Chapter 145

Chapter 145: Chapter 143: "Meet Again

District 12 is the main base of the United Group.

Although it was not possible for a single person to accumulate enough points to purchase the entire district, once a certain group had a significant number of people, other residents would automatically be excluded.

Some large organizations had agreed to move into a district together, and thus that district became their world. It even got to the point where some teleportation entrances were guarded—after people realized how dangerous guild headquarters could be, finding an absolutely safe base became more obvious. They had to secure one.

Hubert had finished the analysis table for the equipment price range, and it was now his rest time.

He stood on the rooftop of the housing area known to have the best view, looking out over the central square’s scenery.

—Although there was an obnoxious Boss Rabbit statue there, he didn’t mind, as he was just habitually stretching his body, a personal habit he had developed after working in Zhai Xing.

He looked down and saw the United Group’s patrol team surveying the area around the square—to prevent anyone from mistakenly entering District 12 and disturbing their work, the patrol team would politely expel any player who wandered in.

The United Group didn’t have many sources of points, but they did have a significant amount. Players in the audience could obtain points after making posts on the world forums that gained a certain level of popularity. Especially strategy posts that charged fees could earn them quite a few points.

...It was another calm day.

After briefly spacing out, Hubert planned to go back and continue organizing posts. His current status was something he had never imagined before—because in the First World, he followed Eni who failed, and now, with his knack for analyzing strategy posts, his position within the United Group was nearly on par with Eni. He was no longer a nameless, faceless lackey, and his posts had become hot topics on the forums.

After the start of the world game, people’s statuses had indeed undergone significant changes.

After a moment of reflection, he looked down at the beautiful view below once more before deciding to head back.

"!!Stop him...!"

"...Wait...!"

Suddenly, he heard a commotion from below.

He sharply looked down to see the well-trained patrol team suddenly scattered like gravel, pushed apart by three towering figures clad in iron suits. Since you couldn’t attack directly in the Main God Space, only physical shoving was allowed; what he saw were these three tall iron-clad people abruptly appearing on the square, forcefully pushing away the patrollers trying to intercept them.

"What is this..." he muttered, confused, but in the next moment, he recognized the three iron-clad people despite the great distance. They were too famous.

During the Fourth World, these three seemed to idly stand still in a district’s square, motionless, like a popular photo-op for social media influencers. Numerous players came just to snap a picture with them.

"Su Ming’an?"

Hubert immediately turned and hurried downstairs, contemplating Su Ming’an’s purpose for coming.

Although the United Group had always wanted to get in touch with this individual, now that he had arrived unexpectedly, bearing a hostile stance, Hubert felt anxious.

...After all, Edward, who was opposed by Su Ming’an, was currently with the United Group.

Encased in Black Mist, Su Ming’an teleported to server number 12 and immediately noticed the nearby patrol team.

His position was close to a corner; it was dark, and it seemed the patrol team hadn’t seen him.

The teleportation location in the Main God Space was quite random; fortunately, he hadn’t appeared directly in front of the patrol team.

"Nighttime..."

He muttered to himself.

He had more or less figured out the mechanism of time rewinding by now.

It was similar to the mechanics of a "game," not fixed to rewind time at regular intervals, but at key moments.

It would always return to a key point in time and lock in place, never moving forward again.

Like that time in the First World when I severed my own arm, the time interval was too short, perhaps because a "key moment" had just passed.

In the Third World, during Shen Xue’s assassination attempt, I was repeatedly sent back to noon, and the time point would not change.

And now, this key moment was set at nighttime.

While I was pondering, I saw the patrol team suddenly approaching my direction.

The alley next to me was long, and if I ran down it, it might make a lot of noise.

I guessed that there must be skills similar to "Exploration" within the patrol team. It wouldn’t be that someone could slip in and run away without the group noticing.

I immediately sent a command to my clone and then quickly turned around, stepping lightly as I left.

The clone teleported to the most conspicuous place in the square and was immediately discovered by the patrol team.

