Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 168

Blue Harbor City, Qingfeng Pavilion.

This was originally a teahouse, but now, no customers remained.

No one knew how Priest had found such a place in this apocalyptic world. Of course, it was possible he had someone design it just for him.

Ever since entering the instance, he had essentially stayed here, not intervening in any of the conflicts in the instance, as if none of it concerned him.

At this moment, Ke Yuxiao walked up to the door, knocked three times, and waited for Priest’s permission to enter. His expression was somewhat grave. He had come to discuss matters related to the traitor and Yu Huang.

Originally, at Priest’s instruction, the Peach Blossom Legion had selected a few high-ranking members to use capsules to activate this instance.

These elites then faced a harsh trial. They had to pass through a series of testing instances to complete the mission and fully realize the capsule’s power.

The scope of Blue Harbor City was enormous, and the difficulty of the trial instances was high. Only the most elite of the Peach Blossom Legion had been selected.

In the end, only three survived and successfully converted Blue Harbor City into a closed instance.

Among them, two god-level players served as the main forces of the operation and participated in the core design.

According to the original design under Ke Yuxiao’s direction, a large number of weapons were concentrated in the area with green wristbands, with smaller amounts stored in the blue and indigo zones.

But someone had tampered with the design, placing a significant amount of weapons in the purple area instead and passing that information to the Feidu Legion, luring them into the instance.

Those two god-level players were Yu Huang and Shan Sheng, so one of them had to be the traitor.

In truth, both Ke Yuxiao and Priest had already suspected this.

As soon as they entered the instance, they noticed discrepancies between what they saw and the original design.

At that time, Priest told Ke Yuxiao: Do not address the traitor for now.

So Ke Yuxiao continued with business as usual and didn’t mention the matter.

The other members of the legion hadn’t been informed of the instance’s details beforehand, and some didn’t even know that their own people had designed it.

Unaware of any betrayal, they simply followed Ke Yuxiao’s orders and worked together.

But now, the situation had changed drastically.

On the church rooftop, Zhou Qian publicly mentioned the word “mole” in front of the Peach Blossom Legion, planting a seed of doubt in everyone’s mind.

Afterward, the Feidu Legion committed murder, and Yu Huang was suspected of helping them escape. That seed of doubt had grown into wildfire.

In an instance about mutual slaughter, people no longer dared to trust their teammates, especially when the team already had several high-level factions.

Shan Sheng and Yu Huang were god-level players of similar strength, and they’d never gotten along.

They managed surface civility, but their subordinates were constantly clashing behind the scenes. Neither side would concede.

With Zhou Qian fanning the flames and Xu Yang taking action, both groups had reached their limits and now wanted the other dead.

As a result, Ke Yuxiao wasn’t sure how to deal with Yu Huang. Should they investigate who the real traitor was between him and Shan Sheng? That’s why he had come to see Priest.

After Ke Yuxiao knocked three times, a few seconds later, Priest allowed him in.

He was sitting on the ground reading a book, with a glass of plain water beside him.

Ke Yuxiao gave him a glance but didn’t waste time and succinctly explained the situation.

Without even lifting his head, Priest said mildly, “Observe and wait. Do nothing. There are only three hours left until the ‘maximum value’ is revealed, and key clues haven’t been fully explored.

“Right now, what’s most important is gathering information. Remember, now is not the time to deal with a traitor. We cannot afford internal strife.

“Even beyond that, don’t forget. Whoever opened the capsule carries a vital mission. Only if he survives and clears the instance will Blue Harbor City belong to our legion.”

Ke Yuxiao thought for a moment and understood. “Got it.”

“Then why ask me again?” Priest said.

Before Ke Yuxiao could answer, Priest looked up at him, seeming to figure it out himself. “Ah. Zhou Qian said something in front of everyone today?”

Ke Yuxiao replied, “Yes. Our team’s morale is now unstable.”

Priest didn’t seem surprised at all, as if Zhou Qian’s actions were expected.

