seemed to lower the style, but was in fact a decision made after deep consideration.
First, the upfront cost investment was too high. The sacrificial power from the Primordial reward had been spent. He had to recover some cost.
Second, in Anshui’s eyes, the player race was endlessly greedy for resources, which fit the setting the player race should have.
It was like in many myths where dragons desire wealth. It can be understood as temperament rather than because wealth itself can create some value.
He had to possess behavior settings in line with the player race, not appear different from other players in all aspects, as that would easily cause cognitive deviation in Anshui and thus raise doubts.
“Very well, I will do my best.” Anshui nodded vigorously at this moment.
Just as Tong Xin expected, Anshui thought of the player race’s greed for resources and wealth.
He felt it was obvious the Divine Envoy was also very interested in resources. This was his chance to prove his value and he must not miss it.
“Divine Envoy, I will go make preparations now.”
Saying this, Anshui looked up at Tong Xin.
“Go.”
Tong Xin’s voice sounded directly in Anshui’s mind, and while Anshui was shocked, a hint of reverence rose in his eyes.
Although the Divine Envoy was only a projection, he could converse with him spiritually across space. Truly powerful.
After Anshui left, Tong Xin glanced at the lively livestream with a proud expression.
“Anshui, mere child’s play.”
“What do you mean exploitation? I am about to be broke. Recovering a bit of cost hardly counts as exploitation.”