Flanking him were three brightly armored followers, their well-crafted iron suits and weapons dazzling to the eyes, making even the neatly equipped patrol team somewhat hesitant.

The senior leadership of the United Group arrived promptly, led by a young chief with a stern face and a golden star on his chest. However, the vicissitudes in his eyes revealed his true age. Upon seeing the clone shrouded in black mist, his cold demeanor softened slightly, before quickly turning enthusiastic.

"Number One Player," the young chief said warmly, smiling as he extended his hand, seemingly wanting to shake hands, "—welcome to the base of the United Group."

The clone dispelled the privacy-ensuring black mist enveloping him without any intention of reaching out his hand.

In a Shadow State, the clone wasn’t as accommodating as Ming’an. He looked at the young man pretending to be enthusiastic in front of him with a smirk, as if watching a clown.

"...How come I remember that this is a public server of the Main God Space, and not the residence of a single organization?" Shadow laughed, "I understand a landlord being hospitable, but you... don’t seem to count as any landlord here."

A trace of embarrassment appeared on the young chief’s face.

Shadow had no favorable impression of those who wanted to nurture Edward and compete against him in the arena.

To Shadow, the United Group was an organization that, apart from writing forum posts and raising an army for peacekeeping, caused much more trouble than it was worth—though they claimed to help more people gain more points and valued the role of the team.

Edward’s behavior truly disgusted Shadow.

He didn’t have the selflessness of the main body, just thinking about the United Group leading people who were lost. He thought the United Group was just creating chaos, and Edward, whom they nurtured, was utterly disgusting; even Yu Ruohuo had become introverted in order to hide his number.

Moreover, the order from the main body was to "provoke Edward."

Though ignorant of the reasons, he would follow the order.

"Where is Edward?" Shadow asked, "I’ve come to find him. Call him out... Forget it, I’ll go find him myself."

"Wait... Number One Player, we understand your thoughts, about Edward... Actually, this plan wasn’t drafted by our faction, we’ve always held you in the highest respect. If you want to know the details, we can tell you the whole story behind it..."

As for the young chief’s deflecting, Shadow felt absolutely no perturbation in his heart.

Such a big plan, requiring so much manpower, points, and manipulation of public opinion... the cost couldn’t possibly be executed on the decision of just one faction. It must have gone through the consideration of the entire large organization.

To believe they didn’t plan it was one thing, but to say it had nothing to do with them was something Shadow didn’t buy at all.

Looking at the young chief who still tried to stand in his way, Shadow sneered coldly, and the three followers immediately stepped forward, forcefully pushing through the people blocking the way.

He immediately headed towards the tallest building; if he wasn’t mistaken, the area with the best view should be where Edward and his people were.

"...Su Ming’an?"

A familiar voice came through.

Shadow turned his head and saw Eni passing by, holding a textbook on arrays, seemingly studying.

"You would actually come here..." Eni really didn’t expect this person to make a special trip here. The United Group was pressing him like the reaper to hurry up and foster a good relationship with Su Ming’an, but he had made little progress. He originally thought there was no way to get the United Group in touch with this person, but to his surprise, the man came on his own.

"Over there, that’s where Edward is," Shadow pointed to the topmost building.

"Over there." Eni looked up and said, "Yes, the Central Conference Area, seems like there is a meeting tonight..."

He noticed the young chief gesturing to him, but he didn’t care, he was too lazy to deal with these factional divisions, especially since he was about to leave the organization.

In the Fourth World, Edward’s fall from grace made him realize this.

—— There was no need to take these people’s words as orders or follow their commands.

He could have his own new world.

"Not bad, you’ve grown," Shadow said, imitating the original body, and then walked away.

"Hey, hey, Number One Player, wait a moment..."

The people behind him immediately caught up, as if afraid he would run away.

Eni stood in place and rolled his eyes secretly.

He heard the hint from his friend.

"Don’t rush, once the Fifth World starts, I’ll leave the United Group, and we’ll form a team. We can find a few teammates whose abilities complement ours..."