He gave a faint smile and looked at Ke Yuxiao. “You still can’t keep your cool. That’s where you fall short of Zhou Qian.”

“I do fall short of Zhou Qian. I fall short of many. As the main personality, I’m not even as good as the other personalities in my own body…” Ke Yuxiao pressed his lips together, then smiled.

There was a trace of madness in his eyes, and his tone took on an unhinged edge. “So… I’ll just stop being human! I already promised you. I won’t be human anymore. Hahaha…”

Priest looked at him, a touch of compassion in his gaze.

He said, “Many mental patients are under treatment, but sometimes I wonder… why treat them?”

Ke Yuxiao clapped lightly, matching his tone. “Yeah! Why treat them? Let them go mad!”

“Exactly. Why force them to wake up and return to reality?” Priest smiled. “Isn’t it better to live in fantasy? I think many people in the asylum were happier.

“In the eyes of ‘normal’ people, they’re abnormal. But maybe in their eyes, it’s the normal people who are insane. Don’t you think?”

“Absolutely! Living in illusion is great! The real world is what makes people miserable! Like my brother… He only ever liked a personality I created. He never loved the real me!”

Ke Yuxiao looked at Priest like he was a spiritual guru, eyes full of fanaticism and reverence.

“So, I sent him to hell. Will he go to the hell you created?”

“He will.” Priest gave him a profound look and patted his shoulder.

“But now, you need to calm down. You’re in command. Didn’t you say you wanted to prove your worth to me?”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I want!” Ke Yuxiao said. “I understand. I’ll do it your way!”

“Good. Remember…” Priest emphasized, “Keep them alive. If something goes wrong, even saving one is enough. I don’t care who the traitor is. Don’t waste effort investigating it.

“What matters is that one of them clears the instance and claims Blue Harbor City. All debts will be settled after we leave the instance. If needed, neither of them has to live.”

Ideally, both would survive. But if that wasn’t possible, saving just one would do.

With those instructions, Ke Yuxiao left Qingfeng Pavilion and headed toward the White Spire area.

For some reason, he brought Qi Liuxing along.

The atmosphere in the White Spire zone was incredibly tense.

Inside the hall, Shan Sheng and Yu Huang were facing off, each with three subordinates.

Shan Sheng’s team all wore green wristbands, while Yu Huang’s team wore indigo, making it convenient for both sides to kill each other.

Originally, Shan Sheng hadn’t planned to come, but when his subordinates got into an argument with Yu Huang’s people, accusing each other of being the traitor.

Shan Sheng rushed over with the rest of his team upon hearing his men might be surrounded. That led to the current standoff.

Ke Yuxiao brought two of his own people and climbed the tower steps with Qi Liuxing, silently listening to the arguments below.

“Yu Huang, just admit it! I’ve always thought you guys were shady. You’re all traitors!”

“Calling the kettle black, huh? I don’t even know Xu Yang! Who the hell said I helped him? You planted that rumor yourselves!”

“Captain Ke is here. Let’s hear what he says!”

……

Upon hearing this, Ke Yuxiao received several gazes but simply watched the scene in the hall and said with a smile, “Go ahead and argue. I need to hear both sides to make a decision.”

He let them keep quarreling, then turned his eyes to Qi Liuxing beside him.

Qi Liuxing was clearly observing the scene, and there was Yun Xiangrong, who had joined Shan Sheng’s side in the Peach Blossom Legion.

“Worried about her?” Ke Yuxiao asked after noticing his gaze. His voice had a slightly deranged edge.

Qi Liuxing’s expression was grim, and he didn’t even look at him. “Someone like you would never understand.”

“Is that so…”

Ke Yuxiao grew angry, reached out, and grabbed Qi Liuxing by the neck, forcing him to look at him.

Qi Liuxing’s body radiated killing intent, and his longsword instantly appeared in his hand.

At the critical moment, Ke Yuxiao raised his right hand and pressed a gun to Qi Liuxing’s forehead.

“What, want to die with me? Not yet. I won’t give you that chance.”

