Chapter 147

Chapter 147: Chapter 145: "Guess?" (Reward top-up Chapter)The brightly lit reception room was filled with hushed conversations.

Outside the door, the executives pressed their ears against it, and it was only then that they began to regret—why hadn’t their secondary occupations developed something like cameras?

"What exactly do you want to do?" Edward looked at the man with extreme vigilance.

He seemed to have never understood this person... Even though the forum was full of analytical posts about the Number One Player, he felt that none of them were useful.

His own eyes saw only competition and strength, but the person in front of him... his eyes seemed to never be limited to just these.

"Lv Shu has blocked me."

Su Ming’an’s tone was very gentle... almost to a cordial degree.

"Edward, you’re his friend. Please call him for a video communication for me. Since you’re not accepting the challenge here, I want to persuade him first."

"..." Edward really didn’t want to help; he remained silent for a while.

It was then that he suddenly saw something "beeping" in Su Ming’an’s hand, silver and shining under the light.

Mechanical Explosive.

This thing, he had seen on forum recordings after returning, had almost obliterated those three Werewolves.

"Threatening me is useless," Edward said. "Secondary occupations have developed security arrays, placed under key buildings, and explosives cannot be detonated here."

"... There’s actually such a thing." Su Ming’an suddenly discovered that secondary occupations might indeed be of some use.

As he spoke, his hand moved downwards, about to rest on Edward’s shoulder.

Which was still sore.

"Wait, I’ll do it for you." Edward immediately dialed Lv Shu’s video communication and quickly turned the panel towards Su Ming’an.

"Beep—beep—"

While waiting for the connection, Edward leaned on the sofa, watching for any movement from Su Ming’an. He wanted to see how this person was going to persuade Lv Shu.

"Click."

The video connected.

Lv Shu’s face appeared on the screen, with a huge bag of cabbage beside him. Bi was eating joyfully, as if she hadn’t had vegetables in eight hundred years.

Upon seeing Su Ming’an, Lv Shu’s originally vigilant expression softened instantly.

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to explain something, but then swallowed his words again.

"Go to your personal space and wait." Su Ming’an looked at him. "When the Fifth World comes, we’ll form a team together."

"Wait, I..."

"Your approach is meaningless. I’ll teach you what you should do," Su Ming’an interrupted his pointless explanation.

Lv Shu’s words were choked off. He looked at the camera and then at Bi, who was happily munching beside him, silent for a moment, then nodded ever so slightly.

He grabbed the Mantis, which was eating joyfully, threw it over his shoulder, and the green color traced an arc in the air. He opened his hand and grasped the plastic bag, then left the forest with the Crimson Butterfly waiting nearby.

Edward watched the scene, dumbfounded.

...It was over?

He hadn’t expected Su Ming’an’s "persuasion" to be so straightforward.

...Clearly different from how he talked to him.

"It’s over, I understand, he just got sidetracked for a moment," Su Ming’an looked at him. "So I should leave too—as for my words, Edward, our conversation ends here. I won’t come to enlighten you a second time."

"Wait a moment." Hearing Su Ming’an’s dismissive words, Edward wasn’t angry this time.

He stood up from the sofa, approached him, his eyes suddenly became incredibly serious, as if eager to confirm something:

"Su Ming’an," Edward’s expression was very serious, "have you ever really considered me an opponent... or rather, do you dislike the behavior of the United Group?"

Outside the door, people who had thought the meeting was about to end and wanted to rush in stopped abruptly upon hearing such a question, their eagerness halting their steps.

Their ears were pressed tightly against the door, anxious to know the answer.

Su Ming’an looked at him steadily.

"...Guess?"

Edward received an answer that made him feel like collapsing.

The next moment, the door to the rest room was violently pushed open, and a group of high-ranking officers adorned with various badges, gold stars, silver pentagrams, sea-colored uniforms, and sky-blue stripes rushed in, only to see a wave of spatial fluctuations.

The person they sought to persuade had already teleported away.

The Number One Player... Su Ming’an had no intention of contacting them at all.

It seemed he really came just to have a heart-to-heart with Edward.

Su Ming’an returned to his personal space.

He found a new house in the housing column of the forum.

Thanks to privacy settings, he was able to view the house smoothly by following the map’s location, and then automatically paid 40 Points to buy it through the system.

Because he needed to settle Moli and the three followers, a larger house was necessary.

And just as Su Ming’an secured his new residence, the Cloning that had been cordially invited by the United Group to the reception room stood up.

The high-ranking officer of the United Group sitting opposite was still somewhat in a daze. He had just been discussing heartfelt matters with the Number One Player’s Cloning, promising a wealth of benefits, and was about to get an agreement when the person across suddenly stood up with a "whoosh".

"I’m leaving, off to the house," Shadow casually gulped down the extremely precious tea that the United Group used to entertain important guests, commented "tastes terrible," then left, bumping into people along with the three mechanical men.

Fearing these three NPCs who dared to cause trouble in the Main God Space, no one dared to stop them on the way, and even if someone extended an olive branch, Shadow continued toward the Teleportation Formation as if he hadn’t heard anything.

The people who followed out looked at the fading figure on the Teleportation Formation, exchanging glances.

"...What do we do now?"

"It looks like he has absolutely no fondness for our United Group..."

"How did we fail to keep him? Where is the Lighthouse theorist we invited in advance??"

"...He said, ’This theory doesn’t concern me,’ and directly kicked out the person..."

"...So it is."

"Actually, personally, I think it’s quite good the way the Number One Player is right now, Joe. Our purpose at the United Group was never to focus on one person but to work for the vast majority of humanity. Edward’s failure has proved this point," one of them reasoned.

"...Go call Mr. Su over first."

In district 16589, Dragon Country’s retirement area.

This was home to some Casual Players who didn’t want to enter the fray.

Since it was nighttime, there weren’t many people on the streets, yet under the glow of a few streetlamps, one could see quite a few middle-aged people gathered together, playing chess.

—Perhaps before reverting to this age, they were actually older.

Being chosen for the World Game, they continued with their lives as if nothing had happened, seemingly completely disconnected from the outside world, giving no sign of strife or struggle.

Su Ming’an passed by them; there was not even a place like a viewing platform here—because of the Fourth World’s top players competing together and existing Points betting rings, almost every server had commercially minded people setting up cinemas and teahouses.

But not here.

These middle-aged individuals who were once elderly... seemed to never watch live broadcasts, nor did they follow the World Forum; they simply carried on raising their flowers and birds, like nothing had ever transpired.

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