Eni spoke to his friend and continued to walk into the night.

"— Emergency meeting, come with me."

Inside the hot pot restaurant, Yang Changxu put on his coat and plunged into the night.

He followed several figures shrouded in black mist to the conference room, but the lead, Chief Liu, suddenly paused.

Yang Changxu noticed Chief Liu’s hand moving, as if he had received some prompt.

"...Let’s change direction, walk this way," Chief Liu said.

Originally headed for the conference room, the direction changed as Chief Liu turned and led them down a small path. This path was seldom walked, surrounded by unattended plants, with grass growing long, staining their shoes with mud.

Yang Changxu had no complaints, a detour was just a detour, and muddy paths didn’t bother him, but what puzzled him was—what had happened that required Chief Liu to personally take a detour?

He looked into the distance, where the night was pitch black, and even the free street lights couldn’t shine far. He could only see the tallest Central Conference Hall in the field of view. The building, with its rows of windows, shone like a lighthouse.

He faintly heard complaining voices from among the black mist, but he didn’t pay attention. After all, in the pitch darkness, no one could see clearly, and he had to be careful not to step on anyone’s foot.

Just as he thought this, he suddenly felt himself stepping on something, like someone’s shoe.

"I’m sorry," he immediately apologized and realized he had stepped on a person’s shoe from the black mist.

"No problem."

He heard a low response, with a hint of amusement.

He didn’t mind and continued on the path towards the conference hall.

But as they entered the door, their line was stopped.

"No." Chief Liu suddenly turned back, staring at the several black mist figures suddenly becoming distinct under the light:

"...Why, is there an extra one?"

The gatekeeper instantly became alert. They were supposed to remove the black mist for identity checks before entering the conference hall. Now, there was no need to say more.

"— Remove the black mist!"

The black mist was withdrawn one by one. Yang Changxu saw many familiar faces among them, appearing to be ministers from other organizations... it seemed that this meeting required their participation.

He also saw Edward, whose state seemed very gloomy. He seemed to be in a private chat, his fingers moving continuously in front of him, eyes like a pool of stagnant water.

He also saw Su Ming’an, with mud on his shoes as if someone had stepped on the top...

No, that’s not right.

? What is he doing here?

He suddenly realized.

"Su Ming’an?"

Chief Liu’s eyes revealed shock; he had just received a message that Su Ming’an had suddenly led three followers towards the conference hall. The three iron men were charging recklessly, and considering the Number One Player’s status, no one dared to stop them. He had specifically taken Edward on a detour to avoid a clash between the two here, but in the blink of an eye—the man had directly mixed into his side!

"Edward." Su Ming’an spread his hands, looking at Edward with a face full of sullen anger, as if just provoked by Lv Shu’s private chat, and said with a smile, "We meet again."

He couldn’t directly rush towards the battle site between Edward and Lv Shu.

The him now, shouldn’t know this news, even with Time Rewinding; he couldn’t show it under the Organizers’ watch.

Lv Shu was untraceable; he must first find Edward, who was visible, and stop the confrontation between the two at its source.

Cloning was just a decoy.

Such a brazen intrusion could let anyone think of a million ways to lead him away, preventing a direct confrontation with his Edward. Even more so, someone could directly take him to a conference room, start offering a myriad of conditions, persuade him to join this or that, wasting lots of time.

So, after the Clone had drawn people’s attention, he quickly approached the Central Conference Hall.

Passing a hot pot restaurant crowded with people, he noticed several suspicious figures in black mist.

He hadn’t intended to get too close, but he noticed their sudden turn.

He instantly guessed that they might include the person he was looking for.

...If Edward was among them, that would be best.

If not, after getting information, he could rewind and try again.

But fortunately, it worked out on the first try.

Seeing Edward, he truly smiled happily.

"...You came too?" Edward looked at him warily.

"I have a lot to talk to you about," Su Ming’an emphasized, and then extended his hand: "A lot."