With a vicious grip of his left hand, Ke Yuxiao watched the veins bulge on Qi Liuxing’s neck and smiled. But upon seeing the deep hatred in Qi Liuxing’s eyes, that smile disappeared.

Ke Yuxiao had a unique skill. He could feel what his sub-personalities felt. So he had once felt the warmth of being cared for by Wu Ren as a “younger sister”, and remembered clearly the way Qi Liuxing had once looked at… another Ke Yuxiao.

The young man’s admiration, respect, joy, even dependence was all laid bare.

But now, Qi Liuxing looked at him with only loathing and killing intent.

Worse, there was unmistakable disappointment.

Why disappointed?

Because he now believed he’d been wrong about him or had seen his fall.

“You were amazing, Yuxiao. You don’t know. I recently met a guy named Zhou Qian. He’s impossible to read. I feel like if I blink, he’ll trick me. But you were different. I could always relax around you. No pressure.”

That was something Qi Liuxing had once said.

But now, he only trusted Zhou Qian, never him again.

So what now?

Break that belief completely.

Make him understand: that person never existed.

When Ke Yuxiao let go, Qi Liuxing instinctively clutched his neck, coughing hard.

When he looked up, he saw Ke Yuxiao’s deranged expression.

What’s he planning?

“Xiao Qi… seeing the hate and disappointment in your eyes irritates me. Because… the ‘Ke Yuxiao’ you knew never existed. He was an act I put on. Didn’t he say even in a death game, he wouldn’t harm teammates? So he took a support class, only to boost you?

“That version of him… How hypocritical.

“Now let me show you the real me. Last time I killed you, you were too deep in the game to see clearly. This time, open your eyes—”

Ke Yuxiao smiled and suddenly turned his gun on the hall below, firing four shots!

Gunshots rang out.

Qi Liuxing shouted instinctively, “Yun Xiangrong, look out!”

Then he remembered, Ke Yuxiao wore a green wristband.

So he’d targeted the indigo faction.

Sure enough, Yu Huang and his three men fell right in front of Qi Liuxing’s eyes.

Ke Yuxiao’s voice rang out again.

He looked at the stone-faced Shan Sheng and said, “Captain Shan, I trust you. In a critical moment like this, traitors must be dealt with immediately. Don’t you agree?”

Then he turned with a smile to Qi Liuxing.

“Good. I hope I don’t see disappointment in your eyes again. Hate me if you want. Kill me if you want. Just don’t be disappointed in me. Okay, Xiao Qi?”

……

Meanwhile, Xu Yang, with two lieutenants and three teammates, was fleeing back to his purple base with Zhang Datie’s help.

Along the way, Xu Yang asked, “You said you’re a subordinate of someone named Shan Sheng?”

“Yeah. Yu Huang always targets us. I’m happy to help. Got a problem?” said Zhang Datie.

“Wait a second…” Xu Yang’s pupils shrank. “How did you know we were coming? Knew to guard the White Tower and help us dodge Peach Blossom’s defenses? You—”

Xu Yang sensed something was wrong and went to draw his gun on Zhang Datie.

But his instincts as a god-level player warned him of even greater danger behind.

In a flash, he yanked one lieutenant behind him as a shield and dove to the ground.

At the same time, he swept his leg, kicking another lieutenant to the front.

Thus, the sniper aiming from behind, and Zhang Datie’s shot from ahead, both hit Xu Yang’s subordinates instead.

Bang!

Bang!

Xu Yang lost two men and fled with his remaining three teammates.

His teammates, shocked by how casually Xu Yang had used people as shields, ran with confusion in their steps.

They hesitated and lagged behind.

Zhang Datie and another of Shan Sheng’s men seized the chance, quickly gunning down all three.

Zhang Datie tried to fire one last shot at Xu Yang, but the system signaled that the target couldn’t be identified. Xu Yang had escaped with incredible speed.

Still, he had lost far too much from this.

Zhang Datie turned to his teammate and said, “Let’s go claim our credit.”

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